How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spotIn the Caribbean by providence impoverishedIn squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar? The ten-dollar founding father without a fatherGot a lot farther by working a lot harderBy being a lot smarter By being …
Author Archives: Ernest Zanatta
All Roads Lead To The Avondale Heights Cannoli Bar
Because it is in a more remote pocket of Avondale Heights, about 500 metres on the other side of Military Road, where the streets are all named after places in France, I rarely get along to the Cannoli Bar in Riviera Road. It opened about 2 years ago, in a former milk bar and is …
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In Which Coles Online Inadvertently Helps Me To Observe Dry July….
I like a glass of decent red wine or seven. The older I get, the more I realise that this is not a good way of managing my health, regardless of what wine writers say about the various natural chemicals in wine preventing or curing all sorts of illnesses. I do know, given that we …
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The Demise of the Clown-Prince of Moomba
As a small child, I have very fond memories of quality time spent with my father (I was the first born child and therefore had lots of privileged access). Visits to the zoo, or to the Royal Melbourne Show, or to see the Moomba Parade. Moomba was always a constant. You had the parade each …
Observations on the madness of men and markets…
At the time of the South Sea Bubble in the 18th Century, Dr Brian May lookalike Sir Isaac Newton is quoted as saying: “I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men”. Sir Isaac was also a shareholder in the South Sea company, but I am not sure whether he …
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Ready Player One Million: The Ultimate First World Problem?
When I was browsing Wikipedia just before, I saw a featured article on the title page which was just too bizarre for me to pass up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Asakai Yes, if you have clicked on that link and read it, this is an account of a virtual battle in cyberspace, not about alleged Communist Chinese hackers trying …
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Unselfconscious Songs about the Australian Way of Life
A few months ago (and where has the year gone?) I wrote something about how countries like the USA are able to inspire their musicians to write songs about their cities and homes which are clearly linked to their geography, but which are un-self-conscious about it, New York City being a prime example. Australia is …
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AFL Season Resumes: I am not a footy tragic, or am I?
This weekend marks the resumption of the Australian Football League’s 2020 Premiership season. The AFL Club I support is the Footscray Football Club, which has, for the past 23 years, played as the Western Bulldogs. This is not exactly surprising, given I am one of those people who, born and raised in Footscray, see themselves …
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All your favourite Bears have come out to play again: Teddy, Paddington, Rupert, Humphrey… even the Ewoks!
I liked Return of the Jedi when it came out. I suppose I still do, although I have not bothered seeing it again for many years. But I suppose it was when George Lucas jumped the shark as far as balancing the cutesy merchandising and kiddie gimmickry. R2D2 and his sidekick C3P0 work well together, …
American Psycho – 30 Years On
I was born in 1969, which makes me part of the elder third of Generation X, which demographers assert as starting in 1965. That makes Bret Easton Ellis and his most famous character, the anti-heroic Patrick Bateman, Baby Boomers. Somehow I am glad about that. I have been listening to Huey Lewis and the News …
Lost For Words! 