1971

11 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by Therese Trouserzoff in Uncategorized

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Algy

Playlist by Algernon

Imagine – John Lennon

It’s too late – Carol King

Won’t get fooled again – The Who

Eagle Rock – Daddy Cool

Changes – David Bowie

Levon – Elton John

The night they drove ol dixie down – Joan Baez

How do I mend a broken heart – The Bee Gees

Maggie May – Rod Stewart

Long cool woman in a black dress – The Hollies

Black Dog – Led Zeppelin

What’s going on – Marvin Gaye

Family affair – Sly and the family Stone

Bang a gong (get it on) – T Rex

Why The Shovel Was Awarded The Contract To Oversee Australia’s Vaccination Rollout: A Statement by The Shovel

06 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by Therese Trouserzoff in The Shovel

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This morning it was revealed that, in August last year, The Shovel was awarded a $400 million contract to oversee the rollout of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

While this was intended to remain commercial-in-confidence, some irritating journalist, probably from the ABC, used a Freedom of Information request to release the details of the contract, and we’ve been inundated with angry emails ever since.

This statement is designed to answer some of the most common questions.

How the fuck did a satirical news organisation get awarded the contract to oversee Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout?

A lot of people seem to be very angry about this, but we were just as entitled to apply for the contract as anyone else. It was a rigorous tender process, with several checks and balances along the way. The fact that one of our writers went to school with Greg Hunt and we donated $1.5 million donation to the Liberal Party last year is purely coincidental.

Does the Shovel have any experience managing vaccination programs?

No, but we did organise a very complex pub crawl for 80 people in 2012, which involved multiple venues, several different brands of beer (some imported, some made here in Australia) and a range of nasty side-effects. So it’s basically the same thing.

What? A pub crawl isn’t like a vaccination rollout at all

Obviously you haven’t seen our COVID-19 vaccination rollout yet.

Do you have any medical experience?

The morning after the pub crawl required a fair bit of medical ingenuity. But, apart from that, no. But what we lack in medical expertise we more than make up for in comedic ability.

What comedic skills could possibly be of use to a vaccination program?

Timing. Actually, no, bad example. We’ve totally fucked up the timing. But we have incorporated one of the other central tenets of comedy – the element of surprise. GPs are constantly telling us how surprised they are when they receive eight vials of the vaccine rather than the 400 they had been promised.

This is a disaster, isn’t it?

No, not at all. Everyone seems to be focusing on targets, but we put those targets in place purely for satirical purposes. And I think we can all agree that setting a target of 4 million vaccinations by March, falling short by almost 3.5 million vaccinations, and then getting Greg Hunt to say ‘‘The national vaccination program is accelerating exactly as intended” has all the hallmarks of great satire. Although nitpickers would argue that, technically, it was farce rather than satire.

Is this the first time the government has awarded a commercial contract to a satirical organisation?

No, in 2019 the Government awarded News Corp $345,000 to set up a spelling bee website.

Has The Shovel been awarded any other government contracts?

Apart from a recent engagement to run a series of empathy training courses? No.

Sorry, could not resist borrowing this one from the Shovel.

Send ‘er Down, Huey !

26 Friday Mar 2021

Posted by Therese Trouserzoff in Algernon

≈ 13 Comments

Gordon O’Donnell re-possessing an abused planet

Playlist by Algernon

Rainy day woman #12 & 35 – Bob Dylan

The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore – Walker Brothers

Have you ever seen rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival

A hard rains a gonna fall – Bryan Ferry

When the levee breaks – Ben Harper

Texas Flood -Stevie Ray Vaughan

Rainy night in Georgia – Tony Joe White

Louisiana 1927 – Randy Newman

I am the lion – Neil Diamond

Rising high water blues – Blind Lemon Jefferson

Here comes the flood – Peter Gabriel

Lost in the flood – Bruce Springsteen

After the flood – Talk Talk

After the flood – Van der Graff Generator

The Beatles – Rain

The Angels – After the Rain – with the late great Doc Neeson

Kevin Borich

25 Thursday Mar 2021

Posted by Therese Trouserzoff in Uncategorized

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Kevin Borich, Wendy Stapleton

Fell upon this cheesy intro web site called Wrokdown, interviews by Wendy Stapleton – who I have an unreliable memory of being quite a thing in the 1980s.

Wendy interviews some of the great and late great start of Aussie Rock’s Golden years.

Check out some of our old favourites telling their stories !

https://www.seniorsonline.vic.gov.au/news-opinions/video/Festival-reimagined-Wendy-Stapleton

Wendy (a year younger than me) sings Silver Threads and Golden Needles with her daughter – at about 5 mins 30.

Enjoy – especially if you’re an old fart like me 🙂

Emm