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Aussies LIII


Paxter

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Time for a new Aussies' thread.

And to celebrate, a true classic from Mr Kelly :thumbsup:.

Sydney, 1926, this is the story of a man

Just a kid in from the sticks, just a kid with a plan

St George took a gamble, played him in first grade

Pretty soon that young man showed them how to flash the blade

And at the age of nineteen he was playing for the State

From Adelaide to Brisbane the runs did not abate

He hit 'em hard, he hit 'em straight

He was more than just a batsman

He was something like a tide

He was more than just one man

He could take on any side

They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand

A team came out from England

Wally Hammond wore his felt hat like a chief

All through the summer of '28, '29 they gave the greencaps no relief

Some reputations came to grief

They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn

And in the hour of greatest slaughter the great avenger is being born

But who then could have seen the shape of things to come

In Bradman's first test he went for eighteen and for one

They dropped him like a gun

Now big Maurice Tate was the trickiest of them all

And a man with a wisecracking habit

But there's one crack that won't stop ringing in his ears

"Hey Whitey, that's my rabbit"

Bradman never forgot it

He was more than just a batsman

He was something like a tide

He was more than just one man

He could take on any side

They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand

England 1930 and the seed burst into flower

All of Jackson's grace failed him, it was Bradman was the power

He murdered them in Yorkshire, he danced for them in Kent

He laughed at them in Leicestershire, Leeds was an event

Three hundred runs he took and rewrote all the books

That really knocked those gents

The critics could not comprehend this nonchalant phenomenon

"Why this man is a machine," they said. "Even his friends say he isn't human"

Even friends have to cut something

He was more than just a batsman

He was something like a tide

He was more than just one man

He could take on any side

They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand

Summer 1932 and Captain Douglas had a plan

When Larwood bowled to Bradman it was more than man to man

And staid Adelaide nearly boiled over as rage ruled over sense

When Oldfield hit the ground they nearly jumped the fence

Now Bill Woodfull was as fine a man as ever went to wicket

And the bruises on his body that day showed that he could stick it

But to this day he's still quoted and only he could wear it

"There's two teams out there today and only one of them's playing cricket."

He was longer than a memory, bigger than a town

His feet they used to sparkle and he always kept them on the ground

Fathers took their sons who never lost the sound of the roar of the grandstand

Now shadows they grow longer and there's so mush more yet to be told

But we're not getting any younger, so let the part tell the whole

Now the players all wear colours, the circus is in town

I can no longer go down there, down to that sacred ground

He was more than just a batsman

He was something like a tide

He was more than just one man

He could take on any side

They always came for Bradman 'cause fortune used to hide in the palm of his hand

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I disapprove of cricket but approve of Paul Kelly lyrics, this is very confusing...

Haha, there's no escaping Kelly's mastery:

He murdered them in Yorkshire, he danced for them in Kent

He laughed at them in Leicestershire, Leeds was an event

Just beautiful stuff IMO. The Woodfull quote is incredible as well.

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By the way Pax, you've successfully induced in me such homesickness that I am currently listening to Slim Dusty play 'Waltzing Matilda'...

Some things to assist with the homesickness, Adam:

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I get the feeling Paxter is a fan of cricket.

How droll ST. But Horza still has you beaten in the dry sense of humour stakes...

By the way Pax, you've successfully induced in me such homesickness that I am currently listening to Slim Dusty play 'Waltzing Matilda'...

Listening to Kelly had the same effect on me when I was away, but don't know if it would make me resort to Dusty. How long are you planning on staying stateside?

Every time I play this song I kind of cringe at how bad it is ("me, I like football"), but when you're singing it in a crowded pub during AFL finals it seems to take on a life of its own :dunno:.

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Listening to Kelly had the same effect on me when I was away, but don't know if it would make me resort to Dusty. How long are you planning on staying stateside?

I'll be here a while. I've actually lived here seven years now. Got married, have a house and all of that. Of course, we're actually underwater in our mortgage since the real estate marked in Atlanta dropped like a bomb and is still only just now beginning to recover. So I'm going to have to be patient, but I reckon once things pick up I can probably convince my wife to give things a try in Oz. That is probably at least a few years down the track though.

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I'll be here a while. I've actually lived here seven years now. Got married, have a house and all of that. Of course, we're actually underwater in our mortgage since the real estate marked in Atlanta dropped like a bomb and is still only just now beginning to recover. So I'm going to have to be patient, but I reckon once things pick up I can probably convince my wife to give things a try in Oz. That is probably at least a few years down the track though.

Damn, sorry to hear about the housing situation. In the meantime, there's always the board to get the Aussie/AFL talk out of the system :thumbsup:. Also, make sure you let us know if you're ever holidaying in Aus so that we can organise a meet (we're always looking for excuses to meet-up these days).

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Damn, sorry to hear about the housing situation. In the meantime, there's always the board to get the Aussie/AFL talk out of the system :thumbsup:. Also, make sure you let us know if you're ever holidaying in Aus so that we can organise a meet (we're always looking for excuses to meet-up these days).

Oh, I'll be coming down in July/August for a couple of weeks actually. I'll be spending a lot of time with my family and friends and just seeing the lay of the land again so I don't know if I could squeeze in a meet up, but I can see what I can do!

First time back since I left actually.

BTW I have my fix of the footy from Bigfooty - that place is great for someone in my situation!

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Wait a minute, first time I've seen this thread on a computer instead of my iPhone, Western Australian Secession... pffft. Good riddance I say. :rolleyes:

Yeah now you see, I like the Eastern States. We have to have someone to look up to us.

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I recently brewed some beer from U-Brew-It and learned it is actually as WA started chain. All these eastern staters drinking brews equivelant to Emu Bitter etc.

I got some honey beer and put some 'chocolate' in it. Word of warning which they don't tell you, all 6 cartons (approx 100) cans need to be refridgerated right away. So you better have a second fridge.

Americans adore Julia Gillard

Americans love gushing rhetoric. Australians don't.

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We do, but no one likes it like the yanks.

Not that her trip has gotten much coverage over there - Aussies never actually do.

We're just not that important to them. As for as the yanks are concerned, we are an important source of kangaroos, koala (bears) and ockers. That's about as far as it goes for many.

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