"The Kramer"

   This post is about a t-shirt I have and 'one that got away'... The Karmer relates to a famous Seinfeld episode including the older couple at the art exhibit suggesting "he is a loathesome offensive brute, yet I can't look away." I love the Seinfeld series as it appeals to my dry sense of humour [Curb Your Enthusiasm likewise] and I am often laughing because of my theory that 'life is filled with Seinfeld moments'... the close talker, re-gifting, George's jobs, Elaine's relationships etc etc "not that there's anything wrong with that"...
   The shirt also reminds me of Kenny Kramer, the real Kramer who lived opp. Larry David in a Manhattan artists subsidised housing area and was the subject of many true Seinfeld story lines. When in NYC we went on his 'Reality Tour' parodied in Seinfeld with the 'Peterman Reality Tour' after Kramer had sold his story's for J Peterman's biography and objected to their loss in second thoughts!! I confess I don't own the second t-shirt as Kenny didn't have 2XLs when we went on the Tour... I bought a sticker for Vandelay Industries instead alongside my Snickers and a Coke...

'Fairy Dog'

   This t-shirt typifies my fav. t-shirt website because artists and designers can submit anything they choose and make 'no sweat shop' American Apparel shirts available world wide with a 10-12 day turnaround. For best results GIMP or Adobe help but in a former Publisher version I could get good picture results with transparent backgrounds and 300dpi and get a design or slogan produced privately or for public sale...
   In this case the hotdog frankfurt wrapped in fairybread appealed to my sense of humour and it causes lots of double take conversations with passersby. I guess I can share as they have hundreds of thousands of great designs up to XXXL on www.redbubble.com!!

'Earthquake Relief'

Check the video from NBN TV here

   On February 18th 1990 more than 42,000 punters rolled up to an outdoor picnic atmosphere benefit concert featuring some of Aussie rock music's finest in support of the Lord Mayors Earthquake Relief Fund... otherwise it might never have happened. This it the concert that set the benchmark for Wave Aid and Bushfire Relief that followed in recent years!!
   Out of the tragedy of the Newcastle Earthquake came this once off experience pulled together by Michael Chugg, Rock City's Peter Anderson and the Lord Mayor's Office. Aussie rock royalty loved being part of the day and felt it was 'the rock industry at it's best.'
   Part of a wonderful extended group of friends we picnicked on the oval with a collection of rugs and a fairly amenable crowd feeling until the usual 'hangers on' did start to encroach in search of the front of stage...
   The atmosphere that day was as unique as the circumstances. In today's crowd security arrangements you would not be allowed to build human towers more than 10m in the air or blanket trampoline the lightest member of your group [and certainly not a bikini clad girlfriend] while the whole crowd cheered you on... until they mysteriously didn't rebound at some point!!

The Bands included:
v Spy v Spy
The Party Boys + Ross Wilson + Mark Hunter
Johnny Diesel [aka Diesel aka Mark Lizzotte] + The Injectors with Jimmy Barnes
Noiseworks
Ian Moss
Crowded House
The Angels
Split Enz
and
Midnight Oil

Things I recall include:
- the emotional connection for Split Enz/Crowded House who were due to play the Workers Club the evening of the Quake and lost roadie John O Shanassy in the collapse
- The pre concert promo where the collected musos were asked "how do you decide the playing order for something like this and all presented simply agreed "well, the Oils go last, no argument there, and the rest of us just work it out from there..."
- Michael Chugg's now legendary MCing and crowd control profanities
- Crowded House having 'tech difficulties' with their keyboard and Neil Finn making a couple of mistakes and being teased mercilessly by the late Paul Hester as it was so often the other way around. He threatened Neil with a bucket of water that ended up being full of confetti!!
- An unforgettable set from the Angels including Doc Neeson climbing to the very top of the speaker stack/scaffolding tower, mic tucked into his pants, taking up the singing of 'Let the Night Roll On' waving a Newcastle Knights flag
- The way every artist committed to the day out of respect for Newcastle live audiences and the old Workers Club as a venue to play

   Thirteen people lost their lives at the Workers Club and various inner city houses, Beaumont St Hamilton shop awnings collapsed and many buildings were demolished or damaged. The plays and stories capture the same sense of gravity and purpose as this one day in February 1990. I and others still have the t-shirt to show we were there!!

'Superman'

   I'm old enough to be a fan of the George Reeves TV version of Superman, both from the b&w and colour TV eras yet I also have loved 'most' of the movies including 'Man of Steel' as the latest 'reboot.' I have this t-shirt from when Target's big bloke range went cool and included the occasional pop culture line...

   I wear it and use a similarly branded large coffee mug to remind me of who I am not!! None of us, is and especially not the variety that stands for truth, justice AND the American way... I loved that Superman in the latest film had issues with the US military use of 'drones' and that nobody is any black & white version of their own identity...

I have the dark blue t-shirt version from redbubble as well but this is my old standard that is mostly only worn around home or in winter with jeans [adding to the mystery that it's visible under a warm shirt!!

Apartheid and Sporting Bans Wallabies 1993 v South Africa

   In 1992 the Wallabies [and the All Blacks] travelled to South Africa to play matches against the post apartheid Springboks who then came out here in 1993!! Sporting bans played their part in keeping pressure on the South African government as evidenced by rugby and cricket 'rebel tours. South Africans had been quoted as saying that the 1987 and 1991 Rugby World Cup Champions were not genuine because they hadn't played the Springboks.
   You'll notice as evidenced on this t-shirt: the very 1990s Wallaby logo but also the addition of the Protea with a Springbok leaping over them. The Springbok was in many ways associated with apartheid and the government was keen to move on and create a game that all South Africans could get behind.
   History records the 1995 Rugby World Cup winners as the Springboks, with the tournament and team harnessing this effort to create the story of the 'Rainbow Nation.' The Wallabies were a team past their best at that tournament but who were also overwhelmed by the momentum behind Nelson Mandela and his team.

So, the lead up in 1993 the Springboks and Wallabies played a 3 game series here in Oz. Thanks wikipedia!!

21 August 1993	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	19 – 12	Australia	1993 Tour
14 August 1993	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane	28 – 20	Australia
31 July 1993	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	12 – 19	South Africa

   The rugby was tough and it was clear that the defending world champions and the new challengers were going to belt each other all winter. It was my first season as Captain Coach of Wanderers 4th Grade side and our team were Minor Premiers. As a rooky coach I wasn't happy with some of my decisions and my own contribution in the Finals series where our nervous inexperienced team were bundled out losing our semi and final to the damn Slime.
   This t-shirt was worn that summer as I began a fitness campaign to fix one of the things I had control over for next season. I trudged from my old fibro flat opp. Howzat Indoor Sports, down to Bar Beach, along to Merewether and back... eventually adding the walk up the hill and down into Cooks Hill then by the end of summer down Watt St, along Hunter and down Darby St back home.
   At a tumultuous time in my life I did become a little obsessed, with a diet of Coles self serve melon balls and chicken salad rolls, topped off by sometimes doing that walk during the day then again anytime after 10 at night.
   In part this did yield back to back 4th Grade Premierships v University in 1994/5 winning the GF in the last 30secs both years [after seasons as deserved Minor Premiers on the way]. In January 1995 I had a foot blow out walking in Adelaide from an inner city suburb to the CBD and back daily whilst at our UCA national youth event... That restricted my walking, followed by the beginnings of my patella tendonitis and I was never as fit again through the late 1990s and into being more  a team reserve or first half player as my rugby wound down to 2003's career ending injuries. I coached through to 2005 with some very successful teams winning a number of Premierships and filling all those years with many fond memories.
   I attended the second of those Sydney Football Stadium games in 1993 enjoying the Wallaby series win and setting up the rivalry that continued through 1995 and created the Tri Nations Rugby including the All Blacks in 1996!! 
The Springboks are my darkhorse team for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, though if the Wallabies can't win it I'll be cheering for France!!

POSTSCRIPT
I was driving up the hill heading to work this morning when the radio conversation about the future of the Holden motor car making in Australia was interrupted by the press conference announcing the death of Nelson Mandela... and tonight  I caught the last 30mins of the movie 'Invictus' which is about the harnessing of the 1995 Rugby World Cup by Mandela to unite the nation... new flag, new vigour, new idea of who they could be... let's face it they edged the All Blacks 15-12 in extra time to a Joel Stransky field goal and the country went wild in celebrations. RIP Nelson Mandela [Madiba] an amazing leader, someone offering forgiveness for 27 years in prison and uniting the country for a better post apartheid future... with problems but working to solve them together!!