a (very brief) manifesto

The Middle-Aged Spectator is a white male, and acknowledges the privilege that goes with that.

Now not in the workforce fulltime, the MAS has the time to observe and reflect on life around him. It is hoped this blog will cover a range of topics including (but not limited to) politics, sport, life in general and education, the industry in which the MAS was employed for nearly 40 years.

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The Middle-Aged Spectator wonders what to do with a record collection

I started collecting records when I was 11 years old. My parents had a lovely cabinet stereogram, had been members of the World Record Club, and had quite a number of classic and jazz LPs, so I knew about records, sort of. My first purchase was a single by Doug Parkinson in Focus, “Dear Prudence”, the Lennon/McCartney song. The first LP I bought, a year or so later, was Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water’. Many, many followed over the years, both singles and LPs, then cassettes and later CDs. Here’s the problem. I haven’t had a stereo player for records and cassettes for years. My CD player is actually a CD/DVD/Blu-ray player attached to the television and its speakers. I cannot play a record or a cassette. Our new car doesn’t even have a CD player! I now have an Apple Music subscription and a Spotify account. I have access to more music now than I have ever had before. I just don’t need these records and cassettes! So, what am I to do with them? My first thought was to ...

The Middle-Aged Spectator watched Queen’s Birthday Football

The MAS sat down in front of the TV on Monday afternoon to watch the AFL match between Melbourne and Collingwood, to be played at the MCG. While Melbourne has been a dreadful team in recent years, this game has been played as their ‘Grand Final’, and the contest has usually been competitive, if not enthralling. Yesterday’s edition was a ripper. There was a moment late in the last quarter that was sublime – one of those transcendent things that happen in sport occasionally that can give the viewer goose bumps or even bring tears. In 2009 the Demons debuted their number 1 draft pick, Jack Watts, in the Round 11 Queen’s Birthday match. Watts had been the subject of the usual media hyperbole at the time of his drafting – he was a private school educated boy, a privileged background perfect for the club that is seen more than any other to reflect ‘privileged’ Melbourne. As a schoolboy Jack was a gun – an outstanding talent – and it was no surprise to anybody that he would be drafted ...

The Middle-Aged Spectator considers cricket

8 February 1975 was a life-changing day for me. I had finished Year 12 the previous November, and was waiting for my Teaching study to begin. A friend suggested a group of us should go to the test match in Melbourne; unusually, this was a 6 th test in the series and the second of the series to be held at the MCG. With the Ashes already won (Australia had a 4-0 lead), there would be plenty of seats available. We four stayed in an apartment in the inner-city area which belonged to a brother or a friend of my friend (or something), there was a little bit of under-age drinking, and then in the morning we were off to join the queue to enter the Southern Stand. Australia’s first inning did not last the day (very disappointing in Test Cricket), and were it not for Ian Chappell (65) the English would have been batting much earlier. As it was, they only had to face a few overs before stumps. And this is where my first real memory of Test Cricket kicks in. Dennis Lillee, bowling fr...

The Middle-Aged Spectator

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