a bit of a 60s reminisce...

I was watching a television show tonight - Roller Derby Dolls - and it took me back to the 60s...

I used to go to Festival Hall in the mid-late 60s and early 70s with my brother to watch the Roller Derby - who could forget Adeline Hocker and Ralphie Valaderez (Valladeres) of the LA T'birds... I loved it!!!!

Australian Action 1966
Ann Calvello assists Adeline Hocker of the T-Birds to score on the Detroit Devils' Midge "Toughie' Brasuhn and Jan Vallow

ahhh, some good old gratuitous violence... entertainment for the masses... it was grouse... they were so skillful, graceful and downright dirty and nasty on skates - I was enthralled - I wanted to be able to skate like that...

but it was never going to happen with the mass produced, crappy, dangerous 'adjustable' skates that were available at the time, and that working class families could afford... but to have a pair of the boot style skates... how you could 'fly' around the rink in those (of course, the nice smooth rink probably made a difference too... footpaths and uneven school playgrounds weren't really conducive to skating well - hence my broken arm!!!)... and now they're even more streamlined... the evolution of skates!!! (Check out the first picture below of 'skating wheels' from 1870 Germany - if you're interested you can click on the pic and read the 'history' of roller skating!!!)

This was exciting entertainment and women were proving they were good at contact sports - they could 'give it and take it'... they were sassy, strong women and strong role models!!!

There's been a 'resurgence' in the last few years - here's a video trailer of the Roller Derby Dolls programme... young women searching for empowerment and identity - the right to be themselves - that age-old dilemma... enjoy...

If you want to watch the whole programme you can view it at ABC iView until September 24th (it takes a lot of bandwidth though!!!)

and Festival Hall - what a 'dive' it was... and it was the 'premier' live entertainment venue at the time...

It was used in the 1956 Olympics for gymnastics and wrestling, it also became the venue for the World Championship Wrestling (and I went to a lot of wrestling matches with my brother too!!!! so sad... but it was fun!!!) The Beatles played here in 1964... we didn't have a lot in the way of large venues in the 60s!!!!

I remember the streets surrounding the hall on any live venue night in the late 60s and 70s being totally jam packed with people... it was an amazing sight and the atmosphere was electric - my how times have changed and I've aged!!!! Dare I say "ahh, they were the good old days"!!!!

more 60s 'stuff' to come soon... (but I'm on holidays for a couple of weeks and I'm going to Malmsbury to stay with a friend for a few days !!)

nah, not the next instalment of the 60s yet...

but it is the first day of Spring so I felt it was time to "check in" - but it's hard to believe so much has happened in the last month... and I haven't posted anything for two weeks... I just found it hard to get the energy flowing in a positive direction... I had the flu this last week and a bit so I guess that just topped off a really bad, bad time...

but with this transition from winter's dark to spring's light, maybe now I can get it together and start moving forward...

so on that note, it's time to start planning some spring gardening - check out Gardenate and see what vegies should be planted NOW!!!

happy spring planting.... and I'll be back soon with some more 60s 'stuff'!!!!

it's been a helluva week....

well, a helluva couple of weeks actually!!!

so I'm behind in my bloggin'.. haven't even started on my next instalment of the 60s..

life's just been so much crap...

so while I get it together and start 'drafting' - here's some music!!!

(I would have liked it to be "Hell of a time" by Barnsie!!! but I didn't come across it... you get "Still on your side" instead...)

Full circle

Ever find yourself wondering "what if ...... ?", or thinking "if only ..... ?"

I live with an alcoholic who's on a bender and a half at the moment... so far there's been wine, vodka - what is it with the vodka? Why do alcoholics think people can't tell they've been drinking if they drink vodka? It's alcohol for fuck's sake - it all affects the way they move, speak (slurrrrr?), how they smell - ask any partner of a drunk!!! Who knows what else there's been while I've been at work - and all of this after collapsing at work and being rushed to hospital last week - a warning from his ulcer - it luckily didn't hemorrhage, this time.

He has an addiction, I know that - and of course it's my fault - no doubt that's familiar to partners of alcoholics too - which of course absolves them from any responsibility for anything - of course, he has an addiction so as he's told me "deal with it, get over it"!!! Because apparently once you acknowledge you have an addiction, you don't have to do anything about it!!! Everyone else just has to deal with it because it apparently doesn't affect them at all - beware the person that says they're a 'happy' drunk - they are only happy to be drinking!!!!

Then there's the just plain nasty crap that goes on. As a vegetarian on moral grounds, I find it really hard to deal with the cooking of rancid, decaying flesh - but I've been assailed this week with the most nauseating stench - it permeates every room - such a horror to come home to - such an in your face reminder of the murder of innocent creatures - oh, and of course, I couldn't put the exhaust fan on could I - we had to go through that shit, that "to'ing and fro'ing" - me turning it on to try and get some 'respite' from the smell and him turning it off - you know how it goes - that total wearing down, that belligerent and obnoxious attitude...

and there's all the other 'niggly, narky' shit... and the inevitable threat of withholding money with that skewed, warped idea that I'll use it on myself??? I'll benefit while he misses out???? I really don't understand that garbage!!! that constant wondering if the bills are going to be paid on time takes its toll - of course, the utilities are no 'skin off his nose' - they're in my name - foolish me!!!

Both our fathers died because of alcohol related illness (cirrhosis of the liver) about the age my partner is now... so it's really hard to watch someone you've loved and cared deeply for over decades (and ohhh so hate at the moment) drinking themselves to death... and of course it's hard to be with someone who's drunk when you're not - so easy to fall into that routine of drinking too because 'it's easier'... and so easy for that to escalate - so easy to just get into the habit of getting a bottle on the way home... I never feel good after getting drunk - it's not my drug of choice... and it really is no fun being totally pissed together - drunks 'bait' each other, and that can be a highly volatile time - we've both been there many times - better not to 'bite' and that's impossible with booze around - it's taken me a long time learning that!!!

Unfortunately I bought a bottle the other night - I was really pissed off with him, he handled a week without booze, and there he was getting stuck right into his cask - it was soooo comfortable without booze around, so less stressful - I had no desire whatsoever for a drink that night - I'd enjoyed that abstinence - so I was angry at me for reacting that way - but I did throw half the bottle out - I felt better about myself after that... Seeing someone so dependent on alcohol can be a tad confronting, disturbing and frightening!!!

when will the shit end... started Tuesday, it's Friday night now... I want my sanity back!!!!

Ahhhh, life with an alcoholic - frustrating most days, frightening some days, debilitating always, and sheer 'hell' during a bender...

what if.....

if only .....

the 60s... where do I start???

I was five years old, television (b&w thank you) had been introduced and embraced wholeheartedly by the aussie public... by the end of the 50s it was estimated that over two-thirds of families in Sydney and Melbourne owned a television set.

"Television transformed the way Australians received information. It soon became Australia's dominant form of mass communication, taking over from radio and cinema and posing a challenge to print media.

Television transmitted ideas into Australia faster than ever before. Australia's awareness and experience of the rest of the world changed rapidly. Television exposed people to other cultures and world views and provided information that would play a major role in shaping popular public opinion." Interested? read more here.

And this is what we were watching in 1960... according to the Logie awards anyway...

Program Of The Year: 77 Sunset Strip
TV Highlight Of 1959: Shell Presents Series
TV WEEK Special Award: GTV9/ATN7 Interstate TV Link for Test Cricket
Best Male Personality: John Royle
Best Female Personality: Ruth Nye
Best Program: The Phil Silvers Show
Best Male Personality: Don Bennetts
Best Female Personality: Brenda Marshall
Best Program: Father Knows Best
Best Male Personality: Graham Kennedy
Best Female Personality: Panda Lisner
Best Program: In Melbourne Tonight

Menzies was STILL the prime minister, but an election was coming up in 1961 - could he be ousted??? Social change was unstoppable, but political conservatism was stubborn. We were cutting the umbilical cord with England, but we were being heavily influenced by America - and manipulated - 'we' were soon to be fodder in the Vietnam war - but not this year!!!

Women were (as always?!!??) fighting for equality. They were paid only 75% of the 'average' wage. In 'women only' professions such as teaching and nursing women were only getting two thirds of the male wage!

In 1960 equal pay for work of equal value was awarded, although specifically female work was not included and the issue of equal pay for women remained a source of 'hot' debate throughout the 1960s.

Women wanted more than domesticity and motherhood!!!!

Women wanted to experience life - they were sick of living in the background of men's lives.

Women wanted to be seen as - oooh, shock, horror - people in their own right - not someone else's doormat - not a slave, not a wife, not a mother!!!

In 1960 THE PILL was 'released' in the States, and of course that meant it wouldn't be long before it arrived in Australia (January 1st, 1961)!!!

The pill was about to change women's lives - but being 'released' didn't necessarily mean giving access to women - that was dependent on the attitude of the doctor writing the prescription - so it wasn't going to be readily available to unmarried women!! There was still a way to go - and the fight for free safe abortion was still to gain momentum...

The 60s was such a rich, complex, exciting, vibrant decade - so much was happening - people were expanding their consciousness, they were questioning, they were starting to live their lives differently... it was definitely the era to be growing up in!!!

So my 60s post appears to have expanded to a saga!!!!

stay tuned for the next instalment...