Category: My Diary

“Country Road”, this evening, is hosted by Cash Backman. Among its featured artists are Charley Pride and Ray Stevens. At 7.00, “Willesee” includes an interview with a Turkish gentleman, who is in possession of a receipt which, he says, is proof that he is a winner in ‘The Pools’. The only problem being, is that there is no record of his entry ever having been received!

I washed the dishes before “Peach’s Australia” transported the viewer to Norfolk Island, from eight o’clock. “Crucible Of Terror”, a film from 1972, screened on Channel Ten, from half past eight. The English pairing of James “The Likely Lads” Bolam and Mary Maude, is included in its cast. We only watched half of it before we opted to retire to bed.

 

I awoke before the alarm after a night of tossing and turning. Today’s race in the America’s Cup appeared likely to be abandoned due to a lack of wind. “Courageous” was about ten minutes in front of “Australia”.

“Dad” arrived prior to 7.30, in his red ute, to collect Tiki and transport her to her place of work. He said that he would barrack for St. George tomorrow and, as I have decided to verbally support Parramatta, added that, “We’ll both yell our heads off!”. Frank Hyde, is preparing to broadcast his twenty-fifth grand final tomorrow on the radio station, 2SM.

At noon, I watched a repetition from the series, “The Mod Squad”, on Channel Ten. “Department S”, which screens from three o’clock on Channel Seven, is another series that is being repeated.

Channel Ten’s Kobe Steele counts down this week’s Top 10 on today’s edition of “Right On”. Australian singer and songwriter, Peter Allen, is at No.2, with “I Go To Rio”, and “You’re Moving Out Today” by his American counterpart, Carole Bayer Sager, sits at No.1. Peter Allen was married to Judy Garland’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, from 1967 until 1974.

At half past four, I turned the dial to view “Jeopardy”, which was followed, from five o’clock, by “It’s Academic”. Both programmes are compered by Andrew Harwood. On “Willesee”, this evening, the multi-talented, American recording artist, Janice Ian, talked about how she used to be dependent upon drugs.

Tiki watched “The Muppet Show”, from half past seven, as I washed the dishes. Its guest was the famed English actor, writer and dramatist, Peter Ustinov. She then watched “And Mother Makes Five” and the film, “The Longest Night”, from 1972. David “Richard Diamond, Private Detective”/”The Fugitive”/”O’Hara, U.S. Treasury”/”Harry O” Janssen has a pivotal role in the film. I, on the other hand, chose to listen to music, in bed, until I fell asleep. For a second successive night, I was to be awoken, and kept awake, by a barking dog.

“Courageous” defeated “Australia” by a minute and three seconds in the second race of the America’s Cup. I drove to Miranda Public School by a quarter past eight so that we might vote in the local council elections.

I left Tiki at her parents’ and drove to Bryant Street in Rockdale. A train transported me to Town Hall and this allowed me to walk to Diamond Traders, where I paid the outstanding amount of three hundred and fifty dollars before I took possession of Tiki’s diamond drop earrings. Whilst there, I thought I would ask if I could have a necklace of Tiki’s valued, only to have the girl return and inform me that I could not.

The necklace had been given to her by her grandmother and Tiki had asked me to see if I could have a value placed on it. As a consequence, I walked the short distance from Park Street, to Manzo Park Lane, however, when I was told that the valuation would cost me ten dollars, I decided not to bother.

The seller of tickets at the Forum Cinema on George Street enlightened me as to where I could find Her Majesty’s Theatre and, once I had located it, I wrote out a cheque for the sum of twenty-four dollars in order that Tiki and I might attend the highly acclaimed “A Chorus Line” next Saturday night.

Arriving home at a quarter to one, I changed my clothes prior to bringing in the washing. I took the opportunity to hide Tiki’s present in a pocket of my old sports coat. When I arrived at “Mum” and “Dad’s”, in the light blue Chrysler ‘Galant’, Wendy and Tiki were taking it in turns to ride the former’s new ten-speed pushbike. Wendy, who had taken delivery of it last Wednesday, permitted me to have a ride on it too.

I washed the dishes from half past two and, from three, Tiki, her parents and I sat down to watch the grand final. St. George dominated the first half and at the break led by nine points to nil. Three of the nine points had come when ‘Lord’ Ted Goodwin made a spectacular run before he kicked ahead and regathered the football to score.

Tiki’s mum told she and I that we should have been barracking for St. George. Parramatta refused to submit and after Mick Cronin had kicked three penalty goals, trailed by just the three points, with just three minutes remaining.

Ed Sulcowicz accepted an overhead, inside pass from Ray Price — who is referred to as ‘Mr. Perpetual Motion’ — to only just score wide out. Cronin’s attempt to convert the try swung away from the uprights and with the score locked at nine all, two halves of ten minutes each were deemed necessary for the first time in recent memory.

During the second of these halves, St. George thrice attempted to kick a field goal, the last of which struck an upright. As the score remained unchanged at the conclusion of the twenty minutes of extra time, a historic replay will take place next weekend.

We ate “Mum’s” sweet curry for dinner while we watched the Leyland Brothers trek from Alice Springs to a Lake Eyre filled with water. Half past seven meant that it was time to watch “Barnaby Jones”. “Dad” went to bed as we prepared to watch the motion picture, “Carry On Loving”, from the year of 1970; choosing to ignore the fact that it was a repetition. ‘Carry On’ regulars, Hattie Jacques and Sid James, are included among its principals.

By ten to ten I had fallen asleep with my head on Tiki’s breast. Her mother had fallen asleep too! Tiki drove me home prior to half past ten, where I learned of the death of Marc Bolan, the leader of the British group, T. Rex. Bolan, at the age of twenty-eight, was killed when the car, in which he was a passenger, crashed. Reports suggest that his American girlfriend was at the wheel. Marc had reportedly overcome alcoholism and drug addiction.

We awoke at a quarter past seven, having enjoyed a good night’s sleep. The American yacht,”Courageous”, defeated its Australian counterpart, “Australia”, by two minutes and seven seconds to take a commanding grip on its defence of the America’s Cup. “Courageous” leads the final by three races to nil and only requires one more victory to secure the trophy as there is a maximum of seven races in the series.

At half past six Channel Nine replays ‘The Ugliest Dachshund’. It is the first of two episodes that comes under the banner of “The Wonderful World Of Disney”. The programme stars Suzanne “The Bob Newhart Show” Pleshette and Dean “Ensign O’Toole” Jones.

‘Some Women Of Marrakesh’ screens from twenty to eight as a part of Channel Two’s series of documentaries: “The Disappearing World”. “Steptoe And Son”, a film that bears a copyright of 1972, which is based upon the classic British television series of the same name, appears on Channel Nine at half past eight. Carolyn Seymour is cast as a stripper, to whom Harold, played by Harry H. Corbett, is romantically attracted. The series ran from 1962 until 1974. Wilfrid Brambell portrays Harold’s possessive father. The American series of this decade, “Sanford And Son”, is based upon the series, “Steptoe And Son”.

 

We awoke at half past six to the sound of the alarm. It had been raining and was windy and cold. “Courageous” successfully defended the America’s Cup overnight by taking an unassailable — no pun intended! — lead in the series of seven races. In this final race she finished comfortably ahead of “Australia” by two minutes and twenty-five seconds.

In tennis, Australia defeated Argentina by three rubbers to two. Played in Buenos Aires, Australia’s representatives in the reverse singles were Phil Dent and John Alexander. Dent defeated Ricardo Cano in straight sets: 6-4 6-4 6-3. Guillermo Vilas accounted for Alexander in the ‘dead’ rubber: 6-4 7-5 4-6 6-2. Australia’s victory means that it will meet Italy in the final of, this, the Davis Cup.

It teemed prior to eleven o’clock, but then began to fine somewhat and this provided me with the opportunity to go for a walk. “A Man Called Dagger”, a film from 1967, screened from noon. It parodies spies and includes Sue Ann Langdon and Terry Moore in its cast.

In “Department S”, at three o’clock, a jet airliner, that is six days overdue, arrives in London. I thought I would walk to the railway station and escort Tiki home, however, in chilly, rainy conditions I had to wait around for an hour from half past four. Although she had received a lift to as far as Rockdale, she had had to wait at both Hurstville and Sutherland stations. With light rain falling, we purchased a dozen eggs of a medium size for a dollar and four cents.

Susan Strasberg guest stars on “The Rockford Files” at half past seven. Tiki slept on the floor from half past eight as I watched a repetition of “The Benny Hill Show”. She has looked in my cheque book and made note of the fact that I have spent four hundred dollars on a present for her birthday, which falls due next month.

She took three guesses as to what I might have bought for her; one of which was correct. The other two were also items of jewellery. Fully expectant of the fact that she would be peeping, I had deliberately refrained from writing Diamond Traders’ name on the butt of the cheque.

I met Tiki at the railway station with a carnation in hand. As I had paid the florist the thirty-five cents, I had questioned her over the legality of her selling the blooms from the waratah; a plant I believe to be protected. Noticeably withered blooms were on sale for a dollar each.

Jim ‘Silver Eagle’ Cooper is the host of “Country Road”, this evening. Frankie Fontaine, who portrayed the loveable Crazy Guggenheim on “The Jackie Gleason Show” between 1966 and 1970, has suffered from a heart attack and is in a serious condition.

Pensioners, in Brisbane, have been discovered in what has been described as a ‘slave-labour camp’. Incredibly, such a practice has been in existence for the past twenty years.

Willesee’s humorous reporter, Paul Makin, loses his trousers during a day at the races. I washed the dishes while Tiki dried her hair in front of “The Dick Emery Show”. At eight o’clock, the dial was turned to allow us to watch the somewhat controversial, yet entertaining, “Love Thy Neighbour”, in which Jack Smethurst is cast as the bigoted Eddie Booth and Rudolph Walker as his coloured neighbour, Bill Reynolds. Kate Williams and Nina Baden-Semper play their respective, long-suffering spouses.

 

At 3.00 p.m., I watched another programme of the British production, “Department S”, which stars Peter “Jason King” Wyngarde, the American actor, Joel Fabiani and Rosemary Nicols. Produced in 1969 and 1970 the series centres upon the world of espionage.

The Swedish group, Abba, was seen to perform “Knowing Me, Knowing You” on the series, ‘Right On’. The tall, blonde Christine Conway presented this evening’s edition of “Country Road” from six o’clock.

Channel Seven’s news, which is read daily during the week, from half past six, by Roger Climpson, showed film from England of ‘Victor’s’ last moments. The giraffe, of fifteen years, died as he was being winched to his feet. It is believed that he had been performing his duty for the good of his species, with one of the females in his enclosure, when he did the splits.

By the time I had washed the greasy dishes and put out the garbage it was half past eight. A tired Tiki accompanied me to bed. She had fallen asleep on the floor, in front of “Columbo”.

Today is Royal Show Day in Melbourne. I walked for seven miles, thereby, taking my total to four hundred and eighty-three.

Johnny Chester hosts another edition of “Country Road” on ABC-TV’s Channel Two, from 6.00 p.m. Johnny was born in Melbourne, in December of 1941. He has remained popular with Australian audiences as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.

A mild evening follows a reasonably hot day on which the maximum temperature was twenty-seven degrees Celsius. “Peach’s Australia”, at eight o’clock, conveys the viewer to the northern Nullarbor Plain. Tonight’s ‘Block Of Shock’ movie is “Dark Places”, from 1973. It screens on Channel Ten, from half past eight and the English trio of Christopher Lee, Joan Collins and Robert “The Troubleshooters”/”Edward The Seventh” Hardy is principal to its cast.

 

It has been a bitterly cold afternoon. The pig’s head that has been on display in the window of a butcher’s shop, in Miranda Fair, was seen this morning to be wearing sunglasses.

This evening, on “Willesee”, there was a segment on the ‘forgotten’ Australian boxer, Rocky Mattioli, who has been living in the country of his birth, Italy, for the past two and a half years. Last month he won the WBC’s World Light-Middleweight Title, in Germany, when he knocked out Eckhard Dagge in the fifth round. Rocky emigrated to Australia when he was six years of age.

“The Muppet Show”, at half past seven, is followed, at eight, by the British series, “And Mother Makes Five”, which has Wendy “Not In Front Of The Children”/”And Mother Makes Three” Craig cast as the daffy wife and mother. I took this time to wash the dishes.

We left by half past nine bound for Fletcher Jones where a gentleman of about my age, and in possession of the most nauseous bodily odour, took my name and telephone number because the store did not have the ninety-nine dollar sports coat, which was displayed in the window, in my size. We, in turn, visited Kenrays where a young gent talked me into buying a chocolate brown coat at a cost of eighty-five dollars. The coat had been manufactured in Hong Kong.

Tiki entered Belle Star to collect her new dress for next Saturday night, only to be informed that it would not be ready until Friday. She called me in from the seat outside the store to write out a cheque for the outstanding amount of sixty-two dollars and ninety cents. She had previously left a deposit of ten dollars.

We looked around the shops until a quarter past eleven, after which we walked home in drizzle. The sky to the south appeared to be extremely threatening and this made us uncertain as to whether we should undertake a long walk. Tiki washed the dishes while I dried them. Due to the fact that the sun was shining, we departed at half past twelve.

It began to rain almost immediately, forcing us to shelter beneath shops’ awnings, situated on the obtuse corner at the intersection of President Avenue and Wyralla Road. Fortunately, the rain eased after five minutes and we continued our walk, through Gymea and down to Miranda. We could clearly see that it was raining at Cronulla.

Having arrived home at a quarter past one, we watched the rather humorous “Sail A Crooked Ship”. The film, from 1962, stars Robert Wagner, Dolores Hart and Carolyn “The Addams Family” Jones. At half past two, and having forgotten that the replaying of the grand final was to commence earlier than per usual, I concentrated upon the film, “Branded”. Produced in 1950, it stars one of my favourite actors, the late Alan Ladd, in addition to the late Charles Bickford.

At three o’clock, I turned on the radio and learned that St. George was leading by two points to nil. This lead was to be extended to 7-0 by half-time, due to the conversion of a try. St. George undeniably stamped its superiority on the game in the second half and won the match by twenty-two points to nil. It was a disappointing conclusion to such a historic match.

We departed at four o’clock bound for Manly, with Tiki at the wheel. We listened to Frank Hyde’s description of the ceremony, which surrounded the presentation, on 2SM. St. George’s coach, Harry Bath, was understandably jubilant whereas his counterpart, Terry Fearnley, representing Parramatta, in his role, had little to say.

Tiki drove through a part of the crowd of forty-seven thousand, that had attended the Sydney Cricket Ground for the match, on South Dowling Street. As we used the Cahill Expressway we listened to “Sailing”, Rod Stewart’s hit from 1975. During our journey we twice heard Boney M’s “Ma Baker”, a recording that is presently high on the charts for the German vocal group.

We dined at K’s Snapper Inn and walked along The Corso, which is gradually being converted into a plaza. I drove back to the city and en route noticed that the building that housed Pinocchio’s Restaurant — formerly known as the Costa Smeralda — on the corner of Spofforth Street and Military Road, Cremorne, is now a branch of the NSW Building Society.

We paid two dollars to leave the car in a parking station near Her Majesty’s Theatre, which is just a short distance from Railway Square. We entered the theatre by eight o’clock and observed, from above, the arrival of others, prior to occupying our seats in the stalls to witness the performance of the stage musical, “A Chorus Line”. Our seats, which felt hard to the point of being downright uncomfortable, were situated quite close to the stage.

The acting, from the likes of Peta Toppano, Ross Coleman and the extremely tall Pamela Gibbon, could not be faulted, however, as the show had universally received such extraordinarily favourable reviews we expected far more from it than we regrettably obtained. In fact, we felt so deflated by it that we began to harbour the inkling that we might be — how shall I say? — slightly abnormal, for our departure from the theatre was consumed by bewilderment over just what all of the effusive adulation for the show had been based.