Basking, Queensland University, 1971

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Quarrion (David) has added a photo to the pool:

Basking, Queensland University, 1971

Barry Humphries was one of our heroes. He spoke for young middle class Australians of the day like us. We were well provided for, our parents had fought for us in the war, were hard working, generous and wanted us to succeed. Yet somehow our culture was barren, repressed, lacking in refinement, joy and spontaneity. We had to conform, be respectable.

Barry, a few years older than us, railed against this, gave voice to how we felt. How we loved his creations! We sang his songs, recited his monologues, marvelled at his amazing dada performances. We all had a mum or an auntie or a neighbour exactly like Edna Everage (as she was before she became a megastar). We all had grandparents or elderly friends just like Sandy and Beryl Stone. We knew superficial, drunken people our own age like the characters in the Old Pacific Sea and Snow Complications (or maybe we were a bit like them, too).

How great it was to have him in our own place, to be able to talk with him in person!

The Avis girl incident, Queensland University, 1971

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Quarrion (David) has added a photo to the pool:

The Avis girl incident, Queensland University, 1971

Queensland University, Brisbane, 1971. The student union invites comedian Barry Humphries to present a show to the students.

During the show, an Avis girl arrives to deliver his car. Some clever person sends her on stage to deliver the keys and for Barry to sign the paperwork.

Barry thinks she is a student dressed up for a prank, and teases her mercilessly. Anyone who has seen Dame Edna in action will know just how merciless this can be. Eventually the girl gets upset. She walks off and takes her keys, paperwork and car back to base.

Barry spends the rest of the day telephoning the florist and trying to track the girl down to apologise.

Innocent days. TV cameras were enormous and Dame Edna was just a housewife from Moonee ponds.

At least I can say that I've seen him!

35 mm negative scan by Oscans bulk film scanning.

Mark in Cross Country Race- 1981

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marktrash has added a photo to the pool:

Mark in Cross Country Race- 1981

This is me at the end of a cross country race at Forest Park in Brazil, Indiana. How good was I??? Well let me give you a hint-- the reason there are no other runners in the picture is NOT because they are too far behind me to be seen.

By the way, check out the shorts. Anybody else remember Sub 4 shorts? They were part of the uniform issued by the school. If a kid tried to wear them in public today, they would get sent to jail (or at least to extensive counselling).

Also check out the Nikes (with the fluorescent shoelaces). These were the first set of Nike Pegasus shoes I owned. I went through about 20 pairs of them in the 20 years following this picture. Last time I bought running shoes, they told me Nike no longer makes any version of the Pegasus.

my first dance recital

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Carla216 has added a photo to the pool:

my first dance recital

I was only about 30 months old, but this picture unknowingly marked the beginning of 13 years of ballet, 4 years on pointe.

Why the pink teddy? Well, the very young dancers were taught their dance routines combined with a song in the same rhythm as the dance. We'd sing (aka, gleefully bellow from the diaphragm), therefore, to the beat of the dance we'd memorized. Sneaky--taught us to dance to meter and count, while we just thought we were enjoying another high-volume rendition of "Alphabet Crackers in My Soup".

So, why the pink teddy? My very first ballet number was "Me and My Teddy Bear".

My bear fell over during a crucial moment in my performance. I didn't miss a beat--just bent over, snatched his wayward pink fuzzy ass, and slammed it firmly into position. I never missed a beat of the song or where I was in the dance, and was completely unselfconscious about my place on stage.

One more note about the actual photo?: Notice my toddler attempt at spirit fingers/jazz hands. :D