hardtack

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this, but I received an SMS from MelbourneFC this morning saying: “The only way to watch Dees v Suns LIVE tomorrow is with Kayo. Sign up mfcde.es/Kayo“ I know Kayl is a subsidiary of Foxtel, but as the game IS available on Foxtel, it is not exactly true, and could mislead some people considering it comes hot on the heals of FTA coverage being dumped on Saturdays (or is that just the night game?). First world problem I know, but I had to take a walk up to my local pharmacy today and it’s left me feeling completely rooted and a bit grumpy.

Nice work matey… looking good!

Thanks Damo! I’ll just keep posting my experiences both good and bad. It’s not a sympathy seeking exercise, but more designed to show some positivity in the face of what could otherwise be an extremely devastating time. I’m fortunate in that I’m a fairly pragmatic person, and as such this is having very little affect on my state of mind. I just hope that if there are others on here, and the odds are that there are, who if they are going through a similar close encounter, that this might at least let them know they’re not alone and that it is possible to clear one’s mind every now and then.

Um, actually you did: “To think that you are privy to what the players actually think of Goody just because you attend training is borderline delusional.” unless of course you want to split hairs and use the “borderline” escape clause.

And so Cycle #5 begins. As the effects of the new chemo poison, Irinotecan, replacing the devils brew they were pumping into me over the five and a half months in 2023/24, while being less debilitating are still having a cumulative effect that, despite my having more energy and am now able to walk to the local shops (something I could only dream of doing while on the Oxaliplatin), it does leave me feeling wobbly and off balance right up until the end of the cycle. My appetite is still with me, but everything tastes like [censored] thanks to the affect it has on my taste buds. My weight is therefore a lot more stable, having only dropped a bit over half a kilo down from a tad over 92kg (I’m 188cm) to 91.4kg. Over the five and a half months of being poisoned by Oxaliplatin, I lost something in the order of 14kg down to 78kg (not necessarily a bad thing). I am enjoying spending my time in the infusion chair, generating images from my imagination into AI, using an engine known as MidJourney. A substitute for my now reduced ability to draw with my hands, or to get out photographing, although I have arranged to meet and photograph the Japanese band Guitar Wolf this coming Saturday and another Japanese band that I’m happy to call my friends, Buddhadatta, in April (they’re currently touring Australia). Some examples:

With my illness and lack of being able to do much beyond the sofa, I’ve found myself ordering lots of books via Amazon to keep myself amused. Many of these are the Taschen art related books, such as Chinese Propadanda Posters, CCCP architecture, American Adverting Art in the 1940’s 50’s and 60’s, the Bauhaus, some Haruki Murakami short stories in Manga form, the Akira 35th Anniversary set of comics in hard covers, a few Japanese books on Japanese pop art by the likes of Tadanori Yokoo, and Keiichi Tanaami and so on. Now I just need to get stuck into them (it’s a shame the TV is in my line of sight).

It could be argued that you were the one being overly sensitive, with your use of “ok, I’ll leave it up to you experts…” Anyway, putting our petty argument aside (and I include myself in the petty part), yes last year was just a handful of behinds (literally) from us making finals, but to put up a display like we did on Sunday, rings all kinds of alarm bells. I can understand our young players not necessarily being up to AFL speed, but our older heads other than Chandler and Olly, showed little leadership. We were slow, disinterested, still playing up the wings and showing no dash and dare at all.. that was extremely disappointing as all of the talk was of us taking the game on, with what I thought was going to be a new game plan… instead we got the same old, same old. i want to see a big response by our team this week against a much improved Gold Coast, otherwise I’m beginning to fear we will slip further down the ladder, gifting Essendrug a very high first round pick!! (Oh the ignominy!!) Hopefully if May is back, that fills a hole in our defence… I can’t see Windsor being back due to him being on crutches at the game on Sunday; I hope I’m reading that wrong. I’m not sure that Johnson being back will improve us much, despite me liking what he has to offer in terms of sheer effort. go Dees!!

Load of…

All I have to say is [censored] ‘em… they are so disinterested and making zero effort. Absolutely hopeless!!!! And that’s coming from an eternal optimist.

And those who responded just gave their opinions… so, no need for the passive aggressive stuff 😉

The trade off being that they would be screwed by the umpires.

You have to be joking… he played a great game today… kicking leaves a lot to be desired, but his pressure and ball distribution by hand was excellent.

I'm surprisingly liking them…I have had about six though. Wash your mouth out with soap and water!!

🤢🤮 I’d be arranging an arson attack… no, seriously, I would… there’s no amount of cleaning, nor renovation, could ever return your property to its former glory. Take the insurance and run.

Are the umps on the take? There are some seriously dodgy calls going on in this match.

I think it’s a fantastic game… possibly the best that I’ve watched so far this year. Some great handling skills on display and great pressure acts.

Exactly.

He’s named in the first 18… doesn’t that mean he’s safe from being sub?

Has Spargo had a good run yet? I get the feeling that he will be playing VFL this week to get some run into his legs (read, match fitness). I’m of the opinion that Sharp will get another run. Hopefully Langford gets a full game, Turner will come in for AJ, Henderson retains his place and Woey will be the sub. I’m probably miles off, but let’s just wait and see 😉

Nothing to do with naval warfare etc, but a guitarist friend who I was in a band with in 1979, but returned to the UK where he was from, in Norwich, for some time now has been making long bows as well as training actors in their use, to add authenticity to films they are appearing in, such as Braveheart, Robin Hood, and Assassin’s Creed among others. His first cousin is Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople and Bad Company fame. More useless off topic information, courtesy of my good self… you’re welcome 😉

My thoughts on this might be a bit fanciful, but I believe that rather than the supporters being “pathetic”, there is little to no incentive for casual supporters to get along to games. Melbourne has a relatively aged supporter base, as post 60’s domination, we didn’t have the sustained level of success that clubs like Richmond, Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn and Essendon had over a long period of time (that is how supporter bases are built - kids jump onto the clubs that are winners). On discussing this with my son, he suggested that the club needs to start marketing itself to younger people in a way similar to Hawthorn on TikTok, Instagram etc (I’ve no idea because I haven’t seen what they are doing), which apparently is very random and out there stuff, but something that does appeal to potential supporters in the youth demographic. Me? While I agree with my son, I also believe that the club should be more proactive and offer incentives for people to attend. While this could only apply to home games, there should be ‘prizes’ on offer… signed jerseys, cash prizes, lucky ticket numbers(?), vouchers to the Demon Shop, get the sponsors on board to offer product related prizes… these could be awarded based on ticket numbers, best outfit, video related prizes where people in the crowd are displayed on the screen at the ground based on whatever criteria, and so on. It’s obvious that people need a reason to attend games, other than just the fact that they follow the club. We on Demonland (and, I suppose, other similar forums and Facebook pages) are rusted on supporters and, I would hope, mostly financial members, so we take it for granted that those of us who are physically able, will attend games… it would be interesting to see what kinds of demographic make up our member base; I’d suggest it is largely an aging base, which could, I’m guessing, explain smaller member turn outs. Unlike posters on here, your average not so invested supporter needs an incentive to attend.

Is this a Grundy discussion?

A friend of mine died in the Bali bombings. It must have been horrendous for McCartney! I’d be happy with him as CEO as long as his business skills are at the requisite level… he certainly knows how to deal with adversity.

I quite like this meme that just popped up in my Facebook feed…

Disappointing. I cannot understand how every time we would get a bit of a cushion, we just took the foot off the pedal and let them back into the game; every single time!! If we had maintained our pressure, we could have taken the game right away from them. I liked Langdon, Gawn and Lindsay’s games, I was happy to see Jeffo snag a couple, and was really pleased that our debutantes all contributed, other than Langford who was done a real disservice by being named as the sub and had little time to adjust to the pace of the game. Windsor did a couple of amazing things, but he was quiet for much of the game. I was disappointed by JVR, Fritsch, Viney (gets the ball, but delivery leaves a lot to be desired) and a few of the other older heads. The tall defenders did well, the forward line was its usual dysfunctional self. The midfield was generally very good, but I think they could probably have made more of Gawn’s absolute domination in the ruck contests. Overall, this week’s Dees seemed a little bi-polar. i get the feeling that Jeffo has probably earned himself return bout, but Johnson might be playing for Casey (do they even have a game next week?). JVR and Fritsch will only keep their spots because there seems to be this expectation that next week will see them break out.