2001

2005

JANUARY

Thursday, January 20, 2005.
Monthly Hogarth Club Luncheon. Upstairs at Chesser Cellar, Chesser Street, Adelaide.
Diners: Leo Davis, Angus Redford, John Bannon, Michael Jacobs, Tony Colebatch, Paul Lloyd, Malcolm Elliott, Tony Brooks, John Potter. Apology: Tony Short; (in NZ).

Arriving on time I sat in the Hogarth Room, alone, for some 10 minutes, to the point that I thought I had the wrong day or venue. Relief arrived in the form of Angus Redford and we chatted about him being ‘off the grog’ and having given up smoking, not counting the large cigar he’d brought and which he worked through during the meal

Angus Redford, Tony Colebatch, Michael Jacobs, John Potter, Tony Brooks.

Malcolm Elliot, Lisa Rouse, Tony Brooks, John Potter.

Tony Brooks attempts to keep to what is a long standing Hogarth tradition of bringing readings to table to entertain the diners (see paper in his hand). In earlier days a scrapbook was kept into which the newspaper clippings, or whatever was brought along, were pasted. His readings are always expertly paced and very funny. Today he brought a report of a man who had been apprehended fucking a dog. In court, as mitigating evidence, he submitted that ‘the dog had been behaving sexily.’ He then went on from that piece that may have been factual to what was clearly a written gag. This time the chap was apprehended fucking a pumpkin. The arresting policewoman said, in horror and disgust, ‘Do you realise what you are doing? You’re fucking a pumpkin.’ In shock the man replied ‘What? It’s not midnight already is it?’

Michael Jacobs, John Bannon.

Much early conversation was about Mark Latham’s replacement at the head of Federal Labor. Bannon is a strong proponent of Kym Beasley and had nothing good to say about Rudd who he sees as ‘an arrogant prick.’

John Bannon, Paul Lloyd, Angus Redford.

Discussion about John Howard, in the presence of Liberal Upper House member Angus Redford, was all critical. Bannon told how he has had good cordial conversations with Howard but that he never gets to know a thing about the personal man. He gets no idea of what he is reading, has no idea of what music he listens to, what films he has seen lately.

Angus Redford had lots of internal Liberal Party gossip that he delighted in telling. Unfortunately most of it went way over my head because I didn’t recognise the names or the contexts. He was particularly vicious about a particular woman in the shadow cabinet and told scurrilous stories about various Liberals with their noses in the overseas travel trough.

John Bannon, Paul Lloyd, Angus Redford.

In discussion about Labor v Liberal approaches to the opposition, Bannon told of giving jobs to ex Liberal Premiers. The optometrist (or vet?) got a job on the Festival Board, for example. John was bitterly critical of Dean Brown who went out of his way to sack Labor appointees and not to give positions to defeated Labor leaders. Angus Redford told of the ructions that erupted when the last Liberal leader gave a post to a beaten prominent Labor person; a post that a long line of Liberal hacks had all expected would go to one of them.

Tony Brooks, John Potter, Tony Colebatch, John Bannon, Paul Lloyd.

Michael Jacobs, John Bannon, Paul Lloyd.

The problems that ex (mainly defeated) politicians have in post parliament life, work wise, were discussed. The two politicians saw it as pretty grim. The consensus was that most who get good jobs have to go interstate or overseas to get them. Bannon explained that he felt he had to stay in SA, after the State Bank debacle, more or less as a point of honour to ‘face the music.’

John Bannon

Cricket was discussed with the poor performance of the current SA team getting special attention. Bannon told of Neil Blewett’s drinking problem and his unsuitability to be guiding the very young team. At I think the Kensington Cricket club, some years ago, mothers had complained about his influence on teenager boys at the club. Michael Jacobs was very clear that the new 20:20 version of one day cricket was going to be a great success, good for the game and going to bring out the very best players from test ranks. It will squeeze out the middle rank players who, up till now, could not get test spots but could get a run in standard one day cricket. Bannon was also very enthusiastic about the 20:20 version and told of walking through the crowd leaving the Adelaide Oval and picking up very strong sense that a good time had been had by all.

FEBRUARY, MARCH

No record for February or March; diarist unable to get away from work.

APRIL

Thursday, April 21, 2005.

Monthly Hogarth Club Luncheon. Upstairs at Chesser Cellar, Chesser Street.

Diners: Michael Jacobs, Paul Lloyd, Wayne Anthoney, Peter Tregilgas, Robert ‘Red’ Hodge, John Potter, Leo Davis. Apology: Tony Short; (in NZ).

Clockwise from front left: Michael Jacobs, Wayne Anthoney, John Potter, Peter Tregilgas, Paul Lloyd, Robert ‘Red’ Hodge.

Clockwise from front left: Peter Tregilgas, Paul Lloyd, Robert ‘Red’ Hodge, Michael Jacobs, Wayne Anthoney, John Potter.

From the image above it is clear that we had a choice of main course, not the usual option. There are 4 square plates and 3 round ones. What was on them? Is that gnocchi or similar on Paul Lloyd’s plate? The usual boiled spuds, carrot and broccoli; two plates.

After the meal, with Michael Jacobs and John Potter aboard, wanting lifts home, Wayne Anthoney asked if I/we wanted to come to see his house. So we drove to his wonderful ‘eco friendly’ village, between Sturt and Gilbert Streets. We were given a proud tour of the general grounds and went up to his apartment, on the top floor, I think.

On the roof; new plantings. Michael Jacobs, Wayne Anthoney, John Potter.

John Potter and Wayne Anthoney. Inside Wayne and Meredith’s apartment.
Note the Magick Circus poster.

JULY

Thursday, July 21, 2005.

Hogarth Luncheon. Hogarth Room, upstairs at Chesser Cellar.
Diners: Michael Jacobs, Wayne Anthoney, Tony Short, John Potter, Leo Davis, Tony Colebatch, Tony Brooks, Richard Tonkin, Peter Tregilgas, Robert ‘Red’ Hodge, Paul Lloyd, Malcolm Elliott.
Visitors: Pam (nee Freed) Jacobson, Jim Bowen, Primo Caon.

Michael Jacobs, Wayne Anthoney, Tony Short, John Potter, Tony Colebatch, Tony Brooks, Paul Lloyd.

We had a choice of main course again. Plates above seem to have osso bucco. The shot below shows corned silverside, in front of Tony Brooks.

Clockwise from front left: Richard Tonkin, Peter Tregilgas, Robert ‘Red’ Hodge, Paul Lloyd, Michael Jacobs, Wayne Anthoney, Tony Short, John Potter, Tony Colebatch, Tony Brooks.

Clockwise from front left: Robert ‘Red’ Hodge, Paul Lloyd, Malcolm Elliott, Peter Tregilgas (standing), Richard Tonkin (standing),

Tony Colebatch (hidden), Michael Jacobs(standing), Wayne Anthoney, Tony Short, John Potter.

Why were so many chaps standing up after main course but before pudding? It must have been a smoking break, still common in those days.

Richard Tonkin was brought along by Lloyd, through a Hill Billy Hoot connections. He has managed the Governor Hindmarsh; his parents own it. He considers himself more a fiddler nowadays and no longer manages the place. He was proud that he had a letter published in The Advertiser today. He claims he was up at 3 am to get a copy of the paper so that he could put the letter on his BLOG. His BLOG is somehow connected to Philip Adams and Margot Kingston. (journalist with SMH?) Maybe the BLOG is actually her site?? He is obsessed with Halliburton Company. And why not? (See yourdemocracy.net.au &/or Halliburton.org)

Robert Hodge, a generous spirited chap, talked of wine and grape growing, especially of the vines he tends and makes wine from. He can see no reason why older vines should produce better fruit. The secret is, he claims, older vines get to be so, and so have not been pulled out, because they proved themselves as younger vines.

Wayne Anthony, Tony Short, John Potter.

Wayne Anthoney has started an autobiography. Recently his Mum has had a triple by-pass and his Dad has had a stroke and is the worse affected of the pair.

Two weeks ago, while still in NZ, Tony Short nearly died of an overdose; he was on the blood thinning drug that is the active part of rat poison; Warfarin? He has sold houses in NZ and Adelaide; plans to build on 90 Mile Beach in the far north of NZ and hopes to beachcomb for ambergris. Today he was persistent in pursuing Jim Bowen about the disappearance of the original Hogarth prints.

John Potter is a few weeks into a new job at RAH having previously worked as a psychologist in the Barossa Valley.

Tony Brooks read a news item he’d brought along. It alerted us to the death, by buggery by a stallion, of a man who went to a place that offered legal sex with animals; in California of course. Brooks has a great eye for newspaper items and reads them deliciously.

A nameless person brought the cheapest wine of the day, which was ignored, while he drank only the good ones. When he saw his wine being ignored he poured large serves of it into as many glasses as he could, despite the protests of those who’d made a point of avoiding the wine.

We had a visit from downstairs by Pam (nee Freed) Jacobson, who used to work at Chesser Cellar. She was here, at Chesser Cellar, today with her husband (Where was he? Downstairs?) and the surviving original Chesser Cellar opening partner, Jim Bowen. They were dining to celebrate the life of the other opening partner, Bryce Kinnear, who died a few days ago. Jim Bowen came up and told us the story we’d heard before about the transfer of the wine licence from corner of Hanson (now Hutt?) St. Or did Hanson run the other way? Wakefield Street? At first opening winos turned up from old site but were put off by the 1/6 cost of drinks.

Michael Jacobs’ father was named in an anecdote by Jim Bowen in which he disallowed Jim’s application for wall hung urinals at the original Chesser Cellar opening. Michael retold an anecdote that Dougherty (Nobel Prize winner) had told at a Uni Graduation (or similar) about Neil Armstrong saying, with few hearing, after ‘One step for man, a giant ….’, ‘Good luck Mr Grubowski.’ Thirty or so years before, through a thin wall, Armstrong had heard his neighbour Mr Grubowski asking Mrs Grubowski for some unmentionable sexual pleasure or position, and her replying ‘You won’t get that until the boy next door walks on the moon.’

Paul Lloyd, Jim Bowen (standing) , Malcolm Elliott, Pam (nee Freed) Jacobson (standing), Malcolm Elliott, Lisa Rouse (standing), Primo Caon (standing), Peter Tregilgas, Tony Short.

Jim told of having ‘insiders’ at Megaw & Hogg. He left a successful bid (£350) for the furniture that is now in the Hogarth Room. In 1963 or 1964 that was not as little as it now sounds.

AUGUST

Thursday, August 18, 2005.
Hogarth Club Luncheon. Upstairs at Chesser Cellar, Chesser Street, Adelaide.
Diners: John Bannon, Michael Jacobs, John McGowan, Tony Colebatch, Paul Lloyd (absent while I was there) , Wayne Anthoney, Edmund Pegge, Tony Short, Peter Tregilgas (leaving as I arrived) .
Late arriving non diner: Leo Davis.

The gathering was breaking up when the diarist arrived. Tregilgas and then Bannon left first.

With numbers trimmed to Jacobs, Anthoney, McGowan, Colebatch and me an interesting conversation developed about the death and progress towards dying of parents. It arose out of a discussion of the ‘Grumpy Old Men’ and ‘Grumpy Old Women’ TV series. There were strong elements of misogynist attitudes in the condemnation of the women who were characterised as being obsessed with themselves rather than complaining about others as the men did.

One chap told about the leaving of a body for about 4 days after which a discernible change could be seen, possibly indicating the leaving of the spirit from the body.

Wayne is clearly concerned at having his Dad in a ‘Rest Home’ rather than looking after him at home. He got plenty of re-assurances that his actions were justifiable and the proper and best choice.

Ed Pegge was a surprise diner and he is returning to the UK in early September and says he may never return. In the UK he has a pension card that gives him free public transport, in London. A return bus ticket from his home to the city costs ₤4.00 and he is very pleased with the saving and says ‘Thank you’ to Ken Livingston, Lord Mayor.

DECEMBER

Thursday, December 15, 2005.

Monthly Hogarth Club Luncheon. Hogarth Room, upstairs at Chesser Cellar.
Diners present: Michael Jacobs, Wayne Anthoney, Peter Tregilgas, John Potter, John McGowan, Tony Short, Ed Pegge, Robert ‘Red’ Hodge, Richard Tonkin, Prof Wilfred Prest, Tony Brooks, Paul Lloyd, Leo Davis, Angus Redford, John Bannon, Andrew Bishop, Tony Colebatch, Frank Staltari, Nick Pilla, Rod Wallbridge. Non dining visit: George Belperio.

John McGowan, Lisa Rouse, Wayne Anthoney (who, clearly has some query about the dish served to him), Tony Short, John Potter, Rod Wallbridge, John Bannon, Andrew Bishop.

Clockwise from front left: Angus Redford, Tony Colebatch, Ed Pegge, Michael Jacobs, John McGowan, Lisa Rouse, Wayne Anthoney, Tony Short, John Potter, Rod Wallbridge, John Bannon, Andrew Bishop.

We had a choice of main course. A big lump of steak, with mashed potato (in front of Gus), versus sliced turkey, with roast potato (in front of John). Then shared pumpkin and, Brussel sprouts

Rod Wallbridge, John Bannon, Andrew Bishop.

John McGowan, Peter Tregilgas, John Bannon (standing), Wayne Anthoney, Tony Short, John Potter.

Ed Pegge, Robert ‘Red” Hodge, Paul Lloyd and Wilf Prest with Wayne across the table.

Carols time: Paul Lloyd (flute), Richard Tonkin (fiddle), Wilf Prest, Tony Brooks, Lisa Rouse.

Brooks’ ties are always worth looking at. Often elephants feature. Today there is a Cabernet theme.

George Belperio is telling one of his wonderful ‘true stories’. Frank Staltari has obviously heard it before but Richard Tonkin is attentive.

Throwing themselves into carols; Michael Jacobs (less so), John McGowan, Peter Tregilgas, Wayne Anthoney and a restrained Tony Short.