Around the time the old Anzacs were coming to the end of their march down George St yesterday, the pubs were filling up. All across town young and old were gearing up for a few good sessions of two-up.
I went to the Sandringham (aka The Sando) in Newtown and after a promising start to go $50 ahead, ended $100 down. That put me about midfield among my mates with one losing $190 and another ending slightly ahead.
You can see why this game is so peculiarly popular in Australia – it’s social, you can play while getting royally pissed, you don’t need anything but a couple of coins. It’s an egalitarian game – a game that can be played everywhere and everyone can join in. And it’s so simple you can be a master in 10 seconds.
Also Aussies like to make a lot of noise. Two-up is all about noise.
According to my research the game originates from a British game called Pitch and Toss. Imported by the convicts this involved one coin. By the 1850s it had evolved into the peculiarly Australian two-coin game which was played with gusto by the Anzacs wherever they went.
The march itself is carried live on TV. Each unit passes marching behind their divisional banner telling where they fought. Mostly now the veterans are from World War II, so the names are Tobruk, Alemain, Borneo, Kokoda and Bougainville. There was only one Word War I veteran in the march here yesterday – one of nine left in Australia. Last year there were, from memory, 14. It is very moving, even if you can’t quite drag your sorry arse out of bed to attend at dawn.
Then there are the traditional sporting fixtures – Essendon v Collingwood in the AFL. It was disappointing, though, there was no Australia/New Zealand test scheduled in any code.
Now, if you’re like me you probably love a good magazine. The problem I’ve been having is finding one. I used to like the lads mags – Loaded, FHM etc but have gotten a bit bored with that lot. I still pick up a Vanity Fair from time to time. It’s hard to beat.
But generally I look at the shelves and walk out of the shop empty handed. I want to buy, but can’t.
Well, some magazine people apparently feel the same way. They’ve left their cozy lurks in the heart of the UK mag publishing trade and went out on their own with Word. The first issue, March, is now on the streets and it’s not bad. I won’t declare it a success just yet but there is some good stuff in here.
The editor says he didn’t want to do a magazine by numbers, so they didn’t do any reader research before launch. His aim was to produce the kind of magazine the Word team would like to read in the belief there were plenty of people out there just like them.
My only criticism is that while Word carries good coverage of music and figures a thirty-something would recognise (Nick Cave, John Peel, Neil Tennant) it doesn’t really deal with whatever the “new new thing” is. In other words if you’re under say 25 you might find it a bit crusty.
That’s a shame because the new new thing isn’t inaccessible even to thirty- and forty-somethings. I hope this will improve because the magazine I have been looking for is one that both understands where I am, like Word, but from time to time also takes me well outside my comfort zone.
Anyway, it’s a brave launch and well worth a look.