abbamail
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Winifred Atwell’s Grave
Being home for Easter is an opportunity to catch up with family, both the living and the dead. And today we visited a few cemeteries around the area, including Memorial Garden at South Gundurimba, about fifteen minutes drive from Lismore. It’s a small cemetery “in the middle of nowhere” with not many graves at all.… Read the rest “Winifred Atwell’s Grave”
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Fikar med Nanne
Aside from the excitement of Melodifestivalen, it’s been a weekend for catchups. Thanks to my long-term involvement in the world of ABBA fans, I’ve met some really great people over the years. I’ve also met some dickheads, but you learn to avoid them after a while. Thankfully, the good outweighs the bad.… Read the rest “Fikar med Nanne”
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Gott Nytt År
Having previously braved the sometimes drunken crowds at Sydney’s nine pm and midnight fireworks, I’ve concluded it’s sometimes just as good to watch them on a television, which is what Graeme and I did last night.
In common with previous years when we have gone out for a drink on NYE, we had only one agreed rule: no cover charge.… Read the rest “Gott Nytt År”
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Dancing Queen
I’ve never really quite got the exercise thing.
As a child I was never really very good at sport as I struggled with hand-eye co-ordination. I was okay at tennis and hockey, and not bad at orienteering, but generally speaking sporting ability has never been one of my strengths.
To be honest, the last time I played sport regularly was about twenty years ago in a Tuesday night tennis competition when I lived in Bourke.… Read the rest “Dancing Queen”
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Nice Bloke
Due to my long-term involvement in the “ABBA Fan Community”, I’ve met people from all over the world. Last year for example as I travelled around Europe I met Marco and Sandra in the Netherlands, and caught up with David (France) and Gustav (Sweden). It’s a part of my life which, I guess sounds a bit odd to a lot of people, but it’s really enriched my life in many ways.… Read the rest “Nice Bloke”
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ABBAMAIL Ends
A dozen years ago I was part of a fairly dysfunctional and heavily moderated mailing list for ABBA fans run by a bloke called James Preston.
Although the vast majority of organised “hard core” ABBA fans are gay men there’s also a large number of fans who feel somewhat uncomfortable with that reality.… Read the rest “ABBAMAIL Ends”
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Stockholm Pride – Day One
As soon as I saw his name in the program, I headed straight for Pride Park. I’m talking about Carl Magnus Palm, the author of six books about ABBA, including “Bright Lights Dark Shadows”, the definitive ABBA biography to date. Oddly enough, the book has never been released in Sweden due to a range of contractual matters.… Read the rest “Stockholm Pride – Day One”