Daktari's World: September 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

A Maori gunner lay dying
In a paddyfield north of Saigon,
And he said to his pakeha cobber,
"I reckon I've had it, man! '

And if I could fly like a bird
To my old granny's whare
A truck and a winch would never drag
Me back to the Army.

'A coat and a cap and a well-paid job
Looked better than shovelling metal,
And they told me that Te Rauparaha
Would have fought in the Vietnam battle.

'On my last leave the town swung round
Like a bucket full of eels.
The girls liked the uniform
And I liked the girls.

'Like a bullock to the abattoirs
In the name of liberty
They flew me with a hangover
Across the Tasman Sea,

'And what I found in Vietnam
Was mud and blood and fire,
With the Yanks and the Reds taking turns
At murdering the poor.

'And I saw the reason for it
In a Viet Cong's blazing eyes -
We fought for the crops of kumara
And they are fighting for the rice.

'So go tell my sweetheart
To get another boy
Who'll cuddle her and marry her
And laugh when the bugles blow,

'And tell my youngest brother
He can have my shotgun
To fire at the ducks on the big lagoon,
But not to aim it at a man,

'And tell my granny to wear black
And carry a willow leaf,
Because the kid she kept from the cold
Has eaten a dead man's loaf.

'And go and tell Keith Holyoake
Sitting in Wellington,
However long he scrubs his hands
He'll never get them clean.'

James K Baxter 1965

Bring our people home Mr Key

Friday, September 09, 2011

Red Bar tonight

It is with a heavy heart, that I announce the departure of two stalwarts of the prefix evenings, Messrs. Bn1 and Don Buri (thats Mike Wilson's stick it to the man moniker btw) are leaving these shores to escape persecution, and further their studies in the field of ornithology.

To see these brave pillars of society out in style. We have enlisted some Favorites of past and present to assist with tune selection

Bob Daktari
(one of Kerrys various pseudonyms) Bromide proof gain?
Bn1
Neville Bartos
Jonno
Don Buri

Please come and pay your respects by drinking some fine liquor served by Rocky and Alex

Anoraks welcome