Musical Dispatch from the Front – Annus Horribilis – January 2026
Frank Baarda
Friends (and others),
Queen Elizabeth II, during her Christmas message, declared 1992 to have been an Annus Horribilis, much to the amusement of non-Latin speakers (most of us).
On 21st April 2026 she would have sent herself a telegram (those too young to know what a telegram is by all means send me an email requesting an explanation). This isn’t to be, neither did she regale us with a 2025 Christmas message. Compared to 2025, annus horribilis 1992 was a Sunday School Picnic.
Let’s hope 2026 works out better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
♫ ♫ ♫ Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry Be Happy (Official Music Video)
At the end of 2025 there was a stabbing at Laramba (142 Km by road from Yuendumu). Within days a man was arrested in Yuendumu.
The ABC News online 29th December:
“A man has faced court charged with the murder of a 35-year-old man in a remote Northern Territory community 200 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.
Greg Shaun Williams, 39, faced the Alice Springs Local Court on Monday after the death of the other man in Laramba on Boxing Day following an alleged assault.”
On the same days the NT News reported as follows
“A man charged with a Boxing Day murder has fronted an NT court, days after a man’s body was found in a remote community in circumstances police deemed suspicious.
Greg Shaun Williams, aged 39, was wide-eyed when he appeared behind the dock in the Alice Springs Local Court on Monday, charged with murder.
His brief mention was over in about five minutes, with no plea entered, or application for bail made.”
Furthermore:
“No detail of the alleged offending was aired in court on Monday.
Behind the dock, Mr Williams was wearing shorts and a bright red, yellow, and black T-shirt.
He stayed silent throughout the mention before Judge Elizabeth Morris, who adjourned his matter to April next year.”
I need to change my mind about the Murdoch press. Without their fearless reporting I would have never known that the alleged murderer wore a bright red, yellow, and black T-shirt and was wide-eyed as he stayed silent as he faced court.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFyOt__GxF0
♫ ♫ ♫ Billy Lockett - Wide Eyed (Official Video)
Cheers
Frank