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I should have gone to the Kyneton Cup yesterday. The horse I selected to win, yesterday morning at the radio station, came home. But of course, whenever that happens, Bill doesn’t have a bet on it!!!  That’s the way it goes! In fact of the three selections I gave on the radio, two of them won, and my suggested second place in a third race, won also!! However today, my first ever opportunity to have a look at the traditional third day of the Spring Carnival with Oakes Day, the  essentially fashion and ladies’ day dominating the scene, in some quarters, at the expense of the races.  I have admit that my interest was more with the horses!

Another dull and overcast day, although they are promising us a hot weekend, one prediction being the warmest days since March. We shall wait and see.  Most of the first part of my day was devoted to doing a few online jobs for the VPTA  – hopefully action on my replacement will commence next week with some interviews, to which I believe I’ve been asked to participate in. I also had some preparatory work to get organised for tonight’s radio committee meeting. In between all of that, we did manage to get a bit of a walk in. A good time to go for a walk if you like solitude – not many people around, and most of the activity around the local walking tracks comes from the birds in the area, although even they tend to be less active in the middle of the day, and at present the magpies seem to constantly be the most active of the bird life, whatever time of day it is.

As mentioned yesterday, I caught the train into the city late afternoon to visit my favourite little concert venue – the Melbourne Recital Centre, though not to attend  a concert in the main ‘Elizabeth Murdoch Hall’ tonight, but in the smaller ‘Salon’ as it is referred to. This part of the venue is generally used for the smaller musical ensembles, and/or the shorter one hour concerts, as is the case this evening  – a one hour performance from the Firebird Trio consisting of two regular members – Josephine Vains [on cello] and Benjamin Martin [the leader, on piano] together with guest violinist, Roger Jonsson.

The Salon was set up in a nice cosy little three sided arrangement, intimately close to the Trio, with no set seats for one’s ticket – get there early enough, as I did of course, choose you own seat of preference. The program was called ‘A World In Music’, and featured a varied selection of music for piano, violin and cello. One of the planned items on the agenda was by the composer Joe Chindamo, whose jazz music I have often played on the radio, so I was particularly interested in coming tonight to hear the classical side of his work. Upon arrival, I discovered a change in the program, and his work was not to be played.

Anyway, the program opened with a  Piano Trio by a composer from Catalonia [Spain] whom I was not familiar with – Gaspar Cassado [1897-1966), and much of his work was created during the time of Franco’s dictatorship in Spain. Not surprisingly, this work, in three movements was rich in Spanish ornamentation and expression, and I enjoyed the music. Though again, I found myself right from the beginning of the program, feeling quite tired, not helped no doubt by two consecutive poor sleeping nights, and at times, I almost had to consciously keep myself from drifting off  – didn’t want to succumb to that embarrassment!

Polite applause at the conclusion, the players off the stage briefly, then back for two items  – a short work by Sir Edward Elga called ‘Salut d’Amour, which seemed to be over before it began. That was followed by the replacement composer instead of Chindamo – one Terry Riley [b. 1935] who apparently rose to prominence among modernist music circles in the early 1960s. His composition called ‘Salome Dances for Peace’ was initially written for the Kronos Quartet, but with the composer’s permission and approval, our pianist [Benjamin Martin] rearranged the composition  for a piano trio, as played tonight. Speaking about the piece, Martin said ‘I thought that it should be a ballet about Salome using her alluring powers to actually create peace in the world, so Salome in this case becomes like a goddess who – drawn out of antiquity; having done evil kinds of things –reincarnates and is trained as a sorceress, as a shaman. And through her dancing, she is able to become both a warrior and an influence on the world leader’s actions’.  Interesting summation. The work tendered to have similar techniques in sound to people like Phillip Glass, whose music I also play quite a bit, especially when I want to present something ‘different’.

Another short off-stage’ break for the Trio, and then it was back for the Frank Martin [1890-1975] composition ‘Piano Trio on Irish Folk Tunes’, written in 1925. I don’t know if the composer and pianist are related, that was not referred to. I’ve recorded or copied some of Frank Martin’s music from a vinyl recording I was given, to a CD, so I was familiar with this man, who was a contemporary of Stravinsky, perhaps a reason why his name is not as well recognised as other composers. His namesake writes again, in the program notes –  ‘The work has  an interesting genesis in that Martin was originally commissioned by an Irish-American patron to write a trio on Irish tunes, presumably along the lines of Danny Boy. However, Frank Martin – inspired by his immersion in Parisian culture between 1923-25 and certain Irish folk melodies that he found in the Biblioteque National des Paris – produced a complex contrapuntal and modal work that resulted in the patron refusing to pay’. However, Martin apparently persisted with what he had created, being a composer more interested in validating his works, rather than popularising them. Good for him! It was music to appreciate, with or without a knowledge of Irish folk tunes, and ignoring the fact that most of them incorporated into the music, I didn’t know or recall!

I didn’t wait around to join the musicians in a drink and a chat, not really my scene or style, and like the concert of a week or so ago [the percussion music], I had enjoyed both the music, and the shortness of the performance itself, which apart from anything else, enabled me to catch an earlier train back to Sunbury –  the Bendigo 8.15pm departure!!

That was last night.  Tonight – Committee Meeting for the radio station.  Meanwhile, thankfully, after spending most of the afternoon cooking a roast, Susie was around for a meal tonight, which I managed to have ready and prepared in plenty of time for a reasonable departure to the meeting. That activity [the meeting] occupied a full 2 hours, and once again, it was a good feeling to be a part of a cohesive and cooperative management team. Whilst I can’t admit to having a complete understanding of all aspects of the purchase, the station has undertaken a number of useful technical innovations over the past 12 months or so, and administratively, is operating in a most effective manner, a substantial improvement on the earlier years when I  first became a part of the operations. True, there are still areas of concern which I believe [and continually raise as points of issue] need further attention and improvement, not the least of which relates to programming and the  attitude and approach to their role by some presenters. Whilst it is true that we are all very much volunteers, to my mind, that is never an excuse to avoid trying to sound and present as professionally as we possibly can. That view is not always agreed with or held by all of us occasionally. A side of the station that I will continue to push for in terms of culture and attitude.

This morning was the 3^rd in the last four mornings that I have  up to the radio station before 7am – this morning, just for my weekly Wednesday 10 minute local sporting results segment, on Ron’s program.  After a very poor night’s constantly broken sleep, it was the last thing I felt like doing, and before I actually got out onto the road, was thinking seriously of making this a phone ring-in segment rather than actually going up to the studio. It made sense in many ways, and in fact, after this morning’s visit, Ron asked me if I’d prefer to do the report by phone. We decided to play it by ear – take each week as it comes, and he was happy with that arrangement. Certainly, it was another commitment that I didn’t like to break, and while Ron continued to be on air, and wanted the segment to continue, I’d stick with it. In the end, I was usually happy to be up early, a quiet time of day when certain jobs could be attended to with still the whole day ahead.

A couple of ‘distant’ relatives that I have met over the past year or so, both have birthdays today, and I remembered to send both Alma and Leslie, living in different parts of the UK, an appropriate greeting this morning.  Interesting response from the latter  –  “Thank you cuz. Will be spending it at work ! ♥ ♥” .  In the past twelve months or so, I have through my family history research come across a number of ‘new cousins’ of various degrees of connection, etc. Has been an interesting time.

I made reference at the conclusion of yesterday’s entry to the Reserve Bank decision to cut interest rates.]  Australia’s biggest home lenders cut mortgage rates soon after the central bank reduced the cash rate for the first time since April 2009. Westpac took just 15 minutes to pass on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) 0.25 percentage point rate cut in full on Tuesday. It will lower its standard variable home loan rate (SVR) to 7.61 per cent from November 14. Westpac is the nation’s second biggest mortgage lender by market share, Bank of Queensland (BOQ), and Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Australia’s biggest home lender, followed suit, cutting their SVR to 7.61 per cent and 7.56 per cent respectively. BOQ’s rate cut will take effect on November 11, and CBA’s on November 4. ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank (NAB) said their interest rates were under review. This followed on from  the decision yesterday by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut interest rates for the first time since April 2009, and handing borrowers ‘a win’ on Melbourne Cup Day.  The central bank eased the official cash rate by 25 basis points, down to 4.5 per cent.  Prime Minister Julia Gillard had earlier declared that all banks should match the RBA’s reduction. “Australian banks should pass on this interest rate cut in full,” Ms Gillard said.\ “I said this morning on the media that if the RBA cut interest rates today Australian banking customers would be looking to their banks to cut interest rates in full.  “I believe that’s what the Australian people want to see.”   In a report on AAP by economist Garry Shilson-Josling, he writes that 

‘The interest rate cut announced by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday was well anticipated in financial markets. There was some doubt among economists as to its timing, though almost all expected the move in the cash rate to 4.5 per cent from 4.75 per cent to come either this month or in December. The cut was the sixth consecutive move in rates on the first Tuesday in November, the day the Melbourne Cup is run.  But this timing is not due to any attempt by the RBA to make up for the losses most punters rack up on the notoriously hard-to-pick horse race. In fact it’s because the quarterly consumer price index (CPI) figures are released at the end of October, and inflation figures often confirm a course of action the RBA has been considering. That was also the case this time around. In its announcement, the RBA said the economy was facing “moderate growth overall”, with strong mining-related investment being offset by caution among households and the high exchange rate. “Accordingly, the Bank’s current judgement is that inflation is likely to be consistent with the two to three per cent target in 2012 and 2013, abstracting from the impact of the carbon pricing scheme,” the RBA said. The RBA said the 4.75 per cent cash rate had been “mildly restrictive”, in response to its earlier concerns that inflation was tending towards the top of the target range, or even higher. “With overall growth moderate, inflation now likely to be close to target and confidence subdued outside the resources sector, the Board concluded that a more neutral stance of monetary policy would now be consistent with achieving sustainable growth and two to three per cent inflation over time,” the RBA said.

There was no direct pointer to the likely path of rates from here. The weakness in the non-resources sector could prompt further rate cuts. Some evidence to support that possibility emerged even as the RBA’s board met on Tuesday morning. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data showing the price of established homes had fallen 1.2 per cent in the September quarter to be 3.3 per cent down from their peak last year Those figures confirmed monthly figures from RP Data on Monday, showing a fall of 0.2 per cent in prices of all dwellings between August and September, to a level 3.6 per cent below last year’s high. Earlier on Tuesday, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said the number of new homes sold by large building firms fell in September to the lowest level in over a decade. At the same time, though, the mining boom is not going away. Before the next RBA board meeting, the ABS will release its survey of business capital spending, which should confirm the once-in-a-century, economy-stretching splurge on fixed capital is still under way. Most likely, the RBA has not decided what it will do next and, like everyone else, will now focus on the flow of economic data before it comes to a firm view.’

Meantime, here in Victoria, and in the Melbourne area over the past few days, we have seen a number of tragic car accidents involves young people and families, most of which it seems could have been avoided. Sadly, while these are generally referred to as accidents, in many cases, they occur as a result of one party breaking the traffic laws in some manner, either through carelessness or inattention, or outright criminal disregard for the relevant road rules. There is a huge outpouring of grief and comment whenever one of our soldiers is killed in Afghanistan, and yet there are regular much larger and tragic statistics arising from our ‘peaceful’ roads every week, and in most cases, those ‘accidents’ receive a paragraph if they are ‘lucky’ in the daily media!  This situation never ceases to disturb this writer, something I’ve commented upon numerous times in the past.  While on another sad aspect of current news, we have been hearing overnight and reading this morning of  the sinking of another boatload of asylum seekers.  The boat, which left from Cilacap in Central Java with a crew of three, was carrying about 70 asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Iran. It capsized near Nusakambangan Island between West Java and Central Java about 5am local time (0900 AEDT) on Tuesday after taking on water for about two hours.  It is reported to have left Cilacap at 2am and around 3am their ship leaked. At 5am, their ship already sank and was found by local fishermen.  The refugees were believed to have mostly come from Iran and Afghanistan and were heading to Kupang initially, and then to Australia

On December 15 last year, up to 50 people died when their wooden boat was smashed into pieces on Christmas Island’s rocky shoreline. Another boat, carrying 92 asylum seekers and two crew, was intercepted off the Australian coast last Tuesday and that was the sixth boat to arrive since the federal government was forced to abandon its Malaysian people swap deal because of a parliamentary impasse last month.  Surely, better efforts must be undertaken to create safer pathways for these people, to avoid the necessity of getting onto leaky boats and/or paying exorbitant amounts to people smugglers in the hope of getting to Australia. It is simply not good enough for the immediate Opposition response to the latest tragedy to emphasise the blame on the people smugglers –  instead of constantly calling for the turning of asylum seekers away, we need a more humane approach to the processing of their claims and even finding a means of getting them here to Australia from places like Indonesia and Malaysia ‘before’ they get on those boats. That is at least an attempt to help these people. Merely creating policies to ‘stop the boats’ does nothing to help desperate people in need of assistance and a safe place to live. Sadly, many Australians will disagree with any suggestion of bringing refugees into this country, but be that on their own conscience [if they have one], we must do things better here in Australia!

Now the day after the Melbourne Cup, the little rural town north of here holds their annual Cup –  the ‘Kyneton Cup’  –  I would in fact have gone up to Kyneton today, for an afternoon at some country races [though the Cup has a city standard field], but with a concert ticket in hand for a 6pm start in the city, can’t do both!!  Kyneton will have to be another day – in fact, Ron at the radio expressed an interest in going to a future meeting up there, when I saw him this morning!   Actually, it would not have been a very warm day up at the windy Kyneton Racecourse – we seem to be heading back towards a much cooler kind of Spring weather, not exactly wintry, but I must admit that the heater has been off and on over the past few days!!  And while there didn’t appear to have been any rain in the city this evening, when I got back to Sunbury at around 9pm, on the train, it had obviously been raining quite a bit in the town.  As for the concert, we’ll summarise that tomorrow – the musicians were the ‘Firebird Trio’!!

Not a very good sleep, and your writer was back up at the radio station by 6.30am –  no need to be there, as I had no commitment to the station, just a commitment to myself, and my annual little visit for an hour at this time each year, to present my little Melbourne Cup Preview.

Which I did  – went through the whole program of ten races, giving listeners my selections for what they are worth, of the nine non-Cup races, and then after a bit of music, we looked at the Cup field itself, which is listed below.  Also, I was lucky enough to have recordings of the closing stages of the first eleven Melbourne Cups trained by Bart Cummings, starting with Light Fingers in 1965, plus one or two others –  Rising Sun in 1954, and my favourite Cup Winner, Rain Lover, the winner in 1968 and 1969.

Melbourne Cup Field 2011

1. Americain  –  G Mosse [A De Royer-Dupre]
2. Jukebox Jury – N Callan  [Mark Johnston]
3. Dunaden –   L.Lemaire  [Mikel Delzangles]
4. Drunken Sailor – D Dunn [LM Cumani]
5. Glass Harmonium – Ms L Cropp [MD Moroney]
6. Manighar – D Oliver [LM Cumani]
7. Unusual Suspect – B Rawiller [MC Kent]
8. Fox Hunt – S De Sousa [Mark Johnston]
9. Lucas Cranach – C Brown [Anthony Freedman]
10. Mourayan – J Bowman [Robert Hickmott] [SCRATCHED]
11. Precedence – D Beadman [JB Cummings]
12. Red Cadeaux – M Rodd [Ed Dunlop]
13. Hawk Island – G Schofield [CJ Waller]
14. Illo – J Cassidy [JB Cummings]
15. Lost In The Moment – W Buick [Saeed Bin Suroor]
16. Modun – K McEvoy [Saeed Bin Suroor]
17. At First Sight – S King [Robert Hickmott]
18. Moyenne Corniche – B Prebble [Brian Elison]
19. Saptapadi – C Symons [Brian Elison]
20. Shamrocker – L Nolen [DT O’Brien]
21. The Verminator – C Newitt [CJ Waller]
22. Tullamore – C Munce [Ms Gai Waterhouse]
23. Niwot – D Yendall [MW & J Hawkes
24. Older Than Time – T Clark [Ms Gai Waterhouse].

Disappointment of the day came for popular jockey Craig Williams, who was to have ridden international visitor, Dunaden – in fact he had a number of rides on Cup day, but yesterday lost an appeal against a suspension for careless riding at a country race meeting a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, before we proceed any further, here are my tips for the 2011 Melbourne Cup:

• 1^st: NO. 9 – Lucas Cranach
• 2^nd: No. 14 – Illo
• 3^rd: No. 7 – Unusual Suspect
• 4^th: No. 17 – At First Sight.

I would like to see JB [Bart] Cummings win his 13^th Melbourne Cup as a trainer – he has two chances in today’s race –  one of my choices, Illo, and Precedence. We shall return later in the day with an outcome – Melbourne Cup, worth $A6 million, and run over 3,200 metres, at 3pm Eastern Australian Summer time. Some of the family are coming over to watch the race with me, later today, as is our annual practice.

10am: a scratching in the Cup – No. 10 Mourayan

Well here we are back, it’s early evening, and it all feels like a bit of an anti-climax with the Cup over for another year, monies won and lost [all the latter for me], a new hero in the records, and the closest finish in the history of the Cup. For your writer, it was a pleasant afternoon – for the first time for many years, the whole of the family came and joined me at home, to watch this year’s Melbourne Cup, and a number of the other races on the program –  all four ‘kids’ [I’d not expected the boys but both apparently decided family was the preferred option this year], together with their Mum, Shirley, her mother, and Jodie’s boyfriend, Ash. As usual, Mrs Seipolt brought over a pile of food [I’d being told there was no need to do anything in that respect], and during the course of races, we conducted the usual of mini family sweeps on both the Cup, and some of the other races associated with the day. And as usual, while I provided the majority of the ‘funds’ for that, nothing came back to me in return[none of my horse ‘came in’] while Shirley seemed to take off the major share of winnings, yet once again!!!  But it was a fun afternoon, and I enjoyed having everyone together for a change. 

And the race result!  Well ‘my’ predictions of this morning, didn’t really come about, not surprisingly  – the Melbourne Cup with a big field of 23 well credentialed horses is never an easy race in which to pick a winner [is any race??].  Another French horse, with French connections won the 151st running of the Melbourne Cup in a photo finish from Red Cadeaux, with Lucas Cranach third in another photo from favourite Americain [last year’s overseas winner].   Champion Australian jockey Craig Williams has had his heart broken after Dunaden, the horse he was set to ride, was awarded the race in the closest finish in Cup history.   Williams was suspended the week before for careless riding and failed in his bid for a stay of proceedings pending an appeal. Replacement jockey Christophe Lemaire timed his run perfectly to reach the post almost simultaneously with Red Cadeaux. Might you, this is not to say that Dunaden would have won if Williams had been riding, but that is the general perception anyway. It certainly was an exciting finish with a number of fast finishing chances, and the decision on the photo  took an eternity while it  was heavily scrutinised. The crowd, which had roared as a wall of runners all had their chances in the closing stages, held their breaths as the results board remained blank. The photo, shown on the big screen, had many predicting the first dead-heat in Cup history, but the judges were finally able to separate the two horses by the barest of margins.  American had retained favouritism for the race despite the fact Dunaden had beaten him in Europe. Dunaden had a greater weight advantage this time, allowing the French stayer to repeat the result. British trained Red Cadeaux was having his first start in Australia and very nearly won for trainer Ed Dunlop at his first attempt. German horse Lucas Cranach completed the European trifecta for Lee and Anthony Freedman, and as indicated earlier in the day, had being my selection to win the race.

Meanwhile, the sky over Flemington, and Melbourne in general,  threatened all day, but the rain failed to fall and the track was upgraded to a good three. Concern rippled through the camps of the European raiders, who almost every year campaign to have the track softened up to suit their horses. I notice that the rider of American commented after the race on the hardness of the track. Anyway, here is the finishing order of this year’s competing horses in the Melbourne Cup.  Those horses highlighted were the four I had in my top four placings!!!  I didn’t lose too much money – not a big better, but then, I didn’t win anything either.

2011 Melbourne Cup Results and Finishing Order

And while all of this was going on,  the Reserve Bank of Australia which always meets on the 1^st Tuesday of the month [it was not a holiday in Canberra], decided in their wisdom to reduce interest rates [though I’m sure they were not actually making that decision whilst the Cup was in progress!].  We might make a brief reference to that decision, and it’s potential outcomes, tomorrow.

I imagine that the roads would have been quieter than usual today – with tomorrow a public holiday in Melbourne – yes, for a horse race –  there would be many people making a long weekend of the occasion, and taking today off!! For me, that’s permanent now, a day off!

And it was a pretty quiet one – also very cold unusually for this time of October, with cloudy overcast conditions restricting the sunshine appearances to just brief moments throughout the day. In the city, in contrast to the ;invasion’ by protestors a week or so ago, there were thousands of extra visitors, there to join in the annual Melbourne Cup Parade – of trainers, jockeys, and other racing personalities –  something akin to the football grand final parades before the last Saturday in September each year.  Needless to say, the most important ‘people’ connected with the Melbourne Cup – the horses – do not participate in this parade!! But I was far away from all that – and from the continuing turmoil associated with the QANTAS airport lockouts with their planes grounded around the world. It’s times like that I am rather pleased that I don’t need to be affected by that kind of situation, though I’m wondering if my brother is Sydney has been caught out, as he does a lot of flying.

Last week, we submitted the Weekly Times top 20 Greatest Country Australians, and like a lot of people obviously, I was a little surprised to see the infamous bush ranger,  Ned Kelly, slotted in at No. 6. The message from many readers was –  no, not Ned!!!  Kelly, variously lauded as a political activist or sullied as a career criminal – some of the views of his selection were not very favourable.  For example, one comment said that Kelly’s ‘inclusion belittles all the other greats listed in this series’, while another considered that the reference to Kelly as a ‘Robin Hood’ figure was ‘sheer romantic fiction’, and that ‘it seems the word famous or infamous has been misinterpreted as being a synonym for greatest, which is clearly not the cased’. Others were ‘simply appalled’.  One other comment made was that ‘When Ned Kelly was captured [prior to his subsequent execution] the contents of his pockets were three revolvers, some ammunition, a threepence and a lady’s Geneva watch. We don’t hear much about that these days’.  I have to agree, and consider the choice totally inappropriate, despite the legacy is some aspects of Australian history depicting him as a folk hero. It makes you wonder what some of the other recipients of the ‘honour’ of being included in that listing feel about their choice alongside a criminal and murderer who was hung in disgrace for his crimes?

Quiet day, I forgot that Parliament was sitting again this week, forgot to tune in to Question Time!!  Perhaps a good thing, would have disturbed the peace of the day.  A long one  – up at the radio station from 8.30 until midnight, another enjoyable 3 hours or so of music, etc, but I made sure I finished on time, in view of the fact that I was planning to back here in under 7 hours!

To be honest, I really did not feel like getting up this morning for my radio program, but needless to say, we did!!!  And while as usual, I enjoyed playing the selection of music I had put together for the show, I did remain somewhat ‘weary’ throughout my time on air. Hopefully it didn’t come over that way. The weather prediction was cloudy with showers, and a top temperature of just 17 degrees. It was actually quite mild when I left home, but by 9.30am upon my return, it was drizzling rain, and almost wintry conditions again. Springtime in Melbourne  – we can get all climates rolled up into one day!!

Apart from the news headlines which were dominated by substantial reporting of the decision by Qantas, in light of various recent industrial actions, to ground it’s complete fleet for a couple of days, and the uproar and chaos that was causing within the travel industry [and enlivening public debate on the social websites],  the other news of an even more grave nature was that overnight, three Australian soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan and up to seven wounded, in another of those situations where an enemy dressed as one of ours, went on the attack. Nine News reported earlier this morning that:-

  ‘The Defence Department has confirmed that three Australian soldiers have been killed and seven others wounded by a rogue Afghan soldier in the volatile south of Afghanistan. The department says an Afghan interpreter was also killed in the incident. The Australian soldiers wounded are being treated at ISAF medical facilities. The shooting occurred during morning parade at 8.30am (1500 AEDT) on Saturday at Shah Wali Kot in Kandahar province, the ABC reported. NATO says two Australian diggers were killed and the third later died of his injuries after “an individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform apparently turned his weapon on Afghan and coalition forces”. It said the shooter was also killed in the incident, but gave no further details. General Abdul Hameed, commander of 205 Atal corps in the south, said an Afghan soldier with three years’ experience had carried out the shooting. “At around 8.30 this morning (3pm AEDT), an ANA soldier named Darwish who had been serving as an ANA soldier for the past three years opened fire on a group of Australian military officers, killing three of them,” said Hameed. “The attacker was also gunned down by ISAF soldiers.”

It’s not the first time an Afghan soldier has killed an Australian soldier. In May this year, 25-year-old Lance Corporal Andrew Gordon Jones was shot dead by a rogue ANA soldier at the Patrol Base Marshal in the Chora Valley. Fears of infiltration within the Afghan army ranks have risen as Western backers fund and train a huge expansion of the fledgling national force ahead of the withdrawal of all foreign combat forces scheduled for 2014. The announcement came as a suicide car bomber in the capital Kabul struck a US-run NATO bus travelling through the southwest of the city, killing at least 17 people, including 13 US soldiers. The death of the three diggers on Saturday is the single worst incident involving Australians since June last year when three members of the Sydney-based 2nd Commando Regiment died in a helicopter crash in Kandahar province. A total of 32 Australian soldiers have now been killed in a decade of involvement in Afghanistan.  Well past time we got out of that country!!

It’s amazing, but on those nights when there would seem to be no reason why one can’t have a decent sleep, this writer wakes before 4am, and then his mind begins to go over a range of matters that need future attention, instead of closing down again for more sleep!!! Annoying practice, that mind of mine! Wandered down to the kitchen, made a cup of tea, and returned to bed, where a bit of reading took place until around 5am! Then thankfully, managed another couple of hours snoozing/dreaming, before arising and going into down for a bit of early Saturday morning shopping before the crowds and traffic built up. Amongst other things, I was looking for some decent carpet shampoo, being very disappointed with the particular carpet that is in this house ever since we moved in  – have tried various means of improving it’s look including bringing in the professionals on one occasion but still not happy with the outcome. I was even down on my hands and knees last night – a sight not to be seen – scrubbing away at annoying little marks, but decided there has to be a better way!! Meanwhile, I’ve been blamed for a ‘broken’ vacuum  cleaner,  and told that ‘we need a new one’, another expense to add to the ever growing list of items I’ve suddenly discovered we are currently in need of!!

Anyway, we have another Saturday, and another dull overcast and potentially wet one  –  why does the rain always wait until Saturday, or pour down Friday night and drench all of the cricket pitches!!  I feel for Adam, another’s day’s cricket spoilt potentially. I see that he has been selected in Sunbury’s senior team [B Grade] again for an away game against Riddell. If the weather fines up and it looks like they might get some play in, I might make the trip up the road for a bit of a look, though the forecast is not encouraging.

Meanwhile we can expect a possibly damp and stormy afternoon at the Flemington  races today  –  first day of the four day Melbourne Cup carnival, with today’s program including the Victoria Derby over 2,500 metres, and the MacKinnon Stakes over 2,000 metres. They are two of four Group One races on the program plus  two Group Two, and three Group Three races on a nine race program, a sensation al line-up of outstanding horses. I’m looking forward to this afternoon’s coverage!  Yesterday, I was speaking of Bart Cumming’s book. Bart has three horses running today, but none of them are certainties at adding to his enormous list of winners. In Race 3 [the Wakeful Stakes, Gp 2], he has ‘Gliding’, a chance, at odds of $10 this morning.  For the MacKinnon Stakes, he has ‘Precedence’, quoted at $31, not too hopeful, while in the Derby, Bart is running the $101 chance, ‘Rapidus’.  I shall keep a track on how those three horses perform today. Many of the horses competing today are entered in the Melbourne Cup next Tuesday, and perhaps for some of them, whether they run or not will depend on today’s performances. I think the final barrier draw and acceptances takes place this evening at the conclusion of today’s program.

My early tip for the Melbourne Cup [if it got a run] was Green Moon [2^nd in the Caulfield Cup a fortnight ago]. It ran in Race 2 [The Lexus Stakes] and a win, as favourite, would get it a place in the Melbourne Cup. The horse led for most of the race setting a fast pace. But when challenged in the strait, well Green Moon had nothing to give, and finished 2^nd last of 13 starters!! Need to rethink my Cup choices!!  After the first four races, the jockey/trainer combination of Kerrin McEvoy and Peter Snowden had scored wins in Races 1 and 4. [Galah and Sepoy], while Bart Cumming’s starter in Race 3, Gliding, came home  in 4^th position. Next on the card was the $1million McKinnon Stakes, Bart’s horse is No. 6 Precedence. Won by a horse that ‘played up’ at the barriers, Glass Harmonium ridden by Damien Oliver  –  for that jockey, it was nine years ago today, that his brother in a riding accident. Oliver rode in the Melbourne Cup a few days later, and won the race [for his brother, as he said he did today].  A film currently being screened in Melbourne called ‘The Cup’ tells that story, and I really must get to see it before it disappears from the cinemas. As for Precedence, Bart’s horse finished 9^th out of 12 starters but still managed to earn a start in the Melbourne Cup [one of two horses that Bart has in the Cup this year, the other being Illo, runner this year]. As for the Victoria Derby, this race saw the third win in a row in that race by a New Zealand horse – this time it was Sangster! It was a close finish with Induna, trained by the so far winning combination of Peter Snowden & jockey Kerrin McEvoy just missing out on a third win for the day. In fact that duo this afternoon collected 2 wins, 2 seconds and 1 third placing for the day. Meanwhile, jockey Damien Oliver had a good day on his brother’s anniversary with three winning rides, 2 seconds and a third. Incidentally, Bart Cumming’s horse in the Victoria Derby, Rapidus, finished in 14^th position [of 16 starters], not a very successful afternoon for him!

The other important factor about this afternoon –  the weather stayed fine for the whole day, which was great for the fashions at the races, if that’s what turned you on, and it was also a good Omen for Adam’s cricket match up at Riddell.   A message later in the evening told me that his team had won the game, but no other details provided.

Following today’s races, the final field of 24 was drawn up for Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, and as I shall be referring to that race in some detail on Tuesday, will leave the line up until that morning!

Bit of a quiet, almost lonely night at home this evening. Susie had disappeared late morning, and apparently didn’t get home until near midnight, although oddly I didn’t hear the car come in, so would not be aware that she was home until next morning.  I guess I was a little worried, or perhaps, more annoyed, that I had no idea where she was, and apart from her mobile phone which is never on when I ring, had no way of contacting her, should that be necessary. I was admittedly, tempted to ring/message just to see if it was likely she would return tonight, but decided against doing that, would surely not be appreciated!!  Shirley called around briefly during the afternoon – initially to borrow my lawnmower, but she had decided she was too tired to bother today, just dropped off some more material for her tax return which she had asked me to do. Although nothing had been said to me, I mentioned that a certificate I’d noticed in her room indicated she had successfully undertaken a program of working with young Indigenous people, which sounded promising – Shirley was aware she had been looking at something of that nature, but as I indicated, it was news to me. As was my response when asked where she was today –  I’ve no idea!!! [I think I would later notice a comment on Face Book that she had amongst other things, being at an engagement party, for friend Rachel].

My day began, doing a bit of online work for the VPTA, who were still depending on me [from a distance] to process and record payments etc, while arrangements were still being made to get a replacement person for me. I didn’t mind doing that, as I would be paid for it, and hopefully would only be for a short period. I will probably have to go into the office on one or two occasions, but in the meantime, things are working satisfactorily from the home base connection.

I paid my first post-retirement visit to Centrelink where I think I am going to have to relearn the art of ‘patient waiting’ for one to be attended to.  Centrelink is the trading name of the Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency, a statutory authority responsible for delivering human services on behalf of agencies of the Commonwealth of Australia. The majority of Centrelink’s services are the disbursement of social security payments, and it’s client agencies provide funding for payments and are responsible for policy development, including development of social security entitlement and payment policies, and generally provides a range of health, social and welfare payments and services throughout Australia.  I’ve dealt with them on two or three previous occasions in-between jobs and periods of unemployment. Like it or not, my purpose of utilizing their services now is in order to acquire the ‘old age’ pension  – in some ways, a depressing thought, but on the other hand, a fact of my life I can no longer avoid or ignore.  So overall, this morning I was tied up with visiting banks, chemists, etc, seeking out copies of statements, current balances, etc prior to visiting the Centrelink office.

Meanwhile, this afternoon, I drove over to the Sunbury Cemetery, where the special dedication service was being held for the opening of a new rotunda, and the unveiling of the large set of memorial plagues which had been established in memory of the almost 1900 individuals, who had died, whilst patients and/or  residents of the various mental institutions that had been a large part of Sunbury’s history, and to which I referred in yesterday’s contribution on these pages.  Quite a large turn up of local and other interested persons together with all of the official party etc, with proceedings conducted by local councillor and chairman of the Cemetery Trust, Jack Ogilvie, who I spoke to on the phone during Wednesday morning’s radio program. In another part of this cemetery, is an additional plague, created as the creation of the Sunbury Family History Society [of which there were a number of us present today] for some 72 children who had been buried in unmarked graves between 1864 and 1879 from those same institutions [as the Industrial School as it then was]. An enormous degree of research had led to the creation of that monument also.

Shortly before I left my place of employment, I was given a rather unexpected ‘retirement’ gift by one of the public tenants, a nice enough guy, but one who had given [and continues to do so] a lot of ‘grief’ to the organisation. However, that aggro never was applied to me personally, and as with most of those I was involved with, I always had a good working relationship with Bob. Presumably, by the gift gesture, he felt the same way. Well chosen, it was Bart Cumming’s story, in a book written just prior to the 2009 Melbourne Cup [at which point Cummings had already trained 12 Melbourne Cup winners].  Simply titled ‘BART’ my life by J B Cummings and first published in 2009, I completed the reading of that book late this afternoon. My comment upon completion – a ‘very good read’ and an interesting insight into the life of one of Australia’s most successful racehorse trainers, who continues to this day, in his early 80’s [he will turn 84 this November] – particularly relevant, when for most of us, he has a real mystery of a persona, or as one writer put it  – ‘In the pantheon of Australian sporting icons, James Bartholomew Bart Cummings AM stands alongside Sir Donald Bradman. Known to his tens of thousands of fans as the Cups King, Bart is arguably Australia’s greatest ever horse trainer. For over five decades he’s been at the very top of his profession, yet the man himself remains a fascinating and intriguing mystery’.

In the book, Cummings recounts his early years as his father’s apprentice, leading to his first Group One win in 1958. He never looked back. In over half a century as a trainer Bart had won 254 Group One races [at the time the book was published, but the achievement that will almost certainly never be matched is his incredible tally of twelve Melbourne Cup wins from his first triumph with Light Fingers in 1965 to View’s stunning victory in 2008.  Because of his Melbourne Cup successes, he is generally known as the ‘Cups King’.  As suggested, I enjoyed his book, and I think the following quotations from the closing pages sum up the man himself and his attitude to race horses. From pps 352-353:-

“My training methods have always put the horse first. I am a gentle person by nature, and thoroughbreds seem to respond to that. They are not machines, and they do not exist for the purpose of makming money out of racing for their owners. Sometimes they have that innate will to win, it’s just part of their make-up, the same as with humans; and sometimes it needs some gentle coaxing to bring it out. But there’s no point overdoing it – force it and you get the opposite result. Once I saw one of my strappers nagging a horse, and I said, ‘You keep growling and you’ll be growling out the gate.’ If a fellow is going to kick the Khyber out of a horse because it treads on his toes, you end up with a horse shrivelling up in a corner. The horse is thinking right, which means he is not thinking about winning, he’s thinking about what is frightening him. He doesn’t sleep well and he doesn’t travel well. You can walk in on some of ours when they are lying down in the boxes and they won’t even get up, because they know you aren’t going to hurt them. Being a horse can be just like going to hospital. A fellow won’t go to hospital if he thinks the matron is going to belt him up……………….Valmae [his wife and lifetime companion] says I love the horses more than I love people because the horses don’t answer back. But they do answer back, in their own language, and my eyes and ears are open to what they are saying. They are continually sending us messages. The ability to listen –p to horses, and to humans – is something I learnt from my father, but also it is something I have refined through my own efforts. I am known as a man of few words because I am much more interested in what I can learn from others than in extolling my own so-called genius……I don’t like talking myself up, or my horses. I prefer to listen to others and let my results do the talking for me”.

I probably won’t ever get comfortable to lying in of a morning – work or not, it always seems like a waste of time, when things could be getting done.  I guess the difference is the absence now of a regular commitment, and the opportunity to do some morning writing, etc, on here as that always feels the best time of day to do so!  First thing this morning, I exchanged a couple of emails with Jackie at the VPTA  – they are having a few difficulties with the Bendigo Bank in changing over authorisations etc apparently! Meanwhile, she has asked me to  come in on the 8^th November to assist with the interviews for the replacement person for my job. Happy to do so.

Spent the day at home, including some work in the garden again, and a late morning walk around part of my usual walking tracks. And chasing up various financial related matters. One day hopefully, all these things will get organised, but busy day ahead tomorrow visiting banks, Centrelink, etc, etc!!

Meanwhile, I referred yesterday to the memorial ceremony for the ‘forgotten souls’ of the various institutions that used to dominant the highest point of Sunbury [Jacksons Hill] until about 20 years ago.  One organisation which continues to do a lot of good work around Sunbury is ‘Citizen Advocacy Sunbury’.  This was established in 1985 in response to the appalling conditions and situations the residents of Caloola faced [another name for those institutions]. In many cases, residents were isolated, alone and vulnerable, barring them from mainstream society. And this was just 26 years ago, two years after I came to Sunbury!  It was also the final stage in a long history of Sunbury’s ‘hill’. In 1864, an industrial school opened at Sunbury, and this was developed to educate and house destitute children from 1864 until 1879 [many of those children ended up in the unmarked graves which are to be dedicated with a plague at the Cemetery tomorrow].  From an article in Wikipedia, we read that:

A 1,000-acre (4.0 km²) site was put aside in Sunbury following the implementation of the Neglected and Criminal Children’s Act of 1864. Destitute or orphaned children were sent as wards of the state to learn a trade in the belief that this may then provide them with the skills necessary (once they were old enough), to provide and care for themselves. The school was co-educational  although girls and boys were segregated. Boys were expected to learn a trade while girls were expected to handle menial tasks such as washing clothes, cleaning floors and to assist with cooking. The school consisted of ten large, unheated, bluestone  buildings arranged in two rows of five [these buildings still exist on the hill]. Located on the side of Jackson’s Hill, they were called the Hill Wards. The open and exposed position of the buildings led to frequent illness and constant poor health of the children. The children were given rancid food, that they ate in their own rooms that by the time they received it, was cold. The children were given only a little water, no bedding, save for a blanket and many affected by Opthalmia  , went untreated, resulting in blindness.  It was estimated that around 10 percent of children died within the first year of operation. This fact alone led to the school gaining the nickname of the Sunbury Slaughterhouse. Eventually, after public outcry, and after numerous Royal Commissions into the Industrial School System, by 1879 the Sunbury Industrial School was closed.

 It was in 1879,  that the building was converted to a mental asylum.  Extensions were made to the building[s] between 1891 and 1914.  The site was used as an asylum for the mentally ill from 1894 until around 1912, with the patients referred to as inmates. By 1914 at it’s peak, the Sunbury Lunatic Asylum housed 1,000 patients. The asylum  was renamed a psychiatric hospital and then a mental hospital. By the 1920s , the Health Reformation Act came in, and improved conditions [supposedly].  The asylum was renamed the Caloola Training  Centre for intellectually disabled persons  in 1985. It was decommissioned in the early 1990s and opened as a campus of the Victorian University of Technology in 1995. That was where my eldest son James undertook his university studies about 10 years ago. Back in the early 1970s when I was employed in two different similar institutions in Melbourne [in an administrative capacity] I recall at one time applying for a position at the then Sunbury institution. I was unsuccessful, but ironically, ended up living in the town many years later, and these days, actually enjoy my part time hobby as a radio presenter in the grounds of the original institutions!

Anyway, I began this piece by referring to the Citizen Advocacy group in Sunbury. After the closure of Caloola in October 199i2,  their work spread to the wider community, something that became necessary, partly because of the state wide closure of similar organisations at that time, and the disbursement of many of the former ‘patients’ out into that community – the ‘new’ policy on the treatment of the mentally ill!!! In our municipality, there are currently 45 volunteer advocates, each of whom assists an intellectually disabled person [a protégé] by being a friend and helping with simple day-to-day issues.  I’ve undertaken many different volunteer roles, but these days, don’t think I would have the ‘ability’ to undertake a role of that nature, though admiring completely those who do so.

Nice to have another Thursday night home to watch the two weekly shows I enjoy –  the TV version of ‘The Slap’, and another episode of the rather entertaining ‘Crownies’ which deals with the daily [and nightly] ‘adventures’ of the members of a city legal firm. Last week, I felt that ‘The Slap’ came over as too much ‘in your face’ with the violence and sex that dominated the episode.  While the latter was against prevalent tonight, it was as one previewer described it – “After enduring Alex Dimitriade’s Harry on the verge of a nervous breakdown for a volatile hour of The Slap last week, it’s something of a relief that the spotlight now falls on the calmer and more user-friendly character of Connie, the young veterinary nurse-babysitter  and occasional temptress brilliantly underplayed by ‘Beautiful Kate’s’ Sophie Lowe. A beguiling mixture of youthful naivity and knowing girl-woman with the somewhat desperate wiles of a 17 year-old girl in love for the first time – with the older-but-no-wiser family man, Hector –  Lowe perfectly realises the Connie of the novel. The first three episodes of this eight-part adaptation have followed the linear consequences of the slap and it’s consequences for various characters, but a tired and emotional Connie this week sends the plot hurtling off in an unexpected direction with a false accusation of the most serious nature”.  An accusation that one can imagine is going to rebound on Hector and his foolish dalliance with his schoolgirl babysitter!!  Meanwhile, in ‘Crownies’  the unfortunate young lawyer Richard, after working all night on a case that was thrown into his lap with barely 24 hours notice, deals carelessly with the victim’s family, and is accordingly humiliated in the court. But perhaps things are looking up in other directions. Richard shares an apartment with a female associate, but because her boyfriend is so easily jealous, she has convinced him to pretend he is gay in their private lives, which he has reluctantly agreed to, while refusing to play that role  in the work environment.  More on that, next episode, hopefully!!  So there, that was my entertainment for the night!!!

While all of these mundane events in my life were going on, the world of economic crisis and financial woes [certainly over in Europe] was trying to climb out of an abyss of debt and potential nation bankruptcies. The  report following, I read with interest, after the major news items earlier, were giving the story high priority  – generally, my broad knowledge of international monetary policies, etc, is fairly limited – that is my brother’s area of expertise, but somehow, I believe it’s an important outcome for that aspect of international relations. It seems to me that things like wars between nations have erupted in the past because leaders have not been prepared to try and work and persist towards an agreement that attempts to satisfy all parties.  Whether this situation will achieve that, I really don’t know, but it seems a genuine attempt to avoid further crisis from arising. Readers have the choice anyway – stop at this point, or read on – we all might learn something!!

‘Europe has sealed a last-ditch deal to fix its festering debt crisis, shoring up its bailout fund, pledging new funds for Greece and pushing banks to share the pain at a summit vital to the health of the global economy. After two successive summits that dragged on for almost 10 hours as markets and world leaders remained on tenterhooks, EU president Herman Van Rompuy emerged early on Thursday saying: “We took important decisions.”  Asian stock markets rallied and the euro rose on the announcement with Tokyo up 1.15 per cent and Hong Kong rising 1.74 per cent in midday trade. The euro was higher, buying $US1.3958 up somewhat from $US1.3908 late Wednesday in New York. As Asia shares firmed, IMF chief Christine Lagarde welcomed “substantial progress”, but European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet warned that “all of this now requires a lot of work and a lot of quick work”.

The last and perhaps toughest chapter in the four-point plan was a deal between eurozone leaders and the Institute of International Finance banking lobby to force private investors to take a 50 per cent loss on Greece’s debt. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel broke off from the summit to save the day and cut a deal with the head of the banking lobby, Charles Dallara. “We said it was our last word, our last offer,” said Merkel of threats to allow Greece to default failing agreement. “We have done what needed doing,” she said. The banks in past weeks had raised their offer to 40 per cent but governments insisted on a 50 per cent “haircut”.

The deal aims to slice a whopping 100 billion euros ($A134.27 billion) off the 350 billion euro debt pile hampering Greece, which also won new pledges of a 100 billion euro loan over the next three years. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou hailed “a new era, a new chapter” for Greece, whose debt woes kicked off a two-year crisis that successively hit Ireland and Portugal before threatening to spill over to Italy and Spain. To address that danger, eurozone leaders agreed to boost their debt rescue fund to one trillion euros. The firepower of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is to be leveraged up between four- and fivefold using clever financial footwork to avoid governments increasing guarantees. With the world on tenterhooks, emerging powers China and Russia waded in with offers to help Europe safeguard the global economy by contributing to the fund. The development came as global powers, from the United States to Japan and China, pressed European leaders to come up with a lasting solution to the debt crisis before a G20 summit in France on November 3 and 4.  Europe’s leaders agreed two options to boost the EFSF without increasing commitments from member states as taxpayers in countries such as Germany complain about pouring money down what they see as a bottomless hole.  The first option allows the EFSF to provide risk insurance on new debt issued by fragile governments, in a bid to convince investors to continue buying their bonds and keep interest rates low.  A second fund, linked to the EFSF, will be created to attract private and public investors, including countries outside the eurozone. This investment vehicle could also be associated with the International Monetary Fund, an idea Russia says it prefers.  With fears growing that the debt drama will turn into a banking system meltdown, European leaders also struck a deal to force banks to recapitalise at a summit of the 27-nation EU that preceded the eurozone talks.] “We made good progress on the bank recapitalisation, that wasn’t watered down, it now has been agreed,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said. The European Banking Authority said banks would need 106 billion euros to fulfill the requirements. With fears of contagion hitting Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi came to the summit with a detailed list of pledges to cut his country’s 1.9 trillion euro debt. Van Rompuy said leaders welcomed the vows but called on Rome to “abide” by its commitments”. [reported by AAP, 27 October 2011]

A very early start today, awake before 5am for an early morning ‘one off’ start at the radio station, as a fill in presenter for the normal presenter, my friend Ron Bourke. His program normally went from 6am to 9am, so I agreed to stick with that time format, and the general mix of his program, which usually began with an hour of ‘country’ music, and then moved on to a broad genre of musical types. Of course Ron’s program is full of lots of other ‘activities’ shall we call them, including a number of regular and other telephone interviews. However, I was quite happy to give most of those a miss, assuming Ron had advised all concerned he’d not be on air. Not all!  Cr Jack Olgilvie [one of our local Sunbury councillors] rang up just before 8 o’clock wondering why his normal call from Ron had not come through! So we went ahead with that one, as Jack had some interesting news to relate about a couple of events coming up in the town, including a special event to dedicate a plague to hundreds of [children mainly] who had died whilst inmates of the various ‘institutions that used to be located up here on the hill where the radio station is now located.

The Family History Society has been much involved in that program, including the research and collection of names, dates etc. As the local paper reported yesterday – ‘Misunderstood and misdiagnosed, the patients of the former Sunbury Lunatic Asylum will be remembered with a memorial to be unveiled this Friday. Opened in 1879, the institution that overlooks the town operated under the names of asylum, psychiatric hospital, mental hospital and training centre before it was closed in 1992. During it’s time, 1,894 people are known to have buried in unmarked graves at the Sunbury Cemetery [which lies adjacent top the grounds of the former institutions]…………………..many heartbreaking stories of neglect and tragic tales of those who had died in the asylum from ailments now managed with medication. At 2pm this Friday, a plague bearing the names of those 1,894 former patients will be unveiled at a new rotunda to recognise those who for so long were forgotten’. As  a member of the Friends of Sunbury Cemetery group remarked, ‘They can’t be just discounted. They needed to be recognised, they were human beings’.  I noticed in that article that no reference was made to the extensive research and input that had been undertaken by some members of the Sunbury Family History Society, and I also needed to remind Jack of that during his discussion about the occasion.

Ron himself rang me later in the program, for a bit of an on air chat – I assume he’d been unavailable because, although now retired, his former employer, the Melbourne commercial radio station 3AW, keeps calling him back every now and then to fill in an overnight gap on that station [paid work of course, compared to here!].  We chatted, amongst other things, about the Queen’s visit to Melbourne today, and her potential ride on a Melbourne tram down St Kilda Road [where I was yesterday], and the possibility that protestors [those who had been responsible for the problems in the centre of Melbourne last week] might attempt to disrupt the Queen’s brief visit to Melbourne. I think we were both pleased [I certainly was] at the overnight decision by that group not to take any disruptive action.

As it would eventuate, contrary to current opinion, thousands turned out in the streets of Melbourne during the day to welcome and cheer on the 85 year old Queen and her 90 year old husband, Prince Phillip in what I think is the Queen’s 15^th visit to Australia since her inauguration back in the early 1950’s. While the Royal family in general, and the whole concept of British royalty as it applies to most Australians these days, is pretty much ‘out of favor’ the Queen herself obviously remains much liked and very popular with a large section of the Australian population, and this has been borne out during this current tour.  I think it ends tomorrow, or Friday, with the principal main purpose of her visit – to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting [CHOGM] in Perth, under the hosting of Prime Minister Gillard, who herself needs something of a boosting in her own popularity and public support!!

Part of the rest of my day – no, I didn’t travel into the city to wave flags at the Queen [left that to the real enthusiasts!!] –  was spent out in the garden, mowing the rear lawns and pulling out the curse of all gardeners, the common weeds!! Also noted that a potential hopeful for the Melbourne Cup next week – Tanby – competed, and won the Bendigo Cup today. I had a couple of minor bets on that race meeting up north, and lost my money, all $8.00 of it, should have backed Tanby, the horse I selected as one of my tips on the radio this morning!! At least I would  have come out in front!!

As I seem to get tired quite quickly working at the computer during the evening, I decided to watch one of the DVDs given to me last week, as a farewell gift from the VPTA –  called ‘Kenny’  a movie about a guy who is described as “Australia’s most lovable toilet plumber. Part philosopher, part comedian and all heart, Kenny is one of the cogs in society’s machinery, a k night in shin ing overalls taking care of business with his faithful ‘Splashdown crew’”.  Not the kind of movie that I would normal bother my time with, but it was a gift, and I really can’t be bothered doing anything else tonight, I have the freedom, almost, to choose!  Susie has just gone out with Jodie to play volleyball I believe, so I am deserted again. The movie was enjoyable, though I doubt I would be willing to pay the cost of a movie ticket [or DVD hire] to watch it!!

Not a particularly great overnight sleep, went to bed early enough but woken on a couple of occasions – Susan seemed to be having one of her post-midnight ‘spring cleans’!!!  Such is life!

That was in fact the highlight of my day  – the first visit to one of the regular ‘Musical Viva Coffee Concerts’ which are held throughout the year at the Melbourne Recital Centre [MRC].  It was actually a ‘percussion concert’ this morning performed by just four musicians from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Generally, you find that symphonic percussion is hidden away from view at the back of the stage [as I’d discovered with the Heidelberg Orchestra], and this tends to increase both the sense of surprise [and for myself, particular enjoyment] when percussion makes it’s presence felt during a performance. So today, was a bit of a reverse of that situation, with percussion taking centre stage, on it’s own.

I travelled into the city by train [haven’t done that for a while], and walked down to the MRC. The usual format of these ‘Coffee Concerts’ is as the name suggests – morning tea from 10am to 11 am, then a one hour concert.  Looking at the lavish ‘spread’ of morning tea [most of it of the ‘sweeter’ variety of cakes and slices etc] I decided it would in future be a much more pleasant idea to have some company at this particular outing in future [as I did intend to come again in 2012], but nevertheless, I had a ‘nibble’ or two, and collected an array of musical programs and potential performances for 2012  – even if I could not attend most of the advertised concerts of various orchestras and musicians/singers throughout the year, they provided a great source of material for my Sunday morning radio program!

Anyway, this mornings program included works for percussion by composers such as Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Toru Takemitsu, George Hamilton Green, Andrew Ford, Fritz Hauser, and Paul Sarcich. Four musicians – John Arcaro, Robert Cossom, Erica Rasmussen and Lara Wilson [must say that the two girls were also very pleasing to look upon, and well as enjoy their music!]. The instruments included xylophones, marimbas, vibraphones, side drums & other drum sizes,  and a collection of other percussion instruments such as the cymbals, percussion sticks, etc. All in all, a rather fascinating short program of music, though perhaps I would have liked to have heard a little more work on the drums! I was thinking whilst in the theatre, that I should take advantage of the set of drums that remain in the living area at home – an inheritance from the Susan/Jimmy relationship, not sure who they belong to, but not currently been used –  and learn to play one of my favourite sets of instruments!.  There was one fascinating item during the program – in semi darkness, the two guys from the quartet stood on either side of a set of cymbals, and alternatively simply tapped the cymbal  – this went on for about 8 to 10 minutes, and looking at the program, I’ve been unable to identify just which particular composition I was listening to. Later, this is what I discovered – Fritz Hauser’s ‘Zeichnung’ [Sketch], a work for two players using four cymbals. Each player uses one hand to strike the instruments and the other to dampen their resonance. The result is very beautiful and moving [though at times, one tended to wonder whether it would ever finish, and where exactly it was going!!]. The title refers to the movement of the player’s hands during performance, likening them to the movements of an artist’s hands across a blank page.  Interesting, and indeed, different.

I personally most enjoyed Debussy’s two compositions – Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun, and, The Girl with the Flaxen Hair’ which featured in particular the marimbas and vibraphones, whilst one of the girls on the xylophone produced an absolutely stunningly peaceful presentation of Green’s ‘Valse brilliante’ – that certainly set the scene, for myself of what was to follow. Overall, a fascinating hour, but must find someone to share these ‘coffee concerts’ with in 2012.

Wandered through the city on my way back to catch the 2.15 train to Sunbury – disappointed that one of my favourite bookshops in the heart of the CBD [near corner of Swanston & Bourke Streets] was all shut up and empty – sadly the way many of the larger book retailers are going these days. Walked on down to Elizabeth/Bourke Street corner, to a multi-level bookshop, used to be Angus and Robertson’s, now a ‘discount book shop’  –  had a large stock of thousands of books [though presumably no major recent publications]  –  but for someone like me  –  an attracted, with every book in the store costed at just $5!!  Well, I used some money that Win Seipolt gave me on my birthday, last week – purchased three books for myself, and a little ‘classic’ novel for Susan [which by the time I got back to Sunbury, I had partly read myself].

Although it was not a specifically over hot day, I’d been feeling quite warm in the city, and was glad of the opportunity to eventually sit and relax in the train [which was going through to Bendigo and beyond, so was reasonably full] for the 45 minute return journey to Sunbury.