Category: Uncategorized

As mentioned yesterday, a public holiday in Melbourne today – for the running of the 150th Melbourne Cup.  But no sleep -in for your writer –  up at the radio station by 7.15, for what is now the 3rd year in a row – Bill’s Melbourne Cup Preview program!! Why do I do this?  Well, no-one else has shown any initiative to put on a special program for the event, and while I’m no longer a part of the regular sporting panel on the station [Saturday morning’s] I think that a special service of this nature is warranted for our listeners [which is why I generally come in at other times like Christmas morning, when no-one else is interested, or otherwise engaged [I guess it helps when you no longer have young children to attend to at those times!].

Anyway, for such 75 minutes [with another regular program scheduled for 8.30] we talked about today’s 10 race program at Flemington, looked at each of the races, but gave major time and preference to the Cup field of 24 horses. I’m no expert on the individual attributes of every horse running around, so I do depend to some degree on the more professional opinions of the experts – doesn’t everyone! But together with a couple of other station personalities who rang in with their specific selections, we try and give the listeners just another viewpoint or two on which horses we think might be up near the front at the end of the two miles [or 3,200 metres] of the race!!

Anyway, 24 horses in, maybe one scratching of one of the overseas horses – a slight injury was been tested as I write – and I have come up with my predicted top 6 placings – the outstanding favourite [and if he wins, probably the most popular horse in the country] is No. 3: So You Think.  Only doubt – has won everything, but never raced over 3,200!

My top six –  1st: 22: Linton;  2nd: 3: So You Think [trained by the octerian, Bart Cummings, going for his 13th Melbourne Cup win]; 3rd: 1: Shocking [last year’s winner]; 4th: 5: Illustrious Blue;  5th: 12: Harris Tweed; and 6th: 11: Descarado [Caulfield Cup Winner of two weeks ago, and trained by the effervescent Gai Waterhouse]. I shall return later with the outcome!!

I do love watching the horses, but it is always distressing to see one of them fall during a race, as just occurred in Race 3. On this occasion, the horse got up and trotted away, and seems to be okay. Not so lucky the jockey, who apart from now losing his ride in the Melbourne Cup, is on his way to hospital. Was on the track for a long while, conscious, but presumably in a bit of pain, never got up at any stage, and was placed on a stretcher for transfer to an ambulance. One of the less pleasant aspects of horse racing. Blake Shinn was the jockey on Bart Cumming’s second Cup entry ‘Precedence’ – there are still plenty of good jockey’s avalable to take his place, a decision Cummings has to make very soon, as the horse is apparently sometimes difficult to ride.

Meanwhile the day remains coolish, a few showerd before at Flemington, though I’ve not noticed any rain out here in Sunbury. It was reported yesterday that this October past, was the wettest October in Melbourne for around 30 years. Probably not a record that most Victorians would be unhappy about after a decade of drought.

Well, as far as my ‘tips’ were concerned, I didn’t do very well. Won nothing, although of my predicted Top 6 first placings, two of the horses I named made in into the first six, but that’s about all I can say!! As for my daughter  – she has only had two bets on the horses in her life. Last year, she selected 1st and 2nd, and collected over $3,000!!  She has not looked at a horse race or betting slip since, until today, when she had another bet. It’s just not fair  –  you guessed it, Susie picked 1st and 2nd again, and this time, collected a mere $520!!! What am ‘I’ doing wrong?  Good luck to her of course, but I wish some of that luck would rub off on me!

Incidentally the results of the Melbourne Cup for 2010 were: 1st:  Americain.  2nd: Maluckyday.  3rd:  So You Think.  4th: Zipping.  5th: Harris Tweed. 6th: Holberg. And the other four horses I had in my top 6  –  Linton [finished 21st], Shocking [18th], Illustrious Blue [9th] and Descarado [didn’t finish]………………….what a successful afternoon for Bill!!

Went back to the radio station tonight, and didn’t mention horse racing!!!  My Tuesday night program of show & Broadway music, tonight, concentrated on the music and songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and also had a 30 minute feature on the singer, Josh Groban. I went to one of his concerts [probably the only one he gave] in Melbourne about three years ago, and was totally knocked out by his peformances. Tonight I played seven songs from the 2nd album he released – back in November, 2003 – called ‘Closer’. Groban apparently believed that this album was a better reflection of him and that his audience would be able to get a better idea of him personally by listening to it. He said “What most people know about me, they know through my music. This time, I’ve tried to open that door as wide as possible. These songs are a giant step closer to who I really am and what my music is all about. Hence the title”. There are some beautiful songs on the album, which if you listen closely to the lyrics, display intense passion and feeling, as though the words Josh Groban is singing, come directly from the heart – song titles such as My Confession, When You Say You Love Me, Never Let Go, She’s Out Of My Life, and Remember When It Rained, for example, almost depict what is to follow through the title alone. On this album, he also sings his version of ‘You Raise Me Up’, and while it’s not the original version, I much prefer to here Groban sing it.

I guess we can blame the public holiday, and the fact that us radio presenters are all volunteers, but sometimes I think the responsibilities that come with undertaking such a role are taken very lightly by some of my fellow broadcasters. With that in mind, it annoyed me a little tonight, that the presenters who were meant to be on air before and after myself, did not turn up. In fact, I had to use a bit of restraint, when the chap who was to follow me, rang me up to say he was not coming in, and then casually suggested that not doing so didn’t really matter, it was just a bit of fun anyway!!!  That kind of slack attitude really ‘gets up my nose’, and I think that without actually saying so, I probably made that point this evening!

I left the office 4 weeks ago, leaving behind a ‘clean desk’, and not surprisingly returned to the opposite. Of course, not unexpected, so it was no great shock. But the place was empty – no other staff [there are only three of us!!] on duty, something to do with tomorrow’s public holiday for the Melbourne Cup!! Yes, here in Melbourne, we are granted an official public holiday for a horse race!! Not applicable outside of the city, rather an unusual circumstance.  The other ‘warm’ welcome I received this morning – threw the switch to turn on one set of lights, and ‘whoof’ they all went out in the building! A visit from an electrician later in the day, discovered a fault in the particular light above my desk!  Could hasve been worse I guess!

Actually the first Tuesday of every November has two significant events that occur. As already mentioned, the Cup, and it is also the day of the month when the Reserve Bank of Australia [RBA] meets to decide whether there will be an increase, decrease, or no change in the current level of interest rates. So for most Australians, it is often a day when their pockets become empty, either from the bookmakers, or from the banks [when they automatically increase any rates that the RBA has recommended]. The ‘betting’ on the interest rate rise is generally of a low key, and I’m getting the feeling that ‘some’ increase is likely tomorrow. I wonder if we will hear before or after the Cup? Meanwhile, literally billions of dollars can be expected to be bet on the Cup, and for many Australians it is the only day of the year when they actually gamble any money on a horse race – this particular horse race!

The Melbourne Cup is run at the Flemington race course here in inner Melbourne, located on the banks of the Yarra River, a few kilometres west of the CBD. It’s the culmination, though not the final day, of the Spring Racing Carnival, which as we saw on Saturday, can be very quickly ‘disrupted’ by the vagaries of Melbourne’s weather. However, while more showers are predicted off and on for the rest of this week, I think that the heavy rainfall we experienced over the weekend, and in particular on Saturday, is behind us for the present, and while the track will probably be heavy tomorrow, it won’t be as bad as the weekend impressions were.  The race itself has provision for 24 starters, although there is usually one or more scratchings for various reasons that occur before the race commences. Of course, everyone hopes that will not happen – apart from the horse connections, all of us who are involved in workplace & other Cup sweeps certainly don’t want to see any horses missing, particularly if it is the horse we have drawn in the sweep!!!

The Melbourne Cup distance is 3,200 metres, the longest distance that horses in Australia run, over the flat [some jumping races, where they still exist, are longer], and it is an Open Handicap, for which of course, the final 24 accepted starters have had to qualify. I always get a bit annoyed at the number of overseas horses that get accepted, and subsequently prevent Australian based horses from getting into the field, even though their form may be almost as acceptable. This year, about a third of the field are entries from overseas!  The Prizemoney is $A6 million, of which the connections, etc, of the winning horse will collect $3,600,000 plus $75,000 worth of trophies!

Of the 24 starters, a horse named ‘So You Think’ looks as though it will start as favourite [No. 3] – anyone who saw that horse win in the rain last Saturday, would have to have been impressed at the dominant manner in which is simply strode away from the opposition in that last 200 metres or so – it was beautiful to watch, and hard to ignore when trying to select the winner of the Cup. I shall return a little later [or in the morning]  with my views on which horses will finish in the top 5/6 horses, but at this point in time, I’m going for a real lightweight down the bottom of the list [No. 22] named Linton. Described as being perhaps the wildcard in the field by one expert, it is a very lightly raced horse, which is open to plenty of improvement, and it’s suggested that the distance will suit the horse just nicely!  And with ‘So You Think’  –  currently Australia’s premier weight for age performer – but  – he has not raced over 3,200 metres, and this is his biggest test. Some say the horse is so good, so strong, that it wiull win anyway!!  A dangerous claim to make about a racehorse!

Yes, it’s being raining for nearly 20 hours now, a lot of water on the roads, and hopefully, plenty getting into the dams and reservoirs, we need it all. Just a pity for all the weekend sporting events, and outdoor cultural & community activities which have been disrupted this weekend. It’s amazing how quite often, these rainy periods occur over the weekend!!

I’m not complaining though, back to work tomorrow, after a month off, and I’m quite happy to have an excuse not to be able to get out into the garden, go for a walk [though I should do that], but preferably relax inside with a book or two and some great music. I have actually just spent two hours listening to some wonderful music –  my normal Sunday morning begins with an early start of at the community radio station here in town, where I play for those listeners who care to tune in of a Sunday morning, a sewlection of strictly classical music – currently the only program of tht genre of music you will find on our station! Now while as the years pass, I’m finding it more and more difficult to be up for a 7am show on a Sunday, the enjoyment and pleasure I get from sharing one form of my music loves, quickly negates any feelings of not really wanting to bother. Those pleasures are accentuated, by the occasional early morning phone call from a listener, such as this morning’s caller – he’d been out of the countr for 6 months, and was apparently pleased to return and find Bill was still playing his classical music!!

Each Sunday, amongst other selections [including a ‘Mozart corner’, and a ‘Four Seasons’ selection], I include a major work of music by my ‘composer of the week’. This morning, we travelled to the rich selection of  composers from the United States, one Amy Beach [1867-1944], who was the first American woman to succeed as a composer of large-scale musical works.  She was born in an era when society expected women to marry and stay at home, and not have professional careers. But Amy would have none of that, and against opposition from family and society, became a concert pianist, and later, the USA’s first successful composer of major concert works. One such work was her ‘Gaelic’ Symphony – or Symphomy in E Minor, Op. 32, which she wrote between 1894-1896, and ironically, was first performed almost to the day – 30th October 1896 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra – appropriate as the score as actually dedicated to the then Director of that Orchestra. This morning’s playing was a more recent performance by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Schermerhorn, and was a Naxos ‘American Classics’ recording performed in 2002. Probably generally unknown to most music enthusiasts, it is performed in four movements, and makes use of four traditional Irish tunes in addition to original themes in the same idiom and spirit.  Music lovers who perhaps are familiar with some symphony music would generally ‘not’ come across composers such as Amy Beach, with her music generally played only on the dedicated ‘classic music’ radio stations. I like to be different.

Anyway, with my radio and shopping comitments attended to for the morning, I intend now to basically relax for the rest of the day. Reading an interesting book by a Burmese girl at present, and that is one of the things  I shall now turn to!!

Incidentally, I have an early ‘tip’ for next Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup [horse racing], now that the final field of 24 horses has been decided –  I may change my ‘final’ selection before then, but certainly expect No. 22 – Linton –  to put up a good show. Current return from a standard bet is $21.00.  Get on him!!

Meanwhile, the Australian ‘home’ international cricket season got under way today –  over in Perth,  an International Twenty/20 match between Australia and Sri Lanka –  Australia’s Summer of Cricket: Sri Lanka 3/135 defeated Australia 8/133 [visitors won by 7 wickets with 21 balls remaining].

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!