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A little surprised not to have heard from Adam for almost 36 hours, but he made up for it with a couple of early afternoon messages, one of which came straight to the point  –  please no-one send him any more text messages, the receipt of them is costing him a fortune [plus the replies obviously], explains why my last couple have not been responded to. Fair enough!!   Apparently, he is now back in London, and flies out of the English capital at 10.50 am London time on Sunday [or 9.50pm our time],  so with an expected duration of 26 hours in travel time, we can anticipate his arrival back at Tullamarine [Melbourne’s international airport] at approximately 12.50 am Tuesday morning here!  Not sure what the lads have planned for London – just hope they see a little more beyond  the inside of a pub!!  Later in the night, I would hear that he was in the hotel casino – where he was actually staying.  Another message came from Lord’s Cricket Ground in London – so at least as true sporting enthusiasts, they are getting to the sporting icon venues – a few days ago, to St Andrews Golf Course in Scotland, now one of the homes of cricket!!  And he did go, wearing his Sunbury Cricket Club tee shirt  –  I wonder if Ted Dexter asked him what SCC stood for?  His excuse [for being in the pub] was that it won’t stop raining in London  ‘no wonder there are so many pubs in the place, nothing else to do on days like today’.  Well, I’m sure I could disagree with that, but then that is probably why it’s much better that Adam is travelling with a mate, rather than his Dad!! We probably wouldn’t spend so much time in pubs!!!

Speaking of cricket, Australia went further down the ‘gurgler’ today, heading for it’s worst home Ashes series for many decades, and England were breaking all kinds of records – when their innings finally ended today, for a total of 644 runs, it was the highest score England have ever scored out here in Australia, beating the previous score of 636 in the 1928/1929 series, and apparently, English fourth highest score in all test matches. No wonder the Barmy Army and English supporters in general, are on top[ of the world. They deserve to be! Look at some of the individual batting scores in that innings:-

Strauss: 60; Cook: 189; Bell: 115; Prior: 118. Apart from Michael Hussey, who himself has not scored very much since Perth, Australia have had no equivalent consistent batting performances in this series.  And things didn’t get any better –  batting, and needing 364 runs to make the English bat again on the last day, or to attempt to draws the match, by stumps, the Australians had slumped to 7 wickets for just 213 runs!! Were it not for a fighting partnership [yet unbroken] between Victorian bowler Peter Siddle, and middle order batsman,  Steve Smith, the game might well have been over last night.  Overall, a very disappointing performance by most of the Australian team, including their two captains, through this summer.

Meanwhile friend Ruth, who is over in Indonesia for 7 weeks, has been communicating to her friends through Face book, and advised family and friends the other day that she had  ‘arrived safely in Jogjakarta after 2nd flight delayed due to` technical problem’ with plane. City is being inundated with its daily afternoon downpour at the moment. Have spoken more Indonesian today than in all the previous year- to taxi drivers, shop keeper and a lovely migrant worker lady on her way home from Malaysia- she was very patient and encouraging!”  Initially, I think the plan had been that she would be staying with an Indonesian family, which she was looking forward to, but as indicated in a recent note, that didn’t quite eventuate as expected. She wrote [on Face book again] that she was   “Having a great time- go to bed early and rise early mostly. Uni intense but worthwhile. Everyone friendly- Indonesians and my class! Hot and humid but massive storm every afternoon! Clears the head and the air-better do some homework now!’  She was apparently staying in hotel – at $11 a night [wow, wish we could find them here at that price!]………….’ don’t know about family thing- something got lost in translation- but is good to escape to solitude…..on reflection, now, not disappointed – it’s all pretty intense’ .  So it certainly sounds as though she is not exactly having a holiday in the absence of commitment and work, but knowing Ruth she will make the most of her time over there, and bring back some great stories..

Summer coming at us with a vengeance, quite a warm day, followed by a very warm night this evening – I did nevertheless make a point of having a short walk upon my return to Sunbury, could have waited until the sun had diminished in it’s intensity a little, but with a radio meeting to go to, couldn’t wait!  Unofficial ‘Committee’ meeting tonight, basically to consider two issues – a presenter who had ‘overstepped’ the mark in respect to the material he was playing on air, and his actual presentation, and secondly, a need to reassess many of the tasks around the radio in view of the long term absence of our esteemed station manager due to major medical concerns.  Agreement on both issues was reached satisfactorily. Perhaps we should also have considered the purchase of an air conditioner for the meeting room – the only rooms that are air-conditioned at the station are where the main computer is located, and the broadcasting studio. The rest of the building during hot summer nights in particular, often feels like a sauna, and that was certainly the affect in our meeting room tonight!

Susie discovered a little problem in the house for which she was keeping an eye on, in the adjoining court today – her friends are away, and Susie has been feeding their pets, and noticed today that the power was off, and there didn’t seem to be a logical reason for it [though obviously, there was!]. I offered to try and organise an electrician [whom I’d used here before], pay for any cost involved, and worry about reimbursement later –  preferred that rather than leave things as they were for another week.  While we were thinking about that option, and while I was out tonight, she found a friend who was a qualified electrician, and asked him to have a look at the situation  –  apparently the fault was an old fridge which had overheated, and thankfully in so doing, switched the power off!  The outcome was that Susie’s friends would return to a house with the power intact, just no fridge operating!! Could have been much worse!  I wonder if they had much in the fridge. I’m sure that kind of problem – loss of power, ruined food in refrigerators, etc, is an all to common occurrence up in flood ravaged south east Queensland tonight. Although I didn’t speak to him directly, my brother up in Rockhampton [one of the many towns seriously affected by the floods] has had a few comments over recent days, most of them lashed with Colin’s special sense of humour!  Examples include:

Happy new year from watery rockhampton ,lucky we live on higher ground

All roads into Rockhampton closed, guess we will have to stay put in our little community of gracemere untill roads are open again.

lol plenty of grog , oh and a little bit of food

and still getting paid

john u should know traction moters and water dont mix lol

still stuck at home, maybe up to another 10 days.

paid to stay home, my hand will shake with guilt on payday.

higher ground wont flood here

Colin has always been the joker in the family [think my eldest son takes after him], and that usually comers though in any verbal or written conversation, you might have with him!

Day 2 at the office for 2011, and by early afternoon, I’d had enough, was bored, and wanted to be elsewhere. Not a great start to the year! Also noticed that Jackie [the boss] was still ‘carrying’ around the tail end of that virus she’d had before Christmas, now in the form of a cough. Pity she didn’t take an extra week off!  Stayed out of her way as much  as I could.

Of course, while I’m  feeling sorry for myself, my thoughts went up the people in Queensland, where some areas seemed to be having the worst floods in history – certainly not an experience that I have ever been through. I think the closest I have come to any kind of flood was on a trip back from Sydney, with a very young Susie – the section of about 10 kilometres on the Hume Highway leading into Wangaratta [about 3 hours north of Melbourne]. There was water across the highway, and the traffic was either stopped for a little while, or it was very slow and careful driving into Wangaratta. Think I have some photographs somewhere, but anyway, compared to what was happening up north at present, that was a mere splash of water.

Today, the city of Rockhampton, where my brother & his wife now live, was bracing for a flood peak , with the Fitzroy River through the city predicted to reach 9.4 metres. About 400o homes had been inundated already, and it was estimated that figure could double in the next 24 hours. Colin was apparently safe, on higher ground about 10kms from Rockhampton, although I imagine his job as a train driver was still on hold, with trains unable to operate in any direction from the city. While the road to the north,  the direction my brother is in] remained open this morning, access by any other means to the south etc, is closed, and could be for another 10 days, while the airport is also not operational.

Apparently, an estimate yesterday, suggested that about one million megalitres [double the capacity of Sydney Harbour] is flowing past the Rockhampton regional centre every day, that’s a lot of water. I wonder where it all goes to – obviously down some of the natural water course towards New South Wales and across to South Australia, but so much of it is also probably lost. We need our engineers and technical people to find an urgent way of harnessing so much water – particularly in view of the drought conditions of the past decade in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.. For years, we have had not enough water, now there is too much to save and store for proper future use, and in the meantime, the national financial impact is beginning to be felt in other quarters. More than $830 million was stripped from the value of Australia’s top three general insurers yesterday, as investor concerns intensified over the financial impact of the Queensland floods, and the anticipated massive $1billion flood bill. Personally, my immediate concern would be for the thousands of individual home owners and businesses, but then I suppose it is the combined weight of their individual flood repair costs, reconstruction, etc, that make up the total projected outlays. This is a disaster of major proportions here in Australia – however, I wonder how it compares with the widespread human disaster and tragedy of the floods in Pakistan, or even China, last year – such a comparison is of course no comfort to the thousands currently affected here in  Australia, and it’s probably a discussion that’s not appropriate at this stage.  But sometimes, on a total scale of affects on humanity and populations, these things need to be put into some kind of context.

In the meantime, I must seek an update from Colin, on the direct affects of the flood situation, on himself, since I last spoke to him, on New Year’s Eve.

Back here in Sunbury, I watched a new late night ‘chat show’ last night which I found both  interesting and entertaining. On SBS television, it was called ‘The Late Session’ and dealt with the subject of ‘Storytelling’.  It was compared by a guy named Waleed Aly [not sure of his nationality] but he is a mixture of lawyer, commentator, academic, rock musician, TV and radio personality, and amongst other roles,  he has also been a regular guest on such shows as Q&A, Meet The Press, The 7.30 Report, The Drum, Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, The 7PM Project and BBC World. The first episode last night,

Waleed was  joined by Australian actor Jack Thompson, playwright David Williamson, singer/songwriter Dan Kelly, writer and teen-lit activist Randa Abdel-Fattah  [who was born in Australia of Palestinian and Egyptian parents. Randa, and a  Muslim, attended a Catholic primary school but graduated from an Islamic College], and investigative journalist Kate McClymont, and as the subject matter indicated, all  five discussed a subject that is synonymous to them all – storytelling. Amongst other topics, Aly  asked them why Australians are so fixated with the outback and how we create the characters that resonate whether they be a Muslim teenager, a Sydney crim, a fantasy eco terrorist or a laconic Aussie larrikin?   The Late Session is intended to be in the format of a one hour dinner party with Aly and an array of different guests each episode, including writers, musicians, artists, and business leaders discussing some of the “bigger themes of contemporary life from identity to modern families and the global search for happiness.”  It promises insights, revelations, music and engaging company. I had a particular interest in last night’s show, because of the writing theme, be it of novels, poetry [Jack Thompson read a personal poem to the group] or through music [Dan Kelly sung a couple of his ‘own’ compositions]. On that latter point, I personally cringed a little bit at some of the language in Kelly’s closing song, and while the other guests all went along with his singing of it, I’m not totally sure that one or two of them felt as uncomfortable as I did, of it’s presentation on [admittedly] late night television. Apart from that little moment, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the dscussions that took place, and the general casual informal format of the setting for the program. Apparently it is one of several new chat style shows coming to television in 2011 – I think I might stick with this one, and Q & A when it returns to the ABC. It’s a pit that Randa can’t be in some future editions – her face on screen provided a rather sparkling addition to the panel 🙂

 Found an interesting little introductory bio on her, from Wikipedia which I thought I’d Keep for future reference – “Randa Abdel-Fattah is an Australian-born writer of Palestinian and Egyptian parentage. Abdel-Fattah grew up in Melbourne but now lives in Sydney where she is a lawyer. She lives with her husband and young daughter. She is extremely active in the inter-faith community, gives talks at high schools, and has been involved in Palestinian human rights campaigns. She is also a member of the Palestinian Human Rights Campaign, the Australian Arabic Council and various Australian Muslim networks. She loves to travel, and her favourite places are Egypt and Palestine. She loves to read and her writing reflects on her personal views. She enjoys romantic comedies, her husband’s humour, getting a seat on a train and any movie starring Colin Firth”.   I wonder what she really thought about the ‘words’ of Dan Kelly’s song?

Incidentally, the 3^rd day of the cricket test ended this evening, with the English team still batting and in a dominant position – over 200 runs in front of Australia, with their score at 7 wickets for 288 runs – individual English batting performances including 189 runs by Alastair Cook, and 115 for Ian Bell. It’s fairly obvious that dominance is likely to continue until the end of the Series. As I suggested to friend Maureen over in the UK, she doesn’t need the ‘Fat Lady’ to sing for the English victory, because the Barmy Army have been doing a great job at that throughout the tour. The Australian press and public have got to realise that cricket like other sports has it’s periods of highs and lows, and at the present, the Australian team is in a low trough – one team cannot expect to be the best and on top of the pile all of the time, although reading some so called expert opinions, that role seems to be assumed. I also believe I’m a little more realistic than temporary captain, Michael Clarke, who was still telling the press tonight, that he believes Australia can win this game  –  maybe if Clarke himself starts to get some runs!  Yes, it’s time to start rebuilding, and the inclusion in this match of two new players  is a beginning, regardless of the outcome of this particular test match.

 

 

Overnight, surprisingly, no phone messages from Adam. I know they were intending to visit Edinburgh Castle last night [our time], and then it was Adam’s intention to return to their hotel [in which he apparently had the best room he has stayed in so far] and to search for a chemist for some medication for his throat condition – advice was that he was not really feeling much better after a night’s sleep, although they didn’t sit up watching the cricket [perhaps it’s not on the Scottish TV?] because his message last night, asked me for the score!  Anyway, his health was presumably not affecting the traveller’s overall enjoyment of the trip, based on Brent’s comment on Face Book this morning which noted  ‘In Edinburgh, seen the castle today, going to St Andrews tomorrow, this trip is getting better and better’.  Apparently, the hotel they were staying in was below the Castle!  Adam’s brief comment in the same forum simply stated ‘Loving Scotland’ which I must say, pleased his Dad J.  Whatever his throat condition, it was stopping he and Brent from being tourists, and are exploring the Edinburgh region, before heading back down to London where they are planning to meet up again with some people they met on the Kontiki tour they did around Paris. Tonight, our time, their program includes a tour of the St Andrews Golf Course –  while it is regarded by many as the ‘home of golf’, I’m not sure that it would get onto my list of priorities as venues to visit! However, both Adam & Brent, as well as their cricket, don’t mind a round of golf now and then, so I guess it is a natural interest to them.

Today, is the first day of another year at work – hopefully if plans go as intended, this will be my last year. Apart from few periods between 1996 and 2006 when I was without a job, I’ve been working fulltime since the beginning of 1965, and I was thinking that I must compile a list of the various job roles I have had [I suppose that should be pretty easy, just find my most recent resume, which has been updated many times over that time].  I must admit, that as I prepared to leave home this morning, I had no real enthusiasm for doing so, and while this next 10 months will probably disappear in a flash, in other ways, it may well appear to drag on very slowly, especially as 2011 sees the beginning of my 49^th year of employment since finishing full time school.

Putting that aside for a minute, I just came across Tony Abbot’s end of year [2010] Christmas message to supporters, and that included the following brief comment:- 

“A year ago, I said I couldn’t promise victory but could guarantee a contest. Back then, only  the most optimistic supporter could have anticipated the scale of our political recovery.  The past twelve months have seen the removal of a prime minister, a first term government losing it’s majority, huge anti-Labor swings in South Australia and Tasmania and the defeat of a well regarded Labor government in Victoria. Right around the country, the Labor brand is becoming toxic. All this is testament to the hard work, unity, discipline and belief of the Liberal team. I’m extremely grateful for the support of my federal and state parliamentary colleagues, the party divisions, party members and thousands of volunteers – all of whom can take credit for the Liberal Party’s recent performance. We owe it to all the families struggling with cost of living pressures and to everyone disappointed with a government that’s been all talk and no action to do even better in the year ahead’.

Well, as many people would suggest, more political rhetoric and words to encourage and inspire the critics, but I’m glad to see that Abbott is not taking all the credit for Liberal advances over the past year, it has been a team effort. The real task ahead is to maintain that team aspect –  if divisions both within the Liberal Party or between them and their coalition partners [the Nationals] are allowed to develop over policy issues etc, which is always a danger, then the ‘good work’ will all be undone very quickly.

Meanwhile, on another aspect of politics, I was interested to read today a discussion about whether the Federal Treasurer should ban a specific takeover plan here in Australia. Peter Swain in the “Australian’ asks the question – ‘Will Treasurer Wayne Swan reject the ASX-SGX acquisition of Singapore the way Peter Costello [former Liberal Treasurer] rejected Shell’s acquisition of Woodside on grounds of national interest?’  Like the writer suggests, I believe he should.  The Government is able to use it’s powers under the relevant Act to determine what is contrary to the national interest by having regard to any widely held community concerns of Australians.  Recent polls have indicated that there is majority concern about this particular acquisition which in basic terms, sees the Singapore Stock Exchange taking control of the Australian Stock Exchange. I don’t even attempt to understand the reasons or support behind this move, but simply find it disagreeable, that once again, t6hose with the power and money to do so, seem to think it more beneficial and the only available options for Australian interests, whether it be in investment, industry, construction, mining, or whatever, to be ‘sold out’ and/or taken over by overseas interests. Not a new phenomenon but it has always concerned me personally that we are so willing to allow foreign nations to own our resources and capital.  Obviously there’s a lot more to such matters then the feeling of ‘hostile acquisitions, and even reading through Swain’s article [he is a professor in the school of banking and finance at the University of NSW] I’m a little lost as to which direction he is heading. So I don’t really have much material to support my view that too much of this country is allowed to be ‘sold’ overseas, just that I wish sometimes that our leaders would look in that direction a little more.

And in the cricket!  At Stumps on Day 2 in the 5^th Test in Sydney, the scores were:  Australia: 280. England 3 wickets down for 167 in response.  Interesting that the Australian bowlers put up  a performances with the bat that made our team score look a little more respectable than it would have been otherwise. Meanwhile my radio ‘Showtime’ program tonight featured amongst other things, music from the soundtrack of the 1964 movie ‘Zulu’ with the interesting voice of Richard Burton as narrator in the background. Also played a series of tracks from the original performance of Li’l Abner, a musical from around the 1950s, and based on the comic strip of those times by Al Capp, music by Gene De Paul, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Some great familiar old songs in the show. Set in the hillbilly town of Dogpatch, USA, the show is, on the surface according to one view, a broad spoof of hillbillies but is also a pointed satire taking on any number of topics, ranging from an incompetent United States federal government to standards of masculinity. Anyway, I enjoyed the music which I’d recorded from a second hand long playing record I’d found in a discount shop somewhere.

 

 

Well, I had been counting on a good night’s sleep, prior to my last day  before returning to the office –  today is another Public Holiday in lieu of New Year’s Day –  but it didn’t work out that way, although considering that it was beyond 8.30 when I eventually woke again, I suppose I did get a fair proportion of hours in total!.  The call of nature woke me just before 4am  –  a few minutes later, as I was hoping to settle back for a few more hours sleep, my phone buzzed  – a message from Adam, at the airport presumably in Paris. Last night, he had indicated that he was starting to ‘feel sick’ but still enjoying his  trip. This morning’s early message said bluntly that   ‘Feel crap, throat is killing me. Fly out to Scotland in 3 hours. Any ideas on getting rid of a sore throat?’  How helpless did I feel at that point – over the course of a couple of exchanged messages, I gave the normal advice re seeking medication, finding a chemist, asking the ‘tour’ people for guidance. I had visions, quite likely of his condition deteriorating over the next few days, felt really sorry for him at that moment. It was then that I learnt that the tour part of the trip was over – Brent and Adam were tripping on their own now, through Scotland and England for a few days. My next bit of advice was to try and find a doctor in Scotland – I knew that and any medication would cost a lot more than usual, but told him, I’d send any money to cover that.

Adam’s third message, at 3.45 am, was a little more comforting, at least it indicated he was thinking of other things – wanted to know the names of the places in Scotland that our ancestors came from – presumably, they would try and get there! I let him know Ancrum, near the English border for the Kennedys, and Dysart, Fife [closer to Edinburgh I thought] for the Kirk ancestors! I didn’t hear anymore, but certainly could not get back to sleep – made a cup of tea, and with a tub of yogurt, switched on the old TV in the bedroom for 40 minutes or so.ust have gone off to sleep soon after switching that off at 5.30, and woke 3 hours later!  Was tempting to go back to sleep if possible –  but, wanted to try and go for an early walk, and when I heard Susan up, preparing for another day at her casual department store job, got on the move myself. Later left a message on the family phone with news of Adam’s adventures and misadventures.

5th Cricket Test began in Sydney this morning. Just got back from an early walk [soon after I got up] – my justification for sitting watching six hours of cricket on the TV –  with Ricky Ponting out injured, the Captain for this match was Michael Clarke, and a couple of new team members, hoping to resurrect the Australian team performance. Interesting official opening – just before the two national anthems were played, an Aboriginal elder gave the ‘official Indigenous welcome to country’ – for some unknown reason, he began with ‘Good morning –  ohh bugger!!’ No idea what that was about, but his welcome was quite lengthy. Australia’s Anthem sung by Greta Bradman, granddaughter of Sir Donald Bradman, Australia’s most famous cricketer. Inspiring, special.  My thoughts went to Adam – would be close to midnight in Scotland, and if he was well enough and awake, I’m sure that he and Brent  would find as TV to watch the beginning of the game.  Must be some psychic connection there – a few minutes later, a new message from Adam –  “Just arrived at hotel in Scotland, by far the best room I’ve had :-)”  Well that was again, another positive bit of feedback. Sent him and Brent details of the cricket, which had just started here. Adam and Brent play together in one of the local Sunbury cricket teams, I think they usually open the respective innings for the teams they play for, so cricket is very much in the blood of both of them.

Meanwhile, to his joy, Michael Clarke won the Toss for Australia, and elected to bat. Roar of the crowd, full of optimistic expectations as Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes came out to open, at 10.30 am local time.  In Sydney [a bit like here I think], the weather conditions were overcast, humid, and with threats of rain. With this being the only day I could watch this match, I was hoping there would be no rain delays. I recall that is what happened on this 1st day last year. After the first hour of play, despite many  ‘tame’ appeals by the English fieldsmen, the Australian openers had survived the first 14 overs to be 0 wicket for 31 runs. Not rushing along but steady progress. Mind you, ten minutes before the lunch break, and Watson had only scored 19 runs  – if he goes out now, I would personally feel that his innings would have been a waste, 110 minutes for just 19 runs, all he will have achieved for Australia would have been to use up time with little to show for it. Aside from the cricket, I was planning to cook a pot roast of beef today, intending to let it cook throughout the afternoon. Hopefully, Susie won’t change her mind, and will be home for the evening meal tonight, after she finishes work!

Just before lunch, the ‘Barmy Army’ [English  team supporters] are really beginning to get warmed up in voice and support – not as much so far for them to cheer about today, perhaps they are getting restless and trying to inspire the English bowlers to grab a wicket before lunch.  Wondered if my brother, Robert & wife Evelyn were at the cricket – over recent years, they have made the first day of the Sydney Test a regular outing [no doubt in first class ‘members’ surroundings], and it would not surprise to learn that they are in the crowd again this year. At lunch, after 30 overs and 2 hours of play,  the Australian score had moved to 1 wicket for 55 runs  –  yes, Hughes fell with 3 balls to go before the break, out for 31 runs!!  Why couldn’t the restrained discipline of the previous 118 minutes held out for two more minutes!!  Watson remains on just 19 runs  – I still maintain that the slow scoring rate has proved little, with a poor score on the board at the first main break!! 

It’s not an especially hot day, but is now certainly a spell of brilliant sunshine, quite a contrast to the dull overcast conditions under which I was walking this morning. The pattern is repeated up in Sydney, where early in the afternoon session of the cricket, there was a lengthy delay of almost two hours because of rain [similar situation and time loss in the Melbourne test last weekend. Just before that break, we saw 24 year old New South Wales batsmen, Usman Khawaja came in for his first Test match innings. He was Australia’s first Muslim test cricketer, having come out to Australia as a 3 year old, from Islamabad in Pakistan. A good background in cricket at the state level, he was apparently in pretty good form  – starting off that way, scoring 15 runs off his first 10 balls faced.  Anyway, not long after the long break from rain, the captain, Michael Clarke, failed again, in his biggest test as captain, and continued with his poor form of this series. Personally, I would like to see someone like wicket keeper Brad Haddin as Australia’s next captain. That left new comer Khawaja and the in-form Michael Hussey to rescue the situation for Australia, with the team having slumped to 3 for 113! The new player was eventually out for a credible 37 runs, and before the next ball was bowled, the heavens opened, and down came the rain. As far as I’m aware there was no further play possible today, so by the official stumps time, Australia’s score was another miserly 4 wickets for just 134 runs.  Not a great deal of difference in the overall first innings top order scores than all of the previous test matches.

Putting aside the cricket for the time being, one of my favourite regular magazines is a publication called Limelight, which comes out each month. Published by the ABC broadcasters, it is the publication voice of the ABC’s national classical music radio station, and while I’ve never actually formally subscribed to it, I have been purchasing the monthly Limelight for many years now. The January edition includes an article about the 2010 Limelight Readers’ Choice awards for the twelve most popular classical musicians/singers etc over the past year. While I have at different stages probably heard most of them perform at different stages, there are only a couple whom I’m seen actually perform live. Never mind, as time goes on, I will gradually hopefully try and remedy that situation. Let’s have a look at the winners.

Readers’ Choice – Emma Matthews, soprano, currently aged 40, and one of the world’s most lyric songbirds.

Music Personality of the Year – Richard Tognetti, violinist and artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra [this combination, I have seen perform live].

Best orchestral concert – Australian Chamber Orchestra/Richard Tognetti, a concert in August of music by Schumann [Cello Concerto], Berethoven [5th Symphony] & Mozart [Symphony No. 41]. 

Best Chamber Music Concert – again, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, with violinist, Patricia Kopatchin, on the Barefoot Fiddler National Tour.

Best Solo Performance – Paul Lewis, pianist in the Musical Viva, National Tour.

Best Classical recording – Handel: Concerto Grossi, by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra/Paul Dyer.

Best Opera Production – Bliss by Opera Australia [this production was certainly raved over while it was in performance during 2010 – bit sorry I didn’t make the effort to see what all the fuss was about!]
Best New Composition – Bliss, the opera, by Brett Dean.

Best Jazz Recording – Jamie Oehlers [tenor saxophonist] and Paul Grabowsky [pianist] , part of a quartet with Sam Anning [bass] and  Ben Vanderwal [drums], their recording titled  ‘On A Clear Day’  includes such jazz standards as ‘I’ve Never Been In Love Before’, ‘Soul Eyes’, and ‘I Remember You’ – [I have seen Paul perform, with my favourite Australian singer, Katie Noonan].

Best event/festival – Australian Festival of Chamber Music.

Best World Music Recording –  Joseph Tawadros [of Egypt]  ‘The Prophet’, a recording which he does alone with the aid of an oud  –  the oud is a pear-shaped fretless Arabic stringed instrument – the artist describes this album as a body of work which hides none of his emotions and feelings as both a musician and a person.

Best Newcomer – Zubin Kanga., Australian pianist.

At present, I’m actually trying to make up my mind which concerts I would like to purchase tickets for during 2011. This is probably the last year that I will be able to afford to attend a number of concerts on a regular basis, so currently considering my options, and trying to decide which performances I would like to spend money on this year. These days, as readers have probably gathered, I tend to go to most of these events on my own – not always the preferred outcome, but at the prices of most tickets these days, it’s not a cheap form of entertainment if considering two or more tickets, most of which tend to be for music genres that are supported by a minority of music enthusiasts. A couple of the above mentioned orchestras are likely to be included, and I certainly like the opportunity to hear the couple of solo pianists referred to. At this stage, I do have my usual Series tickets for the Australian String Quartet but I think 2011 will be the last time I buy those, as I want to spread my concert going around a bit more widely.

 

 

 

 

No, I really didn’t want to get out this morning at 5.45 am –  but I did, as always, and back up the hill to my radio station.  Interesting, but at present, problems with computers seem to be following me around – the ‘mouse’ for the station on air computer was playing – it had been for a few days, but worked almost perfectly for me on Friday night. Not so this morning, and while I was still able to go the air and play my music this morning, the system wouldn’t allow me to undertake any of the ‘computer’ set commitments we are expected to undertake. I was not terribly keen to ring our technical guy at 7.15 on a Sunday morning, even though he insists we do so. Luck was on my side – Steve was on his way home from an overnight shift, 20o minutes away, and had a fair idea what the problem was. So about 45 minutes, after I started, all systems were go again, and we were back to normal with no on air affect, as far as listeners were concerned. Last night’s sole presenter for the day, apparently gave up on the system, and walked away from his show, merely noting the problem in the book, but not actually advising anyone – left the problem for ‘next on air’ to solve!  Guess who?  Me!@!!!!!  Such is life.

Despite those minor issues, enjoyed my music as usual – and finished up the program with a couple of Strauss waltzes, following on from last night’s Vienna concert. The rest of my Sunday relatively uneventful – included a visit early afternoon from one of the senior church members – Ron Sainsbury –  seeking a bit of financial advice for an organisation he was associated with, Quite interesting actually – it was a group of former Army infantry guys from World War 11, which was still going strong although the actual returned servicemen numbers in the group were naturally enough dwindling quickly.  I think Ron said he was 87 years old – certainly doesn’t look that age, and I remarked to him that I often see him walking around the town –  oh yes, I’m ex-infantry, walking is our culture!! From discussion, we worked that he and my Dad would have joined up in World War 11, around the same time, he serving mostly in the Islands of the Pacific, Dad in New Guinea.  I enjoyed that little visit and discussion. I’ve known Ron since the middle 1980s, after Mum had come down to live with us in Sunbury, and we had started to attend the St Andrews’ Church. I recall the odd occasions when he would call around the at the Goonawarra house with a message of some sort for Mum from one or other of the church groups – because she was a widow, and he at the time, still had his wife Grace alive, he would never come into the house, but any discussion would take place at the front door, particularly if Mum was on her own. He was a very polite and respectable man. None of us would forget the desperate state he fell into for a brief time when his wife died, but that was quite a few years ago now [although after Mum died I think from memory], but he has certainly picked himself up completely in the year’s since then, involved in many activities with the church and other organisations.  When I mentioned that I was due to retire in ten months, he immediately invited me to join up with the local PROBUS group who were in fact very active in Sunbury, and I already knew one or two other members of that organisation.  I think it is basically an organisation of retired professional men, although activities are not gender restricted. Certainly another post-work involvement I would be keen to become a part of.

Went for a satisfying lengthy walk late this afternoon, and followed up with a bit of work in the front garden into the early evening. Meanwhile, with my computer still not operating properly, I decided to put the books aside for tonight, and watch a bit of TV. Generally prefer not to spend my evenings in front of the TV, feel it is a waste of the night, and always have plenty else to occupy my time. But tonight, I watched the final episode in the recent series ‘Who Do You Think You’, the genealogy program which traces the family history of known piublic identities. Tonight, it featured Australian actress, Georgie Parker.  While I did naturally find the program very interesting because of my specific interest in the subject, I did find that   Georgie Parker’s reactions to many of the discoveries quite painful and annoying – basically her responses to me seemed like a classical case of an actor unable to put that side of her personality aside –  put simply, I felt her responses were over-acted!! Her storyline was that she went into the investigation with no fears at all -she was sure of her origins but wanted to find out where the intellect and strength of character displayed by the women in her family, came from. As with most episodes of these programs, surprises were in store1

When that was over, another rare event for me – watching a movie on TV!  I only did so because it was being screened on the ABC and so would be commercial free – I simply get so frustrated at having programs constantly interrupted by advertisements, and even worse, station promos!  Tonight’s movie was ‘Strictly Ballroom’ starring Paul Mercurio, son of the recently departed Gus Mercurio. I realised eventually that I’d seen the movie many years ago.  I also soon realised how much I disliked the so-called humorous aspects of the movie – found much of that and some of the acting as crude and crass. However that aspect was overshadowed by the music, the dancing, and the little love story between Paul Mercurio and his leading opposite – so much so, that some aspects of that part of the story brought this viewer to tears!  Ahhh yes, even at this age ‘sad movies make me cry’!

 

 

 

 

Fairly quiet around Sunbury this morning – and in this house. Susan stayed overnight at her friend, Rachel’s house, where she was looking after Rachel’s cat and birds while she was away, and Susie didn’t return here this morning, but went straight to another day’s work at Big W, so I would have the place to myself all day. Before I did much else today, decided to send a few overseas New Year’s greetings –  to England [Brenda], Singapore [Denia] and New Zealand [Dawn, whom I met here with her husband, Tony, last year] Met Brenda on the internet almost 12 years ago, Dawn began as a snail mail penfriend, and came across Denia on the internet about 3 years ago. Contact with all three is relatively spasmodic these days, but I guess that is the nature of life, we all move on. Nevertheless, I can hopefully say that as with many others, a friendship bond of sorts has remained. Anyway, I heard back fairly quickly from England with the wishes that ‘may all your dreams come true too’  –  not sure if I have much in the way of optimistic dreams these days, but the thought was appreciated. Dawn’s response later that afternoon was ‘annoying’ in a friendly way – telling me that they had just sat down to a New Year’s Day dinner of lamb with all the trimmings, followed by pavlova and fruit salad. In response, I told Dawn that I’d just ‘enjoyed’ a bit of yogurt, and some cold Christmas pudding with no custard!  I’m not envious of course  🙂

Anyway, true to form, I was not long in arising this New Year’s morning –  quick early drive into Sunbury to fill up the fuel tanks, and purchase a copy of the first edition of ‘The Australian’ for 2011. Then I rang through those ‘Flemington tips’ I’d been working at yesterday, and hoped for the best!

On the ABC TV this morning, I had a brief look at and interesting ‘wrap up’ of the past year’s politics in Australia. Titled ‘Moving forward, looking back’ it was [apart from filling up a gap[ at the end of a video tape] a useful reminder of the past year’s happenings in both Federal and State politics.  Meanwhile, the ‘Australian’ newspaper of 1st January 2011, tells us  ‘Military help called in as flood crisis deepens’ with a massive logistical operation underway across Queensland to evacuate thousands of people, and deliver emergency  supplies to communities and properties isolated by the worst floods in State recorded history. One area affected is the large regional town of Rockhampton, where my brother, Colin and wife Angela have just relocated to. A phone conversation with Colin yesterday, at least confirmed that they were not affected – on high ground about 10 kilometres out of the town. His problem, as a train driver up there, is that the trains have not been able to operate for about a week,  and that situation is likely to continue for another week or so! So he can’t work, as a driver, although I gather that the rail authorities have some extra training, etc organised for this week.

The ‘Focus’ part of the newspaper had quite a substantial report on the Queensland floods,  under the title of ‘Survival at the edge of disaster’  – a devastating cycle of flood and drought is the norm in large parets of Australia. A farmer in Queensland describes the average year as ‘drought plus flood divided by two!!’  Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Nina system arising from Pacific Ocean surface temperature indicates more higher than average rainfall ahead.  An interesting quote by writer Graham Lloyd: – ‘More telling is the pattern of annual rainfall over the past century which underpins Australia’s unchallenged reputation as a nation of climatic extremes. Extended drought is afterwards followed by years of torrential rain’  [although I personally maintain that those extremes are more of a ‘long term, slowly developing nature, than the kind of extremes we are currently seeing in the USA and northern Europe, or the immediate tragic affects of hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanos and earthquakes in various parts of the world, with their immediate outcomes. We are not usually affected [there are always exceptions of course – look at Black Saturday 2009] by that kind of sudden affliction.

I spent a large part of my first day of the new year with book in hand. Went out for another walk late in the afternoon, and later cooked a meal for Susan and myself – which she ended up not eating, after returning home from work, feeling unwell. Meanwhile, I’ve not raised again the subject of my ‘damaged computer’  -=  Jimmy would come and have a look at it, but so far, no suggestion as to when, and I imagine that like me, he will be back at work next week!  With the laptop not working quite as effectively as I would like, I am rather limited in what I can do, computer wise at present! With that in mind, I put aside the books this evening, and watched a bit of TV. This included the annual New Year’s Day concert from Vienna   – featuring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and the music in the main of Strauss and his Austrian contemporaries. A wonderful two hours of  music,. and some great ballet work along the way.  While he constantly received praise throughout the concert [by audience, and commentators] I actually thought the guest conductor was somewhat uninspiring and quite boring in his style of conducting. However what would I know!!! It was still a wonderful selection of music which I thoroughly enjoyed tonight.

 I awoke at 4am, from a dream involving the kids during their schooldays. the times when I was out of work, and able to collect them to and from school – during my initial awakening period, I was trying to recall, the immediate reactions as we got home each afternoon.  I seem to remember that for one period there, I was going through a bit of a ‘crossword puzzle’ phase, and would often settle down to one of the ‘jumbo’ versions every now and then, or the daily crossword from the ‘Australian’ newspaper  –  only the basic crosswords, I simply could not cope with the cryptic variety!!  Often,  especially in the ‘primary’ school years, after delivering those who were still at that level to the school, I would  call at the office to see Bruce Bouch [the Principal] or Judy Toogood, [his office assistant] about some School Council matter.  Anyway, this morning, I found I could not get back to sleep – certainly, that’s the state I would have preferred to have been in, as the opportunities to sleep a little longer than usual, are few and far between these days. By Tuesday, I would be back at work!  Admittedly, feeling a bit low because of yesterday’s computer malfunction, and the realisation that I may not be able to retrieve the bulk of my working files. I knew that some of the files that I regularly work with, I would be able to resurrect through my MSN account, where I had often transferred files for printing purposes, but that remained to be seen, just what was still available.. As I lay there, I wondered what Adam was doing at this moment – whether he was over in France by now, maybe even in Paris where he intended to spend New Year’s Eve?  A world away from Sunbury!

By 4.26 am, I gave up trying to get back to sleep – thought I’d do a bit of reading and writing. I had no commitments this morning, so could afford to over sleep. should I drift off a bit later, though I knew I was going to end of pretty tired by the end of tonight’s radio shift. In fact, over the next 2-3 hours, I did sleep, off and on – woke to the voice of Ron Bourke on our radio station – at about the time I normally call into the station of a Friday morning for a brief sports’ report., but not this morning with things non-existent on the local sporting front over the Christmas break. I eventually gave Ron a ring – asked him to mention that I would be doing a New Year’s Eve show tonight during a time slot when there was not normally anyone on air. Ron reminded me that I was ‘in the chair’ this Saturday with the Betting Club tipping, on the Flemington races.

We were in for a hot day – a first real scorcher for the Summer [usually we get a few in October and/or November] – in fact the temperature in this neck of the woods would climb to just below 41 degrees!  A typical New Year’s Eve over recent years!! I think it was about 9am, when I went out for a ‘shortened’ walk, while it was still partially overcast, and the heat had not yet arrived. It wasn’t far behind however. I noticed that the worst of the ache in my upper left leg seemed to have diminished overnight, though it was still faintly noticeable. I thought the walk might ‘draw’ it out, and I think that, together with the anti-inflammatory tablet that  I reluctantly took last night.  Meanwhile, out in the garden, there was so much that I wanted [and intended] to achieve – but it wasn’t happening very quickly, and certainly not today – a wise decision I think today, to stay out of the heat. In fact, spent a great part of today, planning radio show formats, including tonight’s ‘menu’ for New Year’s Eve. Also had a bit of time to give some consideration to my ‘horse’ selections for tomorrow’s races – my task to ‘spend’ $40 of the Betting Club’s income, and I’d been given the task for the first weekend of 2011 – a bit onerous, after a rather unsuccessful round of selections through 2010.  I hoped I would get the syndicate some return tomorrow!  The ‘membership’s’ fortnightly input is only $20, which I consider as a bit of ‘Christmas savings acct’ – so far each year that I have been involved, those in the syndicate have managed to get their year’s contributions back plus a share of any net winnings through the year. That part of the return was quite low in 2010  – it wasn’t just myself who had a bad year of tipping winners!! I hoped I could earn some return tomorrow!

Susie had a full day at her casual job today, and would be back about 7pm, just before I left for the radio station She had tried to keep her two cats inside, out of the expected heat, but soon after she left, they were ‘demanding’ [as cats are prone to do] to go outside. Don’t think they like being inside with me, I’m not as keen on their company, as is Susie! I delayed adhering to their ‘demands’ for a while, but no doubt they would find somewhere cool and shaded in the backyard to escape the worst of the sun, and the hot north wind that was quickly making it’s presence felt, and adding vastly to the overall heat discomfort. It’s rather ironical in fact, that over the past 3 or 4 Christmases, the days around and after Christmas have been relatively cool through most of the 2000s. And yet, on each of the past few New Year’s Eves, we have suddenly found ourselves in heatwave conditions. Certainly, in 2008 and 2009, the heat of those days killed off a large part of the fernery which I have outside the dining room window. Admittedly through that period, we had only being allowed to water twice a week, and on both occasions, the sudden heat conditions caught me by surprised, and I was unprepared [or had the ferns unprepared] for the extreme conditions, where the hot sun and north wind basically ‘burnt’ the bulk of my ferns. They have grown back very well over recent months, and hopefully there will be a better survival rate this summer, as the fernery is getting much more attention [and more water] than in past years – how successful that is, time will tell. Susie will tell me, they ‘are just plants’, but to me, having a plant or shrub die, is quite a disappointing event!

As I have on numerous occasions over the past days, managed a few more hours of reading this day – in fact last night, I began the second of the two Wilbur Smith novels that Susie and Jimmy gave me for Christmas – they were in fact the only two of his novels that I’d not possessed or read previously. Notr been able to find them easily in the book shops, Susie had actually purchased them on line. This one was called ‘The Quest’. I’d put aside all other books and decided that Wilbur Smith was to be enjoyed first, this Christmas period.

 

Tonight, I spent over four and half hours on air at the radio station. A night of rock n’ roll music, a genre of music I don’t have much opportunity to play on air because of the nature of my regular show, so the chance to liksten to and share some ‘classic rock’ is always readily taken up. There is seldom any regular programming scheduled [or presenters available] on New Year’s Eve, and I consider that the local listening community is entitled to be given the option of some live music/programming, so in the absence of other commitments these days, I like to make a point of making such a show available.  There was a cool change predicted before midnight, but at the time I arrived [about 8pm] it was still in the high 30s outside, and a very hot night for the New Year’s Eve celebrations in the city and elsewhere. Although in the studio, I had to keep the air conditioner under control, otherwise it would become too cool!!! Anyway, at 8pm, there was a long stretch of hours ahead of me, yet I was optimistic that I would be eventually joined by another presenter or two –  a couple had hinted at doing so, although there had been no definite commitments made. Currently, our station policy permitted only a 3 hour shift for a solo presenter, up to four hours if there were two or more of you. So, while to keep within those guidelines, I was counting on someone else joining me, I really didn’t care one way or the other – it was New Year’s Eve, and I considered my attempt, as a committee member, to have live radio available to help the local listening community see in the new year, more important on this occasion. Particularly in view of the fact, that I was anticipating that there may not be anyone else on air again, from the time I left tonight, until my return, early on Sunday morning [in retrospect, I was almost correct, only one presenter would be in, briefly on Saturday night].  My conscience was clear!

Anyway, from that viewpoint, I would be disappointed – there would be no visitors during the evening [apart from some night time magpies at the front door, seeking out some supper of the flock of moths etc attracted to the light there], and in fact, I only received one phone call – and that from our Station President, thanking me for being on air!! The only other communications received during the evening [apart from family text messages, etc] came from friend Ruth, up at Riddells Creek. She was flying out to Indonesia tomorrow, for 7 weeks, where she was going to stay with an Indonesian family – she was keen to listen to my program, but can’t pick up the station in her homer, so resorted at different stages of the night to her only option – sitting out in the car, in her driveway, with the station tuned in! Hopefully, Ruth, and the President were not my only listeners!! Although I must say, that despite the personal enjoyment I was getting from at least attempting to share my music [as I always do], I was a little downhearted overall, at the lack of feedback, and did wonder at times, just who was tuned in. Mind you, the lack of feedback was not unusual for my shows, or shows on the station in general [the usual exception being the country music programs], but nevertheless, I kind of felt that it would have added an extra dimension to the night to be assured that there was a strong listening audience, and everyone wasn’t simply glued to the TVs waiting for fireworks’ displays!!!

Now amongst my ‘communications this evening, was some contact from Adam over in France. I think it was about 5pm, when I received a message from him[early Friday am in London] to say that he and Brent were off to France today, via the ferry across the English Channel, hoping to see some ‘sights’ such as the Somme, Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Catacombs & Napoleon’s Tomb, as he described them. It was about 10pm, with a brief message came through that ‘Just saw the Mona Lisa’!!!  Earlier, he had apologised that he had not been able to make an actual phone call from Europe – apparently his phone wouldn’t permit it, although text messages were apparently okay!  Anyway, certainly for Adam, the rare , to see a bit of culture, and I was glad that chance had come his way!   Meanwhile, an earlier batch of New Year’s greetings to my siblings received various responses. From Queensland, it was simply ‘Thanks Bill’ from brother Ian, while my sister Jill, in response to my remark about the high temperature down here, noted that she ‘keeps telling me I live in the wrong state’!  From Sydney, Rob Kirk noted that ‘after an indulgent Christmas, we’re having a quiet one tonight! All the better for an early hard [bike] ride in the morning, with the TDU [Tour Down Under bike race] approaching fast’. He had mentioned to me in an earlier email, that in conjunction with the TDU [to be held in mid January over in South Australia, that he was participating in a separate tour at the same time, and adjacent to the main tour location, in similar fashion to the various tours he has taken part in during the Tour de France. No doubt the already intense daily training he undertakes, is suddenly even more intense. Works and plays hard, does our Robert!  As for youngest daughter Jodie, she was down at the St Kilda Esplanade for the New Year’s City celebrations [where ironically, the police would later in the night, closed down the venue because of crowd problems]. I was still on air when her response came through – she was ‘sick’ [had sunstroke apparently], there with boyfriend Ash, and waiting for Mum to pick her up  –  Mum was lost, trying to find her. And Jodie’s phone was about to die!! Of course, I was on air at this point – once I was sure Jodie had company, I was still left a little worried as to whether they would find each other. No doubts there were thousands of revellers in the area and traffic would be hectic – I later, after midnight, since messages to both Jodie, and her mother, wondering if they’d found each other, and if all was okay. No reply on either count, and as I did not hear anything else from anyone, had to assume things were under control. Shirley has a history of getting lost  – on this occasion, I would learn next day, that she gave up eventually, and went back to Sunbury, while Jodie, now feeling a little better, stayed on in the city for a while before she and Ash caught a taxi back to Sunbury [not a cheap exercise either!@].  No idea where James Kirk, eldest son was –  probably at the Casino, or a major city pub somewhere.

My night on air, at the radio station ended at 12.35 am. Until I left the building, I didn’t know if the cool change had come through – would normally stick one’s head out the front door around midnight to have a look at the distant view [40 kms away] of the Melbourne firework’s display – on a clear night, that display can be seen from on top of the hill here in Sunbury where the radio station is located. But I let it go tonight  – to hold that doior open, would have been to invite a plague of moths and other insects into the building – I could see them all on the TV monitor in the studio. We were also under instructions to keep that door shut at all  times until a bees’ nest [or perhaps worst] a hive of wasps, which were located just outside the front door – well really, none of us would welcome a sudden swarm of bees or wasps into the studio!! As it turned out, the worst of the heat had evaporated, and the population of moths etc, diminished in the cooler conditions, so I was able to exit the building in reasonable comfort.

A warm day, began with periods alternating between overcast and sunny, and with another early morning walk, felt quite good afterwards, although later in the day was troubled by a bit of pain in the upper leg area, almost felt like a pulled muscle, which would worry me through the night. A bit disappointed tht had happened, and as usual, when one is afflicted by any kind of arthritic pain of that sort, it tends to have a flow on affect to one’s overall energy levels and general well-being!

Mind you, that feeling of ‘dispiritness’ [new word!] was not helped by a major crash of my computer hard disk system. I tried to ‘fix’ the problem as best I could, but later in the day was ’roundly’ ridiculed by my daughter and her boyfriend [he was on the phone] for attempting any kind of fix  –  you’re probably got a virus Dad, best left to the ‘experts’ – even if it takes ‘them’ week to getting around to provide assistance!  Anyway, at this point, that problem was suggesting that I had ‘lost’ most of my desktop files of word and excel [my main areas of operation] – and for someone who depends quite heavily on my computer for much of my voluntary and family history material and research,  this was all pointing to a major ‘record keeping’ disaster!!  Did you have your work saved, said Susie, later tonight  –  well, some of it, in various ways, but not all!!  She had actually been in the city most of the day – came back with sunburnt legs, so presumably at a concert or something, so I’d had to wait until mid evening before I could even make mention of my computer problems! Needless to say, it all gave Susie and Jimmy something to have a big laugh about  –  and yes, he would have a look at the problem [works in a computer organisation] , but the question, unanswered, for me, would be ‘when’!!

The day didn’t improve much –  had to make an extra trip into town, for a medical appointment that was only necessary simply in order to renew a prescription which I’d allowed to run out, again! Seem to have problems lately keeping those things in order!! Long wait for the doctor, then to be told he was out somewhere, and after all that, my prescription was made out for me by the duty nurse, with the signature of another on duty doctor. Why could I not have been told that was an option 30 minutes earlier?  Then, true the form, the chemist had run out of what I wanted – back tomorrow for a new supply!!!  Grrrrrrrr!! This is beginning to become a regular occurence with this supplier!  Anyway, to continue with my general grumbling mood in this entry [!!] by the end of the afternoon, with the ache in my upper leg region intensifying, I was beginning to feel rather sorry for myself. That was brightened a little by a couple of text messages from son Adam, over in the northern hemisphere –  telling us that he was heading across to France that morning for some sight seeing including the Somme, with a later message to confirm that, yes, he was receiving my messages in response, pretty well immediately after I’d sent them.  Modern communications across the oceans! Also mentioned that he would give us a call in about 24 hours.

With my computer out of action, I took the opportunity this evening to finish Wilbur Smith’s book ‘Warloch’. As usual, with all of his other novels,. a book that was hard to put down! Despite the fact that Smith’s novels always have more than a share of gruesome storylines – this one was no different.   I think the book’s cover flap summarises the gist of the book quite well., no need for me to try and precise it, suffice to say, a great – perhaps I was not as keen on his ‘Egyptian’ novels because of the high levels of ‘magic’ and aspects of spiritual cults and the supernatural, etc, emphasised within the stories – somehow, a little less believable than most of his historical novels, but nevertheless, it was a great read, and easily digestible. From the book itself:-

‘Hidden away in the vast and forbidding deserts of North Africa, Taita has passed the years since the death of his beloved Queen Lostris in prayer and study. He has become the Warlock, wise in the lore of the ancient Gods, an adept of magic and the supernatural. Now Taita answers the summons from the beyond. He leaves the desert vastness and returns to the world of men, to find himself plunged into a terrible conflict against the forces of evil which threaten to overwhelm the throne and the realm of Egypt, and to destroy the young prince Nefer who is the grandson of Queen Lostris. With vivid depictions of battle and intrigue, of love and passion, with fascinating characters both good and evil, Wilbur Smith brings to life in colourful detail the world of ancient Egypt……’  Certainly, intrigues, passions, etc are words which could be applied to any one of Smith’s 28 or so novels. While still on leave, I began immediately on the next sequence to this book, and expect it to be equally another example of Smith’s master story telling talents.

One should begin today’s comments by reference to the cricket.  I was thinking back to my feelings as I watched the start of the match last Saturday morning – my thoughts ‘trying to imagine what the atmosphere must have been like at the beginning of the game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the anticipation and the tension –  just sitting at home in front of the television was tension enough – but then, I didn’t have to imagine, because I’d been there on that very, on many previous occasions, and quickly realised that morning, that nothing really can compare with actually been at an event!  My problem these days, is that I find it much more tiring than I used to, and more disturbed or uncomfortable in the big crowds.  I’d actually planned to go today, on Day 4, but when the game looked as though it was likely to be over quite quickly in the morning, decided not to bother. Mind you, if I lived around the corner from the MCG,  my visits to the ground would be a lot more frequent, because the journey involved is now a bit more off-putting than it used to be in past years

Anyway, as anticipated, the match was over and completed before 12 Noon,  within 90 minutes of the beginning of play on Day 4 of the 4^th Ashes cricket test – despite a bit of a tail end defence by a couple of middle order batsmen and the bowlers, Australia were eventually defeated, and as a consequence, England retained the Ashes Trophy  –  the first time England had won an Ashes series in Australia since 1986. Now while I can’t lay my hands on the precise details, I was present at one of the days at that match, it may well have been the shortened final day [as in today’s case]  – another Boxing Day Test in Melbourne with very similar outcomes to this week’s match, that time, on the 28^th December.

In 1986, the scores were England: 349 defeated Australia 141 and 194.  Today, the final scores were England: 513 defeated Australia:  98 and  258  – won by an Innings and  157 runs [bit of a thrashing really]. England have now won three of the last four Ashes series [two in England], and Ricky Ponting becomes the first Australian cricket captain to lead three Ashes losses  –  I somehow don’t think he will be in charge when Australia next visits England for the next series in a couple of years!  The game ended at 11.55 am, and I immediately sent a ‘reluctant’ Facebook message of congratulations to friend Maureen over in England – as well as a brief text message to Adam, who at that moment was probably somewhere over Europe. I would discover later that I was getting messages from him, but not sure if Adam was receiving my responses.  Meanwhile, in the post match speeches and presentations, Ricky Ponting gave a fair and honest appraisal of the game just completed –  and lots of credit to the England team for a superior effort. As for his own form – ‘my Series has been horrible – I take full responsibility for that – one more game to turn it around  – still feel I have a lot to offer to the team as a batsman and a leader’.  Andrew Strauss, the England captain had a typical English comment –  ‘a top quality performance from the lads’!!

Meanwhile, over in England no doubt, the media there are going to have a field day – in fact already, the British press have relished England’s Ashes success, pointing to the tourists’ superior planning as the reason for their breakthrough performance in Australia.  And this report from ‘The Guardian’ – England legend Sir Ian Botham couldn’t contain himself after 23 years of Ashes heartbreak on Australian soil [not an Englishman you would expect to display much sympathy for the Australians].  “If you’re an England cricketer nothing beats the feeling of travelling halfway around the world just to point out to the Aussies that they are not quite up to scratch. That really hurts,” Botham wrote in the Mirror. “(England) have outplayed this Australian team in Melbourne from start to finish so comprehensively that some people might even feel sorry for the home team. “But this is international sport and there is no room for sentiment. This is where the strong survive and the weak move aside to lick their wounds and work out a way to come back from their beating. “And Australia have got plenty of wounds to lick.” Botham also urged England to deny Australia the consolation of drawing the series by winning the Sydney Test. “I said it before I came out to Australia and I’ll say it again. England will win these Ashes by two clear Tests and all things being equal that is exactly what they’ll do. “The gap between the teams is growing wider by the over and it is nothing less than England deserve because they have played the better cricket over the course of the series so far. “Australia have only shown a flash of brilliance – that is not enough.”  Certainly, it was only a few years that Australia was the top nation in most forms of the game, and especially in the Test cricket format. In the past couple of seasons, we have slid down the rankings severely, and it appears time for some kind of generational change. It will be interesting to see how the team changes, both for the 5^th and final test in Sydney this weekend, and for the immediate future tours in test cricket. In some ways, one could feel this could be the start of a new exciting era in Australian cricket!!

Of course, should Australia happen to win the Test Match in Sydney next week, this actual series will have been drawn [2 wins each, and a draw]. But to actually retain the Ashes, which England won two years ago over in he UK, all they needed to do was draw the Series, so the result in Sydney won’t change that fact, but it will add a little bit of credibility to the Australian team, if they can pull off a win up there in the Harbour City.

As for Adam, it was late in the afternoon, when I received his brief text message  ‘Made it 2 London’ [sent at 4.39 pm our time].   Just before 5.36 pm, another message came through – ‘On the underground on our way 2 russell square J, been up for over 30 hours but were safe’

Generally speaking, it was a bit of a lazy day this Wednesday – I did manage to have another  mid-morning walk [three days in a row now, after a bit of a ‘break’ from my walking routine ], and later in the afternoon, headed into town for a coffee with friend Ruth –  ostensibly to return to her the Leonard Cohen cds that we had both featured a couple of weeks ago on the radio. She was heading over to Indonesia for 6 weeks on New Year’s Day – part of a study course she was currently undertaking, which included living for that period with an Indonesian family. Forgot to ask her exactly where she was going, but no doubt there will be some kind of communication from her during that period. The remainder of my time in the town centre was spent at places like the chemist, post office, and of course, the local book shop – I mean, I do gift vouchers from that venue sitting in my pocket waiting to be used!!  So I did!  Weather wise, it is getting hotter –  tomorrow, heat wave conditions are predicted to extend into New Year’s Eve.

I paid a brief visit to the family home – to bid a brief farewell to son, Adam, who with a cricketing mate, is heading for the snow and cold of England, France and Scotland, leaving later this afternoon. Probably an opportunity and experience that he might not have thought possible a year ago, and while the ‘excursion’ is only of about 10 days duration, I’m glad he has taken the chance to make the trip [something I didn’t do, when younger]. Though as his father – and someone not experienced in overseas travel – I do feel a little apprehensive for him, I guess from the flying point of view, and the visit to far away places – interesting that he is travelling to the one part of the world that would be my first choice, were I given that option – Scotland and England!  Anyway, by mid afternoon Wednesday here, he will be in London, from where they travel across the English Channel to France and Paris – will be spending New Year’s Eve in the French capital.  Hopefully, I might receive a report or two from his journey, though because of the short time involved, we have not committed Adam to any major communication  –  just want to know when he arrives in London!

Australia, after the lunch break, batting in the cricket, after finally dismissing for English for 513 runs!!!   Australia need 416 runs, simply to force England to bat again!!!  By the end of the afternoon session, Australia had progressed to 1 wicket for 95 runs – the wicket lost due to a wasteful run out! Two messages from Adam, while he waits for his flight – wanting to know the score!! It was at that point that the current ‘form’ of the Australian team revealed itself again –  collapse of the batsmen, so that by the close of play today, our team score was another miserable 6 wickets for 169 runs, still a massive 246 runs behind, and defeat in the Ashes series likely to come early in tomorrow’s 4^th day of play. I had been thinking of going tomorrow but the game is unlikely to last very long, barring a batting miracle, or a day long downpour of rain [though the item below, will discount that idea].  Another disappointing day for the majority of the 67,000 at the MCG today, although there is also a large support base for England.

Meanwhile, authorities are warning the public not to be complacent over the recent spells of cooler weather, and the rain of recent weeks. Temperatures are likely to rise considerably over the next two or three days, certainly in to the high 30s around this area, and in the low 40s in some northern regional areas. The expected searing heat together with a northerly wind is likely to lead to the first fire bans for the summer [we normally get these off and on from October onwards. Meanwhile, long range forecasters are expecting above average temperatures over the next couple of months  [and there I was, hoping this ‘rare cool summer’ was going to continue that way – over optimistic!!].  Meanwhile up in Queensland, floodwaters from heavy rains are again causing concerns in many  areas.  While thinking of this, I’m wondering how my son – currently in the air on his way to the UK and France – is going to find the extreme wintry conditions they are currently experiencing over in that part of the world. Despite our relative cool summer so far, I think his destination is going to feel like another world, weather wise!

I must admit that my thoughts are with Adam tonight. This is only the second occasion on which one of my ‘children’ has undertaken a long international plane flight [James went to the USA about 3 years ago], and in view of my personal reluctance to fly myself, I find myself feeling a little apprehensive about Adam being ‘up in the skies’ for the 20 hours or whatever it takes to get to London! I’m imagining, that at the time of writing this, he is getting close to the end of the first part of the flight – the changeover in Malaysia – certainly, he won’t be cold here, will probably be hit hard by the heat and humidity. Adam was hoping to get some sleep and fill in some of remaining 13 hours of flying to the United Kingdom.  My prayers of a safe journey are travelling with him!