The last couple of days in Sydney have been extremely warm, with temperatures in the mid-30s. Today was a terrific day to head underground, to visit a place with a climate resembling a wine cellar.
The Parbury Ruins, at Miller’s Point, were uncovered only a few years ago during the construction of an apartment block. Now preserved for the future, the ruins of what was once a nineteenth-century free-standing house with harbour views, are now preserved for the future, located underneath the apartment block.
By appointment, and on special occasions, the ruins are open to the public, also containing displays of artefacts from the archaeological dig.
It was awesome to visit the ruins today, to go underground and enjoy the history, and to enjoy the cooler conditions.
Sue and I followed this with lunch at nearby Fratelli Fresh. An awesome way to spend the day.
Parbury Tour GroupMasonry FootingParbury WellSink at the Parbury RuinsJenny Lind PlateMarbles at Parbury Ruins
In today’s “Daily Telegraph” there’s a report that Hugh Jackman and Deborah-Lee Furness (and family) arrived at Sydney Airport yesterday. While Hugh works on a new film, the Tele reports they will spend the next six months living in Australia. It didn’t take today’s Tele to tell me they were in Australia, however, having spotted them walking along George Street in “The Rocks” yesterday. I was walking along with my friends Graeme and Grant when, suddenly, we noticed the presence of three “paparazzi” photographers with their trademark long-lens zoom cameras. None of us had ever seen anything like this before in Sydney, so we instantly assumed it might have been Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban. It’s a well-publicised fact that Nicole has remained in the United States while Keith has been back in Australia on a promotional tour. But no, it was just plain old Hugh and Deborah. “Maybe she’s pregnant?”, Grant wondered, curious as to why there would be paparazzi dodging and weaving behind lamp-posts on the other side of the street for a shot of Deborah and Hugh. “Maybe they were on the verge of divorcing, but are now back together?”, I proffered as a possible explanation. But no, it’s not that exciting, though it gave me the opportunity to take my own paparazzi-style photograph.
The three of us had just been to a “70’s Festival” at Susannah Place in “The Rocks”. Susannah Place is a series of four terraces located at The Rocks in Sydney which were built in 1844 by an Irish family. The houses were kept in the family for many years, and were mostly rented out to working class families. The terraces are now owned by the Historic Houses Trust of NSW which has maintained them. Inside the houses, which have been restored, but not renovated, there is period furniture, representing the style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Even in In the backyard, there was an outside toilet and a copper washing basin, much like the one I remember bathing in as a child.
Many of the houses were still inhabited in the 70s, and for the festival, were temporarily decorated with a range of 70’s style clothing and furniture. There were also a number of stalls selling old records, books and clothing. We spent maybe half an hour there before wandering on, and then noticing Hugh, who of course, has become famous through his portrayal of 70’s singer-songwriter, Peter Allen.
Outside one of the shops at Circular Quay I noticed a stand displaying those miniature number plates with first names on them, also popular back in the 70s. I remember as a child desperately wanting one for my push-bike. And from the look of things the display probably hadn’t been updated since the 70s. Looking closely at the names on offer, you soon discover names such as Glenda, Graham, Carol and Fiona, which are no longer popular. A quick check on the website of the Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages reveals that it’s really old-fashioned names, like Jack, Toby, Sophie and Isabella that are common these days. Of course there’s the well-documented and often joked about Dakota, Montana (and other US states) and the stupid spellings of proper names (J’aymz), but the evidence suggests the more traditional names remain popular. James, of course, is one of those classic names, and to my parents I’m eternally grateful they didn’t go with “Kenneth” (as planned), and named me after my grandfather instead.
Pic: Catherine CrollThe day was dominated once again by work. We had the finals of the National Poetry Slam at the Sydney Opera House. That meant a lot of hard work over several hours.
But aside from hard work, I also caught up with Kate who has just returned from China. Kate came along, we had a great catchup, we had some drinks, and she took some great photographs of the night.
Speaking of China, Damo goes next week, and I’m looking for somewhere in Sydney for a nice farewell meal where they speak Mandarin, not Cantonese. Can you suggest somewhere?
And by the way, am I the only person who was never been to China :) I’m beginning to feel that way!
I learned more about Australian plants in an hour walking around the Botanic Gardens, Canberra than I think I’ve learned in my life. Although I was a member of the Gould League as a child, most of the detail about banksias and grevilleas has never really sunk in. I love plants, I’m just not one for “detail”. Ask me to name a flower, and I’d struggle. This is despite having grown up with a garden of my own which I tended with regularity. But with a specialisation in Australian plants, and with a careful as I walked around taking photographs, I learned a lot more. I probably should learn more, eh?
To be honest, I never really intended to visit the Botanic Gardens. I’d caught an ordinary Canberra bus (though labelled it would take you to a bunch of tourist attractions) with a greater interest in seeing the new National Arboretum. Located on land that was devastated in the bushfires of about five years ago, the Aboretum features lots of amazing tree species. Although well attended, I probably arrived there five or ten years early. At the moment, most of the trees are saplings. At the moment, it doesn’t look “visually spectacular”, though it’s conceptually very spectacular. It’s a really great example of the forethought that goes into some of the “nation building” projects you find around Canberra.
Still a wander around the Botanic Gardens (along with lunch) made for a very pleasant way to spend my first part of this trip to Canberra.
Most years there’s two or three songs I really, really like, and “meh” is my usual reaction to most of the remainder. But this year, there were half a dozen songs I really liked, including one I’ve put on permanent repeat.
You know how when you’re a teenager you play the same song over and over and over and over again? Imagine, if you would, a 54 year old man dancing around the lounge room. I’ve become a teenager again! I hope the neighbours don’t mind.
This is the song I have on permanent repeat. You can hear his voice has gone through some significant audio processing, but what the hey. This song is very catchy, even if the title and lyric is a little bit creepy!
Sweden always produces the goods.
Iceland often puts forward some of my favourites in Eurovision. This is a great song, with a fun performance, and a lovely lyric. The lyric is he and his wife speaking to their newborn child about “the first time they met”. BTW, he’s impossibly tall, and his wife is the shortest member of the group (on the left).
This guy from Switzerland has a terrific voice, and the melody is strong too.
A terrific soulful dance number from Malta.
Maybe twenty years ago, the Belgian band, Hooverphonic had an awesome song called “Mad About You”. Ever since then, I’ve had a soft spot for them. It was awesome to see them turn up in Eurovision.
Something fun from Russia. Don’t you think the male “vocalist” looks like the Robert Carlyle’s character of “Begbie” in “Trainspotting”? If you’ve made it this far, the dancer in this clip probably demonstrates what I look like in the first song featured.
Even though we didn’t have a “proper” Eurovision this year, there were lots of countries conducting their own specials. I watched the SVT (Swedish TV) special on Friday, and then the SBS (Australian TV) on Saturday, both of which I enjoyed. Iceland topped for both countries. I also watched the “official” “Shine A Light” special which, though well intentioned was a bit of a yawn. “The world is terrible, but there’s a light shining through…” Yeah, yeah, got it. Play me the songs!
It was interesting to watch these specials with mostly video clips, instead of live performances. The live performances can sometimes be a little dodgy. Though authentic, you hear a few bum notes, crazy choreography, and weirdly imagined creative interpretations of the songs. With the video clips, the imagery is generally flawless, and there’s also no doubt a few of the songs / vocals have done with a bit of “enhancement”. But, what the hey? What’s the alternative?
“I was on the verge of getting up and walking out”, a colleague told me over lunch. “He’s a disgusting, horrible person, and represents everything I hate”, she added.
She was referring to the radio presenter, Kyle Sandilands, in conversation with TV presenter, Karl Stefanovic. They were on stage at Radio Alive, an annual radio conference (put on by the commercial radio sector, but of broader interest than just selling ads), held this year in Brisbane.
The conversation was full of expletives and comments which a lot of people found offensive. “What did you first think when you met Jacqie O?” he was asked to which he replied, “I thought she was f…able”. That kind of thing. He also told us that, when working at a radio station in Perth, he was engaged to one woman, but “f…ing six others”. So yeah, in a post #metoo world, his schtick (and it clearly is a schtick) didn’t go down well with a number of peoplle in the room.
While that was “all” that some people heard, I “heard” that he absolutely loved working in radio. He told the story of how he, as a child, used to “play radio station and play news readers” with another “nerdy boy who wasn’t very good at sport”. This resonated with me instantly and helps to explain my own career trajectory. That’s what I did too. And I knew who that other “nerdy boy” was, a colleague of mine, sitting in the audience.
He also described the secret to his successful radio partnership with Jacquie “O” Henderson was that he admired her before he met her and that they never “compete” for space on the airwaves they share. He also said that, while she does a lot of program preparation, he does “none”, so that he can listen and respond as a listener would. He said they have no “scripts”, and they listen to each other. He also said that when they were paired together, he was initially offered a much higher salary (even though she was the more experienced radio presenter), but they had insisted on salary parity.
But that wasn’t enough to convince a few people I spoke to there was maybe some degree of integrity in the rough public face of Kyle.
The other speaker at the conference who polarised the audience was a bloke called Michael “Shingy” Shing. Look for him on the internet, and you’ll see a whole range of Youtube videos, and that he has worked at places like AOL as a so-called “Digital Prophet”. At the centre of his talk was the idea that after twenty years of rapidly and enthusiastically embracing technology, we’re starting to either reject it or find a more appropriate place for technology in our human lives. He talked about his own experience, for example, of getting rid of his television twenty years ago.
His speech was full of recent advertising innovations, recent developments in the internet of things, and a range of other interesting material. “It was like a reeeeaaaaaallllly long Ted Talk that went nowhere”, said one of the people I chatted to over a drink, later in the day. Another, though he had lots of great thoughts around the central thesis of the appropriate role of technology in people’s lives.
Other interesting bits and pieces from throughout the day?
There’ll be a major advertising campaign before Christmas on commercial radio and TV promoting DAB+ radio. The research indicates most Australians have heard of digital radio, and might even have one in their car, but don’t really understand the benefits, and how to tune in.
On a panel of radio executive producers, one spoke about how she planned her radio program two weeks in advance, so there’s always a back-up for those days when there’s nothing “topical” to talk about.
The impressive Cathy O’Connor from NOVA (the most interesting on a panel of CEOs) talked about how radio sales (and media generally) had been experiencing an economic downtown this year, but was hopeful that, when you take into account the more positive five year circle, things would be okay.
She also had a funny line about the short-term failed experiment of combining music and talk radio under the banner “Vega”. “We couldn’t explain it to the audience”, he said, adding “We could hardly explain it to ourselves”.
And on that issue of confidence, radio was described as a “resilient” medium. In contrast with newspapers and television, which had both experienced difficulties by losing audience, radio audiences are holding up remarkably strongly.
Perhaps it’s the intimacy of the medium. Or maybe it’s the fact I have written this blog post with the radio playing in the background. You don’t need a pair of eyes to listen to the radio. And that’s why I love it.
I’ve been working in radio for over forty years, including thirty at the ABC.
Manager Metropolitan Local Radio, Jeremy Millar and I.Five years ago I received the official “ABC 25 Year Medal”.
It’s been a while since I tried a new sport, especially after my experiences with wheelchair fencing and wheelchair basketball. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fantastic sports, but since I don’t typically use a wheelchair, they never really clicked for me. It’s tough to get into something when the fundamental equipment doesn’t match how you move in daily life. But today, I decided to give something else a shot: assisted standing tennis.
This isn’t your typical tennis. It’s a version of the game designed for players with physical disabilities who play while standing, often using prosthetics, like me. The rules are modified to make it more accessible. For example, players can take an extra bounce, or even three bounces depending on their specific needs. It’s all about adapting the game to the person, which feels much more inclusive than forcing a person to adapt to the game.
The biggest hurdles were my balance and a fear of falling. My physiotherapist and I talk a lot about the challenges for lower-limb amputees, and these sessions always focus on building core strength and stability to improve my movement and reduce my fall risk.
Those were exactly the things I struggled with today. The fear of falling was particularly bad, especially after I broke my hip earlier in the year. When the ball came toward me, my instinct was to freeze. I just couldn’t figure out how to move quickly without feeling like I was going to topple over.
Despite my awkwardness, it was a genuinely great experience. Everyone, from the organizers to the other players, was incredibly welcoming. I even ended up playing with a kid who was probably around 11, and he was absolutely incredible—a far better player than me!
People were so helpful, and someone even loaned me a racket. Marita, the organizer, checked in with me to see how I was doing. When I explained my struggles, she was so understanding. She mentioned that there’s a physiotherapist who specializes in this sport, and I’ll be following up with her to see if I can get some specific lessons/advice.
This experience has already given me a new goal to work on with my own physiotherapist. I think that with some targeted practice on my balance and strength, I could actually get the hang of this. It’s a huge relief to find a sport that feels like a real fit, and I’m excited to see where this journey takes me.
