Conscious that I sometimes share material on other platforms that never makes “the cut” here on my blog, I will start sharing a few bits and pieces here also. These are the tweets, posts, and observations that still seem relevant at the end of each month. Lots of ephemera, but hopefully still quite entertaining.
The Drum live to air from Darwin
July31 : A friend/colleague and I watched @abcthedrum go live to air from Darwin today. Great show, though we were slightly attracted by this.August 1 : One of the guys at work today complimented me on my shirt, and then shortly afterwards realised what it reminded him of.August 8 : I found this 33rpm recording at the ABC in Darwin. Today, I grabbed the audio and here it is, the awesome voice of James Dibble.August 11 : Per capita, I’m sure Darwin has the country’s highest number of personalised number plates. So far, this is the best one I’ve seen.August 14: “There but for the grace of God, go I”… a radio news blooper that came my way today.August 14:
Quiz of Chaos Live on @abcdarwin at the Spiegeltent
Having an awesome time watching @abcdarwin live from the Darwin Festival
Drag queens on @abcdarwin at Darwin Festival. I think Liz needs higher heels!
August 18 : The correct phrase should be “My comments were offensive”, not the usual, lame “I’m sorry if people were offended”.August 23 : Terrific morning tea today to celebrate Macca’s 45 years at the ABC, with current MD, David Anderson and former MD, David Hill. David Hill was MD when David Anderson started working at the ABC.August 23 : Even if this was a T20 this would still be pretty bad.August 28 : When I lived at Bourke in the late 1980s there was a bloke who used to tie his horse up to the railing outside the pub. Would love to see this guy do it.
August 30: Fifty years party tonight for ABC Radio’s program, PM, with lots of new and old faces in the room. Awesome broadcasters and journalists, including Tim Bowden who was there are the very beginning.
August 31 : Though I’m not sure why, there’s a cherry blossom archway in an arcade on George Street, Sydney. Lovely.
“Though I sometimes feel a bit “old”, I can still hang out with the cool kids at a bar in Paddington, drinking a Japanese beer”, I proudly proclaimed to friends on Facebook last night.
I was seated at the bar of “The Paddington”, a Justin Hemmes-owned restaurant and bar. I was the oldest person there, with most aged in their 30s. They were all very good-looking and fashionably dressed, the kind of people you might see on the social pages of the weekend newspapers.
Japanese beer at a trendy bar in Sydney.
A similarly aged friend and I were due to meet there for an early dinner (6.15pm). We might still be able to hang out with the hip and happening crowd, but we also both like to be in our pyjamas, and in bed by 9 o’clock at the latest. I like to get up for early morning walks, and she likes to go ocean swimming. It’s a stark contrast to our earlier days when it was not unusual for us to go out for dinner and drinks, and then a bit of all-night clubbing.
“I’m meeting a friend I’ve known for about 25 years”, I told the taxi driver on my way there. “Oh that’s so funny”, he replied, “I’m only 24 years old”, he added. “Piss off”, I said under my breath.
Meeting friends for lunch in the city this week, and the delights of the Christmas Tree in Martin Place.
As I drank my beer, I sat and waited for my friend. I didn’t worry at first, as she is often a few minutes late. But after waiting for about 20 minutes, I started to get worried. We didn’t have a restaurant booking, I found out. Maybe I had the wrong venue? I texted and rang her. No answer. I went back through our message exchange, finally realising I was 24-hours early. D’oh. She got back to me eventually, noting the missed call and messages. LOL. I’ll be back there tonight, which I’m very much looking forward to.
It was the second time this week, I had a “bar problem”. I caught up with some colleagues earlier in the week for after-work Christmas Drinks. I was so excited to see them that I missed the uneven floor, and came to a very public crumbling fall. “I haven’t even had a drink yet”, I joked, noting that I might have fallen and hurt my ankle, but hardly lost a drop from the beer in my hand :)
It’s been a fortnight for catch-ups, including meeting Rod from Geelong, who often comments on this blog, which was lovely. He was in Sydney for a holiday week, which included visits to the new sections of the Art Gallery of NSW. I haven’t been there yet, and so it was good to hear his observations about what to look out for. It was also lovely to connect with Rod’s face and voice, so when I see his comments in the future, I’ll have more of a sense of the person behind the words.
I’m going to squeeze in a visit to the Art Gallery today, before heading up to Lismore for Christmas.
While some people “slow down” in the lead-up to Christmas, it’s always quite a busy time for me work-wise. While others take time off, I generally work through it. I’ve learned so much about combining work from the office and work from home, a have found a pretty good equilibrium. I’ll be able to do my job from home in Lismore, seeing my family, but also getting on with the job.
I had a moment this week, however, when I realised the downside of working from home when I briefly fell asleep on the couch while doing a “deep listen” on some audio I needed to preview. You lie down, you close your eyes, and as you really concentrate on the words, you generally can pick up things in the edit you might not otherwise notice sitting at your desk. I’ve been doing it for years! But this time I nodded off!!
“What were you listening to?”, a colleague asked. “Something I recorded for summer…”, I told him :) “Not a good sign”, we laughed!
But the edit is much better now, so this might be a good future workflow.
A nearby bloke struck up a conversation with me today at Coogee Beach. He was getting dressed after a swim, while I sat there shirtless, soaking up the sun. Even though it was a brief chat, his thoughtful questions about my disability helped reset my day.
By the end of Tuesdays, after two full days at the office, I’m feeling pretty drained. So Wednesdays are my “recovery days”, usually involve sleeping in until about 9:30, followed by activities like swimming and rehab exercises for my below-knee amputation from last year, or attending medical appointments.
Coogee is such a lovely beach. It’s an easy ride for me on the 374 bus. It’s nowhere near as crowded as other beaches like Bondi, and importantly for me, there is only a gentle slope.
This week’s physiotherapy session focused on getting around without a prosthetic limb. I’m getting my new “permanent” prosthetic next Thursday (hopefully), and I’ve heard it might take some time to adjust. It’ll be much smaller than my current bulky one. There might be times when it rubs and I can’t wear it, or it could all go smoothly.
So, we practiced using crutches. This skill might also come in handy for middle-of-the-night bathroom trips when I don’t want to put my prosthetic on. I have a urine bottle, but there’s the issue of, well, faeces that needs to be considered.
Crutches are tricky. I started with full-length ones but settled on half-length, as they’re easier to use..
Both my physio and I remarked on how many people misuse crutches, putting weight on them incorrectly. The trick is to push down on the handgrips as you step forward, holding your residual leg out in front or bending it if possible. The crutch tips and your healthy leg should always form a triangle for stability. (I hope I’ve explained that properly)?
I laughed when I saw this sign at Coogee Beach, wondering if it was erected at the same time as the structure, or afterwards, in response to many people bumping their heads.
I practiced at home today, staying near the couch for a soft landing if needed. My physio advised against taking risks without supervision.
We also worked on reverse push-ups from my coffee table, doing 5-10 reps to build triceps strength.
After years of disliking exercise, I’m enjoying seeing my strength and skills improve.
But public encounters can still be discouraging. Due to my recovery, and the nature of my disability, people increasingly don’t recognize my needs in public. I’ve mentioned being pushed out of the way before by people who see me as some old bloke in the way of their important and busy lives, as they make their way quickly in their own direction.
It’s disheartening having to ask people on public transport to give up their place, even in the designated disability seats. They often grumble or wait for someone else to move first.
This morning, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself, compounded by poor customer service I had received.
The bloke at the beach changed my outlook. He wasn’t in a hurry, and so he was more mindful of people in the world around him was my take on things.
In response to his question about having gone for a swim, I explained that I can’t swim by myself YET, but with my new prosthetic and hopefully my “wet leg” arriving soon, I’ll be back in the ocean.
Later this afternoon I paid a visit to the Cook & Phillip Pool which was remarkably quiet. Though I’m not in a position to do laps yet, I like to hop in the hydrotherapy pool, do some exercises, and let the water jets give my residual limb and some gentle massage.
Coonamble is a long long way from Sydney. Coonamble is located on that broad flat black soil country - with occasional touches of red soil - that only comes from really getting away from the coast. But it was well worth the drive.
Coonamble is a small town in Western NSW, not far from Bourke, about 553km from Sydney. It took us about 7 hours to get there and 10 to return, due to public holiday traffic problems in the Blue Mountains.
The idea came from my friend Yvette, who thought it would be a good idea to go away for the weekend co-inciding with the annual Coonamble Rodeo & Campdraft (CR&C) which
sees hundreds of competitors saddling up for some of the best bucking bull and big bronc action around. As a predominantly wheat and cattle town where the locals still tie their horses up to the rails outside the Commercial Hotel, Coonamble throws out the welcome mat in a big way. When the last cowboy picks himself up and dusts himself off each day, every pub in town overflows with live entertainment provided by some of Australia’s top country music artists. The Sunday night Cabaret kicks off at 7.30pm at the RSL Club and will provide a great night of entertainment.
Okay, so they were bullshitting a bit, but Coonamble is not some yuppie location a short drive from Sydney. Coonamble is really on the edge of the outback. And I’d been really looking forward to the trip for several weeks. You can take the boy out of the country….
The drive there was hard, solid driving, taking us through towns such as Mudgee, Gulargambone and Gulgong, a town is famous because it used to feature on the ten dollar note. As many country towns look a bit “the same”,it was great to visit a really distinctive place. Along the way we also made quite a few “pit stops” including one where a couple of people by while having a wee on the roadside, prompting the use of the word “tumbleweed” to describe the action.
Shopping in Coonamble turned out to be extraordinarily good. As the weather was unexpectedly incelement, we had a great need for umbrellas and rain jackets, which we obtained from “Bag A Bargain”. I’d also forgotten socks and jocks so we also paid a visit to the two local opportunity shop, wher I picked up a great pair of jeans for $2, and one of the others also picked up some great boots.
We spent the weekend staying at the “Sons Of The Soil” (known locally as SOTS) which was extraordinarily good value. Nothing special and you share a bathroom, but the people running it are extremely nice and welcoming.
Coonamble Rodeo
Coonamble is a long long way from Sydney. It’s on that broad flat black soil country – with occasional touches of red soil – that only comes from really getting away from the coast. But it was well worth the drive.
The rodeo itself was great fun. We paid a brief visit to the Junior Rode on the Saturday (almost completely washed out) and then spent most of Sunday afternoon at the rodeo proper where highlights including steer wrestling and bareback riding.
We kept ourselves pretty well entertained with a karaoke night at SOTS – where we dominated the microphone – and for a band at the RSL. It’s worth noting that at the RSL they were extraordinarily serious about the issue of identification, demanding from one woman in her early 30s proof that she was over 18. Although flattering, it was also pretty stupid and, when raised with someone in a more official position at the club, the security person was put back in his place and we entered without too much grief.
Aside from that moment, and another occasion where a couple of local girls poked fun of one of us – who was admittedly inappropriately dressed for the rodeo – we all thought the town was incredibly friendly. We, of course, stuck out like dogs balls. The eclectic mix of English backpackers, yuppies and a couple of gay boys thrown in were clearly not locals. But we weren’t resented, as sometimes happens to outsiders in a small town, but genuinely welcomed.
That friendliness also seemed to be reflected in the community spirit we saw evident in fundraising for the Conn Family, a local family in which the parents and one child had died in a house fire a week earlier.
Coonamble is a long long way from Sydney. It’s on that broad flat black soil country – with occasional touches of red soil – that only comes from really getting away from the coast. But it was well worth the drive.
We’ve had such beautiful skies in Sydney over the last week. Last weekend I was at Waverly Cemetery where the skies were spectacularly blue. And today, my friend Kate noticed how gorgeous the skies were.
She’s been in Beijing for most of the year where the skies, generally, aren’t all that blue. “It’s so clear and beautiful” she kept saying as we wandered about the city, before finally making our way to the Museum Of Contemporary Art.
While the star exhibit at the MCA right now is the Annie Liebowitz exhibition, we were more interested in the new acquisitions on Level 3 (or was it 4?). There was a terrific video work which, over three panels, featured a cartoon dramatisation of people in the field/outdoors in three quite different locations. There was a great work where someone had reproduced – in pencil – an entire copy of a UK newspaper which announced the death of Judy Garland. And there was a reasonably creepy work which featured a fluffy animal which you thought just sat there, until it moved and scared me half to death.
Ornamentation atop the Croll-Stevenson grave at Waverly Cemetery
From there it was home briefly before meeting up with some friends – known from no one as “The Boozehounds” – for dinner and drinks.
We had dinner at Onde, a restaurant on Liverpool Street in Sydney. It’s a great little place with good atmosphere, good food – I had seared calves livers, and good service. It’s highly recommended.
We ended off the night upstairs at Kinselas. On a warm wet night in Sydney, the upstairs bar proved to be both popular (later in the night), and just the right spot to end off the evening.
Looking skywards near Central Station, Sydney
The clear skies of the day had turned suddenly, dramatically, to rain. But that’s what happens in Sydney at this time of the year.
Even though my level of understanding remains reasonably high, and I’m pretty happy with my pronunciation, we’ve begun to enter the murky world of complex grammar.
And even though I work in an industry where language is important, and where my understanding of the complex world of English language grammar is of a high level, it’s instinctive, not learned.
I’m having to learn all manner of things I never learned in school. I was part of the generation in which we learned about verbs and nouns and not much else.
So late this afternoon, as I was walking down York Street, I called in to Abbeys Book Store, which has an extensive foreign language collection and bought a book called “Swedish: Essentials of Grammar” by Ake Viberg, Kerstin Ballardini and Sune Stjarnlof. Hopefully this will help…
Amongst the many things I did today was meet Tom from Tom’s Place. Yes, he does exist beyond the world of blogging.
As he’s studying at a location nearby my work, we caught up for a coffee for half an hour or so at about the only decent place for coffee in Ultimo.
We had a really great chat, and he seems like a very charming lovely bloke.
