Paul (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} fremantlebiz) wrote,@ 2007-11-06 07:43:00 |
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Melbourne Cup day in Perth - 2007
It was Guy Fawkes night last night and Melbourne Cup day today. Guy Fawkes night was a non-event here, apart from during the day when we had a visit from a company rep to measure up and quote for couple new insect-proof doors on our house. He was a dark skinned man with an immaculate white shirt and conservative tie with manners to match. Obviously he had Indian ancestry. It turned out he was a South African Indian who found that after the white-led apartheid regime had collapsed, the black-African successors hadn't behaved much better as far as people of his ethnicity were concerned. He managed to escape to Australia.
Guy Fawkes night had been a pretty big deal in South Africa until necklacing with burning rubber tyres came into vogue. Our visitor thought that legitimate fireworks were still part of South African action on the fifth of November, but he wasn't going back to find out. I asked him cautiously whether he had become a Fremantle Dockers or a West Coast Eagles fan since he had landed here. "Goodness gracious me. I haven't made up my mind." he replied with his Indian accent. My eyes narrowed. The man needed educating.
After extracting a promise he was going to become a Fremantle fan and include meat pies in his diet, we signed the contract for the two new state-of-the-art stainless steel mesh doors. About $1,500 for the pair, because aside from keeping out six legged insects they'll also slow down the two legged variety.
Melbourne Cup day here in Perth looks like being fine. No, hang on, I've just looked out the back and there's cloud approaching from the southwest. We might get rain.
Our youngest son is running the family sweepstakes. He wears the type of hat which bookies and race stewards wear. The two horses I drew from the hat were number 17, Sculptor and number 21, The Fuzz. I think The Fuzz will probably be the one with the longest ears in the race and make a noise that sounds like "hee haw!" As for Sculptor, that was one of the nags which was involved in a barrier incident as the start of another race last weekend. I think it was the one which tried to climb into the next stall and eat another horse's jockey.
We have good prizes in our family sweepstakes. I think the winner will receive a Mars Bar.
I had thought about taking my wife to the local race meeting today, but with cloud approaching we'll stay home and watch the big race on TV instead. Well that's not really true. We'd decided last week that a nice lunch in the garden will be more relaxing, and a lot cheaper too.
Speaking of cheap, last Sunday I visited a local flea market and bought a few cheap CDs for a dollar each. One of them was titled The Easybeats - The definitive series. This Australian rock group ascended to fame at about the same time as the Beatles and like them, became pretty famous in Australia. Now they are mostly forgotten, except by musical tragics who will part with a dollar at a flea market. Even so, I checked Amazon and they still have a half dozen of so titles listed.
The CD is in perfect condition, so I'll rip an MP3 copy for my plumber sons number two and three. They have a friendship with Snowy who was the first Easybeats drummer in the 1960s and is in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. After his rock 'n roll days Snowy became a builder in Western Australia, hence the relationship with my sons.
I had another CD win at the same flea market. A large cardboard box of some fifty classical CDs for fifteen bucks. The seller had been asking five bucks each, but when I pointed out they were all cover disks from the British magazines Classic CD and Gramophone she readily accepted my offer. I used to buy Classic CD on a monthly basis about ten years ago for thecover disks until the cost became prohibitive. Both magazines carried excellent selections from the latest classical releases on their disks. It doesn't appear that there are any duplicates of those I already have. Now all I have to do is find time to listen to them.
© MMVII Paul R. Weaver.
About the writer
Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write a couple of million words.
It was Guy Fawkes night last night and Melbourne Cup day today. Guy Fawkes night was a non-event here, apart from during the day when we had a visit from a company rep to measure up and quote for couple new insect-proof doors on our house. He was a dark skinned man with an immaculate white shirt and conservative tie with manners to match. Obviously he had Indian ancestry. It turned out he was a South African Indian who found that after the white-led apartheid regime had collapsed, the black-African successors hadn't behaved much better as far as people of his ethnicity were concerned. He managed to escape to Australia.
Guy Fawkes night had been a pretty big deal in South Africa until necklacing with burning rubber tyres came into vogue. Our visitor thought that legitimate fireworks were still part of South African action on the fifth of November, but he wasn't going back to find out. I asked him cautiously whether he had become a Fremantle Dockers or a West Coast Eagles fan since he had landed here. "Goodness gracious me. I haven't made up my mind." he replied with his Indian accent. My eyes narrowed. The man needed educating.
After extracting a promise he was going to become a Fremantle fan and include meat pies in his diet, we signed the contract for the two new state-of-the-art stainless steel mesh doors. About $1,500 for the pair, because aside from keeping out six legged insects they'll also slow down the two legged variety.
Melbourne Cup day here in Perth looks like being fine. No, hang on, I've just looked out the back and there's cloud approaching from the southwest. We might get rain.
Our youngest son is running the family sweepstakes. He wears the type of hat which bookies and race stewards wear. The two horses I drew from the hat were number 17, Sculptor and number 21, The Fuzz. I think The Fuzz will probably be the one with the longest ears in the race and make a noise that sounds like "hee haw!" As for Sculptor, that was one of the nags which was involved in a barrier incident as the start of another race last weekend. I think it was the one which tried to climb into the next stall and eat another horse's jockey.
We have good prizes in our family sweepstakes. I think the winner will receive a Mars Bar.
I had thought about taking my wife to the local race meeting today, but with cloud approaching we'll stay home and watch the big race on TV instead. Well that's not really true. We'd decided last week that a nice lunch in the garden will be more relaxing, and a lot cheaper too.
Speaking of cheap, last Sunday I visited a local flea market and bought a few cheap CDs for a dollar each. One of them was titled The Easybeats - The definitive series. This Australian rock group ascended to fame at about the same time as the Beatles and like them, became pretty famous in Australia. Now they are mostly forgotten, except by musical tragics who will part with a dollar at a flea market. Even so, I checked Amazon and they still have a half dozen of so titles listed.
The CD is in perfect condition, so I'll rip an MP3 copy for my plumber sons number two and three. They have a friendship with Snowy who was the first Easybeats drummer in the 1960s and is in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. After his rock 'n roll days Snowy became a builder in Western Australia, hence the relationship with my sons.
I had another CD win at the same flea market. A large cardboard box of some fifty classical CDs for fifteen bucks. The seller had been asking five bucks each, but when I pointed out they were all cover disks from the British magazines Classic CD and Gramophone she readily accepted my offer. I used to buy Classic CD on a monthly basis about ten years ago for thecover disks until the cost became prohibitive. Both magazines carried excellent selections from the latest classical releases on their disks. It doesn't appear that there are any duplicates of those I already have. Now all I have to do is find time to listen to them.
© MMVII Paul R. Weaver.
About the writer
Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write a couple of million words.
