Christmas 2008

Christmas is a great time of the year for most people. Besides the religious event, it is a time to reflect on the past year and to keep in touch with old friends. It can be lonely for some but we should all try to make it happy for someone less fortunate. I have included a very short Christmas message above and hope that all viewers have a safe and wonderful end to 2008.

Ladies Hair whatever.

I have never understood the disparity between the sexes when it comes to getting your hair whatever. I did not want to use the word cut here as my daughter informs me she gets her hair "styled." Perhaps that is the difference. I pay $7 to a barber who had a career change some 20 years ago. I admit that this is a bargain. I simply phone him up, book an appointment and we enjoy a beer together while he gets on with the job. A few years ago, my daughter retuned from a 6 month trip around the world. Her last flight was from Sydney to Perth. She wanted to look good so she visited a hair-dresser in Sydney. She was persuaded to part with $230 but after the 8 hour flight to Perth, her hair probably looked the same as before. I only found out this as it was the reason I did not get any pressie on her return. (We always bring back something for each other however small). I reminded her of this recently but she was quite unrependent. It costs me around $350 now I was informed. Well it is the sign of the times. My own barber recently charged me $10 my mistake and I did not make a big deal of it either.

Teenagers

I am not sure that teenagers today are as fortunate as we were at the same age. Sure they have a few more gadgets at their disposal but I am not convinced all the new gadgets around are completely beneficiary to their welfare. My youngest ventured out into the world at 18 years of age ( she could not wait) but by 19 she was asking if she could return to take a course at University. ( She lasted 12 days approximately the last time she tried this!) Simply put, most of this generation are not prepared to go through a bad time in order to achieve a better style of living later on. A friend of hers recently showed me his latest ipod. Only $500 he claimed. It was the word "only" I was most concerned about. It will be interesting to observe how they all cope with the lastest world monetary climate. I hope they can survive and come out better off on the other side.

News or no News? That is the question.

As far as I can recall, my parents never worried much about listening to the news. I did say listening but we actually had a television in 1953! I do not want to be facetious but I have to wonder if we are not better off not watching the latest news or reading about it either. I had the chance when I was younger to live in Spain for a few years. When I arrived there I did not know one word of Spanish and therefore was completely unaware of worldly events. I must confess I was quite happy with the situation. I had my own little problems to solve. Yeah, yeah, I know it is very educational but the way journalism is presented in the modern world is quite often just sensationalism at its worst. I lived in Belfast for a few years during the times when things were not at the best. (I refuse to use the word "troubles" as I believe it is most misleading). I drove home from work one day and was astounded to learn ( from the news!) that a bomb had gone off earlier in that same street. Of course this event was displayed around the world as a major catastraphe and it certainly WAS for a few people but a few hours later it was all cleaned up and everything was back to near normal. So, just for a change, take a week away from the news and see how you feel.

Moon venus jupiter in one frame!

Well it will not happen again in my lifetime. Jupiter ( smaller one) Venus and the moon all in one frame. My daughter phoned to tell me but I had already tried to take a photograph the previous night. Night photography is quite difficult as you can see. I can only assure you it looks a lot more spectacular than these photographs suggest. See my earlier blog on Jupiter and its Galilean moons. Only three were visible (with a telescope) on this particular night (Nov. 30th) as the fourth was hidden by Jupiter.

Andre Rieu

Yes, Andre arrived in Perth and put on quite a performance. Having watched quite a few of his DVD's, I knew what to expect but it was still a wonderful performance despite the difficulties with open air acoustics! Having listened to ( and watched ) orchestras over the years, it was pleasing to see musicians actually enjoy the music they played and also seen to be enjoying themselves. The three tenors in his show are superb and I am certain that all his orchestra are very talented musicians both with their chosen instruments and with other instruments as well. Andre gives you a show full of variety and the three hours was so full of entertainment that it went in a flash. Perhaps 6 encores was a little over-doing it but then it was really part of the show. It was forcast to rain in Perth but amazingly it was very calm and the rain arrived 20 minutes after the show ended. Impeccable timing Andre as always.