Monday, July 17, 2023

Catch up

 Yesterday I went over to the Kent Hotel to have lunch (roast of the day was pork) with David N and Julie E. It's been years since I've seen them so we had a lot to catch up on. 

This morning I did Paul K's Daybreak program as he'd contacted yesterday to say he wasn't feeling well. It was quite a good program and I enjoyed presenting it. I heard from him this afternoon and he's pretty sure he's all right for tomorrow's cover for Loretto.

Tonight I went to the MSO concert at 6:30 - Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Jaime Martín spoke for about 10 minutes about the piece, which entertained the audience, then they played. It was a treat to hear it live - it's been a while.

Today was quite pleasant: occasional cloud, but temperature got to 16, I think.


Sunday, July 09, 2023

Opera and catch-up

 Last night Peter and I went to the Palais (Hoddle St bus) to see Idomeneo, a joint production by


Victorian Opera and Opera Australia. We dined first at Cicciolina, though could only get a small table in the back section. Still, the food was great - I had delicious gnocchi with pumpkin. We shared a tasty salad with pear, blue cheese and walnuts.

As we had a spare ticket for the opera, we were able to put our coats and stuff on the seat between us. After Nick T's comments in the morning (he left at interval) I was a bit wary. But once things started I found I was engaged - as I said later, it was a treat to be hearing a new Mozart opera for the first time. Well, new to me.

The production told the story well and used the simple set very well, with some excellent projections. Too often these are overdone - just because you can do something, doesn't mean you have to. The cast was excellent, from Steve Davislim in the title role, to Kathryn Radcliff and Catherine Carby as Ilia and Idamante. But for the standout was Olivia Cranwell as Elettra - her final aria, a true dummy-spit, had the walls covered in blood. An interesting insight into the early life of Elektra - we all know how she ended up.

Getting home was a trial. We decided on the tram along the Esplanade - unfortunately road works in Collins Street meant that the tram terminated at Batman Park. So we thought we'd walk up to Southern Cross and get the train. However that turned out not to be easy, with the work in Collins Street extending nearly to King Street.

Luckily I spotted a cab with its light on a little way further on, so we managed to get it. The trip was initially very slow as the traffic in King and Lonsdale Streets was appalling.

Today was uneventful - I managed to do a load of washing and went for a (shortish) walk in the afternoon. Back to Daybreak in the morning.

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

Social contact

Had a treat today - caught up with Mariese at the Convent. Masked and socially distanced, but it was lovely to catch up and have a good chat. We had a lovely companion (see below). He was very friendly and Mariese feed him a little of her croissant.

The hip and lower back are feeling much better today. Not perfect, but certainly on the mend.

Also had a catchup with Bronwen this afternoon, albeit via Zoom. She's taking over Thursday's Daybreak shift and wanted to pick my brains. Nice to see her.

Lunch companion


Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Euryanthe

 Today's highlight was watching a production of Weber's opera Euryanthe from the Theater an der Wien which popped up in YouTube.

The work is a crazy story with a bad libretto, but the score is wonderful. It also struck me how similar some parts of the story are to Wagner's Lohengrin - Lysiart and Eglantine are very like Telramund and Ortrud. It turned out I'm not the first to notice the similarities; Euryanthe is a work Wagner would have known, may have conducted it, and he would have been influenced by other aspects. In particular, the way the work is through-composed.

Unfortunately the production didn't do much to alleviate the work's innate faults, but it was well sung and played.

In other news, the doctor got back to me about the x-rays, without anything really useful. I'm going to arrange a session with the physio at the Health Centre.

Spring


Saturday, September 19, 2020

More of the same

 The last three weeks have passed with each day much the same as the previous one. So I haven't been posting.

Yesterday in the shower I somehow made a false move resulting in my lower back twingeing very painfully. The rest of the day I was very uncomfortable but managed to sleep ok. Thus morning it was still uncomfortable but a couple of careful walks today have left me more optimistic about the next few days.

The good news is that over the past week Victoria's numbers of new cases have been steadily reducing - today it was 21. 3MBS is looking towards a slow return to a more complete roster of free-to-air broadcasting.

Promise of a quince


Monday, August 24, 2020

I'm back

 It's been three weeks, but I haven't posted because there's not been much to talk about. Everything is much the same as it's been for months. The Victorian numbers for new cases finally seems to be coming down - let's hope it continues.

This morning was Daybreak, followed by a mailout of the On Air magazine. Unfortunately there were only four of us; despite that, we managed to get it done by about 1pm.

The radio station is managing very well - the regimen of cleaning and requirements for sanitising and mask wearing is excellent. I feel very safe there.

My book on Humperdinck finally arrived from Readings, so that's a project. I rang Peter to thank him and Bruce for the book token and had a lovely chat. They're still shopping for Noel. I must say they're braver than me - I don't fancy going to a large supermarket at the moment.


Seen on my walk home from 3MBS

Sunday, August 02, 2020

State of disaster

This afternoon Dan Andrews declared a state of disaster in Victoria. The main effect will be a curfew from 8pm to 5am, with exemptions for work and other things. Police have been given more powers to enforce. Not surprisingly, the state opposition leader can only focus on business, rather than people's lives.
It's obvious to me that is going to be a long time before things even begin to resemble life before Covid-19. I don't think things will ever be the same again.

This afternoon I had a lovely chat with Sascha from her lockdown in Sydney. She's obviously been shaken by her experience, but can see that she's done the best thing for herself.

Apart from that, today has been much like any other, plus I made a rather tasty beef casserole.
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