Quiet times

Because of Xmas we did our shopping on Thursday, finishing with lunch at Gutz, the nice Turkish place in Brunswick Street.

I was up early on Xmas morning to present Daybreak which went well, except for a bit of last minute shuffling of music. Oh, and the fact that I finished with exactly the same Bach chorus that Bill McLaughlin started his program with ... oops! But I got 5 calls, including one from Kay McL as well as three of my fellow presenters. In all, feedback has been very positive.

After the show I made my way to Kitty's for brunch; Barbara, Libby and David D were there as well. A nice uncomplicated day.

On Saturday it was The Romantics as usual and then B&P's for dinner.

Sunday was quiet during the day. In the evening I presented Melbourne in Concert for Michael W.

This evening I had dinner at Quan 88 with Tony R, who is down from the Gold Coast briefly - it was lovely to catch up. I've known him nearly 40 years, I think.

Shopping and lunch

Temperature was much more comfortable today so I spent the morning doing a bit of shopping on Carlton. Fairly happy with the outcome. Lunch at Dr Morse after which I went home and collected my Mr Badger print and took it to Chapman & Bailey to get it framed.

Well, there was obviously an important person missing today, as the woman looking after me didn't really seem to know what she was doing - oh, the measuring up and framing decisions were all fine, but when it came to paper-work neither she, nor the other woman, could find a new invoice book. In the long run I paid a deposit, which I have a receipt for, but have no actual proof that they have the print, ie no receipt for it.

After that I went to the radio station and made a copy of Saturday's program to give you Andrew for appraisal. He did well, but there are a couple of little things I should point out.

Too darn hot

We've had a couple of uncomfortably hot days (over 40°), but at last this afternoon a cool change plus some rain came through.

It meant I was very glad to be at the radio station yesterday - it was Andrew's last buddying day, which meant he presented the whole program on his own. And he did it very well; in fact he displayed excellent problem solving skills when he potentially ran out of time. Full marks from me.

I think we've got a reasonably cool week coming up, but I am dreading the rest of summer.

Yet more eating

Yesterday I met Dennis for lunch; after discovering that Birdman Eating wasn't open we finally ended up at South of Johnston which was fine. We had a good catch up and made plans to lunch on a weekly basis.

Then in the evening Brent and I dinner at Dr Morse, though not before trying to get into Rita's. The food at Dr Morse was quite different from their lunchtime offerings and was very tasty. We had a Thai chicken curry and a beef dish accompanied by rice and a green mango salad.

This morning I made a quick dash into town to see if Thomas's had the Strauss complete works for voice and piano but couldn't see a copy. Then I raced back to the radio station to check for proof sheets (not yet) before going home to catch the train to Margaret's. Easily more than 10,000 steps today.

Healing and eating

The cut thumb is healing up nicely. My initial bandaging worked well and for the last couple of days I've improvised a finger-stall out of kitchen paper and sticky tape, just took guard it from knocks.

Peter and Bruce had me for roast pork on Saturday night and I returned the favour with slow braised beef and raspberries with passionfruit ice cream.

Today, as the cleaners were coming, I had brunch at Cam's before going to the radio station. I panelled for a phone interview conducted by Tony T with a composer in New York. An officious agent cut us off early but I think the result is OK. Tony seems happy with it.

Bruce has his ulcer removed this morning and from all reports all went smoothly and he has no eating restrictions. He'll get the pathology results next week.

Buzz cut and blood

It's been a reasonable busy week so far: on Monday I went into town and got my hair cut, though I may look for a new place as buzz cuts have gone up from $15 to $20; yesterday I panelled for a Reflections program with Doug and John Griffiths - I brought it home on a USB stick and did most of the work needed; I finished it off this morning before Julie arrived - she had a full diary, including an interview with Greta B. After all was fine I met up with Kat for a very pleasant lunch at the Farm Cafe.

Tonight I did a very silly thing - while trying to cut a piece of a very old, hard piece of parmesan the knife slipped and made a nasty gash in my left thumb. I actually remember thinking while I was setting it up that I should be careful or I'd cut myself. Sigh.

Anyway I let it bleed in the basin full of warm water and found some sterile gauze (who knew I had that?). When it stopped bleeding I wrapped it all up tightly using three bandaids. Now I just have to make sure it doesn't open again.

Xmas party season

It was an early start yesterday as the person who was filling in between 8 and 10 was unsure about the procedures for digital-only. There aren't any, but I made sure to get in early to assuage her fears. I took the extra time toi get my scripts written early (for a change) and after my show was finished it was lunch at The Retreat for the Saturday morning crew.

There were several concerts I could have attended in the evening but I chose to stay at home with my feet up.

Today was the 3MBS Christmas Party, which was very well attended and ran pretty smoothly. The Mannheim Rockets played an odd arrangement of Let it Snow, and Adrian sang I've got a little list with new words by Jane M. I accompanied. Ate too much.

That's ANAM for this year

Last night saw the final ANAM concert for the year (well, except for the End of a Deanasty concert tomorrow). The orchestra was in cracking form: the night started with a tight, exciting performance of Britten's Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge. I think it was the first time I've actually heard it in performance and it was a real treat. In the movement sending up Italian opera the violas and second violins looked so delighted to be playing their instruments quasi chitarra.

Then came a work by Paul Dean inspired by Malala Yousafsai, performed by Anthony Marwood on violin, with the orchestra minus violins. Interesting, but not my favorite.

The evening came to a splendid close with a joyful outing of Beethoven's seventh symphony. The Britten and Beethoven were performed with all players except cellos and double basses standing - even the bassoons and horns.

That was the end of an otherwise busy day: Peter and I did a walking shop in the morning as Bruce was visiting his cobbler elves for a new nose; then, after lunch at Dr Morse, it was back to the radio station where Kiera interviewed Elena K-C for Reflections followed by a brief interview with her and the flautist for Neil's Intermezzo.

Then back home with barely time to scratch myself before heading off to South Melbourne to meet the boys for a pre-concert dinner at the Indonesian restaurant in Dorcas St.

Sibelius and Syzygy

Yesterday I recorded Geoff H's narration for his last Sibelius program and ripped still the music from his discs. Then saved everything onto my USB stick so I could work on it at home.

This morning I went to see Margaret, which was lovely. She's not doing too badly, I think.

Tonight I met B&P at the Salon at MRC for the last of Sygyzy's concerts for this year. No Blair tonight as he's off touring with Hugh Jackman; Ceridwen Davis was guest violist. The fire with was Arborescence by Andrew A, my radio buddy. I quite enjoyed it, an interesting work ably introduced by the composer as being instituted by the idea of a tree, from roots, through trunk, to branches and twigs.

The last work, also a world premiere, was Syzygy by Brenton Broadstock who also made an introduction. Written for the ensemble it showed off the members' talents beautifully.

Afterwards we adjourned to Blondie for dinner; my pork was delicious.