Happy Birthday Garfield
Today (19 June 2006) is Garfield’s birthday. He is 28 years old. Happy Birthday Garfield!
Samuel
June 19th, 2006 at 07:26am
Archive for June, 2006
Samuel’s Musician Of The Week
This week the award is going to Reg Lindsay, and the feature song is his rendition of “Freight Train Yodel”.
I’m standin’ here at the station
My heart is filled with pain
And somewhere in the distance
I hear an old freight train
It’s weeks now since we parted
You love another I know
And in my dreams each evenin’
I’ve heard that old train whistle blowHear that old freight train blowin’
Rollin’ down the track
I don’t know where I’m goin’
But I do know I won’t be back
I’m leavin’ the past all behind me
Ain’t even sayin’ goodbye
If the engineer don’t see me
I’m gonna catch her on the flyI’m standin’ here in the darkness
Waitin’ around in the rain
And in another moment
I’ll be on that old frieght train
That mournful sound’s comin’ nearer
If only she’d run through the gate
And asked me to forgive her
Before it is too lateIt’s too late now my little darlin’
I’ll never see you again
And through your open window
You can hear that old freight train
I’ve just torn up your picture
There go the peices I’m glad
And I wonder if you’re smilin’
Or maybe little darlin’ you’re sadHear that old freight train blowin’
Here her rollin’ down the track
I don’t know where I’m goin’
But I do know I won’t be back
I’m leavin’ the past all behind me
Tryin’ so hard not to cry
I think I’ll go back to Queensland
Goodbye little darlin’ goodbye
Samuel
June 18th, 2006 at 08:26pm
Tired
I’m working on a couple posts at the moment, but I’ve had some trouble sleeping over the last couple nights and am very tired, so I will continue to work on the posts tomorrow.
This also means that the people who are expecting emails from me tonight will have to wait until tomorrow.
Samuel
9 comments June 16th, 2006 at 10:03pm
Samuel’s Footy Tips
This weekend sees the start of a split round in the AFL, I’m tipping the entire round now, but will be scoring it on a week-by-week basis.
NRL Round 15
Broncos V Dragons
Tigers V Roosters
Bulldogs V Cowboys
Storm V Raiders
Warriors V Knights
Eels V Rabbitohs
Sharks V Sea Eagles
AFL Round 12
(Week 1)
Saints V Crows
Dockers V Cats
Lions V Bulldogs
Power V Eagles
Hawks V Tigers
Bombers V Demons
(Week 2)
Kangaroos V Blues
Swans V Magpies
Samuel
June 16th, 2006 at 07:32am
Waiting For Nielsen
I’m waiting for Nielsen to get the Canberra ratings online so that I can link to them and verify the data. If they haven’t done it by this afternoon I’ll press ahead with the ratings results anyway.
Samuel
June 16th, 2006 at 01:34am
Canberra Radio Ratings Preliminary Results
Details of the first rating season in Canberra for the year are slowly seeping out. The results aren’t in general public circulation yet, but radioinfo is reporting that Mix 106.3 has won the ratings, followed by 104.7, ABC666 and 2CC. Radioinfo says that the biggest improver this time around was 2CC, which is hardly surprising given all of the bus advertising they had zooming around the city.
No info on the other stations as yet, but based on the details that are available at the moment, it sounds like my predictions may be more or less correct.
Time will tell…and more details as they come to hand.
Samuel
June 15th, 2006 at 05:18pm
Canberra Radio Ratings Due Out Today (This time I’m sure!)
According to page 4 of this document from Nielsen Media (the people responsible for radio ratings), the results from the recent Canberra radio ratings are due for release today. I’ll get the details online ASAP, which will probably be this afternoon at some stage.
And just for the record, the long forgotten Blog View Stats for last month will be online tomorrow. They slipped my mind as I was too busy concentrating on work…they appear to have a reduction in visitors compared to previous months, but that’s probably not such a bad thing.
Samuel
2 comments June 15th, 2006 at 12:30am
Samuel In Dolgnwot: Series 2, Episode 12
Episode 12, the final episode of the second series of Samuel In Dolgnwot, is upon us.
This time Samuel is back in Canberra, and enjoying a coffee and cake with Nattie (although Nattie only has cake) whilst listening to Brian Henderson presenting the golden microphone to John Laws.
Samuel
8 comments June 14th, 2006 at 12:05pm
Samuel’s Footy Tips: Results
That was my equal worst tipping effort of the year, the only highlight was that my only correct tip in the NRL just happened to be the South Sydney Rabbitohs snatching their first victory of the year by beating an understrength Brisbane Broncos outfit. Apart from that, dismal.
AFL Round 11: 2/8 (25%)
NRL Round 14: 1/7 (14.29%)
Week Total: 3/15 (20%)
Totals:
AFL: 41/88 (46.59%)
NRL: 44/97 (45.36%)
Total: 85/185 (45.95%)
Samuel
June 14th, 2006 at 09:51am
Canberra Radio Ratings Due Today???
If metro ratings schedules are anything to go by, Canberra’s radio ratings should be out today. In metro areas, radio ratings are released on the 2nd Wednesday after a ratings period…today is that day in Canberra…fingers crossed!
Samuel
June 14th, 2006 at 07:07am
It’s all happening at Capital Radio!
A long weekend that brings back familiar voices, a presenter on holiday during a major event, a new breakfast duo, and ratings due out this week…it’s all fun and games at Capital Radio.
Going back to Monday June 5, and with the radio ratings season over, 2CC breakfast host Mike Jeffreys went on leave for two weeks, leaving Mike Frame in charge…but could anybody have predicted what was to follow? From the moment the ACT budget was announced on Tuesday afternoon, the local shows on 2CC have been generating a telephone meltdown as people ring in to vent their anger. 2CC have done a wonderful job as the forum for that anger, but I’m sure it was not quite what they had in mind for last week, and probably the rest of this week. I’m pretty sure they would have been expecting the annual fireworks discussions in the leadup to the Queen’s Birthday long weekend…but Mr. Stanhope made sure that didn’t happen.
Speaking of the long weekend, who forgot to tell Mike Frame about it? Every single day, he was there, and he’ll stay there until midday on Sunday when he finally gets to have a break for five days.
Whoever forgot to tell Framey about the public holiday, yelled the information at 2UE, who decided that Monday should be part of the weekend, and as such brought some familiar voices back to the 2CC airwaves. Queen’s Birthday Monday went something like this:
12am-6am: John Kerr (via 2UE)
6am-9am: Mike Frame (local)
9am-12pm: George Moore and Paul B. Kidd (via 2UE…and a pleasure to hear them on 2CC again)
12pm-3pm: Glenn Wheeler (via 2UE)
3pm-5pm: NRL (via 2GB)
5pm-6pm: Highlights of the Mike Welsh Drive Show (repeat and local)
6pm-12pm: Mike Williams (via 2UE).
Thankfully most people wouldn’t have known that Mike Welsh’s highlights show was a repeat, as it originally aired at 6am on Saturday in the place of “Bits of the Mike Jeffreys Breakfast Programme”, which is difficult to produce without a show to base it on.
And what was that promo being splashed around during 2CA’s AFL coverage? It was the long-awaited promo for 2CA’s new breakfast show, featuring two people called “Paul & Lleyton”. It might be long-awaited (2 and a half months), but it seems odd to start a new breakfast show after a ratings season and before the results…but so be it, with any luck Paul and Lleyton will be Canberra’s most interesting and useful breakfast combination, which wouldn’t be hard with the terribly annoying and distrubing Mark and Lisa on Mix 106.3 and that trio of idiots on 104.7…and do 666 ABC Canberra have a breakfast duo any more? I can never keep up with their continuously changing schedule.
I will wish Paul and Lleyton the best of luck, it’s quite obvious that 2CA are trying to win back some of the youth market they have lost to the FM commercial stations…they might succeed, but will they retain their older audience? It’s a tough ask being on breakfast on an ailing station, but with two and a half months of preparation from 2CA management, you would have to give Paul and Lleyton at least half a chance…good luck boys!
Update: Whoops, looks like it’s actually “Paul and Leighton”!
Samuel
8 comments June 13th, 2006 at 08:49am
Samuel’s Musician Of The Week
This week the award goes to Gordon Lightfoot, and the feature song is his stirring song about the 12th Street riot of 1967, “Black Day in July”.
Black day in July
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked insideBlack day in July
Black day in July
And the soul of Motor City is bared across the land
As the book of law and order is taken in the hands
Of the sons of the fathers who were carried to this landBlack day in July
Black day in July
In the streets of Motor City is a deadly silent sound
And the body of a dead youth lies stretched upon the ground
Upon the filthy pavement
No reason can be foundBlack day in July
Black day in July
Motor City madness has touched the countryside
And the people rise in anger
And the streets begin to fill
And there’s gunfire from the rooftops
And the blood begins to spillBlack day in July
In the mansion of the governor
There’s nothing that is known for sure
The telephone is ringing
And the pendulum is swinging
And they wonder how it happened
And they really know the reason
And it wasn’t just the temperature
And it wasn’t just the seasonBlack day in July
Black day in July
Motor City’s burning and the flames are running wild
They reflect upon the waters of the river and the lake
And everyone is listening
And everyone’s awakeBlack day in July
Black day in July
The printing press is turning
And the news is quickly flashed
And you read your morning paper
And you sip your cup of tea
And you wonder just in passing
Is it him or is it meBlack day in July
In the office of the President
The deed is done the troops are sent
There’s really not much choice you see
It looks to us like anarchy
And then the tanks go rolling in
To patch things up as best they can
There is no time to hesitate
The speech is made the dues can waitBlack day in July
Black day in July
The streets of Motor City now are quiet and serene
But the shapes of gutted buildings
Strike terror to the heart
And you say how did it happen
And you say how did it start
Why can’t we all be brothers
Why can’t we live in peace
But the hands of the have-nots
Keep falling out of reachBlack day in July
Black day in July
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked insideBlack day in July
Black day in July
Black day in July
Samuel
June 11th, 2006 at 07:40pm
Dickson College Protest
As planned I went along to the Dickson College Closure Protest last night. The protest was organised at short notice by a group of concerned parents and citizens, and it was very convenient that the college was having its open night as this provided a perfect opportunity to hold the protest. This small group of people did a fantastic job in publicising it, with press releases going out to media organisations, and notices being stuck on virtually every lamp post in the Dickson Shopping Precinct, with a similar notice being handed out in the college. Credit should also go to the local radio stations for continuing to run the story about the protest throughout the day.
The protest got underway long before the advertised start time of 6:30. It really got underway when multiple ABC news and current affairs crews arrived. People were filtering in from about 6pm, and this gave the ABC a good opportunity to interview some people and get footage of people waving placards (myself included on both counts) to send back to the newsroom for use during the 7pm news. The ABC did a live cross to the rally, although it had more or less wound up by then and people were talking amongst themselves and signing the multiple petitions.
The main protest attracted approximately 250-300 people (that is my estimate), many people prepared placards, roughly five people wrote songs, and some Dickson students (from memory they were year 12 students) wrote and performed a lengthy song which involved the entire protest group.
One person had the bright idea of bringing a megaphone, which was utilised firstly for a driveby support announcement (filmed by ABC crews) and eventually for the speeches. A few people had semi-prepared speeches to deliver, whilst a few of the rest of us just jumped on the microphone to add our two cents to the discussion. I made a point which I think has been overlooked in the outrage, and that is Dickson’s unique place in education for students with special needs (Secondary Introductory English Centre, Dickson College Alternative Program (now called SITE) for troubled year 9 & 10 students, etc) and what will happen to them if the college closes.
The protest speeches wound up just before the open night started, although I think the college staff would have waited (there were plenty of them in the crowd) if the protest dragged on a bit.
I was mildly disappointed to see somebody flogging “Green Left Weekly” at the protest, although it did show that even the most extreme traditional Labor/Greens supporters are coming out against the Stanhope Labor government.
The press turnout was very good also. The ABC sent two (possibly three) crews out, with resources appearing to be combined for ABC News and Stateline (ABC TV Canberra 7:30pm tonight, repeated in Canberra Midday Saturday, and repeated nationally on ABC 2 (digital) 2:30pm Saturday and 4:30pm Sunday). I wouldn’t have recognised the Stateline crew if I hadn’t spotted Stateline reporter Catherine Garrett in the crowd.
The Canberra Times also sent a journalist out. She took multiple photos of the rally and was writing plenty of notes, she also appeared to interview a couple people. I also spotted a camera man from Prime News, which was very surprising considering that they only run mini-bulletins with minimal footage, Prime obviously consider this to be an extremely major issue. I think I spotted Win News loitering as well, although keeping track of attending media was not my top priority.
I made an effort to thank the media people for attending, although I was unable to thank all of them. I would, however, like to publically thank the ABC for bringing along a very large light which helped to illuminate the protest in otherwise difficult lighting conditions.
I did make an effort to invite opposition treasury spokesman Richard Mulcahy to the rally, although in the end he was unable to attend due to what he described in an email as an “unusual late sitting of the Assembly”.
Overall the rally was very good, and I think it is going to be very helpful. At this stage I am led to believe that more rallies are to be planned, there was a suggestion from an organiser that they would try and get a list of interested helpers, although I didn’t see it actually happen.
The other protest of the day (another short notice one) attracted approximately 150 people to Flynn Primary around 1:30pm. This is extraordinary for a protest which was only publicised a few hours prior to the event. Both of these protests are, in my view, a very strong indication to the Stanhope government that the community will not accept these changes, and if they want any chance of being re-elected in 2008, then they better start paying attention now.
Although I had nothing to do with organising the protest, and merely took it upon myself to help publicise it, I would like to thank everyone that attended, your support is greatly appreciated.
I would also like to thank everyone who has been leaving comments about the budget on this site, and sending me emails. I haven’t got around to replying to all of them yet, but I am getting there, and I do appreciate both the support, and the constructive criticism.
Samuel
5 comments June 9th, 2006 at 03:00am
Samuel’s Footy Tips
NRL Round 14
Raiders V Bulldogs
Panthers V Dragons
Eels V Storm
Roosters V Warriors
Rabbitohs V Broncos
Cowboys V Sharks
Sea Eagles V Tigers
AFL Round 11
Cats V Bombers
Tigers V Kangaroos
Lions V Crows
Swans V Saints
Power V Hawks
Bulldogs V Dockers
Eagles V Blues
Demons V Magpies
Samuel
June 9th, 2006 at 02:07am
Rally Against Dickson College Closure Tonight 6:30pm
There will be a rally against the closure of Dickson College tonight in the Dickson College carpark 6:30pm-7pm. This will be just before the college open night.
The rally is probably going to get a pretty big turnout, and I am planning on attending. All comers welcome.
When: 6:30pm-7:00pm
Where: Dickson College Carpark, Entry via Phillip Avenue (between Antil Street and Majura Avenue).
Samuel
June 8th, 2006 at 12:50pm