I think I was right when I said my brain might not have been working properly…
AFL Round 19: 4/8 (50%)
NRL Round 23: 2/7 (28.57%)
Week Total: 6/15 (40%)
Totals:
AFL: 79/152 (51.97%)
NRL: 80/159 (50.31%)
Total: 159/311 (51.13%)
Samuel
August 15th, 2006 at 08:39am
A few days ago I mentioned that I was interviewed by Bill Grady, host of the You Are The Guest podcast.
Earlier today Bill sent me an email to notify me that the episode (episode 52) had been released. During the interview we covered many topics including forum bullies (and my ordeal with The Spin Starts Here), the war between Israel and Hezbollah (just thinking, can we choose one of the multitude of spellings for that name and stick to it?), Australian news and Canberra news, and a couple other things, including weird dreams, and advice for budding podcasters.
I’m sure we could have covered more, but if we’d done that we could still be talking now.
Anyway, the episode goes for 40 minutes and 50 seconds, is a 37.4MB download, and can be downloaded by clicking here. Alternatively, Bill has a streaming audio player on the You Are The Guest website.
Here’s a screenshot of Bill’s show notes (Click to enlarge):
It was great being interviewed by Bill…I get the feeling that I’ll have to have him on Samuel’s Persiflage at some stage.
It is worthwhile noting that the interview was recorded last week, and as such certain aspects of topical discussions are now out of date…but it’s worth a listen none-the-less.
In semi-related news, the question that I submitted to the Security Now! podcast (mentioned in article linked at the top of this article) did not get read out on their 52nd episode, but may be read on their 56th episode, as they had too much security news to deal with, and as such did not have their usual question & answer episode.
Samuel
1 comment August 14th, 2006 at 11:37pm
You may recall that in May, just after the federal budget, I sent an email to the office of treasurer Peter Costello. Well I’m please to be able to announce that on Thursday August 3, I received a lovely reply in the post.
The letter reads:
Dear Mr Gordon-Stewart
Thank you for your email of 10 May 2006 to the Treasurer.
The Treasurer has asked me to thank you for your kind words of support and encouragement and to tell you that they are appreciated and for taking the time to write.
Your sincerely
David Gazard
Senior Advisor
There is also a handwritten section which I have had trouble deciphering. Here is a picture of the letter (I have blotted out my address):
Despite the date on the letter being “27 Jul 2006”, the letter appears to have gone throught th post on the 2nd of August, as shown by the envelope (again, address blotted out).
I’ll just zoom in on the postmark imprinted by the post office equipment…the date is partially obscured by the “Postage Paid Australia” mark
So the letter arrived the day after postage, which is excellent. As was the surprise I got when I saw an evelope addressed to me from “Treasurer Canberra”, and the subsequent joy of reading the letter.
Samuel
6 comments August 13th, 2006 at 11:44pm
John Kerr has just made an announcement that, had it not been broadcast, I would not have believed. Next weekend (August 19 & 20) Clinton Maynard, one of 2UE’s many excellent reporters, will be filling on for John Kerr on New Day Australia. It looks like Clinton is one of 2UE’s up-and-coming talk presenters.
This reminds me of 2CC, where newsreader/sport presenter Kris McKenzie is their up-and-coming talk presenter…filling in every now and then for other presenters.
It will be very interesting to see how Clinton handles this, he is an excellent reporter, but New Day Australia is the “deep end” these days as there is no producer…the presenter has to answer all the calls himself, as well as monitoring the emails and still running a show. I do hope they tell him about the very real chance of getting a couple calls from people who think they’ve called the number for a taxi.
I get the feeling that I’ll be giving Clinton a call at some stage on Saturday or Sunday.
Best of luck Clinton!
John Kerr made the announcement around 1:30am, and it left me wondering…whatever happened to former New Day fillin Spencer Kirk?
Samuel
3 comments August 13th, 2006 at 02:04am
Yep, the ratings nearly got underway without me noticing…I must have been thick to think that the spate of promotions running on 2CC and 2CA could be running with no attachment to a ratings period.
The ratings period starts today (Saturday August 12) (edit: Actually it started on Sunday August 6, Nielsen are handing out books during the survey period) and will run through until the end of Saturday August 19 (Another edit: Nielsen have updated their website…the survey runs until the end of Saturday September 2).
(To clarify that messy paragraph, the survey period is Sunday August 6 to Saturday September 2 inclusive, apoligies to anybody who was confused by the multiple edits to this post over the last 16 hours).
So what will happen? Well 2CC and 2CA are off to a good start…no bus ads for 2CC, but a more inventive way of advertising, each day 2CC are inviting listeners to nominate a business as the finest business in a particular category, the business with the most nominations in that day’s category receives a large framed certificate declaring them the finest business in their category, as voted by 2CC listeners…the certificate naturally enough contains a very big 2CC logo, and 2CC are giving away a holiday to one lucky nominator.
2CA are relying on a $75,000 giveaway, and Canberra’s best breakfast duo (Paul and Leighton), and the word of mouth which seems to be spreading about that excellent music station.
FM 104.7 are trying to counter their large loss in the last survey with ads for their breakfast program in Canberra’s worst “newspaper” City Ads (the freely-distributed glossy advertorial nonsense device).
Mix 106.3 and FM 104.7 appear to have put their ads on some taxis again, although not in the large numbers they did last year.
Local ABC haven’t bothered to fix any of the problems that led to their dismal performance last ratings.
So my predictions…2CC and 2CA will both gain, 2CC won’t gain as much as they did last time, and 2CA will probably jump considerably with their large cash giveaway and their breakfast duo.
Mix will retain top spot, although I doubt they will gain…in fact I think it is almost certain that they will lose some market share. FM 104.7 will continue to lose listeners, but nowhere near as dramtically as last survey.
ABC local radio will also lose market share (mostly to 2CC), but the drop will be less than last time. The other stations could do just about anything…and JJJ will gain audience share from 104.7.
My household was chosen as one of the households to fill out survey books…I’m looking forward to doing my civic duty, and helping quality stations to thrive in the process.
Samuel
August 12th, 2006 at 12:52am
Alrighty then, time for an update…I’m not taking the photos of section 84 today as I just don’t feel up to it. Based on my work roster for next week, I will probably have the photograpic tour on Tuesday.
Samuel
August 11th, 2006 at 04:00pm
This week’s Friday Funny comes to us from Charity in Sydney
At 3 A.M. A couple awakens to a knock on the door.
The man gets up and sees a stranger asking for a push.
” Not a chance,” yells the husband, “It’s 3:00 in the morning!”
With that , he returns to bed.
“Who was it?” asks his wife.
“Some guy asking for a push. I told him to get lost.”
“What?” she ask, “Don’t you remember that time when we broke down and that guy helped us? You should help him.”
The man guiltily returns to the door calling out, “Hello, do you still need a push?”
“Yes, please,” comes the answer.
“where are you?”
“over here on the swing”
Do you have something you would like to contribute to Friday Funnies? If so, email it to smoothwallsamuel@gmail.com. All contributions welcome!
Samuel
2 comments August 11th, 2006 at 09:52am
Here we go with another weekend of footy tips…not too sure about them this week as I’m still not sure my mind is working properly.
NRL Round 23
Broncos V Storm
Bulldogs V Dragons
Panthers V Roosters
Knights V Sea Eagles
Tigers V Raiders
Sharks V Eels
Warriors V Cowboys
AFL Round 19
Bombers V Magpies
Demons V Swans
Eagles V Kangaroos
Tigers V Lions
Bulldogs V Power
Crows V Dockers
Cats V Saints
Hawks V Blues
Samuel
August 11th, 2006 at 07:11am
I just went to login to Gmail and noticed that they have now opened Gmail signup to the public…the address to signup for a gmail account is http://mail.google.com/mail/signup or you can just go to gmail.com and click the signup link.
Here are some screenshots (click to enlarge).
Update 11/08/2006 3:42pm: Based on the feedback I’m getting, it looks like Google are rolling out this signup page on a limited basis…Australia seems to be ahead of most of the rest of the world in that regard. It could be just to be a tease, but it is probably to stop an avalanche of automated signup robots trying to get Gmail accounts.
Also, I’m definetly on the slashdot “auto-reject” list for story submissions…every story I’ve submitted in the last couple months has been rejected within five minutes, and I know from previous experience that it takes many hours for the editors to get around to each submission, looks like they’ve got a scheduled job every 5-10 minutes to reject submissions from a certain list of people. I suppose I shouldn’t have written that submission criticising slashdot editors…but not allowing submissions from me is my loss, and just proves that they are lunatics.
End update
Samuel
2 comments August 10th, 2006 at 11:05pm
I feel like writing something briefly about some upcoming podcasts. Firstly, later today or early tomorrow, Security Now! episode 52 should be released, this will be a question and answer episode, and if I’m lucky my question about stored passwords may be anwered.
Secondly, the interview I had yesterday at 6am was with Bill Grady, host of You Are The Guest podcast, for episode 52 of You Are The Guest, due for release over the weekend or thereabouts. I get the distinct feeling that I was rambling a bit too much and not thinking clearly during that interview, but we’ll see what happens. Perhaps in my current confused state of mind I am not remembering the interview clearly.
Also, the headaches aren’t nearly as bad as they were…at this rate I should be back at work tomorrow…that would be nice. If I am back at work tomorrow, I start early and finish early, which would then give me time in the afternoon to take photos for the Section 84 development update which I was going to do yesterday…we’ll see what happens.
Samuel
August 10th, 2006 at 04:37pm
I had a rostered day off from work yesterday…and somehow it turned into a horrid sick day.
I guess it started at the end of Tuesday’s work day when I was already feeling a bit under the weather, I got home with a headache and a runny nose, and although I have been a tad ill for the last week or so, this was worse than normal. It seemed to clear up later that evening so I didn’t think much of it.
Wednesday morning came around, and I got up early (5:30am) as I had an interview scheduled for 6am (more on that later), that went fine although I was probably still a bit under the weather and was rambling a bit. At 7:30 the headache was bad…and I went back to bed for a while…I ended up spending most of the day in bed, sometimes able to sleep, other times not, and most of the time with a bad headache. I had a lunch scheduled as one of the many things I was planning on doing…it never happened…and I forgot to ring to cancel it…I got a call around midday from the person I was going to have lunch with, but I never answered the call as the sound of the phone ringing made my head feel like exploding.
I’ve been feeling unwell for most of the day, although the headache has subsided for the most part…it’s coming in bursts, I can’t concentrate on anything for long, and I’m just not feeling well.
It’s also 4am and I can’t sleep, I doubt I’ll be up to working for ten hours today, and think I’ll call in sick…and that poses an impossible dillema. I will go back to bed shortly as the dark quietened room will be much nicer to be in than a bright room with a difficult computer screen, but if I’m not well enough to go to work then I will need to call my manager before 9am (my scheduled start time)…right now I could probably call and leave a message, but that would almost certainly raise questions about why I’m up at 4am anyway…alternatively I could wait until daylight, by which time I’ll probably feel worse and the phone might not be an option.
I also have a problem of being sick on the day after my “day off”…it may look like I’m just trying to extend my time off…I guess I’ll wait until daylight to ring.
I’m rambling…I’m going back to bed…my head hurts again, and this has taken far too long and far too many sessions to write, and I’m not sure it makes any sense.
Samuel
August 10th, 2006 at 04:26am
I normally wouldn’t use this blog to send a message to one person, and one person only, especially when the message is cryptic, but on this occasion I have no choice.
This blog is quite clearly being monitored by the person in question, and is the only way I have of getting in contact with them.
Yesterday evening just prior to 6pm, while I was walking with other members of my family, a man called out to me for reasons I cannot mention, he had a specific message about the circumstances which I cannot mention, and their subsequent non-publication on this website. As he had other people around him at the time I did not realise that he was calling out to me until he mentioned my name, and then it took me a few moments to work out what he had said, by which time the window of time for acknowledging what was said, had passed.
Therefore, this message is designed to inform him that I understand and acknowledge the message, and will be sure to follow it.
I would also appreciate it if the person in question could be in contact via the anonymous feedback form on the contact page…you can use bogus name/email info, just include the message that you said to me, and a message indicating that you have received this message, and all will be well. (Alternatively I will be getting off the northbound 117 at the City Bus Interchange around 2pm if you wish to convey a message in person or via a messenger).
I suppose I will just have to assume he has received this message, even if I don’t hear from him.
Samuel
August 9th, 2006 at 09:18am
Yesterday was John Laws‘s 71st birthday, and as I mentioned, I sent him an email to wish him a happy birthday.
Well yesterday at 12:40pm, I received a reply from Lawsie’s office, which was quite a surprise as I have never received a reply from his office to any of my other emails, and was certainly not expecting one. I was very happy just knowing that Lawsie would read my message.
Anyway, the reply from Lawsie’s office:
Dear Samuel,
Thankyou for your kind birthday wishes. We have passed them onto John, he really appreciates your support and hopes you continue to enjoy the program!
Kind Regards,
The John Laws Morning Show
Whilst I’m sure it was a “canned” response, I am very appreciative of this email, as Lawsie would have received a deluge of birthday emails, and it would have been much easier to not reply at all. The fact that he (or his staff) have replied is very heartwarming, and I publicly thank them for it.
Samuel
August 9th, 2006 at 07:18am
The human mind can be very suggestable when it is somewhere between being fully awake and fully asleep…it can range from just about anything making sense, to weird dreams being derived from the sounds in the area. Yesterday morning, I had a dream in the latter category.
The dream started with a meeting of 2CA staff at what looked like a lemonade stand, there was a general concensus that 2CA have a good logo, and should pay people to walk around Canberra with 2CA signs and radios tuned to 2CA.
The dream then sporadically moved to my lounge room where I was sitting down watching a movie on the television…suddenly I could hear very heavy rain on the roof, and I ran up to my room to close my window, but by the time I got there (about twenty seconds later), the rain was over.
The dream had another sporadic change, this time it featured John Kerr’s movie experts Simon Foster and Dale Synden (I’m not sure of the actual spelling…anybody know?) singing a new intro for the hour-long “Flicks and Things” segment.
I then woke up and could hear a radio tuned to 2CA in another part of the house…the song they were playing matched the tune of the song I had been dreaming about, the only difference being that, in my dream, Dale and Simon had been making up movie related lyrics for the song.
Samuel
August 8th, 2006 at 02:22pm
Over the last few weeks a pond and a related garden have been taking shape in my backyard, there is still a little bit of work to be done, but I have some photos of the pond and garden to share with you.
The pond is currently occupied by goldfish, a few plants, some pebbles and a water pump (which filters and recycles the pond water). Over time, the plants will grow a bit and cover the edges of the pond, and some of the pond itself.
The fish appear to enjoy their time in the pond.
And a view from the other end of the garden.
In the second picture you can clearly see the mesh covering which has been put in place to prevent leaves and other foreign objects entering the pond. This is necessary due to the gum trees which hang over the garden.
Nattie isn’t too fussed about the pond, as it hasn’t removed any of her sunny spot, including the mat in front of the back door.
The garden also has some special ornaments
The fish appear to have little racing games…they have just started a race in this photo.
I also have a video (just over 1 minute and 10 seconds) of the fish swimming in the pond. It can viewed or downloaded by clicking here
These photos and the video were taken on July 31, so they are a bit over a week old, and a couple things have changed since then, including the addition of a vase laying on its side acting as a covered area for the fish to take shelter in, if they so desire.
Samuel
August 8th, 2006 at 12:00pm
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