I like this quote so much that I’m going to make it the quote of the day.
“It’s like a lottery, you have about the same chance of winning whether or not you buy a ticket” — 2CC’s Mike Jeffreys.
Samuel
7 comments November 22nd, 2006 at 07:56am
As Jey correctly guessed the other day, I attended Dickson College’s 30 year celebrations on Friday afternoon.
I must admit that I was a bit underwhelmed by the whole thing…between the fashion parade, the various musical acts scattered through the buildings, the even more scattered food and drink, and the display of memorabilia in the library, I just thought the whole thing seemed very scattered and disjointed.
In isolation, the individual events were good, some mildly deafening, but good none-the-less, and the highlight of the event was almost certainly the sheer number of people who turned up, and the sheer number of Department of Education officials who were there to witness support the college has.
In fact, I think that was the whole point…have enough people turn up and appear interested in the college to show the Stanhope government that Dickson shouldn’t be closed.
It was also good to catch up with a few people I haven’t seen for a while (including an ex-Dickson student who was one of my high school teachers), and even revisit the Majura Cafe (wonderful coffee and carrot cake…and no noticeable yell-a-thons!).
The speeches were quite clearly politically motivated, and I didn’t expect anything else, but I just got the impression that the whole event was less of a “remember the last 30 years” event, and more of a “Save Dickson College” event…I think a better balance could have been acheived with a larger emphasis on the last 30 years, which would have in turn emphasised the reasons for keeping Dickson open, just without the overtly noticeable grandstanding (selling “Save Dickson” t-shirts for example).
Admittedly I do think the event had an impact on the Department Officials…but I’m not in the least bit surprised that the media seemed completely uninterested in the event. I did notice an ABC News and Current Affairs car parked at the college, and I’m certain they were looking to cover a birthday celebration…and then gave up once they looked around for a little while.
I do think that the rumoured plan of closing Copland College and keeping Dickson open is the likely plan, and I think the event on Friday helped the “Save Dickson” cause…but it really didn’t feel like a birthday…perhaps that was just the general mood of the people intent on saving the college…but I do have to hope that if, as Dickson College Board Chair Sally Rose suggested in her speech, these birthday celebrations become a five-yearly occurence, the furture events are a tad more jubilant and “birthdayish”.
Samuel
7 comments November 21st, 2006 at 01:37pm
Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? Last year, on this day, at about the time this post is appearing, I was chatting with John Laws about convicted drug smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van.
It was a busy time of year for me, and there are a number of things which I find hard to believe happened almost a year ago…the Dickson College Year 12 Breakfast, the Retirement Expo, John Kerr’s Christmas Cruise…this year has gone rather quickly.
Samuel
2 comments November 21st, 2006 at 11:07am
Hot on the heels of Southern Cross Broadcasting’s launch of “mytalk“, the central hub for all of their radio and television stations (a curious name considering the number of music stations they operate), plus discussion of news, current affairs and programming, 2GB have started the first phase of their plans to run a similar service.
The following job advertisement appeared on Radioinfo on November 15
2GB
Level 1, Building C 33-35 Saunders Street
Sydney
NSW 2009WEB PRODUCER/MODERATOR
15 Nov 2006
The Macquarie Radio Network (MRN) is looking for an experienced WEB PRODUCER/MODERATOR to fill a casual position.Moderating content for MRN’s online assets will require an understanding of Talk Radio, as well as a keen interest in news and current affairs.
The successful applicant will possess excellent writing and editing skills, strong attention to detail and an ability to think on your feet.
If you’re interested, send a cover letter, as well as your resume to:
Trevor Long, Assistant Programme Director of Radio 2GB using the link below
It’s been a very long time since 2GB have had to do anything online to stay ahead of 2UE, who have up until now specialised in poorly maintained websites. The SCB Mytalk website has suddenly jolted 2UE’s online presence into the 21st century, and despite a few teething problems (including the still existing problem where none of the links to regional bulletins on the “news” page are links, and you have to go through “listen live” to watch the news) and a bunch of presenters finding out about the new site from listeners, it seems to be off to a pretty good start.
2GB are obviously putting a fair bit of thought and effort into their offering, hopefully it will turn out well…and if it does, it will be very interesting to see the two stations extend their intense rivalry to the Internet.
It is interesting to note that 2GB started offering video news bulletins and a few video podcasts a while back, and Southern Cross have decided to rehash their regional television news updates on Mytalk, and a few days ago Macquarie Radio Network (owners of 2GB and 2CH…and not part of a bank of a similar name) bought digital video and film production company, PixelMill Films. Admittedly it is part of a plan which started in September, but it is interesting to see all of this action in the couple weeks after SCB’s Mytalk was launched…interesting coincidence? Or “hurry up and get this online before they [SCB] get too far ahead”?
Samuel
2 comments November 21st, 2006 at 06:20am
As this post appears, Capital Radio newsreader Francis Keany should be presenting his first news bulletin after returning from leave.
Welcome back Francis!
(Oh, and thank you to the credible source who corrected my multiple feeble attempts at spelling Francis’ last name).
Samuel
10 comments November 20th, 2006 at 01:00pm
It’s getting closer to the end of the year, and that means the rumours start flying…and there are quite a few.
First up, the rumour I’m hearing the loudest and clearest is that 2UE “Sports Today” co-host Greg “Brandy” Alexander is looking for work outside radio, preferably a sport coaching role, as the radio work is apparently tying him down too much. The timing of this rumour couldn’t be more perfect, as it coincides with rumours that weekday midnight-to-dawn announcer Stuart Bocking is looking for a permanent sport reporting role, a rumour backed up by his recent stints away from the “New Day” program on reporting duties for the Melbourne Cup and most recently the Australian Open Golf. The conclusion is obvious, but would be a bit of a blow to 2UE who have seen Stuart Bocking deliver strong overnight ratings.
If the rumour is true, it is hard to say who could possibly take over midnight-to-dawn. John Kerr seems happy on the weekends, Clinton Maynard doesn’t seem to be overly interested in those hours as long as he can keep his News Director position, and Clive Robertson is unlike any other overnight presenter.
I suppose John Kerr could return to weekdays, but I would be very very surprised if that were to happen…and I don’t think George Gibson is on speaking terms with 2UE management after being unceremoniously dumped last year. It’s a case of more questions, less answers.
There are strange rumours that Stan Zemanek will not renew his contract (I don’t know when it is due to expire) for health reasons. Stan has certainly made a bit of noise about his health problems on-air, but the rumour directly contradicts the Daily Telegraph’s rumour column “Sydney Confidential” who reported that a Southern Cross Broadcasting internal email stated that both Stan Zemanek and Deryn Hinch were on the path to a full recovery.
If true, I would almost expect Clive Robertson to take over the show…different arguments, but a similar style of caller-host interaction.
Of course now that Macquarie bank own a significant chunk of Southern Cross Broadcasting, absolutely anything could happen…perhaps 2UE will become the first Australian radio station to broadcast from studios in India…goodness gracious me, you cannot be doing that!
Samuel
1 comment November 20th, 2006 at 08:14am
This week the award goes to Red Foley (aka Clyde Julian “Red” Foley) and the feature song is “Goodnight Mama, Goodnight Papa”.
In a cold and lonely city
So far away from home
Without a friend
I lay me down to sleep
But somewhere in old kentucky
Someone’s thinkin’ of me
Goodnight Mama, Goodnight PapaAs I look out of my window
I see the city lights
I hear the noise and laughter of the night
I guess my friends all think I’m lucky
But my heart’s in old kentucky
Goodnight Mama, Goodnight PapaI guess this city life has changed me
The bright lights are to blame
But deep inside this old country boy
I’ll always feel the sameOh lord I want to see the home folks
But I know I don’t fit in
‘Cause once you’re gone
You can’t go home againSo I’ll just re-live a memory
And pretend you’re all here with me
Sleep tight Mama, sweet dreams Mama
Goodnight Mama, Goodnight Papa
Samuel
November 19th, 2006 at 07:46pm
WIN News lose a great reporter today, because James Goodwin is heading back to the Parliament House Press Gallery.
James is moving to 2GB where he will fill a similar role to the one he filled with 2UE, of national political correspondent. James has apparently been recruited specifically to cover the upcoming federal election (my first vote…yay!) but I wouldn’t be surprised if 2GB have spotted some talent and their Current Affairs Director, Jason Morrison, has earmarked James for some fill-in work over the Christmas/New Year period…in fact, 2GB’s middawn fill-in George Gibson has recently had a heart operation and is (supposedly) taking it easy for a while…I wonder if James would be willing to try the middawn shift?
Anyway, I digress, James has been recruited for the election, and obviously for other federal political reporting activities. James has done an excellent job for WIN News, and I will miss seeing him on the TV each night…but the media is a game of random shuffles and people move an awful lot…in James’ case, I suspect it is for the better.
James will still fill-in on Capital Radio News (2CA/2CC) when he is required, and will in fact be filling in tomorrow morning, which reminds me that Capital Radio News should be back to normal on Monday with Jane Turner and Francis Keeny (I just get the feeling there’s a “H” in that name somewhere…and probably another “E”…and perhaps an “IE” instead of the “Y”…this will drive me nuts until I find out the correct spelling) back on deck in their normal roles.
Best of luck with the move James…I probably won’t hear much of you, but I’ll have to keep an ear out…maybe 2GB will get you to present one of their podcasts…if they setup a federal election podcast then I’m almost certain you’ll be hosting it!
Samuel
17 comments November 17th, 2006 at 06:20am
As you probably know by now, it’s 75 years since Jack Ryan started Canberra’s first radio station, 1053 2CA…and also from the “as you know” files, 2CA’s breakfast show had an outside brodcast from their original location (well, a few metres away…but close enough) at 42 Giles Street in Kingston.
I had planned to stay up all night finishing off the Persiflage and all of the processes that go with it (still not quite finished) and then head off early so that I could be in Kingston just before 6am…well it didn’t quite happen, I went to bed at 2am while the Persiflage was uploading and decided to get up at 4am which would have given me plenty of time…but I forgot to set the alarm and as such it went off at 5:30, at which time I got up, updated the Persiflage RSS feed, rushed the show notes and burnt an Audio CD of the show for 2CA Breakfast Boy Paul Blunt…only to end up with two coasters before getting a useful CD…effectively meaning that I didn’t have the time or a spare CD for either Leighton or 2CA manager Doug Bell.
This debacle prevented me from having any time to address an envelope for my booking from for John Kerr’s Terrigal lunch…so I just threw it in my bag and decided to deal with it at a post office later in the day…somehow I managed to get to the Outside Broadcast sometime around 6:30 (probably closer to 6:45).
When I got there the crowd was small, but the sausage sizzle was underway, which was a good thing as I needed some breakfast. I met 2CA’s Breakfast Boys Paul Blunt & Leighton Archer…and from there the day went more or less according to plan.
I don’t recall every event in order, and I spent most of the time chatting with various people and observing events…so I’ll just let the photos and video tell the tale. As per usual, clicking on a photo should take you to a large version of it.
Breakfast Boys Paul Blunt and Leighton Archer.
Paul receives 2CA t-shirts and a new toy (2CA’s old xylophone) from former staff member Cheryl McKay. Also in this photo is the sign of the store occupying 2CA’s old spot, the Hungry Chino coffee shop…and I still can’t find it in the phone book.
Paul instantly falls in love with his new toy, and makes sure that the listeners do too.
Plenty of former (and current) staff turned up, including erstwhile Breakfast host (now Win News Newsreader) Peter Leonard, 2CA’s first employee (now aged 91) George Barlin, and former admin lady (and probably much more…but my mind had drawn a blank) Cheryl McKay.
He just can’t help himself…he even has to entertain the former staff with his new toy!
Here’s a photo of Cheryl McKay when she was working for 2CA.
There was a bit of a crowd too!
The sausage sizzle continued for quite a while. To the far right of this photo is 2CA manager Doug Bell.
BWS bottle shop were quite happy for 2CA to cover their window for the morning, and 2CA did so with a stage and a lot of old logos and photos…and even Paul and Leighton, who are discussing things during a song.
One thing I found very difficult during the morning was finding a suitable moment to take photos of people, as everyone was very busy and constantly doing this, that or the other…as such, I took advantage of other people’s photo opportunities. This one of Paul Blunt, Peter Leonard and Leighton Archer was taken at the same time as 2CA’s official photographer took photos.
2CA night host, ex-breakfast host, and current Prime Television weatherman Daniel Gibson turned up…everytime I see him in person I am reminded of just how tall he really is.
At about 7:50 the cake arrived, Paul Blunt interrupted the 2CA loudspeaker feed to make an announcement, and unfortunately the 2CA feed was turned up a tad louder afterwards, which reintroduced the feedback issue they had resolved earlier in the morning. In this photo, Paul Blunt is holding the “announcement microphone”, 2CA manager Doug Bell is adjusting the cake and Leighton is probably listening to cues from Gregg Easton, who was the studio panel operator for the morning.
It doesn’t look like 75 candles…but it was enough to nearly set the cake on fire!
Here comes the (really) interesting part…I captured video footage of the cake being prepared, the crowd singing “Happy Birthday” and George Barlin proving his fitness beyond all reasonable doubt by blowing out the candles…YouTube has managed to desynchronise the audio and video slightly, but not enough to be an issue, and the video can be seen by clicking play below. Alternatively, you can see the slightly higher quality original video by clicking here (12.7MB).
Here is a view of part of the crowd as seen from the stage just after the birthday cake event. As you can see, the Hungry Chino coffee shop sold quite a few cups of coffee…I’m not entirely sure if 2CA intended on paying for coffee for everyone, but I think it turned out that way…I know they didn’t ask me to pay for my coffee and I heard the same from others…although the phrase “make sure the station pays for it” being said to a member of staff (who I won’t name, but is in this photo) as they went to get coffee for some of the special guests does have me a bit confused.
More of the crowd.
Another one of those photo opportunities that I couldn’t resist…as you probably know by now, Paul Blunt and Leighton Archer
Same people, different angle (and once again I’ve drawn a blank on the name of the photographer…it’s late, I haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours, and it’ll come to me while I’m busy working on something completely different tomorrow).
More from the 2CA memories stage
The cake while Doug Bell was cutting it…I think it originally said “2CA 75 YRS BIRTHDAY”…it was a delicious cake (I’m hungry just thinking about it).
The 2CA website lists Leighton’s job as “make sure Paul behaves himself”. There was little chance of that once Paul started with the xylophone…and Leighton was either excited or cold or both (it was 3.4-9.5 degrees between 6am and 9am), so eventually Peter Leonard had to step in and add some sense to the show…that didn’t work though, and Peter ended up giving Paul a lesson in “playing the xylophone correctly”.
During the course of the morning, 2CA regular caller “Edward” turned up, and it was nice to be able to put a face to a name…for the benefit of 2CC and 2UE listeners, Edward is kind of like 2CA’s version of Lon (aka Latrine), just more musical and probably a bit closer to the planet…and he doesn’t ride a bicycle with a yellow helmet as far as I know.
Unfortunately I had to leave just after the 8am news so that I could get to work, and as such I missed the unveiling of the 75 years plaque…Win News arrived not long after I left and captured the plaque amongst other things. I did offer James Goodwin at WIN News my footage, but Win don’t currently have the facilities to easily transfer video from a memory card to a broadcast ready format. I have recorded the Win story and will endeavour to do something with it in the coming days…I’m too tired right now though.
I really should thank James for the tour of the Win facilities…I went into Win Television at lunch time as I couldn’t quite work out on the phone whether or not James was interested in, or could use my footage (and I will have to write a review on the excellent cafe around the corner), so I went in and met James…we quickly established that my footage wasn’t really useful due to the media format (memory card), but James didn’t turn my visit into a waste of time…he first showed me the footage Win had captured, and then gave me a quick tour of the building…oh, and hello to reporter/weathergirl Jessica Good and Peter Leonard (who wasn’t in the building at the time, but I did have a chat with at the 2CA birthday).
I had a wonderful time at the 2CA birthday, and I think everyone else did too…it was also good to be able to meet a few new faces, and catch up with some familiar ones.
I’m now going to try and catch up on some sleep…which is probably easier said than done…so much for my early night! (Apologies for my typing tonight…I’ve corrected as much as possible, but I’ll proofread it when I’m awake and not battling to keep my eyes open…Leighton was right, I do put a lot of effort into this site.)
Happy 75th Birthday 2CA!
Samuel
30 comments November 15th, 2006 at 12:01am
It’s 2CA’s 75th Birthday, and they are holding an outside broadcast (and breakfast) from their original location on Giles Street in Kingston until 9am this morning…plenty of fun, prizes and interesting people…I’m about to head down there, and more details can be found in Samuel’s Persiflage #10.
Samuel
November 14th, 2006 at 06:14am
Samuel’s Persiflage Episode Number Ten has finally arrived, and is available for download. There is also a low quality version for the bandwidth impaired here.
HTML Transcript coming soon
PDF Transcript coming soon
This month’s Persiflage Puzzle has four words of five, three, seven and four letters respectively. The clue is “The sisters credited with writing the most popular song in the English language”.
It’s the 75th birthday of Canberra’s oldest radio station, 1053 2CA, and as such I chat with 2CA breakfast co-host Paul Blunt about the birthday and the celebrations which are taking place, including an Outside Broadcast from the location of their first studio on Giles Street Kingston.
Also on the agenda this month is a chat with radio historian Wayne Mac about 2CA’s birthday, Wayne’s Book, and the rather excessive number of significant radio birthdays this year.
There is some listeners feedback…some of it quite amusing.
All listeners are invited to send in more feedback, both in written and audio format. As per usual feedback can be sent to podcast@samuelgordonstewart.com (text, MP3, Wave or Ogg Vorbis), spoken feedback by clicking here or on the button below would be great, or leave a comment below.
There are various highlights of Samuel’s appearances on 2CA scattered throughout the episode, as well as all the other regular features.
The Samuel’s Persiflage #10 file itself is available here, and is 1:11:28 in length (65.4MB) at 128kbps stereo. The 128kbps format was decided upon because it produces a very good sound quality, and doesn’t “flatten” any music used in the podcast. I do, however, acknowledge that this is just unreasonable for dial-up, so a 16kbps mono file is also available here. The sound quality isn’t as good, but some people like it. The low quality version is 8.17MB
For those of you who are using podcast software to receive your podcasts, the feed can be found here and if you are using iTunes you can subscribe to Samuel’s Persiflage by clicking here.
Podcast related questions and comments can be sent to podcast@samuelgordonstewart.com or left in the comments section of this post. Spoken feedback is preferred (but not mandated) and can be sent either in MP3, Wave or Ogg Vorbis format, or sent even more easily by clicking the button below and following the prompts.
Samuel
14 comments November 14th, 2006 at 06:12am
That was a tad odd…the 2CA/2CC newsroom had both the morning and afternoon newsreaders missing in action today…firstly Jane Turner wasn’t there, and Kris McKenzie was filling in (no complaints from me…I think Kris does a great job), and then Francis Keeny (or however his name is spelled) was absent, with panel operator and other jobs extraordinaire Duncan McRae filling in.
I suspect that Jane and Francis have taken leave at the same time…and that would explain why WIN News’ James Creegan Goodwin (Creegan left for Sydney a long time ago…don’t know why I thought of his name instead of James Goodwin) was presenting Sunday morning news on 2CC and 2CA…but it just seems a bit odd that both people would disappear at the same time.
I wonder how long it will be until we hear from Jane or Francis again?
Samuel
8 comments November 13th, 2006 at 07:38pm
Just a quick note to inform you that certain words and phrases which I have used (and others have subsequently used) to describe a particular thing relating to a recent event in my life have been replaced with “####” for reasons which I can’t really explain here.
Unfortunately this has rendered some comments and posts incomprehensible, and I apoligise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Samuel
November 13th, 2006 at 07:27pm
This week I’ve decided to give the award to Fleetwood Mac, mainly so that I could make the feature song a song which I think is appropriate considering that I am starting a new job today (Monday)…the song would be even more appropriate if I had managed to get this online yesterday…but it’ll do!
The feature song is “Don’t Stop”.
If you wake up and don’t want to smile,
If it takes just a little while,
Open your eyes and look at the day,
You’ll see things in a different way.Don’t stop, thinkin’ about tomorrow,
Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here,
It’ll be here, better than before,
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.Why not think about times to come,
And not about the things that you’ve done,
If your life was bad to you,
Just think what tomorrow will do.Don’t stop, thinkin’ about tomorrow,
Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here,
It’ll be here, better than before,
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.All I want is to see you smile,
If it takes just a little while,
I know you dont believe that it’s true,
I never meant any harm to you.Don’t stop, thinkin’ about tomorrow,
Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here,
It’ll be here, better than before,
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.Don’t stop, thinkin’ about tomorrow,
Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here,
It’ll be here, better than before,
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.Ooooooh! Don’t you look back,
Ooooooh! Don’t you look back,
Ooooooh! Don’t you look back,
Ooooooh! Don’t you look back.
Samuel
November 13th, 2006 at 12:54am
Good morning Mr. Kerr,
I should probably congratulate you…if the new 2UE website is to be believed, your show has been extended by a few hours as it lists Tom Wards as appearing on your show at 8:30am Saturdays! An amusing typo.
The Crowne Plaza Terrigal faxed through my order form yesterday, and I have filled it out, I’ll post it on Monday…which incidentally is when I start the new job.
I am very tired now as I’ve had minimal sleep in the last 36 hours due to finding out about my #### #### being approved on Thursday morning, and the subsequent scramble to get all of my work finished at my temporary job before I finished yesterday.
If it’s OK with you John, I would just like to give a really big "thank you" to Belconnen Community Service and Julia Ross Recruitment who have kept me in employment for the last couple months whilst I waited on the #### ####…they made my life a whole lot easier, and it was great working for them.
Have a great day John and all of the lovely listeners.
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra
3 comments November 10th, 2006 at 11:00pm
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