Samuel's Blog

Samuel’s Persiflage fans rejoice

It’s been almost four years since the last episode of Samuel’s Persiflage; this week that clock should reset to zero.

I’m not going to tell you much about it yet, but suffice to say that I’m excited about it. I’ll keep you posted.

Samuel

March 7th, 2011 at 08:09am

I’m not the only one who was bothered by animals last night

An email to 2UE’s Jason Morrison

G’day Jason,

You and Gibbsy were kept up by dogs and cats eh? Well let me tell you, dogs and cats are nothing mate…just wait until you’ve been bothered by grasshoppers all night.

I’m over in Deniliquin at the moment where there seems to be a few too many grasshoppers. I had to chase about a dozen of them out of my hotel room because they were all jumping about, crashing in to things and chirping. There’s still two of them in here somewhere, but they’re being quiet so I’ll leave them alone, but if they bother me tonight, they’re getting the bug spray.

Hmmm, I wonder if the Greens would stop me from killing grasshoppers and other bugs if they had the power to make such rules? I’d better not show them the bug splatter on the front of my car.

Have a good day.

Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Deniliquin, NSW

3 comments March 7th, 2011 at 06:20am

Samuel’s Musician Of The Week: Tennessee Ernie Ford

This one’s for 2UE’s John Kerr who, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, put on his deep voice and belted out a few lines of this song, sounding just like Tennessee Ernie Ford himself. The feature song for the week is Sixteen Tons.

Some people say a man is made outta mud
A poor man’s made outta muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that’s a-weak and a back that’s strong

You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the company store

I was born one mornin’ when the sun didn’t shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said “Well, a-bless my soul”

You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the company store

I was born one mornin’, it was drizzlin’ rain
Fightin’ and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the canebrake by an ol’ mama lion
Cain’t no-a high-toned woman make me walk the line

You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the company store

If you see me comin’, better step aside
A lotta men didn’t, a lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don’t a-get you
Then the left one will

You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the company store

Samuel

March 7th, 2011 at 01:59am

Hello from Deniliquin

Hello from Deniliquin. Unlike my previous trips to Deni, this time I am not here for work (although if the opportunity arises, I’m not likely to pass it up) but rather I am on leave from work and have come over to here for some relaxation.

I was last here in September of 2009, back when the drought was still in full swing. It was quite extraordinary to drive here and see all sorts of creeks and wetlands which actually have water in them…I’ve never see water in many of the places which now have water…that’s not to say that they’ve never had water, of course they have, otherwise they wouldn’t have been named as creeks and wetlands, it’s just that for me, having only been here in drought, the change is quite remarkable.

The water does have its downsides…the various bugs and critters have been able to breed and, among other things, there are grasshoppers everywhere. I’ve chased about a dozen of them out of my hotel room tonight and I still have a couple left, but I’m willing to let them be for now as they are much less jumpy and chirpy and annoying than the others were. That said, I have located the Mortein and may need to use it by tomorrow.

Other than the novelty of the bugs, the weather does make this feel like a holiday. Normally the weather in Canberra and Deni is fairly similar, just with slightly warmer temperatures at times in Deni. Right now it’s almost ten degrees warmer in Deni than it is in Canberra and the expected temperatures are quite different for today as well: 31 for Deni and 25 for Canberra. That may only be six degrees, but it’s two notches of difference on the Samuel Comfort Index™.

I have some plans while I’m over here (I keep trying to type “down here” before I realise that Deni is virtually due west of Canberra, and I’m always having a go at 2UE’s John Kerr for referring to trips from Canberra to Sydney as “going down to Sydney”…I think it’s working as he said “going up to Sydney” last night) but not many, and really I’ll just see where the mood takes me.

On my previous trips, I often posted statistics about the trip, however I didn’t keep accurate stats this time. What I do know though is that I left home and 8:15am and got to the hotel at 2:15pm, with stops in Gundagai and Jerilderie for morning tea and lunch respectively. I probably spent a tad under five hours on the road in total. For much of the trip I was listening to the private webstream of my hobby radio station at home which was playing the third hour of John Laws‘ show from each day of the week as well as Rush Limbaugh‘s Week In Review. I had workable 3G mobile coverage for most of the trip, although it was a bit patchy between towns from Urana to Conargo. I also listened to Casey Hendrickson’s podcast, The Burning Truth and a little bit of music…and of course I listened to a bit of both 2QN and Classic Rock.

Anyhoo, I should probably see about getting some sleep while the sun is napping, although it could be difficult considering that I had a sleep when I got here.

Samuel

2 comments March 7th, 2011 at 12:58am