Archive for September, 2013
It was announced this morning on 2QN that Paul Dix’s funeral will be held on Wednesday afternoon at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Deniliquin.
The service will commence at 1pm on Wednesday the 25th of September.
The funeral service is being arranged by Riverina Funerals. More details are available by contacting them on 03 5881 5111.
An announcement was also made to the effect that the family has requested that people do not bring flowers, but make a charitable donation instead. I did not catch the details of which charity will be the beneficiary of this, but there will be a collection available on the day.
Jock’s Journal have since been contacted by Paul’s wife Margaret, who has advised them that people are invited to the Deniliquin RSL following the service, and people who worked with Paul over the years are invited to join the family for Paul’s burial at 4pm, at a location which has not been specified.
Samuel
September 23rd, 2013 at 01:47pm
It is with much regret and sadness that I have to pass on the news that the voice of Deniliquin, Paul Dix, passed away this morning after a short illness. He was aged 80.
Samuel with Paul Dix on the 19th of December, 2008
Paul had been the breakfast host at 2QN Deniliquin for about 51-and-a-half years, and had worked for 3MA in Mildura before this. In recent years Paul had also pre-recorded an afternoon program for 3NE in Wangaratta after finishing his 2QN show.
In a statement, the General Manager of 2QN’s parent company, Frank Davidson, had the following to say:
To say Dixy will be missed is an understatement as he was and always will be an integral part of our team.
Paul’s many friends and listeners in our coverage area will miss waking up with Dixy each morning and at this sad time our thoughts and condolences are with his wife Margaret and the family.
Further details as they come to hand will be advised and once again our thoughts at this sad time are with the Dix family.
Paul will be very sorely missed in Deni and beyond. He was a very kind man who always had time for a chat and had a great sense of humour which made most things seem better. I will always fondly cherish the brief time I spent working with Paul, and will cherish his ongoing friendship even more. The memory of him appearing at the radio station’s back door in his tiny little car, as happy as could be, just before 5am each day, is an image which will stay with me forever.
Paul is a true gem of Australian history. It is a real shame that, due to the fact that he spent so long in a regional town, that he doesn’t have anywhere near as much name recognition in the wider community as people who have spent similar amounts of time in Sydney radio. To an extent though, I think Paul would have been happy about that…he was known and loved by a specific community, and he cared about that community.
My sincere condolences to Paul’s wife Margaret and family, to all of the staff at 2QN and 3NE, Paul’s friends, and the broader community of Deniliquin.
I would wish Paul and peaceful rest, but somehow I think he’ll be up at 3:30am every day to do the breakfast show on the great radio station in the sky, and heaven will be a much more interesting place because of it.
Samuel
September 20th, 2013 at 02:29pm
This is not something I was expecting to see parked at the Dickson shops at lunch time: a car with the logo of 2WG Wagga Wagga all over it.
It’s a long way to go for lunch, although I have done it before myself…still, it would be odd if somebody took a company car for a two-and-a-half hour drive just for lunch.
I wonder what they’re here for?
Samuel
-35.249918149.140087
September 17th, 2013 at 12:45pm
I honestly never thought the day would come, but it seems that recent poor health has forced Paul’s hand and he is calling it a day on what can only be described as a truly remarkable career.
Paul Dix in the 2QN studios in 2011
For a tad over 51 years (the 51st anniversary of Paul’s arrival in Deni was in March of this year, not last year as reported by The Weekly Times), Paul has been the breakfast host at radio 2QN in Deniliquin. 51 years in any job is remarkable, but even more remarkable in the radio industry where many people don’t stay for 51 weeks in the same job, let alone years.
Unfortunately Paul’s health has not been the best in recent times and he has been forced to give up the regular 3:30am alarm. Paul is currently on sick leave but I gather that he is expected back on the air before he does retire, and I personally wonder if his retirement will be a full retirement, or if he might continue to do some radio work either on a fill-in basis or perhaps continue to do his pre-recorded Sunday breakfast show.
Paul is currently the longest-serving host of a single show in Australian radio. I don’t think it’s a record which will be beaten any time soon, and it’s safe to say that Deni won’t quite be the same place in the morning without Dixie’s dulcet tones greeting the town each morning.
At this stage I don’t have a definitive date for Paul’s retirement, but I will let you know as soon as I know. I’m sure there will be a lot of people who will want to wish Paul good health and good retirement between now and then.
I had the great pleasure of interviewing Paul on Samuel’s Persiflage in 2011 about his experiences in radio and his memories of Deni, among other things. More importantly I had the honour of working with Paul on a number of occasions through 2008 and 2009, and learned a lot from him. It will be very sad to see him leave radio, but if it helps with his health, then I wish him all the best.
Samuel
September 12th, 2013 at 07:30pm
I was going to write a post similar to my AFL post summarising my thoughts on each team and what is likely to unfold through the finals, but as the NRL finals haven’t started yet, I just see too many uncertain matches and permutations for me to be able to figure out where everyone will be at each step. Instead, what I will do is put in some tips for this week, make a couple quick observations about the teams in the finals, and then come back with a more detailed look at the remaining teams next week.
Rabbitohs V Storm
This should be a very good match. Both teams are capable of playing very good football, but in tight situations I think the Rabbitohs are more likely to find a way to score, and the storm are more likely to produce a mind-numbing error. Back-to-back losses are rare for the Storm so I expect them to win in the 2nd week…and I’d certainly be tipping them if they lost last week.
Sharks V Cowboys
This was almost impossible to pick. The Cowboys have a heap of momentum having won their last six matches (including one victory over the Sharks), which is much better than any other team in the competition, but despite this I have been more impressed by Cronulla’s fairly consistent performances. The Sharks might not always win, but they always (since late July, at least) seem to put in a very good effort. I’d be willing to trust the Sharks’ effort over the Cowboys’ recent winning-streak, especially seeing as I don’t particularly like tipping the Cowboys after they have won a few games in a row, as they seem to have a habit of putting in a terrible performance after a string of good ones. That said, if the Cowboys win this match, they might turn out to be very hard to beat through the rest of the finals.
Roosters V Sea Eagles
Both of these sides are a nightmare to tip as you can never be sure whether they are going to have one of their good days or one of their bad days. I don’t think either side can win the grand final because I don’t think either side can consistently play well enough to get that far. This match could go either way and it wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m going with Manly because they lost last week and the Roosters didn’t.
Bulldogs V Knights
I’m a Bulldogs fan and I’d love to be able to tell you that I’m confident that the Dogs will win this, but truthfully I’m always slightly worried about games against Newcastle. The Dogs have been patchy this year and have lost to Newcastle twice, but with a small number of exceptions, the Knights have generally either won by a big margin or lost by a small margin this year which tells me that the Knights can’t usually maintain their intensity for a full match if the other side is competitive. I expect the Bulldogs to try a little bit harder this week seeing as it is a sudden-death final, and so I expect the Bulldogs to win by a small amount, but I also won’t be surprised if the Knights scrape home.
At the moment I’m expecting the Rabbitohs to win the grand final, but the Sharks and Cowboys are both good chances too. I don’t think anyone else can win.
If you are going to have a punt on the finals I’d suggest TAB NRL Finals betting. They currently have the Rabbitohs and Roosters $3.75 premiership favourites, and they don’t think the Sharks or Cowboys have much hope, $21 and $23 respectively. I might have to take them up on that. As for this week’s tips…well they seem to agree with everything except the Sea Eagles beating the Roosters.
Samuel
September 12th, 2013 at 01:04am
For a few reasons I forgot all about submitting tips for the first week of the AFL finals last week, so instead of providing tips on a week-by-week basis, what I am going to do is analyse what remains of the finals by giving you my thoughts on the remaining teams and who I think is likely to wind up as the grand final winner of the 2013 AFL Premiership Season.
Geelong
Geelong have surprised me throughout the year with some very good performances. I have not really thought their form was good enough to win as many matches as they did, and I was expecting them to fall apart late in the season, but they did not. They have been quite consistent and I shouldn’t underestimate them.
Geelong lost to Fremantle in the first week of the finals. I was surprised by this and put it down to a couple factors:
1. Geelong were playing their first ever home final. The moment got the better of them and they weren’t as focussed as usual.
2. Fremantle have been playing very well of late and reached the finals with a head full of steam. They simply had too much momentum for Geelong to match in the first week of the finals.
Geelong will play Port Adelaide on Friday night. Port have not played a Friday night match this year and have been in poor form for the last few weeks, and in my view only won on the weekend because Collingwood played terribly. As much as Port Adelaide have been a decent team this year, Geelong are a better side and will win, but won’t be able to overcome Hawthorn in the following week.
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide are a very improved side this year, but they should not have won last week. In my view they only did so because Collingwood had a shocker. Port deserve to be in the finals, but will not win this week against Geelong.
Sydney
Sydney have been consistent again this year in the main, but haven’t been quite as good as last year. They played poorly against Hawthorn last week, but that was partially because Hawthorn are simply a better side by a very big margin.
This week Sydney verse Carlton and, despite the fact that last week’s form (and even Sydney’s form in the last few weeks of the regular season) might indicate otherwise, I expect Sydney to rebound this week and to defeat Carlton. It won’t be a big victory, but they should win. After that Sydney will verse Fremantle for a spot in the Grand Final. Fremantle are in better form in my view and, with a combination of fresh legs from a week off for Fremantle and a tiring victory over Carlton for Sydney, Fremantle should knock Sydney out of the finals in the third week.
Carlton
Carlton should not have reached the finals. They only got in because Essendon were prevented from being in the finals by a fairly peculiar decision, and Carlton had to make up the numbers in the top eight.
Carlton played well last week, but sometimes it feels like a team plays their “grand final effort” in a round of the finals and has nothing left the following week, and I think they did that last week. Carlton will be competitive against Sydney this week as Sydney are out-of-form in my view, but they won’t be able to beat Sydney.
Hawthorn
Hawthorn have been impressive all year except for one very uncharacteristic loss to Richmond and an inability to beat Geelong. This should make for an interesting likely showdown between Hawthorn and Geelong in the third week of the finals.
I expect Hawthorn to finally defeat Geelong in week three of the finals as I’m not sure Geelong can be consistent enough to carry good form through that far, and Hawthorn will be freshly rested as should be too good for Geelong.
After this I expect Hawthorn to come up against Fremantle in the grand final. Hawthorn are a better side than Fremantle (or any other team in the competition for that matter) and I think Hawthorn will beat them (or anyone else).
Fremantle
Fremantle are, to me at least, the real surprise packet of the season. Port Adelaide have also been surprisingly good, but Fremantle have beaten them for consistency, and I have to give a lot of credit to coach Ross Lyon for this.
I expect Fremantle to meet Sydney in the third week of the finals. It is my view that Fremantle will be able to continue their great form in to this match, and Sydney will have used up too much effort in overcoming Carlton, so Fremantle will win this match and make their way through to the grand final.
I expect Fremantle to meet Hawthorn in the grand final. I believe Hawthorn are a class above Fremantle and should defeat Freo comfortably, but I would also have to admit that if anyone could challenge Hawthorn, it is Fremantle.
Hawthorn should defeat Fremantle, but if something goes awry before then and Fremantle verse someone else in the grand final, then Fremantle could win.
Final verdict
The grand final should be a contest between Hawthorn and Fremantle. Hawthorn should win this and I am tipping Hawthorn to be the winner of the 2013 grand final, however Fremantle should beat anyone else if Hawthorn don’t make the grand final for whatever reason.
That said, Hawthorn are my tip as 2013 AFL premiers.
If you’re considering betting on any of the AFL finals or on the premier, then make sure you check out TAB’s AFL Finals betting page. I see that at the moment they agree with me that Hawthorn and Fremantle are the most likely to win the grand final, offering $2.25 and $3.75 respectively.
Samuel
September 11th, 2013 at 08:56pm
I’m very pleased to see Tony Abbott start his speech by acknowledging that the power of government does not belong to him or to Kevin Rudd, or any political party, but that it belongs to the people of Australia, and he is there to govern for them, to the mandate for which it was elected (or as Tony put it “a government which says what it means, and means what it says”).
It was nice to see a short speech from Tony, although I do wonder if the line about Labor’s low primary vote was necessary. Tony tends to speak at his best when he is succinct, so it was very nice to see him keep the speech short and sweet.
A big victory to the Coalition tonight. It’s going to be a big three years ahead. There are still some seats to be decided and most of the Senate. I should note, regarding the Senate, that current ABC modelling is incorrect…it has only got one new Senate seat for the Coalition when the AEC quite clearly shows them holding at least three quotas across NSW and the ACT alone. I trust this will be fixed in due course as the Senate is clearly not the focus of tonight.
I, with great gladness and happiness, welcome Tony Abbott and his team as the incoming government, and I look forward to the three years which are ahead of us. It is my sincere hope that this new Liberal/National Coalition government surpasses the expectations of Australians and brings about more terms of government afterwards…but nothing can be taken for granted, and tomorrow, and more importantly once the Governor-General swears-in the new government, it is time to start governing in a clear, coherent, and transparent manner.
To the success and stability of an incoming, Tony Abbott-led, conservative government.
(And just before I go, a special congratulations to Fiona Scott, the candidate of much sex-appeal in the NSW seat of Lindsay, who has ousted Labor’s David Bradbury. Clearly the nonsensical claims of misogyny against Tony Abbott didn’t wash in that electorate, or in many other places for that matter.)
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 10:25pm
And I thought Rob Oakeshott’s lengthy speech last year was painful when he rambled on and on and on about all of the factors which did and didn’t lead to his decision to support Julia Gillard as Prime Minister after the last election. Kevin Rudd’s speech tonight is worse.
He has said that he, in accordance with the rules he set down, will not contest the Labor Party leadership, so I suppose he knows that this is the last chance he has to get free national airtime. He could be there all year speaking.
Still, he did say once before that he wouldn’t contest the Labor Party leadership, and look where he is today, and his last statement just now that “you won’t hear my voice in public affairs for some time” tells me that, unfortunately, you can’t rule out a Kevin Rudd comeback in about two and a half years time.
I should not that I was very annoyed with the cheap shot Kevin Rudd took at his Liberal opponent in the seat of Griffith, Dr. Bill Glasson, but he’s stopped talking now so if I can avoid seeing him again (years, preferably) for a while, I’ll let it slide.
I did get a chuckle when 2GB cut away from Kevin Rudd’s speech and, during the commercial break, ran a commercial for Foxtel containing the fictional politician “The Member for Waffling” who was saying “waffle waffle waffle”. It seemed apt.
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 10:00pm
And with that, Tony Abbott is now Prime Minister-elect.
Time for a celebratory coffee or three I think.
Three cheers for Tony Abbott!
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 09:41pm
Everyone has now called the election for the Liberal/National Coalition. I am personally pleased to see Barnaby Joyce successfully jump from the Senate to the House Of Representatives by winning New England with a massive majority.
Elsewhere it is good to see Tony Abbott increase his lead in Warringah and Zed Seselja (almost certainly) retain the Liberal Senate seat in the ACT, taking over from Gary Humphries. Angus Taylor has easily won Hume, and Wyatt Roy has easily retained Longman.
Peter Beattie looks very unlikely to win Forde, making his return to politics one of the shortest in living memory.
Eden-Monaro will probably come down to postal votes and I doubt we’ll see a final result for a few days. Liberal’s Peter Hendy leads Labor’s Mike Kelly on first preferences, but is behind on estimated final preferences. It will be a close one.
Alas in the two ACT seats, the Labor incumbents have retained their seats, but both Liberal candidates appear to have closed the margin a little bit.
Kevin Rudd is behind by about 1,000 votes on first preferences in Griffith, but appears to have retained it clearly on estimated final preferences. I suspect the preference flow won’t be as clear-cut and we won’t have a final result there for a couple days. Overall it looks like Katter’s Australia Party and The Greens have one seat each, with one independent.
Most of the Senate is still too early to call.
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 09:37pm
We only have about 2% counted so far, so it’s too early to really call it in my view, but Labor and Liberal have almost a full quota each with nobody else close, although the Greens are sitting on about 0.6 of a quota. It looks set to remain one Labor and one Liberal senator for the ACT. Kate Lundy for Labor and Zed Seselja for Liberals.
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 08:57pm
Barnaby Joyce looks set to sweep to power in the seat of New England on first preferences alone. He currently has 52% of the vote, with nobody else over 14%. Almost half the votes are counted.
On first preferences, the National Party have gained a 27% swing.
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 08:49pm
The coalition is on track for a big victory, and are likely to hold somewhere in the order of 90 or more seats. Adam Bandt has held his seat of Melbourne for the Greens, while high-profile candidate Clive Palmer looks very unlikely to win a seat of his own, although it’s possible that one of his 149 other candidates might claim a seat…maybe. Bob Katter is a long way behind on first preferences in Kennedy with the Liberal National Party’s Noeline Ikin ahead by about 5,000 votes, but preferences look set to hand Bob Katter a narrow victory.
Locally, it looks like Labor will retain both ACT seats. The Liberal Party will retain Hume quite easily. In Eden-Monaro, Peter Hendy is slightly ahead on first preferences but probably slightly behind after preferences are counted.
In Warringah, Liberal Party leader (and Prime Minister-elect, if I dare call it at this time) Tony Abbott has comfortably won his seat, and increased his margin on Labor candidate (and former school friend of mine) Jules Zanetti.
It appears to be a very big victory for the Liberal Party tonight in the House Of Representatives. The big question now is how the Senate will pan out, but it is such a convoluted system that we may not have any solid numbers for days. That said, if anything interesting happens during the night, I will let you know.
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 08:38pm
Australian Electoral Commission now says the Coalition have won 76 seats, which is enough to form a majority government.
I’ve just deleted my previous post where I incorrectly attributed this to the ABC. I’ve got so many tabs open here in this browser that I lost track of which one I was looking at.
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 08:16pm
Unfortunately the margin in Fraser keeps getting bigger and has been doing so for some time. With about 23% counted, Andrew Leigh leads Elizabeth Lee by about 5,000 votes and the margin is growing. The good news though is that the Two Party Preferred margin has been closed slightly which makes the seat slightly more attainable in the future.
2CC have called this seat for Andrew Leigh.
Samuel
September 7th, 2013 at 08:08pm
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