Autumn has arrived - 10 weeks late

The weather this year has been amazingly warm and, for just about the whole of May so far, the temperatures have been roughly 5 degrees warmer each day than usual. Instead of May's more usual daily range of c. 4 to 15C, we have had 9 to 20C ... or more ... for days on end, coupled with brilliant sunshine and little rain. Alas,the temperature has now dropped to 16C and it feels a little cold. Moreover, by the weekend the maxima will have shrunk to 12C, which is below the average for June. So, just maybe the weather is starting to normalise.

Have the experiences where you live been similar?

AS

Dare to Enter?

I went to Sydney yesterday, going down on the 6.30 am flight and returning that evening at c. 8.30 pm. The reasons for going were four-fold and I managed to pack a lot in. First, three of us from the Digital Economy Implementation Group went and saw a senior bureaucrat in the Department of Regional Development, discussing new approaches to local development strategies. That was a useful visit. Around lunch-time we headed round the corner from the ministry to see Greg Lindsay who runs the Centre for Independent Studies, a pro-market think tank, but not specifically aligned to any political party. I've supported this organisation for a long time and we had an interesting discussion.

Around 2 pm we headed out to Olympic Park to the Samsung offices to meet up with senior manager there who's interested in new technologies  of various kinds. It was a fabulous meeting and we (a) got to see some new technologies and (b) get a promise for our contact to visit Armidale to discuss issues with local businesses. At 3.45 pm I reached my stock-broker's office (Ord Minnett) right back in the city centre to discuss our portfolio and what to sell or buy. I ended up selling c. $20,000 of stock, but not buying anything. After an hour there it was time to head to the airport and meet up with my colleague, Alun Davies who was with me at the other three engagements and we waited in the Qantas lounge until our flight was called, sipping wine and eating some interesting nibbles.

So, it was a very busy and productive day. Before seeing one of the ministry's top bureaucrats, Lorna, two of us, Alun and myself, decided to take some coffee and we noticed that opposite the ministry there was the notorious Lindt Cafe on Martin Place in the heart of the business district, and decided to give it a try. I like Lindt chocolate of course and our drinks were great. Why notorious? Well, on 15-16 December 2014 it was the scene of a 15 hour siege by a mad-man which ended in the death of three people, including the gun-man, Man Haron Monis. He was a Shia cleric who was also known as the Fake Sheik. He had been in trouble with the law over assaults on women, but was treated fairly leniently by the courts when it came to issues of bail. Anyway he stormed the cafe, took a large number of hostages, some of whom escaped through the day. Eventually, there was a fatal shoot out in which he was killed and it seems that he was deranged, rather than inspired by the behaviour of Isil or other terrorist groups. We saw no signs of the event while we sipped our drinks, and the cafe was pretty full. But its layout suggests why the gunman was able to control a large number of people and why some might have been able to escape.

Here's the cafe in question:

And visit this web address if you want to read up on the story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Sydney_hostage_crisis

AS

Pictures at an Exhibition

I'm not about to talk about the piece of music with a similar name. A good friend of ours - and I was formerly his boss - Terry Cooke has become an excellent photographer in his retirement and several of my readers will have a copy of one of his books of photos in their homes - I helped to crowd-fund its publication. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we were invited to one of Armidale's art galleries to the latest exhibition of his work and those picture taken by others which have been in a new book published just two days ago.

The exhibition was launched with speeches, wine flowing freely, and some nice snacks. Dot and I knew quite a large number of the audience, unsurprisingly since Terry was a colleague for many years in my department. And we'll buy and distribute some copies of the new book. His photography is excellent and many examples were hanging on the gallery's walls. My own photos, taken with a mobile phone, are not very good, but I'm trying to convey the event's atmosphere. Have a look.

Speech-Making.

Dot having a chat.

I couldn't resist a selfie ... to Dot's amusement ... and my regret.

And some of the pictures, alas with reflecting glass!

AS

Antique Car Display

Dot and I went down town today to visit two of the three events we knew about and found a fourth. The other two we visited were the fortnightly farmers' markets and the Rotary Book Fair at which we made quite a few purchases. The third was the RSPCA's paws day and we a saw a massive dog walk taking off nearby. But the fourth one was completely unanticipated and by far the most interesting!

It was a display of vintage cars attached to the farmers' market and there were dozens of delightfully restored vehicles from around the world, several of which me back almost half a century or more. I'll let the pictures tell the story:

This one below is owned by one of my female bridge opponents.

I seem to remember owning one of these (below) while living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Oxford.

Dad owned a Rover of about the same vintage when we were growing up, but this seems to be a swishier model.

I was told that nearly everything at the display was locally owned, and I now fancy owning one myself!

AS

Remarkable Concert

I’ve just attended the most peculiar orchestral concert of my life delivered by the Armidale Symphony Orchestra, several of whose members I know.

In a way, all the works were connected in some way with this city!! As you’d probably guess from that, none of the works were core items in the international repertoire.

Two of the pieces were written and conducted by Richard Peter Maddox, an Armidale resident now c. 80 years old! One, his Op 138 (!!), was entitled “… shall never fade …” and is a musical elegy to horrific bush-fires. The second of his works was called Kubla Kahn, and is setting for voice and choir of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem of the same name. The choir, Fiori Musicali, all live locally and the soloist, Ruth Strutt, was (a) born in Armidale and (b) now works with the Australian opera.

The third work was by Cecile Chaminade (1857 – 1944), one of few women composers. Her flute concerto was performed by a local resident, Gerard Larkins, who (a) went to the same school as both Emily and Rebecca and (b) was taught the flute by the same teacher as Emily’s (Margaret Hawkins).

The concert finished off with the Symphony #1 by Australian composer Alfred Hill (1869 to 1960). Have you ever heard of him? He played in an orchestra at Leipzig and, among his conductors he worked under were Brahms, Greig, Tchaikovsky and Bruch. Anyway, this work was substantially written in Leipzig, but left unfinished. It was eventually finished in Armidale, which seems quite a remarkable outcome.

So this town of 25,000 people has a remarkable musical life.

Tony

Running Hard

I've just run the Trinity Mountains trail in Northern California. The path was often narrow and rock strewn, which was hazardous and, in places, there was still compacted and icy snow on the ground. It was also rather cold at c. 400, but the lakes, waterfalls, redwood groves and so on were spectacular. I even saw an Elk. I can recommend this destination.

Alas, I wasn't there in person. The images I've just portrayed were on the screen of a treadmill at the University of New England's indoor recreation centre! I had to retreat there as the weather was lousy today. After brief sunshine at c. 8 am and overnight temperatures of c. 19C, the cloud closed in and it started pouring. Still the rain is welcome because April had very little and also amazingly warm temperatures. Yesterday was a glorious day and warm! The temperature reached 23C - good for an English summer; but here it is now two-thirds through Autumn.

AS