Monday, April 25, 2005

ALL @ C

CHAPTER 55: IN WHICH I HAVE A MID-LIFE CRISIS
AND DECIDE TO RUN AWAY TO SEA.


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After years of waiting my ship had finally come in.

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I took passage on a replica of the 19th century Lady Nelson.


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We motored up the river for a couple of miles then cut the motor and sailed down as far as Sandy Bay. The quiet was startling -- no sound but the wind and the waves. We were travelling so smoothly we didn't even seem to be leaving a wake.


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Seagulls soared overhead and a flock of cormorants preened complacently underneath the bridge. A seal popped his head out of the water and looked askance at us before diving again.


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The size of the ship was startling. It's not much bigger than a modern fifty-foot yacht, yet in the 19th century it sailed from London to Tasmania. Imagine spending 200 days on a boat this size.


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Fortunately I met some friendly natives ashore and decided to stay on land after all.






The start of the football season means the usual disruption to the broadcast media. On Saturday night the Coodabeen Champions were reduced from two and a half hours to one hour.

Friday night football was all finished by 11:20 but the compere cheerfully announced that they'd be staying on the air for the next forty minutes to discuss the night's game. "Call us on the usual number with your comments."

No, guys, I don't think you'd want to put to air any comments I might make.




Isn't this just so 21st century?

A news report about the ceremony to officially inaugurate the new Pope said that his route was lined with "thousands of people waving, cheering and taking pictures with their cell phones"!


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