Monday, July 25, 2005

Jazz on a winter's night



The Moonah Arts Centre put on a special event Jazz Night last week. It was twice the length of their usual concerts and they put out some tables so we could have a drink and some peanuts while we watched Georgina Richmond and Kalo Cocker sing with a jazz trio.

Dim the lights, put out some candles and it all got very atmospheric.

After a couple of songs, I thought to myself that "The Look Of Love" should be coming up soon. Ten minutes later, there it was.

The two ladies took it in turns to sing some of the old standards, finally collaborating on "Blue Moon".

All the songs were cover versions, I think, except for one original just before interval, Georgina's heartfelt "Blue Blackbird" which got a big round of applause.

I was safe to drive home afterwards without a doubt - I'd only ordered one glass of wine and I knocked that over before I'd finished it.




"A recent crash at Hobart's Elwick Racecourse was a sporting accident with a difference", said a news item in the Heritage Tasmania newsletter.

"Suspended high above the ground, one of the seven-tonne light towers being coaxed in to place snapped in half and the head crashed into the rear corner of the historic grandstand.

Thankfully for all involved no injuries were sustained, though there was a fair bit of mental bruising.

The Tasmanian Heritage Council is recommending that the building be repaired, however a structural assessment is required to ensure the impact has not created damage in other areas of the building, including the foundations.

Once this step is completed, discussions with the owners, insurers and the Glenorchy City Council will begin to consider how best to repair the structure. It may be possible to reuse some of the demolition materials, otherwise new materials will be sourced."

I remember the racecourse in the late 1950s when my father owned race horses and was often out there. One day my sister and I roamed all over the empty grandstand, finally pausing at one set of seats that had a view out over the entire vista.

"Hey!" shouted one of the staff. "Get out of there -- that's the Royal Box."

The closest I've ever come to royalty.




I mentioned previously that one of my chores in this household has always been to select books for the rest of my family. This week I've found it difficult to pry her away from her current novel, Robert Heinlein's The Door Into Summer. She hasn't read a Heinlein for a long while, and she found this one unputdownable.

Probably something to do with the fact that a cat is one of the main characters.

She was a bit puzzled by the future sequences (it's about time travel) set in 1970 and 2001, which seemed a bit odd. It was more comprehensible for her when I looked it up and found it was written in 1956.




Not happy with my readings for the last few weeks; my Blood Glucose Level numbers are higher than they should be.

I think I've only had one satisfactory morning reading in the last three weeks -- 6.3 the day before yesterday. Everything else has been higher.

Not sure whether it's a low-level infection, fatigue or stress... or maybe a combination of all three in varying amounts.




I've been enjoying the new Doctor Who stories a lot. This month's two-parter set in World War II's Blitz-affected London was quite compelling.

The vision of the alien zombies re-made in the mould of a lost child in a gas-mask was almost as disturbing as Nigel Kneale's third Quatermass story. For light relief we had Rose flirting outrageously with a time-travelling con man with movie-star looks.







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