Thanks to PK for reminding me what a sensational performer Chad Morgan is. The Sheik of Scrubby Creek. They just don’t make them like that any more. I had some of his music somewhere in my recordings of early Australia country music but this has thankfully vanished into the ether.
I am reminded (I am not sure why) that a few years ago on New Years Eve PK and Gwenyth took us out on a yacht on Sydney Harbour to watch the fireworks. This was a sensational evening enlivened by a barbecue at the Middle Harbour Yacht Club and – between the 9:30 and Midnight fireworks displays – Gwenyth falling fully clothed into the water. This was unnecessary as we were already totally entertained by the whole evening.
I am not sure why Gwenyth did this. She is the type of woman who could sail naked around Cape Horn on an ironing board using palms fronds for sails so I just cannot imagine why she fell into the drink – but it was a thoughtful way to amuse us between drinks.
William is quite right that this is the opportunity to do some serious Spring cleaning and indeed I have done this. The only essential stuff that needs to get onto the iMac is my music – about 18,000 tunes and my photos – about 30,000.
Yes I agree that no one needs 18,000 tunes and 30,000 photos but in the case of the music I have to transfer it otherwise I will lose it – and in many cases it is downloaded so I have no backup CDs. There is no excuse for the photos – I just have trouble deleting them.
Having done all these housekeeping things I needed to get the rest of the paraphernalia working so on Wednesday I decided to connect my printer to my iMac.
The printer is (of course) not supported for iMac by HP so I had to try to find and download a new driver. I simply could not do it. The machinations of Macs are just beyond me and while I could find the driver I just could not get it into the right file and get it to work.
It is simply a foreign land in there and will take some getting used to. It is like going into Spar for the first time to buy groceries and stuff like that. I have no idea
I eventually solved the problem - after 4 hours - by buying a new Brother printer on Amazon Germany. It will be here on Tuesday.
I also spent an hour or so attempting to find a way to connect my scanner to the iMac but became disheartened with the lack of support from my new hardware. It clearly did not give a rat’s ass what I wanted to connect – and was simply not interested. My son arrives in two weeks and this will be his first task!
To cheer myself up I thought I would attached the roof racks and bike racks to the car. We bought these last June in anticipation of going cycling in the countryside. We did not do so – mainly because Cate was travelling so much – so the box remained unopened in the basement for nearly a year. We are planning on going cycling on the weekend so it is time.
Imagine my surprise when I opened it and found not two roof racks and two bike racks – but one bike rack.
I have sent a message to my mate Christoph at Wiesenthal Mercedes and asked him what happened to the rest of the gear. We will apparently not be going cycling around Neusiedler See this weekend. He will of course think I am a complete Goose for not opening the box for nearly a year – and of course I am.
William will be please to learn that I have attached something called a ‘Time Machine’ to my iMac. This does automatic and continuous wireless backups of my work and also runs a wireless network.
Now that all the hard work has been done I shall relax by watching some iMac tutorials and delving into the innards of the software programs.
We've heard of the frightening Jerusalem Syndrome, which attacks pilgrims (mostly Americans) in the Holy City. [Click here for the Wikipedia article on this strange affliction.] Equally mysterious is a psychiatric disorder referred to by specialists as CMS: the Chad Morgan Syndrome. It generally hits Australians who've been residing momentarily in damp, dark and cold conditions, maybe in a European winter. Patients suddenly start to howl like a Scrubby Creek Sheik, they have an urge to adorn themselves in clothes that are as colorful as a fireworks display, they have olfactive delusions of the aroma of grilled barbecue sausages, and visions of people jumping fully-clothed off yachts into warm water. The best shock treatment for CMS consists of spending a few weeks in a specialized rehab clinic out in a quiet place such as Tamworth, preferably alongside a billabong and a pub with no beer.
ReplyDeleteI like the way they are called "tunes". Most of my tunes are in fact movements of symphonies!
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ReplyDeleteI have just located this song by the Sheik:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMEj8Tc_SmY&feature=PlayList&p=DC778C2E5EDD7B75&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=60
Ah - A Billabong and pub and a cold beer! I remember that!
ReplyDeleteThat's certainly a jolly good family song, Maalie: the one about riding in the back of a utility truck. It's the sort of rollicking tune that young Australians like to sing at church picnics and school gatherings. I've just come across a fine article in the Weekend Australian entitled Is it time to censor the internet? There's a splendid photo [display] that shows a smiling blonde constable showing kids how to use Badger's blog so they can get hold of the link to the Riding in the back of the ute song and learn the words for their forthcoming school concert. There are rumors that Badger's blog is shortlisted to get some kind of moral award from the ministry of Stephen Conroy.
ReplyDeleteIn connection with this fine Aussie song [play], I've heard that Pope Ratzi is apparently thinking of getting a special version made, called Tooting in the back of the church, to be sung by a choir of priests and altar boys at the next international festival of Catholic youth.
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