Month: October 2017

Because today is a public holiday, I finished applying the undercoat to the walls of the sunroom prior to commencing to do likewise in the laundry. It took me from nine o’clock until a quarter past ten to complete the former and a further three hours to do the latter. Afterwards I shaved and showered for the first time in two days.

“Reckless” — already the winner of this year’s Sydney and Adelaide cups — added the Brisbane Cup to his collection this afternoon. “Ngawyni” finished second and the Enzedder, “My Good Man”, third. Today’s victory is historic because the six-year-old becomes the first galloper to win all three cups in the one year. The horse is trained by veteran Tommy Woodcock, who was the strapper to the ill-fated champion, “Phar Lap”.

I watched the second half of “Mannix” between half past three and four o’clock, thence “The Flintstones”, “Bewitched”, “Willesee”, followed by the British series, “The Dick Emery Show” and “Love Thy Neighbour”. The final episode of “Rich Man Poor Man: Book 2” screens from half past eight and concludes with a fatal shoot-out.

We awoke at 5.00 a.m., to the alarm, for the second time in the past three days. The airliner, with Tiki’s parents on board, landed at 6.00 a.m., but we did not arrive at the airport until twenty past the hour. Singer, Renee Geyer, who had already passed through customs, wandered around aimlessly for quite some time as no one had arrived to meet her. At least, not while we were there. The last I saw of her, she was using a public telephone.

I pulled up some of the mass of Wandering Jew that is growing at the rear of our backyard. Amongst that which I managed to remove, was a golf ball that had definitely seen better days, a number of plastic golf balls and a container that had once housed ice-cream, but which, at the time of its discovery, contained cooked prawns. These, as one could imagine, were really on the nose!

Regardless, the oddest discovery was still to come. That of two pig’s trotters in a brown paper bag. Upon my opening of the bag, I had received quite a start because, for just an instant, I believed that the contents were human!

Miss Trinidad and Tobago, Janelle Commissiong, who is aged twenty-four, has become the first black entrant to be crowned Miss Universe. The event, which is in its twenty-sixth year, was held in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. Miss Austria, Eva Maria Duringer, and Miss Scotland, Sandra Bell, have been named as the first and second runners-up.

Eastern Suburbs defeated Manly-Warringah by twelve points to nil. The latter remains in fifth position on the competition’s ladder.

I arose at 3.40 a.m., having lain awake since a quarter to three. The number of glasses of scotch and dry I had quaffed before dinner had left me feeling unwell. The last fifty minutes of the film, “Loss Of Innocence”, was being shown on Channel Nine. Produced in 1961, it stars Kenneth Moore as the older man to whom Susannah York’s character, of just sixteen years, is attracted.

We drove to work in the gloriously sunny, yet cold conditions; just five degrees Celsius. This evening I learned that it was actually Sydney’s coldest morning in June since 1949 and of any month in the last three years.

Bookmaker, Lloyd Tidmarsh, was fatally shot this morning in his home in suburban Kogarah. Preliminary enquiries suggest that his killing was for no apparent monetary gain.

“Science Magazine”, at 1.30 p.m., on Channel Two, explains, among other things, how carbon dioxide, which forms the bubbles, is used in the making of soft drinks. This evening’s viewing follows the usual pattern: “Flashez” at half past five; ‘Wildebeest’ on “Last Of The Wild” (6.00) although we diverted from it for Channel Seven’s news at half past six and, after “Willesee”, we watched the second part in a double episode of “Good Times” in which a wake is held for James. The latter half of “Charlie’s Angels”, on Channel Nine, shows each of the three girls managing to deactivate a bomb aboard a ship. We returned to Channel Seven, at half past eight, to watch a repetition of the film, “The Executioner”. Produced in 1970, it features George “Banacek” Peppard, British actress, Joan Collins, and the Australian actor, Keith Michell. Another film, “The Game Is Over”, from the mid-1960s, featuring Jane Fonda, screens on television later tonight.

It has been a gloriously sunny winter’s morning. “Behind The News”, presented by Barry Eaton, screens on ABC-TV’s Channel Two from 10.00 a.m. It focuses upon the political unrest in the Seychelles, as well as the conservationists’ stance against whaling. It is followed, at twenty past ten, by a programme which traces the gold rush of last century. The viewing centres upon ‘Sovereign Hill’, the re-creation of a mining town near Ballarat, in Victoria.

I paid fifty cents for a copy of the “Women’s Weekly”, for Tiki, and glanced through it during the walk home. It contains an article on Bob Rogers which features pictures of his four daughters. Skye, who is twelve years of age, is the youngest.

Sydney enjoyed a maximum temperature of twenty degrees Celsius today, which is above the seasonal average. The series “Last Of The Wild” concentrates, this evening, on the preservation of Arctic polar bear and musk ox.

The natural birth of a baby, at home, is a part of the programme, “Willesee”, at seven o’clock, on Channel Seven. “This Day Tonight” follows, on Channel Two, and on this same channel, at 8.00, “Peach’s Australia” transports the viewer to the ‘Red Centre’ to visit such natural landmarks as Ayers Rock and The Olgas, both of which I visited, in 1972, during a bus tour that lasted for nine weeks. The programme’s photography is simply outstanding!

“The Fight Against Slavery” continues on Channel Two from half past eight. It is followed at twenty past nine by “The Yellow Trail From Texas”, a documentary about the huge annual harvest of wheat in the United States and Canada. In doing so it observes the lives of some of those who are contracted to strip the massive crop.

England was dismissed in its first innings of the First ‘Silver Jubilee’ Test for 216. Bob Woolmer was run out when on seventy-nine and Derek Randall scored fifty-three. Jeff Thomson, the Australian right-arm fast bowler with the round-arm action, finished with the figures of 4-41.

This evening’s edition of “Last Of The Wild” is ‘Undersea World’. “Test Cricket Highlights”, from eight o’clock and also on Channel Two, was supposed to be followed by live action from Lord’s, however, it is raining there and so we turned to Channel Seven to watch “The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father”, a film with the copyright of 1963, which stars Glenn Ford, Ronny “The Andy Griffith Show”/”Happy Days” Howard, Shirley “The Partridge Family” Jones, Stella Stevens and Dina Merrill.

Play in the Test commenced at a quarter to ten, with Richie Robinson and Rick McCosker opening the Australian innings at a brisk rate before Robinson was bowled by Peter Lever for eleven, when the total had reached twenty-five. Greg Chappell strode to the wicket and Australia is 1-36, with McCosker on 19, when lunch was called at 10.30 A.E.S.T.

Former Wallaby, Barry Stumbles, is pictured in today’s copy of “The Sun” newspaper during a run to maintain his fitness. He wants to play rugby union for St. George, having coached that team for two years, but the administration of that sport will not consider his application for a further two years because he played rugby league for three. Two of these three years involved playing for the St. George ‘Dragons’ and the remaining year was spent at Corrimal. Barry is a teacher at Hurstville High School.