May 2006
This month: The Mell-O-Tones > Mother's Day > Wind! > Pictures of the past
Sunday 28 - The Mell-O-Tones
There is a monthly phenomenom at the Cremorne Orpheum Theatre, which Pa and I have been to twice now, consisting of a live concert followed by a classic movie. Last month we saw Janet Seidel singing Cole Porter songs followed by Night & Day which is a black and white movie about the life of Cole Porter (albeit not very factual). Today we enjoyed the Mell-O-Tones "14 piece swing orchestra". The singer/conductor was a real hoot. At least he was funny for 98% of the crowd - ie. the 65's and over - who got his jokes. But then for one rendition he requested that we, the audience, join him in singing:
Put another nickel in, in the nickelodeon
All I want is having you and music, music, music!
(There was a palpable excitement in the crowd upon hearing this news). As the words appeared on the screen behind him, he made the suggestion that people might like to put their specs on. Oh and while they were at it, they should probably make sure their teeth were in too. I was SO relieved the 'many' saw the funny side, as it would have been a bit off if I had been the only one to laugh out loud as I did!
By the way, I've never seen any cinema so well attended. It was sold out so there must have been at least 500 people there. I really enjoyed Tin Pan Alley with the gorgeous Betty Grable. Bring on the classics hey?
Next month is the Sydney Welsh Choir... should be fab.
I'm still scanning lots of old pics and slides. The slides are full of delightful moments back in time, especially of the Hopkins girls as kids. Here are some goodies... (and 3 gold stars if anyone can pick which is Vicki and which is Judy in each pic).
(And another gold star if anyone knows who the 5th girl is in #1 & #2)
#1
#2
#3
Monday 15 - Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day mothers! Pa and I drove up to Vicki's place yesterday to have lunch with a few of our favourite mothers: Vicki, Ju Ju, Marg and Shell. Lili was there too and of course Pa and wee Jack represented the male side of the population. (Go boys!). As I was heading for the freeway, I kept thinking of Trish's advice to pack water, thermos, potty and emergency rations (in the case of overwhelming mother's day traffic) and wondering what on earth came over me to even think it was a good idea to drive to the Central Coast of all places on mother's day of all days. And low and behold. It was smooth sailing all the way. May have been a few extra cars, but nothing to write home about.
After a few relaxing hours lunching and nattering (and in the case of some, napping), we set off on our return journey. As it happens, that really was something to write home about. Yep. Take the returning-home-from-visiting-mum/grandma-on-the-central-coast traffic and mix it with a doozy of an accident and what do you get?? I'll tell you. It's call the F3 car park. We were on our merry way home down the freeway for a total of 15 minutes before we came to a screaming halt and didn't really go anywhere much for the next hour. It was nearing the end of that first hour that I really wish I'd taken Trish's advice regarding the potty to heart. I imagined to myself the possibility of hopping out of the car, dashing into the bush, seeing the proverbial-man-about-the-proverbial-dog, and then making a dash back to the car in the hopes that the traffic hadn't suddenly started up again leaving Pa in an abandoned car mid-freeway. In the end I decided my pride wouldn't cope with cars lined up to kingdom come watching me take a pee on the freeway (even if it was off to the side). So I held on for dear life. In total it took us 3 hours to get home.
I took quite a few photos of Pa, Lili and Jackson in an attempt to have them all looking to the camera at the same time. That didn't happen, but when I looked through the pics later, I noticed something I hadn't seen at the time. Hint: look at the baby...
Aw...
Aw...
F3 car park
Watching the sun set...
Monday 8 - Wind!
Have I mentioned the wind? I'm thinking 'Windy Hollows' is an understatement. Why don't we call it 'Squally Hollows'? Or maybe even 'Tempestuous Hollows'. Mum and I did some gardening yesterday, completing the project with a lovely thick layer of sugarcane mulch. Hmmmm.... mulchhhhh..... When I got up this morning there was hardly a straw to be seen. At least not on a garden bed. There was mulch a-plenty on the front door mat. #*Sigh#. Might go for something a wee bit heavier next. If wood chips don't do it, we may have to settle for bricks.
My mulch, my mulch, I can't see my mulch!!
Oh, here it is...
Poor wind-blown, mulch-deprived marrigolds
On a brighter note, here is a fine speciman of silver-beatus
Not to mention the bumper crop of snow-peas...
And now, by popular request, some more old pics for your enjoyment...
Ju Ju & John
Vicki & Bill
Hippies by the sea (Sandy & Ian)
Doting parents (Leonie, John & baby Kate)
Monday 1 - Pictures of the past
It's May already and the cooler weather is certainly settling in. Pa calls this place 'Windy Hollows' and it's not just because we have digestive issues... rather, we have a lot of wind. I mean, it comes from every direction, and at the moment it's decidedly crisp. So, rather than do the gardening I should be doing, I'm spending time scanning old photographs and slides that have been gathering dust in Pa's cupboard over the years. This is with a view to creating a slide show on dvd... As I will be using mac's iDVD which is rather limited in its capacity to deal with creative scope, the results of my endeavours may not be as exciting as they sound. None-the-less (!!), here is a sneak preview to whet the (collective) appetite.
From the left: Leonie, Judy/Vicki, Sandy, Judy/Vicki, Grandma
Bill, Pa & Flanno
(wonder what's in Pa's cup)... Yez Johnnnn, thazz how it izzz my friennnnddd (?)
Sandy & Grandma in London (with ciggie!)
From left: Vicki, some dude, Judy, some chick
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