Saturday 27 December 2014

Life: 2014 and the EH turns 50. What else happened?

So as 2014's last grains of sand trickle through the hour glass, it is time for a quick look in the rear view mirror. My old dad used to say that you couldn't drive through life looking in the rear view mirror, but sometimes it made for a quick and pleasant view. To see where we had come from.

So first of all, to that iconic Australian car that all baby boomers wanted to own and hot up!

Yes the mighty EH Holden turned 50. And yep.. I had one. Lemon with a white top, 179 engine and Hydramatic 3 speed auto.

Still a good looking car 50 years on!

But what else happened? Well lots of things.

Deb and I got to spend a lot of time with our new pooch Chloe. Walks by the river, trips in the car and cuddles on the couch in front of the TV. Chloe gets totally spoilt by Debra.. all the time! What a life!

Deb and the rather spoilt Chloe!



We also went to Melbourne for cousin Cathy's marriage to Allan.. and of course, when you are the wedding photographer in the family.. well you get to take your camera.. and shoot the wedding.

As you do! Actually one of a few weddings we covered this year!

The happy couple.. and the hangers on! (Just kidding)


And it wouldn't be a great year without motorbikes.. so Max and I went exploring the roads less travelled again in the Great South East and Northern NSW too! Love that bike!


Catching up with Greg and Heidi on an ADV run!


The Lions Road.. what a place to take a bike!


I also spent the early part of 2014 on roof tops taking pictures for Roofmasters.. an interesting experience for an old bloke who has no head for heights. Amazing what you can do when you have to do it to earn a quid!

These guys make it look easy!

Also there were sheets of glass and all sorts of other things.


Debra celebrated 10 years of ownership of Spirit of Life Boutique. And 2014 has been an amazing year for the shop. Now the biggest post mastectomy store in Australia with the widest range. The customers love the variety and it shows in the figures. Clever girl my Debra!

Debra and me at the boutique with Glenda from Amoena. 


And then there was the trip.... it all started over a birthday dinner back in 2012. Our good friend Greg Cary asked if we had ever thought about a boat trip through the rivers of Europe...


I had always lusted after this camera.. got one for the trip!

And so it came to pass that late July found us Amsterdam bound on an A380 to begin what was to be the best holiday we have ever had.. with me being the "photographer" along the way!


Debra with Greg & Heidi in Amsterdam. Me behind the camera.

Me in front of a camera.. and with a camera in Amsterdam!


After 14 fabulous days on board.. it ended in Budapest. What a trip!

Of course other things happened throughout the year, sadly we lost some great acting talent and singers. James Garner always stands out for me. From about the age of 10 I have liked him as an actor and always harboured a silly idea that one day I would meet him. Not to be of course.

Debra has enrolled at the local gym since we came home from Europe.. she looks trim and terrific as usual. Meanwhile I am down to a trim fighting weight of around 150 kilos.. well not quite.. must enrol at the gym too! We also bought a new car, a Holden Calais V and it is one of the best cars I have ever driven. Well done Holden.. so sad you guys are leaving town!

Not ours, but the same colour!

And then we got the news that Deb's cousin Steven had beaten his Lymphoma and was in remission. What a top piece of news for the year. So great to hear Steven!


Steven, Debra and Cathy in Melbourne. Great news Steven!


And then are the memories... 2014 marks 45 years since a group of us all walked out the gate at Stanley Terrace, East Brisbane for the last time. The Class of '69 at Power Coaching College. I wonder where they all are now. (Well Selwyn.. I know where you are.. when do we do lunch again?) A time when we all felt our wings drying in the sun, the possibilities of tomorrow and what they would bring. I have to say it's been a good life so far with my friends around to share the sunny days and help me through the few rainy ones.

So to all of our friends and relatives.. we hope 2014 has smiled on you kindly. If it hasn't we wish you a much better 2015 and the fortitude to face and overcome any obstacles in your path.

And make plans.. they are important.. we have a box full for the first 6 months. A trip to Longreach, trips to London and New York. You can see that travel figures a lot in our lives.

And to shift house. In 2014 he tried unsuccessfully to buy 3 homes. The last one at auction a scant 3 weeks ago. But not to be it would seem!

I guess in the fullness of time.. the planets will align!

2014.. it was a very good year!

Happy New year to you all!


Sunday 7 December 2014

Magic Carpet Ride: Music, the time machine!

So tonight the bride decided she would like chicken for dinner.

A quick run to Poulet Rouge and they have no cooked chickens.. buggar.

So we settled for fish.

Well Debra did.. I had a Chicko Roll!

Remember what AC/DC said.. "it's a long way to the shop if you want a Chicko Roll!"

But on the long way to the shop.. I had the sound system running in the new Calais V.

And what should be playing but Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride".

So the time machine begins... listening to the 45 on my battery powered stereo record player in my bedroom 46 years ago in 1968. I thought then (as I do now) it was a magic piece of music.. if only my sound system was of a higher quality. Eventually it was with the purchase of a Sansui AU555 amplifier and some quality speakers.

Meanwhile back to today in the disco on wheels that the Calais had become, I thought about the past 46 years again and what had changed in those 4 decades. And as I was in the car, I considered the music itself and how I was enjoying it as I drove along. From a period when only Japanese cars had push button radios as standard, we have come to today....

Thundering along Bonney Avenue Clayfield listening to Steppenwolf being digitally streamed from my iPhone into the Bose sound system in the car and then played to me with such quality that none of my home stereos including my still working Sansui system can replicate at home to the same quality.

It's the same old song with a different quality since we've moved along.

Good one Dr Bose. And good one Mr Holden too!

I still have the 45 some 45 years later!

As my good friend Greg Cary says.. the songs you grew up with become the soundtrack of your life.

You are spot on there Greg old friend!

Let the music play on down the line tonight.. and for a good many more years yet...