It is expected to hit 41 degrees in Sydney’s west today, following 45 on Saturday.
The smoke is back. From my 16th floor office you can see maybe 5ks all around. You can smell it when you go outside. The ash settles in a film on your windows, on your clothes when you hang them out. The arc of the Olympic stadium is a faint shadow.
The forecast for this weekend is bad. More heat. More wind.
More fires.
My daughter has decided she wants to come back. She went home a week ago and phoned the same day saying she’d rather live here. I haven’t gotten to the whys or wherefores yet, but it means two more years in Sydney so she can complete her High School Certificate.
A teacher friend says it’s probably for the best considering the state of NZ education reform right now.
But it means two more years in Sydney. Just when I was starting to hear the call of the rain (cold, wet nights on High Street), those ridiculously low clouds, friends, family. You know the gig.
I’ve had visitors recently, one of which is a four-year old. Yesterday he asked what God had for breakfast. If any of you can answer that, drop me a line. I’ll pass it on.
Anyway, time for a correction. Walter R, my first correspondent, reckons Triple J is shit, too repetitive and not very left field. He wants his bFM and fair enough too. More importantly he pointed out that my comment about its ratings was wrong.
After doing the research I should have done earlier I can confirm that the leading stations in Sydney are the talkback stations, 2UE and 2GB. These get around 12% to 15% share depending on where cash for comments jocks Laws and Jones are operating and the state of the latest scandal.
The leading music stations hover around 8% while JJJ rates just over 4%. JJJ does worse in Melbourne and gets up to near 8% in Brisbane and 9% in Perth. Don’t know about Adelaide or Hobart. Nationally JJJ’s audience could be the largest for music radio, but I can’t confirm that and nobody thinks like that over here anyway.
Speaking of the talkback kings, if you are in Sydney sometime soon there is a fountain outside QVB building with a little dog on it. The dog talks: “Hello. My name is Ivan. I was once the companion and friend of the great Queen Victoria.” Etc etc.
This gross piece of faux Victoriana was put there in 1987 to complement the Victoria statue adjacent. Anyway at the end of his speech Ivan (or is it Islay?) asks you to put a coin in the fountain and, if you do, it promises to bark.
Oh the delicious irony! The voice of the dog is none other than that of John Laws. Check it here.
Walter also reckons commercial radio now supports NZ music and beats its quota. Last I heard they were doing this by playing old stuff like The Dudes ad infinitum. What do you think?