What a great day yesterday was. A quick trip to Newcastle, courtesy of the M7 motorway (thanks, Nat, for the lend of the e-tag) and lunch with some old friends, most of whom I haven’t seen for nearly 50 years. It was an amazing time, catching up on nearly half a century of life with friends who suddenly became friends again despite the passage of time. Two of the girls I went to school with now have MS, one in an advanced stage and one in the early stage; so sad, but so inspiring to see how they are dealing with it. One of my mates went on to become one of the founding people of the Linfox empire and told some amazing stories of the early days of the company. Others have travelled overseas and done wonderful and interesting things.
But the thing that amazed me the most was that, despite the passage of time, the majority of them have never moved far away from Lake Macquarie (not that I would say that they should have) It has been a characteristic of Newcastle people (and, especially people from around the Lake itself) that I have noticed before. They seem to stay rooted to the area or, if they do leave for any reason, they eventually gravitate back there. There is the basis for an interesting sociological study there.
I’ll have some pictures in the next week or so as hundreds were taken and will be circulated by email.
Also in the news, Episode 308, “The Thunda Down Under” has been published. I’ve listened to it to see if there are any horrible glitches. There were some glitches, but none that I’d say were horrible. Jim and Jules have both raved about the interviews so I guess they know what their listeners are going to like. Go to motopodcast.com to listen.
Without a doubt, the quote of the meeting was Ronald ten Kate. “I’m not interested in polishing my ego, I’m more interested in polishing trophies.” Absolute gold.
Testing at Sepang has concluded with Casey Stoner well and truly on top as he was at the start of last year. (thanks, JeffB) Worryingly for Ducati, Rossi finished in 10th place overall and still well over a second behind Stoner’s best times. It’s going to be a tough years for the Bologna outfit again, I fear.
My good wife is down in the art room having a bit of an assessment of her existing stock of paintings to see how many she has and which of them will be suitable for an exhibition in May to which she has been asked to contribute some works. I guess most of you don’t know that I am married to a wonderful and creative woman who has turned her hand to botanical art with astonishing success. I’m very proud of her.
Helena is at home for the next few weeks as the cumulative effects of her radiotherapy regimen has started to take its toll. Thankfully she only has 7 treatments to go so we’re nearly at the end. A holiday (or at least a break from work) is definitely on the menu.
Well, it’s Sunday afternoon so I’m going to go and lie down for a while and sleep off the excesses (!) of yesterday. Catch you tomorrow.
jeffb says
Firstly, Phil- Are you predicting the same for Casey in 2013? “Casey Stoner well and truly on top as he was at the start of next year” (he !he!)
Secondly- I will very much look forward to seeing Helena’s paintings . The one you have posted up looks fantastic- she’s been keeping that quiet (well, from me anyway!) Wish her well for the coming weeks especially. (And let us all know when and where this exhibition will be.)
Jeff
Phil Hall says
Bugger, my proof reading needs some updating. Yeah, she’s pretty good isn’t she? The exhibition will be on at the Grey Gum Cafe on the Putty Road starting on the 6th of May. As well as Helena’s work there will also be paintings by Dave Thompson, a good mate of mine. There will be one of his paintings raffled off to raise money for research into Parkinson’s Disease (Sue, Dave’s partner, has Parkinson’s) I’ll keep you in the loop, mate, and thanks for pointing out the typo. I’ll fix it now since I’m logged in. She said thanks for the good wishes, too 🙂