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blamebramptonHilarious day in Australian political media!
Oppostion spokesman Scott Morrison was busy lecturing the press pack outside Parliament House this morning when the government's Joel Fitzgibbon was spotted in a car in the background.
The ABC coverage showed a perfectly normal interview with many of the press corps standing around politely at first, only the occasional jostle of microphones betraying ther numbers, when suddenly, the word 'Fitzgibbon' is heard, muttered in the background, and almost all the journalists, cameramen and soundpeople ran off to the car. The ABC's cameraman tracks the fleeing journos, quickly returns to Morrison, who is looking very annoyed, and keeps rolling while Morrison talks to his assistant. The soundperson, tactfully, silenced the sound for a few sentences at this point, but a reasonably competent lipreader would have been left in no confusion about Morrisson's feelings on the topic.
A few minutes later, the others returned, and Morrison began again at the sentence he had been interrupted -mid.
EDIT: Bless the Guardian! They have video from another camera there: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/05/scott-morrison-press-conference-video
A short time later, an Opposition backbencher who I failed to recognise had exactly the same experience when Kevin Rudd was spotted walking behind him. Whoever he was, he has a much better sense of humour and just laughed the whole thing off. The ABC once again stayed to film the pollie's reaction, due to having multimedia commission partners who are everywhere and who will share footage.
Then, inside Parliament House, the pack was walking and being talked at by the elusive Joel Fitzgibbon when one of the cameramen walked backwards into a giant pot plant and ended up turtled there, colleagues attempting to right him by pulling at sundry limbs.
Obviously all these stories would be improved by video, but my Google skills have failed me and I have no time, so feel free to search if you care.
Sorry about being so awol lately. Work remains busy, though becoming rapidly more manageable.
I have also become involved in not one, but TWO co-writing projects. This is clearly insane, as I am the Least Good At Playing Nicely With Others in the class. However, one is completely manageable, involving one other individual who is brilliant, but even busier than me, and who has so far not told me to pull my fucking head in when I run ahead and Do Things My Way Confident She'll Not Mind, Though Leaving Her Many Fun and Cool Bits. I suspect this is due to the aforementioned even busier than me bit.
The other is fascinating but complex far beyond my ability to follow at the moment, so I am keeping my head down, doing my bit, and will worry about the rest of it later.
At work today I spent 25 minutes trying to explain the concept of binary to a perfectly sensible man who is only a few years younger than me. It was like trying to teach a duck to speak French. Apparently there really are 10 type of people in the world.
I've also been working on a story about the Great Train Robbery. The robbers were scared into leaving their hideout early by an amateur pilot who was flying over to visit some friends near the farm where they were lying low. That pilot, a retired cavalry Lieutenant Colonel, was also part of the show jumping team that won Britain's only gold medal at the Helsinki Olympics. I now want to know Everything About Him!
Right, must go and do 75 things in 45 minutes. Yay!
Oppostion spokesman Scott Morrison was busy lecturing the press pack outside Parliament House this morning when the government's Joel Fitzgibbon was spotted in a car in the background.
The ABC coverage showed a perfectly normal interview with many of the press corps standing around politely at first, only the occasional jostle of microphones betraying ther numbers, when suddenly, the word 'Fitzgibbon' is heard, muttered in the background, and almost all the journalists, cameramen and soundpeople ran off to the car. The ABC's cameraman tracks the fleeing journos, quickly returns to Morrison, who is looking very annoyed, and keeps rolling while Morrison talks to his assistant. The soundperson, tactfully, silenced the sound for a few sentences at this point, but a reasonably competent lipreader would have been left in no confusion about Morrisson's feelings on the topic.
A few minutes later, the others returned, and Morrison began again at the sentence he had been interrupted -mid.
EDIT: Bless the Guardian! They have video from another camera there: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/05/scott-morrison-press-conference-video
A short time later, an Opposition backbencher who I failed to recognise had exactly the same experience when Kevin Rudd was spotted walking behind him. Whoever he was, he has a much better sense of humour and just laughed the whole thing off. The ABC once again stayed to film the pollie's reaction, due to having multimedia commission partners who are everywhere and who will share footage.
Then, inside Parliament House, the pack was walking and being talked at by the elusive Joel Fitzgibbon when one of the cameramen walked backwards into a giant pot plant and ended up turtled there, colleagues attempting to right him by pulling at sundry limbs.
Obviously all these stories would be improved by video, but my Google skills have failed me and I have no time, so feel free to search if you care.
Sorry about being so awol lately. Work remains busy, though becoming rapidly more manageable.
I have also become involved in not one, but TWO co-writing projects. This is clearly insane, as I am the Least Good At Playing Nicely With Others in the class. However, one is completely manageable, involving one other individual who is brilliant, but even busier than me, and who has so far not told me to pull my fucking head in when I run ahead and Do Things My Way Confident She'll Not Mind, Though Leaving Her Many Fun and Cool Bits. I suspect this is due to the aforementioned even busier than me bit.
The other is fascinating but complex far beyond my ability to follow at the moment, so I am keeping my head down, doing my bit, and will worry about the rest of it later.
At work today I spent 25 minutes trying to explain the concept of binary to a perfectly sensible man who is only a few years younger than me. It was like trying to teach a duck to speak French. Apparently there really are 10 type of people in the world.
I've also been working on a story about the Great Train Robbery. The robbers were scared into leaving their hideout early by an amateur pilot who was flying over to visit some friends near the farm where they were lying low. That pilot, a retired cavalry Lieutenant Colonel, was also part of the show jumping team that won Britain's only gold medal at the Helsinki Olympics. I now want to know Everything About Him!
Right, must go and do 75 things in 45 minutes. Yay!
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Amazing, really...
Date: 2013-06-05 06:19 pm (UTC)Re: Amazing, really...
Date: 2013-06-06 08:51 am (UTC)But yes, Lt Col 'Duggie' Stewart: retired cavalry, well-respected officer, gentleman farmer, amateur pilot. Flew over to visit some friends near Leatherslade Farm, realised he'd forgotten to ring in advance, so circled low three times to alert them.
Inside the farm, panic broke out and they all scarpered early, not staying to make sure the cleaners came in, hence the wealth of fingerprint evidence.
(And it's not just me, you'd have gone Roddy not Dai, too, had the opportunity arisen at an appropriate time, yes?)
no subject
Date: 2013-06-05 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-05 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-06 03:15 am (UTC)Which brings me to the funniest thing I've seen this week. If you haven't yet seen it, google 'Mark Bishop Senate estimates'. The last few seconds are pure gold!
no subject
Date: 2013-06-06 02:33 pm (UTC)Also I have this strange sense of rising glee when I see other people Using This Manner Of Capitalization For Emphasis. Can't explain why.
And, 10 types, or 2? :P
no subject
Date: 2013-06-06 05:29 pm (UTC)*giggles* I see what you did there...
no subject
Date: 2013-06-08 07:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-08 07:22 pm (UTC)About a week or so ago I read an article about the Great Barrier Reef and one female australian billionaire who wants to destroy it - well, what she wants is to open everything up for digging (coal, gas?, new harbour, etc). Apparently she sponsors both politicians, parties and entrepreneurs. That article was long and detailed and scared me and my bad memory blessed me with oblivion. I'm curious though whether that was simply a good article in a good german magazine because germans are notoriously interested in other nations' and people's faults, or is it a big thing in Australia too?
no subject
Date: 2013-06-27 03:03 am (UTC)We only have two newspapers that aren't owned by Rupert Mordork, and she's been trying to buy a controlling interest in the company that owns them both. Her, Rupey baby, and the hideous slug currently fronting the "Liberal" Party (the right-wingers) are BFFs.
(not to be confused with actual liberals: they're laissez-faire economic neo-liberalists and social conservatives)
no subject
Date: 2013-06-27 03:04 am (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kan_ntBnBWA
Duggie Stewart / Great Train Robbery
Date: 2013-12-19 05:50 pm (UTC)He took up flying in the early 1960s, about the time he gave up riding. A standard party trick was to pretend he had a heart attack and hand over the flying to his passenger with the instruction to fly home. His 11 year old son(me)managed it most times but never attempted the landings. This was lucky as this involved just missing a stone wall and hopping over electric fencing.
Bizarrely the police briefly considered him as the robbery's "Mr Big", just popping in to inspect the loot. A more unlikely criminal mastermind would be hard to imagine.
Re: Duggie Stewart / Great Train Robbery
Date: 2014-01-03 09:45 am (UTC)So sorry for the late reply: the Christmas rush swept me up and away. Thank you so much for writing!
I was charmed by the story of your father when researching the Robbery and connected events: he seemed such a tremendously capable man and what small personal accounts I could find regarding him were universally positive and filled with affectionate respect. Alas, space restrictions meant that I wasn't able to use any of the material in the story, but I have held onto it all ready for any 60th anniversary stories, or even 75th – I should still be around! If you don't mind, I would very much like to add this anecdote to the list.
I agree that he seems the very last person to take to crime. And if the universe had turned so strangely that he ever did, he would have been much, much better at it and no innocent victims would have been hurt.
Did you keep on with flying? And did he ever teach an older you how to land?
Thank you again, I can't tell you how much your comment made me smile.