Tag: Christmas

Christmas it is …

The entire production team at BobMcGee.Live wish  our readers, wherever they may be, an enjoyable and safe Christmas. Hopefully one shared with people they love.

Uppermost in our thoughts today are the brave men and women fighting fires around Australia helping keep the rest of us safe as we celebrate. We thank them for their Christmas gift.

Social Justice being close to my heart I was thrilled to receive a copy of Woke by Titania McGrath. It is a most instructive read. How eloquently she sums up the difficulties feminists face …

The history of womankind is like a sand beetle attempting  to traverse the Serengeti with a horse’s bollock upon its back.

May gender studies soon be compulsory in schools everywhere. Her view for the future is like light itself, I mean, what good is democracy if people don’t vote correctly?

And remember …

Nobody is going to prevent anyone from saying the right things, so it stands to reason that the only people who require free speech are those who plan on saying the wrong things.

Merry Christmas

Robert, Gayle and Fifi McGee

Christmas is coming …

And turkeys everywhere are trembling.

My favorite Christmas carol is easy to pick, choosing which version is much harder. Here are a couple that I like, take your pick (or point me to a better one) …

Interestingly, it was totally unfamiliar to me until I was called on to play it about three years ago.

Christmas down under …

Warning. If the reason you don’t watch Game of Thrones is the bad language now is the time to leave …

For those of you in the northern hemisphere especially, I started the day with a quick dip in the pool, the family are just arriving for lunch, we’ve already exceeded the forecast 35°C (98°F).

A story from Darwin to touch the cockles of the heart springs …

Duty Superintendent James O’Brien said the woman, who had just moved from interstate, was walking her dogs at a park at Durack, in Palmerston, about 9:00am on Saturday.

“It’s quite a remarkable to happen a day before Christmas,” Duty Superintendent O’Brien said.

“While some of her dogs were running around having fun, one of her smaller dogs was sitting on the edge of the causeway when she noticed a crocodile came up and took it down into the water. <ABC>

She, of course immediately jumped in after it, found it underwater and tossed it out onto the bank. Woman and dog are doing well.

Police described the action as “brave” but not recommended.

Better news than Christmas 1974 …

Tropical Cyclone Tracy is arguably the most significant tropical cyclone in Australia’s history accounting for 65 lives, the destruction of most of Darwin and profoundly affecting the Australian perspective to the tropical cyclone threat.

By world standards, Tracy was a small but intense tropical cyclone at landfall, the radius of gale force winds being only about 50 km. The anemometer at Darwin Airport recorded a gust of 217 km/h before the instrument was destroyed.

cyclone_tracy_aerial_view_darwin

It was Broome this year on cyclone watch. Yvette didn’t wreak so much destruction but she did dump 226 mm of rain on the airport in just 24 hours. That’s 8.9 inches in the old money.

Meanwhile in Shanghai this gentleman is wandering around in an oblivious crowd thinking his tee shirt says “Christmas greetings from Australia” …

not

I wonder how many people are wandering around Australia with messages of a similar nature tattooed on their surfaces in Chinese characters. For any one who can read Chinese tomorrow at the beach is the time to look.

Enjoy your Christmas.

 

Have a good Christmas …

It’s Christmas Eve and I bid all my readers a happy one.

It is also the fortieth anniversary of the destruction of one of my favorite Australian cities. I had arrived in Oz in August and hadn’t got around to visiting Darwin. I have been several times since. There is a Thai restaurant upstairs in Mitchell Street, near the bus station, that I thoroughly recommend.  It’s called Thailicious. Sitting there you are about 100 metres from the corner of Searcy Street. Look out for Searcy Street at 2 minutes 45 into this newsreel …

Tracy killed 66 people, caused A$837 million in damage (1974 dollars), or approximately A$4.45 billion (2014 dollars). It destroyed more than 70 percent of Darwin’s buildings, including 80 percent of houses. Tracy left more than 41,000 out of the 47,000 inhabitants of the city homeless prior to landfall and required the evacuation of over 30,000 people. Most of Darwin’s population was evacuated to Adelaide, Whyalla, Alice Springs and Sydney, and many never returned to the city.

Merry Christmas …

I do wish all my readers a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Should an unexpected child intrude on your festivities here is the Bobby McGee emergency Christmas tree …

P1000394

Clicking it will enlarge. If all is not clear you can ask for the instructions in the comments.

Whatever you do be careful of the decorations …

DecoFAIL… and do keep an eye on Santa …

shelfEnjoy but above all stay safe …

Bob McGee

 

 

Merry Christmas …

Tomorrow, at an ungodly hour, I shall head to the farm.
I will in the next two weeks …
bottle the 2012 vintage which is shaping up very well
await the arrival of the NBN
sample the 2012 vintage
await the arrival of the NBN.
play my saxophone
await the arrival of the NBN
If, on my occasional trips to civilisation (or Maryborough) I have broadband I may make a post or two …
In the meantime, please stay safe, enjoy Christmas and be grateful that global warming has taken a break for the last decade or so …

Picture 4

There has to be something better.
Back January 7th …