Australia Day 2015 in Victoria Park

    I've talked about Australia Day before [see  Australia Day in WA ] and wandered around to see much of this U.S. Independence Day type fun in the past.  But today the temperatures were forecasted to be 100F/37C and I just didn't fancy getting hot, sticky and irritable to watch people hang out in OZ flagwear by the river. I can see tonight's fireworks right from my balcony-- so why move a sweaty muscle? How grumpy can I get?
    Well, early mornings aren't too bad and this morning the Fremantle Doctor (cool breeze coming in off the Indian Ocean) was in.  So I went to a special 9 a.m. church service and on the way home in the little  memorial park next to the town hall was an Australia Day service in progress. New citizens were being sworn in five at time by the mayor Trevor Vaughn under the ancient giant fig tree.  The newly sworn were from all over the planet.  The dress code was quite obviously "your choice."  Some new citizens were wearing their Sunday best or designer chic.  A few showed up in  ethnic garb. And yet others adopted their new country's relaxed attitude and showed up well...relaxed. All posed for pictures with their very fancy citizenship certificate.  Big Day.
     Then we went on to the local Australian of the Year and local Australian Group of the Year. Oooh, Victoria Park is loaded with do-gooders. All sounded worthy. Certainly worthy of better flowers than the collection of weeds in cellophane they received.  Add a few politician speeches. And a few more. And a couple more for good measure. zzzzzzzzz    Done!     Now the nice little Vic Park Band played the entire Banjo Patterson catalog (this includes Waltzing Mathilda, soundtrack from Man From Snowy River, etc) and we all dashed up to the refreshment tables for wonderful finger sandwiches, mini-pastries and drinks. All seriously good stuff--Vic Park doesn't believe in scrimping on food at their parties.
     I bumped into Mayor Trevor Vaughn as I was leaving (and trying to hide the extra goodies I was sneaking home with) and he inquired about my turn under the old fig tree. "Well, as soon as I know more words of the national anthem than my Australian born husband does."   That occurred about two weeks after I arrived here.  But don't tell. 
    Well, I'm still not going out to wander in the heat and I am sure I am missing some really cool stuff happening on the river.  But I won't miss tonight's fireworks and I'm glad I didn't miss my little community's appreciation and induction ceremony. Happy Australia Day, everyone.

Vale 6RPH - Information Radio AM990

      On Monday, January 12, 2015, 6RPH ceased local operations. It was much like the death of any other media entity: quick, decisive and with no prior announcement.  Newspapers, radio stations, TV channels don't have prolonged going out of business sales the way retail stores do, they just stop the hemorrhaging  of money by shutting down right away. It works like this: everyone shows up to work as usual, the boss walks in and says "We're closing down because (insert three-word explanation here.)  The story you are writing is your last. Clean your desk out before you leave."  It's been played out rather famously in recent years including that Murdoch rag The World in London and my own elder brother's newspaper in Houston.
    6RPH, and its 17 surviving members of the RPH Australia Network, had a different mission from most radio stations. By charter, it catered to the print handicapped. Not just the vision impaired but those with a physical disability who found it difficult to handle printed matter. Many shows were dedicated to reading the daily and national newspapers, popular magazines and very subject specific printed matter. There was something for almost everyone including the commuters who would listen to the daily paper  while driving into work.  The audience was wide-ranging, it almost defied being put into a demographic pigeonhole--although officially they were categorized as female, 39+, household of four and approaching mid-middle class socioeconomically.
    My radio show, What's On Where, was heard on 6RPH on Thursdays at 6pm with an encore presentation Saturday at 5:15pm.       I miss my show.      It suited this cowboy quite well. Far from a rip-n-read,  WOW was your guide to what is happening in and around Perth that is fun and affordable. My first shows must have been dreadful until I refined the formula that worked: first segment were the Freebie things to do, second segment contained events that would cost a little bit of money but still tons of fun and the third segment was built upon a different theme each week (e.g. school holidays, Christmas, Perth International Arts Festival.) And WOW didn't just tell you where to go, we would send you there, too.  I had developed a rather robust promotion schedule that gave away tickets to the latest events to the rather obscure but worthy of attention in on-air contests. I developed solid relationships with many venues and marketing agencies who kept WOW in the know and me in the occasional media reviewer ticket.
    I MISS MY SHOW.       I have lost my voice.    It kept me connected to this area, its people and its exciting happenings every bit as much as my listeners. I managed the show well.  It hurts to lose it within a mismanaged entity. I have kept WOW social media up but it is just not the same.  I don't know when or where I or What's On Where will reappear on the airwaves but let me take this moment to thank WOW listeners and its wonderful sponsors for the last six+ years.
   Vale 6RPH.