LUNCH IN BRISBANE

Peter and Margaret Lewis visited Brisbane for a few days, so it was fitting to organise a lunch with Brisbane Asopians. Diane and Bill's Birthday Bear Group also joined for a great lunch at Brisbane's Swiss Restaurant "Des Alpes" at Mitchelton last Friday.

Some ASOPA CEOs met for lunch at the Swiss Restaurant "Des Alpes" in Mitchelton, Brisbane

Bill, Ann (friend), Margaret, Peter, Colin, Joe and Henry listen to the lunch specials from our wonderful host, Monique

Joe Cranean and Colin Huggins share a joke. Margaret and Peter Lewis came from Maitland to share the fun and the fine food.

Henry Bodman also came to enjoy the company. He is still fighting ongoing medical battles and is doing a good job at it.

The Iron Lady (M)

Review by Richard Jones

MARGARET Thatcher was a polarising influence during her remarkable tenure as Britain's Prime Minister from early May 1979 to November 1990. In Phyllida Lloyd's biopic, long-retired Baroness Thatcher (Meryl Streep) is in the early stages of dementia, constantly surrounded by voices from her past.

Prime among them is the voice of her long-suffering but very supportive husband, Denis (Jim Broadbent).

Except, he's not there. Denis had passed away several years earlier. So although Margaret has staff around her, plus an armed guard, her sole family contact is with daughter Carol (Olivia Colman).

Director Lloyd takes us from young Margaret's induction into the local
Conservative Party's organisation to winning her first seat in the House of Commons as Margaret Roberts in 1959.

Always she stays true to the ringing words of her small-businessman father (Iain Glen). "Never go with the crowd, Margaret. Go your own way."
And so we see Thatcher take her nation through the Falklands War, the 1984 miners strike, the failed IRA assassination bombing attempt at the Tory convention and ultimately German reunification when the Berlin Wall comes down.

Streep is simply extraordinary as Thatcher. The voice, the posture, the
intonation and the movement are breathtakingly precise.
If she doesn't win an Oscar at this month's Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, I'm giving up writing film reviews and handing in the laptop
keyboard!

I totally agree with Richard. I was sceptical about an American Actress playing a British Dame.
But having seen her performance I admit I was wrong about Meryl Steep, she was brilliant.
Bill

News from 'Dubbo Dave'

Sorry Keith Rod, I took so long to tell you the news after telling you at the party that things were not travelling that well..I have included a couple of other Asopians on the roll out.

Bill could you please put it on the blog so if anybody else is interested they can have a read..I don’t know if the blog is for this sort of news if it isn’t ..no worries

Well the news is that I had my pet scan and I have two tumours ( they call them lesions) not 1 as we first thought in the liver.. the good news is that they are not very far apart

The oncologist has referred me to a liver surgeon who I will go and see  this Tuesday

The liver surgeon’s job on the first visit is twofold..he has to

1 Look at the latest pet and cat scans and see if he can do the procedure and if the procedure will be of benefit to me

2 Look at me and see if I am up to this big operation and long recuperation period

Realise this news is a bit nebulous  but that’s where we are at  the moment...Keep you in the loop

Dave from Dubbo

To which Rod added:

I think that when you put this on the blog…some reference should be made about Dave’s state of mind…

He is very positive as we found out at the lunch a week ago and will certainly not “lay down and die”….

Elissa is a great supporter and I am sure his many friends are including him “in their prayers”…

I have no doubt he will get through it..

Regards,

Rod.

Ed:
After talking with Dave at Bob's birthday bash, I too was impressed with his positive attitude. I am sure we all wish Dave all the best  and hope the outcome is successful.

Berowra Get-Together

From 'Dubbo' Dave on a recent Berowra get-together:

Was going to call our meet up an ASOPA Reunion but I thought that was a bit over the top.

Well the story goes like this..the three remaining 1962/1963 Asopians who still live in Sydney met at Berowra on the far northern outskirts of Australia’s biggest city ( population wise that is)

Someone once told me that Brisbane is bigger in area.

At the meetup was Rod & Cheryl Hard..Keith Ingrid & Ingrid’s mum, Libby (who proved to be a very agile senior by negotiating our precipitous steps)

Would love to say it was a beautiful Sydney summers day unfortunately it wasn’t ...It was overcast & windy..so much so that we couldn’t have the lunch outside..but we got over that.

Rod & Keith both brought lovely bottles of wine..they looked good..I had a sip of all of them..as many of you know I haven’t had any alcohol since October 2010..but my resolution for 2012 is not to whinge about it..I still love to sip at other people’s wines before the taste gets too much for me.

Topics of the day included ..what our kids were doing..Rod & Cheryl’s boy is just finishing his apprenticeship and their daughter is just starting  Year 12.

Keith & Ingrid’s boy is working in Keith’s office.

Keith is easing out of the business and doing a fair bit of work on New Guinea matters..which he is enjoying.

Keith & Ingrid are going on a cruise up and down the coast of South America in about a month’s time ...we are assured it is not of Italian origin and doesn’t carry 4000 people.

We had a very amicable and friendly discussion on New Guinea and Australian politics..not like the old days when we would chuck plates at each other..oh the joys of being young.

A highlight of the day was when somebody murmured under their breath “ukulele” well that’s all it took and before you could say “Hank Williams” Elissa and I flashed our ukes and before the horrified guests could escape they  copped a blast of “You are my Sunshine” and the late great Leadbelly favourite “Midnight Special”.

Still can’t work it out but the party finished soon after that  .

Dave from Dubbo

Ukulelelele... Elissa and Dave - Yodlelelele

That iPhone marimba is NOT in the Ninth Symphony

Judith Jones sent the following interesting article from the Herald Sun newspaper:

FYI - if you're going to see an orchestra play, turn your phone on silent.

New York's Philharmonic Orchestra stopped mid-performance after an audience member's iPhone just kept on ringing.

Conductor Alan Gilbert called a halt to the final movement of Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony to sort out the issue of the iPhone, Fox News reports.

After several minutes of intermittent buzzing from that distinctive iPhone "marimba" ringtone, Gilbert stopped to face the owner.

"You have a phone ... Fine, we'll wait," he said, according to the WQXR's classical music blog.

Read full story here

From Henry Bodman:

 Last Friday, Bill Welbourne and I met up at Bill Bergen’s funeral in Bathurst.

The ceremony was conducted in the local Catholic Cathedral and it took four clergy resplendent in their red cassocks to do the job ( and direct the traffic of people wishing to add their part to the eulogy segment)

Thoughout the ceremony a variety of music and musical groups played their farewells to Bill – all of whom had been effected by Bill’s participation and/or guidance at some stage. The Dutch community had its representative and, predictably, that contribution was very frank and direct (qualities which many speakers recorded as a major part of Bill Bergen’s personality. Certain grandchildren recorded that their grandfather had an opinion on everything and delivered that opinion regularly and often ….in short, there was none of the soppy , emotional comment which too often slips into this segment of funerals. (Having attended a funeral per week for the past eighteen months I claim to be able to comment in this way.)

The wake after the ceremony was conducted in a building which would have been at home close to Buck Palace (the Nuns’ quarters high on a hill…”Closer My God to Thee??”)

Significantly. At that function Bill W introduced me to part of the harem…the dancing part. So now we have two dancing parts and a Sue.

Watch this space!!!!!!!!

…….vale Bill Bergen

50th Anniversary Reunion of ASOPA Class of 62-63

This is to inform you that your presence is required at the

        50th Anniversary Reunion of ASOPA Class of 1962-63

in our nation's proud capital - CANBERRA

 from 9-11 October, 2012

By Order of the Organising Committee

The Hon Robert Davis & Ian McLean Esq.

Further details to follow in the coming months

(excuses for absence shall not be entertained)

Bob and Ian have created an E-Mail accound for the event

Canberra2012@yahoo.com.au

(Attendance limited to Class of 62/63)