Australia Overnight with Simon Owens - Thu 29 May, 2025

Hello world, and a song that was singing, come on, get happy, a whole lot of love, and it's what will be bringing, will make you happy. We are a dream when don't traveling to young us metal and love and it will keep moving on.

Some bit always happens.

When they have a win together and we get a happy feeling when we're singing a song traveling alone. There's a song that was singing, come on, get happy, a whole lot of love, and it's what will be bringing. We'll make you happy, will make you happy, make you.

Well. Good morning, everybody. Good to be here for Australia overnight. Gee. I haven't said those words in about four months, I reckon it's been Tony's such a workhorse. He just doesn't seem to take the time off. But fear not. Look Tony McManus is alive and well. But he's well. When I say well, he's just a little under the weather and thought it best not to come in. His partner's been a touch unwell for the last couple of days and it's managed to get its grips on him and

On and off through Christmas? Yeah, it would have been back in January. So yeah, been this year? Has this flown, hasn't it?

I'm still not used to writing when I fill out a date on something, and I've had a lot of paperwork I've had to fill in in the last three weeks, and every time I go to write the date, I go twenty two five. Yeah, So here we are in May, and I still struggle with the fact that it's not twenty twenty four anymore.

Yes, And I think the weather is a bit of a big factor in that, because we we obviously are very cold at this time of the year. Yeah, but we've had those mild days and we think, well, well, we're still a bit of autumn, you know, still mild days.

Yeah.

I think that's really throwing the brain out as well.

It has. Yeah, that and old age.

Yes, well, I was trying to actually birthday next week?

Oh is there to avoid that one? Which is that fifty one for fifty fifty one? Yeah, you're just you're just a pump Wait wait till you get to fifty three like me.

Oh, you wouldn't tell, You wouldn't be able to tell.

Thank you. That's because that's because I don't have much in the way of gray hair. That's exactly right. Nothing. How have you been, Have you been well? Yeah? Good? Thanks?

You all going well? Keeping out of trouble as best I can. So paid off my last car for speeding fine. That's that's all good.

Okay, So I was only it was four six kilometers. Come on, yeah in a twenty zone. Yeah, that's right. In a forty zone. Forty z own forty six It is rough.

I mean, you know people were walking past me.

People on scooters, Uber eats delivery people exactly, and cyclists. Yeah, but I paid that one. That's out of the way now. But yeah, that's about it. I got a speeding fine. I got my first speeding fine, and I reckon, It's been ten years since I've had a speeding fine. That's the joy of driving a Yaris is that you don't really get speeding fines because you know, you've got a pedal really hard to get to a speed where you're breaking the limit. But now that I've got so Philip Brady,

I'll tell you what all I can say, Bingo, bingo, bingo.

Come on and be happy.

I'll tell you what Simon. I've been waiting for you to come on here because at the moment Tony started you off and I've.

Got to see.

You're on six, Tennis is on seventeen, Perison is on sixteen, and Tony's on twenty one.

Oh he's doing very well. So before you go on, Vern, I'll just explain for those who don't know, Vern has a role in quiz going with all the night and late night hosts. He's only managed to We've only done it once. For me, So I got I'm on six points because I've only done it once. I think the others are all beating me because they've been doing the

There, Tony only alpha, vet H J K L M L. I couldn't get a name of these are names of cars.

It doesn't have to be.

There's a make, it could be a name. So now all of these that I'm going to ask you will be one point.

Yeah, so uh l M and oh, what do you got?

So I've got to come up with so sorry, just to be clear on the question, because you haven't phrased it terribly well, I have to give you a car that starts with L, a car that starts with them, one that starts within, and one that starts with oh. Is that what you're asking me?

Yeah?

To finished off in. So now I'm going ask you, oh.

For oscar, So a car that starts with oh, Oh, crikey, that is a tough one.

Oh, to get rid of it?

Do you do a pass?

No, no, because I know there is a German one. I'm just trying to think what it was. It's a an opal an open is a German car that starts with yeah.

Now you've got that one.

YEA, thank your problem with all?

That's one point to you now, p.

P hello, Yes, Thomas is good. Yep, that's a yes.

I'm gonna skip you because it's a bit of a hard one. It's only because I want you to get your numbers up.

Okay, next one, yes, yes.

Super h T Well I drive a Toyota, so I'll have to say Toyota, all right.

It's t.

You.

Oh you. It's a bit of a hard one. I think you should skip that one.

I could because I can't think of one for you. V would be Volkswagen.

Yes it is. Actually it's called you are g O. But anyway, I'll.

Give you that one. Yeah, no, l alpha lima.

I think we go back to well, I thought we were up to we just did V. So isn't W next? Are we going back to We're going back to well? Or what do you want?

No?

No, sorry, it's my fault.

J K l.

H h ah ah.

For Romeo, well, we've done that, I said Reno.

Ah, okay, h.

So we've done V. So if we're going through the alphabet, the next letter would b W.

Yeah.

Right, what do you well? Some am I allowed to? Well? Look, the only thing I can think of off the top of my head. My uncle had a Subaru w r X. So you're allowed to give like the model of a car as opposed to the brand.

A w r X.

Yep, you've got that one. What's the X one on the alphabet?

H X?

Yeah, I don't think I can't think of an X a car that starts with X.

Well, didn't I just tell you? It's uh called Excalibur, and it's made boy, it's made boy.

Oh heck.

Uh, it's made by anyway. I'll think of it in a minute. What's the next one?

Why?

Why?

Well, my car is a Toyota yaris so wife or yarris?

Right now?

Last one?

Z Z?

Was there anything ever called a Javago?

No?

That's the movie, isn't it, doctor Jvargo? H No, I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm going to struggle with a Z. I can't.

Okay you we shared on EXCaliber and that was by.

Study Baker, I should.

Have said X trail that this an X trail would have done for X, but too late I missed that fair enough.

Yeah, okay, I'll end it up and next time we come to air, I think you might get a surprise.

Oh beautiful. We're good on you, Vern. Thank you for that. That's Vern's rolling quiz, so always appreciated. All right, we better get a break out of the way, Jim, Chris and Adrian. Are there more calls coming through as well? One double three six nine three or one double three eight eighty two. All calls are welcome. Anything you want to chat about. That was really a productive sagment, won't it. Thank you for all the texts that people are sending

Morning, Simon and j Mos to hear you or overnightes again. If Tony is listening in bed. All the best to Tony if he's up listening. Also, I heard Jay saying it's his fifty first birthday.

Next week next week.

Yes, I'll say an early happy birthday, just in case I don't get to say it next week, but hopefully i'll get to ring him next week. Also a quick hello to joan In and Deva Hills and Nathan in Gippsland. And it Lenn Glenn, who's a regular caller from Melton. I'm not sure, but I think he I know he worked as an engineer in the airport, but the other night unless I'll start to sleep. And I was hearing things.

So what was bour Weeks? I've not heard that name before.

Both Wicks was the meat works, and years ago many meat works on some of our road, very far down some of our road. There's many, many of them together. Hardly any of them exists now, Simon. That's why you probably haven't heard of it. That was in the lay seven, yes, up to the early eighties. I think remember once, Remember once I said to you in Cape Bush's song Wuthering Heights,

But I thought it was. I thought she does say Weathering Heights in the song? Does she not say Weathering Heights?

I have never heard it once, and I have video taped it. I've never heard that word mentioned once. Maybe I'm wrong and you can have a look. But also something else has been bothering me. You know, I heard you with Sandy Kay talking about Cas Stevens, who's used the Islam now and mentioning something clever about being cat. But on Cas Stephens song, he has two songs. One is called Father and Son. One is called So if you have a chance, have a listened to something which

Not your fault. Yeah, yeah, because you can't blame someone for being young.

Yeah.

I just googled the lyrics for Wuthering Heights because I was sure that she sings the word wuthering, wathering, wathering heights, and then into the chorus, Heathcliff blah blah blah.

And so.

Excuse me. So I just looked it up and yes, in the third verse, bad dreams in the night, they told me I was going to lose the fight. Leave behind my wothering wuthering wathering heights, Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Kathy. So yeah, she does actually sing wothering heights in there.

Okay, I never heard it every time.

Well, I always say about I always say about Kate Kate Bush, that it is hard to hear the lyrics because she sings in such an impossibly high range. I think only bat's can really understand what she's saying.

Yeah, she does, but listen to Cas Stevens, father and some I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be that's not your fault, but not that that's your fault on father.

And some no worries. All right, well we'll see if we can dig that out a little later. We've got a board for the call, so we won't play it now, but if we get time later, we'll play it. Never listen, good on your Jim. Always good to chat to you, mate, and chat again soon. Peter's in Port Melbourne. Peter, Yeah, not too bad.

Yeah, just traffic report on the outbound on the mintion. I think it's just before the helf. Keep his fin off unless that bridge there.

There's about four or five cars that I think they've p cut up.

The funny thing is the two apart.

There's a couple of cop cars there. One car is lot's front wheel on our hell and there's a couple of cops walking along the road. I'm on the emergency lane. So whoever's driving past to slow it down, there's a the life of showing forty k slow down, can pitch blacking between that as they like us?

All right, So so that that's the Monash outbound heading towards the Southeastern suburbs with near the near the South gipps Land intersection. Is it the turn off? Yeah, And you say there's a there's a couple of cars involved, but there are a couple of hundred meters apart.

Yeah, well there's I think it was four cars.

One car.

First car I saw the front, the front.

That was and further up there's a car up there. Then yeah, that's Whatso walking from each car all.

The way down.

All right, get on your peed of the lines, just breaking up a little bit there, such as the joy of mobile phones in this day and age. We can search the world on the Internet on them, but to try and make a phone call on a mobile phone now hard work sometimes. But thank you Peter, we got we got the message outbound on the Melbourne listeners on the on the Monash Freeway just as heading toward the South Gippee the turn off there. Just slow it down

Yeah. And I think there was a weather one. Was there a weather one you could phone you can get quick on the weather.

I think yeah, yeah, there were wonderful they're great service numbers. John Blackman had a joke of the day line that you could ring and hear hear a different joke every day. Nice. But those were the ones that started costing money. Yeah, yeah, it got a bit of money for the joke.

Yeah.

But yeah, the time one was just a wonderful thing. But nowadays it's all just your phone just synchronizes your computers. Your phone all was just synchronized to the world, so we get exact times. Chris is in Brody, Hi, Chris, Well you're there, Chris, yep, gotcha.

Yeah.

I was asking mate John, who was in media for five years. I said, where will free WBO if it's ratings and audience in fifteen to twenty years time. Because I've just backtracking a bit over the last five years. I've lost twenty two people and twelve people have passed away in the last two and forty years and I only feld that recent. And people say, when you get older I'm now sixty, people will more often pass away and there'll be more funerals year by year as you

Well, look, I guess the key to talk radio is the evolution of it, in that as older hosts leave and newer hosts land the gigs, then naturally the you know, they will attract audiences closer to their own age. I worked with Bruce and Phil for all those years, and they're now both sadly gone, and they were enormously talented.

So just before months. But it's like Channel with the Golden new had a good problem for decades. I could promote everything about that Golden Era, you know, the tiny barbers, Bert Paddy Newton's, but I'm not saying not to entertain it. Now. A lot of them have sadly passed on. You know, there's still young Patricia An still with us in some capacity. Yes, you sort of encourage that, and it's historical that you

Yeah, Look thanks for the call, Chris. Look the television, Look all the all the traditional media are facing problems now with well basically with revenue, because you've got your facebooks and Instagrams and you know those social media platforms that have now taken away a great deal of the advertising revenue that used to go into TV and radio and the like. So and it's so it's not just

Nice to speak to you again after a long time.

Thank you mate. Good to chat to you. How are you.

I'm not too bad. I've got my chamship, but I'm getting through all of that at the moment, and if I leave another couple of months, I'll be happy.

Uh.

What I wanted to bring to you in remembrance that the great Philip Brady and the great Uh offside his sidekick Bruce apologize his name. It's a long time since you've been on radio, but what a wonderful couple those people. But remember, when here's something for you and your listeners. This is my Quiez coming up on Saturday night and we've been given the topic, ar't sheet, but we can I say, we can't sheat we can't look it up on our internet or phones. We need to get off

All right, Well I reckon you grab a pin on paper eight and people will text or ring so they can ring one double three six nine three or one double three eight eighty two. Well they can text zero four double seven six nine three six nine three. English detective series from the seventies, eighties and nineties, is it yes.

Either in the seventies, it's either. They could have been popular in the seventies. And I assume people here in Australia watched a lot of TV and you were just talking about all the TV shows of years gone by. I'll tell you why we don't get all of these people, because now on the television simon, you had noticed all the main mainstream television networks has just got reality shows. Yeah, one of the things they used to. It's all part of the reality. They make the most money, the reality show.

I I don't know why you grew up.

We were watching variety shows. We were watching quiz shows. So of a century temptation it was our Philip was on TV down Lane was on all those wonderful shows. So it's all been replaced by reality shows. But I want to give you some remembering all we're remembering from seventies, eighties and nineties, your listeners, I'm sure we will remember some. It has to be British witches detective shows in the

Yeah, yeah, the show is podcast. So if you if you just look for Australia overnight in a podcast feed it will come up. So yeah, that'll be an easy way to listen back. So we'll see how we go. Good on you, Adrian. We'll get a breakout of the way and see what calls we get and what take message as we get. So thank you for that. But Clark, justin, Nathan and James hang On will be with you after. Janet says vern enjoys his quiz. I enjoy listening to him.

I was heading home in a taxi and we went past Canning Highway and Stirring Highway on the corner and one of the big.

Trucks with.

Containers on here that we think it'd our cyclist and no, a motorcyclist. Oh yeah, and he's on the and they're blocked off a whole intersection. Looks really dodgy when I went.

Past, looked really sad.

So I don't know if the police had been caught or not, but it looked really bad.

Oh so, there were no emergency services there at.

The time or no just main roads turned up and they had some uh cones around them stuff, but they were in any police in the ambulance there, so and you looked like he wasn't traveling.

He was on the floor.

The motorcyclist didn't look too good when we went past.

Oh poor bugger. There is nothing worse. My nephew just got a motorbike and so our families gone into melt the about. You know, the boy in his twenties get some motorbike. It's just a terrifying thing for family members. Yeah, let's hope for it. Yeah, thank you, thanks Clark. So it's the Canning Highway and Stern Highway. It's the intersection there.

Yeah, steing haway yeah, nWay.

Yep, no worries. Well, thanks for letting us know that anybody in the area please stay away or slow right down when you get in there. Appreciate the call, Clark, Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thanks, take care of yours. Justin's in Frankston.

Hi, Justin, good Simon, long time no here, how have you been? Yeah, Ben all right, just got that's some interesting facts here to tell you. So I've got this world Atlas and the top broadband economies since two thousand and eight have got Australia listed as number eighteen in the world.

When you say broadband economies, what do you mean, like as in actual internet connections or is that just a term? I don't know.

Yeah, no, that's internet. So we're rare to number eighteenth in the world.

I thought we'd be further down than that, because frankly, our internet's pretty lousy in Australia.

Yeah, so it goes Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, South Korea, Finland, Luxembourg, and Canada. That's your top ten, right, yeah, and then France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, China, you were say, Macau, China, and then Australia is eighteenth.

Yeah.

No, well I would have thought we would have been further down. And I don't mean that as a stab at the NBN or anything. I just simply think because of the massive land that we need to cover for internet services such a small population, it would be harder to have to fund having high quality, high speed internet exactly.

And I've just got one clue because question for what year was the sput Neck launched?

Sputneck. Okay, I'm going to stab in the dark. I'm going to I'm going to randomly say nineteen seventy four.

I have no idea it was launched in nineteen fifty seven.

Fifty seven, okay, so I was only nineteen years.

Out, yeah, yeah, yeah, but no.

Apart from that, I'm going good I'm actually, as you said, I'm in Frankston. I'm no longer in Melting anymore. No of a change of scenery, you know.

Yeah, that's fair enough. But what caused the move? Just you just wanted to change or.

No?

Because well I actually live with disability in that and my agency that I was before had terminated, so I was a diner company.

Right, okay, And so they've moved you.

How was how Bankston?

How was the move nice and easy or was it a lot of hard work?

It was very sudden. I had to move within one day.

Oh craky, okay, that is tough.

Yeah, but all in oil, it was okay. It took me two hours to.

Get up here.

Okay. Yeah, and you're settled in nicely. How long have you been there?

Well, tomorrow makes three weeks.

Yeah, and you're all settled in okay.

Oh definitely. And the other thing too, was I'm not too happy with the Queensland state of origin.

Oh okay, New South Wales one last night? Did they I haven't paid it any attention.

Yeah, eighteen points to six.

Oh okay, yeah exactly. All right. Well, now justin we're coming out. We've got to squeeze another break in before news. So good to hear your voice. Thanks for calling in and glad the move went smoothly. Justin now in Frankston, back in a moment, two to eleven in Perth, twenty eight after midnight in Adelaide, and two minutes to one in Melbourne. Hi Simon, last collar brought back a memory

His Australia Overnight with Simon Owen's.

Hello, they're welcome back. I've just changed headphones to try something and it is shocking. I'm just hearing myself all distorted. It's terrible and to say something to.

Me, J so I can I'm not coming through in a different language, am I English?

I can barely hear you. So I've got to unplug things a little bit and change that back because that's just woeful.

There is.

So much for that little experiment. I'll try the other ones in the next break. Hello, welcome back to our number two of Australia Overnight. Oh that was hideous. And these are good little a kg headphone that I've had, but they've been sitting in my draw unused for about four years, so maybe something's died in them. Anyway, there goes that stupid idea. One double three six nine three. We've got callers hanging on from the last hour. Anything you want to chat about, you more than welcome to

Good I Nathan Simon, how are you yeah here?

Yeah, it's been a while.

Yeah, so you were talking about Phil Phil Brady and all that. I used to listen to them when for years when I listened to Phil and you're talking on the radio, Yes, yeah, like when Phil's on and you cheased me up and I'll listened to him. Yeah with you, with you, with you two on every Sunday night.

Yeah, make me yeah, thanks me up there, Philip Brady. For those listening through Perth and Adelaide, Philip Brady hosted nights on three a W for you know, the thirty odd years and then and continued on with remember when and sadly, of course passed away earlier this year. You'll probably remember him best for his TV quiz shows that he did back in the sixties and seventies. But yes, sadly passed away earlier this year.

Yeah, so just down and a sort of salay Jimmy, he said hello to me, I was listening to you, listen to you. And also it was Tony on tonight, but it was you.

I do you know who was on?

Oh yeah yeah, No, Tony's partner has been a little unwell this week and it's and Tony's obviously caught the bug. So he's got the morning off, so I'm just done for the morning.

Yeah, I didn't. I didn't speed to be on It's not Sunday. It's not Saturday night yet, Yeah what I thought?

Yeah?

And also hello and yeah, bring up and sale to Yeah.

I spoke to you for good to chat to you. I hope everything's well in your work.

Who's hosting with you on Sunday Sunday Nights.

Andrew McLaren is now the co host of Remember When?

Ok?

Yeah, so he and I do it together.

Okay, I might ring up one stage on Sunday night.

Yeah, feel free, yep, we take we take all after eleven and calls with Rick Milan doing antiques and collectibles at nine point thirty. So we can always room for a call here.

Yeah, okay, then say I'll sort of say hello to everyone.

Who's listening as well, no worries. Good on you, Nathan, thanks for that. Always a pleasure to check to you. James is in Adelaide, Hi, James.

Good morning, Simon.

We all miss your mate.

Oh, thank you. It's good to be back. It's been four months, but happy to be here. And that's right.

It's been a while, isn't it it has?

Yeah?

Anyway, anyway, there's a few famous birthdays so right, because as you know, I love music. Melb has it a males time fifty years old today.

Melby's fifty today? Is she Jeepers?

Yeah?

From the Spice Girls.

Yeah.

A couple of sisters of the late Marca Jackson, LaToya Jackson is fifty nine today. Yeah, and Rebby Jackson is seventy five. Who's seventy five?

Is Rebbe on?

It's Rebby or Rebe Jackson Jackson sisters right on the same day. The next one is one of my favorite groups going back many many years in the seventies.

Francis Rossi, the erring a belt here guitarist with Status Quo. I think.

That's the one mate spot on the late Gary Brooker. He was from Praca A.

Remember that song A White You White Pale, great song?

Yeah, yeah, classic. And I'm trying to think there's another one. I'm pretty sure it's called two Fools in Love. That's another one of their songs that I liked. Yeah, yeah, Oh, there's a there's a lady called Carla DeVito. She's seventy two today. I never knew anything about her, but apparently she was a backup singer with mid Life on his back out of Hell tour.

All right, Okay, was an a singer, she was a what singer?

And wasn't he a great singer?

He was in his day he was fabulous meat Loaf years.

Yeah, the Calves too. Today she's open up for a few famous people apart from Mad Life, Bruce Springsteen.

Yeah, you can't get bigger than the Boss, No, that's right.

And the Being Sorrows. I've never heard of them, got no idea who they are. And also for all the notes, remember all the notes?

Oh yeah, your biggest selling duo in the world.

That's right. So she's having for a few and also for Australian singer remember Rix Springfield with Jesse's Jesse's girl.

Rick Springfield from Zoot originally, But yeah, I had a couple of solo hits and went onto a great acting career.

Yeah.

So yeah, I've never heard of that card of the Veto, but I have now and yeah it's so. And you know, out of a bit of useless trivia for you, out of the Jackson sisters, there's one of them that I never mentioned, right, and you know where she feed in in back in nineteen ninety four, no Playboy magazine.

Oh did she must have missed that Janet Jackson.

Janet Jackson mate in nineteen ninety four. I think she was about twenty mid twenties, about twenty eight at the time.

Well, she is a big, gorgeous.

Yeah, she's lovely girl mate. And another one a lot of people don't know is Nancy Sinatra on Playboy at the age of about fifty two or fifty three.

Nancy Sinatra did did you?

Yeah?

Yeah?

Yeah?

And when that is true, when frank'sin up of the late Frank Sinatra found out, he said, I hope you're charging them double. But I think I don't think it would have been too impressed with her appearing on Playboy. But that's what I've read, So whether it's true or not, who knows. I'd never Yeah, there's I mean, you know th google table magazine. There's so many females that a lot of people would say, no, did she?

I said, yep?

Well and one of them.

Well, two things there. One, I don't know if I'm allowed to google Playboy magazine on a work computer, so so best that I don't do that here and now. And the other thing is if I did, I wouldn't be paying much attention to the show. So two good reasons why I won't do.

That right now, put some tape on the camera, mate.

Get on your James. Thanks for the call. Take care of eight years Leanne's in Minneapoliane.

I finally were come from week with the weekly session. I'd just like to say to that gentleman in Perth that witness that accident that if he is troubled by it mentally to go to a counselor because these things can be traumatic for the people that happen and go basket and also the same for the one in I was in Stare today and I was thinking why the police I was going to record his an ejection at the hospital so we didn't come across the accident because

To do so I know at all.

Yeah, yeah, because you just never you never know what is going to trigger someone. For some people it's fine, and for others. Something that's fine for some people is very triggering for others, and vice versa. So you just you just never know. So if you if you do come across anything like that, and and and you are uneasy and uncomfortable and you know you have nightmares or just can't sleep or whatever, if it's constantly on your mind, yeah, counseling is really good. I went, I went and saw

Yep, Simon, you spot on there because even if it travels you for a couple of nights. But anything like me being in rescue when I went to my first fatality, which I remember very well, names and everything, what happened, it took me two weeks to stop thinking about her and getting on. I wasn't totally stressed about it, but she was on my mind for two weeks and that was normal as a rescue operator because she was only debone beautiful looking girl. Yeah, it was quite you know,

Well, it's great advice, Leanne.

Thank you.

You're talking about music, not music, you're talking about tonight.

Well, I haven't actually brought up a topic yet. It's We're an hour and twenty two minutes into the program and I haven't actually raised anything yet. We've just been taking calls as they come.

Give me a quiz question, mate, give me a quizy a quiz question.

Okay. Who was the musician who composed the soundtracks to things like Weird Science, Beetlejuice, Batman, Men in Black and also the theme music for the Simpsons And you'd either know or you don't. He was also a member of the band Oingo Boingo.

Longoo.

I don't think that you've got me.

Yep, Danny Elfman, of course, yes, yeah, yeah.

No, I see the name on the screen of the Simpsons.

So well done.

Sign No thanks Leanne. Cheers will break. We'll come back more if he calls a welcome one double three six nine three or one double three eight eighty two. Anything you want to chat about, but just on you know what Leanne said there about you know, and what I've just said about going to see a shrink. There a lot of people, and I used to be like that, would would say, no, it's it's a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength if you don't go. You know,

I mean.

Car Z was a was it yep?

Yeah?

Oh man, yeah, and I know I am oh, yeah, I saw. I have an experience when I was at my boy at school, but a little boy just start school. Yeah, and then started, yeah, I'm go ahead. Good to see that he's got his sister go off the bus. I was thinking, went around the back of the bus. He jumped off the bus and went around the front the bus wanted to off and when are we? Oh cracky and yeah and yeah I'll go out. That was the

Sorry, Simon, it's really it's a quite a muffled phone line this morning, so I'm having a bit of trouble.

Hearing, but just probably in my voice to someone.

Yeah that's that's good. Be clear now.

Yeah, I was saying, just brought back to me that little boy, you know.

Yeah, sad and.

Anyway, Yeah, I got to go to the dentist this week and the malogue not coming the right way, it's coming side wise mouth.

Well, okay, that's a bit weird, bit uncomfortable.

Is it.

Yeah?

About the third big bottom two pulled out in the male of Greg out from coming sidewise.

My daughter went to the dentist today or yesterday, i should say now for Melbourne listeners. Still today in Perth my daughter went to the dentist four hundred bucks for an hour in the chair.

Good money, Well, we love it.

Well, it's I don't think it would be a great job really, because you're dealing with people's mouths, which aren't the most pleasant things to begin with, and generally you're dealing with people's mouths when they're at their worst. So it'd be a pretty gruesome job, I would think. And and the technology behind it, I don't think dentistry seems to have come that come along as well as other

But when when one first, that old dentist doing it just crunched and he left him half the words in the in the gum for six months or.

Yeah, yeah, dentistry is not fun.

He didn't put me by yeah I'm going one noodle and he just went yank.

Well, brick.

Well. I had a crown put on a tooth. And when they've done that thing where they take it off, they do the mold and then they send away and the crown gets made by some other company or something, and then it comes back and they put it in. And when the dentist has put it in, it's not gone on perfectly straight. So it's in the right spot,

I'll tell you.

Okay, that's fair enough. All right, good on your simon, good to chat. Thanks mate, take care. Twenty five to two already twenty five to midnight in Perth, and five after one in Adelaide. Maggie's in Adelaide. We'll chat chat to you after the break, Maggie. And after that the board's empty. So let's throw something in now to see if we can encourage you to call what we used to put coins in? Actually there's a bit of a setup to that topic, but that's the line, the pitch line,

Now?

The reason this came up was I love perusing auction sites, and a week or so ago, Jay or two weeks ago, I think it was now, one of the auction sites I looked at had those vending not a vending machine in the classical term, but you know the giant bubble gum balls that you used to get out of the

Remember they had there was one a couple of items in them that were covered in plastic. Were those gumbles or were they little toy Yeah?

So you could also get little toys in balls. Yeah yeah, No, this this one was proper gumballah yeah, running around. Yeah, so this was This was the big one. So it's not the little ones. You used to see those machines where there'd be four of them or six of them all in a little stand, and they were smaller ones. It wasn't those. This was the one that you know, the chopper chup one. And this gumball one came up to your chest. They were big items, and I love

And as you're walking past on your way to the shower, on the toilet or something, Yeah you want.

A chopper chop? Yeah? Have your friends come over for dinner whilst I'm cooking the roast, would you like a chopper chop? It's only twenty cents? And then play the atari? Yeah exactly. So anyway, so I saw those and I actually did think because when Taylor was saying, oh, you should get them, you should get them, because she's i think, also impulsive like me in that way. I said, well, I've got nowhere to put them, and she said put

We sometimes you see those machines with the you know you can put your card on.

I don't know.

It just takes away the authenticityity, doesn't it.

Yeah? Yeah, they you can pay with the cards. Cars for the kids, Yeah yeah, the little firem and sam and that where the little kid sits and it goes around in a circle. Yeah, tapping tapping going on those just isn't the same. It used to be so much fun as a kid to put the coins in. Yeah, here it go, yep, yeah exactly. There was a physical reaction to it was so much better. So I didn't get it, but it did get me thinking about things

I'll get it there.

How are you going?

Yeah? Good, thanks, that's good.

I'm just thinking about a coin situation. I think I'm putting coins to get or toys out of the little plastic container with a little piece of paper and it back in the day when I was thirteen years old.

Yes, I just had to bring that up.

They used to have a little dinosaurs in them, Yeah.

Little Tony dinosaurs and stuff. Yeah, and others would have rings in them, and you get the occasional super well and yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

We used to become a part of the community just buying. It was a very social thing to buy.

Yeah.

And if there was a bunch of your kids walking home after school and you walk past the shops and you had coins, you'd know you'd have a look and see what each other got. It was a good little thing.

That's right.

I always used to think they were bad luck, but then I found down they're actually not bad luck, not good luck, but there was something to buy to put on a key ring. When you get home at the end of the day, you get a little dinosaur, perhaps hypathetically speaking on a key ring, pushing a good mood to go inside and perhaps looking at refrigerator and have an idea or something to buy it for the refrigerator.

For example, Yeah, what we get fridge magnets or something in them? Did you?

Or if a dinosaur came in a little container the coin goes in the machine. I find it, ironically somewhat into chemistry.

And I find that.

Not only is it a dinosaur, I'm not going to go buy a dinosaur, but in my head would give me an idea to go. And goodness, it's almost a holocaust. Seemed to say, why don't you, Why don't I go buy a bit of lettuce? And what I bought a little dinosaur and a bit of a container for putting a bit of coin in the machine. Because the mass in a coin you put in a machine goes in the head with a dinosaur. Put the mass in the coin with a dinosaur. Give an idea for me to put something in the fridge.

Okay, yeah, that's mathematics. It's a unique reaction. I can't say it would have stirred the same thing in me. But we're all different, aren't we.

Well, yeah you had the same idea.

No, no, I had that idea. I must a been.

Yes, okay, all right, get on your mark.

Good to hear your voice.

Thank you you too far.

Thanks mate, take care of cheers. Maggie's in Adelaide, Hi, Maggie.

Oh dear Simon, Yeah, lovely, ju back on in this time and so thank you.

That's very good.

You may not like this, lost, but take you.

Oh no, I love doing this. I enjoy feeling in for Tony when I get the chance.

Mm hmmm hmm.

Okay, so I can after listening our bipath excuse me, psych psychologist, communications, dentistry, dentures, coffeing and all that and vending machines before I get to the recent main reason for en in the coin slot one, what about the old piggy bait that we used to have?

You do you really are? You don't know how you're younger than me.

I'm fifty three.

Yeah, but did you know about the piggy banks.

Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah, I had a Commonwealth Bank piggy bank. Yeah, so not a piggy bank in the official sense of the word, but a money box. I did have a piggy bank as a kid, like a literally a pig shaped money box. But yeah, the main one I had was the Commonwealth Bank tin one.

Yeah.

Yeah, well the piggy bait was a tin one too. Yeah yeah, yeah, it's from my recollection.

But I'm a lot older than you.

Yes, this much more I could say about any of those topics. But let me get back to.

Now.

I'm a elderly I'm not tech savvy.

Now.

In recent weeks, I've been getting from like my I've got two phones.

If this phone.

Is my smart phone, Google, your androids is infected with viruses critical virus alert seven one one the others as to remove.

Now what do I do?

How can I get rid of that? And how can I shut it down?

What do I do?

From an old lady who lives alone, who's not tax set.

Yeah, look what you basically need to do, Maggie. I don't have an Android phone, so I don't get those. I've got an Apple phone and I get text messages occasionally, and I can just get a button that says report this is spam and block the sender. So I don't know if you've got the same functionality on an Android phone.

Arthur, good morning, Simon and Jaye. Nice to have you on the program again. Do you still have your vending machines?

Yes, I've still got my Pepsi vending machine.

Yes, yes, Wiiamstown can have an option of paying parking meders by card or coins. They've still gone there. But the one that comes to my mind always is the the big boxes that you used to put coins in the for the gas and the electricity between sixties and seventies.

Really, I wondered if anyone would bring about those. It's before my time or I've never experienced them, but I knew they were a thing.

Yeah, And as I mentioned before, like I had a friend in rock Bank caravan. I don't know there's still there now, but it was mid sorry twenty ten or something, and they've still gone in the caravan. Perhad them, I should say, so, I don't know this still there in the caravan Rock Bank. I was surprised for the gas and electricity. I got a shock that doesn't even exist.

And I understand there were also in the early days you could have pay coin operated televisions as well.

Yeah, I heard that.

I didn't see the coin operator once. But funny thing with the machines. If you had the gas and you hadn't had the coins, and they would go right down and you'll put the pennies or shillings or twenty cents whenever everyone they would go back up when you put the coins in. It would go right down or even turn off sometimes until you put the coins in the machine in the box.

I should say, isn't it interesting? I wonder what they did the switch over from decimal to decimal currency from imperial currency. If everything was coin operated, then how did they manage that? I wonder that that switchover.

Yeah, I know it was. It's yeah, it was you could kids are kids my pay card to break it. It was unbreakable. It was trying to get the coins out. Yeah, so funny. It was just unbreakable, like a you know, like a solid solid bullet or something. They were just unbreaka all those things you wanted to get, the money to get fish and chips or whatever you wanted to get. It was so funny. He's got up to mischief. Unfortunately.

I remember as a kid the local phone booth was usually vandalized as well from people trying to break in with a screwdriver to get the coins out. Yeah.

Well they wouldn't get much of that now because Telsa phone public phones are all free as you know.

Yeah, which is good, it's yeah, but most of them have been turned into free Wi Fi things too, so you can connect.

The phone boxes have got to be in certain areas by law for the disadvantage like somehowder that may not be able to use the pay plane or can't afford it, or just people that have inconvenience. So I know they've got to be. They can't get rid of all often. They've got to be certain ones in a certain vicinity of certain areas, for mainly for the elderly people. Just in case, there you go.

I didn't realize that. I didn't know that was that was the case. All right, I've got to get another breakaway, Arthur. But lovely, excuse me, lovely to chat as always. It's coming up to five to two. Thank you Janet for the text, Simon. The best way to fix the problem the meat in between your teeth. Chew a piece of gum until it goes soft. Press it against the two teeth where the meat is lodged. The soft chewing gum pushes the meat out the other side. No discomfort like

Go leave me bradless.

Now.

This is Australia Urban Eyed with Simon.

Owen's and it's seven after two in Melbourne, seven after midnight in Perth and twenty three to two in South Australia. Good to have you on board this morning, if you've just woken up, if you've just joined us, or if you're just hopping into bed at this time of the morning. Tony McManus is off this morning. His partner's been a little unwell during the week and it seems the bug ha's crossed over to him. So Tony's off this morning. He should be back tomorrow, but if he's not, he'll

Was there any chewing of gum in the movie?

Not that, not that I recall, thank god, because then I'd have to hate it even more.

It was a few tense moments, Yeah, yeah, there were it would call for a chewing gum.

I yess but exactly?

But is that?

Have you watched that movie? Do you like that movie?

I think, to be honest, I haven't actually seen it. I've seen bits and pieces of it.

Of course.

You know what's the red light called again?

How thou the computer thing? Spaceship? Yeah, but that's about it.

That's my knowledge of Spado Space Odyssey.

Well, you're not missing anything. It was a drag.

It was an absolute drag of a movie. I found it was a bit like Aliens. You know that silence, that quite spacey sound. I know there was a few scenes like that.

It was very quiet. Yeah, it was. Well, it starts with I think monkey's breaking a rock or something I can't really early even remember, and I think there's there's there's some theme that goes through it, going from stone age man to cave men days to the future where computers will kill us or elon mask and all that. Yeah. Yeah, it may even have been in it, but I just I just found it really boring. The other movie it was the other one that did my head in was

For cigarettes and no ID checks back in the old days.

N that'd be a good collective we'll to have too, wouldn't it. A vending machine for cigarettes.

Yeah, all the different brands on there, Yeah, brands sitting on the Yeah.

Yeah, the good old days where advertising was allowed. We could advertise different ways to kill ourselves. All right, let's get back to your calls. One double three six nine three one double three eight eighty two and keep the text coming on zero four double seven six nine three six nine three. Jim's in West Foot's great.

Hey, Jim, Hi, Simon and Jay first or all. I have to correct myself about earlier when I told you when I worked at both WICKSLS on Somerville Road, there was quite a few meat works because I was a bit tired. It was in Brooklyn, both Wicks, not Somerville Road, where a lot of people from those years would remember it.

Yeah, yeah, they were good. I did, all right. There was one of those machines that must have been calibrated fairly well in favor of the of the person playing the game, because most of them, when that claw drops down, it lifts the claw up before the claw closes properly, so that most of the prizes just fall through. But there was one where I got a heap of stuffed toys from my kids because it always seemed to grab something.

Yeah.

Yeah, well you had better luck than I did, Simon, But nearly everyone I saw a player couldn't get it. But if I think even you and Jaild remember Flinders Street, every platform had vending machines everywhere. Yeah, cigarette machines, and you could get your coffees. You had chocolates, your twists, your chocolates, your potato chips. Nearly every platform had them, even North Melbourne and even Sunshine. All stations had the vending machines where you could get something.

Yeah, I would assume, I would assume most still do. I don't know. I don't really travel by public transport much or by train anyway, so but I would imagine that most would, you know, at least the bigger ones would. I honestly don't know. People could tell us. I guess the best. I don't drink coffee. But there was a place where my daughter trained for a year while she

Another question I want to ask you, Simon, which I've never asked you, because you knew Philip for those years, and I heard Phillips say many times his father was a psychiatrist. Did you ever get to meet Philip's father when he was alife.

No, Phil's father died in nineteen seventy something. So I was a child when Phil's ah dad passed away.

Sadly, Okay, I didn't know what what he passed away in. But yeah, but I heard him. Did I? Did hear when I Philip did say his father was a psychiatrist many times, didn't I?

Yes, Yeah he did, Yes, Yes he was here. Wilfred Brady.

All right, okay, thank you, thank you, good on your Jim.

Thanks for that. Hi Simon talking about the topic from last hour. Things we put things we used to put coins in. Hi, Mike says Hi Simon. Has anyone mentioned condom machines in pubs and clubs? No, they haven't until you have Mike. There you go. Thank you for that. Yeah, I've got nothing to add.

On, so.

Excuse me, Thank you, thank you for that. Mike. All right, break Sandra, David and Bob will be up on the other side of the break. More calls are welcome one double three six nine three or one double three eight eighty to open the podbear door as well.

I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

That's true, Tiffy center text through saying, speaking of chopper chups, when I was eating them as a kid, I used to play with the sticks as toys because I didn't have toys growing up. Really, I loved them. That's a bit sad, isn't it, using chopper chopsticks as toys. I found that a bit touching, Tiffy. But thank you for the text. Sandra's in Frankston. Hi, Sandra, Well, good.

Morning, Simon.

How are you are.

I'm good, that's good.

I had.

One of those machines, you know, you put your gumbles.

The gumball machine. Yeah, when my.

Kids were little, but we never put gumballs, and we put little smarties or chopper balls, you know. Okay, Yes, I left the colored paper in it because if they made them, it's just paper, little and.

We never put in it.

Jeff got from work and he put ten little Smarties in it, so they had a turn and turning the wheel each and they had five smarties each, not every day. It was a treat for him, but they loved it.

It is.

It's such a cute. They're such cute.

Nice in the kitchen too, you know.

So that was what I got it.

That's that's what I reckon. They just look great. I love stuff like that. Another thing I was looking at. Sorry, I was going to keep.

It from My son turned fifty yesterday and I thought there'd been a nice pens.

For Yeah, no it is. It's a great it's a great one everything.

Yeah, and all your family.

Wealth on them.

Yeah, they're all very good, thank you. Yeah, Yeah, everyone's very happy. Xavier is the youngest of my two grandkids, Archie and Xavier.

Yeah.

Wow, yeah, how how.

Xavier turns to in about three or four months and an Archie's Archie's turning four or so. Yeah, they're growing up way too quickly.

My nephew's little daughter, Coca, she's beautiful, the kids named. Yeah, she's nine months old.

And she's walking walking at nine.

Months, holding onto the couch walking.

Wow, okay, so not not walking independently.

Yet yet, but she stands up and she rocks.

Yeah, that's that's very impressive at nine months. Normally it's it's around about the first birthday that they're brave enough to take a step or two. So she sounds pretty advanced there.

She's just a little girl.

Yeah.

Well, we had when our when our first was born. It's always harder with your first because you you're worried all the time that your kid might not be normal. So my wife and a friend of hers who used to work with her, had our first children on the exact same day at the same hospital. So my wife we had Shannon, and my wife's friend, Lizzie had a bub as well. And I can't remember Lizzie's bub's name, but about nine months later after we had them, Shannon

I'll make this a laugh. My dad with Coco being born, that was his one hundredth grand great grandchild.

Wow, that's a plague.

Yeah, tell me I've got two.

Two grand kids.

Yeah, I only had the two boys grandchildren, and they've had boys, both of them. And there's one hundred love. Wow, that's explained children and one hundred great grandchildren.

Forty six grandkids and one hundred great grandkids. That is amazing.

And we'd like to put that in the middle of the magazine.

Oh, just try and remember their names.

It's just it's And my dad was going to put one of those things on the back of the window of the car with a many kids, you gotten dogs and everything is said, there be too many.

That's wonderful. Lead a bus just to put the stickers on the sand I spent.

Did I haven't spoken to you since I come out of hospital, have I?

No?

I don't think so.

No.

I was into three weeks.

In for instant hospital, five weeks at Rehebs, and then I went to what they called the transition because they wouldn't let me come home on my own. I was in the back brace for eight months. Next Sord where I lived, I picked a glass up off my sink to put in the capboards and I turned and I couldn't move, and I eventually got to my car and went down. The doctors in tears sent me for X rays and I said I can't walk that though. I said,

Just by turning yeah.

And then I did the C two and C three at the top of my spine right, so I spent literally a year in hospital.

Wow that ended your breakdancing career obviously.

Oh yes, I had helped coming three days a week now. Yeah, because I'm not glad to lip or sweep and it annoys me because they don't do my house out like that. Oh yeah, yeah, I's did not swept around, you know, and things.

Can I do?

Just watch them now?

I'm good.

Yeah.

Well, it's lovely to hear from you. It's it's great to catch up. And yeah, well what a rough truck you've had, but you're home at least.

Have you got now? Did you have good funeral?

Have I got hair? Yeah?

Did you grow here?

No?

I can't grow here? Well I can, but it's on my.

Back because I watched the funeral TV you know.

Yeah no, no I had my head well I took my head off in the church. But yeah no, no no hair on me. Yeah, no worries. Get on your Sandra,

Yeah.

Absolutely. Did you ever see the film Love Enn Rose?

No?

I haven't, No, it is an standing film. At one Marianne courtilard the Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Prf.

Oh, I might have to add that to my list of movies that I have to watch, which is quite a long list. But I recom that sounds good.

Well yeah, and then and then ci Dion's version for the other Edith Pf song at the Olympics, that was just outstandingly brilliant.

Well, you can't go wrong Celine Dion either, ken you. She's just just magnificent herself. So yeah, well you're not just the tennis man. You're quite cultured here, Craig.

Yeah, cultured with a k.

Now. So well, let's get down to Tintex. The French Open is on, of course, in the second round. I think we're du now, yeah, and.

We've had quite a few results through already today we've had a couple of Australians on court one up, one down. On the two that played Ala tom Lanovitch unfortunately lost. That was on court sleep Shelf, which is the center court over here, and she lost to Justine Paldini, who was the finest here last year and is in pretty

You know is what's his name, alex demanoir, Yeah, he's playing. He hasn't played yet, has he today? Is he tomorrow.

Now he's on tomorrow. That a very French way of pronouncing his name. And why not, Well, I contended that we've got about three Australians on tomorrow because I've already got tomorrow's order of play, and alex Dimenov is on court to play. Alexander Public of Kazakhstan used to be a Russian, but the Kazakhs brought him and he's now a Kazakh and Demonor goes into that with a three no record against Public, and Public is like, look, I'm saying this in a polite way. No phone calls. He

Does it, Liver, I don't think you get more French than that. Yeah, exactly, that's marvelous. The what was I going to ask? The weather? So how's the weather over there at the moment.

Yeah, it's been a bit iffy. If you get one of those unbelievably beautiful days of springtime in Paris, you cannot better it. And we've had one morning like that, but otherwise it's been a little bit of a cast. It's been Conditions have been a bit heavy, bit damp. There's been one or two interruptions for drizzle, so that's sort of exciting. But the forecasters are suggesting the next three four days things will start to get a bit warmer.

Okay, so that's all right. That's uh, that's looking looking good for the French Open. Then, Craig, what do you do to relax because your job's so good when you break away from tennis, Like do you go and watch a bit of hockey or something or no no, no.

No, no no.

No.

Look what I if I'm if I get a bit of time at it during a tournament and when it comes to an event like the French Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon, et cetera. There's there is no time in this role. The stuff happening all the time. You cannot you can't break away. But my interests are antiques. I have a collection of Asian art and antiques. So I will, you know, if I'm in London, I'll try and make it a point of going to one of the auction.

Houses just to look.

It's free to get in. And this is a serious tip for anybody. You know, you can go to Southbasa and go to Christie's. You can go to Phillips or Bonhams or wherever and you can wander through their galleries and you're up close and personal some of the most amazing art, you know. So I'll I'll go through there and have a look. Or I love walking down New Bond Street. It's a great street. So that's the sort of thing I like to try and get a way

Yeah. Absolutely, It's not quite at the level that you do Craig, obviously because you go to those auction houses with the high end stuff. But I love trawling auction sites.

Online and absolutely the same.

And I was I was talking earlier about the fact that I came very close to buying a gumball machine, a chest high old fashioned gumball machine and a chopper chup machine because I just love odd bits and pieces like that. So not not so much art for me, but but just going to auction houses and stuff is a great hobby.

It really is.

I mean for me, I grew up in Asia, and you know, so I'm totally comfortable in Asia, and that developed my appreciation and love of Asian art and and you know, porcelain and Chinese blue and white, it's et cetera. So you know that that's what got me going on on the whole thing. And my parents were were collectors as well.

So just filtered down.

Have you got anything sitting at home in the laundroom on a pedestal that is the centerpiece of your collection?

No, I wouldn't, not necessarily in that way, but there are I could say a few pieces that I'm extremely fond of.

Yeah, nice, Nice. Is there something that's on your list that you're you're looking for?

No?

I I don't normally go in with that frame of mind. If I'm if I go, it's something that will just catch my eye because again, you don't know. You know, as I'm saying about Alexander Publick, you don't know what you're going to come across or what you're going to get. So I'm just going with an open mind and you know,

Oh that sounds lovely. And I go to auction houses and have a look at stuff, but I go there with an open mind and an empty wallet, so I don't tell.

It was Yeah, that's what I should. I should definitely be leaving the credit cards behind.

It's the safest way. Yeah, you just never know when that impulse purchase happens. It's always a dangerous thing. Craig. We've better leave you to it, but thank you for the update and interesting chat too about the other side. Of Craig Gabriel. Always a pleasure to.

Chat likewise, and I can tell you there's a bit of dappled sun trying to get out at the moment.

Okay, well we'll let you get back to enjoying the fabulous job you do.

Thanks a lot.

Good on your Craig, Craig Gabriel there at the tennis at Roland Garris. Your calls one double three six nine three. David's in Israel.

Hi David, I'm in superstar.

How are you good?

Thank you yourself.

Yeah, I'm very pleased with you're on and to listen to you. But I wish tonally realized that he gets better soon. Not very pleasant, No.

No, poor bugger. He'll be right though. He's tough as an ox.

Yeah, I wish him well. I definitely wish him well. I'm really glad to hear you on So two thousand and one A space obviously.

Hell, do you know what hell was?

Well? A computer, wasn't he?

Yes, you know what it's called?

Hell?

Oh, I should know this trivia question.

What was the biggest computed in the in the world in those days?

Or that?

I don't know? I b M yeah, I minus when you get h H A L is one letter earlier in each case than I B M.

Well that's what they played it on. It was like a play on on I B M and A hat computers taking over the world and with AI and everything. Maybe they weren't so wrong.

They're off. They're off. They're basing it on I B M because they know what a basket case IBM ended up being in in the sense that they they owned computers. The computers was their thing, and they were untouchable, and they just lit it all get away from them.

But it's not anymore.

No.

Actually, we've been watching a really good series on Netflix's quite funny with Ted Danson rightly sort of appreciated, but he plays his pension in a series called Man on the Inside, where this young five detective hires this whole tension to go into a retirement home and find out who's been stealing expensive things. It's actually quite funny. It's worth watching.

Yeah, I've seen the trailer for it. It looks pretty good, but as always I'm way behind in my TV viewing, so it's something I will watch one day.

Eight episodes in the first series, I don't have to set the second series and in that yet and each episode is about twenty five thirty minutes, so you can have a little gig good. You can watch it, you know you and you feel satisfied and it's not sort of taxing and just going on and on and on. So you can you can watch a couple of episodes at once, so you can space it over a few nights or whatever. It's actually quite funny.

Yeah, well, I'll have to give it a crack when I get time. I'm busy at the moment. I'm watching House. So that's how which is quite modern for me. It's something in the two thousands with mobile phones in it. That's that's something I'm not used to in TV shows I watch.

Well do you do?

He's an iPhone quite well, so, I mean, you know it makes sense to you to watch something like that.

No, I love it because I love him as an actor.

A doctor.

He's like he's starts strange, he finds his strength, diagnoses or something. That is that the one?

Yeah, it's what's he what's his name? Who plays House? I've forgotten his name. I should Steve hugh Laurie. Hugh Laurie, Sorry, I had it took me a while to get there. Hugh Laurie plays him, and he's a cranky he hates everyone and everything. He's in constant pain because of a leg injury. But his ability as a diagnostician is amplified by his lack of empathy for any patients. It's just all about finding the cure. He doesn't care about the patient.

Yeah, it's good. It's lasting to find a series which is which is palatable and it draws an audience. Another one we watched on I think it was on Disney Class the name Just Escaped Me. He's a It's set in Atlanta, Georgia, and he never he always solves cases. He had a very bad childhood and that kind and it's claimed by somebody Rodrigus the just Escape Me now stupid of me?

Oh yeah, I don't know that.

That is worth watching a lot of fun, very clever.

Yeah, we need to know that.

Together.

And the acting is also very good too. And the star and it is this hihaha called Betty absolutely gorgeous. Yeah, yeah, three my wife, we should get a chawaur, but I haven't managed to convince it.

Well, good luck with that.

Yeah, no, I don't worry.

Accept the fate before you even have the argument. That's the right way, all right, Good on your David lovely to chat. We'll chat again, no doubt. Thanks, Thanks mate, take care a break back with you, Bob. Bob's the only one on hold there now. So one double three six nine three or one double three eight eighty two if you want to squeeze a call in before the upcoming news, which will be along in about twelve minutes time, we'd love to take your calls back in a second.

Good a Simon. I'm not going to ask you how you're doing, because everybody asks that question.

And I'm still favyous.

Do you feel little bit lonesome? Without your normal Saturday Night's cast of Tha thousands?

It's a very different show, And I was saying to Jay, I love what I do on a Saturday night. For those listening through five, double A and six PM, my Saturday night show is sort of wall to wall segment. You go from segment to segment because it's a weekly show and that's sort of necessary there. But to do midnight to dawn is a very different, diferent style of

Now you're asking about strange things that we used to put money into. Yes, in the mid fifties, my parents decided to get teas and of course they rolled back and white in those days, and we came across this thing called a webray TV, which it made it very easy for people to pay off because they've had a

Isn't that amazing? So you could you could actually get a television set, but it was coin operated and that's how you paid it off. That's it was a great concept, wasn't it.

That was?

And I don't know whether this is true, but I was told at one stage that the web rays were a Hinds TV in other words, they'd bits and pieces of every other band inside them.

Okay, yeah, yeah, and.

They were around for a while. I think my favorite thing was they remember of it was that when they came out to demonstrate it, they had a screwdriver in one hand and a hammer in the other and tried to bash the screen and of course it didn't crack.

No, the big demonstration. How tough it was.

Yes, and I think really things in the old those were possibly more reliable than what they are now.

I know.

Household fridge that went for about thirty years before I replaced it.

Yeah. Yeah, Look, there's good and bad in what we have now. TV is now so much cheaper, so much better, and so much cheaper to run because LEDs don't cost anything near you know, they don't use anywhere near the electricity that the old cathode ray tubes used, So TV's are much better now for that. But it also makes them disposable. When something goes wrong with your teally, you don't fix it, you just get another one, which is

I've got a plasma and the plasma's about eighteen years old. Yeah, it still runs perfectly. I've had to put a set top box on it to get all the other channels. Yes, but I touch word. I haven't had anything go wrong.

With it in the eighteen years.

Well, now that you've now that you've said, that bound to happen, So look forward to hearing the update. Thank you, Bob. I've got to break, We've got to get another one in before news, but thanks for the call. Well are we coming up to news time? That would make it a minute to one in Perth, almost half past two in Adelaide and almost three o'clock in Melbourne and anywhere else wherever you are. Yeah, check your own phone and I out what time it is for you. Gabriel Hodson's

Now this is Australia Urban Eyed with Simon Owens.

It's a seven after one in Perth, it's twenty three to three in Adelaide, and in Melbourne it's a seven after three. We'll get back to your call shortly, Steven Meredith. If you'll hang on, we will get to you very soon. Chicken Man also coming up in this next quarter hour. But first, Gabriel Hodson has joined us from the newsroom. Hey Gabe, how are you look?

Some stories you just can't make up?

No, what have you got for?

Okay, a wind turbine the court fire and has self extinguished. Wonderful, But but there's a there's a catch. It's fled up again. Firefighters I think this scratching their heads wondering how do you put this thing out? It hasn't burnt any grass of vegetation, I must add. It's at the Bulgana wind farm, which is our rout area. Yeah, great Western that that sort of area. Now at first fled up around nine last night, you know, it blew out flared up again

Hour, is that strong, strong issue.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's enough to fan the mine light.

Yeah.

But I'll tell you what I'd see this.

I've never actually seen a wind turbine in real life.

Are you serious?

Serious?

Just drive up the west.

There's none in Balwin where I live, so I wouldn't see one. There's none between the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and the city.

Do you own a telescope or really good set of glasses, like a binoculars. Go down to Frankston, stand on the beach aim at across the bay. You will see the you Low South wind Farm, which is sort of in the Brisbane Ranges. It's beyond backus Marsh, but you can see it from Frankston. It is incredible. That's probably the closest to Melbourne, I'd say, but they're everywhere.

Now, Well, I wonder what the I wonder what the height is of these things.

It just depends. The newer ones are enormous. We're talking mcg.

Light light tower.

Yeah it was over fifty I think. Don't quote me.

On that, but how did like there's a motor in them obviously that when the wind turns it it's it's got a little motor that generates the electricity.

I guess there's all different terminology, you know, words for the different parts. The turbine is actually kind of the engine. You've got the blade, you've got to think called the nassel. You've got the tower itself. But how the heck do you get up there to ask? Is it like, is the there's a ladder in the middle or something.

Do you do you scale the outside of it? Or is there a little door at the bottom and it's like a lighthouse. You've got the windy stairs going all the way out.

I reckon. I reckon the biggest, the biggest aerial fire appliance, you know, with the stretchy ladders. Extendable ladders is the word I'm looking for.

That.

They would never reach the height of this, So I think all you can do is just let it burn out anyway. Look, I hope no one gets heard.

There's a fire fifty meters above the earth and it's just a wind. It's just up there in a tower. Tort Yeah, exactly. There's no point trying to hose it down.

Oh gee, you wouldn't even reach, would you. You've just got to pray for rain.

Rain, Yeah, that's what we need. Yeah, God can deal with it. That's I think.

So it's kind of it's on a massive scale. It's on that sort of scale. Now I'm just looking at something that's come up on the computer.

Here.

Average hub height these days is about one hundred and fifty meters. One hundred and fifty fifty meters. Blades are forty to ninety meters long. Ninety meters. That doesn't forty meters.

I believe.

I saw one in a paddock the other day on the ground. They were building one down near rocod But yeah, they're just enormous. So you need to do yourself a favor. Just go down South Kippsland Western Highway any of those binoculars and you won't need binoculars. They're pretty close to the road.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm just I'm staggered. So I don't know anything I have. I'm not into the whole coal versus natural things and wind farms and solar and I don't care what they do as long as as long as we have electricity. And I assume people are always studying these things so that the best decisions can be made, And so I don't care about all those debates. I'd never

So is it?

And I'm not doing Please don't anyone ever think that I'm doing this to be in any way political, because I wouldn't even know which parties in favor and which parties against it. I don't know, don't care. But is it? Is it that good an idea? If we have to use that much concrete, that much material, is it worth it? I guess it must be. If countries all over the world are doing it, well, it.

Gets a lot of government funding support that sort of thing. They are popping up everywhere. I guess one thing that's not fact it is the damage to the roads. You're dealing with things that are hundreds of tons to get it down a little very fragile bitumen country road. It's going to destroy it. It's not a thick lit it's not a free ways of tark. Yeah, yeah, it absolutely destroys these roads and some of the other infrastructure too, so you know you've got to fix up that damage

Can birds not see it coming?

Like?

It kills a lot of birds?

Trust me?

Yeah it does, it does. But you know, is there a who's standing up for the birds? Also another thing with wind farms is the I know all this because I live near a few, but the company has to keep bird strike statistics. But you think about it. A bird's hit by a turbine, falls to the ground, a fox will get it. Well, it's still warm. So if people are going around once a fortnight, once a month looking for dead birds, they would them all yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So you just notice a natural decline in things like wedge tailed eagles.

Oh that's sad. Eagles are beautiful, Oh.

They are they are your Like South Wind Farm that I just noticed was one of the best places in Victoria to see wedgetailed eagle. You could go up there and if you look carefully, you could probably see five or six within fifteen minutes, but that's not the case now. So how it's very difficult to get the statistics out of these companies. They don't have to release it, and I can see why they wouldn't, but.

I don't know.

I feel a bit funny when people say, oh, they're majestic and they're beautiful, that these wind farms, I'm not so sure. There's two sides to it. You know, it's renewableandergy, that's great, but there's another side to it too.

So yeah, it's all interesting.

Yeah, this self extinguishing fire. Let's hope it self extinguishers again, and these poor firefighters can go home and have a good sleep, well earned rest.

And I wonder if that tower would then have to be taken down or whether they can just pop the old engine out and wack a new one in turbine or whatever.

I think they would wait for it to burn out and then look, I don't know, I don't know is it fixable. You know, if it's on fire, there's obviously a serious problem. I believe they've got pretty good technology to turn themselves off if there's a problem, like super strong wind or any issues like this. But I can't confirm if it has stopped whirling around you, so.

Yeah, it might still be spinning from the wind. Yeah, yeah, turning the blades. But yeah, there you go, fire at a wind farm fifty meters off the ground at least something like that. Yeah, and what the hell do we do there? Yeah? Fascinating.

You can't make it up, honestly.

How's everything else going. You're enjoying doing the overnight shift?

Yeah, yeah, I've been doing it for it's almost eighteen months now, I think. Yeah, it's interesting you you feel like you're the only journo on deck anywhere in Ali. I'm not sure what the ABC does much. Yeah, there's some pretty good breaking news stories some so yeah, it's it's an honor to be covering them.

I guess I've always wondered, do we have a hotline that people ring like they if they ring us? That's one thing, and we talk about normally.

Normally we get tips through the talkback line. Yeah, so you know there'll be a bit of communication, Hey Gabe, did you hear about this? And we'll chase it up. And yeah, not every service is around it, you know. One two three in the morning. But you do what you can while you can, so yeah, but yeah, it's good, it's good, it's it's it's good to have a small team too.

Yeah.

Yeah, you get to know each other a bit better and yeah, loving it's nice.

All right. Well, good to see you you too, thanks for popping in. Thank you, and yeah, keep it, keep us up to date as you do as you do so well, it's Gabriel Hodson from the news room. Chicken Man now ahead of the break and then it's back to your court. And Steve has called from Canning Vale. Hey, Steve, Hey, you go, mate.

I'm just calling through about the black Cockatoo's mate, the black cocky mate a bit to do with the Canning River mate sort of ranging a bit worried about him at the moment. The carnabies, the bodines and the red tails sort of had a bit of a crossis at the moment.

Mate.

A lot of the habitat has been destroyed and up in the Darling Ranges we've got a lot of the box sipe mines taking over. So there's yeah, there's not a lot of habitat left. They've got a lot of you know, native trees that have been just mowed down, and if you look at the native sites where they have been roosting in the last fifty years, it's just gone down significantly, significantly, and there's just there's.

No more room for them.

The bodines at the moment, I've got about fifteen thousand or less, the red towels probably about twenty thousand. I think the carnobies are about one hundred thousand, and yeah,

Black cockatoos and things are just the most gorgeous animals. I think they're fabulous and if the populations are in decline, surely you know the Department of Environment Sustainability or that. I just don't get why these things can happen where their habitat gets butchered. When you know, we hear about a freeway not being built because of a frog or something. So there are people who stand up for things and processes in place to protect you endangered species, and that

That sound of the black cocky does go, you know, that iconic sound, you know, and it's only of the south east of Waw. You hear that, and it's iconic. And until that's gone, I think people are aren't going to realize, you know, until that sound is gone and it just.

Reminds you of home.

But I just you know, if people just plant something as little as a macedonium plant, do you know how much protein that is for a black cock or two? Is as much of as about three three hundred of those banks your seeds?

Is that right?

And that's a native that is dead?

Right?

Mate?

Just planting one Macedonia plant. It may take whatever hundred you know, one hundred years ago, but that's going to help us. And I just want to put the message out there to everyone just planting naty plants, and please a lot of the blackhopple do there. They really are there, under spressed them.

Well, and they shouldn't be. That's a great call, Steve, and good on you for ringing in and drawing attention to it. If that results in just a handful of people going out and planting some native Australian trees, then it's at least it's a step in the right direction. I appreciate the call, Thank you, Steve. And yet black cockatoos, I just I just love them. They're just stunning animals and eagles and things as well. Just I just love I love birds. I should be a bird watcher, a

I'm going to talk to you on the other side.

Yes, how have you been?

Not too bad?

Too bad?

I live on the road, and nothing like works at the front.

I'm with you on roadwork. So they're working on the freeway that's just near my place at twenty four hours a day, and there's a guy who drives an excavator who honks the horn all the bloody time.

Coh, just don't need for that.

Now.

I think he has to honk when he's reversing. So every like three or four minutes, beep deep and it's twenty four hours a day they're running that machine.

You've got to.

No.

Look, I'm pretty good. I'm lucky. I can just tune out at any time. But I had a friend over for dinner the other day and it really drove him nuts because they're not used to it.

Yeah, I can understand it. We'll stop there for it really a set minute.

Yeah that's the way it happens.

Oh, well, they've gotta do it something wrong, because when you're live on the main road, the road sometimes.

Well that's exactly right, because if not, if they didn't do it, we'd be here winging about the state of the roads.

That's going to do it somehow.

That's that's my job as a talkback host and your job as a talkback caller. We have to find something to complain about.

Yeah, well, my son just thronged me. He's found a new job and he started at six o'clock last night.

This morning, long day and long night.

Yes, and when he waked me just then because he and the flood jump they can't go because we don't. So he said, my daughter will take instead.

As long as it gets as long as the job gets done. That's important.

Because I read last time I didn't feel it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said, what are you going to do it? So I've just done it.

Really.

Oh, they're the best needles, aren't they? The ones where the mosquito like you don't notice until after.

Oh, I didn't have one this summer.

Just go on mosquitoes.

No, because where I'm living now, I used to live in the city and then like movie, Ye, I won't say where I'm living and I go where I lived in the city.

I got a ride of our cockroaches.

And oh the fathers, Bob of Fridge the Dead were first flight tour when turtles didn't take notice.

There's a couple more than more.

I'm not running along with the fridge.

Uh.

Letting about getting in my drawers.

Oh terrible.

Yeah, yeah, where I am now? I had a friendly little little with a little child. Little How am I going to get I don't believe in killing.

Well, it's unfortunately. I think you need to sometimes all God's creatures. But cockroaches, sorry, they don't deserve to live. And I say that because I drank one once, So that's that's where it comes from from my perspective. Meredith. I've got to go. We've got to get a break in because we've got the cereal coming up soon. We've got to get another two breaks in before that. Shane, Bob and Aaron with you in a minute. Shane has called in from Rye. How are you doing, Shane?

Yeah, you're saying the.

Well mate, good, thank you?

Yeah, the big one with the birds.

Look, you know, you know my We know the work I do for about twenty eight years now and I've been very blessed in this country to be able to do the work, but very it's very responsible work. And you know about many years ago, I was always going to behavior because I was growing I grew up in a very dynamic social system that was changed dramatic from a and my field is behavioral sciences. So I have been looking at progressive social psychological conditioning for many years now,

Okay, thank you Shane. Good point. I think well made, and keep up the great work you do. I appreciate the call. Good to hear from you. Bob's in Brisbane, Hi Bob, how are you? Yeah? Good?

A couple of things I'd like to say A big oli to me best mate Neil. He's traveling from Sydney to Melbourne and I'm traveling out the Brisbane to Charleble so we keep in contact and I know I know he's listening because he'll ring me straight after this. The other thing is that he's my best mate and I love him. The other thing you're talking about wind turbines coming out of Brisbane. A couple of weeks ago there

Yeah.

Yeah, part of it was, yeah, they obviously they do it in parts, and this part. If we've got this truck go over, we've got to take the exit to go over the overpass and then back onto the freeway where he went straight under the bridge and it was stuck there for three days. The main highway to Tawomba out of Brisbane was blocked for three days. Everybody, everybody had to go around on a detour. Yeah, no, quite popular around here, oh everywhere.

They are all over the place. Thank you, Bob. We've got to get to the cereal very shortly. But yeah, but my question, ultimately, I guess comes down to how much does it cost to build one and how long does it take to recoup that in energy savings? And yeah,

Now this is a screen you're urban eyed with Simon Owens.

Yes, good morning everyone. You heard that right. Tony McManus is off this morning, so it's me. Simon Owen's in the chair. Jay is here as well. And I just heard something Jay that Gabriel said in the weather there that caught me by surprise. Hmmm. And what was the surprise, sim It that the we are only too basically that we are two days away from winter. Oh, yes, the last days of autumn, she mentioned. That's true. It's just it's sort of snuck up on me, like it's been

Yeah.

Well, I think when it comes to time and the year flying, I think it's a bit to do with the weather, because you know, this time of the season, we're usually really cold and we're just you know, obviously a couple of days away from winter, that's why it's so cold. But this year, very mild conditions, a couple.

Of days in winter. That's just completely thrown me. I wasn't expecting that. We did say at the top of the show, which now four hours ago, that I was still getting used to the idea that it's twenty twenty five.

That's right, yes, and we're ever so close to June one now, so you know, because when you cross over to midnight here another day ahead. Yeah, yeah, one minute you yesterday, next minute today. Scary stuff.

I was having a quick flick through the papers during the bullet and then and all the papers are carrying an article on all the news limited papers are carrying an article on Raygun. She's come out and said that, you know, she's battled basically demons mental health issues since the Olympic performance and I have to say I'm not surprised there's people were really really harsh. Like it was. It was an odd performance, it was not what anyone was expecting. But the vitriol that she faced off the

Yeah, we just got to come back to that respect, don't we. For people, you know, understand that we're all different in some way, but we just need to respect. We need you know, we obviously have a go at each other because that's the Aussie way too, but to have that respect at the end of it as well, that's that's the main thing.

Yeah, you can have a go at someone and still have fun exactly without it being nasty. But there was a lot of there was a real pile on towards Raygun. Yeah, and I felt very sorry for her. So I will say, though, I think there's she's made a mistake in the article in ending that. The article ends with basically Raygun saying you've not seen the last of me, and I, no, you don't need to say that, because that's inviting another pileon. Yeah, So yeah, I don't know. I can't blame her. She

That windmill is dan Bowlgain wind farm. Just ran thorn from the page A went off, what tomorrow? What what people are trying to do is like, sure it doesn't spread on the ground, yes, and that's it. Nothing else you can do it. You don't go up climbing, you don't be superheroes, you don't do any.

Of that makes makes perfect sense. It's a little bit high to be getting up to try and put out a fire. And if it's you know, it's not like there's a lot of there that can catch fire. But yeah, you gotta watch for the stuff hitting the ground, I.

Guess, and all those carbon you know that those blades are made of carbon fire, but they just they just shred after a wall. And yeah, and you're talking about how much concrete does it take? Yeah, it takes four average size concrete trucks five days, twenty four hours a day to fill the foundation. And they's use a special mixed concrete.

So that's a lot of concrete. You're telling me.

Put it this way. A city, the suburban suburban house straight, if you just filled every every house up with concrete, that's out and it would be about that plus morning.

Wow.

Now I think the Western Highways open because I'm just hearing the trains go Pastball Place now, Yeah, doing pretty quiet, playing pretty quiet and not a slip.

Well, oh that's well, that's good.

Yeah, I hear trucks making up and down the Western isihlay now because I'm right in the middle of them, two of them.

But you say your slip, Well, but it's quarter past four in the morning. Install you.

Know me?

The trains wake me up with their constant railway crossing.

Two horns okay, yeah, yeah, horns should be banned after a certain time. Ah.

There's like an optional extra on a car now. It's it's like the indicators that you can go to Audo Prow and get a little container a blinker fluid and they'll start working again.

Blinker fluid.

Both sarcastic to joke.

Yeah, no, Okay, now I'm with you. I was yeah that that made no sense to me. Now it does my car horn, just as an aside, because we mentioned horns. My car we purchased in twenty twelve. In twenty thirteen, the horn stopped working. And so I've been without a car horn for twelve years, which has probably been a good thing. Is it is unroadworthy?

Okay, and I have you now getting there afraid?

Have you?

No?

Look, I'm clearly flouting the law because it is unroadworthy. But the problem is to fix the Apparently it's a loose wire in the steering wheel, so in order to do that, they've got to pull out the air bag in order to fix the horn. Oh yeah, So it's just a little Toyota Yaris. But so I was told it was going to cost a couple of hundred bucks just to fix the horn. So I said, I don't worry about it. It's it's only an issue if I ever sold. If I ever sell the car, and it's not,

Yeah, yeah, yeah, shock an accident on the Western air straight.

Yeah, terrible news. That was terrible.

You know, if if the government promised what they said they'll do ten years ago, it all beplicated, right right, past Orsham.

Now, well that stuff needs to happen. But at the same time we broke. So that's that's the that's the juggling money.

Into that black money hole. Whereas brace somewhere, Which one is that?

Which money holds that?

The black hole, the one that they lay The government keep going oh, no, no, no, we're going to make it the box hill.

Oh the rail tunnel thing, Yeah, that's the one, the black hole. Look the thing about that though to die, well, well they're still working on it. Look the thing about the thing that intrigues me about this, because again I'm apolitical.

What about that stupid worst worst tunnel cross out and the tunnel thing to maiden it's freeze right now?

Well have you ever known a government project to run on time for either party?

Wow?

But the Libs were, the Libs were weren't nowhere near as bad as what they are now. Like I heard someone saying earlier this morning, but how to get time off work was just jam jam torlet paper down the toilet, non flashable.

Off we go.

We block the toilet so you can't say the office isn't inhabitable.

Yeah, well I think it was all Denniss. Someone's program might have been Jackiees. I said, yeah, we just jam toilet rolls into the toilet, make them unworkable, and off site they go over four days part.

Yeah that's pretty crappy. Literally Yeah, yeah, I didn't actually mean it that way, but yeah, there you go. I'm witty. I'm witty and I didn't realize it anyway. Good on your market's good to hear your voice, mate, Take care, Cheers, Wilmat Julian Julian of Armadale. I was Jay and I were talking about you off earlier, So look forward to chatting to Wilmot, to Julian, to Michelle, Aaron others. Keep them coming and we will be with you after these.

They're going so let me have him starting to you for a long time forever. Have you watched Carva name with pride yet?

No?

I haven't. No, it is in my list.

Well, yeah, we better put her on top of the list.

Oh well, I've got okay, so I've got I've got China Beach Chaplain Harvey, starring James Stewart student Prince Carva, name with Pride, Guess who's coming to dinner? Elephant man. Yeah, and it goes on. So it's it's in the list fair enough.

Yeah, we don't live serious from Actually we're going to Stall for morrow because Asia is only forty six caves from Stall. And I know my husband that were very interested in this because, uh, with' the turb on, I hold a hicck of a lot of oil and that's why would be very very difficult to put out.

Yeah. Well yeah, if the oil in there catches fire, absolutely.

Yes, yeah, that's that's what would have catched on fire.

Yeah. Yeah, it could be some sort of lubricant that makes the the other thing that allows them to spin freely or oh.

Yes, because they've got a big bullbarians in them too, what makes them? Yeah, go, But anyway, it's very interesting, but probably I don't know exactly. We'reously. We're terribly dry up here at the moment.

And.

I'd say, yeah, some some of them arenald fairly good in farmland not so, I'd say the fires watching there pretty closing for a few days.

Yeah, yeah, I was, I was talking to Marty Fields earlier of the well known comedian the Son of Murray and Vell Gila, who's organizing a fundraiser and a comic relief type thing for farmers who are affected by the drought. The drought is apparently really really horrific, but we in the city don't realize it because we're in this little spot where we have had rain. But just on the other side of Geelong. This is for Victorians, of course,

Sure is? Well, we're retired to farming, but our some has taken the farm and yeah he's the farm water proof by putting balls down and run by you know. The soul panis which is which is great, but foodings.

Are a problems.

Got he said to buy, so he did. He's got pretty high which is good. But we just hope. But we've got a good riding. Good if it goes through through sort of we're going to get much running around some next Mark and be horistic, Solomon. But anyway, we just don't know.

Well we can do is hope. I guess that's yeah, there's not a lot we can Yeah, there's nothing new and I can do, is there?

No, No, No, there's nothing Allan. I always said, it's just as well we can't change the weather, otherwise we'd be fighting all the time, Soloman. No, We've I've got gradation or Dan Launville area and they have said, you know, they've never never ever seen it so dry around that area for lawn might look like around there.

Yeah, no, it's it's quite bizarre. We just wouldn't have known about it in the city if people didn't speak up about it.

That's the sure. Yeah, and any I I'll be pleased to hear from really because I've been learning for a while and.

We need to forget.

Uh you know. It brings memories back to me.

He's a nostalgia person's dream, Julie.

It is.

That is the true. So I'm enough, all the best and it's good to hear from you again.

Good on your thanks, Wilma, lovely Carl, I appreciate it. Thank you. We'll get to Julian shortly, but Michelle's in Portland First High Michelle Oh.

Hi, good morning and hi to everyone. So I'm not normally up at this time, but couldn't because I'm worried about the food security for Australia. A lot of people, I think a lot of people would be thinking this tax that the Labor government are going to put on the Australian people with the council of three million dollars zero, not thinking at the average person, not thinking about the farmers who have got their super innovation tied up in

So the other thing is.

With the drought the farmers are having it.

It's really really dry, it's really dry.

And the thing is, listening to your last caller, a lot of the balls when they go down into the ground, the water level then drops off, so you can't really put a whole. If you have a whole lot of people pumping balls, the water pressure is going to go

Doing it tough.

So we've had two years of dryness, not much rain, and I really feel as.

Though that.

We need to do something radical like march on Canberra because Australia only thirty three percent of Australians did vote this labor government in, only thirty three percent, and no one has gone to the.

To the government.

They didn't really bring this up at their last federal election. And what I'm saying that this has happened six years in a row. Now we've got a labor government. It's like a wrecking ball for the country and they're putting a national security at risk and they're putting our.

Food security at risk.

So it's getting pretty dire and a lot of people have got to start waking up.

Well, Look, the fact is we've got a liberal party that's just pretty much nonexistent, and people put their preferences to the Labor Party, so the public have spoken. So I don't know, you can say only thirty three percent of people voted him in. No, the population vote them in. But yeah, the country is in a mess. The country is in an absolute mess, and Victoria in particular is in a mess, and so stuff does need to happen, and as long as people keep putting the pressure on,

How are you, Julian, Good morning, sir, How are you today?

Excellent? Thank you and all the better for hearing from you.

Yes, sir, just as we're talking about Warnable, they had a big fire in two thousand and nine which virtually destroyed most of the historic Kepler Street Capital Theater in Warnamore, the only cinema left in Warnamore. Magnificent job. I went for the opening in twenty ten with some doubts as

No? I haven't known. But they managed to restore it, did they And it's all looking good.

Twelve months reopened it. It's just the bid of cinema. Cinema one is the one with a fire start and two cinema two and three down below one stage. Warner More had three cinemas and a drive into you know, is that right?

Yeah?

And according to the Kolak Herald about a month ago, they're restoring the Region Theater in Murray Street, coal Ak, which was it still is an RSL club. Have you been in there?

No, haven't been there either. I don't get out much, sadly, but yeah, that's good that they're restoring it. That's good. There's there's there's a theater in my neck of the woods, which is which was a bit sort of run down and on the outside it looks quite run down, but inside it's quite beautiful. They've restored it with dignity.

As you know. Last year the Palace Chain took over the regency of the Ballor You knew that, did you? It's now called the Palace, is that right?

Is that the one that? What was the one that Mike Walsh bought? What was his first theater that was in Ballarat?

He bought some in Sydney, had the Hayden Chain in Sydney her Matchency's Theater.

Yeah, but I thought his first one was a country one in Country Victoria somewhere.

I'm not quite sure about that. Could you find out which one it was?

I could ask him, but I don't think he returns on my calls.

It.

It lives in flits between England and Melbourne, so yeah, he lives in both cities.

We had a date unfortunately that did not work out at the old Holtz New mal Than on Glen Furry Road and then that theater they used to have, one of the last theaters of Howts Chain. They said foot warm worst to remember them.

Oh footwarm was how lovely. Yes, the hot water parks that went through under the seats.

Yeah, that's why they also Lover's chair that was had no it had no harm rest.

Now I've just googled Mike Walsh first theater, and it says Mike Walsh's first Foray inter live theater ownership began with the purchase of Richmond's Regent Theater in nineteen seventy seven in Sydney. Well, it said Richmond.

So Sydney Regent, not the Melbourne one, right, Okay, yep, I remember the old the old Hoyz chain and the Quartiously, the date that I had did not work out. She married someone else and they got the worse.

Oh is that right?

That's right now. I used to know an usher who was a veteran usher of Melbourne cinemas, and he recalls he used to be a gentleman who used to come in on a very cold day and sleep at the cinema all day. And in the summer who used to come to the same cinema and used to sleep all day because it was too hot.

Amps Yeah, I've always said that people like to when it hits forty degrees, people say, oh, I'm going to the beach and I go, You're insane. You're going to burn your feet on the sand. The water will feel freezing in comparison to the heat in the air. You're going to get a bad sunburn. Because you always miss a spot when you put the lotion on. Why would you go to the beach when it's forty degrees That's when you go to a cinema.

That's right, red.

Lines breaking in there.

I was su speaking to an usher red in London when they had the Elephant Man there, and she said, we have people in the London cold weather. You know how cold it gets in Underdog you Oh.

Yeah, yeah, a little on the chili side. Yeahs a bit colder than it does in Australia most of the places.

May I tell you an old story from the Courier Mail back in nineteen seventy eight when they destroyed the Regent Theater in Brisbane. There was a lot of controversy about that they had a green band on her and they pulled the green band at five o'clock and version destroyed most of the old Regent in Brisbane. And there was a man who worked in a projection room and he looked out the window one night and guess what he saw his girlfriend dating another man.

Oh really, that's right.

He wasn't really happy about. There's nothing you can do.

About it, eh, No, Well better to find out, I guess.

And then there was a story of a lady he used to work projection Williamson. And you know most of some of those old Melbourne theaters still have posts.

Sorry say again, some of the.

Old Melbourne theaters have posts behind the seats, in front.

Of the seats, posts as in like columns of that support the roof.

And they used to sell them the old days, she said, those seats that had obscured view of the stage with a post half priced right.

Yes, yeah, and they still do. There are some there you can still. I can't remember which theaters, but there are I know obstructed view seats. I think a lot of them might be from overhanging balconies or something. If you're sitting right up the back, the overhanging balcony can block part of the view of the stage if the show has a high set.

And she told the story of how a lady came and said, I can't see the stage because of the post, and she said, don't worry, madam. When the curtain goes up, the post goes up with the curtains.

Of course, that's wonderful. Now, Julian, I must move on, but it's lovely to hear your voice. It's been quite some time since we've spoken. So I'm glad to hear you. Okay, nice to hear from you, sir, No worries. Good on you, Julian. There's Julian from Armadale. Peter's in Adelaide.

Gooda Peter morning, Simon.

How are you?

Yeah?

Not too bad? What have you got for us?

Now?

I do a regular with Tony the SA NFL sand Full. Do you follow footy?

I don't, but many people listening do, so yeah, go for it.

Now we've got a big round coming up round eight Saturday, maybe thirty first, the last day of autumn, the one hundred and fifty first day of the year. Now Tony is a mad Norwood supporter. Last year Nord played Glenelg in the Grand Final. Currently Glenelg are in the third or fourth position five wins, two losses. Nor With are on equal bottom one win.

Six losses.

Go figure it out, how about that? Anyway? I'll quickly go through them from I know you've got other callers that want to get on. First of all, the first game is it's a Richmond IV will just round the corner from where I live, hysin Stadium one ten Saturday, West Satellade versus the Mighty Red Legs Now Nord will have to win to have any hope of competing in the finals. West was smashed at Blene by the Bays

No?

I didn't know.

Well, six Abstrain players were chosen, which is remarkable and they'll be playing in the ABSOL system soon. Central unfortunately lost. I've got to think of his name, the midfield of Manny Livy. I think it is who's previously played at Sturt. If he's not allowed to play for Centrals, Sturt will win easily. If he is, could be a very very close match. My heart bleeds double Blue Sturt below the line of nineteen and a half.

Well, that's the game that matters because first versus second and Yeah, stt just one game up on the Central and Simon.

In nineteen seventy one when I was a teenager, Central District ended Sturt's five premierships in a row, beat us in the first semi final at the Adelaide Oval by about five goals and I cried for a week that I was yeah anyway. And the third game is at Prospect Over North Adelaide. North Adelaide versus Woodball West Torrence. North have been very disappointing. They sacked their coach Jacob Surgeon a week and a half two weeks ago. Woodbell

No, no, always a pleasure, that's not a problem. Good to keep everyone across all the codes of football and the different league. So good on you. I appreciate the call. Thanks Peter. We will knock off a break, Aaron, Bob and Rob with you soon. No, he won't because Bob's just dropped out, but we've got Aaron and Rob will be with you in a minute. Aaron's in w a morning.

Aaron, Good morning, Simon. How are you?

Yeah?

Good, thank you.

Yeah, I'll be very brief this issue regarding anti bullying within the state school system. I mean, you know, people do what they can to put a stop to a Simon, but at the same time, you know you can't stop these kids from bullying one another. I mean it's an ongoing issue that can be very hard to resolve. You understand what I'm saying.

Oh, look, kids are kids. Unfortunately that means that they can be immature and bullying. Yeah, bullying will happen, absolutely.

Yeahs terrible as it is the only thing that can be introduced really that to resolve the issue, Simon, because I mean, you know, you know it can't be stopped so reasonably. I mean, you know, see just the start at the schools that these schools, you know, they can't really they enforce that little bit. At the same time, you know, that's not the bullying silent, because I mean

Look, it is terrible. I think the larger part of the problem with bullying is the parenting because there's only so much a school can do. You know, in schools, you know, if there's a ratio of one teacher to every twenty odd kids, they simply can't be everywhere to make sure that kids aren't bullying each other as much as we would like them to be able to be. There's too much pressure on teachers in the school system as it is.

The worst thing about it is simon, nobody can stop it. Nobody can put a stop to it.

No, it's very very sad, you know, it is.

It is awful.

What really can anybody do? What can the education department do? You make it twitdally thumbs and not do anything about it, because that's what's what's going on? Which is usually the case. I mean, these kids get bullied to buggery when when they're atiliated, I mean somebody or some gets very badly heard or injury, it will be.

In the school.

Yeah, look, I think that the thing about it is aaron that the schools do do everything they can. They they teach about bullying and the and the problems that bullying causes, and there's educational films and things that they show at schools, and you know, it is a big part of the of the the what's what's it called the school curriculum as it were, to make sure health and wellness for all kids. Unfortunately, as my dad once said, and it's just something that's stuck in my mind years ago,

Yourself?

Yeah?

Pretty good.

With that fire and that winterbine, maybe they can try, obviously too late to save the one that's on fire now, but they can retrofute them and put nozzles in and pup c O two into them. At least that way it will help cool the heat. Sauce and start the fire up the box.

Yeah, yeah, because you need the oxygen to burn for the fuel to burn, so yeah, pipe up co two.

Yeah, because they putting wire water on the fire like that. The other caller suggested, what the shower.

Yeah you don't.

You don't put water on an electrical fire.

No, very good point. Well, thank god, I'm not in charge.

A not all good mate. But yeah, they're finding theory of these wind farm things. But oh well, what do you do if they produce power? Bonus?

Yeah? Look, I don't know whether they're worthwhile having or not. I don't have any knowledge to to have an opinion on it. But yeah, it's the fire in the thing and the fire he is sitting around just watching it burn because there's not much they can do. I just find an interesting story.

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I wouldn't want to be up there.

No, I don't think. I don't think those ladders on the back of the trucks go that high.

I ll just bys a cable tie on length of them and make your way up there.

Well, do do what the treeloppers do and have that sort of belt around their back and shimmy up. Yeah, I don't want to be doing all that. I'd sit sit a safe distance away and watch it. And yeah, that's that's about it, all right, get on your rob Thanks for that, appreciate it and thank you six P are good to have you on board this morning. Tony. You'll probably be back tomorrow and so or later tonight, I should say. If he is, he'll see you. If not, it might be me again. So it's been great to

Now, this is Australia Urbanized with Simon Owen's.

Yes you heard that right. Tony McManus is away this morning. Oh what are we opening with here? Jay? This one's the good old Bruce Springsteen Boss the Boss. It's a human touch. Yeah, oh yeah, now I recognize it. I think it was a good song ninety ninety two, ninety two, so that's thirty three years ago, which it's bloody scary, isn't it When you say that it is because if you then go back thirty three years from nineteen ninety two, you get nineteen fifty nine. You know, pre Beatles. It's

Service from ahead of the stats, little body John word in this.

It's just.

Silly out here.

Do you think what I'll ask.

You too much?

I just wow?

Something too long out.

Little little That new birth turner, just that new birth turner.

One of my favorite clips on YouTube is a Bruce Springsteen clip. And I've probably bored you sideways with this story about a dozen times, but I'll tell it again. There's a clip of Bruce Springsteen live in concert in like a stadium, so it's not just some small concert hall or something. It's a stadium. There are tens of thousands of people watching him, and he's got a thing going where because he's been performing for so long. People write the names of songs on something and hold it

I think there was a band that I admired a couple of years ago and they got someone from the crowd up and started to play the guitar section of the song Yeah, and it was from you to it, I figured, And he just went through the notes of the song with her and then all of a sudden, she just picked it up and away she wins.

Isn't that fabulous with them? I was at a Billy Joel concert years ago, might have been the storm Front tour, I think it was. And a guy threw up a poster on stage. I rolled up and Billy Joels picked up the poster and unrolled it. And the guy who threw it up there does a Billy Joel tribute show, and I think he's I've only ever found one reference to it on the internet.

But the.

Name of the act, the tribute act was really Joel, so r E A W L y Really Joel. And so Billy said, oh you do me?

Do you all right?

Yeah, we'll get up here. Let's let's see your stuff. So he got up there and asked him what song he wanted to do, and I think he did. It was only the Good Guy Young, which is a pretty you know, rocky up there song. So Billy Joel's just playing the piano. He's given this guy the microphone in front of him, and the guy's dressed like Billy Joel, and he's got the same hair at that stage and like and he had the It was where Billy Joel

On the start of the fire here.

Yeah, yes, so so he gets the guy gets up there, Billy Joel's playing away with the band, and this guy absolutely nailed it. You could have sworn it was. There were two Billy Joels on stage, a young one which was this tribute guy, and the older Fata one at the piano.

Be weird if you were the artists. Yeah, looking into a mirror sort of thing.

Yeah, yeah, watching watching a younger version of yourself on Yeah. But yeah, wonderful stuff. The stuff that happens at live concerts is marvelous. I was a I wasn't a fan particularly of Pink, but my wife wanted to go and see Pinking concerts. So I was the reluctant plus one. Yeah, yeah, I reluctantly went along to a Pink concert. And Pink's

And it's very easy for her to have a chat to someone in the audience because of the aerobatics, because she can sort of flip over to someone.

Because she's she's surrounded by wires, she can go anywhere in the stadium. Have you seen her in concert or I.

Haven't actually seen her in concert, but I've seen her video clips and things with her how she does at a stage performance. But yeah, incredible and fit, so fit, and yeah and energetic. It's incredible.

One double three, it's already caughtter past five. We haven't even We've just been talking about concerts one double three, six nine three for the remaining fifteen minutes of the show. Greatest thing you've ever seen at a concert. Love your calls on that. If we just want to throw that in, we'll throw out everything else we were thinking you're doing at this time. We're supposed to be doing Shane A Bassett, but he's not available. At the moment, so we'll maybe

Good a Mark, Hey, good afternoon. I'm in great to who you want?

Break tom thank you, thank you mate. Very, I'm very happy to be here. It's been four or so months since i've done this shift.

Yes, hey, I'm at a Prince concert June seven, twenty fourteen in Vienna.

Prince is not one that's going to.

Stop and have a little chat to a show. The show just kept going and going. But on this particular night, June seventh, that's his birthday, and there was a pause in the show and the whole audience saying happy birthday to him. That band stopped and let Yeah, the band stopped and let us go. It was great, What an event. Prince didn't acknowledge birthdays, but yeah he had to in this case. The whole audio was thinking to him, that's.

Fantastic, that's wonderful. How did it sort of happen though? Did someone just start and everyone joined in and the band just shut up? Did they?

I think so?

I think people.

I mean I was down the front that just sort of it originated somewhere and off it went. I'm sure it's going to be on YouTube somewhere.

I've never actually looked for.

It, but you reminded me of that event when you know, you were asking about things that happened at concert, and you know, I have to do a little bit of research on that one, because it was quite quite an event last time I saw him.

I don't know, like by all means have a look and people might be looking for it now, but my understanding with YouTube, I haven't looked for a lot of Prince material, but I know that Prince used to have it all taken down. You couldn't get his stuff on YouTube at some point but given he's not here anymore, I don't know whether the estate and still.

Looks unfortunately since he passes, are free for all pretty much that is, is it?

Yeah?

In Spotify and that sort of stuff.

Yeah, the Prince estate seems to be just money hungry, so they're doing innothing. They canvas or milk, milk the legacy.

But that's the way.

Yeah, that happens, definitely.

That's my little thing.

Beautiful. Now that's a that's a great one. How are you going, Mark, all well in your world?

Yeah? I guess it's okay.

Yeah, we're rolling along, still waiting for summer over here in Europe.

It's still really cold here.

You'll be. You don't start seasons at the start of the month, do you, it's the twenty somethings.

No, it's twenty second I think of June. But you know we're obviously at the end of May and still with electric blanket on her mat.

Yeah, we've just put ours on some gold everywhere.

Yeah, it's sharing got no where, it's warm.

Somewhere somewhere in between.

All right, good to talk to you, Mark, Thank you, great sho.

Thanks mate, I appreciate it. Cheers. Ralph is in Melbourne, Hi, Ralph, thank you mate.

In Adelaide, Bruce Springstein was playing, and I don't know if you know John Peverton. He's one of the Pember one of the great voices of radio, and he retired in Adelaide and he always had his Pember radio show band.

That is just magnificent. I love him even more now. That's what a great story that is.

Yeah, so you never know who's gonna who's gonna let pop up on stage and it's just, you know, one of those magic moments. He doesn't look for them, but when they're there, he certainly certainly does them.

Yeah, that is beautiful. Good on your Ralph, appreciate the call. What a ripper story that is. Twenty three after five, seven to five in South Australia, twenty three after five in Melbourne. Before we go, Rory and.

I'd like to leave you with a little something to think about, a little philosophy exactly. So I'm going to read you something from the Book of Wisdom. It says here a wise man once said he that lives not well one year sorrows seven after or whatever that means.

I know exactly what's he talking about. He's an idiot, exactly. Please for spect me in the morning. Am I reading from the book of Idiots? I don't know what's happening.

Don't talk about me. I'm gone joining if you like again, you know the things you say will be turned against yourself something.

Don't talk about me when I'm gone.

Goodbye, goodbye.

Now I'm on my way.

And I don't care what you say here.

I'm going home, so.

Respect me. Ye, Joe discuss me here.

It's not nice.

Chris so I hate something down there.

Joe talk.

Where I'm gone.

Well, that's it for me. Tony McManus will hopefully be back at midnight tonight Melbourne time, ten pm, per Time, twelve thirty Adelaide Time. Thank you Jay for all you have done tonight in the program. I look forward to doing it next time we meet. Stand by for your breakfast shows. They'll be coming up on the other side of the news.