Birthday celebrations - muted, but pleasant.

Zoe came up from Canberra this evening, to have dinner with me, for my Birthday.
We arranged to meet up at the Robbo Pub for dinner. It was very quiet in the back room there tonight (whereas, by all accounts, last night was a big night in the bar, despite the blackout). Anyway, we had dinner there tonight. We may have been the only people to eat there, tonight (or others must have eaten early on).

Zoe and me, about to have dinner in the Robbo Pub

(Photo: Peter Johnson).

I had their nice, but ridiculously large Roast Rack of Beef. They serve a single cut of what is effectively a huge bone with a sirloin cut attached (if it was Lamb, you would call it "a chop"). The food is good, but far more than I can ever eat, (and I am quite capable of eating a regular steak). But Lena does not mind my indulgence, as she gets the excess steak, and has the bone as souvenir (and then sleeps it off under the computer table, as I write this story).

(Photo by Peter Johnson)

Tonight the entertainment was provided by a clever musician, Joe, from Sydney. By day, he is an aero-space engineer, (would you believe), but by night he assumes the persona of a very accomplished "muso". He has considerable technological assistance, but he knows how to get the best out of his equipment, too. He also is a good judge of his audience, for he played a few numbers which were popular with both Zoe and myself, including "Sultans of Swing" which had Zoe and me reminiscing on having attended a famously wet concert by "Dire Straights" and "Hothouse Flowers", at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra many, many years ago.

Peter joined us for dinner, and a bit of a giggle. He was keen to take a photograph or two, and to re-live his moments as an assistant director on the shooting of Babe, in Robbo (also many years ago). Everyone had a few memories to re-live tonight, it seems.

Here is Peter "framing" a shot with his hands, showing us how it is done "in the movies".
Tomorrow I shall be handing out "How to Vote" slips for the Climate Change Coalition. Patrice Newell and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki are both standing for the Senate in NSW. I have no idea how successful they will be, but I certainly feel determined to help them both in their campaign. And that is not the least because of the support which Patrice has shown the Save Water Alliance in our fight to protect the Kangaloon Aquifer. It turns out that protection of rivers, (and Aquifers) is a State wide battle, in the face of the onslaught of Coal Mining, both Open Cut mining, and the insidious "Longwall Mining", which although conducted very deep underground, can crack rivers, and even risk damaging roads and bridges (such as the Douglas Dark Twin Bridges), as discussed recently.

Anyway, I am hoping for a Birthday Present tomorrow night, in the form of a certain result in tomorrow's election. Time will tell.