Not to be confused with the Bilolea family deemed not good enough for Strayla, : ‘The Singhalese Defectives’, the “Singing Detective”, was an accurate portrayal of plastic surgery gone horribly wrong!
No need for a BFI, (Big Fat Intro), this-un from Frank of the distant north is reminiscent of the ‘Singing Detective’. Both Dennis Potter and Frank have a habit of mining the miscellany of human experience for gold. No the stuff that makes Gina and Twiggy jump for joy, but as the countdown (only five days till Christmas) beats its measured pace, there comes the plaintive cry ” Three wise men: Who? Which? What . and Where? Aint no such thing in Parliament! Immaculate conception is more plausible. Is that a shibboleth,? Or are you just pleased to see me? Read on…
Hola,
Frank auditions for another post from his Yuemdumu Ham radio shack.
A bit embarrassing but gratifying all the same, I may well have received more well-wishing messages than did the Duke of Edinburgh when he was drawing the final curtain. Inshallah I shall last that long.
I’m on the mend (going back home on the bus tomorrow). Thank y’all for your wishes which came true.
A late inclusion for the upcoming Third test at the MCG, by a miracle of genetic engineering and Marvel Comic franchise, a modified and improved ‘Phil the Greek’ opens the batting for England.
When I arrived at the Hospital, in the next bed there was an Aboriginal man who’d come out of ICU. He only spoke in monosyllables. “I’ve come to take your blood pressure- is that OK?” Monosyllabic answer which sounded like a mumbled ‘yes’ but equally sounded like a mumbled ‘no’.
“I’ve come to take your blood- is that OK?” Monosyllabic answer which sounded like a mumbled ‘yes’ but equally sounded like a mumbled ‘no’.
Turns out the fellow was a Warlpiri speaker, a Jangala, a Robertson.
He is a tough old fellow. In one week, he moved from catatonic existence at death’s door to giving me a broad smile and a cheerful wave as his carer wheeled him out the room.
I was to see Jangala for another half an hour as he patiently waited in the corridor for his paperwork to be completed. His carer agreed with me that it would have been a serious breach of protocol should Jangala have been discharged without paperwork.
Soon thereafter I was also discharged, hastily bundled into a wheelchair and wheeled into an elevator, and whisked into the ‘transit room’. Wait one hour for a pharmacist to bring me my yellow plastic bag labelled ‘Discharge Medication’ and another hour for the NT Health minibus service to take me to the Hostel to await the bus.
Phil thanks Tony for his next knighthood, Tonys comment; “Twice a knight at your age is quite remarkable’?
For some reason (that’s how my mind works) I was reminded of one of my dad’s favourite movies-
Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Modern Times’
It wasn’t until I settled in my Hostel Room that I realised that the catheter bag I was attached to was specifically designed to monitor and record timing and volume of effluent. A flat 20 cm diameter you beaut, amply calibrated and most definitely too wide to fit in a trouser leg (flares are no longer in fashion). I rang the Hospital and within two hours they delivered a neat uncalibrated a la mode number with adjustable leg straps. These little things that bring you joy!
Phil had links to Queen Victoria, and via a “circuitous route” to a teen called Alice. Teen declined an offer of an interview.
So I miss my Yuendumu and look forward to the bus ride. I’m told in Yuendumu life keeps on going in its usual fairly laid-back fashion.
During my one-week sojourn in Alice Springs, Jupurrula gave up his long dialysis fight in Yuendumu. Nungarrayi from Yuendumu passed away somewhere in Alice Springs Hospital. A couple died in a car accident on the Kintore Road, and a man drowned in a water hole near Hermannsburg (Ntaria). All of these had links (family and friends) with Yuendumu.
A stoic bunch are we Yuendumuites.
Surfing Youtube I’m once again reminded of the universality of music. This is not something I expected from the New Guinea Highlands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv9q98QivvM
And then there is this from ‘up the road’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fsx7paa9_Y
If only we could get those terrible people that do such as scapegoating Julian Assange, and keeping those poor buggers that risked everything to seek refuge in our great land in limbo for political purposes, to get together and make beautiful music instead.
Ah well no harm in dreaming
Dress rehearsal by Phil for Julian Assange’s extradition to the U.S. His crime? For telling the truth. A crime punishable by Land Rover.
Have a happy Christmas and a great 2022,
Frank