The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Gary Taig - Executive Producer prod-mgr@melbpc.org.au |
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Half listening to radio station 774 ABC Melbourne one evening, in fact it was Friday 27 February, working away quietly on PC Update I was gently awakened by a musical blast from the past. This blast came from way back, perhaps in my childhood; So far back that I recognised only the tune before Derek Guille the evening host began to wrap up, saying "Well thank you Mike..." etc and he read out a Web site address where listeners could follow up. It happened so quickly that I missed most of it. You know what it's like, when you're deeply engrossed elsewhere and a new topic attempts to take over a tired brain. There was some confusion.
This was during the lead up to the Port Fairy Folk Festival. Derek had been interviewing Mike Jackson, accompanied by the Wise Family Singers from Western Australia and suddenly he was saying goodnight so quickly that all I could do was grab a pencil and jot down the singer's name and his URL. This while I stretched over and fumbled with the other hand, trying to turn up the volume without knocking over the coffee mug.
An immediate search on Google turned up a Web site that led to a very interesting 24 hours. I downloaded a free MP3 file from the site and played it. Clearly the song (Dr, Knickerbocker) was aimed at children and so I played it to my 4-y-o grandson, Ethan. Incredibly he began to sing along with it. This was quite something; It turns out that he learnt it at Kindergarten and knew all the words. I was fascinated.
I fired off an e-mail to the contact person Diane Hill, asking where we could see Mike (Derek's words were still echoing and I just knew they would be playing somewhere in Melbourne), plus how could I purchase this music. I explained what had happened with Ethan.
The response from Diane arrived early next morning and to cut a long story short we ended up attending a concert at the Albert Park Yacht Club that afternoon. Watching Ethan sing along with Mike was a sight for my sore eyes. He had a fabulous day, and so did I quite frankly... away from the grind.
I bought four CDs for the young fellow; he has a copy of Dr. Knickerbocker on his computer and sings along with it and I've got that warm, fuzzy feeling, knowing that I rejoined a young boy with music he loves and in doing so, supported an artist who really deserves the support. Have a look at http://www.mikejackson.com.au/index.htm and download the Dr. Knickerbocker MP3 file. Play it for your children or grandchildren and see if they recognise the song. For more information e-mail Diane Hill at djwombatoz@bigpond.com and if you're keen to catch some good kids music I recommend the CD titled "I'm a Nut" which also features the Wise Family Band. The Wise Family Web site is http://www.slwise.com.au/. Irrespective of whether or not you buy a CD, check out the incredible talent in that family. Scott is a luthier and makes the instruments and all five family members are extremely talented musicians, right down to 10-y-o Rowena.
Mike Jackson's CD, "I'm A Nut" contains among other songs, Skinnamarink, Grandfather's Clock, Polly Wolly Doodle, Shortnin' Bread, Bluetail Fly and more of those old songs you haven't heard since you were in short pants. It's a smorgasbord of memories and a good source of entertainment for the kids.
PC Update Advertising
In the last month I've recruited two experienced sales reps, Ken Head and Steve Gray. Both men have many years of experience representing major publishers and as of now they are selling space in PC Update. When I took on this publication I had planned to sell my own advertising but alas, there weren't enough hours in the day.
After a couple of failed attempts to get someone else on the job, finally I have two good men and soon we will see a difference in the number of ads. I plan to put PC Update onto the newsagent's shelves before the end of this year and if all works out as planned you will be reading a thicker magazine before too much longer. We'll have more good quality content and of course, more adverts from a wider range of merchants.
When you phone or visit a PC Update advertiser, please tell them where you saw their advert. In these times when advertising budgets are tight and results carefully monitored, if we don't tell them, then they might not know their advert is actually working and they might invest elsewhere. We need them to stay with PC Update so that we can have more issues like this month. The more free time I have to research topics and find suitable material, the better for PC Update and ultimately, for all readers.
Reprinted from the April 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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