Word came in late in the month of the death of a Steve Raymond

Word came in late in the month of the death of a radio/tv household name, with the passing of Steve Raymond aged 81. Not a bad innings pal, with plenty of highlights over plenty of years. It all goes back to the 60s and 2GB and 2SM. I remember nearly 20 years at WS, and more work with 2UE and KY plus a very handy stint as a triple Logie winner on Network Ten News and with Mike Willesee on A Current Affair. Oh, and did we mention his lunchtime Steve Raymond Variety Show on Network Ten and the fact that he was a celebrated commentator on the Speedway scene for many years? You'll understand why more and more of my colleagues in the entertainment industry are using the word "legend". Incidentally, the nation also awarded him an OAM to go with those three Logies. This bloke dominated radio and TV for so long, ending his days with a stunning CV. A close buddy of mine was actually having a catch-up dinner with Steve not so long ago and called me from the restaurant. This is one of my favourite memories, you know, with the phone being passed over to Steve and two veterans having a talk and a laugh about the old days. Steve Raymond is a name known to just about everybody... For over a generation he was a part of Australia's furniture. Have no doubt about it pal, you are an absolute legend.

And so on to the latest Sydney radio ratings with "the old Smoothie" Smooth FM unseating the News Talk giant 2GB as the city's number one station overall. Ben Fordham still rules as number one in Brekky but Smooth has edged-out KIIS as the top FM show in the early hours. Indeed, KIIS has lost over 3 points in the latest survey following the demise of K and J O in their celebrated departure. Gold's Jonesy and Amanda have gone from one end of the day to the other to hit number one in Drive. There's a lot going on in '26 people... Can GB get back to the top of the hill and how far can KIIS dip in the next six months? For anyone who's counting, they've surrendered +30% in the past twelve months. We work in a tough business.

We've all read many a tall tale from the Seven Seas, embellished I'm sure by the ancient Seafarers. But this tale, from the 1700s, has an official report and a stack of reliable witnesses. Even so, I'm pretty sure readers will raise their eyebrows a few extra notches after I recount the story of First Fleeter Francis Carty. Young Francis was sentenced to be hanged for highway robbery in 1786, but this was commuted to transportation to Botany Bay. He arrived in Sydney with the First Fleet but soon disappeared. It's presumed he escaped and managed to get on board a vessel heading back to England. The key clue to remember here is that at the time of his sentence his family gave him a prayer book, with his name clearly shown inside. There are no further reports of Francis being sighted, but we can tell you that wherever he went his treasured prayer book was always with him. So to a miracle at sea on May 1, 1792 on board the HMS Gorgon sailing through the Southern Ocean on her way home to London from Sydney. Included on board were many of the First Fleet marines and their families. The crew were fishing to supplement their diet and hooked three sharks. The rest of the story is captured by Marine Lt. Ralph Clark. "In the belly of one of them was found a prayer book, quite fresh not a leaf of it defaced and on one of the leaves was wrote Francis Carthy cast for death in the year 1786 and reprieved the same day." Not only that but several marines actually knew Carty/Carthy from their time in Sydney. Further corroboration comes from the Naval Agent Lt. Robert Parry Young who records, "Caught three sharks, one had a prayer book entire within it." This remains one of the most amazing stories from these early days of the Colony. How the book got inside a shark is best left to the reader's imagination. (Source: Founders Magazine, published by the First Fleeters Fellowship)

This is the 83rd anniversary of one of the most audacious raids in World War 2. It was May 16-17, 1943 when the legendary flyer Wing Commander Guy Gibson lead his 617 Squadron RAF on "Operation Chastise" in Germany's Ruhr Valley. You'll know it better as the raid by the Dambusters. Another legend, Scientist/Engineer/Inventor Barnes Wallis is the boffin who came up with the whole idea of smashing the German dams in the Ruhr Valley, destroying the war industry dependant on them. Barnes Wallis figured out if the allied bombers could smash the walls the whole Ruhr Industrial complex would be flooded, hydro-electric resources would be wiped out and the factories would run out of water. The problem was that the dams were nigh on impregnable... You couldn't get at them. And so was born the famous "bouncing bombs". The bombers flew at straight at the dam wall, at around 20 metres above the water, and let their bombs go in front of the dam. They would then bounce their way on the water till they hit the wall and went boom. Only the Brits can think of this stuff. It cost eight aircraft and 56 brave crew but the inventor knew exactly what he was doing. The Mohne and Eder dams were totally breached, flooding the Valley and interrupting Germany's production for five months.

Guy Gibson was an international hero and received the VC from the King. Sadly he was dead the following year when his bomber went down in the Netherlands. The nation -- indeed the Empire -- mourned his passing.



The recent Farrer by-election answered one key question... Yes, Pauline Hanson's mob can win a seat in the Lower House and did so easily. But the questions I raised last month remain to be tested. One Nation won in most of the booths but not in the city of Albury. So we're stuck with the political reality that -- if the combined Opposition parties want to roll Labour at the next Federal vote -- (1) can One Nation and the Nationals cooperate to share the country/ fringe City seats, and (2) can the Libs get back into the race and start regaining traction in the Inner cities? Got to say I don't think so on both counts.

A public thank you to Foxtel for restoring one of my favourites, BBC NEWS. Wonderful
to have our tried and trusted BEEB back, especially at a time when there are some strange things happening in the world of news.

Paying tribute this month to NRL Supercoach Wayne Bennett, master of the laconic Aussie one-liner. The South Sydney coach took advantage of an extra few days off recently to pay a visit to his cows on the family cattle property in Queensland. The Rabbitoh players were amazed to see Wayne return in a relaxed, almost mellow mood.... Why some body even caught him smiling! Which got the players thinking that Wayne actually preferred his cows to his players. Channel 9 News eventually caught up with the Great One and put it to him, "What is it that makes it so much better to be with your cows, rather than with the players?" Quick as a flash he responded drily, "No mobile phones." Nailed it Supercoach, totally nailed it.

No wonder golf fans from one end of the Earth to the other absolutely love Rory McIlroy. The Irish Superstar recently fired an ordinary 4+ 74 in the opening round of the PGA Championship, triggering this interesting exchange in the Media area. Reporter: Rory, how would you describe your opening round? Rory: Shit. Not politically correct but boy does it sum up that first round. It's exactly the same description your average golfer would give to his mates at their local golf club after a less than impressive round in the Monthly Medal. No translation required.

One of my favourite bits of Aussie slang is the line, "You've got to be pulling my leg," or the variant, "Go on, pull the other one," which is similar in meaning to, "You're having a lend of me." It means what you're saying never happened, it's just a story, probably inflated to make you look good, never happened. These lines are actually from England in the early 19th century. There are a couple of explanations, one suggesting it comes from when a thief would "accidentally" knock you down by hitting your leg, allowing an accomplice to rob the intended target, and two, a ghoulish theory which has to do with public hangings. Apparently, bystanders would pull the legs of the person hanged in order to hasten their death, so that they didn't have to suffer any further.

PS Rest assured the writer was not "pulling your leg" with his earlier story on the shark and the prayer book -- that was absolutely "fair dinkum" (which originally came from England, meaning ‘'a fair day's work" but eventually evolved in the colony to mean "honest").

I was watching Channel 9 recently when I saw an apparently innocent promo. I feel it my duty to alert readers who may choose to alter their lives over the next year... eg. some may elect to leave the country completely, others may set up appointments with their local Counsellor. The promo was calling for people who might want to apply to join a new series of "Married at First Sight". OMG. MAFS is going to haunt us again for another series. You can't escape it. It means more and more MAFS promos in the 9 News and "Tipping point". If this early alert manages to ease some of your pain over future months then my job is done.

THE CRUEL SEA.

"This is the story of the Battle of the Atlantic, the story of the ocean, two ships and a handful of men. The men are the heroes, the heroines the ships. The only villain is the Sea, the Cruel Sea, which man has made more cruel."

— From the 1953 movie "The Cruel Sea", based on the famous novel by Nicholas Monsarrat.