An old brown envelope. Wrapped in love. It's addressed to you. What do you do?

Written and recorded (for the April May Gems Radio Show / Podcast, amidst visits to a Palliative Care Ward in Perth, Western Australia )

On location for the PINK FLOYD Orchestrated World Tour – ECLIPSE, in Christchurch NZ, I do declare faithful listener, that I "WISH YOU WERE HERE!"

Coming to you on location in HOKITIKA on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, for their Annual Living Waters Music Festival, I share a few 'fun facts' about radio on yet another annual celebration – The International Day of Radio aka "World Radio Day!"

Do you ever feel like you’re living under a cloud of gloom? Like, there's a thick, heavy blackness just looming over you?

"You've just been touched by an anonymous act of kindness...now it's your chance..." 

Are you curbed to the idea that this life, in 2025 is NOT a great time to be alive? Well, I think it depends on what you’re looking at. Do you remember the kaleidoscope - that toy with the magical displays of different colours that you could spin around and new patterns would emerge and it was just all so mysteriously wonderful? As a little child we could be so mesmerised by these magical moments of wonder.

Long-gone are the days when “Get your stocking out” meant to pull out the biggest sock you could find, from inside your undies drawer, ready to wake up on Christmas morning with an orange stuffed in the toe part, plus a red netted bag of nuts that you couldn’t really eat unless you had a nutcracker (or muscles that no six-year-old had!)  However, there were a few lollies in there and some coins and one special light up or moving toy of some description so it was all good.

I have heard people say, "Oh, its about family..." "Look, its all about the giving..." "Ha, it's just all about the kids really..." and "Well, its about being happy, you know...joy, joy, joy and all that..." Well, what if I don't have kids or I'm far away from any family or I'm poor, with nothing to give or I have really good reasons to just, actually, feel sad? What is Christmas then?