And You Thought the Tram was Crowded?

6,774,816,471. That was the population of the world when I checked circa three minutes ago. It has gone up already by who knows how much? By about one thousand, probably slightly more. An environment protection agency, Sustainable Population Australia, say the almost 22 million populated country should consider having a one-child policy as they do in China. The president of the group believes Australia’s population should be reduced to seven million inhabitants, but that restrictions on immigration are not necessary. Cuts on maternity benefits after the first child are also something that could reduce the number of births. The group is expecting a chill welcome to this idea. A Chinese official who visited Australia not long ago confirmed that 300 million births have been avoided in China since its introduction in 1979. Although that is food for thought, it must be taken into account that China has a population of 1.3 billion people on an area not even comparable in size to that of Australia. It is a question that could be debated till humanity is blue in the face, but maybe the most important question is this: in what other ways could the people on planet earth keep it alive? To read the article, go to:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25366021-29277,00.html

Something Close to Home

Hello everybody, spring has finally arrived and I could not be more pleased. The smells, the lights, even the noisy kids next door are so much more pleasant. A good friend of mine asked me to translate interviews he had bought back home after his trip to Australia two months ago. He had been there to find out about the late Jackie Orszáczky, a famous Hungarian bass guitarist who spent much of his life down under. I thought it would be appropriate to pay a little tribute to this musician who some many loved, yet many don’t know about. Jackie passed on last February at the age of 60 and although not much was published about this in Hungary, many Australians mourned his death. He spent most of his time in Sydney where he gathered a loyal and admiring group of followers. He had many different bands and worked with a very popular singer of the time – Marcia Hines – as her musical director.Probably the most famous band he had in Oz was Jump Back Jack, while in Hungary the young generation were going crazy over Syrius. Jack also became an amazing piccolo bass player, a passion that set out as something fun, but then led to the initial steps of a new band – ODD. Syrius split in 1973, after the band became tired of traveling between Australia and Hungary. He continued to make, play and direct music in Australia. He played live in front of audiences varying from 3,000 to 30,000 people. He fought a long and difficult fight with cancer, and passed away on 3rd February of last year.

To find out more, check out his homepage: http://www.orszaczky.com/
Rest in Peace, Jackie.