CURRENT MISSION

We respond immediately, within 24 hours! WE DON'T USUALLY ACCEPT SHORT NOTICE REQUESTS. READ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION under MY HOME, please. This will enable you to find our couchsurfing 'password-phrase' that you need in order to obtain a positive response if you make a request. You must read that information, otherwise don't bother to send us a request. We are not available in December but will be in January. Updated 27/11/20

At this point in my life I try to maximise my interests, namely classical music, cooking, reading, tennis and travelling, making new friends and maintaining contact with old friends, largely over the internet.

ABOUT ME

Easy going, easy to get along with, friendly, but not in an extroverted way. Liberal in my outlook not always as conservative as my wife would like me to be, although we seem to have different views of what being conservative means. Carroll and I celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary on October 30 and we are quite pleased that our marriage has been a good bond and that our 'kid's unions' are stable ones too. Carroll and I married 'late' (in our early thirties) and so did they.

PHILOSOPHY

An existential one. I am, like everyone else, affected by 'things' over which I have little or no control, thus, I accept the reality that what happens happens. However, I believe that I largely determine the path my life takes because of the decisions I make. The meanings and purposes of my life are of my choosing. I do not believe in the supernatural, you can extrapolate the obvious from that! I totally agree with Christopher Hitchen's succinct reasoning: "What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." This is sometimes referred to as Hitchen's Razor.
Classical music is my gateway into spirituality; my life would be severely impoverished without it. I despair of the scant importance placed on fine music education, both listening to and playing it, in our primary and secondary schools. Inclusion of music instruction for young students enhances their learning in all fields. Studies have provided supporting evidence for this contention. I like the quote from UK conductor Paul McCreesh: "There's nothing elitist about classical music, unless you deprive children of the opportunity to connect with it."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING
During the more than thirteen years that Carroll and I have been hosted and have acted as hosts, our experiences have ALWAYS been positive. Giving and sharing has been a two-way street, which makes for rewarding interactions.

Our couch is a double bed in a guest bedroom and we thoroughly enjoy hosting CS guests for a brief time, often maintaining communication with our guests beyond their stay.
We generally insist on hosting CS'ers who plan well ahead of their expected arrival rather than those that make requests a day or two before they wish to come, though we have made a few exceptions. I realise that this limitation we have imposed tends to negate a prime factor in being a traveller (rather than being a tourist), that of 'going with the flow', ie. planning as you go. However, our restriction, I believe, acts to weed out CSers who just want free accommodation, as well as, unfortunately, many who are genuine wanderers and have much to share.
As long as we are able to travel, we hope to continue to be hosted by Couch Surfing hosts as well as hosting CSers, part of living a contributing life during our retirement years.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Largely positive! Interacting with CS travellers and CS hosts of all ages is a rewarding experience, intellectually and in terms of a mutual sharing, a giving and receiving of humanity's best attributes.
However, a number of CS requests we receive continue to reflect the reluctance of youth, mainly in their 20's, to read our Couch Information and hence waste their time and mine because they don't fit within our limitations. I think that when this happens, most of these couchsurfers mainly just want free accommodation. However, I am aware that some CSers may have limited time and money when using pay internet facilities so they skip reading host profiles and that some do not have a good command of english. Another possibility is that they simply don't know how couchsurfing works or should work. These are travel hurdles that should be overcome.

Interests

Most are covered in my Mission Statement. As you can see below, art house movies at the cinema and on DVDs are also high on my agenda. Meeting travellers that includes Couch Surfers, going to the opera in Perth and having home DVD opera nights to which friends are invited with food to share are additional priorities. The past few years we have been traveling to Classical Music Festivals around Australia and in 2015 and 2016 we've gone to the International Canberra Music Festival in May. Each October for three years beginning in 2011 we went to the Port Fairy for their Spring Music Festival. In '14 it was to the Hobart Baroque Festival, but not anymore as it went bust. In 2017 we took in the Musica Viva Festival at the Sydney Conservatorium. In 2018 we've travelled to Bermagui, a small town on the NSW coast for the Four Winds Classical Music Festival and it was so good we went again in 2019, as well as attending the Musica Viva Festival the following weekend.

• arts
• books
• music festivals
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• gardening
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• classical music
• opera
• hiking
• tennis
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Carroll and I enjoy most kinds of music, but especially Classical. My favourite composer is Joseph Haydn. We used to watch DVD movies via Quickflix (sourced on the Internet then mailed to us), but now subscribe to Netflix and I have compiled a list of my favourites mostly seen at home. Here they are!
1. Zorba the Greek (USA/Greece '64), 2. Babettes Feast (Denmark '87), 3. Bagdad Cafe (USA '88), 4. Jean de Florette (France '86), 5. La Strada (Italy/France '54), 6. Manon des Sources (France '86), 7. The Lives of Others (Germany '06), 8. Moonstruck (USA '87), 9. Ikiru (Japan '52), 10. Marty (USA '55). 11. The Barbarian Invasions (Canada '03), 12. Three Colours: Blue (France '93), 13. Three Colours: White (France '94), 14. Three Colours: Red (France '94), 15. Citizen Kane (USA '41), 16. Barry Lyndon (USA '75), 17. Pulp Fiction (USA '94), 18. Seven Samurai (Japan '54), 19. La Vie en Rose (France '07), 20. Wit (USA '01), 21. The Leopard (Italy '63), 22. Babel (USA '07), 23. Paris, Texas (USA '84), 24. Farinelli, Il Castrato (Belgium '94), 25. Being There (USA '79), 26. Treasure of Sierra Madre (USA '46), 27. Schindler's List (USA '93), 28. Little Miss Sunshine (USA '06), 29. Jindabyne (AUS '06), 30. Capote (US '05), 31. The Graduate (USA '67), 32. Tootsie (USA '82), 33. Midnight Cowboy (USA '69), 34. Raging Bull (USA '80), 35. A Heart in Winter (France '92), 36. Dances with Wolves (USA '90), 37. The Godfather (USA '72), 38. The Name of the Rose (France/Italy/Germany 'œ86), 39. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (USA '69), 40. Picnic at Hanging Rock (AUS '75), 41. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (USA '75), 42. Gallipoli (AUS '81) 43. Amelie (France '01) 44. A Man for All Seasons (UK '66), 45. The Deer Hunter (USA '78), 46. Days of Wine and Roses (USA '62), 47. Casablanca (USA '43), 48. Dr. Strangelove (USA '64), 49. Rocky Horror Picture Show (USA '75), 50. To Kill a Mockingbird (USA '62), 51. Wizard of Oz (USA '39), 52. O Brother Where Art Thou? (USA '00), 53. The English Patient (UK '96), 54. Trading Places (USA '83), 55. The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (AUS '94), 56. The Apartment (USA '60), 57. American Graffiti (USA '73), 58. Muriel's Wedding (AUS '94), 59. Strictly Ballroom (AUS '94), 60. Life is Beautiful (Italy '98), 61. Shakespeare in Love (USA '98), 62. The Blues Brothers (USA '80), 63. Tea with Mussolini (Italy/UK '99), 64. Pleasantville (USA '98), 65. My Cousin Vinny (USA '92), 66. As Good As It Gets (USA), 67. Il Postino (The Postman) (Italy), 68. Das Boot (The Boat) (Germany '81), 69. Chinatown (USA '74), 70. Sweet Smell of Success (USA '57), 71. The Return (Russia ), 72. Chariots of Fire (UK '81), 73. The silence of the Lambs (USA '91), 74. Kramer vs Kramer (US '79), 75. Tom Jones (UK '63), 76. The French Connection (USA '71), 77. Annie Hall (USA '77), 78. The Hedgehog (France '09), 79. Gandhi (USA '82), 80. The Sting (US '73), 81. In the Heat of the Night (USA '67), 82. Stray Dog (Japan '49), 83. Hunting and Gathering (France '07), 84. The Children of Paradise (France '45), 85. Rashomon (Japan '50), 86. The Return of Martin Guerre (France '82), 87. Fanny and Alexander (Sweden '82), 88. Umberto D (Italy '52), 89. Ordinary People (USA '80), 90. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (USA '74), 91. Back to the Future (USA '85), 92. Amadeus (USA '84), 93. American Beauty (USA '99), 94. Sideways (USA '04), 95. Before Sunrise (USA/Austria '95), 96. Lawrence of Arabia (USA '62), 97. Doctor Zhivago (USA '65), 98. Eat Drink Man Woman (Taiwan), 99. Yojimbo (Japan '61), 100. The Wedding Banquet (Taiwan '93), 101. The Station Agent (USA '03), 102. The Savages (USA '08), 103. The Nights of Cabiria (Italy '57), 104. Some Like It Hot (USA '59), 105. Red Beard (Japan '65), 106. Venus (UK '06), 107. Slumdog Millionaire (UK '08), 108. The Big Lebowski (USA '98), 109. Cries and Whispers (Sweden '72), 110. Yi Yi (Taiwan '00), 111. The Rules of the Game (France '39), 112. The Wrestler (USA '08), 113. Milk (USA '08), 114. Read My Lips (France '02), 115. The Seventh Seal (Sweden '59), 116. Salaam Bombay! (India '88), 117. Harold and Maude (USA '71), 118. Summer Hours (France '08), 119. The Edge of Heaven (Germany/Turkey '08), 120. The Lower Depths (Japan '57), 121. Disgrace (Australia '09), 122. Samson & Delilah (Australia '09), 123. Blood Simple (USA 84), 124. The Class (France '09), 125. Beautiful Kate (Australia '09), 126. A Prophet (France '09), 127. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (USA '07), 128. Welcome (France '10), 129. Amores Perros (Love's A Bitch) (Mexico '01) 130. Winter's Bone (USA '10), 130. The Social Network (USA '10), 131. Paper Moon (USA '72), 132. The King's Speech (UK '10), 133. Animal Kingdom (Australia '10), 133. The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina '09), 134. Incendies (Canada '11), 135. Get Low (USA '10), 136. Troubled Water (Norway '08), 137. Cinema Paradiso (Italy '89), 138. A Screaming Man (French '10), 139. Moneyball (USA '11), 140. The Artist (France '11), 141. Hugo (USA '11), 142. Stranger Than Fiction (USA '06), 143. Frank Lloyd Wright documentary by Ken Burns (USA '10), 144. In a Better World (Denmark '10) 145. A Royal Affair (Denmark '11) 146. Monsieur Lazhar (Canada '11) 147. Margaret (USA '11), 148. Lincoln (USA '12), 149. Lone Star (USA '95), 150. Performance or A Late Quartet (USA '12), 151. Water (India 2005) 152. Searching for Sugar Man (documentary, ? 2012) 153. The Imitation Game (Britain '14) 154. Mr. Turner (Britain '14) 155. Wild (USA '14) 156. Running on Empty (USA '88) 157. Love and Mercy (USA '15) 158. Brooklyn '15) 159. Hail Caesar! USA '15) 160. Truman (Spain '15) 161. Land of Mine (Denmark '15) 162. Indignation (USA '16) 163. Goodbye First Love (France '12) 164. Love like Poison (France '10), 165. Captain Fantastic (USA '16), 166. The Fencer (Finland '15), 167. Love is Strange (USA '14), 168. Lion (Australia, '16), 169. Paterson (USA '16), 170. Manchester by the Sea (USA '16), 171. Their Finest (UK '17), 172. Salvation (Australia '08), 173. High Tide (Australia '88), 174. Life, Above All (South Africa '10), 175. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (USA '17), 176. Never Look Away ('19 Germany), 177. Rosalie Blum (France '16), 178. The Belier Family (Belgium '14), 179. Gloria ('13 Chile), 180. Green Book (USA '18), 181.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Amazingly simple: Back in '65 in Bergen, Norway, I cast off my suitcase for Englishman Richard Smith's (from Leeds) A-frame canvas back pack. From that point I began staying at Youth hostels, hitch-hiking and meeting like minded travelers. That mode and philosophy of travel has to this day continued to strongly influence my life style preferences. Fortunately, my wife embraces this travel style too, but at our 'advanced ages' we travel now with suitcases on wheels and hitch-hiking is out, unless the hire car breaks down. However in 2017, we backpacked in Kerala, India and had a wonderful time staying with Couchsurfing hosts most of the time.

Teach, Learn, Share

Share: My love of classical music which, as of the past twelve years, now includes opera and I've now begun teaching a U3A (University of the Third Age) class about the Life, Times and Music of a number of lesser known classical composers. Then there's cooking, good wines, tennis, and selected art house films we have seen. Also Carroll's love of gardening, protecting our fragile environment, volunteering, reading and keeping fit.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A love and knowledge of classical music and its composers, Margaret River wineries and wine, restaurant recommendations, local hikes to take, books we've read and movies we've seen, gardening tips (Carroll), other Margaret River attractions and travel stories from the 60s and 70s.

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, United States, Zimbabwe

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