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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: my Grandmother's house Story filed: A great friend Hey there people, hope you're doing ok and having a great day. For today's story, I'd like to talk about a good friend of mine. I've been friends with him most of my life as we went to the same school from when we were in kindergarten. I still go to the same school but my friend changed schools in Year 7. As we slowly got to know each other through the years of early primary school, the more we started to find that we had similar interests and from that point onwards we became good friends. As we are now at different schools, we don't see each other that often but do meet up every now and again when we can. A while ago I went to his house to play some video games on his state-of-the-art computer. I don't have a massive gaming pc, monitor, keyboard or mouse, I just had my new Asus laptop. As we got into the day we started to play some War Thunder and it was very obvious that my laptop wasn't made for video games as the FPS was particularly bad, (for those who don't know FPS stands for frames per second). It was just too slow. But being the very kind and amazing friend that my friend is, without me knowing, he took it upon himself to make me my own personal gaming PC! He knows how to build a computer and to do this just for me was truly amazing and I am eternally grateful for his gift, But it didn't stop there. You can't just play on a PC, if the PC is the brain then you also need a body and the rest of the limbs, So I bought a mouse pad, a gaming keyboard and a gaming mouse myself. All Logitech and they're pretty sweet. However I had some trouble finding a monitor screen, and once again my friend helped me out by giving me a monitor too. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing friend, and I couldn't ask for anything more. My friend is the humblest, nicest person I have ever met and I'm glad to have been his friend for all these years, so thank you Lachie. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter out

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: The Joan Story filed: NSW State Band championships Hi folks. I recently went down to Sydney with my school's symphonic winds ensemble to take part in the 2023 NSW State Band Championships. We performed three pieces and we ended up coming second which was very exciting. However, what was not exciting was getting up at 5:20am to get to school for 6am to catch the coach. We had to get an early start so we weren't late. I'm sure many of you are aware that it takes a little while to get from Bathurst to Sydney. The trip there was quite long and boring but it was pretty nice that I had brought my headphones with me so I could listen to music so it wasn't a complete bore. We arrived at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith and immediately unloaded our gear and moved out. I play trombone 2 in the symphonic winds and while I was at the venue I looked at some very shiny and pretty trombones at the instrument shop that was set in the hall's foyer. We played second in the competition and we got to watch at least one other school perform before us and they were quite good. I think we did very well, we played our best and it paid off. After every contestant had performed and we had received the results, we had lunch. There was a food court in the same complex as we were, and I purchased some very delicious chinese, it was incredibly good. After lunch we hopped back on the bus and headed home. I ended up talking with one of my friends for at least half the trip back about different types of guitars and what one we would like to have and so on. I caught up on some sleep on the way back too and before I knew it we were back home. It was a very exciting experience and I can't wait to return for the Nationals in 2025. Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: Sydney Story filed: Music camp, again Hi folks. For the last week of the school holidays I attended the Sydney Youth Orchestra winter music camp in Sydney. It was a lot like school - you had to be there by 8.30am and it was held at a school called Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, so yeah like school. I stayed at my aunt's place in Kings Cross. This trip was pretty big for me as I travelled to Sydney on my own. Nothing too special about that, but it's just that normally I'm traveling around the city with my mum but this time I had to make my own way around Sydney. It was a lot easier than I thought. I was in the Red Concert for the camp, which was a mixture of experienced and beginner players. I made it into the SYO winter music camp on trombone but even better I got to play in the SYO orchestra as well. We had to audition to get into that orchestra and as there were only two trombone's that auditioned (me and another guy who I became good friends with during the camp) we both got in. I'm still pretty happy that I got to play in the orchestra as it was the highlight of the week for me. Throughout the week I got to know some other people too but I mainly hung out with the other trombones and one of the trumpeters. For the music sessions, we worked on pieces that we would perform at the final concerts at UTS on Saturday. My favorite piece was the one for the orchestra called Die Fledermaus. The week went really well and so did the concerts and I can't wait to do another SYO music camp. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My desk Story filed: Winter festival, pipes and being cold Hi folks, hope you're doing well especially during the cold time of year. Seriously I'm so cold, and don't say 'oh well then go and put more layers on or turn the heat on' cos I do, I'm just still cold. I don't mind winter, because I can rug up with a nice hot beverage and be very content. It's getting up in the morning, (as if getting up in the morning wasn't already difficult enough) especially when I have to get up early for swimming training. Another thing that happens this time of year as I'm sure you're aware of is the winter festival. I haven't been there on my own accord just yet but I did go with my pipes and drums band as we were performing that day. We got there and warmed up in Macadie Park, and while we were warming up we accumulated a bit of a crowd. We even got arsk for some photos, which was a first, I guess we're just that good. The performance went well, we played a couple of numbers and we had some Irland dancing in between along with the drummers performing the drummers salute. Overall it was a very successful performance with minor errors. There were other performers, one before use and one after use and they two were very good. We did get paid for this gig and it was in the form of two tickets to rides at the winter festival and a voucher to Lewy's Pizza House. Lewy's Pizza is, in my opinion, is one of the best pizza places in town, their pizza is just so good. We did have to share the voucher but that was no problem. So my friend and I, accompanied by another band member and my friend's girlfriend headed over and got ourselves a pizza, luckily my friend and I were the only ones who were having the pizza, the other two didn't want any and that made us very happy. After a very good night we backed up our gear back on the bus and headed home. That's all we have time for folks so I hope you enjoyed and try not to freeze to death. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: Dubbo Story filed: Cello Camp Hi folks, it's Leo here. Last weekend my mum and I drove down to Dubbo for a Suzuki Music Strings Workshop. I always enjoy going to these Suzuki Music camps, I find them very relaxing and calming. The camp consisted of three days, all spanning the length of the long weekend, so Saturday to Monday. For an accommodation recommendation we stayed at this very lovely Airbnb in this shared home. It was quiet and there was only one other occupant, the old man that lived there, and he was quite nice. There was also a cat named Autumn who also lived there and we enjoyed her company as well. The cello camp itself was amazing. To start off we were given a timetable of our classes and sessions and then played music all day, every day which then ended up with a concert from all musicians. The tutors were great and the concert was a good one with musicians from beginners to very advanced - I'm somewhere in the middle. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: The Cinema Story filed: The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 Hi there folks, Leo here. Recently I went to the movies to see the new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 movie and it blew away my expectations. My expectations were already pretty high as I've seen the first movie (unfortunately I haven't seen the second movie but I've heard it was just as good as #1 and it's on my 'to watch' list) and I really liked the first movie. I also really like the Guardians of the Galaxy as characters, they're my favorite Marvel characters and franchise. I don't want to say much about the plot or anything as I don't want to give away any spoilers to anyone. I will say that it's a must watch for anyone, fan or not. It's a good mix of funny and sad. It had me laughing and not crying, but emotional. The music choice is great, all the songs in the movie fit incredibly well with the imaginary world and storyline. Out of all the three Guardians of the Galaxy movies I think this one is my favourite. As the series progressed, the movies gradually got even better until, wham! They hit you with this. So, if you're in town and maybe thinking of going to the movies I highly recommend this one. Until next time. Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: my desk Story filed: Bathurst Show Hi folks. I'm sure you're aware that last weekend was the Royal Bathurst Show, maybe even a couple or more of you went. On Saturday some of my friends and I went to the Show in the evening, around 5pm. I started the evening off just great but then I realised that I had forgotten the money I was supposed to have put in my wallet for the rides, at home. To make things worse, I was just across the street from the Show entrance when I realised this. So one short-run home and back later, I was finally ready to go. I got in the gates and I started to search for my friends, and a bit of walking about and one phone call later I had found them. We stood around and talked for a bit and as the whole of Bathurst was there we stopped and said 'Hi' to a bunch of other people we knew. After the chitter chatter was done we migrated over to our first ride. It was a ride where you were strapped down in these pod things which swing around and around at what only felt like mach 20. At a couple of points in the ride I was completely horizontal to the ground and when I say this thing went fast, I mean it. When I was going forward it also spun me backwards. Surprisingly I actually quite enjoyed it. Continuing on, we walked around a bit more. One of my friends and I went to the shooting gallery where they had a selection of air guns for you to shoot the moving targets. Unlike my friend who hit all his targets and won a stuffed fish, I only got one. But I was very proud of that one hit. Throughout the night we went on other rides like dodgem cars and the ferris wheel which were quite enjoyable. The night wouldn't be complete without some fast food so we had to get some. The highlight was some Turkish pide - it was truly amazing. At the end of the night, I realised I had lost my wallet and everything in it but that's another story. Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: Sydney Story filed: Music Camp Hi folks, it's Leo here. I hope you're having a good day, It's currently the best time of year for me, school holidays. Unfortunately this blissful peace and quiet is coming to end and I'll be going back to school in three more days. During the holidays or to be more precise the day after the holidays began, I woke up at five thirty to catch the six fifty train to Sydney for the Sydney Youth Orchestra music camp. Normally their youth orchestra is made up of Sydney kids but for this camp they decided to include some regional kids. I was one of three kids from our area, not just the Bathurst area but the surrounding areas as well. The camp started on Tuesday but I decided to go down on the Saturday so I could catch up with family. For the whole duration of the stay in Sydney I stayed with one of my aunts in her flat in the inner city. It's a very pretty area where my aunt lives, especially all the 1920's fancy big apartments with their grand architecture and dark wood interiors. There's also a lot of art deco architecture which I just love. On one of the days I decided to go for a walk to pick up some medicine from the local chemist, and to scout out a barbers which unfortunately I would never actually end up going to. I was on my way back from my running my errands and I was walking along the footpath not really looking where I was walking as my head was facing the right of me looking at an absurdly gorgeous art deco cinema/theater and as I was walking along I trod on a dead rat as big as your foot. I am not joking, the rat was huge and it was a recently deceased as some one had hit it with their car that very morning. Before all that I met up with my godfather cousin and we spent the day together walking around Sydney and going places and going out to eat. My favourite part of that day was when we went out for lunch as we ended up at a Japanese ramen place, best ramen I've ever eaten - it was truly amazing. The following day I was equally excited as I was seeing another one of my cousins for the day, We decided to go to the Sydney Royal Easter Show and his dad (my uncle also decided to come along which was even better) and my aunt came as well so it was truly a good outing. The Easter Show was nice and all but my cousin and I felt it was nothing too special, lest to say we were not very impressed. We did go on some rides once we did find any that were interesting, the roller-coaster and the faris wheel were probably the best. The food was ok I was happy to eat it but it was just way over priced, we could get the same thing here in Bathurst at the Bathurst Show for cheaper. At the end of the day we also went through the animal stalls and exhibitions on our way out and I have to say I've never seen such prestigious looking pigeons before. After the animals we headed off back home. Later that evening we went out to dinner to another ramen place. This to was also very good ramen. After dinner we went on an evening walk around the neighborhood and it was most enjoyable. Next column I'll be talking about the actual music camp itself - there's just so much to unpack so I'll see you then. Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My desk Story filed: The Bathurst Arms Fair Hi folks, Leo here. A couple weeks ago me and a friend of mine (and as children under 18 years old had to be accompanied by an adult) my mum went to the Bathurst Arms Fair down at the showgrounds. This wasn't the first time we've been, we went in 2019 before Covid. As one would guess that there were a lot of firearms, and well, one would also be correct in saying there were A LOT of firearms - from flintlocks to lever actions, bolt actions and some modern things that go bang. It wasn't just a room full of guns, well it kinda was but there were swords, bayonets and knives galore, which were all very cool (and expensive) but my favourite thing was going though all the old military surplus stalls and checking out the cool clothes. One stall in particular was really cool. They had a bunch of East German officer caps from the cold war, Not sure if they were original or replicas but they seemed pretty legit. One cap fitted my head like a glove but unfortunately they were out of my price range. My friend and I went around the stalls trying on different military hats and looking at some helmets and we agreed that there were some really good looking bits of gear. My mum was at the other end of the stall going through a rack of old military coats and shirts. Amongst them were British, Australian and East German naval coats and I think that these were all original. My favourite was the East German naval coat. It would have made an excellent winter coat for the cold weather, unfortunately again like the officer's cap we did not purchase it (I think everything there was a bit overpriced as it was 80 bucks a coat. I don't know, maybe I'm just Scrooge McDuck?). On our way out we passed one last clothes stall - nothing too interesting about this, but there was a lovely original 1973 RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) coat that caught my mum's attention. She showed me and I thought it was quite interesting too, I tried it on and it was a little big and missing one brass button. Apart from that it was reasonably priced, looked good on and I could grow into it and it would be great for winter. The Arms Fair was a lot of fun; I got to hang out with one of my best friends and I had a really good time. Anyway, I've got to head off now as I need to pick up a 1973 RAAF coat from the dry cleaners. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: BMEC Story filed: in the footlights Hi people. It's Leo here. This week is show week for the Pirates of Penzance musical that I am in. Fun fact: so many fictional pirate characters speak with a Cornish accent because during the Golden Age of Piracy, in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, many English pirates came from this region like Bristol, Devon, and Cornwall. Penzance is in Cornwall near the towns of Mousehole, Boscean, Porthcurno, Zenor, Relubbus, Raginnis, Mulfra, Crowles and Lands End to name a few. One of my favourite all time movies is Band of Pirates but I am not sure if any of these pirates are from Cornwall. Anyway, come and see the show this week at BMEC - it's a comedy! Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My desk Story filed: A bright year ahead, I hope Hi people. It's been a while and I bet you can't guess who it is, surprise it's me - Leo. All jokes aside, I hope everyone had a tremendous holliday, I wouldn't go as far as to say I had a 'tremendous' holiday but I did have a well earned rest and lots of relaxation. Either way it was absolutely lovely to do nothing. I'm quite excited to see where the new year of 2023 takes me and what will unfold in the days, weeks and months ahead. I'm more or less ready for school which started this week. For me, I may be slightly less ready to start, from what I have heard, the long and narrow path of 'it all gets harder now' Year 9. But I'm sure it can't be all that bad. With all this going back to school talk and to end this column, I thought it would be interesting to leave you with a quote from the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle 'Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all". These words might not necessarily relate to everything I've said, it's just something you can ponder on. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter