Aussie Thoughts RIP

RJM

RJM

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Aussie Thoughts
https://www.interfaith.org/community/members/18609/ passed away at the weekend. Deepest condolences to his friends and family
Namaste Jesus said:
A truly great man passed peacefully at his home last weekend with family and friends by his side. He was an award winning photographer, videographer, cinematographer and playwright. Virtually everyone has seen his work at one time or another, yet few knew his name. No matter, to most he was just Aussie and to barrow his vernacular, one hell of a mate...
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Oh, sad news. My condolences to friends and family who may be reading this. I remember him posting here. He will be missed.
 
I found Australia cities to be similar to American.

Aussie's posts sounded.like rural Australia similar.to US.

The stories of his upbringing and the bible round the table sounded like something like Little House on Prairie Home Companion
 
Not sure it was ever mentioned, but Aussie was born with a congenital heart defect that caused blood to flow backwards. It didn't slow him down in the least, but put him at greater risk for heart attach and stroke. Well, apparently his condition had gotten much worse in recent years, but he never let on just how sick he was. Kinda fits now why he was in such a hurry to see his only son married and to pass on his share of the family farm.

I have heart issues myself and we often joked which one of us would be the first to go. Never thought it'd be him though. I mean, he was only 53. Last thing he said to me via messenger that night was, "looks like you're gonna win the bet mate." Had a big grin on his face when he said it too.

That's the worse part of growing older; living to see those we hold dear pass. This has been an especially bad year for me in that regard. It started when I decided to look up a couple old high school chums on Facebook and found their memorial pages instead. Then I got word the bassist from the band I was in, in the 70's had passed, leaving me the sole surviving member. Only to be followed by my mother-in-law passing in Fiji with us unable to be there due to covid shut downs. Although, they did live cast the funeral pyre on FB for us. That was both disturbing and comforting all at the same time.

But dealing with Aussie's passing is proving to be the hardest of all for me. It's like everything we did together and all the experiences we shared are so fresh in my mind, I just can't come to grips with him being gone. I mean, how can that be? Seems like only yesterday we were raising holy hell in that Fiji pub... https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/17771/
 
Thank you for that thread you posted, NJ! I feel I knew Aussie a lot better after reading it.
 
Sorry to hear that. Did not have much interaction with him, but had a few. If he had some congenital problem, how come it was not treated? Valves and all.
 
Aupmanyav said:
Sorry to hear that. Did not have much interaction with him, but had a few. If he had some congenital problem, how come it was not treated? Valves and all.
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From what I understand, the structure of his heart was such that surgery was not an option. Aussie never elaborated beyond that. Like I said, his condition never really gave him any trouble, but unfortunately his heart grew weaker over time, reaching a point where it could no longer supply enough blood to major organs, ultimately shutting down completely.

Well if there's a bright side, Aussie's wife tells me his particular anomaly does not appear hereditary, but rather the result of his mother having had measles during pregnancy.
 
Yeah, human body is a delicate mechanism. Things can go wrong anywhere. Healthy children are (as you would say) gift from God.
Being an atheist, I would say chance and probability.
 
To old friends, till we meet again, mate!
PDVD_000.jpg
 
Aussie's passing was rough, but that photo always cracks me up. It's a screen cap from what was supposed to be a promo we shot years ago to introduce our video venture. Aussie's the one with the hat.

Well, Aussie was quite the character in those days and introduced me as his twin brother. Kinda took me by surprise so camera rolling I says to him, "I'm 10 years older than you!" Aussie comes back with, "Not my fault mom was stubborn." That's why I'm laughing in the pic and as I sit here tonight. :)
 
Ok. You said that virtually everyone had seen his work at one time or another, so I was interested to Google him

https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/17555/page-37#post-352958
Namaste Jesus said:
A truly great man passed peacefully at his home last weekend with family and friends by his side. He was an award winning photographer, videographer, cinematographer and playwright. Virtually everyone has seen his work at one time or another, yet few knew his name. No matter, to most he was just Aussie and to barrow his vernacular, one hell of a mate...
Click to expand...
 
Aussie did a lot of commercial work to satisfy union requirements. Those photos you see on product labels and such. So yeah, anyone who's ever shopped for anything has likely seen his work. Nobody really thinks about who took the pictures or shot the TV promo ads for the products they're buying though, so outside of the industry hardly anyone knew his name.

Funny thread he started about one of those union jobs: https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/18091/

Now, Aussie also did a lot of freelance work outside of the union, working under various pseudonyms to avoid having to cut them in. So Googling his actual name wouldn't get you much of anything, I tried. That's just how he was, flying under the radar whenever possible.
 
Namaste Jesus said:
Aussie did a lot of commercial work to satisfy union requirements. Those photos you see on product labels and such. So yeah, anyone who's ever shopped for anything has likely seen his work. Nobody really thinks about who took the pictures or shot the TV promo ads for the products they're buying though, so outside of the industry hardly anyone knew his name.

Funny thread he started about one of those union jobs: https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/18091/

Now, Aussie also did a lot of freelance work outside of the union, working under various pseudonyms to avoid having to cut them in. So Googling his actual name wouldn't get you much of anything, I tried. That's just how he was, flying under the radar whenever possible.
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I always wondered who took those photos and how, but never knew how to find out. What a fascinating career!
 
Ella S. said:
I always wondered who took those photos and how, but never knew how to find out. What a fascinating career!
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Well truth be known, Aussie hated product shoots. Said he only did it to keep his union card current and to get enough scratch to fund other projects.

If he was still with us, I'd probably be listening to him right now complain about some holiday infomercial he had just shot and how lame the on camera talent was.
 
Namaste Jesus said:
Well truth be known, Aussie hated product shoots. Said he only did it to keep his union card current and to get enough scratch to fund other projects.

If he was still with us, I'd probably be listening to him right now complain about some holiday infomercial he had just shot and how lame the on camera talent was.
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He could be kvetching about how lame some of the products are. :rolleyes:

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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