The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 11 September - 15 October 2023
 "Another beautiful sunset. Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island". |
September 11thI get up early & head to the local health clinic, just to grab some basic stillnox in case I can't sleep on island & flights. The Dr is great, her daughter a musician, so most of the consultation is about music. The Australian health system, is great around me, so cheap and so easy. Even the Chemist was next to nothing- thank you Gough Whitlam.I call the QLD agents around keys etc and it's the person who also was handling the possible sale of the house I like on the island. So i have a chat about that too. Nice lady, I keep her contact details as I'm sure in the not too distant future, I'll call her around our Island escape home. We watch "To Leslie" , another good movie, maybe at long last some decent movies are being made. There is still so much crap though. For every good movie, 999 bad ones. September 12thAm crazily excited about going to Magnetic Island, so didn't sleep, it was rolling around in my head all night. So i am awake early and decide to go to charity and help out.Lucky i did, a lot of staff is ill today, so it's Go, Go Go all day. The boss comes up and thanks me, which was really nice. I head to Woolworths and buy Miss Kitty some boxes of cat food for when we are away. September 13thWe drive to St Kilda and the free parking area has a camera crew using it, so I turn up a side street which happens to be one way. Gawd! In the end I just park and scrawl on a napkin, "Please don't book me new tenant". Who knows if that will work but I've given up trying to find a parking spot.Meet Laura, Kevin and Stella on Acland street and we eat at Lona. We use that old fashion stuff called cash to pay for ours. I have one margaritta and boy it makes my head swim. See loads of familiar faces outside Tim Finns gig, & it does my head in a bit, All lovely but sometimes it swamped me and my head left spiralling. I managed (well thought i did) to walk some fine line these days, I keep telling myself "just a punter" but the sea of Frenz doesn't retreat- Tides In baby! The VIP comp ticket list looks like it is in shambles, and people are not sitting together. They rework my three and now all downstairs, about ten rows back which is magnificent. Wendy is with us, a treat and that will be fun. People come up and say "Hello" and some calm has returned to my brain. I lean over to Mark and tell him to take notes on the stage for Project X, We both chuckle. Tim Finn, what can I say, a really solid show, great songs and yes his voice is not 1979 but it manages to do the job, hell the man is in his seventies and I think "very brave" watching him pace the stage. His daughter Elliott is in the band and wow, cool voice. We really have a good time, that isn't polite, we actually did. The encore and one chord is played and Marky startles me by loudly calling out "CHARLIE"! I follow him with a "CHARLIE" cheer. Tim stops and acknowledges it. Later he says to me "I should of known it would be you two for Charlie". I don't think Mark has called out for a song since the Bondi Lifesaver gig of 1979. I was thrilled and shocked...in a good way. Even he doesn't know why he called out, ok a favourite song for both of us, but so out of character, I loved that moment. Show over, we chat to a few more fans. Tim put so much into the gig no way am I heading backstage, I'll talk to him tomorrow. Wendy surprises us with some chocolate thank you's 'for the flight'. That is so sweet. She had a great time. A classic moment, a woman asked Tim to sign her leg. He says he has signed arms etc but never a leg so yes come up here on stage. Next moment she takes off her leg!!! No one saw that coming, Tim happily signing it onstage. I mention to a friend what happened and she said she saw John Farnham at The Palais a few years back and someone threw their leg onstage for him to sign. I keep wondering if there is a music fan with a wall of autographed legs, or is it simply a Palais Theatre thing. The crowd naturally loved it. We say our goodbyes to everyone and head back to the car and no parking fine, thank you "Parking Gods". Home just after midnight, and Midnight is waiting up for us too. What a great night. September 14thI wake up feeling a bit sleazy & worn. Why do Lachie's coffee's taste so excellent when i feel so tired.I give the boss my return details, so I'll try and shuffle some charity work in between referendum stuff when i get back. I think about last nights gig. Really wonderful , a musical tonic for the soul. The fun thing for today. UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan presented Mexican Congress with the alleged remains of 1000 year old Aliens. I hear nothing more on this, but it is one of those stories that makes you smile. Hell it MIGHT be true? September 15thGet all those final things done today before our flight tomorrow.I drive Midnight to Aunty Kay who is looking after her for the week. Midnights in her cage and Kay's 3 large super hairy cats come up to check out the wippersnipper. They are not aggressive and they did look after Midnight when she was a tiny baby. Midnight doesn't seem scared, if anything intrigued. Kay knows what she is doing, she's looked after so many cats. I get out quickly as I am feeling guilty and teary. The house seems very empty without our furball in it tonight. September 16thMelbourne-Brisbane-Townsville-Magnetic Island.I think we both had zero sleep. Up again at 4.30 am . I manage a shower and something to eat. Our wonderful driver Narelle arrives, she is a bit Fluish so wearing a mask. Good to see her again, we always have a laugh. The drive is smooth and we arrive in no time at all. Bags in, fast romp via security and into the Frequent Flyer. Mark manages to purloin some individual micro tomato sauce bottles. Great for when we buy meat pies on the island as they can go in the back pack for the beach. I join his crime spree with bottles of marmalade for him for breakfast. Flight is on time, I snuggle into the window seat and read my book. Arrive Brisbane and we head to another Frequent Flyer Lounge . Toasted sandwiches and juice. Give Mum a call and ignore the giant Tv, show Fox News, such a shit lame "news" channel. We head back to the gate for the next flight. I'm sitting with Mark and we are talking airline food. I say "sometimes all I want is a really nice fresh sandwich" . The food trolley arrives and yes dear reader, we are given nice fresh sandwiches. Damn why didn't i wish for the Tattslotto numbers. I am content and watch the Great Barrier Reef roll on by beneath the plane. Arrive Townsville on time and our bags are out first. I'm at the counter getting our hire car. I'm given a Hybrid which is fine. For the first time ever the Hire car price was great, I haggled them on the phone, it was worth the effort. We call into Townsville Woolworths and use some gift cards so all the groceries were free. I get to the car ferry early and the girl changes our booking so 5 minutes later we are crossing the water and will get to our funky accommodation and hour early. I sit next to Marky on the top level of the ferry and give MG a cuddle, so happy he created this escape for me. I stare at Magnetic approaching fast and sheer joy washes over me. Thrilled. We drive off the ferry and 3 minutes later up the curved drive of #12 Boulder Court. It sits on Bright Point, the giant granite rocks on the property roll all the way down to the sea. The house is much bigger in some ways than I expected. I give Mark the bedroom and I find this comfortable long window padded bench type area where I intend to sleep. Sounds weird but i can see all the stars and the rock wallaby's hop up to the window and watch me. Like a lot of the houses on Boulder court, tradition has it that giant boulders are also inside the house. This one is filled with them, truly majestic. We spend the first hour exploring and the place is stunning. Very US as our friends continue to tell us over the next week. Several attempt to book the house just from my photos on line. We kind of chill out today with a bit of passion as well. It has been a long day. I have this ridiculous grin on my face. It really IS magnetic as it keeps drawing us back. September 17thI'm awoken by the sound of Curlew and some other birds. Just as the sun is rising. I open the 3 metres giant doors onto the decking and rock platform and photograph the sunrise. It's warm outside and I love the smell of the ocean. Mark soon wanders out and we decide to go to Scallywags for breakfast.Reuben the pirate is back after a year awol ("Once a pirate, always a pirate"), Jungle Jane befriends us , such a quick wit and a few long termers welcome us back. Breakfast is great and they do have the best coffee on the Island. Scallywags is my Cafe home. I find out that owner Pete is in the kitchen and it has been 4 years since we met him and his very pregnant girlfriend up on Sail Rock. We were meant to catch up again but Covid stopped that. Overjoyed that the pregnant bundle became a now 4 year old boy called Mojo. Nice. We head bak to the house and MG films me up on the rocks with my red Ukelele singing "Tropical island" a song I made up on the spot and serenading the wild rock wallabys. I joke on camera they are my first ever groupies. A sea eagle (or was it a Brahminy Kite says Marky) flies over my head with a huge fish in it's mouth. I keep muttering "Shit a sea eagle with a fucking fish in it's mouth". No idea why I suddenly have the propensity to swear. I normally don't but I kept repeating that line. Weirder and weirder. The eagles are nesting on top of the giant granite boulders which make a massive 5 story wall on the edge of the property-huge. So our first hike will be Rocky Bay (beach) . You might see 3 people on that beach at best, as it's very difficult to get to. We access it via an ancient well hidden walk track just off Hawkings Point track going to the look out. We are filming today so carrying a bit of gear plus the beach shelter. On top of Hawkings Point trail we sit on massive rocks and overlook the valley and the beach. If you look hard enough you will see the remnants of the old track. We are sure death adders and know for certain families of Echidna's live in the valley. It is the 9th most deadly snake in the world but all these visits and fortunately never seen one. I dare say they slither away long before your foot hits the ground, a rather shy snake. So we journey down the track and no snakes. We arrive on the beach and no humans just the big painted NUDE BEACH sign on the boulder. Set up the shade shelter and in we go for our first swim. Rocky Bay surf always tries to kill me, it pounds but so nice in the water, I deal with it. After 30 mins a nude bloke arrives and chats for a moment. He's gone later. A couple of young honeymooners arrive next and make out in the surf but the rough waves add some unexpected coitus interruptus I am certain. A few hours later we depart. My shoulders already a shade of brown, so a slight tan. Back at the top of the trail we chat to two English girls, we warn them of the snakes, they are only wearing thongs (flip flops) on their feet so if you accidentally walked on a snake you'd have no chance. Mark heads up to the look out to film, I put up some dull social media posts. The English gals head off and hang with my husband. See how trusting I am. HA! WE have some hamburgers from the Fish and Chip shop for dinner, very average, a tad bland. Wrong choice. We watch the news and the massive YES rallies across Australia. Already we spotted multiple YES yard signs on Magnetic. The No voters think they have this in the bag, I know Australia's big gorgeous heart and hoping decency prevails. We shall see, ok i am not as confident as I sound, quite the opposite. YES is the under dog and I've always kind of loved underdogs ! Woof. Plus I can never be bed mates with racists and neo Nazi's and arseholes like that who love the No vote. Just not in my DNA. September 18thA slightly overcast morning and slightly cooler temperatures. We feed the rock wallabys the organic banana's that I bought at the smaller island supermarket. The mother wallaby shows me her baby , she is rather proud as she opens up her pouch and his head pops out. So damn cute.The Beatles "Money" is playing at Scallywags and all the staff are singing. We always get a table and are so well treated. Love those pirates. We mail Giles a postcard for his upcoming birthday and I buy a special 3D card for MIM and mail it to her. We get out our island book (they are free on the car ferry and available at shops on the island). Plot todays adventure. Off to The Forts and after that we try out the new hike trail to Florence Bay. We have a hardy breakfast as it is a lot of hiking, especially with gear on our backs. The Hike to the Forts is very satisfying, several Koala's along the way, it is breeding seaon. We know to look for the little twig "arrows" that mean a Koala is nearby. The first is low in the tree so I take some photos and Mark "mikes me up" so I can do a voice over with some blurb for his Maggie video. The new microphones are great, money well spent Marky. Tourists (because we are not Tourists..HA!!!) watch us and some ask what TV show we are from. The internationals ask us all about Koala's because we MUST be experts. Thankfully we do know the answers so don't look like stupid Australians. I walk a few people to a spot where I know a mother Koala is high in the gum tree with her baby. Thankfully they listen and are quiet. We arrive at The Forts, and the views never disappoint , the island looks beautiful from up in the towers. We meet an 18 year old German guy named Jonas. A lovely chap, and hang out with him for awhile. I go off along the granite boulder cliffs and he wants me to take some photos of him jumping in the air, at one stage he goes dangerously close to falling over. Shit 18 is too young to die, so the old man in me tells him to be careful. I call my Mum from the very top of the radio tower, a good signal, very clear on the mobile. From The Forts we take the new hike trail to Florence Bay. We are astounded how they got the 943 massive stones steps in place, and they are wonderful. Carrying the camera gear does wear us out. We stop at the half way mark and have a pie and a drink. A french tourist joins us, the only other person we have seen. I worry that we are using up our water supply rather rapidly. No water at Florence Bay. So we cut down to tiny sips. We run into Jonas again which is kind of funny. I tell him he must stop stalking me. Florence is beautiful and maybe a dozen people, half from a boat anchored off shore. We swim and read under gently swaying palm trees. It almost looks like a tourist advert. Mark finds the metal remains of the old piano, well one of them. I consider climbing a coconut tree to get some liquid. I hang with a spanish guy called Alejandro. Ridicously good looking. He needs somewhere to stay. I will behave. I like his nipple ring. We make friends with a lesbian couple called Glenice and Tracy, they are building a house on the island. We hit it off and they ask us to visit when we are next back so that's really cool. Big supporters of the YES vote , so that's pretty cool. Florence is such a lovely bay, golden sands, crystal clear water. Mark excited as he spots fish swimming near by. I always feel safe at Florence. In a few months baby sea turtles will be born on this beach and find their way to the ocean. They return year after year, a safe haven for them too. After a few hours we decide it's time to head back. Not the same route we came, but via the old road which is currently closed. I chat to a lady that is hiking to Florence and she kindly gives us a bit of her water as we are running very low. It's nice to finally see the car and we head home. Mark takes me to dinner tonight. Parmi night at the hotel at Arcadia. A man wearing a YES shirt has a chat, we are all impressed at the size of our meal. Sitting uner the North Queensland stars on this balmy beautiful night, how lucky are we in this country. September 19thI tend to wake up when the sun rises here, it seems so much brighter outside. I'm starting to get a golden tan. I photograph the funky blue tile bathroom and cheekily wear nothing but a towel. Sheepbook decide it's too much Gryphon skin, so I have to post a slightly different snap. I am a bit shocked at the rather sexy positive comments. We old farts love such things. HA.Off to Scallywags for breakfast again and nice to see Pete the owner. He does remember us and it's so great to chat. Seems a long time since we saw him and his pregnant girlfriend up on Sail rock. After breakfast we decide to check out the 3 secret waterfalls. We have a feeling they'd be seasonal and we were right, all three just dry river beds. Lots of animals and flowers along the way , such a beautiful island. We take the car to West Point. Mark takes the camera gear and films further down the beach. I decide to strip off to my Calvins and go in for a swim. It's not like Florence, it doesn't feel as safe here, not sure why. Locals have a new resident, a mother Koala with her baby so we are extra careful driving up here as she does go for a bit of a walk. Mark has a bit of a swollen foot and some leg cramps so we take it easy today. We watch the Brett Whiteley Art Fraud doco on the ABC, fascinating. In the evening it's a drive to Horseshoe Bay. We have an early dinner at Noodies on the beach and what a disappointment. AJ and Dee have sold the place and the food is now horrid, as Mark said "well that's out of your system". We cross the road and film the beautiful sunset, i take a few photos , you can't get a bad photo during such a fine moment. I outwardly sigh and give my bloke a bit of a cuddle. Hold hands and go for a sunset walk. September 20thI'm buying some homemade pies from the little kiosk at Nelly Bay and spot a cool island sarong for our friend Kay who is looking after Midnight. I thought she'd look funky in it when she visits the island. The shop has been here for nearly 4 decades, called "Magnetic Touch Fashions" and the owners name is also Kay, so she writes a little message from one Kay to another. Nice older lady but gawd she really must get the in store radio fixed, I could tell Mark just wanted to jump behind the counter and take it apart.We call into Arcadia and I get to try out the new flippers. Boy they sure make me zoom along in the water, I am a dolphin hybrid. (makes Flipper noise). Mark takes so long to actually go under the water, 1 cm at a time and he is tall so we almost celebrate Christmas waiting for him to get immersed. I swim out to the mini reef and love all the tropical fish that hang around with me. We have a BBQ at home tonight, & sit and watch the ocean which is on our door step and mother rock wallaby joins us and she shows us the baby in her pouch yet again. We Spend the evening in bed with M laughing at "Clueless" it is so wonderfully dated that it's probably back in fashion again. September 21stWe call into Scallywags and get us some coffees and head to Picnic Bay. All days are perfect here, and I am stupidly happy, We are stupidly happy. I happily sit on the beach while Mark goes off and films the beautiful pier and the kids dive bombing each other as they jump off the end. We head up to the little school house- historical society and local crafts at 13 Granite St, Picnic Bay. It's right next to the Police station. All those years ago the original school house had just 4 boys and 2 girls when it first opened. The historical photos and artifacts are the best. We love the history of the island. I buy Mark a book on the history of the school.Lunch at home and onto Horseshoe Bay. We park at the end of the road, grab the shade tent and walk 3/4 of the way along the beach and set up camp for the rest of the day. Pretty much us on the beach, we did see a man with his dog but that was it. Down behind our tent is an old dry creek bed with brilliant ghost gum trees. I love the colours of the soil and the trees so take a photos, so perfect, the photos look like Australian oil paintings. You can imagine if any artists find this they'd be overjoyed to spend the day painting the scenery. More swimming and a group of fish pop their heads out and hang around for 10 minutes. They seem intrigued by these humans invading their environment. Mark takes me to Sandies for dinner- just up from the beach. We go as we are and no one cares, all the locals look like us. Really nice hamburgers but the price seems to change depending on which night of the week it is. Jungle Jane walks past us as we are facing the street, she Boo's and laughs and calls out "Traitors traitors". Jane is so funny. A good heart. A beautiful moon sits over Magnetic tonight and again I just sigh! September 22ndWe get up so early on the island. We can never sleep in. 9 AM -Kalorama 5 degrees, Magnetic Island 23!Yes you guessed it, Scallyways for breakfast because we love it. I smile at Reuben doing magic tricks for the kids while they are eating breakfast. Off to Radical Bay so we bypass the nude beach turn off and just walk another km. We have a few breaks, no rush and I don't want to put any pressure on Marks leg while it is repairing itself. Today is a chill day and tomorrow we head home (sob sob). Check in with a few friends so they know we are alive. kay sends me a few pictures of Midnight being cute, we miss her. September 23rdI grab some morning coffee's while Mark packs. I run into the owners girlfriend and this young boy washing the car is Mojo. I am amazed, he was in his Mums tummy when we last met and there he is, so island happy. That stuff does my soul good. The Scallywaggers sing a goodbye song for me, I'm such an old softy, close to a tear or two.The rock wallabys come out to say goodbye at the house so they score some final banana's I have been saving. We leave it in great condition. What a lovely dream house. I go to the garage at Nelly and fill the hire car up. It costs me $22.00. How good is the hybrid. $22.00 for the entire week. We drive onto the 10.00 am car ferry and as we float away I look to the island and mouth "we'll be back, don't forget us". The Qantas flight is a bit late and we almost miss our connection. A tiny bit stressy but it works out ok. I call our driver in Melbourne so they know we might be a tiny bit late. Someone has an argument on board with Qantas staff and the police escort them off the plane. At least it wasn't us. Land Melbourne and home around 8.00 PM. We can't wait any longer so we call Kay and pick Midnight up. Our ball of fur has grown a bit, she jumps into my arms, and I do feel guilt. All night she follows us around cat chatting. "Where have you been? Where have you been" she purrs. She sneaks into my bed and cuddles up, god she loves us and we her. September 24thFirst thing I notice, it's a lot colder. It's darker in the morning and I find it hard to unpack my suitcase.We call Giles and wish him a happy birthday. I give myself a 60ml shot of ginger/wild tumeric. Not sure if it's good for me but guessing it can't hurt. I am cramming my online studies for the upcoming referendum. September 25thI read a really cool article on Pollocks "Blue Poles" painting. God bless Gough Whitlam and his wise decision for Australia to buy it for $1.3 million way back in 1973- in fact on this very date. At the time this abstract expressionist painting set a world sales record. It's now estimated at $508 million.September 26thI do both classes of pre-poll one on one training. I'm looking a bit tanned and somehow still smell of the ocean. The lady comments on what nice aftershave i am wearing. It's called "Sea" I tell her.I sit next to Ash in the class, I've worked with him before, nice bloke. All goes well, I answer a few questions, i am a good student. At the second session the teacher picks on me, in a good way, well i think. I catch up with old friends, workmates, other OIC's it's really great to see people. They all say, wow you look healthy. Bring on the referendum, I am ready to give people their ballots. September 27thI head into the charity today, great to lend a hand and I am drowning in books and dvds. It is out of control. So good to see the girls.Marky's Youtube Wednesday is Crowded House. The magnificent "How Will You Go". From London in 1992. So good to see Tim onstage too with Crowded House wearing his Woodface jacket. The fans love this one. September 28thClarantyne send me an apology email around their $5.00 cash back deal. They make it up to me by sending $7.00. Wow, half a coffee but hey-thank you.Nice day at charity but I drive home somewhat high from the cleaner agent I used to scrape the old painted hours that are on the shops entry doors. Some how I get 1532 points today at Woolworths from a $22.00 shop. No idea how but thanks Woolies, extra Qantas flight points for me. Yay! September 29thMark has some tonsilitis, but he still helps me with tree drop on the nature strip. So i mow all of that. Still have to do inside on the west lawn but the annoying onion grass is still a bit too wet. A lady walking her dog tells Mark she "loves his YES yard signs".I play the Stones newie " Sweet Sound of Heaven" , I like parts of it, Mark hates it. I try to make him dance with me. He gives in a tiny bit, come on how can he resist this sexy tanned guy. September 30thA tiny cough for me and Mark has tonsillitis so I test for Covid but all clear.Polling numbers for the referendum still overall horrible for the YES vote. I fear the worst but at the end of the day we all have one vote and history will remember those that stood up and said YES even against fear mongering and all the other crap. October 1stWe are eating super healthy stuff today. I start adding LSA (fibre) into our granola.I met a nice couple today at the bakery who just love music, almost as much as we do. They instantly check out Marks clips on the Youtube paqe, very excited by it all. Nice to see. October 2ndPre Poll work for Referendum commences. I'm at Lilydale - St Patricks on Jones street. We are looking after two districts-Casey & Deacon.The first day was great, AEC head honcho gives me a compliment. Staff are all nice, I'm working with some great people. I started at 7.30 am. October 3rdIt's really raining and the weather has taken a turn for the worst. I am impressed with how many young people are voting, all of them in their YES shirts. I'm boringly neutral but inside I am smiling at them. I still have this uncertainty in the pit of my stomach that Dutton the Duds fear-mongering and bullshit will sucker so many people. Heaven help any racists that walk out in front of the red beast. I may miss the break and hit the accelerator!! A weird craving for a Zinger Burger so buy some for us on the way home.I drop some lemons into the bakery. They need them for their cakes. I hear the staff numbers are low at the charity so i squash in 2 hours helping them out. Mark is still a bit average so I try to spoil him. October 4thI am working ten hours today. A long one but hard work doesn't worry me, I'm up for it. I get up at some stupid time & go grab a coffee at Olinda bakery to take with me. The smell of freshly baked sausage rolls entices me too, so yes please two of them for my break. It is a long day but the public are both nice and appreciative, so far no arseholes. A couple of grumpy old men, who I dare say are just as grumpy every other day of the year. I will never be a grumpy old fart, NEVER!Home to find out that my Crowdies footage of them covering The Kinks "Sunny Afternoon" is now up on The Kinks web/facebook page. Thanks to Marky too, he grabbed it off the original camera tape & worked on the sound. That made us smile. A clip of the amazing Skyhooks goes up for Markys Youtube Wednesday. No studio version of this ever released and I like Marky's live version more than the one on "Live be In It. The song is "Sitting In A Bar In Adelaide". Great lyrics. So even if you live overseas and know nothing about this iconic Aussie band, give it a listen and support Marky's Youtube Wednesday. Thank you. Enjoy it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6aul2zHFro October 5thI manage to get most of today off. That feels nice. I head to the supermarket but make a left & go visit the gals at the charity and work on books, dvds for 2 hours. I thank Bill too as he dropped into Lillydale and pre polled voted.October 6thMy alarm wakes me, which is rare, I'm normally awake 10 minutes before. Even Midnight is yawning. She climbed under the blankets with me at 5.00 this morning, it's a frosty morning.Some referendum pay arrives, happily shocked what i got paid for my double training , it almost covers one way of our airfares home for Christmas. I work at the Pre Polling area till mid afternoon, another good day. I love that one of the older ladies who turned up to vote was named Joy Joy . Yes Joy for both names and she was a sweetheart, full of Joy as expected. Spotlight have a Halloween sale on for us that have an old lady Spotlight card. 40% off. So I do buy a mechanical Addams Family "THING" that walks across the floor. Midnight loves it, she plays with it & Thing is her new best friend. She falls asleep with it at night, her cat paw wrapped around it. Way too cute. October 7thSaturday and today we had our first decent rush of voters and every single staff member was on their game. Almost zero mistakes and we rocked it. Happy voters. Both No and Yes people handing out the flyers have been nice to me, as they should.Watch TV with Marky and fall asleep on the couch. The long hours are wearing me down a bit as is our early rising kitty cat. October 8thI'm enjoying The Juicery's "Dark Heart" drink. Apple, Beetroot, Purple Carrot , Ginger, Lemon juice. It looks very vampiric. I sit in my long Vamp coat drinking it at Olinda. Goth moment for the weekend.More YES signs springing up all around Kalorama, we are a passionate bunch in the hills. Paid Foxtel, not sure why we stick with it, Sky News is absolute garbage, their presenters are shite, paid and bought morons by the right. A bunch of tossers. October 9thBack to voting today, a slight hack on my Facebook account but that was dealt with, not even a good effort. The suns out, rather beautiful outside, I wear a short sleeved shirt to the pre poll venue. It's a beautiful drive home, good to feel the sun on my skin, I think of Magnetic Island and sigh. My tan has faded.We are enjoying "The Way Home". First episode and one of the cast is singing Crowded "Better be home soon" , it worked. The cast are rather excellent. October 10thEarly referendum start, 2 of our staff dropped out with Covid. We are now all testing in the morning which is wise. My first crazy person today, in your face and aggressive. My co-workers tell me I handled it perfectly. I could feel my body go into Kick Boxing protection mode. I guess with so many voters we all get one.Work in the office at home till 8.30 PM. I was hoping to do this F/16 diary but all the other stuff sidetracked me so it will be a rather long diary when it eventually goes up. Normally i am not this "slow" but work and circumstance delayed this one. Sorry Deb. xxx October 11thI'm working till 7.00 PM tonight so we manage to upload Markys Youtube Wednesday in the morning and i use the timer to put it up at midday. It's those fabulous Finn Brothers. The footage I filmed on our American 2004 tour. From two shows- The Grove at Anaheim (July 16th) and The Warfield Theatre, San Francisco (July 13th). Mark cleverly matched the audio from the Vic Theatre, Chicago (July 23rd). It's WON'T GIVE IN. What a song, how on earth could this not be a hit. radio, hang your head in shame radio stations.You can enjoy it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU0bL8u5RkI I have had the urge all day for a super chocolate thick shake, so called into the supermarket and bought what i needed. Also Teriyaki chicken roll and a Teriyaki salad. The salad was really good. YUM. October 12thMidnight is fitting in well, she does love it here. We cuddle every morning and Mark is spending more time with her when I am at work. She seems to hide her toys all around the house and sneaks off and retrieves them many days later. She picks them up and deposits them in her toy carrier. Smart kitty.Back to traffic controlling the cars and school kids, as they share the voting area . I am weirdly good at this and it gives me a breather. The headmaster comes over today and thanks me for a job well done. Apparently the parents told him how relieved they were that I was keeping them safe-nice. A few Mercedes Ladies giving me the eye and checking out my cute butt, so I am told. HA. At my age it doesn't take much to make me smile. I do have an arse with class. October 13thAnother early morning start and what a day. Multiple thousands arrive early to vote. We are go, go ,go again. The crew are on top of it, i love working with these people, so it was genuine sadness saying goodbye today. I am back at my voting centre at Sassafras tomorrow. As per all elections , it is my little place that always is an easy and positive day, my little neck of the woods.A tiny bit of good news around the Polling for Victoria, but across the board still negative for the YES vote. You just want to grab Australia and say wake up. Why the hell would anyone stand hand in hand with racists and neo-nazi's. Shameful. I stay up late with Mark, have a cuddle , I miss him so much during the day. By the time I get to bed I know I will be up in 5 hours time. Midnight gives me a pat, "Good human that i love, meow". October 14thReferendum day.I wing into the bakery and grab the first coffee of the day from them. The staff had only just arrived. I sit for 5 minutes. I get to Sassafras school and I'm the first. My OIC arrives and I set a few things up, Davids ok, he doesn't hassle me much and he makes me temp OIC when he is gone. Yieks responsibility-we don't like that. HA. Half the staff i know, and 2 newbies. I am a bit wired, running on adrenalin. The YES pamphlet people arrive and no NO ones don't bother to turn up which is lame. I remember to vote and go out & get a YES flyer. The day is slow and one big rush on the Declaration table that i deal with easily. All the numbers add up and we are one of the first booths in. The results interstate are crap, NSW and Tassie are "NO" . We count our ballots and we are 75% YES, and the suburb next door 68% YES. Inner melbourne all YES but its outer Victoria that is NO. It all crumbles Australia wide and No succeeds. I feel so sorry for First Nations people. We sit eating an Indian dinner and I turn it off, call some friends who all feel the same as we do. A sad day for Australia, very very sad. Well at least PM Albo was true to his word , an election promise to allow a Referendum. My one bit of joy is that the absolute stinker Dutton the Duds polling numbers have now dropped to 17%, that arsehole will NEVER be PM. My glass is half full. October 15th.I wake up and sadly last night wasn't just a bad dream. I avoid TV news. The weather is dark and gloomy, a bit like all of us. Apart from the ACT which did indeed vote YES, I think Victoria will be the closest, but not enough to win a YES vote.Our friend Tony from Skyhooks, he replaced Shirley as lead singer way back in 1979, well he has his Author Chat on today at Eltham library. I am talking to Nigel from the Enz who lives at Emerald while I am posting this even on the Skyhooks page and realise with upmost horror that I put that it was at EMERALD library! Shit, i change it minutes later, see I am still worn out from the long days at the referendum. We drive the red beast to Eltham with 15 minutes to spare. Great to see Tony and his partner Leonie. A good turn out , all chairs filled. It's a nice moment, felt more like we were all sitting around a fire having a yarn. Tony is happy to see us and we all chit and chat. He was in a band before the Hooks called Reuben Tice who were super cult status around Eltham, Research, Warrandyte. In November they are playing a one off show at St Albans, and releasing a 4 CD box set which covers their history, never released before. We met a guy called Christian too who seems fascinated by what we do, nice bloke. So i encourage a photo at the end with Tony and the 3 of us, yes Mark Goulding in an actual photo, thanks Leonie for taking it. They promise to catch up for lunch at our place down the track. The weather is still horrid as I drive home. I spot Fonzies at Bayswater as we drive home and make a sharp left. I shout Mark dinner in this fake Happy Days Diner. We refuse the Chachi burger because he is such a Trump suck. The burgers and chips are really nice and soft drinks in glass bottles. This was fun. We cuddle on the couch and watch "X" . It was filmed in NZ. You can tell they give a nod to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre , we appreciate the way it is filmed too. It's part of a three movie set. So that's it, nice to catch up on the diary, sorry it was delayed. The world seems dark and crap at the moment but decency always ALWAYS floats to the surface. Keep fighting the good fight. Love Peter |