The Life and Times of Peter Green
updated 20 April 2024
 "The days are getting colder at Kalorama…." |
April 1stYou don't see many people trying to pull a trick on April Fools Day anymore. Or maybe we do it every other day of the year? I'm going to keep it in mind, I'm certain someone will try.An old friend Mary gave us this rose bush when she left the mountain. It was named after her grandchild Grace. Anyway that was years ago and I still fuss over it, so a delight to find several amazing smelling roses on it today. It reminded me to give ancient Mary a call at the retirement home and have a chat, which was fun. We will catch up soon. I subscribe to Triple R, great community radio station, they have always been so supportive of us. I hear from Jeff and he's after an audio version of "Murder" to play on RRR's The Australian Mood (Australasian Mood!!!). So I email him Eddies edit version for air. Will have to try and tune in for a listen. A wild night up here, heavy rain, wind, you can hear trees crashing down all over the place, I'm just hoping none are ours. Certainly lots of water has hit the mountain. Driveways washed away. April 2ndThey need me at charity and after the wild night I am tired, I can't sleep and know I need to leave early. The bus service is in shambles as trees are across the road, so I wear my disaster coat and head off with a torch to the tourist road. I hitch in the darkness and a lady stops. Apparently she somehow recognised me and I helped her Mum in the big storm a few years back. So she drops me at Montrose in her little car, thankfully little as it could squeeze past the fallen trees.The rain really lashes as I walk down Canterbury rd to the 679 bus stop. It is on time and drops me off in front of Woolworths, I'm 30 minutes early for charity and grab some supplies from Woolworths. I arrive just as the boss turns up to let me in. The rain and wind pick up in the afternoon so I call a weatherman mate and he gives me an update and says I should get home before it starts again, so I head home just after midday. Just in time too as it buckets down as I bolt in the door. April 3rdSome sadness descends on our place today as it's 5 years since Marks mum Margaret passed away. Such an incredible woman, we just loved her so much. So as tiny tribute Markys Youtube Wednesday today will be Crowded House performing "She Goes On" . It's from the fan club show at Hanover Grand, London. Originally not on the set list. We haven't put any of our Hanover footage up on my Youtube page yet so this is a first. The show was June 3 1996 and Neil was meant to announce that the band were splitting up during the encore but in the end thought it way too dramatic. I remember having to bolt into EMI & change my press release etc. A crazy few days. Peter Jones is on drums. Anyway this beautiful song is now up and you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi_qTNtgrY8 I know how sad Marky is so I bake a ridiculously huge chocolate cake and a yummy dinner. I'm going to spend a week focusing on him….us. So phones off etc. The world can wait.April 4thI do go and do some some charity work however. The Bus system back to normal but foggy and cold.I clear the P.O. Box 50 and a cool present from an old surfer mate, who knows my musical tastes. Pearl Jams Melbourne gig on 2 cds from the Riot Act Tour. Rod Laver Arena , February 2003. Such an excellent show. This is great. We settle in and watch "Aristotle & Dante- Discover the secrets of the Universe". Love this low budget movie, the songs are good too and I think of us as youngsters, discovering our relationship and what the world has to offer. Very cool. April 5thI must of slept in a tiny bit as I have shower look at the kitchen clock and tell Mark I have 2 minutes to run for my coffee bus. I am out the door so quickly, some serious leg work and it gets me to the bus stop within 1.5 minutes. My heart is beating and I'm heavy breathing like some over bearing Porn Star! Still 20 seconds till the bus arrives. Well done Gryphon. Not bad for an old fart.The Bus driver lady is nice, her name is Caz and she plays great music. I have a salad roll and a coffee, chat to Mark III and a few locals. I call my Mum and she is excited as the Melbourne Storm had a fantastic finish to their game last night and a last minute try. I hear from music writer Jeff Jenkins and he is back on Triple R's The Australian Mood next Thursday and chatting about our Split Enz "Murder" video. So that is great, he's also only recently discovered Rugby and is now part of The Storm supporters. I'm looking forward to "Alien:Romulus", in Cinemas August 16th. I love The Alien franchise, it still scares the hell out of me. But the first two are miles ahead of the rest, we keep going back to them. Even though I have a few days off I did send out some blurb to Canada on the ‘Murder' video. Even if we get one Canadian radio station or magazine interested that's a win in my book. You'd think so as the Enz did really well in Canada, two top 10 singles and albums. Several in the Top 40. Away from the world with Marky so making him, well US, homemade lasagne tonight. I even made the lasagne pasta, which is a surprise but I wonder if he will notice. So fiddly just getting that part right. It's in the oven cooking while I'm typing this diary moment. April 6thThe big wet has set in all up the East coast of Australia. My hometown of Wollongong gets a good soaking , my family all ok but a months worth of rain in one day. Here at Kalorama it's misty rain and fog, far nicer.I'm at the Bus stop and some locals stop and give me a lift. The kindness of our community up here is wonderful. I clear the PO Box again and our friend Jeff Apter sent me the UK release of his Neil Finn book. We checked it for mistakes and allowed some of our photos to go in it. Jeff signed it too so that was nice. His email address is in the broken Apple computer so I write out a postcard to say thanks, how long has it been since any of us mailed a postcard! It felt a bit strange in this world of emails and text messages. The rain stops so I pick some fresh flowers for Marky, for his room and leave a Rocklea Rock chocolate box on his bed as a present. Still a tiny bit of colour in our garden, but the flowers are disappearing for another year. Except the Dhalia's which seem to love this weather. Daylight saving ends, so clocks back an hour. I dream a lot tonight. April 7th"Solar Punk" keeps raising its head in the media. What started in SciFi films is now a reality in the world of Architecture and design. The vision is positive. It's low tech at times but works and gives communities sustainable living. I love it. Maybe finally humans can walk hand in hand with nature.The bus is late today, not really late but it is raining. I watch an open black umbrella blow down the tourist road. I grab it so now I have two umbrellas. It looked ghostly the way it was floating about at times. I tried to take photos of it in the air but failed. Midnight is a bit cat sick today, gone off her food, like cats do from time to time.She naps on my bed most of the day. There is bit of a gathering in front of the Bakery, about ten of us , just accidental but it's a fun chat. April 8thIn the afternoon I take down another huge chunk of the film set, only a skeleton frame to go , the space suddenly seems a lot bigger. Not sure why I have some sadness over this, what was I going to do, put on puppet shows every Saturday. LOL. Sentimental old bugger.April 9thI get the car to my Monbulk mechanics early. Do some grocery shopping and have a coffee at Empire & some cheesecake at "Friends of the Hill". . I make some calls and get the first bus back to Olinda. The service is so far and few. It's cold and wet and the shithead bus driver won't open the door and let us in. 15 more minutes, honestly what a prick. So rare as the bus drivers are really great normally. So the MYKI scanner is rebooting so I think "Nah revenge, I'm not paying for a ticket , not giving this jerk my money". Revenge is a bitch and its name is Peter Green.Stuff is happening, and that's all I can say. LOL. Cryptic eh. I catch the Bus back to Kalorama from Olinda. Lunch with Marky. I hear from David at 3MDR -which is Mountain District Radio. I wanted my last interview to be local seeing we filmed it and created the ENZ "Murder" video up here. So a local radio station is perfect. April 10thMark thinks he has a detached retina so I need to get him into the city to the Eye and Ear Hospital but my car is out of action. Thankfully generous Martin next door drives us to Avis on Canterbury Rd. I get a funky new red SWIFT. Get to the city in rather good time. I spot a tiny park at the front area of the hospital, avoid the signs and know I will get a fine but NOTHING else matters except Mark.SIX hours later and we have this excellent Dr. So Mark has PVD. Posterior Vitreous Detachment where the gel in front of the retina turns to liquid and you get these big water drops. The good news is that it could disappear in 4 weeks , but still the chance it might detach the retina but for the moment it's still attached. Home and yes parking fine in hand. He takes me to Fonzie's for dinner. I'm relieved MG is mostly ok. The side effect-he now has Bowie Eyes for a few days, yes different colour etc , of course I love them. HA. April 11thWow a huge rave around yours truly by Jeff on The Australian Mood 3RRR radio show. They also play "MURDER" so that is brilliant. I blush at the incredible comments that Jeff says about us. They are in the link below around 13 minutes in.https://www.rrr.org.au/explore/programs/the-australian-mood/episodes/28894-the-australian-mood-11-april-2024 I didn't get a lot of sleep , I was worried about Marky so I get up early and head into the charity, just for a few hours volunteer work. It seems to go fast , and home by lunch time. Another of our videos clicks past 1000, as you know that is my compulsive obsession around "views". We've put up 738 videos. 580 are over 1000, some several hundred thousand and 158 under 1000. But many of those just a few dozen views short, so it's rather good. I just like if Mark is making this huge effort it gets viewed by as many as possible. Check out the latest upload for Markys Youtube Wednesday. One of our favourite Boom Crash Opera songs "Dancing In The Storm". Even if you have never heard of BCO before, this one is really worth watching. It's cold and wet in the afternoon so I plant a combination of baby daffodils and hyacinth in a pot for the table. April 12thI hear from David from the radio station. So i am going to do a prerecord an interview around ‘Murder' & other "stuff" in a few days time. The last of my promo pieces. It's for 3MDR "The Dotted Line" so I expect it will air in a week or so. It will be fun.I return my red Swift, and replaced the petrol, a mere $22.00 for fuel, so not bad. Tonight we watch "Whale Nation" the footage is glorious. April 13thSo "Murder" has been out for a month now, around 6500 views and it has created a really good vibe. I keep hearing more and more Split Enz on radio, well in Australia anyway. So thanks everyone that has supported this video, especially people on Facebook that shared the link. That is outstanding and appreciated.I mix Marks coffee grounds into the compost soil and rework a huge blue planter pot on the decking. I put some Sorrel in the centre and surround it with orange and purple carrots. The coffee/soil is perfect for them. I'm hoping I didn't plant them too late. I cook a roast tonight for dinner, not bad, and Miss Midnight also has some, which she devours with delight. Make some Chocolate Mousse too-I'm giving two to Martin & Hisako for their help around getting us to the car place. I play CH "Teenage Summer", I don't mind this one. Hope they get something that charts, it's been awhile. I guess it depends if radio will support it. Hope it's on vinyl. I'll have to check. I'll buy one if it is.The Crowdies had this great collectors market but is it being ignored? I'm out of the loop (on purpose) so not sure. Hope not. April 14thI slept well and the cat and husband both wake me up. Which is ok, things to do today. I am hoping the replacement piece for my car arrives on Monday, worth the wait, saved me $500. So today back on the bus.Coffee at the bakery and make a few notes for the radio interview. I think in May I will start on the next project. A major one, hopefully it will become reality…. we shall see. Ian sits for awhile and offers to drive me home which is nice and I run to IGA and buy a big bag of cat litter. Mainly because I don't have to carry it on the bus& up the hill. 9 KG's! I'm in the office with Marky for a few hours and the rest of the afternoon gardening while we have some sunshine. So that is it, the weather is getting colder up here but our hearts grow warmer. It's a nice time in our relationship, both of us stupidly happy. All the best to you. Peter xxx |
archives * images * merchandise
| brought to you by frenz.com, the springboard for all that is frenz of the enz |