The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 27 March - 8 April 2000
March 27th
Spend the day wrapping and mailing off the baby-G watch prizes for the BIc Runga Club- Campbell (Bic's manager) has been great to work with and wants to do more prizes like this, the fans will get some pretty cool things. Try calling Bic but she is not at home, she's heading off to India soon to record some music for her next c.d. It's good working with JP.... he's quick on the update button which I like...nothing like keep the news fresh. Seem to be playing a game of phone tag with Neil but it's always good to have a chat to Liam. I think Betchadupa start touring again soon...he's flu-ish.March 28th
It's a hard decision...do you buy the super suction dustbuster or the extra powerful Dust Buster...the store guy was useless and just wanted a sale, so I kept asking inane questions just to bug him. Don't you hate it when store people try to flog you everything just to get their totals for the day....Morrissey's right- shoplifters of the world unite and take over!!! (grin)......and what is Stephen Patrick Morrissey up to anyway...maybe he got caught! (shoplifting).Just heard that by eating at least 6 walnuts a day there is a huge positive effect on high cholesterol.... so next time you are thinking of a munchy get some walnuts....could save your life. I was talking walnuts to a girlfriernd the other day and she described them as wrinkled up testicles....my friends are so classy.
March 29th
Mark Lizotte heads off to the recording studio to work on some new songs. Mammoth Records are releasing his new c.d. in the States. I guess he'll be doing some gigs.Head into the city and catch up with Vali. She shows me the copy of Madison magazine...what a huge article...and it has some of her work in it. If any of you art fans want to check out Vali, it's in the Jan/Feb issue of Madison (I think this magazine is based in NYC). She's also in Art Forum.
The new Oasis c.d. is a stiff here...6 weeks and it's left the charts, occasionally they write some good songs, but these guys put the "W" in the word Wanker. The "just one of the lads" thing has really gone past it's use by dates....and we won't even talk about the primitive man hair look......
March 30th
Go through all our tax stuff, so damn boring.....and we have receipts for everything in the world.... half of it we don't claim but we keep finding bits of receipts in jackets, car, bags.....shit our office spends a lot.Hey thanks for all the emails regarding dvds, an amazing amount of you have been in contact, thought we'd do a dvd of the fortnight. ... I didn't think so many people would have DVD players.... so when we started getting this many emails it kind of threw us a bit. Like all things, it's only our own taste when it comes down to the dvd, we might hate what you really like.....
The first is "Still Crazy"..... our friend Skip from Mental as anything (yes the old Crowdies tour manager) told us about this....at first we were unsure, mainly because we thought Billy Connolly might overrun the movie...but he is really good in this.
The movie is about a 70s' rock phenomenon called STRANGE FRUIT...yeah classic name eh...anyway 2 decades later they reform for this rather bizarre reunion tour. It's one of those movies that is perfect for every tour bus....every road crew or band on the road. There is this classic moment where this old Goth-ed up lead singer falls through the ice in some small European town....and he is floating around under the ice with this glitter cape rolling in the water...you think he's going to die under the ice..........the girl above has no idea how to get him out....and in true seventies icon(ism) a giant platform boot crashed out of the ice...and he climbs through. Kitsch but kind of neat. Anyway it was good...and funny and Connolly was cool in his part as tour manager/stage guy.
Plus the guitarist is both talented and cute....whilst the rest of the band are dinosaurs, dropping bad farts and cliched rock moments. Strange fruit......are still crazy....good to see. Nominated for 2 Golden Globe awards for Best Picture...if that means anything.
The next one is The River Wild.....we had this on video and the dvd is much better....a collection of known actors- Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon and David Strathairn...and I was dying for meryl to scream out "A timber wolf ate my baby"...but she doesn't. She does buff up a bit in that Sigorney Weaver sort of way- when she gets her family down this crazy white water river. bacon and two other guys are mean arse crooks........ who try to kill Streep's very geekish husband (hell if you had Kevin Bacon in the boat none of us would stand a chance)....the son is her main reason for getting everyone through and her shakey marriage is put back on track at the end (naturally)..... I still think the dog should win a Golden Globe.......and was a far better actor then Streep's hubby.
The scenery is great, and there are a few corny moments. Runs for a decent 107 minutes....and the Director went on to do L.A. Confidential...with Russ and Guy . Good for a cold Winters night, with a blanket and some munchies.
March 31st
LLT played the Forum tonight- we headed off to the country place instead. Have no idea how it went, was a double show but someone told me it was $30 (yieks). Have kind of stepped back from the whole LLT thing and just move ahead......they always seems to talk a lot but I'm not so sure how much gets done anymore. Have no idea when the albums coming out.....Paul talked to Neil about doing some special guests spots later on.....but I think it's a case of wait and see.Hertz drop the hire car in, as it wasn't ready, they really look after us......must of just been washed as it's very very white!
Mark spends the day building a bridge to cover one of the mud/washout areas...it's only a little bridge but it's a strong little bridge.
I jump start Lara the tractor and she just comes to life and it's really fun still driving her. Some of the big orange flowers have came out...and my corn is growing. As soon as Winter is over the real Vegie patch will spring up. We cook some dinner under the stars near the barn. Huge Kangeroos are bounding through the scrub, it's so thick it sounds like the Blair Witch driving a 4 wheel drive.....
It's very black outside...I head off with the nightscope...all brave into the darkness......as I get closer to the main forest a huge chill runs up my spine...and a voice whispers into my head-don't go in there.....so I stop. Stand dead still. I can feel something watching me.....but I put on a brave front and refuse to run. I move slow and click on the nightscope......and raise it slowly to my eye. The whole bush "lights up'....really freaky. But a chill touches my very soul....as two very white eyes are looking at me....shoulder height.....I actually shudder....and then the horrible thing happens... ..."it" smiles at me. By this stage I have almost peed my pants and ran back to the light of the cabin...but I pretend I didn't see anything and slowly walk away..backwards of course.....would you turn your back on a smiling bush thing? I tell myself it was just a happy possum on a low branch but next day I check and the bush near there has no low branches......and there are weird marks. Urgh..... well at least it didn't attack, eat or have unsafe sex with me.....PHEW!
In the middle of the night the rain starts and rain it does, if you can imagine ten elephants tap dancing on the roof that's what it sounded like, it filled all three water tanks. I slept very little and Mark was downstairs on the new very comfy couch bed.
April 1st
April Fools day...didn't play any tricks today...I tend to save that for the other days of the year.... unlike a few people on TITM........taking on the religous tact....it was a clever joke......I'm sure a few of our religous extremists on the list fell for it hook line and sinker.....Neil will have his own pew reserved for him at their many churches......have to admit I had a chuckle over it. God has a sense of humor too...but I sometimes wonder if some of his followers do!!!Take a new way home and discover a great homemade hamburger place.......now these places should have a photo of their hamburgers- they would actually look like what you get. I am always amazed that people don't sue McDonalds, Burger King for fake advertising...the hamburgers never look like their commercials....they always feel "wet" and look like a huge bottom has been sitting on them.
Miss Neil (again) who is at Dicks 78th birthday. Trying to confirm that he is at the opening of the Paralympics in October....I wasn't sure if it was confirmed....Amanda hasn't gotten back to me yet. ...but the media seem to think it's 100%.
April 2nd
Happy Birthday Leanne...track her down and sing to her. In tune for once.Really sad as Number 96 actress Bunney Brooke died today- aged 80. She was one of the very first celebs I ever met...really sweet old gal. Vali told me they use to hang out together at St. Kilda. When the balcony caved in and Vali almost died it was Bunney who picked her up and raced her to the doctor. She was a smoker and cancer killed her......she had one of those Australian grins....!
April 3rd
Paid our cable account .....still like having cable t.v...... brings the world to your living room....gotta love that.....and that month in advance weather report...freaky.Richard the tree man...o.k. he is an arborist...but tree man sounds better....calls by and goes through the stuff for the written report.....says our trees are very healthy etc....I leave Mark to deal with him and head into the city for meetings etc. Get a nice taxi driver who knew all the short cuts, so he gets a tip. Come home and find Mark putting away the trampoline ...what has he been up to!!!!
Vali leaves on Sunday so I am dropping into the studio to keep it open for a few days every week... and we have some help so it makes it easier for me. Her solicitor is doing the paper work for the Foundation so I guess I become a M.D....as long as Vali is happy. Three of us are in charge which is a real honour.....but Vali will live forever.....she's a Sphinx. Probably end up being the two of us.
So they have a date when Voyager ends...May 2001...only a year and a bit, the ending is meant to be pretty cool.....so they obviously have an idea about what is happening. So all of us StarTrek people will be happy. Mark tells me that the X Files dvd set comes out next month, a good idea- they are releasing the X Files per season not episode, much better value for the fans. The StarTrek franchise sucks on dvd...2 piddly episodes.....with countless hours available on the dvd they put on two crappy episodes....you'd think they'd take a leaf out of the X-Files and do the right thing.
Some of the Enz New Years Eve shirts are starting to run low, the fans are after this keepsake, probably the last ever Enz tshirt done when you think about it...thought I'd mention this.
April 4th
Get an email about some of Mark Ryden's art being available at an Aussie showing......pray for a bonus from one of our bands. (: Hint Hint Hint. I would love a Ryden original for the house.It's late afternoon and Grant calls and tells us we have to head to the Sain Bar for a special showcase performance by the Popstars (Bardot) themselves! So I do a rush through the wardrobes, after all it IS a media event...drag out the shiny patent leathers and route 66 top... high boots and we head off. Sain bar is packed....GT hasn't arrived with the girls yet so our names are not on their wanky lists...so I flip some business cards and pull rank and we get some lame apology and get in out of the cyclone. You just know that these people are mostly here so they can say next day that they went, they'll probably bitch and moan, and attack the performance before it's even happened....such is the power of this show/group. It's like the show...."ohhh I don't like it very much but I watch it every week" magnetic pull.......I look about and I spot many wolves ready to rip these sheep apart. I also see a genuine rush of excitement when the horrible Sain music stops and the girls start. GT tells me it's 4 songs....the first part of Poison (the much talked about upcoming single) cops a massive dose of feedback.....but the girls continue. Some of the crowd laugh, at that stage I felt kind of sad for them. Their debut performance and that bit of feedback just confirmed in some of the media's minds what they want this to be......all buns and no beef!
On a professional level Bardot could of done several things- caved in, cried and spat the dummy, ran off, re-rolled the backing tape....but they did the right thing, kept singing and basically said fuck it, here we are. One song I liked, 2 I didn't and Poison, which I never liked from the start is stuck somewhere in my head and just won't vacate. Mark is almost on his first hot date with Sophie...yep the blonde one. I should set them up for a photo...as magazines are offering $10,000 for a photo of any of the Popstar girls on a date. ...and Marky Sophie looked at me not you! (grin).
We decide not to hang about, we exit really quickly.....our first Popstars experience.....hated the crowd, even disliked most of the industry wankers.....but Grant was a sweetheart and Michael (their co manager) looked very tired- and you can't blame him. This project would just suck away at you...everyone wanting their piece. Bardot.....am still not convinced they are a "group".... and our one main gripe- which I'll tell Grant is that they never said one thing to the crowd......the line between punter and group was there...like a glass window......some of the "band" need to break it. It's ok to show your personalities via a video clip...but make them real......they need to take the next step and soon...or it will work against them. I just know some of the media hacks will leave with some scalps tonight....a few bad reviews are expected, you just know that newspapers like The Age will want to bring them back down to Earth. Pass the tall poppy someone......!
April 5th
Breakfast at Babble.....a customer says- hey you work with that Popstars band.....I said not 100%, he smiles and waves the paper..." wow bad review"...almost with glee. It's The Age, no surprise there. The Sun are more generous, as Mark says The Sun is a young persons paper.....after reading the review it could of been two separate performances. The truth is somewhere in the middle.Was suppose to build the rabbit house today but got sidetracked... maybe tomorrow. Didn't sleep very much because of the rain....really pelted down last night. Grant was in town...this is normal, it always rains in Melbourne when he is here.
Mark splurges on a whole pile of dvds....Video cave has now became Egalxz and the selection is amazing. There goes our pay for a few weeks. The Solar people call and said my rebate is being processed...hmmm my rebate could pay off my dvd order (grin)......
Come back to reality with the sight of another famine in Africa....buy a few dvds less and call up a donation.....it's looking pretty bad. $50 can help save someone......the sight of little kids starving makes me cry. Feel guilty just how good we have it....Australia is the land of plenty. Just seems worse when little kids die..... if people like Michael Jackson really cared they could do so much. A million dollars from every billionaire could do it...depressed.
Was also pleased that John Howard's liberal colleagues have almost crossed the floor to protest over the mandatory sentencing issue and the whole Aboriginal issue...... good to see. It's the first time I have seen Howard look worried- the man is an idiot- who would vote for this dick head? Roll on the next election. Some of my friends complain about the costs of their mortgages and hospital and I'm sure the GST...but half of them voted him in....and will probably cast the same vote again. ......what is wrong with this picture. It's like God that hurts...hit me harder. Ok everyone should be able to vote for whom ever they want but please don't complain to me after you voted. have coffee with Johnny and the first thing he says is- John Howard is disgusting.....
Wow the Russians are heading back to Mir again....I thought it was becoming a hotel! I'm all packed and everything......just think of the frequent flyer points getting their.
Make a great Lasagne for dinner..... and the weather is so cool and nice......just want to do a Garfield and sleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Must be the Lasagne.
April 6th
Slept in today....had a few weird dreams last night...not spooky but a bit lopsided......people in strange places...you know the type...don't you?Some movie invites arrived today...nothing we want to see....I like how the local theatre is now having the special showings....means not having to go into the heart of the city.
Get a call from Sharon and Tabac- Auckland Bar/Club is now under Finn control.....Sharon is setting up an email list (NZ residents only) so people know when those special "events" are happening. With the new P.A. and stage I think Neil may decide to "break it in" and have a play. So if any NZ people want to go on the Tabac private email list just send me an email....and mention it's for the Tabac list. No point calling Tabac as they won't tell you who's on when..... spontaneous .....
Sounds like the flu is hitting the entire Finn clan.....weve been Fluu-less here but everyone else has had it...or a cold. Give me an Echie instead of a Flu shot anyday. No not the Ecstasy type Echie the Echinacea type.
Video Cave drop us a line and 11 dvds are on their way...they even managed to grab a few titles that are not in the stores yet...we won't ask. They are upgrading their company and it's now called "egalxz " and apart from dvds they handle books and c.d.s. Cool. You pay a little more but their service is pretty good. NYC to Australia in 3 days.
Been wondering all day if anyone will try and throw me a surprise party this year? Being a typical Tauras (May 11th) I want someone else to do all the work. Sharon is a Tauras too but Neil creeps to the other end of May.......so he isn't as good as us (grin). Who was it that told me the story about someone coming home in the evening, feeling very horny, slipped on a porn video and started having a wank when all his friends jumped in and screamed out Surprise happy Birthday!!! Aghhhhh imagine it!
April 7th
Have been taking notice that Space seems to be back on the agenda in the media this week. All the talk of frozen oceans on Jupiter's Europa moon...and that the hard ice may only be a few km's thick and a warm slush ocean underneath.....could explain some of the gravitational tide effects...all those criss crossing ice fractures........exciting. It also looks like the European Space Agency might beat Nasa to Mars ......next time. Nasa lost about $300 million dollars on the failed Climate oribitor and Polar lander.......and it's obviously caused a huge rethink.....whereas the European Space Agency will have an orbitor their and a lander...cutely named Beagle II rolling around on the surface...in 2003. I keep sending them "take me take me" emails...they never reply...rude Europeans!!! (:Head into the city to see Vali, she heads back to Positano on Sunday, so I'm going to look after the art studio in the city for a few days a week.
Heaps of big chunky chocolate Easter Eggs everywhere.... someone should do a chocolate Christ on a cross ....I'd by that...would be a bit freaky snacking on Christ's head though.....but hey that would solve the big complaint of "kids just don't know what Easter stands for..." they could have their chocolate and religion too. I bet the chocolate Christ would be a huge seller. I bet someone has beaten us to this.
I get to the studio and Vali is out, so I head to the Alley cat and I've just missed her...it's like chasing Casper the Ghost arn't 70 year olds meant to be slow.? So I surrender have coffee and one of their potatoes. Catch up with her at the studio. She can't wait to see Ruby the Pig..... Stay for a few hours, people dropping in....I just relax.
Arrive home with the new ST Voyager Video....so that will keep me happy for an hour or so.
Had a lot of emails from supporters who have cast a vote in Massive Magazines "20 greatest Australian concerts of all time". It's really easy to cast a vote- just an email. Basically just include your name, mention what concert (it has to be an Australian show) and the reason why. Australian fans can win heaps of prizes, so Aussie's who vote please put your address. Send the email to: massive@emap.com.au The subject header is "Massive's 20 greatest Australian Concerts of all time".
We are asking fans to cast a vote for either of these three:
Crowded House Farewell to the world -Steps of the Opera House
Crowded House Fan-club show- Corner Hotel Melbourne
Neil Finn-Try Whistling This Tour- Festival Hall-Melbourne.
You can vote for other shows, but if we splinter our votes it will be a total waste of time as the show won't make the top 20 and it isn't worth doing. So please if you vote pick one of these three. Great if you were a winner......not to mention one of our shows getting in.
April 8th
Last night we watched the Exorcist....gee loads of Catholic related religion in this issue of the diary....still a classic and in part even more full on then I remembered. Some of it is based on a real story. The dvd has some classic extra bits like the stuff not shown......Linda Blair doing the "spider walk" scene......and where did she get THAT tongue. I only spotted wires in one segment. Except for the stuntman falling down the alley way stairs...the rest of the stunts were done by the cast. Pretty revolting green slime......good how it still holds up.Sleep in today....it's a perfect day outside....one of those wash your hair and sit in the Sun sort of days. Head into the kitchen and make some fresh bread...exciting eh?!
So all seems right with the world today...(we all know it isn't).
Look after yourselves.
Peter