The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 21 December 2001 - 6 January 2002
December 21st 2001
Spend the big part of today getting another batch of Neil Finn autographed '7 Worlds" CD's out to fans in time for Christmas. Head to HMV and buy some more stock, and we got the very last, stores have been selling out, quite a few Finn pieces of music in Xmas stockings this year.We buy the Angel box sets, never as good as Buffy but the show still has moments. He really needs to lighten up a bit- what a brooding Vampyre. They should bring back the Doyle character- he was great.
Plant some Lillies today, all these new hybrids on the market, blood red and golden yellow instead of the standard white. Am going to mix and match a few of them at the Forest place, add some colour to the regular old white selection.
December 22nd
Wake up early and take a sack load of mail to the post office. Grab the first t-shirt out of the cupboard and it's my Alex Lloyd tour shirt. Strange that I pick that one from the thousands of shirts, minutes later I get a call from Billy who manages Alex and we have breakfast. Eidre and the two kids are here as well- Daisy and Molly and they are so cute, at the end of the day I just want to say, forget all the music crap, all the fighting and wars and petty stuff, kids are it. I just watch them and they have such good lives, adults are such a bad end product usually... all bitter and twisted, and the lies flow. Wow am I dark today?Alex is doing well, the album moved it's 100,000th unit just in time for Christmas. Happy for them, all good. Plus they save me huge postage dollars on not having to mail their presents *grin*
Tania and Jake and a small army call by that night, Jake leaves with truckloads of presents, kids score big at our house this year.
December 23rd
We head off home to Sydney for Christmas- Mark checks the advance weather on cable and Sydney is going to roast, Melbourne nice and cool. We both try and think of lame reasons to stay but know our families would probably do us serious bodily harm if we blew it out.The car goes to the Limo service and that way it also get's a wash (gotta love that), the lines at the airport go out the door, I say a silent prayer for the Members only line which has a massive four people in it...off to the Qantas club.
The freaky flyer club is getting kind of cheap, all the newspapers have gone, fruit cake or fruit cake...even the Club magazine is being cancelled. As long as I have coffee and space and some sort of creature comforts I really don't mind about all those other things.
Flying over Sydney it all looks very very dry, a huge state of kindling. I arrive home to one of Mum's infamous roast dinners- just the best, I really pig out. Sis and her boyfriend Mark are here too, it's a nice get together.
The temperature keeps climbing, it's getting hot. Get zilch sleep and wake up in a bad mood.
December 24th
Drive out to my sisters business and pick her up for her Christmas surprise. Have been saving up all year as I know she needs a new car and hell she is my only sister. Want to keep it as a surprise from everyone but somehow Mum clues in (you know how mothers have those secret listening devices all over the house...it has to be, how else would they know their kids deepest secrets???). Anyway I decide to teach her a lesson and start on my plan to convince Mum that yes indeed I did buy Sis a HORSE for Christmas. Lets be real here, if most brothers tried this story they wouldn't have a chance, but my Mum knows that the freak gene is in me so anything is possible. To make the story more exact I drive Sis up into the mountains till we spot some horses, we have the polaroid camera so she poses with her lovely new horse *grin*.Before that most of the day was spent looking at cars, we both blew away a few sales men, I noticed that many looked like sharks...big beaky noses and pointy teeth....their creep factor definitely had them lose on a sale. I did try to convince Jen to buy this massive 4 wheel drive....I'm talking big- you could fit the whole SAS platoon inside it- she stares at me horrified....I put it down to big brother just wanting Sis to be safe on the road. In the end we find the car she wants, and I know she is like me and freaks out when on the receiving end of gifts. Weird I know. I win though as I am more stubborn.
A few hours later the reports start coming in that this horrid heat and several arsonists have a whole series of fire going up in the mountains, in fact the whole of NSW is ablaze.
The trig station blows up, so my grandfathers house has no power, all the family and relatives are outside -beer or beer, hey I'll have...a beer. Mum starts telling everyone about The Horse, she is saved just in time as Sis turns up....I stand up like I'm making a wedding speech and put an end to Mum's tale (tail *grin*)....she's just starting to pass the horse snaps around, I intercept and give people the car snaps. Thankfully she see's the funny side and says I am an evil son but a generous one. She gets all teary. It's a nice Xmas eve, get home before midnight. The sky has a red blaze to it....
December 25th
Another hot night, no sleep and I kept smelling smoke all night. We know something is up when the local paper is not delivered. We look out the huge back windows of our house and the great dividing range is all ablaze, mammoth amounts of smoke spiral into the air, the Sun is a huge red globe, I feel like I am on a flight that's about to land at Hades!!!Australian bushfires are brutal, they are alive, they run, jump roads and only things like backburning and serious rain can stop them. There are now 100 fires burning...
We all open our presents, my favorite is the Hussy/Bang mousepads that Sis had made, made me laugh- very cool. Mum didn't do scary Santa this year, all we could think about were the fires.
At lunch we found out that the township of Waterfall has gone up in smoke, and several main highways are now closed. We fill up the guttering with water, black ash, some of it still alive is covering the yard. People are walking about with face covers on.
Thank god for the fire brigade and the CFA volunteers. They save hundreds of houses, and people like WIRES look after the countless animals. My uncles promise to keep me updated about roads being closed etc. I think of our friends in Europe and the States who are snowed in and it's raining in Melbourne.
December 26th
My uncle Des wakes me very early with a call, all roads are now closed, in every direction. There is a slight chance of one small road that runs over an old volcano ridge (seriously) and if we are quick we might be able to get on the M5 and get into the tunnels that take us to the airport direct. I feel like I am running from Nazi's , everything is so "gotta go NOW". Somewhere in all this the Xmas spirit lives and our family celebrate per usual. I think good thoughts for the families who lost everything, just doesn't seem fair at this time of year.I call Mark and pick him up within minutes, we are off, with some quick scrawled instructions...I question my memory as for awhile we are the only car on the small road and it seems like we are heading into the belly of the beast. Tree's are ablaze and powerlines shorting out...the smell of burning gum trees is everywhere. If we were ten minutes slower we wouldn't of made it over the range, but we got to the M5 tunnels and the odd thing is that it was quicker then the usual route- probably the zero traffic.
Qantas get us on an earlier flight, we touchdown in a cool wet Melbourne and I think to myself how much I love this cities four seasons in one day...
Cosmo is happy to see us, ok happy to see mostly Mark and the crunchy combo container. We tune into foxtel and watch the fires number 110 across the States. Kids are lighting some of them, and being under 18 they basically get away with it. Throw them into the fire I say.
December 27th
Am cleaning the Tarot card table and thought I'd pick a weekly animal (Druid) oracle card. I get the Hawk. Also known as Seabhac. The card shows a Merlin, the smallest of hawks (I think- I should ask Larry). Seabhac brings the ability to see your life in perspective, to free you of unnecessary "baggage" and to connect me to my ancestral roots. Its more about surveying your life and see the vents of ones life in context- well that's how I'm looking at it. The Hawk helps recall small details or spot things which are significant. It's a bit of a new day dawning type card. Kind of how I feel at the moment too. I agree to do a few Tarot readings for a few more friends, feeling pretty charged and full of life.December 28th
Happy Birthday Ben. We are jealous 29th! We will be glad when the Yeti is 30, then he won't seem so young *grin*. He came along with Jen who we liked (plus she has cool black dress sense).We have a few birthdays here, and I always get stuck making the cake, and yeah I dig it. Big BBQ with the Yeti in charge of cooking. Great night, good company and no food left. Real fun.
December 29th
The Skyhooks website has it's 50,000th hit, the counter spins out of control as we had one of our contests, which encourage our readers to come back more often. This diary clicks over for it's 141,000 hit, which is rather mind blowing.We spotted another batch of volunteers heading to NSW to fight the fires, they are still out of control. Most of the national park, the 2nd oldest in the world has been devastated, it will take decades to re-grow.
We decide to head to Beenami tomorrow to check on IGOR and clean away any old wood etc.
December 30th
Happy Birthday Greg Macainsh of Skyhooks.Head off to Beenami. Walk in the forest and stumble upon a family of 8 Kookaburra's. Such a proud bird and so damn loud, they all started at once, a tumult of "koooooka" increasing in volume as each joined in. They are the heavy rockers of birds and they dig it. They know they are cool.
December 31st
New Years EveWe opt for a quiet one this year, the plan is to sit on the balcony and watch people stumble past on the street. Rosemaree joins us, and supplies a neat supper. Make a decision that the balcony needs re-painting, yes I have the painting bug, the house is starting to look pretty damn good. People are commenting when they walk in the door. We expect to be the feature in an upcoming copy of House & Garden, or whatever the hip equivalent is (or maybe H&G IS hip).
Have a dance with my best mate, who never dances (except with me). It's a song called "Fancyman Blues" by the Stones. One of their throw away songs, which is annoying as it's far better then the album material they do. What a groove, very cool song. The Stones should get back to the blues.
It's reported that Bardot are in the lead for the voting for Australian artist of the year. Even beating Kylie. There is still time to vote, so even if you are not a Bardot fan, a win would help our office. People can vote on line: http://www.hmv.com.au Plus if you vote you could win a $500 voucher. Just click on the area that says WIN a $500 voucher for voting. Highlight Bardot and fill in the details. Voting closes Jan 11th. Neil Finn was on the voting list but I think it's the old "he's a NZer remove him"....as he seems to be on the forms but not the internet list anymore.
January 1st 2002
Wow 2002. Such a year of extremes. No real equilibrium of good and bad, just extremes. Lets hope 2002 will be better or less excessive.It was the year my hair grew long, took the smallest amount of drugs (just pot) and lost a bit of weight. Think all that is healthy. Nearly all the artists we worked for got Gold records (even the Hooks turned over a few more), except Bic Runga who was recording (then again the live Bic/Tim/Dobbyn cd went multi platinum in NZ). Bic will be releasing GET SOME SLEEP in February, hoping it will be a hit...so she will get a belated Gold. One way or another people will get to hear this song. Go Bic!!!!!!!!!!
New years resolution, to be kinder, help a few more people, to swear less to create more things (books, art, photos...nude sculpture...ok no the to sculpture).
We watch WAR OF THE ROSES on DVD. Always a good movie, nothing like your husband peeing on the fish at a dinner party, or your wife making Pate' out of mans best friend!
January 2nd
Babble is open again. The return of good coffee. Sit outside and I watch Stephen Cummings ride by on his bike, his grey hair glistening in the sun. That pointy nose guiding him like a compass. He was in the Aussie band called The Sports and has had many solo cds. He went to school with Macainsh. It's nice watching him ride past, we use to see him on his bike all the time.Great news that STARGATE the tv show makes the National Top 10. It was #1 in WA but now it's top Ten nationally- happy to see some sci fi in the top ten watched shows.
Peggy "mad dog" Morgan arrives in the afternoon. Good to see her, she was part of our crazy past and is still a good friend. We head to the Black Olive for some food.
January 3rd
We have breakfast at Babble. I head into the city while Peggles drops some copies of BANG into the JUST COLLECTABLES shop. "Just Collectables" is a great fun place (212 Chapel St Prahran) plenty of models and swap cards and all those fun things. I eye the LOST IN SPACE lunchbox in the window. So if you are after something a bit left of centre , and you are in town this is the place to shop.Head into the city and give my travelex people the two signed Bardot singles as promised. They are really happy...hey they are only singles.
Buy up the final batch of '7 worlds" CDS from JB HIFI, HMV has sold out, and I won't shop at Sanity.
Thankfully LORD OF THE RINGS blows Harry Potter away, LOTR makes $14 million here in the first week. Sorry Harry's Hype just killed it for us, at least RINGS is more subtle.
Our present from Miss July arrives and we are stoked, the "BUFFY" board game, just left me with a silly grin. Will have to take it on the road and get some of the Buffster lovers (eh Jayne D?) together and have a game. Just great...thanks Nic. xoxox
My Bardot girls win SINGLE OF THE YEAR at the MCV awards, this is one of the few times they have won. They bumped Kylie off, it could be a sign for the 'Aussie act of the yea'. Mention it to Tiff-Bardot and she is happy.
January 4th
The Xmas parcels keep on arriving, and cards- so many. CJ from Chicago spoils me, and I loved the Warhol pix (its one of my faves) and Maryanne Mortenson just blows my mind with the USA print of the latest Anne Rice. The Australian books are not as good as they don't have that wonderful German binding. My Christmas is now all of January I am thinking- very happy everyone, and thank you.Pete and Susan O'Doherty send me the upcoming DOG TRUMPET tracks, with some special Pete artwork....I can't stop playing this, so nice to hear guitars, great voices and lyrics. DOG TRUMPET are like a BEST KEPT SECRET, something I truely love about them. Will let you guys know when it's out, it's worth the leap of faith to buy this. So good to see people just record stuff on their home studios and actually release it, other wise what's the point?
Head off to Prahran with Mark, go into the import shop to buy this $5 carved mask for Beenami (everything is 50% off)...find this beautiful book/display case, and I can't resist. Broke again for another few months....damn. Somehow I ended up spending $500 instead of $5.00.
January 5th
Up nice and early and clean the balcony and start painting it. Just the floor boards, even that's a huge task. Can't do a roller job on these, all hand painted individually -'ferric red', which is one of the federation colours (no not the Star Trek federation the other one....). Of course we run out of paint with only 6 floor boards to do, half expected it, so I'm not too freaked.The huge bookcase/cabinet arrives for my room. The two delivery guys are red faced and almost collapse carrying it in. They stare at me in horror when I say "we are going to carry it up the staircase later"....they depart very quickly.
Mark points out my annoying habit of purchasing chunky BIG things for the top section of the house....this cabinet is even worse then my bed *grin*. The new year resolution of less swearing goes out the window as we take a small chunk out of the wall, ever tried flipping a cabinet that takes 6 men to move over a balcony into the next stair level (our place has three levels). Mark is incredible despite thinking he will die today...we do it, always up for a challenge...looks brilliant. Spend the day fixing the room. When we sell the house in ten years it comes with it...this baby will never leave that room! It will be like the mysery of the Pyramids- HOW DID THEY GET THIS CABINET INTO THE ROOM. Was it help of UFO', documentarys will be done on it....
Management in the U.K. tell me no NF USA tour has been locked in yet however they will be in contact, so I'm assuming one will happen....I guess around the release of ONE ALL the new mutated One Nil cd. Up for a bit of touring, and that's the one I want to do. So Neil and Sharon if you are reading this, my bags are packed, and I have so new funky things for the backstage area. Plus I want to head down to Mexico to buy tiles from Pueblo (Sth of Mexico city) I'm sure Sharon would be up for a tile pilgrimage ....!
January 6th
Bec calls and I catch up with her for breakfast. Rosemaree must be finishing up on all my books as I haven't heard from her, so it's the two of us for breakfast. We get to Babble early as the temperature is set to hit close to 40o today. She walks me up to the paint shop, and I check out a few other shops but am good. Saving my money for funky Mexican tiles tomorrow when the tile shop re-opens.Finish painting the balcony, my room is so nice and cool, mainly because the big trees out front offer so much shade...I climb onto my bed for a catnap- 20 minutes.
There is a great article on Anita Roddick (founder of the BodyShop) in the Sunday Life Magazine. I like Anita, she is a shortie like me, ok much shorter, despite the BodyShops being massive they still have such a great heart beating in each of those green and yellow franchises. Nice to have some morals in business...I like Anita. I curl up and read the article in bed...just another ten minutes...
I find Cosmo exploring the drawer of the new cabinet...this cute white head pops out, big bunny ears flopping, with a "hello there" expression on his face..."get out of bed".
Had a few people emailing about copies of HUSSY, the first book. I think Greville Books have three copies left- 145 Greville street Prahran for Melbourne fans (or email: grev@interdomain.net.au) Their phone number is 95103531 OR order via Frenz.com site as 8 copies are for the site. So HUSSY will sellout. BANG! is overtaking Hussy's sales for the same time period which is pretty far out. I wonder if it's Lone Wolf's Cartoon PG cover that grabs peoples attention???? For orders that come via Frenz.com I am including some bonus sticker sets too (while stocks last). Free is good, will have to do some odd shaped book marks for book three, that would be good.
So I here I sit Melbourne's first super hot day of the year, the solar panels must be gobbling up all those particles, which means this computer is running for free and the diary is being generated by the power of God (well Sol!!!). Proving the Sun's rays can be positive (solar) and negative (sun cancer)...maybe there always is a good side to everything?!
So that's today's lesson, good and bad in everything, you just got to look.
Welcome to 2002.
Peter