The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 24 June - 11 July 2010
 Is That A Giraffe I'm Hiding In My Laundry Bag? June 24thLake Naivasha-NairobiI wake up early, even before those freaky birds. A smaller number fly in, for some reason they set us both off laughing. Sis and Trudi sleep through their noise, they sleep deeper then we do....those wretched birds- what birds they say. The lone columbos monkey returns, with the massive white end of his furry tail it's easy to track him through the trees. He is brave and does this amazing leap over head, using the tree limbs as a spring to send him further into the air. I am with him on the lawn... we stare at each other- I wonder what he is thinking- probably thinks I am really strange looking and not to be trusted. I love that he seems to defy gravity, his world above the trees closer to the sky then the earth, I sit and watch him as the sun rises over Africa. My skin loving the warmth after weeks of an Australian winter. Holy shit I'm in Africa- the penny drops. Cool. A gardener tells me Australia wins last nights soccer game, but it doesn't help them so they will be heading home from the cup. Still it's a dignified exit. The gardener watches me as I pull out my knife and snip off a few pieces of alo vera. I don't ask anyones permission, I just do it, natures pharmacy, it's growing wild and a snip back will actually encourage more growth. The gardener smiles and I know he knows what I have and what I'm using it for. I know it is exactly what a I need to relieve the sun burn from Hells Gate. A place with the word 'Hell' in it just cries sunburn, I'd expect noting less. It's instantly cooling and I can almost feel it working. I sit in my deckchair waiting for the others to rise from their deep sleeps. The alo vera does look like the stuff dripping from the giraffes mouth though, it looks like I have been in a porn movie, some how my whole arms get a lube job (yieks). It is funny, my sunburnt skin seems to suck it in and the gross slimy lube is gone after 10 minutes and my skin just looks less red. I take a plastic bag over to the jungle plant that I have found and snip off some chunks to take back to Nairobi with us, for future use. The African species of Alo Vera IS different to the Yemen version- see we can learn something from this diary! In Peru they call it Sabila, I've cut some in Peru too for slight sun burn at Machu Pichu , I wonder if it is the same as the bush I have growing at Ailsa Craig? Mark and Trudi head off to film Hippos on the lake, they'll be small dots this time of day. I stay and pack, and help Sis attempt to close her bag. I have never seen zippers scream as much as my sisters bags- she somehow closes them and I worry that the contests will somehow be compressed into a different dimension-she may never see her precious gifts and souvenirs ever again? She'll need the good Doctor and his machine to locate them...they are lost in the compressed-zip dimension. The staff come and say goodbye, it's funny about a dozen people turn up, it's a bit daunting. Some young girl carries Mark's bag... he'd better tip her well for her efforts. They apologize for the small disaster that happened, and Joseph tells me I am a good man and thanks me. The manager and PR woman also come out, it's the full send off- I am feeling very royal today. I've had a shave, a new shirt is worn and I feel good. Goodbye Country Club! Please you can stop saluting now (sigh). The drive back is a bit crazy, this new driver almost kills us three times, 'almost' is fine..though my sis has lost her sunburnt face and it's probably still white - a huge truck on the wrong side of the road on a small mountain turn with cliff drops on either side...coming straight towards us... even i say a prayer to the gods, to anyone that is listening, salvation arrives at the final seconds, just- a knat no longer has it's whiskers it was THAT close. I know Gryphons are meant to fly but I didn't want to test the theory out of a van and over a cliff.!!! It was the trucks fault not our drivers..... death in Kenya. We arrive at the Holiday Inn and I decide to change room, Mark is crappy because I never told him and he left his precious shampoo in the room. So I get us a suite and collect said shampoo. The suite is great, and has it's own garden and as a friend pointed out a rather hunky gardener! I walk to the shopping centre with Mark and Sis- the traffic is as crazy as ever. Somehow local school kids have it down pat and weave through out the madness. I follow them, and just take the leap of faith- well that was easy. I figure if I could survive our driver today I can survive Narobbery traffic. We check out 1 or 2 shops, but mostly supermarket shopping. We agreed on that with Trudi. Tomorrow is Sis's day to shop. We buy a lot of food and some presents for the kids at the orphanage- Jen is going to visit them and donate some bits and pieces, she has some $ from us as well. We help her carry her bags back to the hotel. Mark can tell she is clucky and will probably bring 20 orphans home to live with her!!! How will she fit them in those suitcases we all chuckle. The 4 of us watch the news, headlines on CNN that Rudd has gone and Australia now has it's first female PM- Julia Gillard. I still think he should of finished his term, but I DO like Julia and she can easily handle that ferret Tony Abbott- he is such a vile creep, so disgusting to woman, wants them all bare foot and chained to the sink- if any Australian women are reading this, please never vote for this vile creep. The press goes into overdrive and Julia is suddenly everywhere on the news. Every Kenyan news channel...weird. I love our suite the bed is great, the main room set up really cool, ok they can do with more tea bags!!! It has the funkiest african floor rugs, and outstanding B&W photos of Africa. I am sitting in this chunky armchair thinking about the last 12 days, and this special journey, with my 3 mates. We were so lucky with the lack of rain, before we left it said rain almost every day but overall the days were perfect. Such a country of extremes- all areas-wealth, beauty, nature and religion. I have spent time with some of the poorest people who are so happy, just to have food and a roof over their heads, and somehow they send their kids to school in their one clean uniform. I've seen wealthy tourists fly in, in their private jets so entrenched in a bubble and they look so bitter and empty. Weird that. The Kenyas have been kind, and have these amazing faces, sculptured , after day one skin colour was not even thought about, though sometimes I did hear the lines 'I am a white man in africa' sung in a NZ accent. Most days we were the only whites, ok sunburnt red-browns. My eyebrow ring was a novelty, I'm standing next to some tribal leader all decked out and covered in markings but he is obsessed with my eyebrow ring- how funny is that? We felt fairly safe, though rarely let our guard down. Hand grenades were thrown into public parks and criminals had escaped with AK47's so if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time it can get a bit dicey. We have been fortunate... June 25thI'm sitting in the garden which is connected to our room, so nice having your own space. The traffic rolling by behind the thick brick wall sounds less crazy then usual.... I love hearing the Kenyan voices wandering past. Sis has just left for the Hope Children's Home to donate cereal, baby goods and toys and whatever else she has bought. Two Australians run this one. I stayed here, my malaria tablets have upset my stomach today, we've all suffered to some small degree with these tablets, so I'm happy to chill out in our room and sit amongst the trees. The few postcards we have will probably be sent from home, we mailed a few but were warned that 98% never arrive..... depressing-why bother.PM Julia Gillard makes the Kenyan newspapers, ALL of them, and major story and photos. She is all over the TV, it's like she has become PM of Kenya. Tony Abbott isn't mentioned.... the reset button has been truly pushed for Australian politics, the mad monk or old squirrel face as Mark calls him would hate that...a woman kicking his hairy (ab)butt. We chuckle at the oddball Kenyan custom of putting a persons picture in an advert in the newspaper saying they are sacked from a job and no longer works for a company. Name and shame is still alive here. I wont even go into my thoughts on 14 years prison for being gay, the church has too much say in politics here. The Aloe Vera plant is working wonders, sunburn nearly gone-the house keeping people stare at my bag of it, maybe they think I'm an Australian warlock ? They keep finding chopped up pieces in the room bin. "What drugs are they on?" I hassle for an extension on our room and we have it till 4.00, which is great. We are picked up for our flight at 8.30 tonight. We put our luggage in storage for a few hours and walk to the Sarit Centre for some food. It's Nairobi's equivalent of a mall, my 2 favourite shops are Banana Box and Unik-art gallery. The girls go off to Banana while Mark and myself look at some art. We buy a really great piece for Marks mum and a small 'arab inspired' water colour for us, and 2 smaller pieces for presents for Sis and Trudi for suffering us both the last few weeks. We visit the other stores and spot Sis at that supermarket (again) so funny to see this white girl from the 'Gong shopping with all the locals, she looks serious and then smiles- she does stand out a mile and her brother does keep an eye on her from a distance but I am ready to pounce talons extended the first sign of any problems. Therehavent been any problems, she just cruises the aisles with her overflowing basket. The girls go back to the hotel, poor Trudi -my sister has her worn out from shopping! *GRIN*. We head to Banana Box-it's a good store-works closely with community projects and local artisans and refugees and especially Kenyan crafts woman. Since we first found this place I've had my eye on this amazing piece of material, turns out my better half has as well. Hand-woven painted and dyed it's what I want for a table cover, striking and thick; pity the poor bastard who dares spill wine on it. It's about 22,000 shillings so not cheap, we combine the last of our money and I add some USA $ into it., leaving us a few $ for tips and not much else. So we buy it. It's our 1 present from Kenya that is special (ok the giraffe pattern boxer shorts my sister gave me are pretty cool) , really special -we are stoked. We explore more of Sarit centre and then head back. We go in via the staff car park entrance, the security people know us so we are waved in. As we approach the path we hear the most heartfelt singing and then a very very cool beat. It's a private function at the hotel, a celebration for Mozambique National Day. We stand by the bushes and watch, I am captivated. It's private so I feel a bit of a voyeur... one of the larger men, obviously in charge starts walking our way. Hell he is going to tell us off or send us away.... should we bolt? "Do you like this" he asks in a gentle voice. "It's one of the warmest most amazing things I've seen or heard". I say in total truth. The group is now in some circle formation, women clicking tongues and men singing from some area inside them rarely heard. My legs are moving, Mark doesn't know it but so is he. It is hypnotic. "You can join us" he beams. I felt like that would intrude on something so natural and beautiful...I decline politely but ask if its ok to enjoy it from here. "Please do" he beams and I know he knows my truths. This man just carries himself so well, he'd do well at the UN! He might be the president I don't know. We watch and absorb this for a final 10 minutes or more, time seemed to blur- to me it felt like Kenya was saying 'goodbye' and I still carry the warmth of that moment with me, as daggy as that sounds. This is the power of music and people- it was pure, it was Kenya. June 26th-27thNairobi - Dubai-MelbourneThe same driver took us to the airport, he was funny- made us all answer 20 questions, and he tested our memory on thinks he first told us when we arrived. My Sis was the highest scorer, I fluked a few answers. We snail pace our way through the Nairobi traffic. Young kids selling strange shaped bags of peanuts. In the end the appealing eyes of a 8 year old had me give away my last US dollar. Everyone warned me we'd soon be surrounded by beggers, none of it happened. One dollar usa buys a meal here, lets hope she gets to eat it. It was the risk giving her the money. It's good to be kind. We are dropped off at the airport and the line for security is out the door, it moves fast, it's an outdated system but I'm still chilled so just roll with it. Business class queue is empty and even economy is fine. We fill in our paper work and walk through immigration. They have some fun with Mark, Sis and Trudi, I'm ahead of them and tell security to keep them in the country, Julia said they are not welcome back in Australia. The flight lounge is packed so we head to lounge #2 which is almost as bad, football is on, people are way to excited,especially the few english guys- one lady tells them to shut the fuck up....we were hoping for a fight but they were saved by a boarding call. Our flight leaves on time, at midnight and the clock ticks over to the 26th. EK722 is in the air and heading to Dubai. We are amazed at the work they have done on the second part of the new terminal at Dubia, it's massive, it will surely bump China off for biggest airport. I cant remember much of the flight- an Aussie is a steward in business- first and he has this whole Heath Ledger thing happening , kind of cute in a typical aussie surfer guy sort of way. Chat for awhile, he has this strange way of standing like he is skateboarding its' kind of off putting. He gets me a copy of The Australian, it should be called the Julia Gillard magazine, we count 18 pages on our new PM. It's over kill but it will put Labor back in front and Phony Tony further behind- I'm stoked....anything that is bad for him is good for Australia. The food is great, and they've added some new games to the system. We head to Dubai's frequent flyer for Emirates. I have a shower, a line up this time, I have time to kill so thats fine. I check on their freebee computers to see our NZ charts. Mark says it will be #1 in NZ...... you'd expect so, but it's not Intriguer is #3 in New Zealand. Living in NZ, recording most of it in NZ, the show at the Town Hall, and new management that was part of the major record company in NZ and only #3. Very weird. Oh well #1 for Australia, #3 NZ and #12 in UK- at least it went #1 somewhere. Time drags on at Dubai, I spend most of it looking from the lounge ( second level) down to the passing human traffic- I really check them out, Dubai is so busy. I'm always amazed that the Emirates flights have all left on time. Qantas (who I do love) should take a lesson from them on prompt departures. Emirates have it down pat. Finally we board, we catch up with Sis and Trudi in the outer lounge- wave goodbye as we are called (segment B). It's EK404 and we are in the air at 9.35 for a 16 hour haul. We are calling into Singapore for a fuel stop. Emirates have an additional idea for comfort, for business they hand out these small mattresses to go on their flat seat beds. They are only thin but it makes a huge comfort difference. I pop a Stillnox, and ask only to be woken for food. I sleep really really well, ok artificially but who cares 16 hours is a long time. Mark shows me an article on the Free Spirit Spheres at Vancouver Island Canada, we'll have to stay a night next time we are in Canada- it's like having your own space ship in the huge trees of the west coast rainforest of Vancouver Island. I love what they look like, so I swipe the article from Emirates magazine and details : http://www.freespiritspheres.com/ Singapore, hmmm I cant remember, did I even leave the plane? At some stage I wake eat breakfast, stomach feeling a bit crappy.... but 2 hours to go-almost home - stillnox is my friend. I buy some JD duty free, immigration was ok, had to show my medical card for yellowfever, I declare some wooden goods at customs, I faintly remember that- no idea where Mark is.... I am sent through a door and am suddenly outside to smiling aussie faces! No sign of Rosemaree so I change over some money. I later spot Mark and Rosemaree, and sneak up on them from behind- I am very blurry. We wait awhile but no sign of Trudi or Sis. My sister has so much to declare, so she'll be ages so we head off to pick Banshee up. I have the GPS in my carry on so attach it to Rosemarees car. The Pet Hotel lets us in early and there se s the worlds best cat. She looks so pleased to see us.... I cuddle her all the way home, well via her cage. I am still feeling a bit off so head into the toilet and decide to throw up. Nice noises PG, and thankfully very little vomit- but I felt a LOT better soon after. Shit it's cold here, 3 degrees outside, I am missing Kenya's 25! We fulfill our usual need for an australian pie and head to the bakery. Rosemaree eats the inside of hers with a spoon so we do call her a freak, a loved freak but still a freak. She says goodbye and I'm so stoked she picked us up, always feels nice to see someone we know. I have an afternoon nap and Banshee joins me- she lies next to me in bed and just purrs the hours away. As I'm napping I know Crowdies are onstage at Hyde Park- on the McCartney bill, I'm sure it will be a success, wonder if it will turn the Intriguer album around? I speak to Mum and Sis, stay up to 10.45 and try to get into regular sleep patterns again. Did I say it's damn cold here. June 28thI see Intriguer is still in the Australian top 10, it's dropped to #9, but five new entries and all with tv advertising so I expected a fall. Still it's hanging in the top 10- doing far better in Australia then anywhere else.I speak to Craig in Sydney about Marks insane 65inch tv, so it is on the way, we'll believe it wen we see it..... Mark says it is the cursed tv! Our office still has a few days before it opens but I sneak in and get some catch up work out of the way. Not feeling too bad, jet lag hasn't set in (yet) it will it always does. I'm still waiting on Patricks to get back to us around the square Intriguer badges, so delays- sometimes dealing with companies is frustrating- I hate delays. June 29thChicken Boy calls and we walk up and pick up the girls. They look great really happy and apparently are still laying eggs even though it's winter. I don't think they wanted to go home with us. I squash them into a large box and we walk the walk back to Ailsa Craig.I spend the afternoon signing quite a few copies of 'Wings off flies' , we had a large number of orders for this second pressing arrive while we were away- so have some signing and packaging to do. It feels incredibly cold, maybe my body enjoyed Kenya's warmth, some of the locals tell us this is going to be a very cold winter up here- I wonder if we will get snow? June 30thLast day of June so tax time here, I wade through some paperwork for my companies and try to get it all ready for our accountants.I notice I didn't get one reply from our friends re: the Dog Trumpet gig invite I sent out to them. Not even a "we cant come'. That sucks. You'd think our friends would want to see us when we got home or at least politely tell us they can't come to the show. Chat to Mum for awhile she is happy her two kids are finally home, well three as she includes Mark in that. I see the latest polling on our new PM Julia Gillard, wow she has jumped ahead of smelly old Abbott (A Butt?). I think she'll call the election for late August and hopefully she'll kick Abbotts sexist homophobic arse. July 1stRosemaree visits we have some breakfast at Ranges- or was it lunch? Whatever the coffee sure tasted great. My whole time in Kenya and I never had one coffee how strange is that. We head to Mangana as she needs to buy someone a birthday present- I am good don't buy anything. Nothing we need.I do the count for Rocket Pocket Books and it's our biggest book selling month in a year and a half, mostly copies of TRIP and WINGS and a few of the new RPB box sets. Just have to get all of this mailed now. I clean out one of the old time capsule boxes and find 8 rolls on film not processed , mostly B&W I'll have to put them in and get them developed- god knows what is on them. I am having a bit of a chuckle. The Batman XXX dvd is out. Yes it is porn, it is called XXX after all. Director Axel Braun has put together most most amazing porn parody. It's a spoof of the 1960s camp Batman tv series that I adored as a kid, with Adam West and Burt Ward. The costumes are a perfect match (from the photos I've seen) -also Batgirl, Riddler, Joker and Catwoman are all in it. I am surprised that Dale Da Bone (Dale Rutter) is back in porn. He was going out with tennis star Jennifer Capriatis for about 6 years. years, & porn movie free. Rumours flying about that his split with her and return to porn were the reason she overdosed in that Riveria Beach Hotel room in Florida. I have to say the fan boy side of me thinks he looks amazing as Batman. I'll have to surprise Mark one cold Gotham night and play the movie- it does look like the TV series is finally on DVD, but suddenly you see the XXX across Batmans chest..... Remember it is porn but at least it will be porn having fun....and yes we all know the line 'Holy Bat Fat'! Enough enough...... and no jokes about his 'bat pole' this is my boyhood hero we're talking about. July 2ndand to make it worse I missed one of the Batmobiles from the 1960s show going up for sale at the Brooklands auctions in the UK early June. Visions of Mark and myself zooming around the hills in it! Damn. I wonder how much it went for, would I have to mortgage Mark, and the house second.We head to JB and grab a few more copies of 'Intriguer', just 6, we've done all we can do now. Just when I was leaving I spotted the Hunters & Collectors box set for a mere $49.00. It normally sells for $170. All the cds remastered, extra discs, 2 dvds etc for $49 a bargain so I grab one. I guess at $170 it didn't sell many, grab it if you can for the cheaper price. I see Hey Hey Its Saturday's ratings drop down below 800,000, I'm glad Crowdies were on the show when it was over a million watching. It shouldn't of really came back, it's become a bit of a dog of a show and the viewer numbers spell it out, time for the axe to fall channel nine. Kylie has her new album out in Australia this week, I know they are desperate to get her to #1 here....... Hillsong with their religious album could do it, they have some big jesus love festival on in Sydney...... but Eminem is #1 this week so he may well hold the top spot, funny if Kyles can't get to #1 here, makes our Crowded House one week at #1 a bit special. (Phew). I spend some of the afternoon spreading the word about Tim Finn's London show at Scala on August 8th, nice that so many fans are making an effort to go to that one, I think they appreciate the chance to see him play live after what must seem like ages. July 3rdI have a Must Do list a mile long today, mostly boring stuff around the house, I'm determined to get it done- though my bed was nice and warm this saturday morning so I borrowed down and just loved it...... I still cleared the list, it just took an hour or two longer.Sit with Mark and enjoy some of the rare Stones footage from the Double Door in Chicago , truly brilliant- loved it. I notice the Cat Empire didn't debut at #1 in Australia, just at #3, they'll probably drop a few spots next week with so many big guns going for the top 10. Mark reminds me how I enjoy watching the Aussie charts and wading through all their facts and figures. What a sad arse I am. They are only numbers but there is a small buzz to be on top of the heap. July 4thIt's the 2nd last episode of Dr Who tonight, this season has gone by very quickly- I like the new Doctor he's ok, not my favourite by far but I can tolerate it, tonight's episode was really well written. The quality is still in the writing, it's still enjoyable... keep me the good Dr to reality tv anyway.I cook some decent meals today, good to be back in my own kitchen after a few weeks away, and hey we can drink tap water without worrying if I will get some strange intestinal creature or some killer disease. Melbourne water is pretty damn fine. I see our dams are 10% more then same time last year so that is good. I drink at least 5% of the water supply each week (: So today is independence day in the states, this day in 1776 they claimed independence from Britain, I hope to be around when Australia does the same and becomes a republic. July 5thHmm weird- I notice Logan Farm spinach now comes in 10 cubes. 6 green cubes pop out of the packet, it's like the spinach Borg have arrived to assimilate me! It doesn't look natural.......I call into the chemist at Olinda and print out some photos for our insurance claim and the shot of yours truly with Lyn the girraffe for mum. I like it I've lost weight and it's not a bad photo...I guess? The courier company call and Marks TV arrives either today or tomorrow-we both know it will be tomorrow. Crowded House exit the UK charts, hell that was quick. I don't get how a band can do all that press, tv, radio, play a fairly major tour, big show at Hyde Park with Paul McCartney and yet the album is out of the charts after 2 weeks. Meanwhile here they do one cross to a TV show that has seen better days and close to being axed and they debut at #1 and are still in the top 20? I'll try not to think of that one. Imagine if they didn't have the fan base behind them... July 6thWe are woken up at 7.00, a call from the tv courier guy, he will be delivering this, sometime this morning. Finally Mark gets the cursed TV I think to myself, I pray it arrives in once piece. At 8.30 I'm in the office and another call comes in.Hi it's Tom the courier guy, I'm on your road. OK- can't you find the other entrance to the property? Argh no I've swerved off the road and flipped into a ditch and stuck on a rock. All I could do was laugh, the TV has made it as far as our road, but it's stuck on a rock at the very bottom of the very steep hill! I tell Mark (add in swear words here). We walk down to check out the driver...ok we walk down to check out OUR cursed TV! The truck is at some strange angle but the insanely big tv box inside is upright (PHEW) and he is on a huge rock. He's called the boss and a truck is coming to drag him out. I head off to do work related chores... and we get a call when I return, he is at the back gate. I'll help you carry it he says- No we are fine- we so don't trust him, fearful he will trip and roll down the gully with it... I envision a courier man surfing over grass on a 65 inch tv box. We finally open it and the gods are smiling it's all ok and actually works. Hallelujah!!!! At first I was cynical as if we need a bigger tv but after seeing a minute of this , totally blown away- am so glad we scored the last one before they started getting made in China. Only 4 days of malaria tablets left, somehow my Sis has 2 weeks, I tell her to stop when we do, she has the same tablet and same dosage . They truly make you feel like crap. Nice to see Bronwyn Pike stand up and be counted for Gay marriage. She's the state member for Melbourne. With the State election coming up some time this year I hope she is re elected. She also loves the music of Crowded House so has extremely good taste *GRIN*. I also like how she emails back if you ever have political questions etc. She's probably one of the few politicians to do so. July 7thThe cool 'United States Of Tara' is back on TV again tonight, I'd forgotten how short the episodes are. It's another good start to this freaky wonderful series, Australia's Toni Collette once more nominated for an Emmy, could be two years in a row after her win last year. I guess being nominated is pretty cool and good PR for the show. Max Gregson is equally brilliant as Tara's husband.... and several women we know think Brie Larson (Tara's troubled daughter) a hottie- in real life she's about 22 years old! Anyway cool show, it deserves all the success it gets. I do like how Dexter, Breaking Bad, Lost and True Blood were nominated for Outstanding Drama, though Sons of Anarchy should of been in that lot too. I think it's a bit too tough for those nominators to handle. Pussys!How good is the 'alternative version' of 'Loving Cup' on the Stones EXILE re issue... excellent..... what a beautiful buzz what a beautiful buzz.... July 8thWe head to Ranges for some bacon and eggs, sometimes thats all one wants- I try to be good and just get small portions. The staff give us a welcome back discount- how funny is that.So much commotion here over asylum seekers, it's really blown out of proportion and the public fall for it. If you went up to the average australian and asked them what percentage of the worlds asylum seekers we received last year they wouldn't know. It was a mere 0.6% which is so small. I'm fine about Gillard's (possible) processing area being at East Timor, at least it is a signatory to the UN convention on refugees far better then the Nauru centre that hoWArd pushed. But really 0.6% , c'mon Australia we can afford to be slightly more generous then that. I hear from Neil, they sound like they are all set up and about to head off for the USA tour. Sends me a thank you around our work on the Australian charts which was nice, and unexpected. July 9thI seem to be asked this a lot-what are my 3 favourite songs from Intriguer. In no order- Isolation, Elephants, Archer's Arrows... but that changes from week to week. Saturday Sun is still one of the songs I like least. Still think it was the wrong choice as a single but that doesn't mean I am right, just an opinion.There is talk of closing down 2 units at Hazelwood, well know as being Australia's dirtiest power plant- yeah coal... and replacing that power loss via a new 2nd stage at Mortlake which is gas fired-it saves about a million tonnes of carbon emissions per year by doing that. I hope they start spending more money on a few more solar plants. There will be a time where the coal just runs out. It seems like most of our time these days is spent trying to cut down on our insane postage bill, the fan postage alone is about $35,000 per quarter. Yieks so much money to give to Australia Post. We are lucky as we have a few really supportive people, I can see a time where postage will be the final nail in the coffin, end of the day things like mail outs run on the smell of an oily rag and I just keep us in the black, just. Trying to stay positive about it but postage is like a quick sand pit for us- I'm so stoked when people send us a few stamps, it seems like nothing but it is a life line. July 10thI'm back to having coffee at Viewpoint on Saturday mornings, well some Saturday mornings. The table next to me fills up with 5 kids and a baby-I love kids but not when I'm waking up and they seem to hit the higher decibels when I'm half asleep-still I suffer in silence- truth be known these shrunken adults are not too loud, but I'm secretly glad they left early and the peace returns.It's windy on top of the mountain today, 3 chickens blow past the door, or maybe they were attempting flight, feather envy over the cockatoos gliding in the wind. Thankfully no trees come down, we still have a 2 chunky big limbs to chain saw for fire wood, treefall seems quite natural and a good supplier of fire wood. This new TV is amazing for HD movies.... loving it way too much. So Judd became a grandfather, Amy had her baby, I'm hoping this is a really good life changing thing for him- who knows. It's all quiet on the madness front from him so that is indeed a wonderful thing. July 11thI always question the war in Afghanistan when American drones sent from the area into west Pakistan truly fuck up. Out of the 60 cross border drones sent, only 10 found their targets. 687 Pakistania INNOCENTS have been killed by these so far. I thought part of this operation was to add some good will into that area as well. If I was part of a Pakistani family and most were wiped out because of such actions by the military I don't think I'd be very caring for those people there to wipe out al-Qaeda. When do we stand up and say that is incredibly wrong, when do 687 INNOCENT lives matter- do they have to live in Australia or the USA before we get pissed off? Collateral damage is a nice way of saying we fucked up and killed INNOCENT women ,men and children- it's shameful. When only 6% of drones achieve their target one has to ask what went wrong with the other 94%!!!!!!! I really am thinking the only time a war is a good war is when it's over.I head to the bakery, in honour of the Runaways Movie (The Runaways) I play their 'Best Of'..nice and loud, some songs are dated but some still work..... we noticed the movie is on Blu Ray this week in the USA, and it opens in Australia tomorrow. It wasn't a hit in the States which was probably why it's rushed out on Blu ray, about $3 million so far, costing $10 million it may well be a DVD hit that will put it in the black. Kristen Stewart does make a pretty decent Joan Jett.... I see that Optus is adding some weight behind the Whale Protest and they are planning on making a Stop Whaling speech at Morocco when the IWC meets. It's easy to support this, click here: http://www.givewhalesavoice.com.au/ We are finally settling into being at home again, we even turn up for work on time- very disciplined. The Canada-USA Tour starts in a few days, have a great time those attending the shows....and yes someone bring that "Where Is Peter" Banner" it might yeild results! Take care and enjoy the shows. PG INTRIGUER out now in the USA-Canada. |