The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 8 March - 21 March 2010
Peter & Paul -Yarra River 27 years ago!
March 8thIt's one of those public holidays- you know the kind- they just appear and you spot triple the amount of people about and the post office and banks and other such places are closed. 'Ranges' will be packed but we decide to have some lunch anyway. I call and they say they'll make sure we have a table- very Truman Capote....so I wear a scarf and they do indeed have a spot for us. By the main window so we can watch the passing trade. Olinda Rent Boys! Good grief what is happening to the hills. Right opposite Olinda Police Station too- it always seems closed anyway.I call Nigel in the afternoon and he is escaping to visit Igor the goat so that is off our list. No Nige today. The rain starts again in the afternoon, I like it but I feel sleepy and have a craving for homemade soup. March 9thOur Crowded House 'Recurring Dream' mouse pads arrive. I still haven't heard from EMI with our current sales figures for Australia- if we are moving on to a new record company maybe they are sulking, I'm not sure, they have never taken this long. I had to tell some new person they had our figures wrong, just out on one release by half a million units!!!!!!!Oh the Crowdies Mouse Pads- these are great they did such a good job. I'm using one now..I hope they wear a bit I'd like to see them more rustic- it would suit Nicks design. I remember sitting with him over at the Barn part of the Sth Yarra place while he finished up the car drawing. The caravan was drawn around the same time, I remember taking snaps of both on the day for us to use- not even scanned just a photograph. Angus calls and I think he is back on sound, the crew sure are shuffling about. Too early to know if I'm working on the road, not going out if there is nothing to do, I enjoy my work areas. Saying that these days the office seems to be taking up every spare minute. As it clicks over for my 30th year - you think about retiring and passing all of this onto someone else. But you get some nice emails from Neil and co and it all seems fun. I guess I'll pick my time when I've had enough.... I give Cathy a call in the evening and we chat laugh and create hysteria in each other. I think Mark moves to the kitchen as we are fairly loud!!!!! Sorry hon. I am off jogging again, have been each night, around 3 or 4 laps of the oval...building it up an extra lap a week. March 10thIt's a grey day outside, we have all slept in, even Banshee. Thanks the goddess I don't have a job that starts at 7.00, not that I'd ever want that but I'm sure I'd be one of those 'slept in' slack arses. Plus it would mean we would have to go to bed at some 'sensible' hour- that would be weird. I can imagine being 100 and still going to bed at 1.00.Sojin Lee put me onto Chateau de la Chevre in the mediaeval city of Eze. It sits on a rocky peak and overlooks the Mediterranean ...quite romantic... and seems like a nice place to write. http://www.chevredor.com/uk/esprit.php I can see all these romantic couples going...'oh yes'! No wonder the travel agent asked me to work with them, we keep finding some very cool accommodation-expensive but excellent. I get a nice good karma surprise today. I found my old Priority Inn Card and it still had some points on it..... so I called them before I did our accommodation booking for Nairobi and scored $680 USA worth of free accom. I am so so so stoked, someone is looking after us. It meant decent rooms at a really nice place, and safe. I wonder how many other stray points we have sitting around that can be used. I love 'finds' like this. Chicken Dukkah for dinner, it was so good last time decided some Egyptian chicken was on for tonight, with home grown vegies. March 11thOne of the two Corey's died. It was almost expected, drug overdose at his mothers place- a bit tragic really. Corey Haim always liked his drugs, live fast, die young and be stupid! Rehab 15 times is never a good sign. Signing on for Lost Boys Two even worse. It's all a bit tragic really... he died destitute, had to sell his house, filed for bankruptcy... and owed about $200,00 for medical expenses and legal. How can someone let their life get that fucked up. At least Startifacts the auction house are helping his family with the burial costs. I guess Lost Boys (#1) will sell more Blu Rays, Mark notes that Amazon dropped the price down to $10.00 the day he died.I head to Nigel from the Enz place. Mark stays at home and works in the office, so a solo drive. I left a message, no one is picking up so I'm guessing he is out working in the garden after the big storm passed through. We were protected but Emerald copped the brunt of it. I'm heading down the back roads and I see some young guy in his car taking his dogs for a walk. He has his dogs running in front of the car- what a moron. A huge truck used for fallen trees is approaching around the bend and I so know the dogs will get splattered. So I slow down to force the truck into his sight, he panics breaks calls the dogs which now run around in front of my car, thankfully I am driving slow and aware of truck and canines. I just shake my head, what a lazy bastard and how incredibly dumb. Arrive Nigels and he is in, sit and chat and we laugh that the same centipede invasion has happened at his place too after the big storm. We watch them trying to see if they are communicating with telekinetics as they seem to know when another is in the area. Nige signs a few items for the Auction, and good to see him. He tells me about the Echidna in his back garden, I wonder aloud if another will be on the road when I head back. My 5 minutes stay becomes 2 hours, we do love to chat..... and driving back right near a bend in the road- YEP another fat echidna crossing. I stop and put on my hazard lights and help her across the road. There must be so many of them up here, this is the third time this has happened, either that or they know my car. March 12thA mere 20 Japanese Nationalists protested with their Rising Sun Flags and threatened to 'tear Peter Bethane' from Sea Shepherds apart" for protesting against whaling. Of course they got it all wrong saying he should go back to Australia and yelling abuse to Australia (as much as 20 lame arses can yell).... thing is you dickhead Nationalists- Peter Bethane is a New Zealander!!!!!! It will be a great day when Japan stops it's total shit that their whaling is for scientific purposes, does anyone actually believe this crap- say it as it is- Japan Kills Whales To EAT! End of story. and most of Japan doesn't even care for whale meat, tonnes wasting away in frozen storage. The world is watching.March 13thWe watch MOON on Bluy ray, it's really good- worth all the glowing reviews for once.I see the Crowdies Wolf Trap Farm date (near Washington DC) on July 26th has sneaked out into Net World. More information can be found on their website: http://www.wolf-trap.org/ We are still waiting for other dates, it's just a bit early....the Wolf Trap tickets are on sale April 10th. It looks like a very cool venue. With Crowded House signing to new record companies, it looks like the release date for the new album 'Intriguer' will be June/July. I'm having a coffee at Viewpoint and spend most of my time reading a 4 page article on Peter Cundall and his fight against Gunns new Pulp Mill. he is in court on Monday....at age 82 he is incredible- I knew little about him, he's one of Australia's most beloved gardeners. He was one of 55 protesters arrested on the steps of Parliament House in Hobart. Peter Cundall and Holly Ann Taylor (also arrested) their trial will probably decide the fate of the other 46 protesters. meanwhile Gunns shares keep on sinking. If nothing else his curt case will shine a light on Gunns and let people like Peter Cundall have their say. Even if he loses he still wins with the publicity and a chance to enlighten the public. I'm jogging every night now, laps around Kalorama oval. Every few days I just add another lap, I'm hoping by the end of month I will be up to double figures. It's only when you run you realize how unfit you are, plus we are around 650 metres above sea level. Most people up here don't realize that Mount Dandenong used to be called Corhanwarrabul- no one is 100% sure what it means, some think it's 'one of the feathered tribe' and really with all the birds up here that makes sense. As I make my 6th lap around the oval a flock of white cockatoos land and watch me. 'Silly human, running in circles, is he winding himself up'? I know what those bird brains are thinking. The final pant and I surrender for the day and head home, up the killer hill. I am being careful, no heart attack for me, just staying healthy and building up some leg strength. March 14thNeil is in contact regarding the new record companies, I'm going to wait for the press release before putting anything on the Net. I check with him just to make sure that's what they want. You know how it is record companies love to do the big drum roll , which is ok it lights the fuse for a new era.Meanwhile Tim Finn is selling out a few shows in Australia- fast. The two Lizotte gigs at Kincumber and Newcastle are about to sell out, they'll add some 2nd shows June 8th (Kincumber) 9th (Newcastle), tickets were gobbled up quickly, so he still has some pulling power. God bless South Park.... having a chuckle at the latest episode that sends up Tiger Woods and all the other sexaholics. The best scene is the therapy lesson class where 4th graders Kyle and Butetrs have to attend as well as they have also been diagnosed as sex addicts at South Park Elementary.... so in the class sit Tiger Woods, David Duchovny, Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen. Excellent!!!! Butters has really pushed Kenny to the back of the pack these days.... kenny has become a second rate player in South Park. Our travelling companion, 'Aunt' Trudi drops in for morning tea and we have a chat and run through Kenya 'stuff'. Quite a bit to do, but each week it is a step closer. Add on a day trip to one of the lakes, and it just fits into our itinerary. She uses a Canon SLR too, so we talk Camera guff. My birthday is rapidly approaching (May 11th) and Mark is buying me a new Canon camera for my birthday and a EF 70-200 F$LUYSM zoom. I am way too excited. I still feel a bit worn so my first day of no jogging, however I do take my mountain bike down to the park and ride it for an hour. Get my legs and arse all nice and tough for Hells Gate ride. March 15thWe mail off the big cheque for Split Enz LUTON cds, the final 2 boxes of stock arrive at our office. It will be sad when Luton is no longer available in stores or even from us. Gone forever. It's probably the Enz CD that I play the most, something magical from that time period- Eddie did a a great job. I just hope fans grab this one while they have a chance, it's the period where Neil has just joined the band....Spent the whole day and evening and night sending out the VIP emails with the link for the Crowded House Enmore Theatre show. Except at 1.00 in the morning all the power went out across the mountain so that put a stop to doing that. Guess it was someone telling me it was time to finish work for the day. I'll do the rest in the morning, I'll be happy if half the Enmore tickets go to fanclub people and half to the public. March 16thGet up very early and work on VIP emails with the ticket link. Watch the sun come up from the office (yawn) Banshee and Mark are still asleep in the house.Drive to Mountain Gate and KNOX today for some stock. I call into JB Hi FI which is really empty. I finally but the second Wolfmother album 'Cosmic Egg', been meaning to get it for quite awhile and just keep forgetting. Andrew from Wolfmother still has that Robert Plant vocal howl..... love it. Hmm noticed on the cover and the booklet that it is slightly different, the booklet has a small child standing in the marshes, the cover doesn't. I like the front cover of the cd booklet far more then the cover. Some good songs, I always seem to get a lot of work done out in the wilds of Ailsa Craig with the Wolf boys screaming out their songs. The album is nearly out of the National 100 this week, it peaked at #3 on the Aussie charts. JB at Know were pretty slack I had to dig out my copy from their storage boxes as none were on display- I almost didn't look for it when I couldn't find it on the JB racks- no wonder it's dropping if people cant find it. If you like your rock sounding a bit Zeppish try Cosmic Egg it has some fine moments. Sit in the food court and have a healthy sandwich and watch the passing parade. We get amazed at how many people are total fucking slobs and don't put their rubbish in the bin after eating- are people brought up that appalling? Lazy bastards. Home and feeling fried, KNOX shopping centre has a habit of doing that to you. Still we head into thje office and work till 10.oo that night on ticket stuff and emails. March 17thLady Ga Ga is kicking up a storm at her shows. Sydney got rave reviews, great stage set. 'She' is obsessed about her cock...or lack of or addition depending on who you believe. I like the ol' Ga Ga, not so musically just that in a tough old world 'she' is a fun distraction. In a few years it will be all over and 'she' will just be a faded gender bender that wore extreme cossies.... but 'she' has some flash and fun and colour and some talent. Her duet with Elton was excellent. I was saying to Americas Lady Ga Ga- Miss K (ok she is a real woman and far more gorgeous) that 'Telephone' clip is great , fun little Thelma and Louise type movie in its own right. Warhol would of loved it... Ga Ga and Beyonce (who has redeemed herself a bit in my eyes & others ) and gotta love that 'Pussy Wagon'. We want one. Plus the Ga Ga 'cock chopped' subliminal messages just had me chuckling. I'll probably never own a Ga Ga cd or even a single but I probably said the same think about Pink. Just some trashy fun and I'm sure the wowsers will freak out about Lady Ga Ga as that's what they do.... too intimidating for some. But she is fun...in a tired old world.Melbourne's growth continues at some insane rate. The growth patterns have changed, inner and middle suburbs where people were leaving in the 70's and 80's is now crazy with thousands arriving and living in that area. Houses are having 100 percent Auction clearance rates, every house gobbled up. Even though houses are going crazy up here, it appears that Eltham and The Dandenongs are 2 of the areas where more people move out of then into. At least that means for the moment we wont be flooded out by people. The Dandenongs is a large area so it's probably not Kalorama. Mark says they are moving out of Eltham because Heinous Pariah lives there (made me chuckle). I put a roast in the oven late afternoon and got side tracked by a new neighbour and working in the garden. As I put in some new plants I smell something amazing...Hmm BBQ..oh shit the roast! I rarely ever burn a roast but went very very close with this one. Another minute and it would look like a charcoal brick. I decide to make a salad with it, pack away most of the vegies from our garden. Potatoes seem to be going crazy up here, they pop out of the ground by themselves. The house smells of roast, so we spend the night with the doors open. I go for a jog and some cute woman comes up and talks to me. The 2 black cockattos fly in and land in the oval. See my new tight muscular legs attract the female of the species!!!! (yeah right). Watch the Sarah Connor Chronicles on Blu ray, so the evening is full of Arnold Gov'nor of Kalifornia impersonations- Mark is horrified how good I am at impersonating Arnolds voice. I consider making it our answering machine message but each time I go to record it I just kill myself laughing. So it is a non event. March 18thThe Enmore Show is on sale, a few emails around the ticket price being too high- sadly that's not decided on by me..I pass it onto management. The tickets are on sale for a week. I hear from Neil and management a few times, work is good, getting a lot done and ready for the next Crowded House album 'Intriguer'. Still waiting on a release date- June/July according to Neil.Liberation send me a copy of Wide Open Road- The Best Of The Triffids. Half way through our office CD player rejects it. Annoying as I was getting into it, so many Triffids songs I'd forgotten. Check it out it's pretty good. In just over a weeks time it will be 5 years since our lovely ol' Paul Hester died. 5 years... it does feel like that but still his happy spirit hangs around us- as time goes on I just have a bundle of happy memories- so many. Hanging out in the room after shows eating toasted sandwiches, having lemon fights with Sunday, blaming all the dogs each time he farted, sitting on our balcony at Greville street and sipping tea ('got pot of tea Peety') watching the passing parade of Prahran, our breakfast which became lunch meetings at Elwood Beach Cafe working out strategy plans for the Largest Living Things and The Shed, shopping for shoes at Paddington Sydney and going out the Hessie guided tour of Bent street where he lived (NSW), just having so many breakfast get together's at The Galleon , filming interviews with LLT where the pot smoke looked like a disco smoke machine, holding him tight when his Mum died, playing a new song or ten in his studio, his desire to get a group of us up on a 'support' float during the Sydney Mardi Gra, going for a swim at the Sea Baths, sitting in the car with him and Mardi driving to Byron and stopping every 10 kms for a photo or something that striked our fancy, the joy on his face when we got the first LLT cd done, the first day he walked into the Split Enz office, and Paul was always the last Enz member to leave the Frenz picnics, when he called wanting to play the Wings Off Flies launch at Prahran, so many million more thoughts. I'm sure there must of be times where he did get crappy at me- but you know I honestly can't remember one. There must be eh? Is it human nature for us to bury any negative thoughts with bucket-loads of good when someone dies? I remember once when Mark left the room he turned to me and said 'what you and Marky have is so special, you are both good men, it's just great Petey'. As I'm typing this I'm playing a Best Of LLT that Mark put together- 'Hellwood' is on, such a peak at his local Elwood area from the old house. I'm hoping once day permission will be given for a Largest Living Things album to be released. I was going through snaps and I found one of Paul and myself at one of the fanclub BBQs. God I look a bit like a junkie! I think I was at the BBQ site at 5.00 in the morning to secure it. Pauls got his blonde hair so it was just after the 'When The Cats' away shows so about 27 years ago approx. I cant remember who sent me this shot- if you are reading this email me and I'll make sure it's credited. (Was it Liz/Trudy?) A bit blurry and I think Paul is explaining the 'facts of life' to me *GRIN*. Anyway on March 26th if you have any Hessie music put it on with a good cup of tea (has to be made right or he will know!!!!) and think kind thoughts of him. Paul was far from a saint but he had a good heart, one of the really good things in our life. March 19thI'm really excited Marky has paid for the new camera and it should be arriving in a weeks time. I am so so so stoked. Yes an early birthday present and I worry that he is spending so much of his hard earned money on yours truly- I suck at receiving gifts. I never know what to say even to the person I am closest to in the whole universe. He knows I am stoked- I'll have a few months to get use to this new one before taking snaps in Africa.Two elections are on this weekend, one in South Australia and one in Tasmania. SA is expected to be very close.... and Tassie the Greens will do really well I think. Labor have been in power in both areas for ages so you'd expect a change may well happen. I just don't want that creep Tony Abbott adding a feather to his cap. He really is horrid a ferret with bad politics. Greg Skyhook says I have opinions on many things. So who doesn't ? Marky gives me a nice saying to email to him ' Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one'. !!!!! he's a bit of a father figure to us so I know he gets our sense of humour. Off for a jog my nightly run around the oval. I'll have to abandon it this weekend as the vintage car rally is at Kalorama Oval and I don't want to excite them all too much with yours truly in those small jogging shorts! It rains this afternoon but I'm still off, down the road and into the park. During my 3rd lap a car pulls up with very dark windows. I get a bit intimidated as I'm convinced they are watching me, it's a bit off putting. I'm a bit uneasy today as a friend emailed me that 2 dutch girls/fans are making the drive up here while they are on holidays so that's stuck in my mind. Still feels weird but hey it is a lovely day escape so I hope they enjoy the views and food and don't get entangled in our security fence !!!! I considered running up to the tinted windows and banging on them but wondered if I was being over zealous. I cut down on my laps and head home feeling a bit rattled, weird as usually i wouldn't care. I cook a ginger chicken with black peppercorn salad, loads of spinach leaves, and I add some small red peppers stuffed with fetta and some penne. Kind of healthy. The tomatoes are my tiger skinned ones from the garden. Rosemaree has been so helpful over the past few days, getting things done for our mail out- god bless her. Just made my life easier. March 20thI sleep in today, Banshee had a rough morning and decided instead of going outside she wanted to hiss and growl and climb in the bath. Bad cat mood, so it took some convincing. So Mark let me sleep in.I decide to go to Viewpoint and play Concrete Blonde's 'Still in Hollywood' in the car -which is a rarities type release but one of my favourites. I still remember them when they were 'Dream 6' and used to play around the Los Angeles Hollywood area. I think we saw them once or twice on those multi small band bills that used to be on at the Roxy etc. I bought a fanzine (was it DIY???) and it had this crazy little electronic song called 'Heart Attack'.... this is before IRS grabbed them and they became Concrete Blonde. I should really buy the Dream 6 cd as I have all the other Concrete Blonde stuff. I think it was around 1986, I was calling into that Tower Record store up towards Beverly Hills (sadly doesn't exist anymore...the one where the manager LOVED Crowded House) and these people brought in a box of singles- they popped one on the store PA and it was 'Still In Hollywood'. I loved the guitar and Johnette's vocal... it screams 'Living in Hollywood- this is us'.... I went straight to the counter and asked about the song, the guy- truly cant remember which band member said 'I'm in the band.... and gave me a run down... and he freaked that an Aussie even knew who Dream 6/The L.A. Dreamers were!!! and they sold there first copy at that store straight from the box. The single never charted in the USA, in fact really 'Joey' was the only top 20 Concrete Blonde song. I took 'Still in Hollywood' back to Australia and played it to Nathan and others saying we should sign them for Centre Records, which was Nattys label. They weren't interested and I started to think I was imagining how great and what potential Concrete Blonde had. A few years later Australia became their biggest charting area (I think) and they toured here a lot. I'm not saying they are in my top 10 favourite bands but I do like their stuff, from Bloodletting -The Vampire Song" to God is a bullet to Tomorrow Wendy... just love what they do. I have coffee at Viewpoint and the Professor and his wife are at the table and are equally surprised to see me, our paths keep crossing and it's so strange they have this wonder Deja Vu feeling about them. You know paramnesia at it's best and you've met them many times before (but not really). Some odd link from another life who knows? Two State elections on tonight one for South Australia and one for Tasmania. I ended up sitting through the tally rooms and other places to watch it all unfold. The spin for SA was a massive revolt against the Rann government and the Libs would claim 10 seats...it ended up being a swing against Labor but in the end they scored 4 and one of the scalps was a National. So Rann government will probably win (there are 98,000 postal votes still) I just hope some people head to the Barossa valley to grab some empty barrels for all the spilt Liberal sour grapes that will eventuate. Tasmania was interesting, big swings against Labor who have been in for ages. The Greens- outstanding. In the early stages of voting they were dragging in up to 38% of the vote..it slowed as the night went on but they have an extra few seats. It is looking like a hung parliament- Labor 10, Libs 10 and Greens 5. I hear there is a slight chance for a Labor minority government if preferences fall their way. The best bit of news around this is that Tony Abbott wont get any scalps- which is what the rat face wanted- I think it's brilliant. Ah politics far more exciting then the music industry! March 21stNo real sleep last night, the kids across the road had a party till 2.30, it wasn't loud, just a quiet night outside so the disco heartbeat of their music we could just hear..sometimes subtle is more annoying. Banshee slept in Marks bed but I still had a restless sleep, it was fairly hot as well. A grey day today..... so just having a chilled out day at Ailsa Craig.I heard from Nick Seymour last night, from the rehearsal room where Crowdies are having a play, he's just finishing up on the artwork for the new album so that is coming along. It's like the whole project is now back on track which is good. That's it for me, heading back down to Kalorama oval, not for a jog but to check out the vintage car rally. Several hundred much loved relics turn up once a year- incredible looking- something special about seeing vintage cars chugging along through the hills, makes me think this is what it must of been like all those decades ago when the world was a more innocent place. Roll on! Peter |