October 17th

Mark sent me the YouTube link for NO SPARE PARTS the first cut from The Stones upcoming reissue of SOME GIRLS... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkZ2CCVlXuE&feature=player_embedded

I'm glad they are doing this to a few albums, the wonderful Exile On Mainstreet did really well, about an extra 1/2 million worldwide. I can't believe some people don't have "Exile" is their record collection, how is that possible?

I take massive amounts of mail to the post office today, the whole of the car is packed tight. The power was off in the morning while they put new power lines up along the mountain so we worked outside on the decking envelope stuffing...cd mailer stuffing etc. It was kind of nice to get some sun.

Fried Haloumi cheese and avocado on turkish bread for a dinner snack. I do like that cyprus cheese. Yummo.

I see Tony Abbott peaked with his highest ever disapproval rating since he became the leader of the opposition. It couldn't of happened to a more horrid guy-congratulations Mr Abbutt!

October 18th

Our local state government wastes $90,000 after a project to stop Half Moon Bay from eroding was cancelled. The beach actually isn't eroding, so the numerous tonnes of sand have to go elsewhere now... after being dumped on the beach. You'd think they would of checked into it first! How hard can it be. Schools would of benefited from that extra money-tax payers money too- OUR money!

We find a mexican restaurant isn't too far away at Lillydale, like 10 minutes, so the thought of a 1/2 price feast was very tempting indeed. The Midori margarita's were way too tempting as well. We are amazed how Lillydale has grown, so many shops! Food was ok, nothing compared to 'real' mexican but still passable and a fun night. I'm still below the limit to drive but feeling a tad pissed. So I give it a bit longer to sober up. I notice that the world looks slightly blurry tonight-how much tequila was in those drinks!!!!!!!!

October 19th

Our neighbours return home from their European vacation. I say goodbye to Stan the cat and Mr Bunny, it will seem strange not seeing them twice a day. They've returned home to an incredible Spring day, so warm, we'll have this weather for a few days before the rains return. Which also means everything up here is so damn LUSH. It's like living in a rain forest. You need to take a machete to get to the car.

Chat to Neil about a possible prize for the "100 days.." contest so hoping that will happen, the Finns have also just returned home. Apart from the NZ dates very little Pajama Club activity. So fantastic so many people have voted for them in the EG Awards.

A courier arrives with stuff for the EMi mail out so we spend the entire day working on that.

I head to Dick Smith to get some more Tim Finn photos done to go with the next lot of Tim cds. Dick Smith store is empty and the girl tells me they are dismantling the photo machines. I keep thinking it's only a matter of time before Dick Smith stores start closing, it's like a ghost town today, staff standing about with nothing to do.

I head to Kmart and get the photos printed there, THOR on Blu ray is a huge 35c cheaper at Kmart then JB HI FI. I quite liked Thor , thought they did a good job. It's a hard job making a hammer look cool!

October 20th

Geoff the plumber turns up, right on time and fixes some pressure valve. $180 later he leaves..but all done.

I keep reading articles on Morocco and Kashmir... I love the photo images from that area. There have been a lot of reviews in the travel section of The Age- still seems so far from Australia.

Bic Runga NOW is underway on Twitter. Handy for quick burst of information. Deb reminds me that Twitter is a two way street, I rarely ever reply to tweets, and she is right, need to pull my finger out on that. Just by the time I finish with the 16,000 clubbers, sometimes 500 emails a day and all the regular work, the day has been long, so the vibe to reply to even more kills me. I doubt people have any idea how many emails arrive here. I kind of get the vibe a few people think I just want to avoid the social network, in reality I probably deal with 50 times as many people daily then most. Still she is slack I need to make more of an effort.

October 21st

We have meetings for most of the morning, I rush home to try and get The Church pre sale but it's 30 minutes after they have gone on sale, ticket sales must be slow, but we still end up with front row! Love that, front row at The Forum is not too bad. Should be a great night, we hope Steve Kilbey is in one of his famous chatty moods.

Mark goes in some ticket draw and wins The Simpson's movie on Blu Ray- so we are having a good day at the office! I grab my bag and head off again for 4 afternoon meetings, so it's a long day and nothing will get done in the office. Good things come in three's so we are wondering what the other good thing for today will be.

It didn't take long, the Herald Sun newspaper announced that government sources have revealed that PM Gillard will announce a conscious vote on gay marriage, and that would be a conscious vote in parliament. Amazing if it really does happen, you just never know it all seems too good to be true.

October 22nd

Thought it would be good for Skyhook fans to have a twitter account, handy for things like rare footage being on RAGE or band member gigs etc. People get the update nice and fast. be good for Skyhooks to stop living in the 70's and be part of 2011 and fast info like Tweets are perfect. So little Skyhook activity it is a shame that people miss out when some small things happen.

Foxtel is looking great- new Dexter, Boardwalk Empire and Sons of Anarchy all back in a few weeks time-excellent!

I do a quick stock count for the upcoming signed Time & Tide cds by the Enz. We will have a spare 27 of these I think. So they'll be gobbled up, nice to have the Enz boys sign these, and it helps them. Sales for Time & Tide had dropped, I started worrying Warners would drop it from the catalogue- which is a bit sad as it is probably the bands favourite album. So this small push should keep it alive and in the catalogue for awhile longer.

October 23rd

Banshee decided to be sick last night, just that 'cat eating grass' stuff that they do. So I had zilch sleep. Phone rings and Tania and her mum are at the back gate- so I jump out of bed and have a quick shower while Mark lets them in. I'm so bleary eyed , wasn't prepared for 'guests' but still good to see them. We sit outside on the decking with the buddhist umbrellas covering us. Dorrie is pretty lively for a woman of 200!

Weird day, Greg Skyhook calls and emails and has some weird shit going on about having a twitter account. I still am not sure what his problem is exactly, just got too aggressive and nasty- we dig the old coot but even i draw the line over such 'stuff'. Then you are left with the aftermath where your head repeats absolute rubbish. Life is too short I just couldn't be bothered, sad because he can be a lovely man.

Watch Sea Change again on DVD, we have finally caught up on all our blurays and dvds, so Mark grabbed this off the shelf. Enjoying it, I get why it was such a hit here. We both do a fairly decent Diver Dan impersonation.

October 24th

Neil sends me 'GOD LIVES OVER THE ROAD" which is a 3 minute outtake from the previous Crowded House album Intriguer. We are sending this to 24 lucky club members in the "100 days of the frenz" contest. Cool prize, Neil can be so supportive around the fan side of things, which is really good. This outtake has such a calm to it.... really enjoyed it. Mark had to reduce it down a bit for the emails, but we managed to get them all out in the end.

It's 4.00 and I'm waiting for my pay to arrive in my bank account- waiting waiting waiting. Bills to pay, well just my Amex. No idea why Westpac are so slow these days, I've been noticing they now put payments into accounts in the evenings, it used to be about 3.00. I'm starting to understand why old people keep money stuffed in their mattresses, it's easier to deal with. I'll be an old mattress stuffer in years to come (ok don't I know I've just set myself up with that line)!

October 25th

Julia lets me know that it was a bank holiday in NZ, so that would explain my pay being late. I'll still blame Westpac (:

I blow out Dr Chiro today to attend to an injured animal that was roadside, all ok but glad I stopped to make sure..

Kill Skyhooks Music Twitter account and like a phoenix it rises and we have Gryphon Music. A chance to tweet out stuff about our favourite bands, artists etc. Deb has been guiding me, on a few things which is fantastic. I'm sure I'm crap at this but I'm making the effort. I am blown away 125 people already, it almost frightens me. To sign up: http://twitter.com/GryphonMusic

John Waters walking around the city today, so funny was that really him on the tram- I'd know that look anywhere- way too cool.

October 26th

Today I feel odd, some sort of stomach ache thing, just weird. Not sure what it is, not gross at least just makes me feel 'off centre' . I contact Rosemaree & Allison and tell them no for Mexican tonight. Mexican food and margaritas are the last thing I could deal with. I take some time off from the office today.

I have a power nap, get up and mow the "moat" in front of the office. I plan to plant roses n that area. The chickens go crazy looking for bugs in the freshly mowed area.

Greg Skyhooks sister sends me the most brilliant shots of Petra in Jordan... so envious just excellent!

October 27th

I lock in an appointment with my Dr. I'm still feeling a bit sick, and it's time for my blood test anyway. I always keep an eye on things. I'm taking some sick days away from the office, and emails and all of that.

October 28th

I know the last of my pay should be spent on sensible stuff like food but hey when have I ever been sensible. So we bought a car load of Delbard roses, for the front law area of the office, all shapes and colours. We had to go to Eastlands and when I opened the car the perfume from the roses was pretty trippy. We planted them all in front of the office area, so a huge stretch of roses is now out front, they seem to like that spot, a bit of sun and protected from the wind.

THEY WILL HAVE THEIR WAY now out in Australia. I spotted some copies at the record shop in the "recommended" area and "staff preferred". So it will probably do well leading up to the christmas period.

I see the 7th Billion human is expected to be born any second. That is so many people, we really do need to stop breeding, the world does not need anymore mouths to feed.

I start reading Jeff Apters book on Marc Hunter of Dragon, another really enjoyable read. I'm guessing it's out now or very soon.

October 29th

Still feeling a bit like crap. I work in the garage on some Halloween bags in case any trick or treaters arrive on Monday. Our friend Allies little Halloween gremlin Emma turns 10 on that day, how cool being born on Samhain.

This year my treat bags have glow in the dark eyes, hand painted/screened- a fine work of art. I work on the inflatable Sid the Skeleton Man. Found a small air valve and Sid now inflates before your eyes and his outstretched hands make a grab at you.... he has 3 small lights so he kind of glows too. OK I am liking all of this way too much.

I make a baked passionfruit cheesecake, the use by date was getting closer on some ingredients. Turned out pretty damn fine (again). I have this one down pat.

We are watching the 3 Jurassic Park movies on Blue Ray and I'm eating nuts and dried fruit and Banshee the cat grabs some dried orange/mango and eats it. 3 pieces. a cat that loves dried fruit...ok! Vegan Cat?

October 30th

Windy wet night, all snuggled deep in the bed and Mark bellows at Banshee so I'm woken up. Grrrrrr. I go to the office for 5 minutes. But still have a few days off so I make a promise that I won't stay. Emails etc will have to wait till I return. Clay tells me that Tim Finns Canberra show has been cancelled so I send out some info on that and escape again to the house and the Marc Hunter book. Buy it, it's a good read.

Halloween is tomorrow, giving thanks to the end of harvest (I prefer the old gaelic tradition instead of the USA mass market version...still I do love those pumpkins and a good inflatable skeleton!).

Halloween also marks the end of the "lighter" half of the year and the beginning of the "darker half" . Look out for the bonfires on top of Mount Dandenong lit by all those Neo Pagans that live up here! No one that you guys know- honestly...!!!

have fun.

PG