The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 18 April - 1 May 2011
Mick Ronson RIP (18 years).
Photo-Neil Finn & Mick Ronson 1982 (Photo- Ross M./Enz Archives)
April 18thI spend the morning working on some Pajama Party stuff, I end up emailing the NZ office as I know over the next few weeks we should have a rough release period locked in- it will be good to know so I can focus our side of it around that. Costs for mail outs keep climbing, can't believe a single letter overseas is now $2.25! Times that by about 10,000 and International postage is a killer.Rosemaree rocks up at 10.00 while I'm in the office so I send her up to Mark at the house while I run off and post some mail and pay some bills. We three have some brunch together at the Deli, we are really spoilt as Rosemaree shouts us, which was very sweet. I give her a load of empty boxes so she can start packing her stuff for the move when she gets her house. At least it gets rid of boxes out of the office area. I've been saving them for her, moving is such a drag but it's a good chance to clear out what you have. I can't believe the US dollars AAA rating has been put on "negative watch' I think this is the first time ever- which means the ratings agencys don't believe America can cover it's debt. I wonder if it will be downgraded from AAA. It must be hard for Obama and his team, so many things need changing but so many people throw up walls purely for political reasons- without thinking about the good of the people. April 19thMark pulls out the "Tales of the City" dvds, Armistead Maupins writings made into tv movies. Always fun to watch..... pretty decent cast too. The books are great, though I do need to get "Michael Tolliver Lives" which was released in 2007, which is written in the first person perspective. Good old 'mouse' he's a survivor..... always loved how the mayor of San Francisco declared the books release day (12th June 2007) "Michael Tolliver Day"- oh you wacky Americans and your 'days'! Love it. I know when Armistead was with Terry Anderson they lived in New Zealand for awhile. I remember spotting him in a book store and turned and he was gone- maybe his 'fan stalker' radar picked me up. I'm assuming he is back in San Francisco now as he married his boyfriend Chris Turner about 4 years ago. Anyway 'Tales of the City" always a fun one to watch or read. Thank god for the Armistead Maupins of this world.April 20thI hear from the wonderful Berry Twins who had the best time at Neil's solo shows in the UK. Great they made the gigs it wouldn't be the same without the wonderful Berry's.Sad to hear that Elizabeth Sladen died from cancer. She was one of the most loved companions of the dear Doctor. I'm sure K9 and fans everywhere will miss her sweet smile. Damn cancer it's such a shit, I worry that so many of our friends will go that way- hell I probably will. Got to get every last drop out of life daily, it's way too precious to waste. I'm trying to avoid sleep walking through life. I email my pay invoice a week early, the Finn office never say no about my early payment, god bless them. Sadly easter break means it will take a week to arrive into my account. April 21stReally really horrible to hear that the new NSW Liberal government will ditch the solar bonus scheme. The previous Labor government ear marked it to run till 2016. Very very piss poor of the Liberals, solar power should be encouraged in NSW (in fact everywhere) and the people of NSW voted for these idiots!Some friends sent me some emails today asking the age old question. "What do you want for your birthday". Well apart from a million dollars there is very little that I need. Honestly. In many ways I'm trying to keep my life and surroundings more simplified. I always say 'send me some postage. So yeah postage stamps are always welcome, especially American or Aussie ones. They always help us out so much- the perfect gift really. Sometimes just a happy birthday email will make my day. I always get a bit strange when people spend money on me..... no idea why. Some friends have been so generous over the years- they know how special they've made my life, I am lucky. But yeah stamps there you go... April 22ndIt's Good Friday, I always wanted to be really bad on Good Friday but I keep failing. Some people find it really easy to be bad. The best I could do was to read some Aleister Crowley poems under his pseudonym George Archibald Bishop. Not all that exciting, maybe I need to make a side trip to Thelema Abbey in Cefalu ,Sicily where he practised his rituals with his followers. I think the I Ching gave him the direction to head their. About a decade ago I saw some video footage of a white magic ritual being performed inside the what appeared to be Thelema Abbey- lots of Crowleys paintings were still on the walls so I was convinced it wasn't destroyed as originally thought (Mussolini ordered it be torn down) . These days good old You Tube has footage, you can head to Cefalu and still visit the remains of the Abbey , it's been bricked up ..but there is a very small hole n the back of the building plus a huge part of the roof has caved in. The paintings are fading and half destroyed but it does still exist..... I'm wondering what the masses at mass would think of my Crowley exploration on such a day!I see that the wonderful Bells Beach Surf Championship turns 50 today- excellent footage on the ABC, such a fantastic part of the Victorian coastline, Bells can be a bitch to surf but that's what makes it brilliant. Surfing is indeed a religion for many. April 23rdI have a quick coffee at Viewpoint and the Mountain isn't as insane as I thought it would be- a steady flow of tourists but it's not over the top. I hear from Rosemaree and she is close to signing the deal on her new place, it's only 15 minutes away so excellent for all of us. I think Prahran has lost it's charm, seriously don't think she will miss it these days.There is a chance that Neil and Sharon will have to change the name of the band, from the Pajama Party to a new name as Pajama is already taken. I guess we will know soon enough. A drag at the 11th hour. (No thats not the name of the band)...I did suggest to Neil that "Barbara Stanwycks Chest" might be reconsidered from the early Crowded House days...Paul used Largest Living Things from that 'list'... April 24thI keep reading very average reviews of Bob Dylan's Australian shows- that's sad- mostly about his voice. At least he can still call up some musical magic in the studio the last few albums have been great.I decide to let the fans know the rough track names from Neil and Sharon's album. I didn't hear anything back about possible song title changes so I went for it. April 25thBec calls up and cancels she has this other thing on, which is fine but i blew out 3 things to make time... so have to find stuff to fill in the day. I end up working in the office and scrawl out some more envelopes for the June mail out. Boring boring boring but it has to be done. Paypal have messed up our account and said it could take a week to fix it- they are kind of hopeless when it comes to returning calls. I don't think I'm going to cancel things out for people anymore.April 26thI call in and visit Martin & Hisako- they make a fine pot of green tea. I think Hisako buys it when she see's her mum in Japan. Nice to chill with them, I take some of my homemade lemon cake as a treat for them both.It's still a public holiday here, some people get a week off, we grab a table at The Deli before the touristos overrun the mountain again. Quick run, run run. I work on the Ghost Cars book for a few hours, it's slow work but happening. April 27thWe start watching The Beatles-Anthology again, how brilliant is it! The hysteria always blows me away, not to mention the extremists and the bible bashers in the southern states of America, they find the solution to everything is confrontation. Nothing has changed really. I love the girls at the show with the sign "In Lennon We Trust"! Funny.I hear from another friend and the evil Cancer word is mentioned again, it depresses me how many people this is happening to, thankfully my friends are tough as all hell and will win but it worries me. April 28thThree birthday cards arrived today all from overseas, I guess people wanted to make sure I got them, it's not till May 11th but nice that people remember and do this- I suck at birthdays but you all know that.Mark reminds me that our 'bitch fest' is on this coming weekend the Logie Awards, it's nearly always tragic and cheesey but saying that we watch it every year. I can't believe people take it so seriously. April 29thMark buys me a dock for my iPod which is the only thing I really wanted for my birthday, just for the kitchen..... and yes really spoilt and I get to use it NOW...which rocks.... this is so cool.Oh yeah there is some wedding on today..2 fresh faced kids in England I believe are getting hitched... what's it costing $18 million (Phew). I get a call from the repair shop and our cd player for the office is finally back so I pick that up next week, been very odd not having music in the office. April 30thI have a chat to Di from Sydney so good to hear from her, been many years since she and baby Timothy lived with us at Sth Yarra but nothing but good memories. Chat to Spock too to see if they need a hand moving into their house, it sounds like the removers have it all under control but they know they can call if they need us. I hate moving peoples crap but they have always helped move ours so gotta return the favour.I bake a cheesecake today, the first ever baked cheesecake that I've made, you know it's not to bad......I can improve on it but for a first effort it's pretty good. Dr Who has started on the ABC finally..... an interesting first episode ..... I enjoyed it. They dedicated the show to Elizabeth Sladen which was nice. Well it's 18 years since the amazing Mick Ronson died. All that wonderful work with David Bowie.... he had a style of his own. As you can see a snap of Neil Finn with Mick Ronson. Ross took I think it's Michigan June 1982 at a guess. There was also a photo taken with Ronson and Tim which is somewhere in the archives but haven't been able to locate it...same show. I sent a copy of this to Neil today for his collection, lets face it how many NZers have a photo with Mick Ronson on stage with you...few I'd say. RIP Mick, you seriously kicked musical arse. May 1stI'm woken up by the sounds of a train puffing around Kalorama oval, it can only mean the annual chest nut festival is on again. Unlike previous years, it's actually not a bad day- no rain. I head to the bakery to grab some pies and our road is full of cars, some balancing on the edge of the water drains like they will roll over and crash through the bush. People everywhere. I'm out gardening and the 3 chickens are wandering about, people walking by on the street all excited 'look real live chickens"... not sure what they expected? Weird.Neil emails and says that Pajama Party will have a name change.. so I expect that will happen soon. Suuz birthday in a few days and really its the start of about 14 birthdays in a row..... c'mon all the good people are born in May!!!!! On that note.... keep passing the open windows PG P.S. Just heard from Neil Finn, the Pajama Party is now known as The Pajama Club. |