The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 8 August - 4 September 2011
Tim Finn's "The View Is Worth The Climb" is my album of the month!
The 4th Famous For Sixteen Minutes Book "TRIP" is now available!
August 8th-9thHonolulu-Sydney-MelbourneYou know those days when you wake up and you really don't want to go home- that's today. We've had such a great time, it's a bit daunting going back to work. We miss Banshee and family etc but I've love to be away for another month... six months? Weird, as I rarely feel like this towards the end of a trip, usually I'm charged and focus and just happy to be back in brilliant Australia. Not sure what this means..but I know at 9.15 am we will board our flight back to Oz. We somehow get the slowest taxi driver in Hawaii, Mark asks him if he could go any slower *GRIN*. He's convinced he is doing it to get stuck at the lights, plus he is living on his phone and really really old. I'm wondering if we walked to the airport we could beat him. It's a relief to arrive and we still have plenty of time to spare despite mr turtle. We get some express ticket that lets us zoom through immigration etc. Mark moves his arms during the full body scan so he has to get frisked but a very very hunky Hawaiian man. He also has a good sense of humour , which seems to be missing at many USA airports. So after Marks morning frisk we head to the Qantas lounge and it's not too bad, fresh fruit, rolls and VEGEMITE! I check out their computer for a minute and it looks like we arrive home to rain. The flight is uneventful, food ok, and I must of bombed myself out as I honestly remember so little. Sydney immigration is also a blur but we are both relaxed and chilled by the time we get our flight to Melbourne. I call Rosemaree from Sydney as we board and we leave the gate on time, however we are stuck on the tarmac which is so boring. Fuck I hate Sydney airport! It causes some delay and we can't call Rosemaree to tell her, hopefully she will check. Arrive Melbourne and Rosemaree and Miss Banshee are waiting... good to see them both. Rosemaree has some small meltdown at the exit gate over parking, my calm is broken, I've forgotten how stressed out our friends can be, buying a new house will do that I guess. I give Rosemaree an Obama bobble head for her computer at work, if nothing else a talking piece! It's nice she drove us home, in a few weeks she'll be living around the corner so her life will change a bit. I notice that it is cold, not freezing but a big difference from the states. Banshee is so happy to be home she follows us everywhere and keeps rubbing against us- big kitty love. August 10thA friend gives me a heads up about Morrissey touring America in November-December this year. Oh how tempting, now if I ever pay off my Amex card it might be a reality. Imagine if he played Pittsburgh- Miss K and the Warhol Museum!!! Of course then I'd have to include NYC...good grief, touring without a tour! Speaking of Warhol, a friend who has a bit to do with the Warhol family said he may have a Warhol wig for me! Now that is bizarre wonderful FREAKY... and I promise not to fulfill my fantasy of mowing our lawn in a Warhol wig!!! Though it is tempting, Mark keeps saying that the wig will fly off and end up under the mower! No!!!!!I head straight to the office today, even though we still have a week off, I decide to attack the emails that arrived-over 8000! I'm sure I begged people not to email while we were away! Maybe this is not many, it feels like it is though...8000.Urgh! . Well I know what I'm doing for the next month-god that is so many and only a few porn or erection pill related!!! I call my travel agent and travel insurance people to let them know about my hospital visit and they both seemed relaxed and said, just wait till they contact us. Oh well they know what they are doing..I guess. August 11thIt was zero again this morning, I was hoping we'd come home to warmer weather but I guess not. Even Miss Banshee thought it was cold- that cat is so happy to be home, but she won't leave our sight. Even if you go to the toilet you open the door and there is the cat waiting for us.I pick the chickens up from Thomas, they are all healthy and happy and probably didn't want to come home. One lays an egg within 5 minutes of being back in their huge pen. let the egg laying commence!!! (Bang!). August 12thWell Liam's album FOMO looks like it did little here, I don't get it, the live shows really good crowds, sold out- passionate shows. I see it is back in the NZ charts, probably for a week or two while the gigs are underway . I email NZ to see how close it is to Gold status, would love for it to reach gold for him, even NZ gold, which is about 7500. The recent Liam NZ dates have probably given it a bit more of a push...which is good. Stil a way to go before it hits gold in NZ too.I give Allie a quick call as she turns 21 again! I'm sure she is being spoilt. Have a good one baby! So many birthdays this time of year. John Clifforth is up at the snow, so he has taken awhile to get back to me. he's signing all the cds for the fans which is great, personalized to each person- we like that! Hessie would be happy that John's albums out and about and he played on so many tracks. Uncle Paul with his thumb up in the air..... August 13thA few small donations arrive for the club charity project, we are getting so close to the halfway mark. I knew this one would take time because it's nearly double the amount we usually try to raise. I am patient around it, just reaching a total for one of our charity projects is such a good thing, every donation has helped even $1. It's a good thing. I love that we can make things happen,strangers improving peoples lives.I had an email from a fan today asking me what manager I thought was the best to work with. It's been like 31+ years already so 'wow' hard questions. I'll always have a soft spot for Nathan Brenner and Grant Thomas. Nathan because he had a great sense of humour, took the punt and grabbed me for the Enz office. I also got to see just how hard he worked for the Enz and truly believed in them and really went to bat for them, even now I still don't think some of the band realized just how much he put into it-heart and soul...... and of course Grant Thomas. GT started out on the Enz accounts so he was around during the Split Enz period.... but like Nathan he gave 101% to Crowded House. I really learn't a lot from both of them, and we were a good team- they both understood the true value of fans and fan base and also we were involved so much more. Let me have a go at some media and other areas. Half the time now it seems like there is some state secret- and you just want to go 'fuck man it's just music not the UN or invasion of Libya"! So yeah they were my two faves, and that's not putting anyone else down or how hard they work. Management is a different kettle of fish in 2011 and is approached differently, our artists are more 'mature' (cough)....... I also liked Campell Bic's manager and of course David Hughes who looked after the Enz recently..... I'd like to think that they all have high opinions of our efforts too. As I sit here at 2.00 in the morning in the office playing catch up on band Emails I know no one really knows I'm working away..but that's all part of it, going the extra yard. August 14thWe have a visit from writer Jeff Apter today and his mate. Good that he dropped in and chatted about an upcoming project. With Fathers Day on the horizon in Australia I've suggested to a few friends who's dads love Aussie music to check out Jeff/Mark Evans AC/DC book (wonderful Bon Scott line up- the only one that matters!!!) it's called "Dirty Deeds". I know Kmart have the book for $10.00 less, so grab a copy from their. Jeff's website is located at: http://www.jeffapter.com.au/The AC/DC book I love as Mark Evans lived at the Prahran Hilton, which was basically the housing commission units down the end of the street from our Surrey Rd house. So all the way through the book mentions of so many Prahran landmarks like the wonderful Station Hotel. It's a fun read but the ending is way too sad. Thanks Jeff for giving us the copy before it was in the stores, loved it. Buy it worth every cent. Scott from Umbrella also sends us the Coca Cola Kid on DVD, it's been so long since I have see this movie, I've forgotten all about Greta's nude scene and Tim as "Philip" and the lovely Paul Hester making a micro cameo "Peace"! All those eighties hairdo and how terrible is Eric Roberst... anyway a fun rompt....and Tim working on that Aussie sound for the Coca Cola song. You can get it here: http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/ August 15thWe are stoked "our" baby elephant Kalama is in the BORN TO BE WILD movie promo... she pops her head out of her stall at 1.37... isn't she cool!!! What a star! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv2Af-H7ZnII head out to buy Rosemaree a security camera for her new home, for her birthday, I spot some funky tissue boxes too, she she gets something to hold that endless supply of tissues that she has. Snapdragons are out and about so I buy some of those too for our gardens...spring arrives soon- it's been a long Winter. I hear from Lisa J who won our 'crew contest" awhile back. Kind of a romantic email and for once I can take some partial thanks for her getting together with long term Finn fan Chris. They met at the concert she went to because of the Crew Contest. I'd known both of them for awhile so nice to hit it off- so much Lisa is having a baby, it's a boy and his middle name is going to be Peter. I am both honoured and a tad speechless. I'm sure he will be the most handsome of all the boys named Peter- and thank you guys- and congratulations. I'll have to put a disclaimer on future concerts that they do not guarantee a boyfriend or girlfriend!!! I love nice emails like that, the world can be a good place, it's not all shit and killings and people dicking each other over. August 16thI spend most of today getting the cd mailers ready for the upcoming Pajama Club copies that go out in September. Checking addresses, customs forms and postage and logging them in, it's such an endless thing and quite a few of these. I just want them ready to go when stock arrives.August 17thChris and Peter O'Doherty have their 'double vision' launch tonight , a private party at Australian print Workshop on Gertrude street at Fitzroy. We have to go to Moorabbin first to get some multiple DVD cases, Mark has a project on in the library where he is reducing the big dvd box sets to single multi boxes, just so we have more space. I head towards Canterbury Rd as I need fuel and then we turn on the GPS. It seems to have a mind of it's own and before too long we are in Fitzroy!!! We corrected the GPS twice but it kept taking us here, the Moorabbin address was correct. The very very odd thing is that when we pulled the car over we realized we were on Gertrude Street and tonights Print Function for Pete and Reg was 3 doors away!Mark goes "Oh you keyed in the APW address instead". I checked and we hadn't , I was planning on putting the art show address in after we left Morrabbin, does our GPS now read our minds? In the end we blow out driving to Moorrabin , it's now close to peak hour traffic. As it clicks on 5.00 we leave the car as we now have unlimited parking. We go and explore. Gertrude Street Fitzroy has some fantastic stores- my fave is SHOPSUI-227 Gertrude street. They have so many unique gifts, want something extra special head to SHOPSUI. We head a few doors down and find this gothic style tavern, sit near the windows and watch commuters heading home all squashed into the trams. We order an early dinner and just watch people walking by. For about 10 seconds we miss the city, and we really go love the Gertrude Street Fitzroy area, it feels like Prahran used to- the vibe for Prahran has well and truly gone. We finish up and walk to the Australian Print Workshop. Some guy stops us at the door, "it's a private function"! In his best control freak voice- "Yes I know we're on Chris & Pete's Family list" I smile and just walk by. I've learnt the fine art of stealth walk, you glide while you talk, especially around those who stand in front of you. The extra good thing about Reg and Pete's show is that Sue and Martina are here as well, such lovely woman, just great to see them and catch up. The boys in their secondary guise as Dog Trumpet are having a play too, 12 songs.... Raymond J from Rockwiz launches the exhibition which was funny..I am starting to worry that Raymond J is now taking over Brian as I seem to see more of him and less of Brian!!!! It's an enjoyable night, we escape before the storms start outside. I work out my own way home, just in case the GPS suddenly decides that it is now time to head to Morrabbin. Mark says I like Dog Trumpet so much more then Pajama Club- I'm not going anywhere near that comment..... what a fun band though. August 18thWake up to the news that Skyhooks "Living in the 70's" has been added to the National Archive List at the National Film & Sound Archive Registry. They only do this with albums that are landmark and of cultural importance.That's why you'll never see a Sherbet album added (snigger). Drive to Moorabbin and this time we make it. August 19thI can't believe the Victorian Police ditched an investigation into another Catholic priest abusing school children simply because they thought he was too old. If he did this he should be sent to trial and age should not matter. Once more the Catholic church hides it's evil doers under it's skirts. Shameful.Liam plays a kick arse show at The Corner, it's packed, sold out. I still don't understand why his current album isn't charting here, it deserves to do better. We grab a bottle of the AC/DC wine, the only one we are interested in is the Bon Scott "Highway to Hell" which is a Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. A nice dark red. A mere $15, and probably won't value a cent past that. Our can of JR Ewing beer which is now several decades old is probably worth more!!! August 20thWe call Rosemaree at ten seconds past midnight to wish her a happy 50th! She was still awake and we were the fist to call, I know some people sent her happy birthday greetings on Sheep Book before midnight but we made the effort to call when it became the next day!It was such an incredible day up here, Spring is around the corner and this was a taste of what is come. Isn't it wonderful how some sunlight can charge you!!!! I did a hundred and one things today. August 21stWe watched Cinema Verite which was fantastic based on the "An American Family" tv show from the seventies. Cinema Verite means "truthful cinema" .... An American Family was probably the first reality tv show, 300 hours were filmed of the wonderful Loud Family and 12 episodes were aired. The mother divorced the dad on tv, one son came out...it probably all seemed amazing to America...but across the big pond Australian tv was breaking boundary's ... tagged as the night Australian Tv lost it's virginity- we had Number 96, which covered everything- full frontal nudity, homosexuality ,the panty hose strangler and more.... all on free to air tv!August 22ndI see that Libyan rebels have reached Green Square in Tripoli. As the sun rose thousands flocked to the square to rejoice. If Gaddafi's 42 year rule has finished I hope the people do indeed get a better deal with the next bunch, but a part of me is unsure.... I hope so. I did see Gaddafi's jet, we'd like to buy that, the huge king size bed and quite large spa!!!! What a way to fly as only a dictator can! His people might be starving but he gets to use his private shower at 10,000 feet!August 23rdI really love the art work for Tim Finn's new album THE VIEW IS WORTH THE CLIMB, my one complaint his name and the title need to stand out more. They get a bit lost ..but the cover is really nice... so cool I decide to use it at the top of this diary main page. Going Going Gone just came on radio as I wrote this. now there's an omen.August 24thI mail Sis's birthday card, I'm a tad horrified that my sister is no longer a teenager... and hasn't been for awhile..elder brothers think like that. I folded and bought an iPad 2 for her.Mark and myself spend an hour loading the car with Rosemaree's boxes from our garden shed, it will take us 3 or 4 drives I think. It's a lot harder carrying them up our hill! We arrive at her new digs and load in the first lot. Good to see her sister again who is TALLER then you Rosemaree *GRIN*. I hope you are happy at your new place and hell it's much closer to our place so that is really nice. August 25thI send in my pay invoice, I know I'm signing all of this pay cheque to the Amex people. Oh well such is life. Better start growing my summer vegies soon we may need them!August 26thWell Tim's THE VIEW IS WORTH THE CLIMB was meant to be in stores today, we did some serious driving, and in the end it was obvious no stock was going to arrive. It now seems like it will be in stores on Tuesday, which is very disappointing, apart from the delay it means our chart loses 4 days of sales. I wonder if this is the same Australia wide? So I have to tell the fans there is a delay- totally out of our hands I'm afraid. In a week or so it won't seem so bad when stock is in the mail around the world- it's just I hate delays. So a whole day wasted.I do get a chance to buy Rosemaree's birthday present though... August 27thRosemaree is having a small dinner party at Kellys on The Hill, so we head on down... Kellys does make good hamburgers. There is entertainment but the guy is so loud you can't hear the others at the table, same thing happened last time. A few of us end up back at our place, I've baked a cheesecake birthday cake for her. Trina beats Rosemaree at pool- doesn't she know the rule that the birthday girl must always win! Nice night.August 28thWe have a very very steep high roof, it seems a thousands times higher when you are on top of it. I decide to give the solar panels a wash. So up I go, and I get the job done... though it is a bit daunting. A few strands of grass are growing in the gutters and they are at such a dangerous angle I fail to get close enough to remove them... I'll need a gutterman to do the job... still better to pay some bucks then die!!!!Mark notices that RENO 911 season 2 is a mere $15 on JB's website so we grab a copy. That's cheaper then the USA price. He buys it. August 29thHappy Birthday Sis- have a great day! I wish I was home for your birthday, but we will catch up soon.I have a chat to Tania, what a disaster, all rather depressing, how did it all get that bad? August 30thI get the news that Tim Finns Sydney launch has now sold out- the old boy still has it. Lots of Finn fans attending, something that after all this time Tim still enjoys getting up there and playing live. He could be hiding away in a wardrobe festering but thankfully he isn't like that-just enjoys making music- and it's kind of cool that he can still do these sell out shows. He's off to USA in March for dates.August 31stOk I splurged, I shouldn't of but did. I ended up getting a shiny black and chrome De'Longhi toaster. They make all this exceptional 1950s retro design kitchen ware like kettles toasters and coffee machines... those retro red, black and a 1950s shade of blue. It's hard to choose as they all look fantastic. Well worth checking out-every home should have 1 De'Longhi item by law!!! or go to jail! *GRIN*.We buy a big chunk of Tim stock for fans today, when we add on the postage cd mailer, photos etc I've worked out we get 18c per order! Yieks...but as long as they are not costing us more I'll always support the artist and help fans out. The postage increases just suck, I never disliked Australia Post till recently now I just think they are greedy bastards. September 1stIt's the first day of Spring and so nice outside, a promise of things to come.I see poor little Billy Joe from Green Day got turfed off a SouthWest flight because his pants started to drop a bit low when he was clambering for his seat. Why do flight staff always react, lets kick the rocker off the plane and we'll grovel in front of the media later on and apologize. Green Day playing very loud in our office today! Happy Birthday Laura, I know today is a two edged sword but we are thinking of you. xxP and Mx September 2ndWhat two days of sun, c'mon that's unheard of. We hit the stores again, more Tim Finn stock goes out....making up for the lost time with the record company boo boo. Eastlands have sold 80% of their stock, a young girl in line in front of me had a copy. I was about to say "good album" when the woman at the counter said it and beat me to it. I just smiled, maybe Miss Wendy has been training the staff!?Loving the 4 Corners TV show "50 years" double episodes they play each Sunday. This Sunday is Gough and Fraser... that seventies footage will be cool.... September 3rdI've decided to try and have as many fan giveaways as we can till christmas (if we can).... starting with one of the favourite contests this weekend. Just want more of a happy fan vibe. Just wish we had the funds to do more for the fans.By 4.00 I'm worn out and actually fall asleep on my bed... not sure why my endless energy supply wasn't so endless after all. Thankfully Rosemaree turns up with some wonderful food and spoils us- I didn't have to cool so that is fantastic. Yey! September 4thThe Gough Whitlam footage on the ABC was wonderful, thousands chanting "We Want Gough" and his speeches were astounding, they sure do not make politicians like him anymore- ok I am a Gough Whitlam groupie- long live Gough. Malcolm Fraser though came across as cold and dull as dishwater talk about the opposite..still great to watch. "Four Corners" has been running for 50 years now, not many Tv shows can say that.We dig into the licorice bullets, part of the surprise package sent to us by lovely Wendy, Mark was way too spoilt on his birthday. Cheered us up after such a sad week (thanks Wendy). That's it for another diary..... between emails and releases I've been a bit sidetracked so I'm sorry this one has taken awhile. Stay happy PG |