The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 7 November - 20 November 2016
Back at the Opera House 20 years later, lots of good thoughts about Paul this coming week
November 7thA really nice start to the day. A parcel at the post office and it's Jeff Jenkins new Molly book. "Ah Well, Nobody's Perfect". Originally I penned a short story for this book, mainly because it's Jeff and Molly. It was quick and honestly I'd forgotten about it and thought it would end up on the cutting room floor of book world. So when this arrived it was a bit of happiness to see my piece in the book- under "Teenage Dreams" ..on page 215 and even a picture. So that made me smile. Jeff put some kind words up under the photo. I do have respect for Molly, a huge part is that he manages to exist, in such an iconic way. He gets it wrong so many times but maybe that is the endearing quality, he's human. With Christmas coming up, I bet this book is a solid seller, just nice to be part of the project, so thanks for asking Jeff & Molly.Have a long chat with our old friend Alison , she has a cat now, it's good for her, and we had a serious waffle session. November 8thTwo years since Andy White's Live in OUR lounge room. Time flies, what a really fun night. Some cool songs, a fun audience, so check it out on You Tube here:The USA election... all the Polls say Hillary, we prefer that, Trump is just heinous. Spend a big part of the day watching it, and it ends up being a horror story. No confidence in this man what so ever. A huge part of his voters (around 75%) are non college , angry white men. I bet when his promises of a better life turn to dust they are the first ones to turn on him. A very sad day for America. November 9thA guy arrives to change over our gas meter and we have a few hours of a pain in the arse experience-as our gas hot water system will not ignite. Eventually I fix it, and touch wood, all is fine again. But dealing with Origin and Multinet is a horrid experience. Some of their staff just want to pass the buck and avoid any problems that the people that THEY have employed to do this are not very good. The guy that installed it moaned how he was only getting $19 a job, so pay shit get shit as Miss Candee once said! She was right.Watch SUPERNATURAL Season #11, a brilliant episode called "Don't Call Me Shurley". Exceptionally well written, a highlight of all the Supernatural shows, after 11 seasons it's great that episodes like this are still created, with the humour and a really smart script. November 10thI hope this weird weather stabilises soon, it goes from sun to rain to intense winds, would love for 3 sunny days in a row. My poor old vegetable patch has a case of shock and awe. It needs some serious weeding , so even that can't happen till the days are good.Not that we have much spare time, the days are certainly long, the emails even longer! November 11thNice morning call from our mate Llody. He's finishing up with Michael Gudinski after all this time, such a good bloke, always been wonderful to us. I'm hoping that it means more spare time for him to visit us.Stay up late hoping for a midnight chart but it doesn't arrive, not till tomorrow morning. I know we can't beat the record of the most albums in the top 100 as Cold Chisel had 1 more album (9) all I want is to keep my promise to Neil and all in the top 100, I'd be extra content with that. November 12thEmail arrives, and it is good news, we did it. Eight albums on the ARIA chart. One just the rest easily. Because Time On Earth was late it just sneaked in at #96. Hell even #99 would be fine for me. Let the fans know, exciting days , they are the ones that make such things happen. So thanks everyone.Call into the General Store and edit some old interviews. They are really awesome, so will be good to have them on the net. We head over to JB at Eastlands while they have their 20% sale on. Thought I'd buy some cds for christmas presents for some cousins etc. No BluRays that we want, still appalling how much blurays cost in this country, no wonder they don't sell here. On the way out we run into an old friend, good to see her, it's only slightly strange at the start but alls good. We promise to catch up. We get a new CD player for the office, and the only one can go to Markys bar for the iPod. It's handy to have something permanent. Old Enz manger David called, he's heading to a party at Kalorama, so I suggest he calls by later on. I tell him Kalorama is the party capital of Australia! You knew didn't you dear reader. November 13thRainy day-again. I'm running out of things to do with the excess water from our tanks.Watch the National Geographic MARS -movie doco. We like it, you can tell they have spent some money. Space is the place. Hope someone lands on Mars in our life time. With Trump as President the idea is more appealing for us to move their now! he's so backwards he'll probably land on the moon. Bills, bills .bills we always seem to be paying bills. November 14thSuper moon tonight but grey and overcast outside. I wonder if we will see any of the moon tonight. Maybe it's super bright light will burst through the cloud layer.I'm trying to air the Sari's for the band room but it's still so wet outside, waiting on a sunny day to get the old metal suitcase out. Lots of phone calls in the office today, we are extra busy, just trying not to chat to people. A bit short with them, oh well it is work. I kept thinking I'd be the only person out driving on the mountain to try and find a spot to photograph the moon glow. Boy was I wrong. Drove up to 5 ways and it's packed, hundreds of people, and kids with telescopes and no sign of a spare car park. I fluke it and park near an emergency area. It's really mind blowing just how many people are here, cars everywhere, more like the end of the world. People are laughing and chatting, kids running around on the park area with their dogs. The cool hippy's arrive with their homemade ale, and blankets are laid out. The subtle smell of pot mixed in with wild jasmine and gum leaves fills the air. Someone pulls out a violin, someone else a guitar and harmonica. This is awesome. "Hey man come sit with us". A true sense of community. I think of America, torn down the middle, ripped and bleeding and it's honestly such a relief to hear my fellow humans just talking but above all laughing. The moon sometimes appears but mostly hides, people sit for a few hours, some go more roll up. The cars are endless, I've never seen so many on the mountain. I snap some freaked out cloud photos and head home. I go via the park and suddenly a great moon image, so i swing the car in while watching the moon. I don't realise there are a dozen cars and obviously people are making out. Yieks-Moon sex. I feel a bit odd in a car by myself so depart and head home. Such an awesome night, I feel rather electric myself. November 15thCrowded House sneak into the NZ Artist Chart. Woodface #16, the debut album at #18 and Together Alone #19. I spot a few "An Aussie band not a NZ one" and have to say i totally agree. An Aussie band with a kiwi lead singer/songwriter. But really, formed in Australia and in hindsight NZ didn't give a hoot about Crowded House at the start.Strange moments at the General Store today, some times it's best not to get involved in other peoples "stuff". Another season of HOMELAND finishes, yet again a fantastic season, really enjoyed it. An excellent cast, well written and Claire Danes twitchy bi polar eye stuff always freaks me. November 16thHell a week to go before the ARIAS, loads to do still. Think I've blown out my chandelier to Sydney idea, proving too hard and don't want to take the thing up if it can't be used.The suns out by midday so the Sari's are on the decking being aired and cleaned by sunshine. I scrape some of the leftover wax off from the "7 Worlds" band room days. A few small burn marks too, yes I might of had one set fire (or not) all so long ago. How excellent is the new Sea Shepherds ship the Ocean Warrior. In 2016 it's truly fucked that Japan is still attempting to kill whales. Seriously they should just fuck off. Ocean Warrior has quite a bit of speed and long range fuel tanks, so it should be an advantage. Most of the whale meat that Japan scavenges ends up being thrown out- most japanese don't even eat it. The rehearsal simulcast seems to be enjoyed by the fans. Some of the club member winners who flew in, send me a PM mid way, all very happy and looked after. Good to see. Nice to see that Eamons encounter got him a spot too. Apart from some hiccups with Australia's useless broadband it went well. Speaking of, I see complaints against the Liberal Lemon are now 150% more then last year. How could Abbott and Turnbull get it so incredibly wrong. How could people actually support such stupidity and think a crap broadband is a good thing. Half wits! November 17thI make some time to get off the mountain & visit my barbers for a haircut. Nice and short for Summer. I call into the shop at Ferntree Gully and but a rather fetching hat, cowboy-ish, well kind of. Handy too in case the weather is sunny and I don't want to get fried.Home by afternoon, reply to a massive amount of emails and dig around for some more prizes for the amazing club Christmas Stocking. Each year a fan scores big time. Neils office sending over some tour passes etc too which was good of them. Depending on how it all goes, it might only be a small run for the Christmas New Years Card from the club- I'm going to start with those who grabbed a ticket -I figure they showed support so they'll be rewarded. If all goes well I'll probably pop a souvenir tour pass in with the card-well that's my plan. By afternoon it heats up and Kalorama attacked by swarms of flying ants-who said it was the safest place in Victoria to live. Their wings fall off and they become these "other things" and Mark let 2 swarms inside, so that became a pain in the arse as they were everywhere. His punishment is that Banshee sleeps on his bed tonight. Which of course means she is prowling the house at 4.00 and wanders in and wakes me up anyway. Old lady cat.. I'm almost use to it. November 18thHappy Birthday to the Foxy one in the US of A! Hope it's a fun day.I'm packing bits and pieces for the band room and wardrobe warm up room. The beaded chandelier is ditched at the last minute by me, just becoming a small pain in the arse, how to hang it, low ceiling etc. If it was a tour I'd make it work but more worried it will end up being in the road because of the size of the outdoor area. The wonderful Saris and some other fine cloths are folded. I track down the candle holders and some funky pillows. Of course being pillows it means squashing them into my already full suitcase. I'm tempted to take Marks bag as it's larger. It really is like a travelling circus. The rider seems rather long but it has all the "must haves" - I make a note to pack an extra bottle opener as they always seem to go astray around wine. Mark says rain, rain and rain, so i have to work on that with my weather gods, especially the tv broadcast gig. Take some time to get a final lot of burning done. It's "Australian Band T-shirt Day" in Oz as part of Aus Music Month so i wear a CH burning building shirt whilst doing the burn off. When that's done I head down to see Nelly at the General Store to borrow her Hills Hoist clothes line to do some CH tee's on the washing line shot for Triple J and the CH page. Speak to a mate who's Mum hasn't got long left, so sad, always feel useless around such things, but they know they can call if we are needed. That's the main thing. It's hard losing a parent. Sis and myself trying to spend as much time with our mother as possible. November 19thHappy Birthday Enz maestro Eddie Rayner. Great that he is donating a rare cd version (and signed) off his latest album ("Alluvium"). . For those wanting a digital copy of Ed's latest they can head to: https://eddierayner.bandcamp.com/album/alluviumAs the shows get closer people are all panicky , emails start arriving en masse. 99% answered... always a few with a tricky question. Ha! November 20thI'm taking my own green tea to Sydney, I can never find the one I want up there. Got to have one's creature comforts in the hotel room, I hope someone gives me flowers for my room. For a few days I was rather nervy around the shows, not even sure why, but thankfully that has passed. Kind of excited as there is a bit of a buzz created by the fans. I love that we have an internet chant of "no rain, no rain" happening. Of course that will work, the weather man is wrong.So that's it till the next diary, which I'm sure will be full of the little adventure. back on the old Crowded House bike, it all feels very familiar and I'm sure that is the case for the lads as well. Sydney here we come! Peter |