The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 8 May - 21 May 2017
"Nick, Nat & PG- Kalorama General Store". Thanks To Chelsea age 8 for the photo.
May 8thTim Rogers from You Am I has a new album out- "An Actor Repairs" , debuts at #30. We've always enjoyed Tim's solo albums, so will have to check this one out.Wow Macron kicks Le Pens arse in the French election, receiving double the amount of votes. The Right side of politics has been well and truly kicked up the arse. Watch the sore grapes come rolling in from all those racists. I need to find a good quality edition of "Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood, I'm sure there is one on Ebay. Finally the 2 Blurays arrive from JB Hi Fi. Marks terse email moved things along, still no explanation why they lied. We've lost faith in you JB. May 9thMany many many years ago in a galaxy far far away we put together 2 little Fanzines. One called "10,000 Voltz" and the other " Wipe The Sweat". There were only a few editions of each, but WTS especially, did well, becoming the biggest selling fanzine in Melbourne for about 6 months. Huge thank you should go out to Missing Link Records store who always encouraged such things and even paid some $ for the copies sold. So FORTY (yes FORTY) years later we are thinking of doing a one off limited edition run of each of them. Fresh interviews, maybe some flash back moments. It's purely for fun and to celebrate-jus what we are not sure, like to keep them rough and fanzine ish ... as the computer world steals so much of the "feel" and it's far too clean. Anyway could be a hoot. I gave Mandy No Pants a call as I thought she might like to review her favourite Queen vinyl LP bootleg for old time sake. Get back to me you old tart!I owe Nelly .25c.. I obsess over such things. My family pounding it into my brain that I never owe people money. May 10thAn amazing drawing of Banshee (and a yummo back of Wallaby Bites) arrives from Raylea ... I love drawings, this ones a keeper-very cool.There is a massive jump on the Offciial Split Enz facebook page this week- lots of excited Frenz. We like that. I'm driving back up the mountain at 10.45 PM and a car has gone off the road, over the edge. Three cars have stopped, I checked to see if anyone needed to use my mobile but all good and an ambulance called. The roads are very icy. It's no surprise. Our friend Kaz drops in with my "Secret of Hanging Rock" book- finally returned so I'm happy about that, plus a massive bunch of Dahlia's, my favourite flowers. May 11thHappy Birthday to me!We thought about heading home for my birthday, but in the end it made more sense for us to head back on Mothers Day -as Mark wants to go home now too....which both the Mums will be very excited over. It was meant to be a quiet birthday but it was the exact opposite, so many well wishes, it kind of blew me away. People dropped in during the day which was fantastic, lots and lots of phone calls-our favourite people made the effort to call , so great, I appreciate the calls,that means a lot. Allie & Jane the last to wing on by and I love my Freddy Krueger style garden gloves...and some fancy sunflower seeds for when we actually have sun again. Mark steals me away to our favourite food place, which he manage to book every table and have the whole place to ourselves. I was just waiting for a violinist to walk out and serenade me. A very special day, that made me very happy. May 12thA quick coffee with Mr White who dropped in those final few "Imaginary Lovers" cds. Every single day emails from people saying they love this album. I'm so happy for him that the real fans have grabbed copies and just adore the songs. I'm chatting to Andy about "10,000 Voltz" and "Wipe the Sweat" and he tells me about his early teenage years how he was involved with a fanzine called "No Fun". So i thought it could be cool interview Andy about that and creating fanzines from that era.. I wonder if any other of our musician fans did such things- I make a note to ask people. It could be a good read in the upcoming 40th anniversary edition.I take some time to give our car a wash, I always turn up at the Qantas valet service with a shiny clean car ... the only time the old dear gets a wash.. well not really. May 13thWhats On In Wollongong?We are both up and about at 4AM in the morning, Miss Banshee is a smart cat-she stays in bed and climbs further under her blanket. We depart around 4.30 , it's cold and foggy and the ice coffee I just had is slowly kicking in. The traffic is non existent, who'd be nutty enough to be out at this hour of the morning. We turn on the full alarm system, including the recently installed external property alarms and cameras. Our place is armed to the teeth. Leave the car at valet and the Qantas valet woman checks us in, just carry on for this trip so we can leave the airport as quickly as possible. Thankfully the frequent flyer is open so we can have some breakfast. The staff are also filling up huge containers with malteser chocolates and they are free. She tells us to take as many as we want, is 20 too greedy! Opps. We are subtle, just a few at a time. I get some copying done and grab a shaver from the front desk. Signing on up for Life Membership with Qantas was the best thing we ever did. Even if my Famous for 16 Minutes online diary is banned on the Flight Clubs computers (HA- oh notoriety is my middle name). I carry the funky travel pillow my sister gave me, and try to catch a quick nap. Thankfully I've organised our seats so we have a spare one between us, we are the only people with extra room - thank you Qantas you do spoil us. We grab the hire car from Hertz this time , a sexy blood red sports car- and it's a joy to drive. Call into a shopping centre and have some food (thanks Marky) and we buy 2 big bunches of flowers for our Mums. I take the wrong turn and head down Bulli Pass so we go through several Wollongong suburbs. It takes us past the Thirroul Beach Motel (Thirroul a Wollongong suburb) , rather infamous in 1992 as the place where the wonderfully talented artist Brett Whiteley OD'd and died. (Room #4 !). I take another detour and drive Mark to his old home to have a quick look. Next stop Sis's place and hoping she is at home. She's got some flu bug but MIM and Sis come on out to the car to say 'hello'. MIM brings her dog Maya with her- a massive husky. Maddison is great, endless hugs and boy is she chatty. We give her the knitted witch and piggy finger puppets which she loves. I'll see them later today so jump in the car and get Mark to his Mums (after a quick hello to my Mum..she thinks of Mark as a son so he has to call in). It's nice to hang around with Mum, every moment is precious. Later that evening Jennifer arrives with MIM and my little niece helps me make some chicken and cheese rolls. She butters the rolls and adds the cheese and way too much pepper (cough). I'm so chilled out, Mums in bed by 9.00 PM and I pop 1/2 a stillnox to help me sleep-I'm not use to going to bed that early. May 14thHappy Mothers Day.I wake up early and make Mum a cup of tea on her special day and give her some flowers. It's really nice to be here today day and I'm just happy that Mum is still around and keeping me in line. The suns out so I sit on the verandah and write for a little while. I head over to the shopping centre and it's not as crazy as I expected. A few suss looking people making deals in the car park. I'd forgotten that side of Wollongong. I'm home again and throwing a ball with my Mums dog in the back yard, I discover a massive palm tree growing behind the giant christmas tree. Sis and myself originally put these in as a small rockery for Mum around the time Dad died. Mum is totally surprised by the giant palm tree, itis fully hidden. There are some very cool fox tail plants too and a massive staghorn. Sis arrives at 11.00 and we set the table for our mothers day lunch. Even white chair covers-she's going all the way. Some other friends join the group and it's a nice afternoon. MIM scores a Snow White outfit so she's being rather cute. I take the usual 100 photos. It's late afternoon I say goodbye and drive to my cousins for a quick visit and to hear about his exciting European vacation. Next I pick up Mark from his Mums and we are heading up to the airport. The much talked about rain has finally arrived but I've allowed a lot of extra time so we are in no rush at all. Drop my funky car back at Hertz. Grab our tickets and into the freaky flyers. I request one of their shower kits and have a shave. Sad that the malteser bars are not at Sydney freaky flyer. However they do have the latest copy of The Monthly and Art News so those are mine. I take some photos of our plane zooming down the run way and spend the rest of the flight editing the family snaps. We arrive Sydney airport on time, no bags so straight to valet service and arrive home before midnight. Miss Banshee so happy to see us, she won't let us out of her sight and endless purring. I love being home in my own bed. May 15thI bake some homemade bread today, smells sensational. Make a note to go see the Brett Whiteley movie ("Whiteley") looks great.I write a few pages on the Suicide Records label- which had early recordings by Nick Cave & the Boys Next Door and Sean Kelly-James Freud... (Teenage Radio Stars) all on their Lethal Weapons album. Greg Skyhooks produced the 3 Boys Next Door songs.. one being that rampant cover of Nancy Sinatra's "Boots are made for Walking" as only the BND could do. If nothing else the 2x 40th anniversarys for the fanzines will force me to pull my finger out and get back to writing. May 16thCoffee at the General Store, my lunch break spent adding pen to paper.Hmm weird still haven't heard from Neil Finn, maybe he's escaped the NZ upcoming Winter for some italian warmth? His birthday this month, 59, the big sixty just around the corner. May 17thWork in the office all of today , playing catch up. I really sink my teeth into the Emails, only 24 remain, thats the lowest it's been in years. I just zoomed through them, and wiped out hundreds. My fingers hurt.Great sex tonight! We like that. May 18thSausage rolls and homemade soup for lunch.I spend a part of the afternoon ferreting through our storage area getting a few more items for the clubs mid year fundraiser. Tickets are so cheap, you'd have to be pretty scabby to not support this. Three amazing prize packs and tickets now down to the final 15%. Email me (peter@frenz.com), you got to be in it to win it. A bat invaded our lounge room last night, right in the middle of House of Cards. Miss Banshee spotted it first-god her eyes are good. It took 45 minutes to capture it and we were careful not to hurt him. We'd spend half of it in fits of laughter, but eventually Mr bat was caught and released into a tree . He was gone next morning, back to Wayne Manor for you el Bato. May 19thUp early and work in the office. Give my sisters husband a call for his birthday-yes another May birthday. My lovely ol' Mum takes a birthday cake out to him.The weather is grey and rain on the way. I upload some more Crowded House from Johannesburg 1993- "Love you till the day you die". What a wonderful song. Enjoy it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5vgc-Siwro&feature=youtu.be Miss Banshee slept outside on the deck chairs today-no rain just grey and a bit cold, but she's in her mink coat, so when I pick her up i's like a soft fur hot water bottle. Good grief Donald Trump really doesn't know when to shut his mouth. No one is falling for his sympathy tweets- it's all a bit tacky. What a silly goose he is, poor ol' America. May 20th'Ghost World' on Bluray is mailed from Amazon soon, really excited to see this wonderful movie again. I love that the general population just don't get it. Best kept secrets are like that.I'm enjoying the latest issue of Art Guide (Australia) the freebee from the frequent flyer lounge. My favourite 6 artists in the guide this month are : Johnny Romeo (Perth Gallery + The Penny @ Hobart), Khadim Ali- (Milani Gallery)- love Khadims use of gold leaf, Heather Thomas (Linden Gate-Yarra Glen), Rona Green (Bendigo Art Gallery), Christian Thompson (Monash Uni-MUMA) and Liam Benson (Peacock Gallery-Auburn). All have shows on or involved in part shows. What amazing talents! I cut some fresh rosemary for Nelly at the General Store, a little yellow winter daisy was among the rosemary bush so snipped that too & it's amongst the herb bunch. Spending most of the weekend in the office-work work work... I'm into it-woke up with the vibe this morning. By 3.00 Pm the sun is finally out, so I cut my long saturday of working short. Head out to grab a few rays! May 21stHappy Birthday to Sharon. One of the few birthdays that i somehow remember. I really am hopeless.We hear from Nick and Nat and getting a visit this afternoon which will be fun. They bring a little friend along, 8 year old Chelsea. What a fantastic afternoon- loads of fun was had by all, Chelsea is amazed by our house-we like that. Dr Who- not a bad episode tonight, so another good one. Yey. Any the Kookaburra pays us a visit at dusk- I have some special organic mince for him. he's a happy bird. That's it for another diary. For those lucky enough to have tickets, the club raffle will be drawn June 1st. Still a handful left. Love Life! PG |