The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 2 July - 15 July 2018
Greetings from Oz!
July 2ndIt's great to see the excellent Kurt Cobain documentary- "Montage of Heck" on Foxtel Arts. Such an awesome doco. I work on a little Kurt photo for my sheepbook page. Not too bad, the only shot I have that is worthy.Polls in and the Liberals behind in their 35th consecutive Poll to Labor. If the Libs can't get ahead after the stinker week Labor had, then one has to say they won't ever do so. Guess the LNP will be toast come next election. July 3rdA cold old morning on the mountain. Even Banshee wanted to stay in bed today.During lunch break I head to the Victorian State Governments -"Energy Compare" website. Good to see what other deals exist around our electricity and gas. The added bonus being that the State government gives you $50.00 to check out the prices. So yeah why not! I am happier with our gas bill this time. Since I fixed the combustion fire, its 63% less then this time last year. Thumbs up- Tesla powerpacks have arrived at the Ganwarra Solar Plant west of Kerang. 60MW of power and more to be added. Good to see. Glad our Vic state Government has some vision for the future. Matthew Guy has as much vision as a pet rock. July 4thGetting together some bits and pieces for a NZ Music documentary, a bit limited with the size of some images etc but hopefully they can use a few of them.Our Buffy the Vampire-Fest finishes, we managed to watch all seasons again, so some very late nights but overall it stands the test of time, so well written. I still think they blew it with a Buffy movie, should of happened just after the show finished. Bummer. I hear from Nick Seymour and he's creating a little bit of art for the mid year super prize pack- you are a champion Nick. I love that we can still manage to have such cool prizes, makes you feel a bit like Santa when you tell someone they have won. July 5thSad to hear that Steve Ditko who co created Dr Strange, Spiderman and many others has passed away age 90. I loved his art on Sandman and Captain Atom. As a friend pointed out he also did the art for Squirrel Girl ( who thinks up such superheroes!). Anyway sad day for comic lovers everywhere.We find a pile of letters that Vali Myers sent me from Italy, while I was looking after her art studio. Her writing is just amazing. I miss that crazy foxy woman. Love that we still have things like letters, so precious. July 6thAny White is playing at the new Caravan Club. The smaller more intimate Winnebago Lounge part. That is on August 23rd so don't miss the show, will be fun.I decided to join the Number 96 Appreciation Society on Sheepbook- Loved some of their posts and articles and hopefully can share a few things with fans of that show. Mark found this incredible photo of Mike Dorsey- who played Reginald "Daddy" McDonald on the show. He was such a well played geek. So we were so surprised that he was once the tour manager for The Rolling Stones. Quite a few tours, including an Australian one with the band. After 1 tour he just stayed in Australia and went on to play Reg in sex and sin soap drama Number 96. Mark found this cool photo of him arm wrestling Mick Jagger on tour. So I posted that to the 96 fan page and they all seem to love it- good work Marky. Some light evening reading. Dig into some of the Gnostic texts. Gospel of Mary, 5th century papyrus codex. But which Mary? Naughty old Peter (not me the other one) -Peter opposes Marys words "because she is a woman". Levi sets him straight. Have a nice chat to Red Skyhook today. Lots of laughter- a fun phone call. I'm at Olinda with some friends and call into "Butlers". It's been 6 months since I last checked the place out. Some cool stuff on the shelves. I find these kind of cheesy vase with a Kangaroo on it for Marky- exceptionally cheap. Nice to get him a little present. The owners remember us from years ago when we first ventured up to the mountain in the EK Holden. July 7thI wake up early for some strange reason so in need of a Saturday coffee. I sneak out leaving Mark counting Zzzzz's in bed and Banshee cat snoring. The fog is rolling around the mountain like some spirit rollercoaster and the golden street lights illuminate Ridge Road. The crows ignore my car and continue eating their morning road kill. I'm sitting at Montage sipping my Morrocan soup and chatting to some locals. I almost wish the fog, grey and frosty wind would stay- as it keeps the numbers of humans down and we get to enjoy the mountain. Some art school kids are in today, I love that passion of youth - they never seem to moan, every little thing is something new and fresh waiting to be explored. It's nice to be surrounded by them . I am dragged out of my stupor by my toast snapping in half and plonking into the thick divine soup. PLONK!July 8thMy daily phone chat to my Mum- we both have a laugh today, nothing really just a moment and we both find it funny. She's in fine form, all things considered. We are lucky to have her around still and I rejoice in that. Despite all her physical problems she still manages to get around more then some of our friends. I have to keep reminding myself she is 81.Watch JUNGLE on foxtel, what a great little movie. Harry Potter bores me shitless, but I know that Daniel Radcliffe can offer so much more (apart from showing his cock in Equus). "Jungle" just proves that. More power to him, less to boring old Harry Pot head. Ok the live worms in his characters head I could of done with out. Jungle is based on a true story too, check it out. July 9thMost of my morning was spent scribbling out the tickets for the giant prize drawer for the Frenz- Crowdies club. Some of the band have been so generous. It is really cool that we get to make one fan really happy.Finally Foxtel shows The Durrells , they've taken so long to get this shown here. Season 4 commences filming in a few months so we are so behind. A bit different from the books but we really love it. Makes you want to sell up and move to the Greek island of Corfu and live in a decaying house. Quite a few friends from overseas rave about this show too, so it has a rather solid following. I call and book in with my Dr, just a quick check up and to get some tablets for some international flights. So back to Prahran tomorrow. July 10thMontage have added a wonderful Mexican- "Sacred Heart" wall. A local girl imports them from Mexico (Hi Lisa jane- nice to meet you). I love what they look like - and the prices, a bit shocked how cheap they are. So I'm instantly tempted. So I have a smaller breakfast and get to take away a little art work.Get our whole days office work completed in a few hours, we really pushed it and then headed off. The traffic to Prahran was fine, was happily surprised how quick it flowed. Arrived at our Doctors with 10 minutes to spare - so he ushers me in early. Such a lovely man, we always have a good laugh. My health is good, well probably great as I'm not getting any younger. Still down the track I'll check back in for a more exact health check. Grab my script and we head down to the food mall. The Indian woman is away but her daughter is looking after the shop. It's like an early dinner, just lots of little Indian entrees like Pan rolls and Pakoras. This little shop has been here for decades now , just a few tables but we love it. The book shop nearby is closing down , so I buy the latest (?) Mercedes Lackey book for a mere $7.00. Next stop JB Hi Fi and they have nothing that we want. Not a thing. That is sad. We drive to our secret car space in the city and get a park. Hopefully as always it will mean free parking for us. It's been so long now I've forgotten how we found it originally. We are here nearly every visit to the city and have never paid a cent. A little bit of a walk but that's ok, good to have the exercise and keep ones weight down. We arrive at the toy store and buy Miss MIM some birthday presents. Two packets of Sylvanian animal families. One is wearing a tiara. They are cute. I have ordered her some colouring pencils too with her name on them, as she starts school next year. We call into Starbucks for a coffee and 2 teenage girls have a melt down and fight near us - all a bit of a drama, but keeps un entertained. After that its back to the Australian Music Vault, a bit of a letdown as they have changed almost nothing, display wise. It could be so much better , you just want to scream- "Can Some One Please Update The Museum". We spot some more errors around the dates on photos. Don't want to be the "you got this wrong" guy so keep it to ourselves. We head to Hamer Hall but sidetracked by an awesome old blues-man, singing and playing. This guy is great. I hand over all my change. Well i did keep a dollar for a homeless guy further down. Mark was shitty that he was smoking, so he couldn't be too concerned about eating. I still gave him the dollar- his life , we don't know his circumstance . We are in the Stalls for John Cameron Mitchell- yes Miss Hedwig is in town. Hedwig and the Angry Inch- what a movie, we adore it, so are excited. What a crowd, a stunning punk girl is next to us while we wait-she is so pretty. Melbourne is wearing some awesome outfits tonight, people made the effort, goddess I love this city. We are soon inside and the seat next to me is empty. A lady around our age arrives, and fess's that "my friends don't know Hedwig , but I love it, so took a chance and came along by myself". She's great, we have a bit of a laugh and is just as passionate during the performance. The stage band, mostly made up of aussies create a cool intro and there she is HEDWIG. I wasn't expecting the thunderous applause, hell even screaming. HUGE. It really was like a second coming moment, a different JC this time- John Cameron (Mitchell) and she wears a Erik Bergrin outfit. He could do no wrong, endless jokes, loads of songs from the movie. Even 'Milford Town' which never made the Angry Inch movie. A new song "Falling out of Love"- about giving up on God and the Church- big cheers to that one. Hedwig talking about the off Broadway stage production of Hedwig and those celebs that loved it- including Bowie. Amber Martin, who is part of JC's stage band- has this killer voice, so they let it rip with a magical version of Ziggy Stardust. At that point i realised I was crying, only a few tears and that was strange. I've seen quite a lot of Bowie tributes since the great man exited this plain, but tonight was the only time tears were shed- it really was THAT good. Hedwig samples some local brew next- "Victoria Bitter" sounds like a Drag Queen he chuckles. The show goes on, "Sugar Daddy" has a face lift and sounds so fresh- and yes the sing a long bit is indeed still included. Song after song, story after story. Encore 1 Encore 2 - the pace is going nuts. Hedwig turns her back on us, she takes the chance and falls backwards into our arms. We pass her over our heads- the entire distance of Hamer Hall. Some daring to grope JCs angry inch I'm sure of that. It all moves up a notch and still the crowd want more- the house lights go on , I expect water canons and Jeff Kennetts old baton wielding police to calm this lot down. This audience is satisfied- we all agree "Best Show for 2018" ! Our night isn't over and we catch up with stars and punks and off to an after show party- well this is the last gig for Oz. Party way way way WAY too much- no way could I drive, am I even walking, why is my new glam boot above a fish tank? What ever happened to the moon in the Planet of the Apes movie ? -No one ever has the answer for that, not even Hedwig. My belly button is so cute, oh that's my thumb. It takes 20 minutes but we eventually put a padded band aid on the blisters from my new boots. Mark is standing on his head, oh no the whole world is, oh just me. Dance with the cute Punk, dance with a palm tree. Melbourne is sparkling below us like a concrete tiara. As the sun rises we wave our goodbyes and wish them safe flights. Amber Martin is staying for Northcote Social Club tomorrow night, oh TONIGHT. I'm now in control of my body, mind and ability to say "consumption function" three times. We walk back to the car. It has been at the secret car spot for 13 hours now -still safe and still free parking. Thank you Parking Gods of the Nile. July 11thNeed coffee before I start work, still an hour to go , who needs sleep? I end up having 2 coffees, very rare.Finally home and put up the lucky prize pack winner (Congrats John McDonald). I email them, and ask some Frenz if any know him and have a contact phone number. He's a Lifer so one of our long time supporters gets this amazing haul. Now I have to wrap and pack all the bits & pieces. I fuss over them and use a lot of bubble wrap. We are always recycling it, so have more spare bubble wrap then a sixties Dr Who episode!!! I call our Crowdies manager but hasn't called back, just after a Neil-Liam update. Maybe there isn't a lot of news? There should be, Lightsleeper is 44 days away. July 12thOne of Hedwigs band- the exceptional Amber Martin is at Northcote Social Club tonight as mentioned . We hear from Pip & Lea who are going. Just down the road from them, we are playing it by ear. She is mighty and worth the drive.We seem to be getting a bit more porn junk mail emails this week. Welcome to the internet I guess. It's all about the Porn. When the Internet dies what will people have to jerk off to? I have MIMs birthday present all wrapped and ready to go, incredible that she turns 5. We just have to buy a card. Good parenting makes the world of difference. Watch Brigsby Bear -what an oddball movie. I bet a lot of people smoke a shit load of dope when they watch this one. July 13thThe Crawfords lady calls from Wollongong, thankfully they are replacing the broken dvd cases. She seemed a bit shirty at me because I said it was their fault. Opps. But in the end she was fine. We had a laugh. I figure if we are paying $60 for a dvd set we should get it unbroken and not scratched.Must be a Skyhooks day. Red Symons calls again, which was good- he's in a happy mood. Greg Skyhook and then Bongo Skyhook. All I need is Fred and then a Ouija board for Shirl! Bongo saw Neil & Liam on a tv show and was very complimentary. I do some start work on the Bowie-Lemonata art piece, just drawings and layout in my big leather projects book. Chat to Claire Bear and Miss Wendy and then Fenella as I soak in a lovely warm bath. I do my best "friends chat" when I am naked! Restless night-not much sleep , was minus something outside. Happy not to go out tonight. Scraped up some more fire wood so the lounge area is toasty. I make homemade Enchiladas for dinner. YUM. July 14thI found my old Woodstock (the peanuts bird not the gig) ROCKSTAR Tshirt , so gave it a wash and wore it today. Also a very cool hand knitted hat- wondering if the Bizzell sisters in Texas knitted this? I have fallen for it so wear it to the coffee place. Lots of compliments around it, so I guess I don't look like a dickhead. Montage is really full -they have a table for me so I'm happy. I work on an upload of CH for You Tube and a few photos. Nice soup again. Andy White emails me from Heathrow airport- so thats why i didn't see him yesterday. Safe journeys my good buddy. Playing in our office today-Andy's fabulous "The Guilty & The Innocent" cd. "This is not a television show" is still a fave.Ice blue skies outside and the little bit of sun does very little Still Miss Banshee finds a spot on the decking, activating her furry solar cells. Some local cat has been bullying her, we keep scaring it away but it just keeps coming back. I think Banshee has stood up to it several times , I just hate that she is hassled. Don't want to call the council in case it gets put down- I'd guilt over that. At least she's had her feline shots so this cat in her area won't pass anything on. Porn Star Stormy Daniels arrested at an Ohio strip club, because they said a customer touched her. I wonder if Mr Chump pursued this- sounds like a set up over sour grapes that he was caught out, or maybe not? I usually think Liberal governments are lame around health, but have to applaud the current one for putting 4 more anti cancer drugs on the PBS list. See they can do positive things when they try! So thumbs up for this one. We are just scraping by with wood for the fire. Down to some big chunky motherf*ker logs , hard yakka to chop them , so chiselling away bit by bit. July 15thAn aussie pie and a mini fruit flan for lunch from Olinda bakery. Oz Pies are excellent on these cold days.Watch "A Monster Calls" last night - which was pretty good. Liam Neesons voice for the Monster was perfect. I head to the office, just for an hour- I get a lot done in such a short time, all emails answered which is fantastic. Markys birthday is coming up on the 27th, so searching for some present for him. How did I end up with such a lovely bloke? Enjoy life, this could be all there is. Every second counts xPeter |