The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 30 September - 31 October 2019
Zodiac doesn't do pumpkins. Happy Halloween.
Before the diary commences raise your glasses to celebrate that Mark and myself have been in Melbourne for 40 years now (arrived on 9-11-79). It's been a grand old adventure, we've met so many people- made loads of good friends and had a blast. This week we put together a little 5 minute tribute to our arrival at the Toorak Flat. Some fun photos etc. Yes I was reading from a few notes, blame Mark he made me laugh way too much while we filmed, so needed all the help I could get. The link below takes you to our 40th Tribute. Enjoy. xP & Mx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPZ53d6CHAI&feature=youtu.be September 30thI'm working in one of our storage areas today , I realised it is going to take forever to get through nearly 40 years of archives and work stuff. The good thing is that I was able to put half a dozen empty packing boxes aside for our friend Mary , for her big move. So it's much better then recycling them. Plus a big chunk of bubble wrap.Some sort of rush on the diary today, lots of new visitors which led to emails which is ok as for once my In box looks like a normal person IN box. Just 20 or so emails. After all those years that is luxury. October 1stWe'll have to book our airfares and hire car for Christmas soon. The year seems to of picked up speed, I blink and another month is over. Strange that in 3 months it will be a year since we "retired". I'm still waiting for some strange mid life retirement stuff to happen like being pathetic and posing in a sports car that isn't mine or hanging around with babes in string bikini's? So far we've handled it reasonably well. I was hoping to get all the archival stuff etc done during this first year but there is no way on earth that will happen. It's probably good not to rush it. It's such an important part of musical history so important to make sure we have it presented for future generations to enjoy.Marks been editing away on some bits and pieces for our 40th anniversary on moving to Melbourne. At some stage he wants to do a mini interview with me - so the evil camera eye is upon me again. Of course I'll do it , hopefully it all hasn't been said before. October 2ndOne of my favourites, Rosaleen Norton would of turned 102 today. She was born way way too soon. I'm always amazed at how many people know about Roie. So proud to own one of her original paintings.Our mate Pink sent us this article. I contacted the scientist as we have these crayfish living at our place. https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-11-02/crayfish-living-in-a-burrow-dandenongs/11618902 The film footage of mine from the last day of school is getting quite a lot of visits . It's nice when people respond to our efforts, as always a big part of this is thanks to Mark. I bath chat to Laura, her new name is "Wendel" which is some strange private joke between us and I can't even remember why! It was funny at the time. October 3rdThe other Peter and Mark call and Mark is lending me his cassette walkman. Which is great it means I can continue transcribing and listening to all those bloody cassettes. We certainly taped a lot of shows. Isn't it incredible, all that music somehow magically stays attached to that thin piece of tape- some of these go back as far as 1975.A few years back I put in a small Rhododendron and it's never flowered- till now. Just 1 lone beautiful flower this morning & lots of buds. We will have to visit the Rhododendron /Botanical gardens at Olinda soon. A nice place for a bit of a hike. I was putting vegie plants into the patch when a tourist bus gets stuck above our property. It's a hot old day and I'm not even sure what the driver was doing, going that way. So 30 minutes later I'm taking a gaggle of older ladies cold drinks, allowing them to use our toilets. While they line up for the Loo I notice 2 are looking at me. "Are you checking out my Bum" I laugh. "Actually we are-why don't our husbands have such cute bottoms". We all have a chuckle over that. I'm red faced for the 3 hours-while they are waiting on alternative transport. When the mini van arrives to take them away, they all wind down their windows and wave and thank me. "Your Mum brought you up the right way" they call out. Cute. October 4thI decide it's a nice day to grab the Bus to Montage, my 5 minute of busing , so lovely to sit and enjoy the national park. I'm at the stop our our friend Brenda stops and gives me a lift. Her cousin from the UK is in the car , it's a fun ride. These 2 girls together are a hoot.A rather fascinating documentary on Egyptian Cat Mummies is on the History channel. Plus some stuff on the mysterious Land of Punt! October 5thSad news that Richard Finn passed away, both him and Mary were lovely people. They treated me so incredibly well over the years and always a good chuckle when we connected again. The death of a parent is such a private thing so I avoided mentioning it on all those social media areas. I'm very respectful of that. Love to the Finn Family. I head off in the morning and find a really nice card to send them. I head down to the letter box that night and mail it off so it's on the way to NZ asap.I'm dusting the Egyptian cat statue outside and both Banshee and Mr Peep the Cockatoo walk up and check it out. Mr Peep obviously doesn't like it as he pushed it off the decking. Naughty Bird. October 6thNoel calls which was nice, he's off to NZ soon to work on Eddies mini project, with Tim. I guess I have to be careful what i say as I'm unsure if anyone knows.Marks mows the East lawn, all the rain has made it a bit impossible, I pick a huge pile of wild orchards before they are mown down. We leave some but there are so many, plus they always grow back, but so nice I like to save some for the vases in a few of the rooms. Mark is amazing and does the entire East lawn. Got to love that. I find plenty of other yard things to do. It looks beautiful when freshly mowed, I fight the urge to roll in it. Daylight savings, it doesn't worry me too much but Marky and many others hate it. Banshee is awake at some stupid hour. She goes by the bird calls outside. That's what wakes her up. October 7thAt first I was convinced that Ross Sullivan was the Zodiac Killer, now I'm not so sure. I do think he did the Riverside killing in 1966. It is astonishing that Zodiac was never caught, he was either very smart or bloody lucky. An evil prick but fascinating. and speaking of Violence (not really), Violent Femmes tickets for Oz are on sale today. The Back in the Van 2020 tour. Such a fun live band.The evil cat from down the road attacks Banshee again. It's such a shit , I chase it down the street. Hate people who are too slack to put cat ID's on their cats- pathetic and dumb. Just lazy fucks. I doubt evil cat will be back here any time soon, plus Banshee gave as good as she got. I never hurt animals but this cat is an evil arse hole. It's about to get a potato up it's bottom. I'm a good shot. October 8thI run into Barry today and drives to Montage for a coffee. Barry and Adrian are locals, so many fascinating people up here, they have this incredible history. Wonderful stories, I love hearing them talk.OK super excited, Ruby Rose as Batwoman is on Foxtel tonight and we love it. She is mighty. I'm hoping this series will have multiple seasons. The characters are excellent and Ruby plays it perfectly. I'm walking down the track to the recycle bin in the misty rain and have this incredible feeling of total happiness. I count my blessings. I almost feel guilty being this happy. Weird eh? Too many angry birds in the world , they will never be happy and misery enjoys company so they surround themselves with other depressing angry horrors. Urgh! October 9thMary drops us off at the car place and we grab the brand new I30. Black and shiny and it's kind of cool. Off we go for a a bit of a run. The 4WD is off getting a clean today, i found this local company in the hills that really super clean your car - and everyone recommends them.I pick up some glowing skull rings for Miss MIm for Halloween and maker her a card. My sister says she collects all the cars and letters we send her , so that's sweet. We call into our favourite Pizza shop tonight , yum yum yum. October 10thVisit my Eye Dr at East St Kilda. A bit early and he is just around the corner from our old Woodface apartment. So we stop the car and have a look. Apartment #1 in the block (there are only two) is up for rent. I am a bit shocked, the small tree I planted all those years ago, out the front is HUGE. It's a monster-I take a snap to send to our friends Jen & Merl. Pop our heads over the fence to the Finns old mansion and they are really looking after it, it's beautiful. I sit out the front of Woodface for a photo-thanks Marky.We get a park directly out the front of my eye Dr. They decide while I'm here to give me a few eye tests as it has been years. Eye pressure perfect, and now to read the eye chart. They tell me I have 20/20 vision in both eyes. I tell them they must be wrong, I'm no spring chicken so surely my eyesight has decayed. They check again, nope 20/20. I am ecstatic. I do have some enlargers for really tiny labels and some computer work. But they pretty much laugh that off. I'm stoked. So tests etc and we head off. Marks gone off to explore the local streets, buy some art and say no to all the local prostitutes that are walking about. We go do some shopping and avoid the peak hour traffic. A really nice day. October 11thNoel calls and we chat about the sale of the Egyptian Masonic temple that they own. It has such beauty and is unique. They've put so much work into this, so hope whoever buys it loves it .By 10.30 it's a really lovely day outside. A few things to do so drive to Bayswater, Montrose, in a good head space, nothing can mess up this truly excellent day. Spend what seems forever on the phone with my fabulous sister. She still can't work out what her main Christmas is. I'm such a tease. October 12thWe are at the shopping centre today and spot this horrid moment where this short angry Italian woman starts slapping her husband around his head and screeching at him. He was obviously timid and she was a nasty vicious bitch. We both felt sad for the poor guy. People walking by were shaking their heads. I tell Mark "she's a Desbo". Mark asks me what a Desbo is. I explained to him that when I was a kid at primary school there was this short fat italian girl and people treated her like shit . They'd call her "dumb wog" etc just brutal stuff. I have a memory that this made her worse and she picked on smaller kids-but that might be a fake memory. My friend Chris had a theory that the Desbos just grow up to be even angrier fat horror and people still call them dumb wogs behind their backs. he could be right. They always end up with these piss weak husbands and take it out on them. All that came rushing back as we saw this poor guy getting slapped. As we walked by i threw a spanner into her works and asked her what the time was. She went "what WHAT". It confused her but she stopped hitting the skinny bloke. Mark just grinned. "Yep she's a Desbo" says Mark. I hope Desbo from school did find happiness, i can't remember being cruel to her but who knows, young kids can be nasty shits. I'm sure we all were.We at least got some Christmas shopping done. i saw a pair of boxing gloves on special and thought i should buy them for Desbo's husband so he could defend himself! Urgh. October 13thI talked to a friend about how many have lost their way being receptive to spirits. It was a rather strange conversation while we drove through the hills. What was in that coffee?We are at Marys new place and they've done a great job polishing the floors. We call into the store and go Halloween shopping! Well i do! Lots of bargains. Home again and Mary has given us 2 very beautiful roses. They'll love it here, thank you! She has a good heart. October 14thTelstra stuff up today and their repair guy doesn't arrive. Annoying as our phones are out but our internet is just hanging on for dear life. Will have to hassle them, never rude or aggressive down the phone , it's stupid to do so, it doesn't get you anywhere. Kill them with kindness and you will get the job done quicker my Mum always said and she was right.Who's a pretty girl then? I find a reject drag photos of myself from the Glamour collage book photo shoot. Stuff it, i'll put it up on Facebook , always good to make people laugh. It sure beats people giving dull weather reports or the usual FB shit. October 15thI'm still going through cassettes. I played my Angels live at Collegians , Wollongong . 6-5-79, recorded on my old tape player- love the vibe of the show. Too scared to ask Marky to transfer it, he's done so much already. It may end up in tears or even divorce. (:We love "Where the Wild Men are" -that first episode filmed in Australia, with Dave at Restoration Island (Presenter Ben Fogle). We keep telling our friend Alex at Montage that we will match her up with lonesome Dave. We also are big fans of Levison Wood and his "Walking the Nile, Himalayas, Russia etc series. Plus he's a bit of a spunk. It's cute how he gets a bit chunkier each time a new season is on. All that walking he'd be burning up calories left right and centre. Maybe he eats a lot of doughnuts when he's not walking. Don't we all. Great Season 2 ending for "Succession". Another well written show. Telstra guy turned up , had a cuppa and chatted, never charged us and all is working well. See be polite and not an angry shit and life is way better. October 16thJeezuz! Montage is full today. Funny how we seem to know every single person- Jen, Ron, Pete, Josie, Bruce, Jean, Peter,#2, Mark #2, Linda. Caroline, Bill, Alex, Jamie and others. We walk in and they all go "well here's trouble". I bet no one else gets that response. OK they are all correct.Noel is off to New Zealand today to catch up with Tim and Eddie on their music project. An interesting "other person" from the past adding something to the formula , but as I mentioned before I'd better be careful what I'm saying. I guess I don't work for them any more so i can say anything, but I won't. October 17thRain, Fog, Sleet. I cuddle closer into Mark to stay warm. I have to climb out of his snug bed soon as I'm catching up with 3 people at Montage- Kim, Tracy and Andrew. Just coffee and cake but it really is nice to do that. Good company. Maybe back to the house ?In the afternoon Mr Peep the cockatoo arrives and looks at our guests, I'd love to know what this solo cockatoo thinks when he looks at all of us. "Humans are strange" perhaps? maybe he thinks he is a human? October 18thMy 43rd day planting trees and shrubs. I'm slightly ahead, I've planted 50 so far. I'm on track but it's quite difficult to do , not the physical planting but remembering to do this. Some days I might put in a few just to cover my arse.We have a months free delivery from Woolworths for groceries. That is great. Good find Marky! Where would I be with out you. Home made Pizza for dinner. A crappy phone call , but not as bad as we thought. My glass is half full. October 19thI've fallen in love with Nancy Sinatra singing "It Aint Me Babe". Yes that cool Dylan song from his fourth album. Nancy covered it on her 1966 Boots album- and in 2019 I love her version. I soak in my tub while Nancy sings this kick arse cover. "Go away from my window ......". I love her voice, somehow strength and vulnerability.October 20thI hear from our friend Katja, she's in town soon and 4 of us are catching up. Our mate Trudi organising the venue. This will be fun. She was a buddy of our friend Kim , so we've known her for what seems like forever, plus she was one of our house mates-so that always makes someone extra special.I chat to my cousin David. I'm seeing him at Christmas, was trying to pick his brain on Christmas presents for the relatives. He is as hopeless as I am. October 21stThought about calling our secret band Donna Lass... but it's a bit creepy, if she was murdered at Lake Tahoe in 1970. I just like her name, it sounds mysterious. I like such things around bands, even garage bands full of people who can not play. I'll keep searching. I should keep a tiny note book on potential band names, isn't that's how its done? I'm such a failure at Rock Star skills.Cut Marks hair in the evening, I somehow manage to give it a bit of a nice shape as well. We both went and did 10 laps of the oval, a bit of exercise is good for the soul. His new haircut has made him frisky, he overtakes me while we are jogging. Both of us with our really really short hair. October 22ndJustin Trudeau wins 2nd term as canadian PM. We think that is great. Love Canada. Amazing how just across the border is that absolute wanker Trump. Does America even know the world is laughing at it having that bloated turd as President.The morning we spend Christmas shopping and it is brilliant, no crowds. We manage to tick off 1/3 of our list. A few nice goodies this year for the people we love. I have to start looking at dates for our Christmas Party I guess. We drop all the presents home, get changed and back in the car and head towards North Altona. The traffic wasn't completely horrid but between here and the mexican place its around 120 kms. Over the Westgate bridge and thankfully i remember to get in the correct lane so I don't go by the turn off. We arrive ten minutes early which is impressive considering the drive. Trudi walks in just after us and it's great to see her, she's looking healthy. Katja eventually arrives and she hasn't changed, i swear just 2 minutes and we are all killing ourselves laughing. I bite the bullet and order a giant goldfish bowl cactus Margarita for us all to share- it arrives and we are all taken back just how big it is. The waitress plonks a free mexican sombrero on my head! Oh well roll with it. The food was really nice, the drink insane and we all seemed to be leaning, a tad tipsy! It's a great night , promises to catch up, all head to Egypt together and see far more of each other. We sit and chill for awhile (safe drivers) and Mark and myself arrive home in half the time it took to get to the venue. A really enjoyable evening. Thanks Kat, thanks Trudi. October 23rdI decide it's a lovely day for a bus adventure so I head off. On the way to the back gate a deer walks out in front of me, with a chunk of Woolemi pine in his mouth. The rotten creature has consumed a small pine I had as a gift for friends, about a dozen seedlings and even a small wild marijuana plant that was probably from a bird dropping. I just let it grow , more as an experiment to see what happens if I just let it do it's own thing. The deer looked ashamed (or maybe stoned) it made some non deer like noise and skipped off. Why couldn't it eat the ivy, onion grass and jasmine.. they always pick the best stuff. All i could do was laugh, even deers are just trying to survive. He is forgiven. You 4 legged pot head.By the time I'm home the weather has led to an amazing afternoon, so we drive to the Dandenong Ranges Botanic gardens (also known as the Rhododendron Gardens) . It's 40 hectacres and we are just going to hike around. It's one of the places the Victorian Government have made free to the public, so on a day like today the car park is full. They've even opened the over flow car park. Thankfully it's such a wonderfully large area of land it never ever feels packed. This time of year all the flowers are out, it's full of colour. No wonder 15,000 Rhododendrons, 1200 Azaleas, 3000 Camelias and 250,000 Daffodils. ! Imagine planting all those daffy bulbs! We look at a few plants in the nursery near the entrance. If you are ever in the Dandenongs come visit this place. It even has beautiful quiet Billabongs. October 24thI plant some wheat grass today for the juicer. The wheat is a bit old, but i figure if the Museum in London can sprout wheat found in an Egyptian Mummys hand, way back in 1843, the wheat grains I have might still be ok. I have a high quality cold press, and it's worth all the effort because the juice is high in antioxidants and nutrients. masses of A.C and E and loads of other stuff. Fingers crossed for a good crop in our kitchen window.October 25thI keep playing Billy Thorpes excellent "Tangier" cd. Morocco and Marrakesh keep calling me.October 26thYes the diary is late, this time my fault. I allowed a bit of a catch up period when Deb was away and after that just got sidetracked. Considering we are retired we seem to always be doing stuff. It's all a bit odd.The weather today is the pits, 4 hail storms, flash flooding, I think Halloween on the Green got knocked on the head. It was dryer inside the water filled dunking booth then walking about on the Green. We loved Clint Eastwoods "The Mule". Clint turns 90 in May but look at him so passionate about his craft -such a talent. We love his work. October 27thYou can tell I'm a tad obsessed with the Island, when I get excited seeing the Magnetic Island ferry's newsletter in my IN box.Well I passed a kidney stone today, for a week I have been rather quiet about it , lots of aches, thankfully no gross blood. Thought I had a urinary infection. Anyway my good old body just popped it out , try not to envision where. Almost instantly my body returned to normal. I feel both fantastic, relieved and so good to be able to Pee! The Cranberry Juice Industry did well from me this week. October 28thOur favourite album- out of every album ever released is 45 years old today. Skyhooks magnificent Living In The 70's. Nothing comes close, it is perfect. It sounds amazing, the band are awesome and bassist songwriter Greg Macainsh penned truly sensational lyrics. This album changed our lives-forever. Long live the 'Hooks.October 29thDrive to native nursery's and couldn't find a replacement for the Wollemi pine gift, so bought our friends a very cool Eupomatia Laurina. That's a bush tucker plant to we common folk. I also found a packet of Pincushion Hakea seeds. So I am hoping to grow some of these, they are such freaks, love what they look like.I mail off a card and a lotto ticket to our buddy Kevin, his birthday in a few days, love for him to win a gigantic prize. Have a nice birthday Kevin, 21 again! Another dinner at our house soon. I contact Universal, as I've heard a few of the photos I took of Crowded House are on the double vinyl release. I'm ok with it, would of been nice for them to ask or simply mention it , but nope. Anyway a copy is in the mail (thanks Liam). Intrigued to see what photos of mine are on the double LP. October 30thChat to Fen, laugh with Fen, gossip with Fen. Life is good. Hi Giles who i always seem to call when I'm in my bath! C'mon we all know "bath chat" is the coolest time of the day.I get my Halloween costume together. I decide to go as the horrendous Zodiac killer. Serial killers keep so many of us in line with fear, Halloween is the perfect time to mock them, take away some of that fear. Zodiac will pat kittens, give lollies to sweets and help Mary across the road. I am Zodiac hear me roar! In reality i just want an excuse to wear my mexican wrestling mask and paint a big Zodiac crosshair symbol on some spare black material I have hanging around. No doubt some persona will be created during the night. We shall all find out tomorrow. Another email arrive, our 4 Halloween Party invite. We are going to be exhausted. I wonder if we can attend all four! I call into Pellegrinos and buy a pumpkin, on the way I stop and rescue an Echidna that decided it was clever to have a nap in the middle of the road. I carry him to the natural clay drain area - I'm sure it's echidna mating time as 2 other friends have reported them at their properties. Salad and greek cheese at Montage today, healthy healthy healthy. October 31stHappy Halloween. Like my friend Kiersten it's our favourite time of the year. This year I'm setting up a treat area for our few hours , before we head off. Mark helps , mostly ladder holding so I don't break my neck. I set up some spotlights on the garage roof to shine on Mr Zodiac. I want to scare those tricksters so much they drop their sweets and we get to eat them.Banshee decides to go as Zod, the Zodiac Killers pet octopus ... she likes her costume so much she grabs it in her teeth and runs and hides it under the bed. I work on Marks and an extra one for me, still not sure what we are for our couples photo. The masks cost 28c, we have bad wigs on, and each selfie we try to take gets worse, soon we are laughing on the floor and utterly useless. Fun. I scare kids, all the bags are gone. My first trick and treaters arrived as Lizzie Borden, a Killer Zombie and the coolest- Ned Kelly! The Halloween Parties an absolute hoot, totally spoiled (thanks Chris) - and yes that was the sun coming up. We are worn out , managed 3 of the 4. My favourite Halloween moment was Zodiac walking up the road into the forest with an axe....complete darkness... and Hotel California was playing, the song drifting out into the Kalorama darkness. "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air, Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light ....." and at that moment my Zodiac crosshair image is the only thing you can see on the road. ! Now that is spooky. Happy Halloween. Z (opps PG). xxx |