The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 21 September - 4 October
"43 years ago since I first saw Split Enz play live - Amazing"
September 21stA very weird restless night. I did make homemade chocolate cookies last night, before you get too excited just boring old straight cookies. Maybe it was the brown sugar, something certainly kept me awake. I usually sleep so well. Poor Banshee, at 4.00 in the morning she gave me one of her "can you just get to sleep" looks. Even though my bed was warm and snug I did manage to get up before Mark and head out to Olinda to the Butchers and vegetable shop.I spend some of my day counting "votes" for a Skyhooks fan post that I put up. Not very thrilling but I do get fascinated by what songs fans love, especially after all these years. Plus it's a crap day , grey skies and the heavens want to open up and drench us all. By late afternoon I have the Kalorama sniffles. I guess people panic if they see someone sniffling in 2020. Mark is coughing because he's been sawing wood-all the saw dust. So between us we are fake Covid scary. September 22ndI'm running late today. I planned another short Bus journey as part of my exercise, escape. Also wanted to call into Montage as Remco was making some amazing hamburgers for us, for lunch. So I'm waiting for a coffee and Dr Sutton is as well. His shirt lifted up and was that a tattoo? I was trying not to be pervy and I might be wrong. Does the Silver Fox have Ink? How cool is that. I congratulated him on his efforts around the falling Covid numbers in Victoria- just 12 today. Hard lockdowns are not easy to do, but necessary. Look at the UK today, their PM is too timid to do what Victoria has done and now they have had thousands more infected in the last 24 hrs. I didn't care either way about Boris previously, now I just think he is a dickhead.I see the Helen Reddy documentary movie is showing on Stan. It's highlighted on the side of my Bus - a huge long advert. It all comes rushing back- Helen Reddy the first celebrity I ever met in America. At a flight lounge and she heard my Aussie accent and came on over and chatted. A truly delightful woman, so much laughter - it made my week. I have heard that she isn't in the best health and being looked after in LA. A parcel arrives from Bongo Skyhook today. Nearly 1 month to get from his Melbourne house to us here in the hills. How bad is that, I know we are in Covid land but come on Australia Post - that is terrible. This week way back in 1974, Skyhooks debut single "Living in the 70's" debuted on the charts. #37 on 3XY chart, eventually going Top 10 in hometown Melbourne. Not long after the rest of Australia catches on and Cyclone Skyhooks arrives. What a ride. September 23rdI hit the archives again today. Nothing really exciting. The original intro sheet for the various items at the first Exhibit i worked on- BEAT at the Performing Arts Museum, way back in Dec 1983.September 24thHappy Birthday to Mr Giles. We tried a few times to get through but all went to voice mail so hoping that means he had loads of Birthday calls.Mark and myself have now been in lockdown for 185 days . We are both really use to this now , we have certain things that we do every day, so far we haven't gone insane or killed each other. Two funerals today for us , thinking of our friends in Shepparton and California. Bongos piece at his brothers funeral was really good- so Bob. My heads in a weird spot so happy not to speak to humans for the rest of the afternoon. September 25thI could of slept in really late today, grey and rain outside, the nice warm days have disappeared for a week . But the phone rang and I was awake and out of bed. A cold day, the warm has vanished again. Some snow flurries at Ballarat and we had these weird shaped ice falls. They look a bit like hundreds of Bowies lightening bolts in ice form. I've never seen that before.I had this weird surreal feeling today . Since I became semi retired, I somehow dragged the rest of the world into semi retirement . So I'm to blame not Covid, so many at home, away from work, having leisure time and avoiding the human race. Maybe I've called this in somehow. I was told I had to be patient till Part 2 of my life arrives. So the rest of the world will have to be patient too. OK it's really Covid but my version sounds much nicer doesn't it. A tad flakey. I heard from 2 Skyhooks today- Bob Starkie , which has become a bit of a regular thing and Mr Red Symons. I only hear from Red a few times each year and today was really enjoyable. Lots of laughs, he sounds great , plus he picked his favourite song from the "Ego is not a dirty word" album, so the fan base will be delighted. Australia has had exactly 27,000 Covid infections so far. September 26thLast night was cold. At 4.00 Miss Banshee decides it's much warmer under the covers with me. So a snoring cat with her whiskers tickling me for 4 hours. Not much sleep but she's rather adorable so we enjoy every minute of this fur ball in our lives.I clean my Tarot card table in front of the fire. A cold day so it's nice to have the fire place blazing away. It's a great table, 100 year old Moroccan, 8 pointed star design. It's been awhile so i shuffle the Major Arcana. Once again The World card appears and I'm not surprised. Representing a pause in life, before the next big cycle begins. I can't wait. I am being patient. Covid is out of control in France and the UK. A huge part because their version of Lockdown was weak. Boris is rather useless, a weak Prime Minister. I fear nothing good will come from this for England. We watch "The Deer Hunter" tonight. It's been a few decades since we last sat down and watched this movie. I'd forgotten just how wonderful it is and how exceptional Robert De Niro is. A great cast, excellent script and I have to say De Niro looking bloody sexy . It really did deserve the Academy award for Best Picture. We still love Robert De, love his comments about President Chump. "De Niro For President' - what a good world that would be. September 27th1 Million Dead from Covid worldwide now. That's the equivalent of 574 Festival Halls in Melbourne at capacity! How many of these deaths could of been prevented with decent Presidents or Prime Ministers.I bake bread today, which is nice as it is cold again, so a warm oven is the place to be. Plus that amazing smell. Lots of fun calls today, Fen & Giles, Peggy from America, Miss MIM from Wollongong, thanking her Uncles for the Disney Ooshies from Woolworths (though I do tend to hate all that plastic...) Sometimes i find weird little 3 liner notes in my work diary. I just scribble things down to remind me, sometimes i'll read it a week or two later and go 'what the fuck'. I usually work it out. As many of you know my handwriting is atrocious, so that doesn't help the situation. I head out for a few laps around the oval, which doesn't really warm me up. Plus it's a bit muddy from all the rain. On the way home I see this lady struggling a bit up our main road, it's has a sneaky slant . So i stop and carry the box she has , in the end way past my house and to her door. Apparently she makes awesome preserves and we are now on her list. I don't need payment but I do love a good preserve so i don't refuse. She tells me she was originally a major piano player for some upmarket venue, which i find interersting. I couldn't work out how old she was , some Ladies do look amazing for their age. Mark keeps finding new books to read. He's about to start on the Chrissy Amphlett book. God I miss the Divinyls-what a band, what a front woman. Annoys me that i didn't take a photo of Chrissy when she came back to our Greville street house to hang out. What an idiot, it just felt really invasive asking. September 28thI think i have found Marks Christmas present. Well maybe. We shall see. I don't sound convinced do I? I will decide next week.My Monday quick 17 minute visit to Olinda. A few things from IGA (they have great bird feed for the Sulphur Crested feathered mates). Trish makes me a coffee at The Deli and I buy a few more bits and pieces. They specialise in 'Long tarts'. Sometimes i consider myself a bit of along tart! Sorry had to say it. A very handsome younger man chats to me at The Deli today. A local- a fine dresser as well. The final stop The Bakery for some pies. I see the 688 bus head around the corner, oh hell I'm going to miss it. It waits for me. The music loving bus driver is on today and he spotted me and held the bus- how cool is that. Such a nice bloke. I do pay , which surprises him as most don't. It's next to nothing but good to support Ventura's brilliant bus service. I arrive home and Mark is still drinking his coffee- I impress him with my speed. Up to Olinda and home in the blink of an eye. Victorias Covid infection numbers drop to a mere 5. I'm sure that will jump a little but fantastic work Victoria and Premier Andrews. With Europe going through a massive wave with 14,000 NEW infections every day in some countries, I count our blessing that we live in Victoria where it is a mere 5. We tend to deal with Covid by just accepting it and getting on with our day. I avoid most of the hysteria. Life is too short to be miserable. Enough grumpy old men out there already without adding to the conga line. September 29thMark is going to do some yard work around our circular drive, so i entice him with a promise of getting some rather excellent hamburgers (yes again) from Montage for lunch. Astrid and Neeman are on so they whip them up for us and some rather nice coffee. Such a nice vibe at Olinda, everyone that wanders in or we see in the shop are really nice and happy-certainly a positive vibe. Astrid confirms you know who has you know what. (No not Covid). How cryptic is that.Home to yardwork and we get some done. We tag some 'shit bush' trees to remove. I'll replace them with some natives. The Fern area of The Grove is looking so lush , lots of new fresh fern fronds appearing, enjoying all the extra light that is coming in and less of the pesky ivy. We get a big burn pile up for the next few days. I fill a green bin to the top and decide in the next few days to give our big iron gates a wash. Nice to hear from Nigel Griggs - some cool photos and some Enz 1979 chat. Mark and myself saw Split Enz SO many times in 1979. Every show a winner. September 30thI awake to the news that Helen Reddy has died- Marky wanders in and tells me. He's always the first with news. I feel kind of sad. Only a week ago I was saying on my sheepbook page how she was the first celebrity i'd met in the USA. I watch a bit of Helen accepting the 1975 Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" for I Am Woman. I love how Helen thanked God because SHE makes everything possible. A classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWkk9rKZyZU RIP Helen Reddy. What a song!!!!!That line from 'Delta Dawn' seems rather fitting today: "And did I hear you say he was a meetin' you here today ....To take you to his mansion in the sky'! A strange day here- Sunshine, Rain even a touch of fog. Miss Banshees on the decking attempting to find a tiny bit of sun. I go to take a snap and the weather changes and it adds this little white out sfx to the photo. I really like it . Nice to hear from my mate Karen in Holland- glad she and her family are safe. Insane that Holland doesn't mandatory face masks though. Presidential debate between Biden and Chump. Really is this the best that Americans can be offered? How incredibly sad, no wonder the country is so fucked. Last thing i want to watch after eating my lunch is endless bullshit from Trump. I walked down and cleared the post box this afternoon. I stopped at a distance as two women at Kalorama Oval were letting loose with a fine version of "I Am Woman". I just stop and enjoyed their fine efforts. I love it up here where people just do such things. I am excited as my mate Diana G from Southwest airlines sent us a fun little care parcel for lockdown. She sent it the rather expensive express but it still took 41 days to arrive from the USA. Love all the fun stuff inside, including a cool NASA water bottle for MIMs spaceship. Thanks Diana- I'm always blown away by the generosity of our mates. October 1stWhat how did we suddenly get to October already!More proof that Hydroxychloroquine is useless against Covid. The University of Pennsylvania has been running tests around healthcare workers and their findings were that it does nothing to prevent people getting Covid. Healthcare workers on the drug caught the virus. After the Brazil President caught Covid THREE times I guess most sensible people know it is absolutely useless. All we need is for Trump to catch the virus to prove how pointless Hydroxy is. What will his lame brain followers do if that happens. Still they are always in denial. Some nice weather, just makes you want to be outside. I wash the gates of Ailsa Craig in the afternoon . They get some Winter rmould and with the Pandemic happening we just keep them closed. So a quick clean will add some sparkle and shine to them. I wear my best Daryl the Redneck from The Walking Dead attire. Marks walks out and takes a photo- 'Hi Daryl" he says. See Marky just knows me way too well. I find this other house forsale on Magnetic but too pokey when we see it on the video tour. There is only 1 house for me. October 2ndThe highest death day today since Covid started 8927 deaths worldwide in one day.We spend the morning digging out Agapanthus from The Grove area. We want the ferns to take over. They all go to good homes as Peter & Mark #2 and Wendy and Doug want some. So I happily use the evil plastic Woolworths bags and fill them with Agapanthus. We have several really warm weather days coming up. We hear all these cars beeping their horns and people cheering so wonder what the hell is being celebrated. Time for some lunch so into the house & i flick the ABC news on. All we could do was laugh, President Chump and Mrs Chump both have tested positive for Covid. It's hard to have sympathy for such an vile grub. Happy to let Karma do it's thing. I put up a small post on my facebook page and people just went for it, I'd forgotten just how many detest him. His age, being obese & even male gives him about a 12% chance of dying. The other side of the coin is that he is the president, wealthy and they'll pump him full of Remdesivir or some other creation. Pity the other 220,000 dead Americans didn't have the choice of that happening. We really enjoyed the first episode of the Tesla Files. A little show around inventor Nikola tesla (1856-1943) What an incredible man, so many fascinating inventions and so much mystery around his life, and did the government steal trunkloads of plans when he died. Looking forward to episode two. October 3rdA beautiful sunny day, we decide on no bike ride and work in the yard again. Rain on the way so good to get some more done. I take out the big picnic blanket, pillows and music so it's nice just to sit under these amazing trees when having a break. Ailsa Craig is covered in flowers , they are everywhere, all different types so I pick some for the other Boys as I know they will be nearby today so i'll leave them at the back gate with the big bags of Agapanthus. I give a Covid safe 'hello' at the 2 little people at the gate. Just keeping safe and trying to obey the law. They are also exercising with their dogs so all nice and legal.October 4thSuch a restless night, possibly due to daylight savings. It happens every year, usually to Mark, he hates daylight savings.It's the Anniversary today of seeing Split Enz for the very first time. Soundcheck at Wollongong Town Hall and then an amazing gig. 43 years ago. Such a fun part of my life, loved my strange job and time in the Enz office. Have any of you watched the "Food Fighter' documentary. Basically it's about Oz Harvest CEO Ronni Kahn and her incredible efforts to stop the world wasting food. Ronni is inspiring, crazy at times, passionate and gorgeous other times and when she is focused on something she won't stop till it is done. Anyway check it out. For awhile now we here at Kalorama have tried to use 100% of the food we buy or grow. Almost nothing gets wasted at our place. It's a lot harder to do then you think. I wish America would focus more on how much food it wastes. 30-40%. That is terrible. But look at American Tv shows- watch what happens when people order food, they get a message and just bolt out of the restaurant and leave a full plate. It's only recently i noticed that but i see it all the time in the shows we watch. Anyway off my soapbox. Hope life is good for you, and stay safe. Peter |