The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 26 July - 14 August 2022
"A toasty break while archiving in the office".
July 26thHappy Birthday to Bongo Starr of Skyhooks- he really is now officially living in his seventies. I did give him a call, he has a new punch line. "In the seventies I was living in my twenty's, in the twenties I'm now living in my seventies'! HA!I head into the charity and it's crazy. So much stock fills my areas, thankfully the girls did streamline a lot of it. It's like i have been gone for a decade. Oh well head down, arse up and into it. Today was a long day. But a good day. Feels a bit strange being home. July 27thHappy Birthday Marky, the best bloke that I know. The usual bombardment of Birthday calls which is nice. He doesn't want a birthday cake but he has to have a cake doesn't he? So I have the worlds smallest birthday cake, just one candle. I take a photo and it gets an insane amount of "likes" on facebook. I sneak out early and buy him a few birthday presents. I call into Sexyland to buy one of their very very rude and kinda sexy Birthday cards. I read him the several hundred Birthday comments on facebook- he is loved. Thanks to all who sent him a card too- he really appreciates it.Anthony Albanese has recorded the highest satisfaction results for any incoming Prime Minister and the largest preferred leader margin over Opposition Peter Dutton since 2008 in the latest newspoll. Dutton is so the wrong choice as Liberal leader , expect a hell of a long time in the political wilderness LNP! Kate Bush continues her mighty run at #1 with "Running Up That Hill" (A deal with God). It's 6th week at #1 on the Oz charts. She must be doing cartwheels at this belated success due to it's endless playing on the mighty "Stranger Things" tv show. A whole new generation of teenagers loving the sounds of Kate Bush...gotta love that. I'm kind loving the Kate and Peter Gabriel "Don't Give Up" tune, especially like that video clip. I'm not a Peter Gabriel fan but he does look a bit dashing and his voice works so well with hers. Such a sad song though. I find his "SO" album at the charity so a good score. So i buy it. I make a special birthday dinner for Marky, got to celebrate this marvellous man being born. The post office box jam packed full of cards for him. July 28thA bit of a celebration at the Salvo's today. Two of our regulars have been generously volunteering at our store for many many years. So special awards and a bit of a party. Somehow the party bit is left up to me so I change our kitchen into a party zone, complete with led chandelier. Two of the main Salvo people arrive, i think I chew off their ears around the salvo's lack of action by them at the flood zones, well as far as I could see. Not sure if they liked me saying it but a chance to be honest. Certainly room for improvement in that organisation.My back is still a bit damaged, but slow improvement, it was shit by the afternoon. Time to bite the bullet and pop a few pills. My stretching exercises do help though. Mark gives me a Bluray of the new 'Queer As Folk' show. Of course it isn't on bluray yet but hey, he IS good. The new series is fantastic. Love Johnny Sibilly as Noah. A bit of a sexy bloke too and with a beard, how rare that I like a beareded bloke. He has Cuban, Dominican descent. I make a note to drop him a line to say thanks for keeping us entertained. Sadly like a lot of shows in 2022, not enough episodes. The characters are magnificent and deserve that chance to grow. This 'Queer as Folk' is set in New Orleans. We can't wait till Season #2. July 29thThinking of Laura and family today, send a card full of all our love.Trudi drops in at 10.30, perfectly on time as always. We swap presents and head off to the New Deli at Olinda. Breakfast was rather good and yes the coffee not too bad. OK no one will ever beat Astrids mighty coffee but this was ok. We sit next to a few friends from the Kalorama Emergency Hub. I am being careful around my back. It will be around 3 more weeks till it is back to normal. A really lovely brunch with one of our best mates. By afternoon my lower back pain almost gone, dancing around the kitchen to the Best of Kate Bush. I also manage to make a lasagne for dinner. We watch Skinwalker Ranch, a bit excited by the multiple film footage of mysterious orbs over the ranch. We continually take the piss out of Travis on the show, he sounds way too much like Eric Cartman from South Park. "I'm an Astrophysicist and I'm going home' . HA! They seem to do so little on that show, lots of talk but so few real results. July 30thSunny day here at Kalorama, Winter may well be departing at long last. I drive to the Olinda bakery for a coffee and to buy some of their wonderful bread.Home to work in the yard with Marky. I also take some time to tidy up the art room. It's a bit out of control. I climb into my bath and decide to give Laura a call. Nice to chat to Laura's mum too, such a lovely lady. July 31stSad news to hear of australian musician Archie Roach passing away. I fondly remember several times at Hessies house sitting around the table with him and Archie, having a laugh and a chat. He seemed like a lovely bloke, and what an incredible musical history he has left us. The Indigenous Music Awards are on in Darwin soon so no doubt they will honour him.I make Mark Indian Curried Chicken Rolls again, they are becoming a bit of a favourite and a big bowl of Tzatziki dip. I take a selection of rolls and dip to the office in the afternoon where he is working. A nice surprise. August 1stAnother year zooms by, it's suddenly August. It feels weird that it has gone by so quickly. I find a rather cool Sloth birthday card for Enzman Nigel Griggs. He turns 73, all the Split Enz guys are getting older now. If they ever reform it may well be the "Walking Frame Enz Tour". It could be kind of funny for them all to wheel themselves on stage at the start.I head from my buddy Deano, which is always good, he chats to Mark for a longer time. Jealous me, never. I am convinced they are taking the piss out of me, you guys do know that is ganging up. I'm having a bath and my Google Nest directs my music to Ocie Elliott with "Stay Love". Which i do like. They are a Canadian folk duo from Victoria, British Columbia. They also won the Breakthrough Group Award at this years JUNO awards. I play a few of their tracks usually in the bath or in the office. "Like a River" is a rather cool song. Thank you Google Nest. I need to give my "Nest" machine a name. She doesn't like Mark because he is rude to her/it. August 2nd11.00 PM , wind storm hits parts of Mount Dandenong. Not too bad at Kalorama - too much magic here this time, a wind curve ball, it headed towards Olinda instead and all the way to Emerald. I hear from Enz bass player Nigel and some trees down at his place but thankfully not on his house. Dean calls and it's atrocious at his place but his family is also safe. After Black Saturday still not many trees to come down after the destruction of those fires.We did mail MIMs present today, maybe some more on the way. She will have an incredible birthday, she always does. My sister puts in 110% to make sure of that. We watch "Ghostbusters-Afterlife" which wasn't too terrible. Still not sure why they bothered but it was passable, just. August 3rdHappy Birthday Maddie. Yes MIM turns nine! Amazing. We look forward to seeing what she does with her life, such a smart kid.We play The Rocky Horror Picture Show- 21st Anniversary soundtrack cd in the office this afternoon. Which means I speak like Frank N Furter all evening. It has decent sound for once. Our original Rocky recordings are so muddy on CD. Deano calls and I miss the call. No biggie we will chat tonight. I guess he is getting excited about heading to Adelaide for the Disaster Conference. I'm umming and arghing about going. Thinking of seeing our friends Sarah and Bradley. That will be fun. August 4thI wake up way too early so decide to do some extra time at the charity. Lachie is at his spot with his coffee van and that is always a pleasant experience, plus great coffee, kind of kick starts me while I wait in the Salvo's car park for the temporary boss to show up. The window displays are looking good today, I like Nicole's cool retro green display.Enchilada's for dinner and the final 2 chocolate mousse. August 5thSupermarket shopping with Marky today, which was fun. We decided to budget, I get the items to $0.05c of what we said. Come on be impressed.Hoki fish in 3 types of seed-pumpkin, linseed and sunflower plus a light batter and indian rice. I picked some baby red sorrel leaves to go around it too. We watch the new "Chucky" movie, which was oddly ok. I call Deano at 5.30... "get my fix' -he is such a smartarse. What do i see in this guy again. (laughs). August 6thI like the headlines. "The Climate wars are nearly over. Labor, Teals and The Greens take a win on emissions as the Liberals watch on." Good to see Labor bring in landmark laws to reduce carbon emissions, the disenfranchised Liberals show they are out of touch dinosaurs not representing anyone except themselves. Tassie Liberal Bridget Archer may well be the exception.I hear from Jennifer G in NYC, which is a lovely surprise. It's been awhile. Judith Durham from The Seekers dies. We all knew she had been ill, but sad for the music industry. My back is normal again but in true fashion, now Mark has huge back aches. We really do need to stop having sex on trampolines. August 7thI call my Great Aunt, she turns 80 today. She sounds good-Happy Birthday Elaine.Kate Bush still at #1 for the 7th week in Australia with "Running Up That Hill" (A deal with God). 7 weeks is mind blowing. This brings me such joy. I make one of those "great" Lasagne's for dinner. Mark wants more as do I, it was close to perfect. August 8thI wake up to sunshine bursting through my windows. Still cold outside but this is great. I head up to Olinda bakery for a coffee and to grab some bread. A lot of locals come up and chat. Funny it used to be about bands and now it is about Disaster work. They are all nice and happy to see them. I head home and make a vegie curry for lunch, a surprise for Mark, and I wanted to use up all the vegetables. We waste zero.The afternoon is spent going through boxes, files in the office, Archiving and it really is never ending. We stop for a toasted sandwich break at 2.00 pm. "The Best of The Who" keeping us company all afternoon. Mark takes a photo during the break, I'm surrounded by items and wearing that cool Keith Richards for President T-shirt. Of course I am! Mark surprises me with the latest Dexter tv show on Bluray. We love it, we missed Dexter, nice to have him back. August 9thSuch sad news that artist Ian McCausland has passed away. He was responsible for so many awesome Australian album covers, posters etc. I'm reminded every day when I walk into Marks bedroom and see his 1973 Rolling Stones original Aussie tour poster, created by Ian. He also did so much work around Mushroom Records and our Skyhooks boys. A nice bloke, sad we lost another one.Of course the news and radio is overrun with the sad death of Olivia Newton John. 'I Honestly Love You' plays over the PA at the charity today and several customers start to cry. It was so frigging sad. A friends daughter is her PA , so that would be terrible. She seemed like a truly decent person. August 10thUp early and head off and pay bills, I also go to the butchers and buy some pork mince as Mark wants to make his amazing sausage rolls tonight but trying pork. I drive back to Olinda bakery and enjoy a coffee and a really beautiful salad sandwich. I run into our mate Peter. The boys are back from their trip to Cairns and coming home to Melbournes cold weather has freaked them a bit.I work in the yard in the cold sunshine, fill the green bin. I spend the early hours of the evening in the office and I'm playing The Violent Femmes "Permananet Record-The Very Best Of". Some great songs on this release. Marks sausage rolls are awesome, I love when he creates these. He's a keeper. August 11thMal Green wakes me at 6.00 am today, which is ok I am strangely enough awake.I was sent home from the Salvo's today, a big zap from the power board, power point, whatever, in the kitchen area. Arm and hand in some pain. It could of been worse. Thankfully at the last minute I decided to wear my chunky big rubber platformed boots into work. So maybe that helped. Power board, toasty machine etc all thrown out. I put in an accident report. The wiring is rather dodgy, it is starting to feel like an unsafe workplace, I wonder if anything will be done. Wrap my hand, use some burn cream and a bit of sleep. Still feels slightly strange but improving, think I had a bit of shock too. Mark and Dean fuss, which is nice. Imagine if I died, how odd that would be? No new famous For 16 Minute diary-HA! August 12thWake up early, basically go 'Fuck it' and get some more sleep. I nearly forget that at 11.00 I am meant to see Andy White. So out of bed fast and a quick shower and head to Olinda. Andy is late late late, as I'm driving home he calls so a quick U-turn and back at the bakery. He shouts me a 'I'm sorry i am late" coffee so that was nice. Em at the bakery takes a snap of us behind the coffee machine. We joke that this is our new jobs.I chew his ear off about you know what , and the future being unclear. he shares the Tim Finn-Andy White album cover layout with me for feedback. "I begin to crumble, it happens to us all ....". Mark points out that the large Skyhooks-Live Festival Hall 1975" framed poster in the art room, should be more protected from the elements. He is correct, it's a bit of a gem. Unlike mass produced posters this 1975 beauty is hand screened. So a work of art. I shuffle things around in the office, and a chance to polish and clean some other gold records. The Finn Brothers Platinum for "Everyone is here" and the Split Enz first Gold disc (Dizrythmia from New Zealand). A clean and a move. It's official we have now ran out of wall space in the office area. I give the floors in my room a vacuum. I'm going to work on some stuff in Marks office area tomorrow so a Saturday clean for his spot. I hear from Nick and Neil from Crowded House & they did something wonderful for a close friend of ours-bless them both. August 13thGot woken up at 3.00 am by Troy, Stevie and Tim. All freaking out about my zapping. It was a sweet caring call but bleary eyed me just sounded so sleepy I am sure. Nice blokes all of them, big hearts, it meant a lot. It takes more than some voltage to do me in. Of course my brain started ticking over around other stuff and quite frankly i was eagerly waiting Dawn to show itself so i could escape and have a coffee.Around the same time as their call, the Kapi art studio at Kalorama was extensively damaged. Six stupid teenagers in a stolen car plough into the art studio space. 5 are arrested and one tries to escape but the dog squad chases him down, a leg injury as the Police dog takes a bite of him- good I say, these clowns deserve even more. Little shits. I feel so sorry for the gallery owners. On the way back from coffee I call in and see if they need a hand cleaning up this huge mess. Insurance hasn't arrived yet so nothing can be touched. The sun is out and I sit in the Parklet and chat to locals. I make some calls and do a bit of social media housekeeping. It is such a lovely morning. When I'm home I strip down to shorts and a kickboxing workout. Dean says it is raining and cold where he is, I send him a snap of myself in shorts. Oh-la-la! Mark is spending every day on the exercise bike, both of us have rather impressive legs these days, not bad for old farts. I had to go to Montrose today and ran into a Liberal politician handing out flyers, so i told her exactly what i thought of that dickhead Matthew Guy. I was (mostly) polite. I think she got the message as several people screamed out "I agree with him". Kind of funny. Dinner tonight, healthy fish on a bed of Indian rice-yes again. I work in the office for a few hours. Huge thank you to Trudi, you are my conscience and your advice is really appreciated. August 14thI wake up to Ailsa Craig covered in a coat of fog. Rain is falling, the next ten days pretty much wet weather. I did plan on washing the Red Beast today, might still doing it just throw on some car wash and let the rain do the rest.I stumble out of bed and climb in with Marky. His bed is toasty as is he , so i snuggle and fall asleep on his shoulder. I think we both have had too many late night as we fall asleep and wake up at midday. That is rare. Out of bed and I cook some bacon and eggs on toast. While the oven is on I whip up a rather impressive chocolate cake. The high price of gas in Australia , you try to get your best out of your oven. I add a miniature of alcohol into the cake, nice. Probably the only alcohol I have had for a month. Mark is in the office, going through my YouTube page, listing all we have up as we plan to put more clips and rare footage up soon. I head down and finish up on this diary segment, right on time and with the "Best Of Placebo" playing as backing music. "A friend in need's a friend indeed, A friend who'll tease is better, Our thoughts compressed, Which makes us blessed, And makes for stormy weather...". It's been such a week of extremes, am glad that it is nearly over, illness, death, weirdness and of course myself getting zapped. Forget what the Boomtown Rats said, I DO like Mondays. Bring on the new week. Stay happy, Love Life. Peter |