The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 27 June - 10 July 2022
"Somehow I pack everything I need in my tiny backpack. Off to the NSW Floods with the D.D.R."
June 27thA sunny day but you don't get warm. The solar panels are happy though. Those photons are knocking those electrons free from atoms, the photovoltaic cells doing what they do. So even on these sunny Winter days our electricity bill is decreasing. A good thing with the huge jump in electricity prices from July 1st. I see our Victorian Premier Dan Andrews is offering all households $250.00 via the "energy saving bonus concession". Apply via compare.energy.vic.gov.au Good one Dan! Thanks.Good bye to our mate Nick, safe flight home to America. It was good to catch up. June 28thA really fun cat card arrives from Michiko at Cremorne and lovely words on the passing of Miss Banshee. People have been so great, they get what she meant to us.We watch a dvd from our gay Archives. "Gay Sex in the 70's". We love the NYC archival footage and especially the hundreds of B&W photos. An amazing history. June 29thThe Covid numbers and deaths are rising again in Australia. I'm spending more time wearing my mask and Covid cleaning. I am determined to get through this Pandemic without catching Covid, so far both of us have been lucky.I'm thinking about the earthquake victims in Afghanistan today. So many time sit's the poorer people who get the shit end of the stick isn't it. Great minds think alike, I heard from Deano and he has put a post up on "Deans Disaster Relief" page around the earthquake and I know financial support has been given. Good to see he has found an active Youth Group in Australia who have boots on the ground in Afghanistan so we are throwing some support their way. A certain Dr friend is already on the ground and I hear some other Aussie Dr's are assisting too. My supplies arrived, I think they are near the village of Dwegur. A tiny bit of help from Kalorama. I make curried chicken rolls & a big bowl of Tzatziki. I found the recipe in "My Indian Kitchen Cook Book". They are really great. June 30thI get this lovely phone call asking if I'd be free for Dinner tomorrow night. That makes me smile. It's kind fo weird, life seems really amazing at the moment, so stupidly happy. Marks invited too but I know he is focused on Bluray work in the office.I get a lot done at the charity. Always funny when some CDs come in that I have worked on, or project manager for a dvd release. I seem to give those discs and extra super clean , a bit proud of our history. A young guy asks me what cds I'd suggest and in the end he bought 20! Talk about having faith in a strangers taste. He came back in just as I was leaving just to say thank you, so that was really cool. July 1stShit! When did it suddenly become July. A few birthdays this month. Suddenly we are all a year older. People we love like Marky and Trudi.The first day of the new tax year so i email my soon to retire accountant my Australian Electoral Commission pay receipts. We boringly try to stay on all our tax stuff, not that we have a massive income stream these days. My Sister is in hospital, I make contact and thankfully she will be home tomorrow, we worry like crazy about her. I make an effort around Dinner and do the drive. Mark knows I'll be home late as I always get in these deep conversations with Mr Disaster, which is great. I find the hotel, get the last car park and he's outside - huge bear hug which is nice. We head to the Novotel and Deano is so bloody generous. I takes us ages to order as yes we are talking , so much to talk about. A couple sit next to us and I swear they said two words and looked miserable. Our excited happy chat was probably far more entertaining, or is that conceited that i think so. He's not drinking but encourages me with a 'campfire' cocktail. Shit $19.00! Grenadine, Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, Bourbon, Peach Juice, Rum and a bit of Cranberry Juice. It is so strong, nearly blows my head off. The food was delicious, lovely and a fabulous dinner. We are talking to the kitchen staff and I spot this classy older lady, wrapped in a great fake fur and a truckload of diamonds. As we walk past I grab D's arm and she smiles and says to me 'Oh, Young Love". Which of course makes me chuckle, not young and he's just a best friend. I whisper in his ear about her, to turn in a subtle way and see how cool she looks. Of course we both turn and there she is smiling and waving at us. When I am older I want to be her- a gorgeous old broad and a romantic, rattling my diamonds at the world. We both chuckle. As we head outside we see the Glen Waverley's rainbow sign, supporting the LGBT community. It's not graffitti'd or homo attacked, so thats nice to see. We use the free drink coupon and sit in the foyer for awhile and yes more talking, planning etc. Soon we realise it's 3.00 am and he has artwork to do tomorrow and myself a list a mile long. Plus I want to get home to Marky, who has probably been asleep for 3 hours now. A final hug of our best mate and into the night i go. No cars on the road, like none. I call into the Woolworths at Ferntree Gully and buy some groceries. Very few people in the store but i still wear my Covid mask. I sit on the bonnet of my car sipping "Green Supreme" health drink, smiling after alovely night. Such a generous man , I am so friggin' lucky. As i climb the mountain in the red beast I enter a thick fog layer. The thickest I've seen up here for years. As i head around a remote corner this strange creature jumps out, not a deer, not a wallaby, not sure what it was but it was standing upright, I screech on my brakes and after a split second it enters the thick fog area. I still have no idea what it was. I wind down the window a bit, in case it is fatigue, just to sharpen my senses and I get the hell out of this remote part of Mt D. I'm home around 4.00, climb in and snuggle up to Mark and selfishly wake him up. I am cold and steal his body heat, I just wanted him to know I am ok. I fall asleep snuggled up to him. This is nice. July 2ndI have a bit of a cold, not Covid, just the Kalorama sniffles. I'd say from driving in minus 2 temps with window down last night. I snuggle in bed for most of the day. Today I just want to totally bludge and do very little. It's nice. I do watch the reports on the flooding in NSW, here we go again. Seriously have these people not suffered enough. As the day goes on, more and more people are having to evacuate. I think the DDR will wait till it is an official disaster and head up. Sometimes it's good to wait and let the SES do their thing and arrive and assist afterwards when people really need support.July 3rdWhat three days in a row? Our mate does the drive and turns up at Ailsa Craig. We spend a few hours going through layout and his ideas around the poster for the Adelaide Disaster Conference with Marky. I love seeing these 2 gents working together, does my heart good. There certainly is some sort of link between us three, and you know I just fucking well love that. Oops sorry, swearing but with passion. Deans done a great job with the poster and especially the text, and Markys contributions are as always faultless. I just make the coffee.He steals me away for a moment to grab a coffee at The Store House Roastery at Olinda. My first time at that place. We walk in and instantly i run into Debbie from my Kalorama Free Supermarket. More hugging, jumping and screaming, it's been a year since I saw her, she remembers Dean too. So good. We sit at the window and chat -this is nice, this is what i love about my life. To find such moments in a sea of evolving stuff. I am happy, really happy. I keep saying that don't I? Home again and we get two very cool Spinifex sleeping bags, as a present, well I have presents for you too Mr Disaster Guy, so for once I feel like we are balanced in that area. Sad to say goodbye, today felt perfect. July 4thWe sleep in. Mark walks around the house like a cross between Hugh Hefner and Sandy Stone, in his PJ's and big dressing gown. OK it is bloody cold. I'm at least dressed and have been chopping fire wood. A text arrives "Come on let me in it's freezing out here". It's Dean, such a fibber, I am not falling for it , I know how far away he is. He sends it again, "yeah right". I so do not believe him, I tell Marky and we look on the security screen and no sign of anyone. He sends it again. "I'm going out to check" I tell MG. I head out the back door to the decking, as expected no one. These two arms grab me from behind, OMG Dean is here. I swear i nearly cry, "You bastard you got me". No one ever suckers me like that EVER. I am in shock, 4 days in a row. I just shake my head and smiling like the cheshire cat. Mark bolts and gets changed. All three of us just laughing. This is what mates do eh? Surprise each other and shake heads and laugh.He takes us to Ranges at Olinda, coffee and cake. I decided last night that my upcoming art project will be an image of the three of us. A silkscreen, acrylic piece. Maybe in August. I try to convince them for a snap but no go today, sometimes even I push my luck. We have some malteser cake and the coffee was great, the company even better. I know it sounds like we have a bit of a love-fest going on, in some ways we do, the love of each others company. Home again and a fun afternoon. It feels like the weekend not a Monday. We walk him to the gate and wave goodbye. I head back into the house and bake an apple pie from scratch. Another good day. I just don't want this to end. July 5thMark works on a news report disc from 11 years ago around the Grantham floods. A young Dean pops up in it so a good archival piece for the Deans Disaster Relief facebook page. Mark fixes it up and especially the sound. My YouTube page will host it for the DDR FB post. It only runs for 2 minutes but shows the sadness and brutal side of this country of ours. Good to see a young Dean, one of the first disasters he attended, he drove 20 hours to help people. I dare to say that he will be heading out again soon for the flooding in NSW. History does repeat (sadly).So head here to check out Grantham Floods and thanks for supporting the DDR. Like I said this only goes for 2 minutes : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKQMkLCUcoE Lots of manifesto laughter around the DDR poster before I head to bed. My surfer mate Stevie calls me after I climb into bed from Sth America. He is having a great time, met a guy (Hi Tyson) so romance is in the air. Good on you brat , so happy for you. A good soul riding the waves. July 6thHoly hell, the Sun is finally out. I find a note from The Others (Peter & Mark #2) the boys left us some amazing Butter Chicken Curry. How cool and kind is that.Mark is wonderful, Mark is smart, Mark is talented, Mark spoils me and even forgives me for connecting the speakers up incorrectly in my art room. So he heads up and resurrects my sound system. I am overjoyed, it's working so the art room is alive with music. To reward him I make Indian Curried Chicken Rolls. I surprise him, he loves these. My accountant is retiring, will be good to catch up with her down the track, a lovely woman who has kept us out of trouble and taxes paid. A gorgeous gay friendly soul- we dig her. July 7thI head off the mountain at midnight to do some grocery shopping away from the Covid crowd, buy fuel and bad takeaway. Sometimes that's what you need to do, shake it up. I was the only shopper in Woolworths, but I still wore my Covid mask. The outbreaks in Australia have grown again, around 30,000 a day. So many mates this week have caught it- Mark and myself have not and I flatly refuse to get Covid. I will fight this germy bitch to the end. No Covid for us.July 8thI have a page full of 'must do's' today. Boring shit like changing the light globe in the security light outside the office, filling in holes on the Eastlawn that our tiny rabbit population have dug, clean my ancient bath. All boring crap but i tick them off, one by one.What else? I notice December 10th this year will make it fifty years since Split Enz started. The Stones celebrate 60 years on July 12th, and the Enz half a century in 5 months. Will they do some shows? Well i know there is a tiny bit of chit chat which means nothing. It was suggested the Enz play with Crowded House when they were played Auckland New Zealand last year but that never happened, so please don't hold your breath. IF and that is a big If the Enz play I'd love to go out and work on that gig or gigs. Guess we'll all know soon enough. Bring it on I say as long as the shows are passionate, fresh and don't damage the bands great live name. Now don't get too excited and no "Peter Green says...." as I'm not saying , just F/16 diary wishful thinking. July 9thCan you believe we are running out for firewood. 50,000 trees down from that disaster here, you'd think we would have enough. I thought we cut 2 Winters worth but no, we are using it at a fast rate. Crazy. I will find a way to stretch out our supply till Winter has departed. That's what i do, create something from thin air. We do have central heating and other mobile heaters so not a big deal but our two open fires are lovely.I bake a huge chocolate cake and yes a cream centre, so that is 20 laps around Kally oval to burn up the calories. That's if i can see the oval. It's covered in fog today, rather Gothic beautiful but makes jogging a tad treacherous. Playing George Michaels "Songs from the Last Century" whilst in the office. I LOVE the cover art and his version of Roberta Flacks "First time ever I saw your face" is perfect. Other tracks a bit too samey for me. July 10thSri Lanka is out of control. Crowds set fire to the Palace and the President and PM will resign. It looks absolutely nutty. Some people have walked 50 kms to be part of this huge protest, they walked because they can no longer afford the fuel for their cars.I worked in the garden this morning as the sun is out. Cutting the tops off the Agapanthus. I head to the art room and create "Miss Mirabella Meow" - a woman with a cat head, a bit like "Miss Kittys big day " from a few years ago. I pop the painted creation up on my FB page and it does seem to resonate with people. Marky loves it so that is nice. It is for him. The DDR calls and i say yes. Excited as this coming week, I climb into the DDR vehicle and we head North to offer assistance in the flood zones. Wow, I expected Deano to go but I'm part of the team. Adrenaline is now rushing. Not sure for how long but if i can assist even a few people i will be delighted. Bring it on. Keep an eye on my Facebook pages as I will try to post from the flood areas. A few more friends call and they also have Covid. This seems far worse in comparison to the other Covid outbreaks. Australia has climbed to #15 worldwide around Covid. Every few weeks we creep up higher. Terrible. On that note stay safe dear readers. Marks birthday is on the 27th so I will be home for that come rain, snow or any other disaster. Love from Kalorama Peter |