The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 20 February - 5 March 2023
 "Peter & actor Bernard Curry- Olinda Bakery 2023" |
February 20thA bright sunny Summers day here at Kalorama. The solar panels on our house are churning out the power. The late seeds I put in the vegetable patch have sprouted and sun feels nice on my skin.I meditate for 30 minutes on the East Lawn, so nice I almost fall asleep sitting up. The baby bunny rabbits are watching me. "Strange human" they must be thinking. I smile at them, they are starting to know my voice and not be as fearful. I finish reading our mate Tony's book, i really enjoyed it. More on that down the track. In the evening i work with Mark in the editing suite. I also give a metal rat a polish as a last tiny stop-gap item for filming. We are getting close now. I do manage to make some lasagne for dinner. A late dinner, between A&T and Nigels video we are putting in the hours. February 21stI'm talking to Dr Troy on the satelite phone and he is nearing the Syrian border and another 6.30 earthquake hits. He watches as buildings fall to the ground and streets fill with dust like 9/11. It's around the Syrian province of Hatay. Stay safe Troy. He says the air smells of death. He has massive PTSD but you know never once screamed at me or made me feel threatened, always been incredibly caring. I try not to think about the places he ends up but really what magnificent work he does.At 5.00 PM Mark finishes editing Nigel Grigg's "All Alone" video. It's done, pop the champagne. I love it, great job Mark, always my hero. I upload it and have a bath, of course it goes "live" while i am enjoying my soak in the bath. HA. We are so professional here- not. OK I'm not. You can view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8bBuGuayoo February 22ndI paid my car rego, I love that you can pay it every 3 months, seems less of a financial hit.Andy Warhol died 35 years ago. Such an amazing part of my life, why is art so special to me? Like music it adds so much joy to my life. I'm at the bakery and Peter comes in with this rather lovely green vest for me. Normally I'd never wear 'Green', could be because of my name but this is so subtle, so certain will wear this one. A bit classy too. Nice of him and Mark (The Others). February 23rdToday is mostly Andy and Tim day. Our vinyl 7 inch picture single for "The Happiness Index" goes up for sale on the ALT bandcamp page at midnight. Naughty Andy White jumps the gun by 2.5 hours so i rush to the office and suddenly my world goes crazy, frantic but I deal with it. I'm certain A&T did this to see me finally sweat. Within 15 minutes one third of our vinyl singles have gone. We expected them all to sell; maybe over a month, leading up to the AT album late March. I've had to re-think it. As i tell Andy on the phone at midnight, do not be surprised if we sell out of all of the vinyl stock within days. A fan posts on one of the pages "well they do have the best PR bloke in the business". That does my heart good. What an adorable comment. I'm not but still lovely.To top off a great evening, Enzman Nigel Griggs "All Alone" hits 750 views. So many exceptional comments from fans. We smile. What did Neil Finn call the music and video ..oh yeah "Trippy", we like Trippy. February 24thThe Suns out and I'm yawning. I get up for 30 minutes of early morning kick boxing. Rare I want to kick the shit out of something so early in the day. Sweaty and in my kickboxing shorts I head to the bakery for an early morning coffee. One a day that's all I ever have. The world can smell my manly pheromones (that is a joke).On the way I get this absolutely awesome text from Kate at Pinchapoo. I am smiling again. Mark surprises me with The Angels "kicking down the door " documentary on bluray. Such a wonderful gift from my gorgeous bloke. We both complain that Ex Skyhooks Bob Spencer gets such a tiny mention in the doco, when he did so much for that band. The archival footage was great though, nice to see lead singer Doc's smiling face again, we miss him. February 25thIndian for dinner while we watch the 45th Mardi Gras in Sydney. Thanks for the shout out Nate, so subtle. He is made up and going wild, loved it. You naughty boy. So fabulous that they showed far more of the Parade this year, my biggest whinge in previous years. The crowd went ballistic when Aussie Prime Minister Mr Albanese marched with the floats. He won massive points from us all and his comments just perfect. A progressive Australia, that's what we want and Albo may well continue to surprise us. The 35th Mardi Gra that he has attended, good on him. Great to see Chris Minns walking next to him, hopefully Chris will be the next NSW Premier. Time to boot the tired lame duck NSW Liberals out.At midnight Nigel Griggs "All Alone" clicks over it's 1000th view. Thank you everyone- for those who create such things this means so much-we thank you. I think poor ol' Nige is in shock. February 26thEarly afternoon and Goatman, Igor the goat and Duck return to the Kalorama "Snow & Ice" set to film a secret alternative ending. Which might never be shown. We thank you, the best actors we have ever worked with. I spend the next hour pulling down the set, and it looks like it never existed. What a great month for creating.Andy and Tims "My Regeneration" hits 5500 plays on spotify and the "Happiness Index" is added for play. Fans are gobbling up these songs. Finally a movie I love, possibly my favourite movie in the last ten years. "The Forgiven". Matt Smith (Yes The Dr from Dr Who) plays a gay man living in the desert of Morocco in this awesome house with his new twink husband. A rich English couple drive through the desert at night, the man drunk and they hit and kill a young Moroccan teenager. A movie that shows the cultural extremes. The house/compound is so fabulous, the endless party just wild. Ismael Kanater plays Abdellah the dead boys father and what an actor he is. Moroccan born too. This cute scene where the drunk English guy is sleeping in the dead sons room and opens a small box of the kids favourite things and one of them is a beat up old Dr Who Dalek, what a fun nod to Matt Smith-we certainly laughed. I wont wreck the ending but i loved this movie, the book is great too. A must see. February 27thI sit with Kay & Ian at the bakery and we watch the passing parade. People come in and ask me "where I have been". Well nowhere, right here....I must of been wearing my cloak of invisibility.Great to see our young mate Benjy from "Socks 4 Support" get in the semi finals for "Community Service & Social Impact Awards". That lad is such a hero, he does more to help people in disaster zones than almost anyone that I know. Good one Benjy, you continue to shine lad. At midnight I watch as "The Happiness Index" 7 inch vinyl sells out. The final 10 was like a rocket countdown . 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 SOLD OUT in big red letters. I text Andy and email Tim. We all cheer and a lovely response from the guys. Now the UK record company might have a few on their page from their quota if you are really wanting one. Probably a lot better grabbing one from that area instead of paying some insane fee on Ebay down the track. Only 300 made, so super collectible. You might be able to grab a copy here if you are quick via Floating World Records: https://floatingworldrecords.co.uk/products/the-happiness-index-c-w-warrior-of-love February 28thMy lovely crazy Mum turns 85 in a weeks time, so I mail her a birthday card. I just put in some ca$h as she really has everything she needs. Ca$h is easier and will benefit her more. 85! Holy hell, that is great. We are so lucky she is still here. I remind myself of that when she drives me nuts.I head back to the charity today and it's fun to see the girls. Debs let her hair grow out and it is very groovy. Well it 'feels' seventies. Home to find Mark has jumped straight into his next video project. "1975 ..the year that was". Well that's my title but he wants it as '1975' i think. Our favourite year? I've agreed to sit in front of the camera for this (almost a typo where I wrote SHIT in front of the camera. NOT) . I hate the video camera, I can deal with a still camera. But this is Markys request and I love him more than anything in the world, so of course I will say 'Yes'. Covering events, the music, film and bad fashions of Australia, it will be fun. 1975 here we come. Andy lets me know that he is playing a one off gig at the Merri Creek Tavern, Northcote on April 14th. So write that one in your diary, after reading it on this diary. His shows are such a joy. I do suggest that Tim sneaks in and jumps up for some shows. HA. After all it's only across the ditch. March 1stReally it's March? Oh come on not another fast year. Why can't we have a year that plods along and feels like three years. Even the Covid era seems fast. If someone says it is an age thing I will hit them. I try to squash as much as possible into every day.I've kept myself busy, thankfully almost zero thoughts around Dean. I think I need to make a statement soon that I no longer support or part of the DDR. A few other relief organisations have been in contact which is such an honour. Even over the past few weeks I've managed to get supplies to both Turkey and New Zealand. So still pro-active just on my own bat. I know quite a few people "liked" the DDR Facebook page because I suggested it. So will leave it up to the individual if they still wish to support it or to "unlike" from it. I've 'unliked' which was rather hard for me to do. feel like i invested a lot in it. A wonderful morning at Olinda, Mr Bernard Curry , yes the actor is at Olinda bakery. As you guys know, Mark and myself are huge Wentworth and Prisoner fans. Bernard played Jake Stewart on Wentworth, so it was a delight to hang with him for awhile. A really lovely bloke. This totally made my morning. Plus he loves playing his guitar. I work in the office while Marky makes homemade sausage rolls. I'm playing Sweets "Strung Up". This album is packed full of hits. It has to be played LOUD. A 1975 and 1976 hit for the band here in Australia, top ten. "Oh reaching out for something, Touching nothing's all I ever do, Oh I softly call you over, Then you appear there's nothing left of you..." so good! The Sweet are a bit underrated at times. March 2ndThe alarm woke me, a restless sleep which is strange because my sleep has been awesome lately. I feel rather chilled out today like very little will faze me. I do my robotic A-Z in the morning before heading off to the charity. On overdrive, just go click, click, click. Is this what the rest of the planet does when it gets up for work 5 days a week. Two cute baby rabbits eating grass in front of the back steps side track me ..I waste 10 minutes enjoying their antics. They keep looking at me. Posers. Ha!I time it well, traffic is quiet and I am the first car at Lachies mobile coffee van. I spend 10 calm minutes in the charity car park, chilling out, looking at morning stats for YouTube, Spotify and this diary. A good day at charity but it seemed long. I got a lot done, the boss did bric-a-brac and she always makes me laugh. She's seen it all before. Always gives me a serve , just playful and she knows I like it, like it yes I do (sorry Mick and Keef). The girls are all great today, and I love working with them. Plus a new guy, well he's done charity before so not so new. Very quiet. I can never be accused of that. Oh I did get some angry old guy who couldn't drop off his stuff at the charity, he kept ranting and I just kept being nice, it's amazing how NOT screaming at someone back works. Home, kiss the husband and we head to the office, I work on Andy & Tim stuff, Mark on pre-video bits and pieces for "1975". I hear from Mr White, a catch up at the Olinda Parklett tomorrow, the A&T 45 singles leave by courier from England on Monday so about a week till they are in the mail. The process is slow but we will be quick, between the two of us we will get them mailed as soon as we get them. Mark tells me that when he awoke the little black bunny was hopping around on the East Lawn. Such a cute critter. March 3rdI climb out of bed early, annoying hayfever so pop a pill- the last one I have. A bit windy outside so pollen in the air and I'm sniffling. It's frustrating as Mark wants to film tonight, so i don't want to be sniffling like a cocaine addicted crazy person in front of the cameras. I leave for Olinda at 10.30, the girls are in fine form and we can't stop laughing. I give them all drag names. Andy turns up at 11.00 and we sit in the Parklett and have our meeting. All goes well. We decide the pre-order link for the Andy White and Tim Finn album will go up on the bandcamp page around March 18th, so not too far away. We will have 100 fully autographed CD's, 70 vinyl albums and 25 triple packs (which contain 7 inch single, signed cd and vinyl album). The cds go from the warehouse to Tim in NZ very soon and Tim sends the entire lot to Andy. I think the signed CD's will go super fast. So remember to keep an eye on the ALT bandcamp page.Andy gives me the USB with 'The Happiness Index' clip on it, some tiny corrections, and you can see it here. I really like the clip, it feels wonderfully frantic. View it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0YQwyIzh_g We have along night, 4 consecutive hours of filming. "1975 ... the year that was". I'm in front of the camera, I stuff it up a bit so a few reshoots but overall not too bad. A few bits. It will be good. Loads of editing for Marky, this one is mostly his project, he knows what he wants and overall gets the best out of me. We work so well together. March 4thLast night zapped me, I didn't realise how much. Also I was a bit wired so sleep didn't arrive too soon. So a really easy weekend for me. I chat to Andy and taking a few days off which he is fine about. Marky however goes straight into it. Editing like a man possessed.I do however bake a blood orange chocolate cake with fresh blackberries. Not too bad, and yeah cream so not exactly weight watchers. But it tastes superb. March 5thHappy 85th Birthday to our awesome Mum. Thankfully Aussie Post didn't let me down and the card and $ arrive on time. Mark and myself sing to her, she loves it. 85!! Incredible.The 65th Kalorama car rally is on today, so I head on down. This has to be the largest turn out so far and what a glorious day. My motorbike guys are a no show, so thats the only bad thing but the cars are just outstanding. Plus all proceeds raised go to the Kalorama CFA so have to support it. Run home and put some photos up on Facebook and Twitter to give it a bit of a push. I love all the car enthusiasts who show up, so passionate and all the ones I chat too seem really good people. A nice way to spend our Sunday. Take care everyone and remember Andy and Tim's album is out March 31st Love Life! PG |