The Life and Times of Peter Green
updated 1 June 2025
 "It's a new car. Welcome Black Beauty". |
May 12thI'm snuggling up with Midnight in bed this morning, she's like hairy hotwater bottle. You can tell Winter is arriving soon. Even on a sunny day like today the air has some bite.Monique retains Kooyong so the Liberal has failed, my friend David will be very happy, he always helps out around her campaign. I work in our office in the morning, and while the weather is nice, some yard work in the afternoon. I've surrendered to nature these days, impossible to stop things growing so I just slow them down a bit. It is what it is. Homemade Pizza for dinner, lots of healthy bits on the topping. May 13thMiss Midnight wakes me up early and I don't recover. So I get ready for a day at the charity. Two buses and I am early again so head to the Garden Cafe for a coffee. I sit and read the paper, check our Youtube stats etc.The Charity girls surprise me with a birthday cake and a singing cactus! As one does. We dance a bit. Lots of fun. A customer tells the boss she adores the Book Cave and she keeps returning every week, so that's nice thumbs up. I cook tonight, way too much food , not sure why I over did it, but none is wasted. May 14thStill carless for a few weeks, so I wake up early, a quick shower and out the door to the bus. I am way too fast this morning so arrive at the bus stop a bit early.The bus is on time so I get to the Free Food program early and help with set up, just the 2 of us. I've done about 30 boxes when the rest of the crew arrive. We really fill the boxes today , lots of healthy produce. The gang are in fine form, so fun too. My friend Ros drives me home and I work in the office with Mark. It's Wednesday so Marks Youtube Video rarity goes up. I filmed this on a really cheap ancient video camera at my old work place-The Club. Bongo Skyhook owned the venue and employed me when I was saving up for my first house. I worked three jobs at once. Anyway the Enz boys were getting restless when Tim headed overseas so did some shows without him. Under the banner "While The Cats Away". So today's live clip from May 26th 1984 is "Take A Walk" from Split Enz "Time + Tide" album. Paul Hester with his dyed blonde hair. Neil in a tuxedo. May 15thOK we are really really excited. Aussie seventies Soap drama "Number 96" returns to streaming on Brollie. One of our favourite shows and always frustrating that so few episodes were released. It started as B/W and only a handful of those episodes were saved, so maybe a few hundred gone, thankfully all the colour ones exist. We have the first ten or so of the B/W so we start watching those (because they will be advert free) , we figure it will be a few weeks before we can start watching episodes that we haven't seen since they were last on TV. Number 96 was billed as the night Aussie TV lost its virginity. The show started in March 1972 and had it all. Gay characters, Bisexual characters, racists, Bombs destroying half of the building, Satanists, the first transgender actress, full frontal nudity, and so much more. Remember this was 1972… so few countries had full frontal nudity on TV back in 72. Amazing.They all had unique promotional ideas. Heading to the Logie awards in Melbourne, the Number 96 crew hired a train and it would call into all of these smaller rural towns and the cast would meet fans at the station. A very very young me, went along to Unanderra station and it was packed full of people. I met the gorgeous Panty Hose Murderer played by the super sexy Chantal Contouri… plus other cast members., I took my little spy camera that used 110 size film and took some photos. For some reason I just can't find them in 2025. They will turn up. Anyway we are both over the moon that we will again get to see episodes of this awesome Aussie show. Bring it on Brollie! May 16thI call Kelli at the mechanics and lock in the car to be delivered (via tow truck). They are flat out so I may be carless for a few weeks. If I get stuck I'll grab a hire car again, but so far the bus has been kind. I like my magical mystery tours on the bus. Thankfully my regular bus driver has great taste in music.I chat to my sister who is back in hospital, it worries the hell out of us but we try to stay supportive and helpful. I wave my fist at the heavens and tell whoever is "in charge" that nothing better happen to my sister. May 17thRain, glorious rain. A fine mist as I head to the bus stop. The air smells so great. Fresh and clean. I can see all the tree ferns sucking ip the moisture, they have been hanging out for a decent watering from above.I'm the only one at the bakery, sitting outside. Coffee always seems to taste better on these wet days. Banshee's been gone three years now , so I put up some images and footage on social media. Everyone loves Banshee and so many comments how she looks like Midnight. I think one of Banshee's nine leaves creeped out into the world as Midnight certainly looks and behaves like her. Which is ok, though Mark regularly calls Midnight, "Banshee". My sister heads off to Japan soon, I check to make sure my passport is valid in case I have to do an emergency dash, just in case. I am hoping not. May 18thMy friend Caz points out that membership for the Liberal Party was at 13,000 two years ago and has dropped to 6000 now. In 1970 it was at 70,000. Talk about a party in decay. Now they are fighting with their partners The Nationals.Bird Flu (H5N1 strain) edges closer to our country. Apparently seals are now getting infected too. Scientists wonder if Penguins are the carriers. Keep clear of Kilsyth in case that penguin has out (sorry private joke). May 19thI am waiting at home for the tow truck to pick up the Red Beast and take her to the car hospital. They call me and will arrive at 11.30. So the repairs will be underway soon…either that or really bad news.It was cold last night, close to zero. Even this morning my fingers feel somewhat frozen. Typing aches a bit I'm wearing fingerless gloves while typing this. Winter is on the way. Next year the Vic State Government will make public transport free for all kids under 18. Seniors travel free on weekends, I think that's great. The Tow Truck guy is great. The car still starts so I zoom it up the metal tow tray and he secures it. I take a few snaps for social media and wave to the Beast. I grab a Bus to Olinda for my one coffee. Catch up with Jedekiah Wilson, he's placed his album on hold for a tiny while. We chat , he's a youngster and I remind myself of that as he has the whole music world before him. Things take time. On the way home I find a small "field" of banana passionfruit . They are a tear shape and full of Vitamins A + C, potassium magnesium etc. So I pick a few of the ripe ones, I expect more ripe in a few weeks. The rangers will probably destroy the vine as it is an invasive species. So I am happy to eat the fruit before they do. It's still cold despite the sun being out. I spend a few hours answering Emails in the office. We still get about 50 emails every day. I chat to Mum on the phone around several family slides that Marky has converted for me. Taken by my Uncle Jack. I am amazed at how good my Mums memory is. Not bad for her age. My friend Deb tells me she has found me a new old lady wig for our Wollongong Gothic photo shoot and hopefully painting. I think I am excited. I only recently found out that the American Gothic painting by Grant Wood. Is actually a farmer and his DAUGHTER. I wrongly assumed it was a farmer and his wife. I should have waited till 2030 before doing Wollongong Gothic as it would have been 100 years since American Gothic came out. An anniversary twist! Americana V's Australiana. May 20thAn early morning coffee at the Garden cafe yet again. I run into my workmate Ian buying his scratches at the newsagents. So I buy a tiny lotto ticket, why not, fortune favours the brave.It was 3 degrees when I left Kally this morning and currently 7. Heatwave. Brrr. I think my cold hands have frozen my coffee. We watched Aussie movie "Back Balloon" tonight, it was rather exceptional. A really excellent cast. I get why it won so many AACTA awards. May 21stHappy Birthday Midnight. Yes our cute cat has turned two! I make a cat birthday cake for her, made from all her favourites, it's a lot and she takes all day and all night to eat it. We sing to her and she wears her fur crown. She's a great cat.Speaking of birthdays, an awesome belated, hand made birthday card from my friend Jan Mc. I love her cards, I keep them all. Today is our 800th video to go up on our Youtube page, so Mark has made something a bit special. It's Neil Finn (live) at The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano in California. November 13th 1998. FOUR songs and all four are excellent. DISTANT SUN, NAILS IN MY FEET, KING TIDE & SHE WILL HAVE HER WAY. Mark did an amazing job with the sound, you guises will LOVE these. Audio only but superb. May 22ndI get the early bus to charity as the sun starts to rise. I see Jordan again , he heads into the city so we chat for awhile. Nice guy, looks rather hot in his suit.7.03 am coffee at the Garden Cafe and I write out a card to our friend Claire for her birthday and mail it next door. I see some blurb on a new TV series DUSTER. Looks good,. Created by JJ Abrams and La Toya Morgan. A call in from my mechanic and it's bad news around the Red Beast. The motor is pretty much stuffed, so would not be worth fixing. Probably better for me to buy a new car. I'm leaving that thought float about in my head for a day or so, I won't tell Mark yet as he will get stress and no sleep. My problem, so I will deal with it. I am crazily calm. A new car could be good. May 23rdSis and MIM depart for Japan for a few weeks. I'm being extra supportive of my sister even though with her health it is a worry that she is travelling. I know why, and I get it. I have my passport ready in case I need to jump on a plane to Japan. Dō naru ka wa dō naru ka.I chat with Mark around a new car. He's going to go halves. I bus it to Upper Ferntree Gully and 45 minutes later have shiny black Nissan ST-L hatchback. It feels so odd in so many ways. It will do till I have the $$ for the 4WD that I want- which is some insane price. Thank you Matty, you make my world shine and remain happy. The true test is driving up the Devils Elbow (why does that sound kinda rude and sexy?) to Mt D and she just zooms up the steep hill. No problem. I call the car Black Beauty. Mark likes it, some decent leg room for his long long legs. We forgot just how insanely clean fresh cars are. So problem #1 almost done, my friend Kellie working on the new home for the Red Beast and $$. We'll head to the mechanics and clear all our stuff out of it on Monday. We settle in and watch the Number 96 "extension episode" which covers all the missing early B/W episodes of the show. We can't wait till we get to see episodes that we haven't watched for 50 years. Thank you BROLLIE streaming and the folks at Umbrella. May 24thI wake up and it's funny seeing a new car at the back drive. Like we are having guests, but no it's ours. I drive her to the bakery and people fuss over the car, which is crazy as it's not that special. I enjoy my coffee this morning and have some of their Thai Pumpkin soup.Some yard work and later this afternoon I'm making a selection of dips to take to a gathering tonight. The last chance to say goodbye to the "Others" (Peter & Mark #2) . We will miss the boys, when we came up here there were three sets of Peter & Marks. When the boys depart this week it's just us. The last of the Peter and Marks. We know we will stay in contact. Some wigs arrive just before we leave for the upcoming Wollongong Gothic shoot. I pop a small one on Midnights head, why does a cat look better than we do in a wig? LOL. A fun evening at the Boys house. Mark and myself have the munchies on the way home so call in and see Duncan at Olinda Pizza. We snuggle on the couch, watching some streaming documentaries but I am a bit worn so head to bed. Mark is looking after Miss Midnight tonight. May 25thThe Herald Sun are running a piece on Bongo Skyhooks fight with leukemia. It might generate a few more dollars for his GoFundMe to help with the on going medical bills. Whatever it takes.Mark slept in late as Midnight kept him awake and I dare say we both were not use to having Jack Daniels and coke last night. I managed to get a half decent sleep but I was a bit worn out. Sleep arrived quickly. I see Dapto Dogs is finishing up after 88 years of greyhound racing. We ran greyhounds at that place, our dogs were looked after and lived till a very old age. My father was aghast that I preferred the steak sandwiches at Dapto Dogs to the expensive steak we had at home. The inner ground was also used for concerts. The one annoying gig for us was when the Skyhooks-Split Enz show got washed out by rain. Mark and myself were so pissed off at that happening, nothing like angry teenagers missing out on their favourite bands. So another diary comes to an end. A shout out to Deb L for being an amazing webmistress and putting this up. Keeping you all content with my waffling. [editor's note: sure, but sorry I'm often late!] Stay Happy and love life. PG Hey if you have the vibe, give Paul Hester & LLT's live video (it's just 1 song) a view . We are trying to get it to our target number. Do it for Hessie (YAY!). Thank you. |
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