musings

happy b-day to the mandarin boy. may the lego lords look over you.

was sad to hear of the passing of a pal, zdenka smythe. she was the classic music fan, always front & center at all the good shows, but very quiet and unassuming. everyone liked her for just being herself, I’m not sure she’d be in too many photos as that wasn’t her thing. she felt the spotlight was for the performers only. I shall miss her.

and congrats to jane & miko on their upcoming nuptials. I’m still deciding what would be appropriate to wear. I have a shortlist of sarongs handy….

happy b-day to the gypsy gal. for nearly seven years, you’ve been my best friend, my confidante, my right arm, my anchor. your huge smile and happy nature are adored everywhere you go. more people love you than me.

wonder if we should wander across the road tonight to catch that benefit show where that platinum-selling, movie star househusband that introduced us will supposedly be appearing….

on to other news:

I’ve put a couple of new rough demo tracks up on myspace. it’s been interesting watching the growth of that space as a marketing tool. I’d go so far as to say in many cases, the myspace page has all but supplanted many artists’ own websites, with all the promo and sales widgets now clogging the pages.

is it a good thing? as long as people are finding more new quality music, then sure.

I noted the recent passing of sir arthur c. clarke with a little sadness. as a kid, I read a lot of clarke’s works, and the memory of the first screening of his epic, “2001: a space odyssey” is indelible. he opened up much of the world’s eyes to possibilities, and his achievements - from predicting the position that would allow satellites to remain in geostationary orbit to his work in trying to unite sri lanka’s separatist parties - are astounding.

I once sent a letter to him in the 80’s, shortly after the first sequel to “2001″ was published, and was pleased to receive a handwritten reply. he’s name-checked in my song, “streets of shame” from the ordinary madness album, and was an inspiration to a young lad with a huge imagination.

so thanks, arthur. say hi to dave bowman for us all.

gotta love these four day holiday weekends. I do. while so many others are out and about in the world, trying to ‘make the most’ of their free time, I’m hanging around the house with the veg-o-matic stuck in ‘full’ mode.

yes, I can only wonder about all those new-millenium familes, stuck on the freeway behind some ancient caravan
clogging two lanes while managing all of 30kph downhill and even less uphill; crammed into the kids pup tents as dad forgot that the family dog chewed up the support stakes for the main tent and the annual easter rains have set in; queuing up for hours at the fish markets cause nanna insists that the family have seafood on good friday even though there hasn’t been a practicing catholic in the family since the pope was italian; fighting for pole position at petrol stations, takeaway shops, newsagencies and medical clinics cause junior couldn’t come to terms with the big-arse sign reading “dangerous area - do not climb fence”. yes indeed.

yes, I’ll stay at home thanks.

this is the 2nd weekend that I haven’t had a gig in over two years. With two more weekends ahead of me, it’s still kinda nice and unsettling at the same time. I have a spot inworld in second life coming up on the 27th, I’ll post links later.

oddities gleaned at the markets this morning: one of the second-hand book sellers had two books on a table side by side: “the erotic art of sex”; alongside “getting pregnant”. apparently some guy posing as a council worker was witnessed stealing a camera. there’s a new food stall with a banner reading “homemade himilayan food”, but the staff and the food looks exactly the same as the “japanese pizza” that’s usually in the same place. and, one of the recent australian idol winners was one of the musical buskers. that says so much about the ‘reality’ of reality television that a journal entry couldn’t even begin to scratch the surface. and no, I won’t even say which one it was, other than the fact that I, for one, wasn’t too surprised.

finally got my new cellphone sorted, and even managed to set it up without the (usual) help of a teenager. my daughter is still hounding me for a new phone after she’d lost the latest one, bought for her 13th birthday to replace the one she’s previously put thru the wash - this one managed to stay in her hand for two whole weeks before she lost it. so, if you’re reading this, casey-lee, you’re not getting another phone. [/end angry dad rant]

congratulation to amy and steve who got hitched today, sorry we couldn’t make the wedding but, well, shit happens.

I went thru all my recent demos thru the week, there’s nine fairly good tracks there. perhaps I will end up with a new album before the year’s out. and no, I still haven’t sent the older collection tracks off for mastering.

I’ve tidied up a few dead links on the main website too. the musings archives weren’t linking back correctly, now they’re up and live again if anyone of you want to read back thru the nearly seven years of my rambling, muttering and observing.

yes, the spelling irony was intended.

after going thru six phones in as many weeks, I thought I was doing okay having gone nine months with my current sony/ericcson. yesterday, the screen died for no apparent reason, other than it’s a phone.

so anyone trying to call me today, tough luck. I’m still debating whether to get a new one or see if I can manage to run two businesses, a career and a family without one.

and why the hell not? it wasn’t that long ago that the only people with mobile phones were real estate agents, tradesmen or bmw drivers. the only people with pagers were doctors or hookers. remember when we’d come home from work/school/just plain out and check the messages on the code-a-phone? remember when there weren’t even any ‘answering services’ at all? if you weren’t home to answer the phone… you just weren’t home.

anyway, enough of my rant. that is, until the next phone arrives…..

these guys.

they’re even better than the neighbour chick downstairs.

now I can retire peacefully.

this week, we lost mark kirk from the local band tall timbre. he’d had a heart condition of sorts and had suffered an attack prior to the one that took his life a few days ago.

the next day, I got the news that ray baldwin had also passed. ray had been struggling with cancer treatments for some time. he was a wonderful guy, a huge music fan who would always turn up at the best gigs. I saw him just a couple short weeks ago at the local markets, looking as happy and jovial as he always did.

farewell gentlemen.

did the sando with the blues pirates on saturday, it’s nice doing a 4-7pm gig and getting home at the time I usually start. the sundays with the new band lineup are settling in nicely. I threw a few new tunes at the boys who always come up trumps. best moment of the night was my calling the old rod stewart tune every picture tells a story. turns out it’s the drummer’s fave song - and one that he’d never had a chance to play with a band. to say it rocked would be a gross understatement.

I’m really digging the new goldfrapp album. I didn’t like much of their earlier work, but with this one, alison seems to have rediscovered her nick drake and kate bush albums.

also check out the woodsongs radio hour show featuring peter case and carrie rodriguez. video’s available for this one.

this morning, I discovered that someone’s been tapping into our home wireless network - and drained my data limit. prime suspect are the backpacker’s hostel a couple of doors down, who have been a thorn in the side of the locals for far too long. perhaps we could organise an old-fashioned mob, armed with flaming torches? works great on film.

I’m in the market for a small 10 or 15 watt valve amp, if anyone has one they’d like to get rid of. the more vintage, the better, natch.

happy b-day to my big sis, cheryl. and to michael, who had his party at my gig last night.

I’m pop-studding tomorrow night, if anyone’s in the area. gonna run thru some new toons, methinks.