Here is one of my favourite bands with their old singer. the new singer is just OK, but really doesn't hold a candle to Tarja who sang with such passion. A shame she was a primadonna.
Friday, May 30, 2008
House Warming Hangover
My esteemed colleague Mr. Quin had his house-warming party last weekend and a good night was had by all. I forced him to ransack his house looking for old videos to watch of him as a young, thin, slightly attractive male in his prime with his old band 'Kid Gloves'. He was none too keen at first, but after finding the tape, we all had a good old laugh and realized just how old we are. We also watched his lovely wife as a contestant on "Perfect Match" with greg Evans. What a hoot!
Alas and Alak (is that how you spell 'alak'?)....I drank too much. The next day was a woeful effort at being human and my head throbbed mercilessly for hours. In between bouts of sleeping and groaning, I managed to keep breathing. I swore an oath to never drink beer again. It was broken two days later as my mate retuned from Holland and forced me to go to the club with him. It was a good decision as we won a motza on the pokies. Something that is done rarely in these tight times.
A night of non-excitement awaits me tonight as Dave and I head off down to Kiama to appease the Gods of Boredom at Kiama Leagues Club. Happy Days...
Alas and Alak (is that how you spell 'alak'?)....I drank too much. The next day was a woeful effort at being human and my head throbbed mercilessly for hours. In between bouts of sleeping and groaning, I managed to keep breathing. I swore an oath to never drink beer again. It was broken two days later as my mate retuned from Holland and forced me to go to the club with him. It was a good decision as we won a motza on the pokies. Something that is done rarely in these tight times.
A night of non-excitement awaits me tonight as Dave and I head off down to Kiama to appease the Gods of Boredom at Kiama Leagues Club. Happy Days...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
How do you answer this question...?
The question usually asked after you've come back from a funeral is most likely "How was it?"
That's a tricky question.
Do you say "It was great! Had the time of my life. Ran into old friends and chatted for quite a while." Or do you say "It was very sad. I cried a lot. People were crying. Somber music was playing and I don't want to go to another one."
For me, I just say "It was a funeral." They are really neither good or bad. You hook up with other people you may know or have not seen in a long time. You may have a laugh, a cry and listen to a minister talk about entering the kingdom of Heaven. You may see a slideshow, you may not. In general, Funerals are an event that are best avoided, but hard to stay away from, especially when the person who died is a close friend or relative. Today's funeral was all the above; moments of sadness, laughter, a slideshow, tea and biccies and chatting to people not seen in quite a while.
Yes, "It was a funeral."
That's a tricky question.
Do you say "It was great! Had the time of my life. Ran into old friends and chatted for quite a while." Or do you say "It was very sad. I cried a lot. People were crying. Somber music was playing and I don't want to go to another one."
For me, I just say "It was a funeral." They are really neither good or bad. You hook up with other people you may know or have not seen in a long time. You may have a laugh, a cry and listen to a minister talk about entering the kingdom of Heaven. You may see a slideshow, you may not. In general, Funerals are an event that are best avoided, but hard to stay away from, especially when the person who died is a close friend or relative. Today's funeral was all the above; moments of sadness, laughter, a slideshow, tea and biccies and chatting to people not seen in quite a while.
Yes, "It was a funeral."
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Yet another day passes
Well, this morning was quite busy. I fielded quite a few calls from old workmates in regards to what happened to Pete. His funeral is tomorrow and I can feel a bout of depression coming on. I was going through my mail contacts list and saw his name in there. It was with a heavy heart that I deleted it from my contacts list.
In other news, my wife tried to kill me by hiding all of the nasal sprays today. She put them in the medicine chest where I would never look for them.
I've decided to add this picture of Kate Fischer just to make myself feel a bit better.
In other news, my wife tried to kill me by hiding all of the nasal sprays today. She put them in the medicine chest where I would never look for them.
I've decided to add this picture of Kate Fischer just to make myself feel a bit better.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Rest in Peace
In the early hours of the morning of the 20th of May, I lost a dear, old friend of mine; Peter Linsley.
He had been suffering from something that it seems the doctors could not contain and the complications surrounding this caused his death. I am feeling quite empty at the moment. Peter was a great mate who had a quick wit and a wonderful imagination. We used to spend a lot of our time working together and playing computer games together.
When we were both working together, the amount of work we had to to do concerned us little as we both enjoyed each others company telling jokes, singing songs and basically making up our own brand of idiocy. The work that we did changed dramatically and towards the end of our time together as work partners, we found ourselves going down a completely different path from where we started. Peter wasn't happy with the direction we were going and decided he would prefer to get back to what he did best and I just kept on heading down another path. However, that didn't stop us from getting together and making the most of our friendship. Peter eventually left our common workplace and moved into another government office just next door to his previous place of employment. He told me that he was only ever given temp work there and was never sure of where he was going to be from one moment to the next, but it didn't really seem to worry him too much.
As the years passed, Pete and I saw less of each other. We found it more difficult to spend any time together as Pete's circle of friends was changing and my family responsibilities kicked in. However, our friendship never waned and when we could get together, we would. It would be just like we had been together the day before. He had confided to me that he was looking at moving to Canberra at one stage and he seemed quite happy about the idea of this, but for one reason or another it didn't eventuate and he remained in Brownsville. When Peter sent me a txt stating that he was in hospital and undergoing surgery for this cancerous growth, I was worried, but he seemed happy enough & sort of philosophical about it all. A period of time after the operation, he was able to go home and I spoke to him on the phone about his ordeal and how he was coping. He sounded quite happy and said to me that he had lost a fair bit of weight over the time he had been in hospital which I put down to the obvious "nutritional value" of hospital food.
About a month and a half had passed and I received a txt from Pete's brother Steven telling me that Peter had to be taken back to hospital and was not in a good way. I sent a message back to Steve to keep me informed of his progress. One night passed and then Steve sent out a txt to say that Peter had passed away this morning.
I'll miss my old mate dearly...God-damned Banana-Head.
He had been suffering from something that it seems the doctors could not contain and the complications surrounding this caused his death. I am feeling quite empty at the moment. Peter was a great mate who had a quick wit and a wonderful imagination. We used to spend a lot of our time working together and playing computer games together.
When we were both working together, the amount of work we had to to do concerned us little as we both enjoyed each others company telling jokes, singing songs and basically making up our own brand of idiocy. The work that we did changed dramatically and towards the end of our time together as work partners, we found ourselves going down a completely different path from where we started. Peter wasn't happy with the direction we were going and decided he would prefer to get back to what he did best and I just kept on heading down another path. However, that didn't stop us from getting together and making the most of our friendship. Peter eventually left our common workplace and moved into another government office just next door to his previous place of employment. He told me that he was only ever given temp work there and was never sure of where he was going to be from one moment to the next, but it didn't really seem to worry him too much.
As the years passed, Pete and I saw less of each other. We found it more difficult to spend any time together as Pete's circle of friends was changing and my family responsibilities kicked in. However, our friendship never waned and when we could get together, we would. It would be just like we had been together the day before. He had confided to me that he was looking at moving to Canberra at one stage and he seemed quite happy about the idea of this, but for one reason or another it didn't eventuate and he remained in Brownsville. When Peter sent me a txt stating that he was in hospital and undergoing surgery for this cancerous growth, I was worried, but he seemed happy enough & sort of philosophical about it all. A period of time after the operation, he was able to go home and I spoke to him on the phone about his ordeal and how he was coping. He sounded quite happy and said to me that he had lost a fair bit of weight over the time he had been in hospital which I put down to the obvious "nutritional value" of hospital food.
About a month and a half had passed and I received a txt from Pete's brother Steven telling me that Peter had to be taken back to hospital and was not in a good way. I sent a message back to Steve to keep me informed of his progress. One night passed and then Steve sent out a txt to say that Peter had passed away this morning.
I'll miss my old mate dearly...God-damned Banana-Head.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tiny Prayer Answered
Years ago, a good mate of mine was taking photos of the band I was in at the time and he took a piccy of me that I always regarded as probably one of the best if not THE best.
I sent the picture away to be published with a band resume that we were having made up at the time and that was the last I saw of it....and the resume. My life (and ego) was shattered! Whatever would I do? All I had was a bad photocopy of the picture and believe it or not, I actually demanded it back from one of the girls I used to work with who I had given it to. I told her that I would get another one to her when I managed to get the original photo back. It never happened. Over a period of a few years, my old friend who took the picture was working at the same place of employment as I and I asked about possibly getting a hold of the negative. His words were not comforting at the time. "I'll have a look, but I really don't know where any of that stuff is. My stuff is in a state of disarray."
I decided that it might be best to move on with my life and not get overtly flustered at the loss of a picture that made me look like a Greek Adonis.
Then, a month or so ago, my old friend Rob contacted me and told me that he had located the negative and that he would not only get the photo reprinted, but that he would also have it blown up for me. I was so happy I ran around the house crying out "He's found it! He's found it! My life is complete!" I'm sure that I ripped off all my clothes and swan-dove into a large glass of water.
So, here for your gratification (and mine) is the picture that I speak of.
Well, I thought I looked good in it anyway....
I sent the picture away to be published with a band resume that we were having made up at the time and that was the last I saw of it....and the resume. My life (and ego) was shattered! Whatever would I do? All I had was a bad photocopy of the picture and believe it or not, I actually demanded it back from one of the girls I used to work with who I had given it to. I told her that I would get another one to her when I managed to get the original photo back. It never happened. Over a period of a few years, my old friend who took the picture was working at the same place of employment as I and I asked about possibly getting a hold of the negative. His words were not comforting at the time. "I'll have a look, but I really don't know where any of that stuff is. My stuff is in a state of disarray."
I decided that it might be best to move on with my life and not get overtly flustered at the loss of a picture that made me look like a Greek Adonis.
Then, a month or so ago, my old friend Rob contacted me and told me that he had located the negative and that he would not only get the photo reprinted, but that he would also have it blown up for me. I was so happy I ran around the house crying out "He's found it! He's found it! My life is complete!" I'm sure that I ripped off all my clothes and swan-dove into a large glass of water.
So, here for your gratification (and mine) is the picture that I speak of.
Well, I thought I looked good in it anyway....
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Going on Holidays.....again
Well, I suppose it's going to be that I only post something here when I go off on a holiday. This time it's Bali.
The wife and I are heading over there to celebrate mine and my mate Wayne's 50th birthday. Unfortunately, my birthday is actually 2 days after we come home, but I figure that I will still celebrate it anyways. Once again, my mate Buzz and his wife Jaye will also be there. It's been 3 years since I was there with them to be best man at their wedding. The best time of my life I might add. It was great to be there with so many great people.
The picture I have put up here is the view into the courtyard from our balcony. We stayed at the Malasti Beach resort. Four Stars, but felt like five.
YouTube....source for strangeness
There are times when you come across something that really makes you smile. This guy on YouTube has done just that.
Monday, November 12, 2007
An Unwanted Diversion
My wife and I returned from a 10 day cruise around the South pacific. The holiday was meant to exclude going to smelly Noumea as we had been there once before and were not impressed.
As we floated around the Pacific Ocean on the Pacific Star, it was announced to us that we would be making a slight detour and that our previous destination (The Isle of Pines) would have to be averted due to some silly old bugger suffering a from some illness on the ship. He or she had to be hospitalized and 2000 people would have to put up with it. Where did we end up? Noumea!
I want my money back!
Having had my whinge, I can tell you that we had the time of our lives anyway. I think the kids would have preferred to stay home and play on the X-Box....little turds.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
The most powerful man in the world......err....
Stuff like this cracks me up. I often feel that sometimes, the people that edit these little snippets really don't need to 'enhance' anything...
George Bush Drunk Part II
Posted Feb 10, 2006Late Late Show Craig Ferguson is convinced that the Prez has fallen off the wagon - take a look at the evidence.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Dem Bones, Dem Bones
Not everything in life is easy when you grow old. You start to forget things and you also can injure yourself quite easily. Both of these apply to me...
While finishing up a gig at a local pub on the South Coast, I stepped off the stage while perving at the barmaids and manage to twist my foot underneath me. There was a loud 'POP' and everybody looked around to see me writhing in pain on the floor. I had fractured the small bones in foot x-rays would later show. It has now been around 6 - 8 weeks and things are returning to normal, but as you get older, the stifness and pain just seems to refuse to go away. The guy pictured here thought it was hilarious...
Thursday, April 05, 2007
How to destroy your Bank Account
Well, I decided to bite the bullet and get one of those damn-fangled new big screen TV's. Considering what I had before, this is just like looking out your window. In fact, it's even better than looking out my windows, as I have not cleaned those in quite a while. I now have something that compliments the Home Theatre system that I've had for about 4 years or more. I decided to go with the LCD variety of TV and not the plasma, as the plasma seems to leave a sort of relic around the sharp edges of the picture that is on screen. This new TV also has a built in HD set-top box thingy and automatically sets itself up once you plug the antenna in and turn the TV on. Good. That saves me.
Now I can watch Jerry Springer in Hi Definition....
Now I can watch Jerry Springer in Hi Definition....
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Long Time Between Drinks
Well, as some of you may know, it takes a bit of time and dedication to keep a blog going, so you will forgive me if I haven't entered anything in here for quite a while. Yes you, the one person out there that reads this drivel.
Well, what should we talk about?
Perfect!
The VPOTUS was in Australia a couple of weeks back and about 800 protestors turned up to greet him. Over two days, the cries of "Bring our troops home now" "No Blood for Oil" and "Cheney's a wanker!" were heard in The Rocks. There was, however, support for the man during his stay. Below is a picture of the enthusiastic support base for the VP.
As shown by the support base here, there is nothing wrong with loving America. However, there is certainly something wrong with loving evil Americans who obviously hate America and other Americans which, with Cheney, is obviously the case.
The Lewinski scandal endured by the Clinton Administration has nothing on this lot; the cover-ups, the corruption, the lies & lack of evidence that took us into an illegal war, the treasonous outing of a covert CIA operative in an attempt to wreak revenge on a man who told us that there were no WMD's in Iraq and no, Hussein did not seek Yellow-cake from Niger, and now the scandals surrounding the Attorney General and biggest weasel of them all Alberto Gonzales (more affectionately known as 'Gonzo').....the list goes on.
It's time to stop this occupation of Iraq and time to shut the Bush apologists up that keep using the same old "We're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here" meme. What are they going to do? Get in their boats and row over? Please!
Well, what should we talk about?
Perfect!
The VPOTUS was in Australia a couple of weeks back and about 800 protestors turned up to greet him. Over two days, the cries of "Bring our troops home now" "No Blood for Oil" and "Cheney's a wanker!" were heard in The Rocks. There was, however, support for the man during his stay. Below is a picture of the enthusiastic support base for the VP.
As shown by the support base here, there is nothing wrong with loving America. However, there is certainly something wrong with loving evil Americans who obviously hate America and other Americans which, with Cheney, is obviously the case.
The Lewinski scandal endured by the Clinton Administration has nothing on this lot; the cover-ups, the corruption, the lies & lack of evidence that took us into an illegal war, the treasonous outing of a covert CIA operative in an attempt to wreak revenge on a man who told us that there were no WMD's in Iraq and no, Hussein did not seek Yellow-cake from Niger, and now the scandals surrounding the Attorney General and biggest weasel of them all Alberto Gonzales (more affectionately known as 'Gonzo').....the list goes on.
It's time to stop this occupation of Iraq and time to shut the Bush apologists up that keep using the same old "We're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here" meme. What are they going to do? Get in their boats and row over? Please!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Killing babies
Michael J. fox has Parkinson's disease. He is supporting a polititian in America; Claire McCaskill who believes in the benefits of Embryonic Stem Cell research. To watch this man now makes you want to cry. His disease is really in full swing and the medication is not having the effect it used to have. To see his message go here
However, what is really depressing is that narrow-minded, christian zealots see this as slaughtering babies. Check some of the comments in the comments section at YT there.
Ok, let's suppose for one minute that there is some point to their rants. If we check the bible, it says that God breathes life into the soul as the baby is born, not when it's a single cellular organism. Regardless of this, I'm tired of others making decisions about the science of this research without first checking the facts. In the IVF programme there are hundreds of thousands of these cells that are discarded after one has been used. Can't these be put to good use? Can't the already living benefit from this, or should we just let everybody die of debilitating disease for the betterement of a stem cell. To me, that does not seem at all logical.
However, what is really depressing is that narrow-minded, christian zealots see this as slaughtering babies. Check some of the comments in the comments section at YT there.
Ok, let's suppose for one minute that there is some point to their rants. If we check the bible, it says that God breathes life into the soul as the baby is born, not when it's a single cellular organism. Regardless of this, I'm tired of others making decisions about the science of this research without first checking the facts. In the IVF programme there are hundreds of thousands of these cells that are discarded after one has been used. Can't these be put to good use? Can't the already living benefit from this, or should we just let everybody die of debilitating disease for the betterement of a stem cell. To me, that does not seem at all logical.
For the Hard of Hearing
Feel free to tell me how vain this is...
This was filmed at Shoalhaven Heads Bowling club in 2001.
This was filmed at Shoalhaven Heads Bowling club in 2001.
Monday, October 23, 2006
If I wasn't married...
I met this character a couple of weeks ago at the Master Builder's Club. To be honest, I love her to bits and we have been friends since I can't remember when. Rosanna is probably one of the highlights of my life. She has been a friend to me and a musical colleague who I love, admire and respect and will do so until I drop dead. I hadn't seen her in years, but after her Father's passing she moved back to Wollongong from Sydney and is living with her mum for the time being. When I found out about this I wanted to see her as soon as I could. Seeing her again was like coming up for air. We both have found that we have become more politically motivated in our old age.
Not only is she a brilliant musician, but she had a great set of legs...
A room by any other name
Here we are in late October and the spa has been the centre of many a fun-filled evening sitting around sipping wine, drinking beer and chatting.
Today I'm expecting to take delivery of a pool table to put in the room as well, so I'm sitting here waiting for that to turn up. When it turns up, I will post a picture of it here.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Late Update
Boy, it really has been a long time since I posted last. Our room is finished (complete with leaks) and the spa is working wonderfully. Deb & I have had a couple of relaxing evenings lying back in bubbly comfort.
We have just come back from the snow where we enjoyed a week in the cold. As I have gammy knees, I can no longer ski which is frustrating. I have to sit in the lodge and drink beer while waiting for the family to finish up. That takes all day and I can usually end up totalled. I decided that it would be wise to stay at in the apartment and watch movies rather than drinking myself into a funky haze.
I have more to post, but this will do for the moment. The World is calling....
We have just come back from the snow where we enjoyed a week in the cold. As I have gammy knees, I can no longer ski which is frustrating. I have to sit in the lodge and drink beer while waiting for the family to finish up. That takes all day and I can usually end up totalled. I decided that it would be wise to stay at in the apartment and watch movies rather than drinking myself into a funky haze.
I have more to post, but this will do for the moment. The World is calling....
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Spa Time
Yes, it finally arrived!
The delivery boys were unable to bring it up either side of the house and, in the end, decided that a 50 tonne crane would do the job better.
This turned up at about 1:30pm yesterday and squashed Debbie's Daffodils. The cranes specifications only allow it to move 18 metres beyond its centre of gravity, however, we needed the spa moved 22 metres. For every metre beyond its point of no return, you add around 150 kilos. I watched in fear as the crane started to tip off its counter-weight. I asked the driver if the crane would go through my house. He said "if we are unlucky, yes."
I then went to the back yard with the crane chaser and the two spa delivery guys and stood there sweating with nervousness and fear. I think that my fear was easily read by the other guys there as I started babbling incoherently about Insurance claims and the like.
Once the spa was down, I was able to breathe a little easier and then had to help the guys wheel it down the step to the covered patio area. My job was to steer it into position while the guys stood at the front and stopped it from crashing into the kitchen. Once down on the slightly sloppy, flat area, it was then my job to push from the back while the fellows guided it in through the opening where the doors will be. Once on the tiled area, they then asked me would I crawl under neat it while they held it up so I could slide a flatbed trolley underneath it. I asked if there was another option to which they said "yeah, you can lift it up". I declined that option and decided to go for the trolley-sliding. We then got it into position and I slid under once more to get the trolley out again. We shook hands and they left.
We now have a gigantic spa, but no power to it yet and so, therefore, can't enjoy it till the sparky turns powerrun poweer throughout the new room.
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