oct dates-radio shows-etc

The beginning of this blog I was questioning what the point of it was. Still haven't really felt much different. Recent book panel thing with a Yank and a Canadian the talk was of writers performing. I said I loved Michael Ondaatje and people poo pooed him for not being a showman. i said "yeah, he's a feckin' writer!" or somethin' like that. People you have the most respect for are teh ones not shootin' their mouths off all the time. Sports players especially.
Anyway, here I am taking up some digital space. Though that is limitless isn't it? Up in the clouds someshwere?

Here are some random places I have been.

Saw a film called "the singularity" about a US inventor called Ray Kurzweill. He made these great keyboards and things that allowed blind people to scan and hear whats in a book. Obsessed with living forever. Makes a lot of dough with vitamins etc. Takes 2 - 300 pills a day. "reprogramming my hardware". Has identified a moment when man and digital technology will come together and teat will come soon. "THE SINGULARITY". Has a shed with his fathers lifes work in it. Wants to bring his dads brian and ideas back. Wants to upload himself. Was an interesting film. three scientists were at the screening, all working on robotics. Some are for the SINGULAITY and most against it. the robots will kill us. One looked like a Grateful Dead fan, another like Ray Manzarek. (a dork). I asked a question, "aren't you afraid that there might be an agent from the future here in the audience to kill you?". I'm afraid the singularity is already happening. We are done for.

Talked with gary Foley, aboriginal political activist on the radio show I do (Banana Lounge Broadcasting midday-2pm Tuesdays on RRR fm http://www.rrr.org.au). The podcast is available on the RRR "audio archives" section of their site. Gary is doinga show at the Melbourne Festival. A great talker.

Also interviewed football legend Tommy Hafey. Coached Richmond and Collingwood, geelong and Sydney. 80 years old, does 200 pushups, 700 situps, a run along the beach and a swim EVERY morning of his life and has never drank booze or smoked. Amazingly focussed 80 year old. Sharp as a tack.

Gonna talk to Graham Bon in November.Also Robin Hitchcock and Fiona Oloughlin.

Read a great book by Delia Falconer . "the lost thoughts of soldiers". Its a great book if you know the characters in the George Armstroing Custers regiment that was at Little Big Horn. I had a cat for 20 years called AUGHTIE,.the name that Custer was called, when a boy, by his younger brother Tom. So yes, I was up to speed on the 7th cavalry.

Also read William Blighs "mutiny on the bounty" . Six months in Tahiti and the crew mutinied when they left. Bligh cast adrift in a long boat with 18 men. Took them 3,600 miles to Java . One crew member was killed by natives on an island they stopped at. Navigating by sextant , telescope and time piece.

Caught up with series 3 of "Breaking bad". What an arsehole the main character is. Quite addictive though. poor Jesse.

Saw two series of "justified". Awesome characters and milieu. Kentucky meth cooking dope dealing dixie mafia bastards.

Started watching "curb your enthusiasm" from series one.

Still catch "neighbours" most nights.

Loved the new album by PJ Harvey, "let england shake" and teh new one by TINIWAREN. the desert dwelling guitar boogie meisters. This is more of an acoustic hitout.


Doing a lot of writing. Looking forward to some playing...



Wheatsheaf Hotel- Adelaide. Oct 14th and 15th. This gig is run by a group of women in a quiet street just off the main squares of the city. Thebarton. No poker machines or sports tvs. A band room out the back. We do two sets, stretching out into new and old tunes.

Northcote Social Club Oct 31st. A monday night, before the melbourne Cup. With our friends, the Sand Pebbles. A great room with a great sound.


Camelot Lounge, Marrickville, Sydney -Nov 11th.
Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle with teh SINS. Nov 12th.

time on the blocks-creative dig - oct dates

I've been doing a lot of writing and rehearsing with the Lurid Yellow Mist. Songs I've worked on for a couple of years. Using my 12 string electric , mostly. Its a Chinese knockoff of a Music Man. I love it. Especially when its put through a pedal called a Janglebox which is a handmade unit from the USA made specifically for the electric 12. To get that Roger McGuinn, classic Byrds sound. Involves a lot of compression is all I know. ActuallyI've been looking into it a fair bit. People have been chasing that sound for years so theres a lot of talk about it. Basically Roger recorded through two high end studio compressors on the early Byrds sides. At the time , guitarists mostly used flat wound strings. these are nowadays mostly favoured by jazz players. Everybody else uses round wound strings. Roger also used a 12 string Rickenbacker which had the octave (high) strings sitting behind the normal string so the latter would be struck first. All other 12 strings have the octave string first and you get a much "chimier" sound.
The compression gives you a clean sound with a lot of sustain. Its an addictive sound. Roger also played through a Vox AC30.
I'm still flying my Roland GC408. Solid state with 4 little speakers in the slant-back cabinet.
The music world is full of people who try to recreate sounds like museum piece projects. I'm not looking to go back to 65-67. Just getting a sound which I like and which sits great next to Stu Pereras more classic rock tones.
So I've been rehearsing a lot with this setup and we'll head into the studio some time towards the end of the year to start throwing some songs down. They're all vert much fully formed in the arrangements. Short and sharp tunes. Very happy with the whole sound.
I did a writers festival panel appearance up in Brisbane. In their incredibly swish Gallery of Modern Art building. Next door was the Surrealist exhibition. As good as the one they had there in 1994. It was a 4 person panel talking about "what the written word means". We all had little Madonna mics around our faces and an ipad in front of us to catch tweets from people who were watching online. I told them a normal mic would look more authoritative and be easier to use. Also look less stoopid. I don't want to be the iconoclast in these proceedings. Much too mature really.But I can't help it sometimes. Things went on and I tried to be a good team player. A woman on the panel wrote erotic fiction. Sounds good but I thought teres far too much tits and ass around nowadays. Its hardly a hidden, forbidden area. A music writer and a young fellow who did some group writing online rounded out the team. Towards the end I cracked the shits and said I didn't give a damn what people were tweeting or what the audience thought. "They're there to watch and listen!" I cried. Probably more of the tweeting vogue that upset me. I said I didn't feel the need to talk up the technology (itunes,youtube,ipads etc) as it would smash us all to pieces anyway. Dont ask me to cheer it on!
Also did a panel at the Melbourne writers festival. This was four writers who were or are musicians who had wandered into the world of writing books. Jane Clifton and I were the Australians, Simone Felice from the USA and Dave Bidini from Canada. I had loved Janes book about every house she had lived in and Simones novel called "Black Jesus". Daves book was about the HOmeless World Cup. It was called "Home and away". All the publicity mentioned his book title with no reference to the australian long running tv soap of the same name. I am sure most people reading the pr would have thought he was from the tv show.
Proceedings at this were funny and instructive. Jane was the wrangler. The leader of the talk. We all read a bit. It struck me how much the Canadian and I , the Australian male, put out. As if we had to justify ourselves in any context. the Yankee just WAS. He was easy in his skin and in his role and people listened to his voice as if he had natural authority. Americans have their culture working for them all over the world constantly. preparing the ground. Me and the Canadian were sweating it. I liked Simones book.
Part of the talk was about how writers nowadays have to be performers too. I didn't like that. Of course.
They filmed it and it might be online at some point.

Looking forward to more shows in the coming months....


Friday 14th and Saturday 15th October- Wheatsheaf Hotel -Thebarton - Adelaide.

Monday 31st October- CUP EVE SHOW
Northcote Social Club in Melbourne w/ the Sand Pebbles and the SINS (NSW)

Friday Nov 11th Camelot Lounge - 19 Marrickville Rd,(Cnr Railway Pde) Marrickville, Sydney,

Saturday Nov 12th the Great Northern Hotel 83-89 Scott Street, Newcastle,
NSW - with the SINS
http://www.thegreatnorthern.com.au/