1st: I went along to Milano's in Brighton for dinner followed by a tremendous show by Eddi Reader - a fine evening that I shared with some good friends (Terri, Trena, Charmaine, Francine & Gerry, Karin and soemm of her mates). As I've mentioned previously, Eddi is a favourite of mine and the show was as magical as her's usually are.

7th: was the play The Dirty Mile - I wrote this up in a previous entry in my blog.

11th: Sharon Jones at the Esplande Hotel - what a powerhouse of a performer - unfortunately either she was too small because I could barely see her - or I am too short and therefore I couldn't see her too well. Either way, it was just occasionally as she bounced around that her head appeared above the crowd.

12th: Went to a play called Habits of the Heart which took place around the streets of St Kilda - and was co-written by Robyn who is a friend of Karins. The actors played various characters including drug addicts and prostitutes and each scene took place at a different location as we strolled around following the action. It was an interesting play indeed.

13th: My Citizenship Ceremony - I wrote this up in a previous entry in my blog.

18th: Buddy Guy and Keb Mo at the Palais Theatre - a couple of legends.

19th: Got myself a permanent job at the NAB.

21st: I flew to Sydney and spent some of the day with Maggie (and her hubby and son). Maggie is a friend that I was at college with back in 1978 - just the 30 years ago then! In the evening I went to the Opera House to see Jools Holland. To summarise - I can't remember going to a better show. He had his rhythm and blues orchestra with him that comprises of 5 saxaphones, 4 trombones, 3 trumpets, drums, guitar, bass guitar, his brother on keyboards and himself on piano. He also had three singers including the wonderful Ruby Turner. The Opera House is a great building outside and in and the audience really got into the show and spent a lot of the time on their feet - musically, it was just fantastic - so many talented people playing together - what a top night - and what a happy chap I was - what a hero he is.

22nd: returned to Melbourne and had dinner with Trudi, Marion and Nicole and some of their mates. After dinner we went to see Ross Noble who is over here as part of the annual Melbourne Comedy Festival - he's a strange and funny man.

23rd: I finally had the pleasure of seeing Mavis Staples - I've loved this woman's voice for many years and though she was struggling with a bad cold, it was a majestic voice and she put on a fine show - and she had a great band and backing singers too. Fantastic.

24th: Off to see Jools Holland again - this time at the Palms in Crown. It's a great room, but is set up more for shows and cabaret than for an energetic and big sounding band. Musically, the gig was superb and I was so happy to see him again and share the experience with Karin, Charmaine and Margaret. The only disappointment was that the crowd were less enthusiastic than in Sydney, but I was thrilled with the show - there is nobody to touch what this man can do - he is a 100% star.

25th: This day found me at the Palais again - this time to see Sinead O'Connor. I didn't know what to expect and was very pleased with what I got. I was there with my friend Julie and we were treated to a great sound - her voice is faultless and the band were superb and sang some great harmonies with her. All the songs that I knew were performed true to the originals but with the extra energy of being live - she didn't play around with them too much. It was a great night.

30th: To finish off the month, I went to see Stephen K Amos as part of the Comedy Festival - I was with Sharon, Bec and Steph and it was a great night followed by a great dinner. What a lovely way to spend an evening - good company, entertainment and food - happy days.

Another thing that happened was that Vika and Linda are no more as Linda has decided to hang up the mic. I don't know whether she'll ever change her mind, but good luck to her. I suppose that it is one less website for me to worry about having to maintain - I'll do a final update to bring it all up to date and that will be that. Shame.

So that was a busy month and I didn't mention the usual socialising that I got up to. And I didn't mention that I've found a new masseur - she is wonderful.