It took me some time to get back into the swing of things after the trip - I guess that it had been a while since I had 4 weeks off work and I had been working fairly hard on the buildup to the holiday. I was just relaxed. I was hoping for a gentle transition back into work but I walked in to a lot of issues and people had been holding onto things, waiting for me return, rather than lettings others address them. Annoying.
I am usually going out a lot and catching up with friends and having just had the holiday, I had lots of tales to share - but even for this, my favourite of activities, it took me a while to get going. Having said that, I did catch up with Karin, Steph, Bec, Sharon, Charlotte and Lisa.
Other events from the month were:
As mentioned many times, I just love going to see Archie Roach - he is a superb story teller, his melodies are great, he writes in a great way that expresses things easily and it always feels very personal and always leaves me feeling good. I have a lot of music on my ipod, but Archie gets a fair amount of playing - it's good music when strolling home - it takes me into a great space.
Carolyn and I went to this one with her sister, Denise - so a catchup after our trip and a damn fine experience to share. Another act that I have seen more times than I can count and again, never a bad show in there. Both of them have superb voices and when they harmonise it is so special. They have a lot of songs to choose from, so you never know what you'e going to get, though there are some that feature more often. They always have great musicians with them and when they Dion Hirini on guitar and vocals with them, it always hits the mark. This was no exception - another great gig.
This could become a regular think in my world - it seems that it may be a once a month event where a few of us from work go to the Trivia Night at a bar local to work. It is a good laugh where we have two teams from work and we are more interested in beating each other rather than winning overall. I am still amazed at how I have lived so long and appear to not know anything - but it is the taking part that counts - and I am good at that.
Victoria is Carolyn's neice being the daughter of her brother Mark and his second wife, Robyn. Robyn is who we stayed with in Colorado - she came over with her daughter, Lexi, for the party. The party was not bad and the time went by easily - interesting people to talk to and good food - what more could you want. Something that is clear is that I have nothing in common with people in their 20s - I think that I might be an older man that I realised.
When I arrived in Australia and started discovering the incredible music on offer, the first artist that I started seeing was Chris Wilson and Crown of Thorns - what an incredible band and what great music they played. I couldn't get enough of them. Chris has a great voice and plays the harmonica better than anyone I have ever seen. He had Andrew Pendlebury on guitar who can do it all. Just writing about it takes me back there and I remember how much I loved those gigs.
When I saw that Chris had reformed the Crown of Thorns for a gig or to, I was excited and snapped up a ticket to see them. Unfortunately, the Crown of Thorns in question was the original version that preceded my arrival to Australia, so though I knew all the musicians, it wasn't what I had in mind. Having said that, they were great and it took me back to those happy days. It was also good to see Chris enjoying himself doing some of the old stuff. I could enjoy some more of this.
I went to this gig having heard about Women of Docs for a few years now. They are from Queensland and don't come down too often. I had head that they were similar to The Waifs and that has to be a good thing. My mistake was that I had listened to The Waifs earlier in the week and that sets the bar pretty high - in this case, a bit too high. It was good, but not something that I would bother doing again.
Charlotte decided to celebrate her 50th with a party at her brothers house - and very nice it was too. They provided all the food and drink and it was a nice bunch of folk to spend an evening with. There were speeches and live music in there too. It still seems strange that I am in my 50s and some of my friends are getting up there too. When I was younger, 50 year olds were actually old - but surely that doesn't apply to me too? No definitely not.
The last time we saw Georgie and Kyle was for brunch in New York - later that day, they got engaged. This occasion was drinks to celebrate the occasion. They know a lot of people and it was great to see them so happy. I don't get to see Georgie too often nowadays, but that is how it goes sometimes. Regardless, it's great that she found Kyle and it's grand to see how her life is going.
This was our second time of seeing Vika Bull perform the songs of Etta James in this stage show where they talk about her life and where the songs came from. Though I am a fan of Etta's, I don't see how she could have performed them any better than Vika - and the band are a sensation too - made of of three of Vika (and Linda's) band. They are bringing out a CD of the show, so I am looking forward to being able to relive the show that way.
As I've mentioned many times, I enjoy the Women in Letters events very much - always a surprise and mostly interesting and it never fails to inspire. This event was the launch of their third book - another collection of letters performed at their events. I haven't been to as many events since the last book, so I am hoping for some great experiences as I make my way through the letters. The event itself was done very well - it was a case of pre-buying tickets and it was limited.
It was held at 45 Downstairs a gallery owned by Julian Burnside a gallery in the City and involved three performers with new letters, Virginia Gaye, Andy Griffiths and Toni somebody. This was followed by some short speeches and live music from Pru somebody. There was food and drink provided, so I couldn't fail to be happy. I chatted to a couple of interesting people too. I didn't buy the book, but I am sure that I will moving forwards.
I am a fan of John and I enjoy his radio show (with Father Bob) and his TV stuff too. He recently brought out a book called Murder in Mississippi - the story of a true crime where a black chap murdered a white supremacist - an interesting subject but a big fat book - so I am unlikely to ever read it. Having released the book, John has been touring around to promote it. The session I went to was a Q&A session at a bookshop in Elsternwick - not a huge space, so it was quite crowded. But it was only around an hour long and it was entertaining and interesting - which has to be a good thing.
Yvette, Jackie, Deanne, Murat, Tommy, Georgie and Matt
A final show with Archie this year and, as always, an absolute pleasure. He was very chatty and told stories and shared experiences and played many of my favourites. I think I have mentioned him often enough that there is no need to say too much more. To summarise, he is a superb story teller who chooses the right words and has a great ear for a melody. He is also one of those rare performers who is able to take his audience out of their own worlds into his.
Having just mentioned Archie and his talents, I move on to Leonard Cohen who is the king of what he does. Hi is simply fantastic at it.
Taking everything into account, this was going to be a great gig and one that we had been looking forward to for a long time. It was a Day on The Green event at a winery near Geelong. We paid extra money for the VIP package that included good seats, food and drink and easy parking. The reason for this was to enhance the day making it easier all round and allowing us to just get there and soak it all in.
What we hadn't taken into account was that there would be some real arses in the crowd - people who were pissed and not really there to get lost in the music. My theory is that they may have had corporate tickets so were happy to be there but had no interest in Leonard or the music - and definitely no consideration for anyone else in the audience. The people in question were the four next to Carolyn and the three in front of me - and pretty much they were the only ones who seemed uninterested - we know this because we ended up moving seats to get away from them - and though we could still hear them, they didn't infringe on our pleasure as much. We heard other people telling them to shut up, but it made no different. Just wankers.
As for Leonard, it was a great concert - everything we expected and very enjoyable despite the impact of the 7 arses.
So what is it about him that I like so much? The lyrics are great, the melodies are great, the arrangements are great, the backing singers are great and his delivery is great. I think that about covers it
Because I like Leonard so much, I purchased tickets for a local concert he was doing and it was one of the best things that I've been to. It was a longer show than the one at the winery and the audience were spellbound from start to finish - a great way to really appreciate everything there is about him - a really special night indeed.
Geoff is somebody that I have seen many times over the years but who I don't tend to see too often nowadays. He is about the best guitarist I have seen live (and I've seen many) and he is always friendly and welcoming. The reason I went to see him this time was because it was one of his rare Classically Blue gigs where he performs with his band (The Souldiggers) and his mate Adrian Keating who is the principal violinist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It is a great partnership and they really make one hell of a sound between them - and the fact that they both enjoy it so much just translates into a great experience for the audience - this was no exception.
Back in October, we went to Nicole and Drew's wedding in New York. Nicole works with Carolyn and is from New Jersey but was marrying Drew who is from Melbourne. So they had a wedding in New York and this was their Australian wedding for those who missed the first one. It was held at The Heide Museum of Modern Art - a great space with lovely grounds and contains Cafe Vue, so the food was always going to be great. So having a wedding on New Year's Eve is a big ask but there were a fair number of people there and all had a great time in a very relaxed atmousphere. It was a lovely and well planned affair that I'm pleased went so well for them.
Sharon, Steph, Mara, Tuth, Georgina, Jo, Deanne, Tonia and Trudi
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