Chrissy Amphlett 1959-2013

When Chrissy Amphlett appeared on our TV screens in 1980, it felt like Australian women in rock had finally made a dent.  She didn't compromise and I remember a number of women who were teenagers at the time remember her as the one that made it OK to be female and be rock and in your face.
This is a big loss to rock, feminism and music. damn - we had a blast though

Road Trip Yaye!

we went on a mini road trip just before the June long weekend; out to Bathurst, Millthorpe & Orange - mainly to visit the grave of a friend who died almost a year ago.

it was really really cold outside but the little car hired (by friend who drives, who I will call MG) was a little greenhouse

pretty from the car window (a bit bumpy for photography though)

is that pash rash?
Orange cemetery - religion, gum trees and flies & a great-great grandmother & g-g-grandfather buried over yonder.

above - Millthorpe cemetery - top of the hill with my back to our friend's grave is a bunch of flags for people too lazy to pray.

we stayed overnight in Bathurst where it dropped to 0 degrees Celsius.

I burnt a bunch of CDs for the trip - all sorts of music and lots of fun - Nancy's boots were walking and Cher told us all about being gypsies, tramps and theives, Dusty - let us know that You Dont Own Me and got very sophisticated Take Another Little Piece of My Heart (way cooler and more convincing than Janis - to me - there was a minor dispute of who sings the best version but made better with some Patti, Laurie (Anderson) and Nina Hagen).  Top of the chart for me was Hush by Deep Purple, Melting Pot by Blue Mink and Love Grows where my Rosemary goes by Edison Lighthouse but the winner of the trip with the best melodrama and hilarious lyrics was:

A huge hit in Australia - Susan Raye singing LA International Airport - cause you know, in America, it doesn't matter how sad you are, there is always a pilot ready to tell you that you're flying friendly skies!

Leonora Carrington April 6 1917-25 May 2011

It's people like Leonora Carrington that make a case for immortality valid.

A wonderful, inspiring and insightful artist.

Coincidentally, I am reading her novel, The Hearing Trumpet at the moment - it's a small book and I am trying to stretch out the pleasure of being in her story even though it would be easy to read it in one sitting.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/may/26/leonora-carrington-obituary

there's a good documentary including an interview with Leonora Carringotn, aged 84 at this vimeo link: http://vimeo.com/10760131
 

Check you later Rowland S Howard - thanks for "Shivers"

When I read about people who die of cancer or other drawn out terminal diseases others say, he/she was serene, s/he accepted their fate are philosophical even... but Rowland Howard who wrote one of my all time favourite songs (Shivers) wasn't ready yet according to Mick Harvey (fellow Birthday Party member) - Rowland S Howard wanted to live.  but his liver didn't let him.  Bugger that, hey.

A rather harsh sounding version was the original 1978 version by his first well known band, The Young Charlatans and then there's the very smooth Nick with The Boys Next Door in '79 with some lovely guitar work from Roland but the best version of the song for me is Marie Hoy (and friends) performing it on the Dogs in Space soundtrack 1986:

(This was so utterly cool, I bought the record just for this one track (sadly the "White" cover LP - with the band Marie Hoy was a part of - Thrush & the Cunts censored - I wonder how much the "Black" cover LP is worth! I'm yet to see one)  but Iggy doing Endless Sea is pretty neat too)

Of course there's 30 years of guitar playing, song writing & performing - lots of excellent songs and he made a difference and by writing that one song that enriched my life -  cheers Rowland S Howard, check you later.

Shivers - the smooth blokes version:

Rowland S Howard 24 October 1959 – 30 December 2009

I killed Sally

Well, maybe it wasn't Sally - Sally Slug (pronounced Ssthally Ssthhlug with lots of lisping spit please)- but likely one of her relatives, offspring, neighbours - slugs who would potter about our shower & get fat on mould but I haven't seen any for weeks, months even.  That is likely due to the nasty stuff I use to clean the shower & bathtub with - Sally had been a bit slack & too stingy to employ others so I had to do the cleaning.
Slugs in Sydney grow big and the Sally variety, Limax Flavus (clever, hey - I looked it up) is introduced and a particular biggy, growing up to 10cm long - gross to look at too, all sssthloppy and sssthlimy

like this one but way bigger and lots more slimy (photo from Wikimedia under GNU Free Documentation Licence, which I tweaked a little)

So, it was 2am (I'd been sort of working late as the builders next door can't use circular saws at 2am... but for how long!) and I'm tired, about to brush teeth and, in my favourite shoes ever (10 years old and still going) - not only do I step on an unseen slug but I slip about on it a while.  Stepping on a slug has a feeling about it like nothing else.  For one, they are quite solid and two, to propel themselves along, they use volumes of mucus that I suspect goes into overdrive production upon realising imminent death, in this case while death is taking place.

I figured the poor old slug had just come in under the back door to find a cool respite in one of our tree root bound drains after anticipating the heat wave coming this week .
At least death took place on tiles but it still took an effort to clean up and I ended up squirting the bottom of my shoe with carpet cleaner as Sally mucus would not rinse off.

The floor resembled the remainder of a visit from Warrant Officer Ripley's friend, Alien

come on Sigourney-Ripley, slugs can be nice

(An hour later and I'm all over the place reading about director Ridley Scott & the casting of the 1979 film, Alien and looking for a photo of the Alien extending her jaws dripping lots of mucus - and that's why blog writing takes so long!)

==

Years ago we had a slug plague in our lounge room in a house we lived in; in Erskineville (I should mention our eventually mouldy house in Erskineville).  I told AH that salt kills slugs.  So thinking, like fly spray on a fly, this would quickly eliminate the slugs, she sprinkled salt over about 6 large slugs on the carpet just before going bed.  I did not say how the salt would kill them and the resulting mess, just that it did.  Being a real city kid, they didn't have a lot of suburban bugs, slugs and things to poke sticks at in her part of Berlin growing up, AH had no idea what we would wake to the next day.  The stains are probably still there and the bigoted landlord is probably still ripping off his tenants.

(I stole this photo online from a guy in Wales who keeps many varied and often exotic slugs & snails as pets and posts them on a favourite pets website)

Mary Travers - if the cancer don't get you, the chemo will

Mary Travers - November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009

How sad that Mary from Peter, Paul and Mary has died from the chemotherapy that was supposed to kill the cancer she had - guess it did but it killed her too.

Peter, Paul & Mary played a role in my growing up. When I was little we had limited choices of music to listen to - consisting solely on my Mum's records for many years. Of the few I remember Julie Felix (we played the Old Grey Goose (is dead) a lot), Glen Campbell (bit too boring to a kid although I know the songs - scary!), Harry Seacombe - the goon sang but it was too operatic for us kids.

The record we did play and played and played was the double live 1964 album, Peter, Paul and Mary in Concert. Not only was there some beautiful harmonised singing, it was funny too - Paul Stookey was also a stand up comedian (I still mimic "here they come, there they are, don't look at them!" about teeny girls 'not' talking to boys).
This record made such an impression, I bought myself a second hand copy of the LP as an adult and my Mum tells me that another of my sisters has done the same. I think there's a few of us who have this record (Mum had 7 kids).

PP&M sang folk with political & spiritual themes. Some of the music is early English folk - Oh Waly Waly (called "There is a Ship" on the album) & The Three Ravens - 15th Century songs performed more recently by Counter-Tenor Superstar, Andreas Scholl (sound bites of his versions can be found here ) and it's these folk ballad about loss and death I enjoy most. Even the more religious type spiritual songs of theirs move me... but the roudy folky all together now... well that will do for the moment...(let's not get too carried away)

- I was writing this blog this morning as I waited for the vet to come & have a look at my near 20yr old moggie to confirm the inevitable - that the cat would have to be put down.

 I telephoned my partner to come home from work & the deed was done.

I already had the PPM record on the turntable so I sat the needle to play 500 Miles while my very sweet little animal died.

Compostt - a sweet animal - and really fun company 1989-2009