top ten again

Top 10 again

Solaris Earth Pipeline – all that glitters aint gold. The man of a thousand aliases raven mack and his boy psy/opsologist doing something close to rap but really in their own little world of rednecking/sampling/talking about life and all its foibles with some great and just damn right riffs running behind and you can download it from their myspace site! (it’s the first damn time I’ve ever managed to work out how to do that) and I’m becoming a bit of a mark for the mack – telling everyone who will or wont listen to check him out. It’s weird cos on the one hand I don’t want to share this shit, I want to keep it to myself like a little secret cult or something but on t’other I want everyone to hear this stuff and go ‘fuck yeah!’ like I did.

Sunday markets at Marion, going through a suitcase full of old 45s and finding two singles that I’ve been looking for for like thirty years! See there was this guy I saw on countdown singing in 1975 and I didn’t know his name or anything just the song “Canberra we’re watching you” and then he did “checkmate on love” - I asked all my nerdy music friends and nobody but nobody knew nothing about it… and then I’m flicking thru this box o’ records and there it was Dalvanius and the Fascinations!!! Two singles and they cost me a buck twenty five each and they were worth every cent. A funky soulful kinda style I had assumed he was American being a big black guy with the back up singers and the soul sound but nope he was a kiwi and then I got on the web and discovered that Dalvanius Prime was big back in kiwi land and had only recently passed away and fuck why didn’t anyone know who the hell he was?! This is the kind of stuff that makes the search worthwhile now I’m after a song called “Shotdown in Denver” by some perth band same era – anyone help me out here? Or do I gotta wait another thirty years?

Its looking like a musical top ten this week! DRUNKS WITH GUNS!! First two singles sitting in a pile of second hand stuff that was waiting to go on the shelf at Big Star the place I used to work at until I got sick of selling wolfmother and Bernard fucking fanning but I still do the odd job or two or at least call in and see what’s going on and there they were. The real deal, the first two singles and now I gotta work them off cos I damn near came in my pants when I saw the records so now the boss knows they must be worth a few bucks so yeah, I’m gonna have to go in and do something to pay them off but shit yeah it’ll be worth every minute. And yeah it is kinda anal since the songs are on the album anyway but fuck it we’re talking drunks with guns the greatest fucking rock slab o’ snot you’ve ever (not) heard. I had to have the records I just had to.

Beer swill romanticism – new literary zine by the kid who’s just so full of enthusiasm and drive that he makes us go “yeah lets do it” and we get off our jaded arses and do some work too. Great little mag full of some half decent words and the launch was last Thursday at this cool little club/bar called La Boheme and we did some readings and there was a good crowd and some damn fine eye candy then we got drunk and then we did it again the next night to launch the latest little spoken word cd from Paroxysm Press… actually I better make that number five…

Radio demo #2 – kerryn, me and the publisher reading some stuff we did wayback for a slam in Melbourne but the quality was damn good, the readings were spot on and what the hell we wanted something new for people to hear so we launched it at kerryn’s birthday bash and we got drunk again and now my head hurts and I really need a drink but nope, I ain’t gonna. But the cd is top notch and the publisher is now looking at next year when paroxysm turns ten!! Yeah we been doing this shit for a decade now! Fuck, I thought I was old and jaded when publisher first walked into my shop and started asking about local writers and I was thinking “who is this fucker?” and now ten years later I still think it but I’m kinda proud of the way its gone and that its still going and that publisher still wants me involved even cos hell I woulda told me to fuck off a long time ago. But its this sorta shit that makes it worthwhile, we aint getting any money from it but we are gaining some slow recognition and you know what… this is what we do and that’s all that matters…

EPW wrestling night a coupla weeks back with beezlebubby. She took her title belt along and waved it in the air and we were two rows back from the ring so we’re close enough to see and hear it all and next month is their first year anniversary and we both went “wow we been doing this for a year now?!” Its our bonding thing, no matter how shitty the day might have been (and there’s been a couple where we damn near didn’t make it to the wrassling) as soon as we walk in the door we just smile and go yep this is it. And we know who the good guys and bad guys are and there’s a coupla faces in the crowd we know and the lollies and beer are just behind us and we have a good time. And this time they got us good with a late heel turn that nobody saw coming and now we gotta go next month to find out just what the hell is going on! and that day we saw two of the wrasslers walking in the mall in town but we didn’t want to talk to them cos it woulda ruined the whole thing. They were badguys so you don’t want to say hi and find out they’re actually nice guys do ya? That’d fuck the whole game up.

Tent Boxing by Wayne McLennan – a great little book by this guy travelling with a boxing tent as they do the circuit. Not just about boxing, it’s a book about the lives of the carny crowd, the aboriginal fighters, the last frontier type stuff where you do what you gotta do to survive cos its in your blood and there’s pride and fear and respect and all those things and its written damn well and it’s the real deal and you find yourself wondering what happened to this guy or that guy and wanting to know more and just wishing the book, the travel, the adventure had kept going but you know it couldn’t but its that kinda book. Find it and read it and learn something.

Writing three new pomes– a burst of inspiration and embracing my redneckin’ white trash childhood which I’d never really turned my back on just kinda grown out of (though there’d be plenty of folk who would debate that) so I got a little set of redneck lounging type pomes and they seemed to go over okay so who knows maybe there’ll be some more. Depends how comfortable I get I guess but shoot I am a whitetrash boy from the wrong side of the tracks its just that the goodwife has tamed me a little and taught me how to dress better. or at least to wash my hands more often.

Yellow polo shirt with Millicent country music association logo on front and back – cost me three bucks at Lifeline and I wear it with pride. Anyone can get an acdc shirt or a nirvana pic but how many of these you seen at the pub? Just another good ol boy come to the bigsmoke and staring in awe at all the pretty ladies and the bright lights.

Getting a highly commended for my story the ballad of pissboy from the bundaberg arts festival. That’s the second commendation pissboy has earned so it must be an okay story. Its always good to find out that just maybe you are on the right track and that the light at the end isn’t an oncoming train.

YOU KNOW YOU’RE A PISSHEAD WHEN…

You’ve apologised to people you don’t remember meeting for things you don’t remember doing in places you don’t remember going to.

You’re shocked to discover that they actually sell coke without Jim Beam

Your idea of karaoke is falling off the stage as you shout “Rock and Roll!” into the microphone.

You don’t recognise your best mate unless he’s leaning against a bar. Holding a beer. Drunk.

Your entire life’s savings would just about buy you a slab of VB and a bottle of cheap bourbon. And you’re excited by the idea.

You woke up one morning feeling strange, then realised you didn’t have a hangover.

You wear Hawaiian shirts because its tougher to spot the vomit stains on them.

You don’t mind your girlfriend discovering you smashed in a bar on a Sunday arvo when you’re supposed to be shopping with her because now you can hit her up for a drink.

top ten highlights for the week

1) Interviewing Boxer Sakio Bika about his role on The Contender show for People magazine. I’m a boxing tragic and have cancelled nights out just to sit and watch Friday Night Fights so this last month has been (an athiest’s) heaven. Interviewing former world champ Lester Ellis last month and now Bika. Years ago I talked to Jamie Wallace who went on to win an Aussie title (now there was a bloke who deserved the “I coulda been a contender” moniker – always took fights on short notice always made the other guy work for his win and then finally got his shot at a title and took it) and Kali Meehan who fought on the big stage in America but fell short, even made pals with Amateur Boxing Legend Joe Bridges so the other night I introduced myself to the good wife as “Campbell McInnes – sports writer” and she didn’t laugh (well not too hard)

2) Being asked to pen liner notes for an upcoming reissue of Loaded Dice’s classic album No Sweat. Loaded Dice were a sweaty power pop/pub rock band from Perth late 70s/early 80s that I’ve always thought were vastly underrated and damn good fun. They only ever did the one album and I’d long given up hope of them being rediscovered but they have been and now everyone will have the chance to revel in the glory of lyrics like …”baby baby got a good thing going, dress so high your slip is showing…” and “these pants they don’t fit, fact is they hurt a bit but they’re gonna get me in the mood…” all with killer pop riffs and a nod to the best sixties sensibilities. Don’t worry when its released I’ll make sure you all know about it! Hell, I might even get myself back on the radio just to flog the damn thing some more! (must get around to doing that long delayed tribute album too)

3) Kicking the footy in the backyard with beezlebubby. Apparently they’ve been having a kick at school and she wanted to practise some more. Fine by me, sunny days, kicking a size 3 sherrin across the lawn as she tells me about her day and her friends and counts just how many times she can mark in a row or kick straight. Interesting too that she tells me all the boys feel the need to chest mark but the girls tend to put their hands out and mark the ball and they don’t understand why the fellas have to hug the ball. Is it the girls protecting their budding chests or the boys trying to beat their chests in that macho ain’t I a man fashion? Or maybe its just simply the boys being coached that way or maybe seeing their heroes on telly doing it… I’m sure one day there will be a report on it (funded by us) by some poncey professor who’s never kicked a footy in his life but has a lot of initials after his name and chronic asthma.

4) Being given a Mt Burr football blazer by Joan Lawrence that belonged to her late husband Ray – one of the three musketeers, my dad and his mate Ces Leibhardt being the other two. There aren’t too many of these blazers about, they were specially made back in the day and its an incredible honour to be trusted with it. I’m seriously thinking of getting it framed because I don’t want to ruin it or lose it. I was a pallbearer at Ray’s funeral (he was the last of the musketeers by then) and I felt proud to be part of a strong and close knit community that day. Its one thing I feel lacks in Beezlebubby’s world because the city just doesn’t seem to have or create those bonds. That’s why I take her home so much.

5) Yellow Dog – Little Gods 45. I found the Yellow Dog album the other day and gave it to Nigel ‘Home For The Def’ Koop after he told me he’d hunted down the Fox single Single Bed because I mentioned it in my zine Wham Glam. Its kinda nice to know occasionally that someone does read yr shit and even act on it. Yellow Dog was an offshoot of Fox (both trashy pommy pop outfits from the mid 70s) and I’d mentioned them to Nigel but he hadn’t managed to track anything down. After I gave him the lp I came home and played this single, their finest moment and unfortunately for Nigel not on the album. I guess he’ll have to hunt that down for himself ‘cos I’m not parting with it! Its too dang good. (weirdly enough though on the day I gave him the album I saw another copy second hand! Two copies within a week, very odd – so maybe the single is out there too)

6) My mum (Left Hook Lu) and her eightball team making the grand final again second year running. They won last year but the comp is a bit tougher this time around. Always underestimated, mum’s team of “girls” (and I use the term loosely), just play for the fun of it, the social night, though of course they like to win too. They just keep a steady pace, win a few, lose a few but if they make it into the finals, look out. Once again they’ve snuck under everyone’s guard and all of a sudden they are there once again facing their arch enemies (who were once playing for the same pub but got the sooks up and took their cues and went off to another pub.) The strange thing (at least for me) is that anyone could underestimate my mother. Christ, there are trophies all over the bloody house, she’s been playing the game for ever, she once beat snooker legend Eddie Charlton and yet they all treat her with disdain and seem shocked when she wins. Be it on their own heads, Left Hook and the girls will have fun win or lose and that’s the difference.

7) Catching up with my old school mate Ganders this week while i’m back home in the country. I’ve known Ganders since the first day of primary school and that’s a damn long time. The first thing he says is you should see the medal. His boy Max was in the Mossies under 18s premiership team and damn the old fart is proud. Might have something to do with the fact that neither me nor Ganders could play footy for shit and we’re both living vicariously thru Max. But then the boy himself is pretty proud of it too. City folk don’t realize just how much sports means to a country town, it can really lift the whole community when the kids do well. And its not for nothing that we are known as “Zooeys” by all the other teams – we are animals when it comes to Mt Burr and our footy – we take it damn seriously. So Ganders is a very proud dad and the town is bubbling with pride too. And more than a few hangovers.

8) Being home in the country for a few days holiday and catching up with old friends. Ganders, Mitch, Strop – all mates from my early years. We’ve slowed down a bit, got a bit bigger, realized we can’t party as hard as we used to (or used to think we did anyway) but we’re all still here, we’re all still kicking and considering the mortality rate of our age group back in the day of cheap grog and fast and stupid driving that in itself makes it good to catch up. Sitting in Ganders shed sucking on beer and listening to joe walsh rates pretty high in itself too!

9) The rumours that Betty Paginated zine might be back in a smaller junior version. Dann the man Lennard and I met back in the early 90s when he and I stumbled onto each other’s zines. It became a strong friendship based I think on us both being country boys (we had in fact lived in the same area without knowing it) being lousy drunks, having good looking wives who somehow saw through our schtick, liking similar comics, books, music (though he’s got a thing for big nosed girly bands) and just generally enjoying each other’s company. I can say without reservation that he is one of my best friends and I always enjoy catching up with him. So when he announced the end of BP it was a sad moment. Now it seems that he might have a wee spark still in him and we will might yet again get those words of wisdom about wrassling, naked chicks and whatever else takes his fancy. Till then there’s always his blog. www.bettypaginated.blogspot.com

10 ) Friday morning walking home from taking beezlebubby to school and walking past a couple who were much older than me (and I’m mid 40s now so they musta been ancient) holding hands and obviously still quite happy to show some public affection. Might not seem much but I’ve seen how many of beezle’s school friends are from separated families. Two or even three houses that they loosely call home, mum, dad, new dad, new mum, or just new boyfriend/girlfriend… can’t be easy sometimes to work out where you’re going in life when you’re not even sure we’re you’re going this weekend. So to see a couple of “wrinklies” quite happily holding hands, smiling and enjoying their morning walk was a damn fine way to start a day. (for all I know though they might be having an affair or be new to each other – why do I assume they’ve been together for a long time?)