I would have been 19 or 20/21 and living at home still with my family in Seaforth. I was seeing these 2 younger local girls a lot, Alison and Sabrina, both 17. This was in the late 80's somewhere around 1986-1989, the haylcon days, the dance party days. There was a dance party every second or third weekend at the Hordern Pavillion and other venues around this time and they were massive events. This one was going to be huge, it had a bit of a 70's retro in a space age feel to it, this particular one. I needed a pair of white 70's flares and Sabrina's dad came through with a pair, they were probably a size too small and a little tight around the bum, but I went with them. I had a silver shirt and some cool silver jewellery and this pair of space age shoes. The chicks were done up as well and we all looked cool and groovy man. We picked up a couple of other friends at the wharf and we all looked a sight.
We hit the manly ferry with our goon bag (white wine cask) and started drinking on the way over to the city, which was a great ritual.
We got to the Hordern and we proceeded to boogie, there was a huge platform stage in the middle of the dance floor with the Saturday night fever flashing coloured lights lighting up our way. Sabrina and Allison jumped up first and I asked for help to be lifted up as i was not very dexterous in my uber tight white flares. Alison and Sabrina pulled me up and I was still crouched down a bit as I got up and heard a splitting sound emit from downstairs. It was the flares, i had split my flares man, it was loud and i think i was yelling at Sabrina, "I split my flares" and I was pointing down and laughing. They both started laughing at me and after we all calmed down, I was asking them what I could do, I was on a big downer and was saying I should just go home, my night was ruined. These resourceful chicks would have none of that and one of them managed to find a few safety pins. They must have envisioned that at some stage I would split my too tight flares.
Very carefully, they helped pull the tear in and used the safety pin to keep it all together, the split was at the front of the flares, not around the back, so it kind of looked a bit weird having these 3 large safety pins up the front of my flares. It did the trick and gave me the confidence to stay and boogie on down, however not as hard and not as down as I would have normally.
Later on that night we ended up in Hyde Park South just lying out on the grass and philosophising and thinking we would just fall asleep under the stars. We were there around an hour before we took off home, realising that we would wake up in the sun dressed as we were and would have to get home looking like freaks in the light of day.
Monday 25 February 2013
Tuesday 12 February 2013
broken glass
There we were, deep inside the bowels of the hip hop club in the late 80's, in a trance like state, boogying down, getting on down, shaking it, owning it, banging it, grooving it. Dance beats where our high, our escape, our bliss, our higher plane where we transported ourselves to, took off to. I had found a like minded fellow clubber to groove with this night, she was this very cool black Paddo chick, who could move like no other and we would often see each other out and dance and click together, fun times.
There we were, getting on down, shaking it lower and lower to dangerous booty low levels.. I was pushing it harder and harder with her our bodies in total sync with each other as we moved and grooved. All of a sudden though we somehow came out of sync and i bumped her a little hard and she tumbled over and landed on her arm, which landed on a broken glass. I helped her get up and could see that she was bleeding already and I remember being pissed off someone had left broken glass on the dance floor. A friend of hers took her to the bathroom to have a closer look at the wound. When she came out it was decided that we should take her to the hospital, it looked like it would need stitches. I decided i had to go as well, as it was my fault this accident happened.
We all piled in a taxi and took off from the Hip Hop club to the Sydney hospital emergency waiting room. It had it's usual fill of action and trauma on a Saturday night in Sydney. We chatted while we waited, it took longer than expected, we laughed at our dancing mishap and the dodginess of the fact there was broken glass around us while we danced. She got stitched up and we were no longer in the mood for clubbing so said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I saw her a couple of times in passing, once on a bus coming back from Bondi in the daytime, I remember being very pleased to see her and reminisced about our mishap and once out at a club again.. no further accidents and no further sightings since then.
There we were, getting on down, shaking it lower and lower to dangerous booty low levels.. I was pushing it harder and harder with her our bodies in total sync with each other as we moved and grooved. All of a sudden though we somehow came out of sync and i bumped her a little hard and she tumbled over and landed on her arm, which landed on a broken glass. I helped her get up and could see that she was bleeding already and I remember being pissed off someone had left broken glass on the dance floor. A friend of hers took her to the bathroom to have a closer look at the wound. When she came out it was decided that we should take her to the hospital, it looked like it would need stitches. I decided i had to go as well, as it was my fault this accident happened.
We all piled in a taxi and took off from the Hip Hop club to the Sydney hospital emergency waiting room. It had it's usual fill of action and trauma on a Saturday night in Sydney. We chatted while we waited, it took longer than expected, we laughed at our dancing mishap and the dodginess of the fact there was broken glass around us while we danced. She got stitched up and we were no longer in the mood for clubbing so said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I saw her a couple of times in passing, once on a bus coming back from Bondi in the daytime, I remember being very pleased to see her and reminisced about our mishap and once out at a club again.. no further accidents and no further sightings since then.
Sunday 10 February 2013
The numb chucker
A while back, my wife, young son and I lived with my sister and her husband for about a year in this old 2 storey terrace place. It was in a great location, close to everything and I used to do a lot of running and exercise, sometimes with my brother-in law who was ultra competitive. One night we had some visitors over, my wife's younger sister and her boyfriend. We all had dinner and were having a few wines after dinner, outside on a balmy summer evening. My brother in law a while later disappeared for a while and it was just the 4 of us outside, continuing the drinking. We had a few by this stage and noticed someone around the corner of the front of the house where we were sitting. We took a closer look and it was my brother-in law sans shirt with his numb chuckers going through some training regime. I hadn't really noticed him do this before, it was late at night and don't think i had seen him even do the numb chucks before this night.
It was impressive and he seemed to be hitting himself a bit as they came up behind under his arm and he caught it with the other hand. There was a lot of thumping of skin, perhaps part of the training ritual. He was obviously showing off for us and we tried not to look too impressed by his antics, so as to not encourage this behaviour. We went back to talk about the meaning of life out on the front lawn as he continued his training, with some skin thumping and general thumping of ground as he moved around like our house ninja, getting ready to protect our household from the numerous triad gangs around. We could have stayed and watch as part of the evening's entertainment, which would have been kind of fun, especially if he came out in full ninja costume. We all knew him well enough to know this was part of his character, to expect the unexpected with him and especially expect the showing off rituals whenever possible. He especially liked to stretch out after a run, showing his crazy stretching ability and in case we were not impressed, he would say "look how far i can stretch on this one". With him, it wasn't enough to just do the exercise and be content, he had to let everyone else know what he was doing, how much and how well.
We made up a rap about him and it went something like this.
I thought i was a goner
cause I did a workout
with (insert rhyming name here)
It was impressive and he seemed to be hitting himself a bit as they came up behind under his arm and he caught it with the other hand. There was a lot of thumping of skin, perhaps part of the training ritual. He was obviously showing off for us and we tried not to look too impressed by his antics, so as to not encourage this behaviour. We went back to talk about the meaning of life out on the front lawn as he continued his training, with some skin thumping and general thumping of ground as he moved around like our house ninja, getting ready to protect our household from the numerous triad gangs around. We could have stayed and watch as part of the evening's entertainment, which would have been kind of fun, especially if he came out in full ninja costume. We all knew him well enough to know this was part of his character, to expect the unexpected with him and especially expect the showing off rituals whenever possible. He especially liked to stretch out after a run, showing his crazy stretching ability and in case we were not impressed, he would say "look how far i can stretch on this one". With him, it wasn't enough to just do the exercise and be content, he had to let everyone else know what he was doing, how much and how well.
We made up a rap about him and it went something like this.
I thought i was a goner
cause I did a workout
with (insert rhyming name here)
Thursday 7 February 2013
Being Aussie
It's a problem while travelling, this being Aussie sometimes, it's a label and it's something you can't escape or hide from. It's in your idiosyncratic look, that generic beach clothing that we like to wear, that accent when spoken that gives the game away. It's deep inside your thoughts and being without even realizing it, your sarcasm, larrikinism, humour, pathos, it's down to all your collective experiences.
I felt this most when we were in Paris, we would go and eat out at this nice French restaurant at Montmartre and feeling like, wanting to be less Aussie and more Parisian. It's a feeling like wanting to experience the moment like a real Parisian, rather than this Aussie bloke, but you can't shake it off or turn it off, it's just there. Wouldn't it be great if I could have felt, loved, drank wine, thought deep political, artistic and philosophical thoughts, moved around like a true Parisian, that's what I would pay money for, to totally inhabit my time there as a Parisian, now that would be a total holiday & break from reality.
It's hard to describe, it's like you are there, as you, a visitor, a tourist. You know the rules, you do the tourist things, you walk through the streets with those touristy thoughts of soaking it up, but you know you are missing out on the authentic, the real. You visit all the tourist sites with all the other tourists, you enjoy it all for what it is, but you are still this Aussie abroad.
What would that be like, to don this other Parisian persona, I would imagine, I would be more aloof, more direct, I would just be doing what i wanted to do, without thought or consequences. I would be thinking deep French free thinking thoughts, I would feel like a King of a free thinking feeling world, I would appreciate my culture, my art and our history, I would loathe Americans. I would like cheese and especially the smelly blue cheese. I would be in tune with my feelings and crave,demand, have the beautiful caress and touch of a beautiful women and many of them.
What if it wasn't like that at all, what if it wasn't what I imagined to be like at all, that I had more anxiety, I felt more insecure, I was wary of tourists and I envied especially those Australian tourists who seem so self assured and genuine but crazy. Now it's just getting stupid, imagining this, to imagine that, who is imagining something else.
It was a thought at the time, is all this was. This feeling of being Aussie when you want to feel being Parisian instead.
I felt this most when we were in Paris, we would go and eat out at this nice French restaurant at Montmartre and feeling like, wanting to be less Aussie and more Parisian. It's a feeling like wanting to experience the moment like a real Parisian, rather than this Aussie bloke, but you can't shake it off or turn it off, it's just there. Wouldn't it be great if I could have felt, loved, drank wine, thought deep political, artistic and philosophical thoughts, moved around like a true Parisian, that's what I would pay money for, to totally inhabit my time there as a Parisian, now that would be a total holiday & break from reality.
It's hard to describe, it's like you are there, as you, a visitor, a tourist. You know the rules, you do the tourist things, you walk through the streets with those touristy thoughts of soaking it up, but you know you are missing out on the authentic, the real. You visit all the tourist sites with all the other tourists, you enjoy it all for what it is, but you are still this Aussie abroad.
What would that be like, to don this other Parisian persona, I would imagine, I would be more aloof, more direct, I would just be doing what i wanted to do, without thought or consequences. I would be thinking deep French free thinking thoughts, I would feel like a King of a free thinking feeling world, I would appreciate my culture, my art and our history, I would loathe Americans. I would like cheese and especially the smelly blue cheese. I would be in tune with my feelings and crave,demand, have the beautiful caress and touch of a beautiful women and many of them.
What if it wasn't like that at all, what if it wasn't what I imagined to be like at all, that I had more anxiety, I felt more insecure, I was wary of tourists and I envied especially those Australian tourists who seem so self assured and genuine but crazy. Now it's just getting stupid, imagining this, to imagine that, who is imagining something else.
It was a thought at the time, is all this was. This feeling of being Aussie when you want to feel being Parisian instead.
Wednesday 6 February 2013
Steff and her see though shorts
I was going to have a rest day today, give the 3 of you that read this blog a break, but that could be habit forming, better to let it flow.. ohh. ohhh ohh. as Spiritualized would say.
From what i can gather so far, the bloggersphere, or the people that read blogs prefer upbeat stories, preferably that have a sense of humour and tell a tale. I would like feedback now and again from you, the readers, leave comments, tell me what you like, what you don't like. The statistics might be all wrong. What's that saying "lies, damn lies and statistics" first coined by Mark Twain.
The following story i believe meets all the criteria for a hit blog. Let's see though, shall we?
It is an oldish tale, it involves singalongs, a road trip, native animals, bushfires, creek crossings, a wreck and a cautionary tale about worrying about nothing.
I had just recently purchased a new car, a 4WD Nissan Pathfinder and decided it was time that the family all hit the road on a summer vacation. Fraser Island was our goal and along the way some other parts of the North Coast.
We took off up highway 1 and something weird happened on this trip, almost straight off the bat, we decided it would be a good idea to write and sing some songs along the way. Just make them up on the fly. I decided that there needed to be a good song written about highway 1 and started making up the melody, it was a great way of killing time as we headed up the highway with many hours of driving ahead of us. It went something like this.
slow intro. On Highway one..
It's fun in the sun,
hearding North past ports
there's lot's of crazy rorts
gotta get out of the rat race
gotta find my own space
Then blah, blah blah.. won't divulge the full song
Penning that song, stopping at stop,revive, survive spots, the big rock, kept us occupied and amused. We kept driving, swapping drivers every few hours as we hit Noosa and the first bit of 4WDriving that we had done on the 40 mile beach stretch, past a wreck in the ocean and a few freshwater lakes.
We next hit the car ferry spot, which took us over to Fraser Island, the south tip of the island. We drove up the East side of the island a bit and stayed at a campsite near Lake Boomanjin, which was fenced in to keep the dingoes and critters out. We met an English backpacker who was really doing it on the cheap, he came out with hardly any money and was surviving on canned beans it appeared. He just wanted to see Fraser Island and was on a mission to walk around it, no car or bike and little food apparently.
We moved up on the North East coast, having to watch the tides and drive when the tides were lowest. We camped in a designated camp ground near Happy Valley, which even had a small grocery shop with highly inflated prices. It was near a lot of landmarks, such as Maheno Wreck and Eli Creek. Both had songs written again by us. Maheno Wreck went something like this.
Maheno Wreck, Maheno Wreck
What a ship, What a wreck
Maheno Wreck, I'm going to spray!!
Eli Creek was just amazing, we all loved it and spent a lot of time there at different parts of the day, I think it was most stunning towards the end of day and it had fewer crowds. Steff had these shorts that when wet were a bit see through and you could see her knickers (undies) underneath. She was at the top of Eli Creek, where you start to float down and I was taking a few photos of her. She started carrying on and asked if I could see through her shorts, to which i said yeh, but so what. You can see your red knickers but who care's no one is going to look or care. She wasn't so sure and was all self conscious about it which irritated me a little bit.
Back at camp that night after we had a feed she brought up the see through shorts again and I think i lost it and made up the crazy see through shorts song on the spot. I got up and started singer to her.
Steff and her see through shorts
Steff and her see through shorts
she thinks everyone is looking
everyone is watching,
Steff and her see through shorts
Steff an her see through shorts
she thinks everyone is looking
everyone is saying, look at her red knickers, whooohhh whoooooh.
But really, no one is looking, no one is watching
No one really gives a shit
Steff and her see through shorts
Steff and her see through shorts
Everyone cracked up, including Steff. It was a catchy tune that got sung a lot that holiday. Often requested by my son and Steff over the years.
We visited Happy Valley and made up a cool song about our short experience there, including seeing a dingo walk down the main street from the resort. We hit the other side of the island, Kingfisher resort and spent a day by the pool, enjoying cocktails and 80's music videos all day. We also drove further up the East Coast to Waddy Point, past some large rockpools. At Waddy Point, we saw, whales, tortoises, dolphins and porpoises all in a short space of time. It was like nature gone wild, i felt a real affinity for that spot and decried that it would be my spirit totem and that I would return. To me that headland, is the King of all headlands, of all the Eastern headlands of which there is many, this one reigns supreme.
Happy Valley, Happy Valley (handclaps)
It has cool drinks and ice
Happy Valley in the summertime (more handclaps)
It has cool drinks ice and fuel
Happy Valley, Happy Valley (handclaps)
it has cool drinks, ice, fuel and dingo
Happy Valley in the summertime (more handclaps)
On the drive back at low tide from Waddy, we started making out smoke in the distance and realized it was bushfires. I didn't even realize that a place like this, World heritage listed, could even have fires and wondered of the consequences. The bushfires burned for a day and it was all over the news apparently. At Lake McKenzie the next day the smoke and ashes gave the sky and surrounds an eerie feeling. I remember feeling ash fall from the sky gently and land on my arms and head like grey snow, like powder. We swam in the clear blue freshwater, i climbed trees with my son and swam out into the deep blue of the lake and pondered on this amazing place and my time there.
Oh, nearly forgot & we crossed a lot of creeks, no biggy. I remember hearing one story of a brand new Landcruiser that got stuck on a crossing then buried under the incoming tide.
From what i can gather so far, the bloggersphere, or the people that read blogs prefer upbeat stories, preferably that have a sense of humour and tell a tale. I would like feedback now and again from you, the readers, leave comments, tell me what you like, what you don't like. The statistics might be all wrong. What's that saying "lies, damn lies and statistics" first coined by Mark Twain.
The following story i believe meets all the criteria for a hit blog. Let's see though, shall we?
It is an oldish tale, it involves singalongs, a road trip, native animals, bushfires, creek crossings, a wreck and a cautionary tale about worrying about nothing.
I had just recently purchased a new car, a 4WD Nissan Pathfinder and decided it was time that the family all hit the road on a summer vacation. Fraser Island was our goal and along the way some other parts of the North Coast.
We took off up highway 1 and something weird happened on this trip, almost straight off the bat, we decided it would be a good idea to write and sing some songs along the way. Just make them up on the fly. I decided that there needed to be a good song written about highway 1 and started making up the melody, it was a great way of killing time as we headed up the highway with many hours of driving ahead of us. It went something like this.
slow intro. On Highway one..
It's fun in the sun,
hearding North past ports
there's lot's of crazy rorts
gotta get out of the rat race
gotta find my own space
Then blah, blah blah.. won't divulge the full song
Penning that song, stopping at stop,revive, survive spots, the big rock, kept us occupied and amused. We kept driving, swapping drivers every few hours as we hit Noosa and the first bit of 4WDriving that we had done on the 40 mile beach stretch, past a wreck in the ocean and a few freshwater lakes.
We next hit the car ferry spot, which took us over to Fraser Island, the south tip of the island. We drove up the East side of the island a bit and stayed at a campsite near Lake Boomanjin, which was fenced in to keep the dingoes and critters out. We met an English backpacker who was really doing it on the cheap, he came out with hardly any money and was surviving on canned beans it appeared. He just wanted to see Fraser Island and was on a mission to walk around it, no car or bike and little food apparently.
We moved up on the North East coast, having to watch the tides and drive when the tides were lowest. We camped in a designated camp ground near Happy Valley, which even had a small grocery shop with highly inflated prices. It was near a lot of landmarks, such as Maheno Wreck and Eli Creek. Both had songs written again by us. Maheno Wreck went something like this.
Maheno Wreck, Maheno Wreck
What a ship, What a wreck
Maheno Wreck, I'm going to spray!!
Eli Creek was just amazing, we all loved it and spent a lot of time there at different parts of the day, I think it was most stunning towards the end of day and it had fewer crowds. Steff had these shorts that when wet were a bit see through and you could see her knickers (undies) underneath. She was at the top of Eli Creek, where you start to float down and I was taking a few photos of her. She started carrying on and asked if I could see through her shorts, to which i said yeh, but so what. You can see your red knickers but who care's no one is going to look or care. She wasn't so sure and was all self conscious about it which irritated me a little bit.
Back at camp that night after we had a feed she brought up the see through shorts again and I think i lost it and made up the crazy see through shorts song on the spot. I got up and started singer to her.
Steff and her see through shorts
Steff and her see through shorts
she thinks everyone is looking
everyone is watching,
Steff and her see through shorts
Steff an her see through shorts
she thinks everyone is looking
everyone is saying, look at her red knickers, whooohhh whoooooh.
But really, no one is looking, no one is watching
No one really gives a shit
Steff and her see through shorts
Steff and her see through shorts
Everyone cracked up, including Steff. It was a catchy tune that got sung a lot that holiday. Often requested by my son and Steff over the years.
We visited Happy Valley and made up a cool song about our short experience there, including seeing a dingo walk down the main street from the resort. We hit the other side of the island, Kingfisher resort and spent a day by the pool, enjoying cocktails and 80's music videos all day. We also drove further up the East Coast to Waddy Point, past some large rockpools. At Waddy Point, we saw, whales, tortoises, dolphins and porpoises all in a short space of time. It was like nature gone wild, i felt a real affinity for that spot and decried that it would be my spirit totem and that I would return. To me that headland, is the King of all headlands, of all the Eastern headlands of which there is many, this one reigns supreme.
Happy Valley, Happy Valley (handclaps)
It has cool drinks and ice
Happy Valley in the summertime (more handclaps)
It has cool drinks ice and fuel
Happy Valley, Happy Valley (handclaps)
it has cool drinks, ice, fuel and dingo
Happy Valley in the summertime (more handclaps)
On the drive back at low tide from Waddy, we started making out smoke in the distance and realized it was bushfires. I didn't even realize that a place like this, World heritage listed, could even have fires and wondered of the consequences. The bushfires burned for a day and it was all over the news apparently. At Lake McKenzie the next day the smoke and ashes gave the sky and surrounds an eerie feeling. I remember feeling ash fall from the sky gently and land on my arms and head like grey snow, like powder. We swam in the clear blue freshwater, i climbed trees with my son and swam out into the deep blue of the lake and pondered on this amazing place and my time there.
Oh, nearly forgot & we crossed a lot of creeks, no biggy. I remember hearing one story of a brand new Landcruiser that got stuck on a crossing then buried under the incoming tide.
Tuesday 5 February 2013
round and round
When love was new and we were young, we did things differently, without as much concern. Together we were playful and mischievous, as if our protons and atoms that made us were firing off into all new directions. The things we could get each other to do. One day we were out driving my father's car, an old Sigma, from Bayview to the beach. On the way back we decided to see how many times we could drive around the main roundabout at Mona Vale. While "A Solid Bond In Your Heart" by Style Council was blaring out of the speakers, we drove round and round. It was a tight roundabout and it took a lot of concentration to keep on the right angle, we watched as cars wanting to turn in watched us keep going around and around, 3, 4, 5 times, then 6,7,8 & 9 times. It was dizzying as some cars came and went as they came in from the 4 turning lanes into the roundabout. I think we counted up to 20 times, we lost count as we finally turned off and zoomed up the road. I think we may have even told dad what we did and he just said something like "you cheeky buggers", "I won't be able to show my face around there now". Another day he busted us pushing each other around in shopping trolleys (very nearly toppling out as i hit a gutter) in the main street in the late summer evening sun after we came back from eating and drinking out.
Monday 4 February 2013
Salute the old boys
Old Catholic private high school traditions and ceremonies have stood the test of time. There was one small tradition that I remember well and one that we twisted for our own amusement. At the monthly school assemblies, we would sing the national anthem, sing the school anthem and then salute the old boys (the old boys of the school).
There was a group of us in year 8, most of the year in fact (after word had got around) that wanted to subvert this tradition at the next assembly and instead of looking at the flag and saluting it, we would look downwards towards our own old boys (our balls) and salute them and the work they do for us (boys in year 8, there was plenty of work for them). We all thought we were hilarious and that this would be the greatest assembly ever.
The day loomed and then was upon us. There was a general murmur around our year group as we collected at our year's lines in the assembly area. Most of the year were in on this subversion and we were all waiting with youthful anticipation. The time that the principle was going to ask us to salute the old boys was looming, it was sunny day the sun was shining down upon the assembled throng.
The principal uttered the words "Now it's time to salute the old boys". I was already smiling, almost laughing as I looked down towards the ground and my old boys and did a hearty salute as I could sense all the other boys in my year doing the same. The other year groups were also wondering what was happening at this stage and a few of us broke up with laughter at our antics. Executed perfectly and long remembered, our youthful twist on this old tradition.
There was a group of us in year 8, most of the year in fact (after word had got around) that wanted to subvert this tradition at the next assembly and instead of looking at the flag and saluting it, we would look downwards towards our own old boys (our balls) and salute them and the work they do for us (boys in year 8, there was plenty of work for them). We all thought we were hilarious and that this would be the greatest assembly ever.
The day loomed and then was upon us. There was a general murmur around our year group as we collected at our year's lines in the assembly area. Most of the year were in on this subversion and we were all waiting with youthful anticipation. The time that the principle was going to ask us to salute the old boys was looming, it was sunny day the sun was shining down upon the assembled throng.
The principal uttered the words "Now it's time to salute the old boys". I was already smiling, almost laughing as I looked down towards the ground and my old boys and did a hearty salute as I could sense all the other boys in my year doing the same. The other year groups were also wondering what was happening at this stage and a few of us broke up with laughter at our antics. Executed perfectly and long remembered, our youthful twist on this old tradition.
EastSide radio
There was a time and a place where we lived through this other fad. As mere mortals, we tend to live through these phases, or fads in our lives. We consume, eat, play, change and move on to the next thing. This was a really interesting and fun different fad we had for a time. We lived in a unit, we called Amorous Amaroo, right by the ocean, in a lovely little bay, we enjoyed sea breezes through our windows and the sound of crashing waves all day and night. At first it was unnerving, it felt too loud this sound of waves and tide crashing, moving around, it seemed loudest at night, when the ocean woke up and everything else went to sleep. A station was found on the FM band, it played jazz music that seemed to provide a matching carefree soundtrack to our lives. The presenters talked between tracks and invited listeners to ring in and send in poetry and prose. We particpated, we sat out on the rocks by the sea to listen and ring in. My wife rang in with a Woody Allen quote "Sex is like bridge, if you don't have a good partner, you better have a good hand". Which we thought was funny and great. Other times, we made up poems and laughed at our literary pretensions. We laughed and made fun of others that rang in, life's waif's and strays, drunk, bored, drugged, all unedited, unrestrained on this EastSide radio. Other's would be going out large on their Saturday night, we were content with our night in with EastSide and joked we were getting old and less easily pleased for our entertainment and fun. I can look back now with such nostalgic fondness, perhaps we had it all then, that was all we needed, we picked up something on the airwaves that carried us away to another place & time, simplicity in concert with our location and lives. We on the Northside tuned in and dropped out for EastSide radio.
Saturday 2 February 2013
Sunday stories - Live
Story live from the North side. I don't usually do 3 blog posts in a day, but this is an exception.
Just now, I was in the kitchen about to do the washing up and smelt what appeared to be burning toast or waffles. The smell was getting more pronounced and then an alarm went off, from nearby, downstairs perhaps. My wife and I rushed down and were looking for the unit the alarm was coming from. It ended up being the one directly underneath ours, smoke coming through the kitchen and bathroom windows, more pronounced from the kitchen. My son's friend came down to and noticed a women asleep on the lounge in the unit. There were other neighbour's gathering around as well. The gay neighbour from the other downstairs unit and I were trying to wake the women on the lounge. I started yelling "Wake up, Wake up". To no avail. She wasn't stirring a bit. I then yelled at the top of my lungs "fire, fire!" also to no avail. I said to the neighbour, "do you think she might have taken something", to which he nodded.
My son's friend thought of a brilliant idea to try to turn the stove off, using a long pole outside the flat. He grabbed it and was poking through the window to the stove and managed to turn it off. The smoke was very thick, what seemed the whole flat but much worse in the kitchen area. As were coming around the back, he noticed the barred window, the barring was loose and managed to pry it open. He said "Who wants to go in" and I said, "You go in and open the door and wake her up". He jumped in, nothing like youth on your team in an emergency. I went around to the front door and there was heaps of smoke coming out of the unit and the door was open, other neighbours were already in there to, my sons friend was trying to get her awake, by shaking her. He came back out the front and said that she wasn't really waking up, he shook her and she just didn't appear with it.
One of the other neighbours a lady from next door managed to get her off the couch and was walking her out of the smokey unit. They walked past me and she appeared to be very sleepy and unaware of what was happening, they went out the front of the units. There were a lot of helpful and curious neighbours around now including the couple who live next to us on the 2nd floor and neighbours i have hardly ever seen from the unit next door.
The fire truck turned up and a tall fireman walked up casually and asked which unit and I pointed him to the ground floor unit and said "the kitchen is around to the left". The other fireman was out the front with the girl who fell asleep on the couch with the oven on, smoke everywhere, the alarm going off, neighbours yelling at her. She had an oxygen mask on and appeared to be recovering on the ground.
My wife and I said "Good work to my son's friend" as my son finally prised himself away from his Xbox and came down to see what all the fuss was about. My wife said that this neighbour would have been told by the real estate that she was being too noisy and given a warning and the landlord might have told her she has to move out. We always hear her in the early hours of the morning and into the night, she has a loud Canadian accent. We all went back up to our unit as the fuss was dying down. A little later the police turned up as well, most likely to question the neighbour. I couldn't remember what i was doing before all the action.. oh yeh, the washing up. Forget that! Let's go get a coffee instead.
Just now, I was in the kitchen about to do the washing up and smelt what appeared to be burning toast or waffles. The smell was getting more pronounced and then an alarm went off, from nearby, downstairs perhaps. My wife and I rushed down and were looking for the unit the alarm was coming from. It ended up being the one directly underneath ours, smoke coming through the kitchen and bathroom windows, more pronounced from the kitchen. My son's friend came down to and noticed a women asleep on the lounge in the unit. There were other neighbour's gathering around as well. The gay neighbour from the other downstairs unit and I were trying to wake the women on the lounge. I started yelling "Wake up, Wake up". To no avail. She wasn't stirring a bit. I then yelled at the top of my lungs "fire, fire!" also to no avail. I said to the neighbour, "do you think she might have taken something", to which he nodded.
My son's friend thought of a brilliant idea to try to turn the stove off, using a long pole outside the flat. He grabbed it and was poking through the window to the stove and managed to turn it off. The smoke was very thick, what seemed the whole flat but much worse in the kitchen area. As were coming around the back, he noticed the barred window, the barring was loose and managed to pry it open. He said "Who wants to go in" and I said, "You go in and open the door and wake her up". He jumped in, nothing like youth on your team in an emergency. I went around to the front door and there was heaps of smoke coming out of the unit and the door was open, other neighbours were already in there to, my sons friend was trying to get her awake, by shaking her. He came back out the front and said that she wasn't really waking up, he shook her and she just didn't appear with it.
One of the other neighbours a lady from next door managed to get her off the couch and was walking her out of the smokey unit. They walked past me and she appeared to be very sleepy and unaware of what was happening, they went out the front of the units. There were a lot of helpful and curious neighbours around now including the couple who live next to us on the 2nd floor and neighbours i have hardly ever seen from the unit next door.
The fire truck turned up and a tall fireman walked up casually and asked which unit and I pointed him to the ground floor unit and said "the kitchen is around to the left". The other fireman was out the front with the girl who fell asleep on the couch with the oven on, smoke everywhere, the alarm going off, neighbours yelling at her. She had an oxygen mask on and appeared to be recovering on the ground.
My wife and I said "Good work to my son's friend" as my son finally prised himself away from his Xbox and came down to see what all the fuss was about. My wife said that this neighbour would have been told by the real estate that she was being too noisy and given a warning and the landlord might have told her she has to move out. We always hear her in the early hours of the morning and into the night, she has a loud Canadian accent. We all went back up to our unit as the fuss was dying down. A little later the police turned up as well, most likely to question the neighbour. I couldn't remember what i was doing before all the action.. oh yeh, the washing up. Forget that! Let's go get a coffee instead.
little contraceptive
Not sure if I am proud of this one or not, but it was quite funny at the time and it is a good little addition to the blog, a quickie if you like.
When my son was very little around 1 year of age and I like most males that are new parents was finding the going a little tough, my sex life taking a major dive from pre-fatherhood times. This one day, I think my son was down for a nap and my wife had granted me permission for (what Flight of the Concords) would say, business time. However before we got anywhere the little ray of sunshine, was stirring. I was saying "just leave for a him bit, he might be okay and settle himself". My wife being a new mum and this being the first born, would have none of that. "We can't, there could be something wrong, he might have wind".
I in my frustration, just gave up and caved in without entering into any debate and just went and got him from his cot, brought him back into our bed, passed him to my wife lying in the bed and said very sarcastically. "Here is your little contraceptive". To which she was shocked and amused at the same time, she laughed and said "Oh, you can't call him that, that's mean". "I can't believe you said that". "It's true" I said. "He's the best little contraception going around".
When my son was very little around 1 year of age and I like most males that are new parents was finding the going a little tough, my sex life taking a major dive from pre-fatherhood times. This one day, I think my son was down for a nap and my wife had granted me permission for (what Flight of the Concords) would say, business time. However before we got anywhere the little ray of sunshine, was stirring. I was saying "just leave for a him bit, he might be okay and settle himself". My wife being a new mum and this being the first born, would have none of that. "We can't, there could be something wrong, he might have wind".
I in my frustration, just gave up and caved in without entering into any debate and just went and got him from his cot, brought him back into our bed, passed him to my wife lying in the bed and said very sarcastically. "Here is your little contraceptive". To which she was shocked and amused at the same time, she laughed and said "Oh, you can't call him that, that's mean". "I can't believe you said that". "It's true" I said. "He's the best little contraception going around".
Aussie quotes
He has said the funniest things over time, this Aussie I know, that I have to repeat them for others to enjoy these gems, pockets of wisdom. In relation to astronomy he had this revelation to save Earth from a near Armageddon like catastrophe from an incoming comet. "Throw a pinpoint at it".
He was one of the first to be breath tested (positive) during the day when the police started targeting daytime drink/drivers. He was interviewed by a current affairs program of the time and when the interviewer asked him what he thought of being the first to be caught for drink driving. He replied "What do you think, I am ashamed of myself".
When calling his daughter to dinner, he could be heard to say, when he was in a playful mood. "Steffo's want some din dins?"
When coming out of the toilet one day at home, he was heard to say in a serious voice. "God spoke to me". With the intent that he lift his game, get back on track and stop drinking so much.
This one he has been known to say to friends and family upon them coming over and him answering the door. "Go away, we don't want any".
When his partner was at the fridge bending over, he suggestively came up behind her and said "Just parking mumma"
One day he came to his grandson's door, when he was staying over and he just came out with "Magic word". He didn't know what to think when he said that, he was just looking at him strangely, when he then said "food". Meaning dinner was ready.
One his daughters was eating some greasy food one day on the couch when she was younger and he saw her wiping her greasy fingers on the lounge and said to her "don't wipe your fingers on the couch". She replied, "I wasn't". He then said, "yes you were". "You were using it as sweeping bowl".
He was one of the first to be breath tested (positive) during the day when the police started targeting daytime drink/drivers. He was interviewed by a current affairs program of the time and when the interviewer asked him what he thought of being the first to be caught for drink driving. He replied "What do you think, I am ashamed of myself".
When calling his daughter to dinner, he could be heard to say, when he was in a playful mood. "Steffo's want some din dins?"
When coming out of the toilet one day at home, he was heard to say in a serious voice. "God spoke to me". With the intent that he lift his game, get back on track and stop drinking so much.
This one he has been known to say to friends and family upon them coming over and him answering the door. "Go away, we don't want any".
When his partner was at the fridge bending over, he suggestively came up behind her and said "Just parking mumma"
One day he came to his grandson's door, when he was staying over and he just came out with "Magic word". He didn't know what to think when he said that, he was just looking at him strangely, when he then said "food". Meaning dinner was ready.
One his daughters was eating some greasy food one day on the couch when she was younger and he saw her wiping her greasy fingers on the lounge and said to her "don't wipe your fingers on the couch". She replied, "I wasn't". He then said, "yes you were". "You were using it as sweeping bowl".
Friday 1 February 2013
Stephen, not his real name
Stephen was a friend we would see out and about, in the city, in the clubs. I can't remember who met him first, my half Italian girlfriend at the time or me. Possibly while we were both together, he was an unusual guy, he had his own style and way, I would describe him as maybe a mix between hipster ( before they existed) and a hobo. He was tall and lean and rough around the edges, very much his own person with his own unique take on life. He had heaps of energy and could just talk and talk. He told us he was a manic depressive and was on medications for it. I didn't know to much about it, other than my dad was diagnosed with it when I was around 16. Most nights when we saw him out and hung out for a while he was manic, to my eyes anyway and he just seemed like a guy with boundless enthusiasm for life but with problems and issues that could surface anytime. I wondered at the time, if he was also taking other drugs as he seemed very up and down. There was probably a time when I noticed that he was probably hanging around us a little too much and I was a little suss that there was something going on between Julia and him.
We had probably been going out a year or more at this stage and things were not that great anyway. She lived too far away and we both lived at home and would only see each other on nights out. I didn't have my own car and it was hard to find alone time. Our alone time sometimes consisted of having wild sex in the toilet of a club or in a station toilet or on the train platform itself. Often when she would go home on a train from the city I would still go out and often get with other girls. I kind of knew she was doing the same, there was one time that she had this thing for a guy who was studying medicine and it was very disconcerting. It's hard to watch the one you like have this kind of adoring puppy love for someone and being all flirtatious in front of you. A friend at the time, was living on the same train line as her and one night he told me on the way home they started kissing. I knew things were not well and should have ended our relationship sooner. I was surprised my friend did this to me as it wouldn't have been something I could have done to him. He did say that she initiated it and it wasn't something that he was that into, still didn't shy away from it, did he.
It came to a head one night when my girlfriend's parents had gone away for the weekend and I had booked a room in one of those dive hotels in the city, down the Chinatown end. We had gone out to a few clubs and ended up back at the hotel room with Stephen in tow. Not something I had wanted, and she was being a little cagey and Stephen was being vey manic. I just wanted some old fashioned booty time and was trying to get rid of our friend, who was great company and all, but,wasn't getting the obvious hint what the hotel room was for. The room was dark and small and the window looked out on a busy city street, it was a crowded room with just the 3 of us cramped inside. My girlfriend was saying she might go back to her home instead and would get the train with Stephen. I was feeling very non-plussed with that idea and said so. it's funny how in these situations you sense something's up before you really know for sure. I for whatever reason was putting up a fight this night and managed to convince her to stay and got rid of Stephen who was really getting on my nerves now. I felt like I still really didn't know this guy and that perhaps she knew him a whole lot more intimately than I did.
When he left at around 2am, we were alone in this darkened hotel room in the dark seedy side of town. The bed was quite small and narrow, we started making out on it and soon had our clothes off and were going for it. It felt like this,was near the end, because of that we were probably both not that into it it, or into it but elsewhere. We both had a love of music and clubbing, her song was Teardrops by Womack and Womack. "Teardrops in my eyes, next time I'll be true. Whispers in the powder room! She cries on every tune". Or " footsteps on the dance floor, remind me baby of you". She would always sy this song reminded her of me, before things started going bad.
The night I thought I was going to have wasn't the night I ended up having. We slept and when we awoke we went our separate ways, slinking out of the run down hotel into the lightness of day.
We had probably been going out a year or more at this stage and things were not that great anyway. She lived too far away and we both lived at home and would only see each other on nights out. I didn't have my own car and it was hard to find alone time. Our alone time sometimes consisted of having wild sex in the toilet of a club or in a station toilet or on the train platform itself. Often when she would go home on a train from the city I would still go out and often get with other girls. I kind of knew she was doing the same, there was one time that she had this thing for a guy who was studying medicine and it was very disconcerting. It's hard to watch the one you like have this kind of adoring puppy love for someone and being all flirtatious in front of you. A friend at the time, was living on the same train line as her and one night he told me on the way home they started kissing. I knew things were not well and should have ended our relationship sooner. I was surprised my friend did this to me as it wouldn't have been something I could have done to him. He did say that she initiated it and it wasn't something that he was that into, still didn't shy away from it, did he.
It came to a head one night when my girlfriend's parents had gone away for the weekend and I had booked a room in one of those dive hotels in the city, down the Chinatown end. We had gone out to a few clubs and ended up back at the hotel room with Stephen in tow. Not something I had wanted, and she was being a little cagey and Stephen was being vey manic. I just wanted some old fashioned booty time and was trying to get rid of our friend, who was great company and all, but,wasn't getting the obvious hint what the hotel room was for. The room was dark and small and the window looked out on a busy city street, it was a crowded room with just the 3 of us cramped inside. My girlfriend was saying she might go back to her home instead and would get the train with Stephen. I was feeling very non-plussed with that idea and said so. it's funny how in these situations you sense something's up before you really know for sure. I for whatever reason was putting up a fight this night and managed to convince her to stay and got rid of Stephen who was really getting on my nerves now. I felt like I still really didn't know this guy and that perhaps she knew him a whole lot more intimately than I did.
When he left at around 2am, we were alone in this darkened hotel room in the dark seedy side of town. The bed was quite small and narrow, we started making out on it and soon had our clothes off and were going for it. It felt like this,was near the end, because of that we were probably both not that into it it, or into it but elsewhere. We both had a love of music and clubbing, her song was Teardrops by Womack and Womack. "Teardrops in my eyes, next time I'll be true. Whispers in the powder room! She cries on every tune". Or " footsteps on the dance floor, remind me baby of you". She would always sy this song reminded her of me, before things started going bad.
The night I thought I was going to have wasn't the night I ended up having. We slept and when we awoke we went our separate ways, slinking out of the run down hotel into the lightness of day.
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