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The bits
of stuff that fall in the cracks between Life, Music and outrageous
fortune. |
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| January |
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Close
this window to return to Mike Rudd & Bill Putt's Stop Press |
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1) This evil looking torrent emerges
from the asphalt 2) The men from the water company effect
repairs |
3)
Water quality still variable |
Two
major scares - catastrophe averted
28.1.06 - My next-door neighbours
have been courting disaster over the past few days. I
was partially woken at 4.30 am on Tuesday morning by a
flash outside my window, which I took to be lightning
initially, but which turned out to be their power cable
shorting out, bursting into flames and landing on a car
parked outside their place. My neighbours were totally
oblivious to all of this (until the firetrucks woke them
at breakfast), but happily it caused no damage.
Then last night I noticed there seemed to be very little
water pressure, and after dithering around for a bit,
I walked out the front to see a yellow torrent of water
emanating from in front of my neighbours' driveway and
gushing down the hill.
I was fully expecting the drama to last well into the
next morning, but, to give the water company credit, full
service was restored by round midnight. Again my neighbours
remained oblivious till the next day. (I did tell one
of them, but he didn't bother to tell the others!) What
next? |
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Harold
Pinter's in the mood.. |
Epiphanous
moment on Radio National
25.1.06 - Actually, the listening
has been good on Radio National over the Christmas /New
Year cusp. I particularly enjoyed what I heard of Bruce
Chatwin's reading of his book, In Patagonia,
with his restrained but most apt use of adjectives, and
the snatches I heard of Clive James and Prêt à
Porter chattily trumping each other with their intimate
knowlege of the classics. But the best was saved till
last. It was Harold Pinter's Nobel Prize acceptance speech,
(Art, Truth & Politics), recorded by him on video
as he was too frail to travel , and shown on December
7th last year at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.
I wonder if the fact he wasn't there in person encouraged
him to be even more ruthlessly candid, or whether perhaps
it was his failing health. Whatever the reason, I was
utterly transfixed as I listened to Harold's bitter monotone,
standing as he was, toe-to-toe with the world's biggest
bully, armed only with his bleak palette of truth. Check
the Nobel
website for the transcript and video |
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1)
Terry lets all the frustration out in one note 2) Sasha
gives dad a frank assessment |
It's
all relative..
18.1.06 -
It was me that put bro'-in-law Terry on to it in
the first place. The Hard Rock Café has a spot
on Monday nights for up and coming performers and I suggested
to the Tez that it might be constructive to have a go
- and he did! And he did well too. It's a tough environment
at the Hard Rock - very noisy and with lots of distractions
- but Terry stuck to his guns and delivered his
songs without losing his cool, or his voice. It went down
very well, and it wasn't just the assembled relatives
applauding.
Hard to know where it all goes from here, of course, but
if you're interested in finding out more about the Tez
and his distinctive batch of songs, he has a fine debut
CD out, and you can reach him on [email protected] |
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A
bottle of pure magic - for me! |
Pinot
dreams part two
11.1.06 - One of the pleasures of
having a post office box is the momentary thrill of anticipation
as you wrest open the little fortress door and peer inside,
a thrill usually matched by the tedium of finding the
usual selection of bank statements and bills and such
like sent by boring bureaucratic provocateurs
simply to clutter up your life. But today my PO box surrendered
the official little slip of paper telling me to report
to Daniel at the parcel desk and pick up a package. Oh
joy! What could it be? Not another bloody CD, I hope.
When Daniel handed me a mysterious polystyrene box, which
by its shape and weight obviously didn't contain a CD
or DVD, I was intrigued, and when I turned the box over
and discovered the Pinot Now logo, I had a little flush
of excitement. Yes, that was it! The box must contain
a bottle of pinot! I couldn't wait to get home and open
it - but I managed, and when I did open it I found a bottle
of my favourite pinot, (Muddy Water, from Waipara just
outside Christchurch), with a |
note from Steve Naughton the
manager of Pinot Now, saying how he'd seen us on LWTTT
on the ABC on NYE and how he and Regina were enjoying
listening to our CDs and here's a complimentary bottle
of 2003 Muddy Water Pinot, (of which they've nearly run
out, but they're about to release the 2004 vintage - phew!)
Is this an omen? Will 2006 be the year of comps? Let it
be.
Find out more about great pinots at Pinot
Now |
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Miss
Molly invites everybody to hush while she demonstrates the spoon
miracle |
Miss
Molly's exclusive healing session
9.1.06 - I was excited - even
more excited than I'd been when Billy Graham's Crusade came
to Christchurch back in the early '60s. (Or was that the late
'50s?) Anyway, the internationally renowned child spiritualist
Miss Molly was having a healing session at the Groove Train
in South Melbourne for one lunchtime only and I had a ticket!
The only drawback was that it |
was for women only, but
I was prepared to do anything just to be in the same room as
this famously reclusive prodigy, so I bought a lady's suit that
had seen better days from the local opp shop and slipped in
to the Groove Train without arousing suspicion.
What followed was the most blissful hour I have ever spent in
my life. Miss Molly had all of us girls on a string. She raised
her famous eyebrow to peels of knowing laughter, and she shared
the odd bon mot with all of us as she toured the entire
length of the table on her surprise tours of inspection. She
dropped her spoon - and it miraculously reappeared without her
saying a word! (She did this several times). Amazingly, we all
understood exactly what she meant without her uttering a single
recognisable syllable.
And then, all too soon, the session was over and the girls and
I were out on Clarendon St blinking in the harsh afternoon light,
and, I fancy, brushing away the odd tear. We all felt the better
for the session and we all agreed that we'd be the first to
attend the next session whenever Miss Molly chooses to come
our way again. |
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