The bits of stuff that fall in the cracks between Life, Music and outrageous fortune.		  
 
 
 
December
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Now is the whimper of our discontent..

1) Ewenites Rosemary and Bill at their happy Rosewood home 2) Chelsea Beach looking deceptively serene

3) Jeni Harvey declines to be photographed 4) Chris and Mike at the McClatchys' on NYE
The last week of 2007
1.1.08 - I've just dropped Chris off at Vermont St after seven days at my place, and I was thinking on the way home that New Year's Day has my vote for the loneliest day of the year. A quick resumé of what has transpired over the past week: After a quiet Boxing Day, we drove up to see Bill and Rosemary on Thursday and spent a pleasant few hours there sipping a red and chatting in the acceptably warm sun. On Friday we dropped into Choclatté and then, as the heat intensified in the afternoon and we started to audibly simmer, popped down to Chelsea (pic 2) to have a paddle in the Bay. (Yes, I've graduated seamlessly into one of those old blokes who paddles on the foreshore carrying his sandals). As a bonus, Chris ate his crabsticks and chips from the Black Rock Fish & Chippery with unaccustomed gusto. On Saturday we were visited by Brian Sadler, who spent a couple of hours convincing me he had an interesting proposition for me to consider, and then to the Chambers' in Mitcham, where we sipped Champers with Glenys and my old mate Jeni, (pic 3) before going to the McClatchys' and welcoming the Mallons down from inhospitable Qld. First thing the next morning we dropped Jenny and Dassi at Tulla before Choclatté, followed by our going to see The Golden Compass at the Rivoli, which over-hyped movie is notable only for Nic's stylish costumes. (Mind you, my review maybe slightly coloured by incidental events). Choclatté again yesterday (surprise!) and then, after unaccountably bursting into tears watching the movie Happy Endings on Foxtel, back to the McClatchys' Heathmont House (pic 4) to bring in the New Year on their rooftop balcony in a balmy thirty degrees overlooking a desultory display of domestic fireworks going off in the valley below. The guy next door lit a flare out of sheer boredom, but clearly the loudest thing all night was my shirt. (pic 4) Welcome to the New Year, same as the old year..
 

So this is Christmas..
1) Sue puts the finishing touches on the pav - at dusk 2) Daughters Danielle and Nicole
3) Belinda and Richard (Cafarella) made it eventually 4) Miss Molly poses for Miss Dolly

5) Dick scores brownie points for his choice of DVDs 6) Christmas lunch a success!


7) Chris tempts fate at Choclatté		 Christmas 2007
26.12.07 - I picked up Chris on Christmas Eve but had to go back to Vermont St on Christmas morning to pick up his toilet bag, so we arrived at the Sullivans' a little later than usual. Not to worry, things were well and truly on track for a world record late Christmas lunch (or 'dunch' as Sue described it), which was finally served after 4.00. Richard Cafarella, the youngest of the Cafarella clan, was my Kris Kringle this year, and he arrived with Belinda (pic 3) just in time for the gift giving, after sensibly having had lunch at her place. He has plans to enrol in a live performance course in the New Year, so his Kris Kringle guitar lead should come in handy. Chris distinguished himself by (tidily) vomiting onto his plate just as everyone was finally beginning their meal. To anybody unfamiliar with Chris' penchant for indiscriminate spewing, this might have proved a devastating opening, but the rest of the table hesitated only momentarily before resuming scoffing the belated feast. Some time after 7.00 (and Geoff's traditional nap, (pic 6) ) desserts
were served and the party began to unravel.
Chris and I headed off to Richmond, where Dick assured me the festivities were still alive, and indeed there was a quorum of dinner-dilated rels still in attendance (other side of the family) and a lively discussion ensued about ring tones, with quite a few coveting my I'll Be Gone theme. Another highlight was the observation of the fruit bats' nightly passage over the house - in the opposite direction to that noted by me a few years ago when they resided in the Botanic Gardens. Quite a few of these spooky travellers chose to attach themselves to an adjacent tree for a breather, to a mixture of delight and apprehension. (Fruit bats have a propensity for pooping on unsuspecting heads).
By now Chris and I were starting to wilt and so we took our leave, laden with ham and Christmas cake. We managed to watch a little of the Royal Variety Show (interspersed with the Chargers/Cowboys game) before finally crawling into bed.
Of course, today is Boxing Day, so Chris and I wandered down to Camberwell to see what was open. Happily, mostly everything was, including Choclatté, where Chris scored some hot chocolate cake (pic 7), which he ate most of before discreetly putting down his spoon in tacit defeat. Does this mean we're heading into a bright, new era of sensible food-related decision making? I'm not holding my breath..
 
 

I've asked Santa for a new brain this Christmas..		 Two wise men..
22.12.07 - Chris and I went to see Bee Movie today, and soon after we got home Bill arrived, so I gave him his usual Chrissie gift of a set of his favourite nylon strings, which changes every year. While I was pouring the tea, Bill wrapped the set of strings he traditionally buys me in the same paper I'd wrapped his in, and replaced the inscription on the gift card (pic). The joke is that I have always used the same strings and he gets me the wrong ones every year.
I dropped Chris back at Vermont House and on the way home got some groceries from Burwood Heights Safeway. It was only when I got home I realised that I'd left one bag of groceries at the stupidmarket and had to drive all the way back to retrieve it. Sigh!
 
Rain and other miracles
21.12.07 - Yesterday we had a very heavy downpour indeed, (pic 1) with thunder and lightning as well, but the gaffered tile held up again! Today it's raining steadily and the news remains good on the repair front, so I'm almost able to enjoy the fact that it's raining for a change. I will eventually get round to a more permanent solution. Today I met Daryl in Fairfield (pic 2) and we chatted about this and that. Daz is very pro-active in the innovative ideas dept. and has come up with an idea involving VicRail that could be a winner for the New Year. Wooh wooh!
 
Elwood blues (cont.) 'twas the week before Xmas..
17.12.07 - Last night I popped into the Elwood RSL and sat in with the house band. Matt Dwyer (pic) whom we met at the Whim Creek fiasco a few years ago, was the special guest, and a very talented (and personable) dude he is. He briskly organised everybody into playing his selection of Chrissie songs plus a version of I Got You Babe, featuring himself duetting with ABC presenter Angela Pippos.
As you know, I tend to get depressed at this time of the year. It's probably just the dearth of gigs, but there are plenty of other factors, not least being the over-abundance of carollers clogging the streets. Hum-bloody-bug. Alana Galea and Miranda Worthington tried to brighten up my day yesterday by meeting me for a light lunch at Choclatté, where we spent an hour or so discussing this and that until they judged it time to give me a Fletcher Jones voucher for Chrissie. Thanks girls - new cords coming up! Yay!
 

Girl vs Ghost let it rip at the Barleycorn - that's Dylan Jones on the kit		 Mike's odd night out
6.12.07 - That I should go out more often has become something of a mantra - but not annoying enough to actually get me to go out. Allen Jones sent me an mp3 of his son Dylan's band a few months back, and then invited me to come and see them play last night at the Barleycorn, and this proved to be just the incentive I needed. If the Barleycorn is but a dim memory, I can tell you it's been stripped back to its bare essentials - perhaps just the ambience an up-and-coming band needs to strut its stuff.
Interestingly, I managed to become totally invisible for the next hour or so - only Allen, being the other adult in the room, could actually see me. Allen was busy prepping the gear and getting the band on stage when I arrived, but seemed happy that I had made it. As for the band, it's hard to be critical. The level of competence in the playing and presentation was way beyond anything we could've mustered at a similar age - but then again, it's all been done before, so the excitement level didn't quite match all the youthful energy on display. I thought that I could say that in time the pretenders will drop out, leaving the dedicated musician to perfect his or her craft, but you can't tell that to kids who expect - well, insist on instant gratification. So I just said to Dylan that I enjoyed it very much and I'd send an e-mail with my thoughts to Allen, and then slipped out into Johnston St feeling conspicuously visible again.
 
Chris' BIG 40th birthday party

1) Miss Molly with grandpa Fester 2) Nicole (right) was a hit with all the boys at the party

3) Sturer came over from Sweden especially 4) Just another present 5) The Love Shack twins

6) Louise, Kath, Sue and Molly go mad 7) Meanwhile, Steve watches from a safe distance

8) The splendid looking cake 9) Freda and Chris cut the cake - and Chris makes a wish
Xavier Rudd isn't my son - Chris is!
3.12.07 - I picked Chris up on Saturday morning and we down to Choclatté as is our customary wont. Adam gave Chris a slice of a particularly evil looking Chocolate cake (which Chris chose) to which he added a candle, and which Chris cleaned up in no time flat. (This is after he'd gulped down two Moccas). Chris looked mighty pleased with the way the day was shaping up. He even called me 'dad' three or four times, (which makes it about a half a dozen times in his life), and just in case I got too excited, called me 'mum' a couple of times as well.
I dropped him back at Vermont St after we'd had lunch, which gave me time to pop down to K-Mart and get him a card with an I'm 40 badge on it. I may be cheap, but I know what works with Chris. I also got a couple of bottles of bubbly (on special) for anybody that might be interested, and arrived back at Vermont St just as Kath arrived a few minutes after the official starting time of 4.00. I was slightly surprised to find the karaoke already under way and at least two thirds of the Alkira quota already installed in their seats waiting for the show to start. I'd barely said hullo and given Teri the bottles of bubbly before Chris, on his second glass of beer in about thirty seconds, brought up the Choclatté chocolate cake and had to be escorted away for a change of clothes.
All the relatives arrived then, (including bro' Dick), and Chris greeted most of them by name - again, something almost entirely unknown prior to this day. I know he'd been well primed by the carers at Vermont St, but I think there was something else at play here. We were in his space, and I'd noticed the week before when I'd had lunch

10) Mouse over Chris eating		 there, he seeemed as pleased as Punch to have me in his realm for a change. Well, whatever it was, it made for a rewarding day for everybody, and I think Sue spoke for everyone when she said she wouldn't have missed it for anything.
I did manage to miss the top moment of the day though. I'd gone outside to have a word to Dick and Geoff when I heard cheering and laughter coming from inside. Apparently Michelle, who Chris is quite partial to at the best of times, had joined Chris on the dance floor - and with his free hand he'd managed to firmly grab her on the arse! It was a statement that had to be made, and I only wish I'd seen it.
Apparently this is the first time such a fuss has been made about one of the residents' birthdays, certainly at Vermont St. All the staff went out of their way to make it a spectacular day for Chris, and most of Chris' rel's being there made it an even more special day. It was great to see everybody there for Chris and to know he is so loved - and, of course, the reason he's so loved is because there's nobody in the world quite like my son, Chris Rudd.
 
 
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