The bits of stuff that fall in the cracks between Life, Music and outrageous fortune.         May   Close this window to return to Mike Rudd & Bill Putt's Stop Press   Dan can't watch as Ann gives Dick a tongue lashing, much to Mary's amusement The Ann & Dan show hits Melbourne 29.5.08 - My sister Ann and husband Dan are repatriating to New Zealand. Well, to be fair, they're not totally sure about the repatriation bit and are keeping their options open, but in the meantime, this could quite possibly be the last time we'll see them in Melbourne, and Melbourne turned on a perfect day for our hastily organised lunch at the Blue Train restaurant in the Southgate complex. I almost cocked it all up, having forgotten this was the day of Chris' second dental appointment, (see Chris goes into orbit below), but as it turned out the appointment was moved forward to 10.00, and Chris' regurgitating his breakfast brought the planned dental procedure to a premature halt, so I made it to the Quay West ten minutes ahead of the agreed meeting time, despite coming into town on the tram. It'll be interesting to see if the Rileys can wind down and learn to to live the life of Riley, after years of pathologically working themselves into the ground. In any event, the Melbourne branch of the Rudd clan wishes Ann and Dan a whole lot of love and every good fortune in their (over)sea change.   Nat's jazz journey 26.5.08 - Some of you with memories may recall that Bill, Robbo and I helped out Natalie Carolan for her audition to get into a music course at Monash last year sometime. No? I'll find the ref. Anyway, Natalie's dad, Peter, invited me to go down the Blue Tile Lounge in Smith St last night to see Natalie perform with a bunch of her fellow class mates (pic) - I s'pose you'd call them colleagues really, but they're so damn young! In brief, I was very impressed. Nat's on the way to becoming an assured performer, with a voice that my former choirmaster would've described as having 'naturally pleasing timbral qualities'. I was also very impressed with Olaf on the keys.   1) That's where I usually sit too.. 2) Adam has become a de facto Spectrum retailer Choclatté news 15.5.08 - Well, it's my home away from, so it's news to me, anyway. A couple of weeks ago I arrived to find the joint had been broken into. (pic 1) No further damage was done and nothing went missing, so maybe some street person just wanted to get warm. Seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to get warm though. About the same time, Kirby, another Choclatté regular, expressed an interest in the music that was playing, and Adam got the notion that there might be a market there and suggested I get a point of sale flyer together. Well, I did, and there it is on the till (pic 2). Could be the niche marketing area of the future..   1) The guy in the background was right onto us 2) Chris (almost) settles back for the countdown to ecstasy Chris goes into orbit 2.5.08 - While I'm being driven spare by my PC's recalcitrant Internet connection, I'll pass on a couple of domestic stories - of little consequence to be sure, but I've got the photos, so why not? At just before 11.00 yesterday I met up with Teri and Chris at the Dental clinic in Bulleen. Chris' teeth are a constant source of speculation - Chris has never been able to manage brushing his own teeth and is sensitive to having someone else doing it for him, so its difficult to gauge what's going on in there at the best of times. While Teri is establishing some kind of order in the household and regular dental visits will eventually become the norm, Chris' last visit to the Dental Hospital was some years ago now, and general wear and tear plus the inevitable tooth decay has occurred in the interim and Chris is now faced with three extractions and a couple of fillings. Teri had obviously done a good job prepping Chris and he's in an up-beat mood when we meet and looks pleased to see me and we settle down to wait. When we get into the surgery Chris is directed into the dentist's space-age chair (pic 2) and we all wait a little anxiously for what might be about to transpire. His dentist is a Dr Kerrie Punshon, and she's not Malaysian as the name suggested to me she might've been. Maybe she's married to a Malaysian, or maybe my guess as to the origins of the name are wide of the mark by several continents. In any case, she's undaunted by Chris' lack of communication skills and within half an hour she's not only managed to scale and clean Chris' teeth, but she's extracted one blackened stump with a minimum of fuss. Chris seemed quite buoyant afterwards, but I'll be interested to see how things go at the next appointment in a couple of weeks time. The other pic of Robbo and me (pic 1) was taken in a café in Woodend, where we had to go to pick up a working model of the Robbos' recently deceased Hitachi washing machine from Robbo's ex, Margaret, and her new partner George. Robbo looks quite the responsible gentleman these days with his new bodgie haircut, don't you think?     back to the top