In November/December 2007 Denise and I visited Thailand for the second time. A thoroughly enjoyable holiday we stayed in accommodation varying from $21 per night to $150, revisiting Bangkok and Ao Nang, but also seeing Chang Mai, Pai and Phi Phi.

The following is a copy of an e-mail I sent toward the end of the trip which records some of the highlights. An abundance of photos can be seen on my Picasa and Webshots sites:

g'day All, Denise has done most of the communication and here we are at the tail end of the holiday, so in a Basil moment I thought, after our gin and tonic hour, I would share with you some of these splendiferous trip moments.. well it has been a fantastic holiday, fantastic in the sense that Thailand never ceases to surprise in its contrasts and variety.. I'm typing this from a jungle hillside villa, part of Tipa resort, where we arrived yesterday evening, having come by ferry from Phi Phi Island Paradise Resort and a villa on the white sands of Long Beach where the waters change colour with the light and the human shape in all varieties rollick, laze, wallow and muck about. A contrasting environment is Thailand. Yeah. Fab. You look around. You ain't seen nothing yet.

Some moments (and Basil moments later Kirst and Cara):

* 6:30 am Bangkok and your intrepid traveler is out with camera leaving sleeping wife, I’m wandering through a Buddhist monastery between the Kings Cross glam, sham and seed of the Backpackers' Koh San Road and the wide Phraya River. I'm looking at a shrine near the monastery temple. The few Thais I've passed on the way don't look at you, perhaps having encountered early morning back packing revelers of the English, German,
Dutch and Aussie variety on previous occasions. A short man walks up to the shrine with a cheery smile and "hello" to me. He puts his palms together in prayer and bows
to the shrine. He has artificial hands and forearms. He smiles again and passes through the gateway.

* Thai massages are brilliant. First they give you an uppercut to knock you senseless. Then when you come round they bend your legs back to breaking point and jump on your back to see if it's made of rubber. If you exhale or squeak it's a sign of weakness. Then they rotate your feet 360 degrees using their whole body to do so. You'd think it couldn't be done. My feet unfortunately have remained English despite my Pommyectomy. They are apologetically thin, white and boney and bear no resemblance to the rest of me…. Even I fail to recognise them each morning. "God. Who put them there?" The Thai foot massage is especially blissful.
They pull each toe out from its joint. Then they hammer it back in again. You feel reborn, alive and Hindu in fact you've turned into an Indian rubber man. I always give a tip for the smile on their faces.



* we've traveled everywhere at each locality by rented motorbike, except Bangkok where I thought I might get lost. In fact I was lost in Chang Mai but eventually found my way back to the moat which surrounds the old city. Denise, as passenger was (naturally) tentative at first, trying to twist my body as we came to a bend, turn my helmet, but she's fine now and doesn't even yell "beep beep" at the traffic, who are probably as relieved as I !! A motor bike is a great way to travel, I love it. It has its surprises though.

Chang Mai and we're crossing the river over a rising humped bridge and we took the narrow side lane, a drop over the water and the missus agitated and me accelerating to get over it. "just hang on, it's ok. wow that was hairy...." Again on the back streets of Ao Nang and we came upon a makeshift bamboo bridge over a creek, the back wheels shifted, slid, and almost over the bridge when a large lady appears on a bike coming towards us. Shizen, I don't know how we didn't collide.

* in a Bangkok laneway after breakfast we met a cheery English tourist on his 4th visit this year. He is on Benefits he said. "Great to be back, love it here, why would I stay in England? So cheap. The people are friendly. Might go to the zoo today. Have you been to the zoo? Have you been to the races? Don't miss it, whatever you do, the atmosphere is unbelievable. Don't spend much, just watch, all day, unbelievable".


* we took a day tour from Bangkok to Ayathaya the Thai capital in the 1700s. The remains of huge temples now sit amid quiet tranquil gardens. The Burmese king and the Thai king fought each other on elephants and The Burmese sacked the whole splendour, burnt it and slayed every Thai. Here, just yesterday it seems, the blood sacrifice was immense, the smoke, the bellow of the elephants, screams of the victims and yells of triumph mingle with the tragedy of desecration and death. Now, in the bright beauty and tranquility the horrors have dissipated but the Thais are reticent to walk among the tragedy of history, the ghost filled ruins. Hugh, it reminded me of Culloden, those grassy humps on the cold moors where they buried the thousands of Scottish dead. Only yesterday. We enjoy a thin veneer of civilisation Denise pointed out. Yeah, Iraq… such lunacy, the legacy of Bush, Blair and our former PM, Slim Howard, the coalition of fools. Blind Freddy could have told them that if you stomp an ant's nest with a foreign, albeit democratic boot, you are likely to be stung.

* the cuisine here is excellent, the best for me being bar-b-qued whole snapper with chilli - 100 baht, about three little Aussie bucks. Brit, Irish and even German pubs abound for those who like "food just like we 'ave it back 'ome". Why would you? We also enjoyed raw prawns in chilli, garlic and lime/fish sauce, very hot, so one is almost obliged to douse with Chang, Tiger, Leo, Singha or Heineken. While eating this in a Bangkok restaurant opposite the monastery gardens a beggar with no legs came by propelling himself on a skateboard while playing a chromatic harmonica (like the character in Rohinton Mistry’s 'A Fine Balance' Cara !)

* the Thais are mostly thin and cheerful and work long hours, albeit at a very moderate pace. They peck at street snacks throughout the day. In contrast some tourists provide resplendent examples of the human species in excelsis, and the beach parade is a constant surprise to the eye, as in this picture. Some blokes prefer to remain supine rather than risk turning to stone.... It is not that long ago that females wore the full body stocking into the ocean so that males could not be affronted. Has libido petered or....or is it merely a shortage of cloth?



* from Chang Mai we traveled by sardine bus to Pai in the mountainous Golden Triangle region near the Myanmar (formerly Burmese) border where old hippies move among Danish and Swedish trekkers and tourists from everywhere. A quiet albeit crowded village, no hassles from tuk tuk drivers or Frog Ladies on the march (Sonia). We hadn't booked accommodation and hauled our huge bags (Denise had cut them down to essentials....) across a swinging bamboo bridge over a fast flowing river. On the other side in the mist were about 60 wooden huts on stilts for 400 baht - about 12 Aussie bucks - per night, but alas no vacancies. We checked a couple of resorts - one was 6,000 bahts ($180) for the night!! and so we came to Failte (Irish for ‘Welcome’) run by Dubliner Brendan. Brendan got our hospitality award for the trip. He loves a chat despite "being off the drink for a week now" and was a font of knowledge about the local region. "Try Chez Swan, you must go there, the best breakfast in town, rashers, sausages, eggs, the lot, absolute best".

So we took the place. "I hope I didn't wake youse last night. I went ballistic at dis freeloader camped in my hut - I'm supposed to be making money here. I bought this place from a Buddhist woman, I trusted her, no more Buddhist than my arse"
Brendan had bought a lemon, the books had been cooked and Failte was faulty, but Brendan is blessed by a community of pals who pitched in to help tart up the place, between beers. It was our pleasure to meet them, and it was reasonably priced, 700 baht- about 21 dollars and the experience was priceless. We checked out Chez Swan. The sign on the restaurant window said " Owner will accept all offers". Prophetic perhaps...


* Basil moments. Yes I admit to having had a few onsets of Basil. ok Kirst and Cara, I lost my motor bike..... but but extenuating circumstance whereby
we had ducked into a restaurant overlooking Ao Nang Bay during a downpour, ordered bar-b- qued seafood, which was excellent but spicy, so it had to be accompanied
with yer Chang (elephant) beer. The label shows two elephants pummeling a tree, as you would know Cara, which is the metaphor for what happens to your brain when it
tries to deal with a quantity of the 6.8% brew. "Now where did I park that bike....". We walked up and down, then down and up, holy shite some buggers lifted it.
"it's white I think with that sign on the front", says I being helpful "I know what the sign says", she replies " 'This motorbike is here'. You know Barry, most blokes wouldn't
lose a motor bike....." she can be cutting at times. Of course we found it, in fact had walked past it at least four times...

another moment. Indian tailors don't sleep. a truth in Thailand, and the shops have splendid names; House of Saville, Armani. "Gutpa I am thinking you are joining the business tomorrow, but we change your surname to Armani. It has a ring, no? Gutpa Armani?" They usually start by asking you where you are from. If Australia they say the usual "G'day mate, come inside, looking looking. good price skippy" I took someone's advice and pretended to be German which seemed to work for some strange reason. But, there we were trotting along the path in excellent humour when this Indian tailor speaks to me " Deutchlander ya?" Somewhat taken aback I said to the missus rather loudly "Bloody hell, did you here that, that chappie mistook me for a bloody Kraut". To which she whispers - "those we passed behind us are German". Most Europeans here speak English very well. I look behind and Fritz does not look pleased, at all, at all.



yet another moment of Basil. Here at our hilltop jungle retreat everything is schmick, in fact it's one of the schmickest places on earth. I stepped out onto the large verandah
overlooking the jungle and the lake down below, with my gin and tonic - G&T hour starts at 05:00, and can extend for a few hours into darkness. It was dark, that's my excuse
for putting my bare foot onto a large orange flying insect which objected to being stepped upon by such an object and sank its stinger in. Holy shite the size of it I was waiting for the leg to freeze, go numb and my appendage to drop off. but luckily i must have flattened the beastie before it could do it's worst.

a Denise moment. "where's my purse, where's my purse?" panic again. Her life is in that purse. we always find it of course, in her bag where the whole world lives. Another. Denise fell out of a boat, arse first into the Andaman Sea. Laugh !! we both had a good old laugh about that. Fortunately she held my bag up, quick instinct. The camera was in it.

* we enjoyed snorkling around both Phi Phi islands and at Phra Nang Princess Cave. Took a long tail boat tour around Phi Phi and the boatman stopped just outside Monkey Bay. under the mighty limestone cliffs we slowly swam through a cave which opened to a small lagoon with bright sandy bottom. At the opening were many fish hardly moving, suspended. Time suspended here; this was limbo where the souls lie between heaven and hell. Out through the dark side of the cave, suddenly millions of tiny fish, huge shoals of bright silver glass light shows moving in slow formation around you, the souls in heaven. I thought there was no end to it, we were amazed. Strangely, despite many tourists on anchored speedboats, none were here. We were blessed with nature's beauty.

* around the sheer majestic cliffs, rising out of the emerald ocean like a huge sea fortress, yet sea gypsies had constructed bamboo poles to reach, in a series of climbs I assume bird eggs. the climb appears impossible and the nerve and strength required is beyond belief.

* "Thais are the world's best copyists" Paul , a writer from Co. Meath Ireland, friend of Brendan. The resort bus collected us from Krabi Airport and the driver put on a CD. 'Return to sender, address unknown'. Yup Elvis. Denise and I were singing along. Then 'you ain't nothin' but a hound dog'. "Mmmm" I remarked to Denise, "must be an outtake - the guitar break is different". Then, 'I wonder if you're lonesome tonight', you know, the spoken bit in
the middle. Not quite. It was indeed, Elris. Thai version.

* a dog story for O who is always amused by canine antics. we walked to the reef at shark point Phi Phi to see if we could spot the sharks who feed there. No luck but saw a wet hairy doggy type of dog walk through the water looking carefully for something, then dig a hole on the beach to find a small almost transparent crab. Delighted the dog jumped around it while the crab moved in bursts towards the safety of the sea, slower now, possibly injured but still with hope. No chance I thought, the dog is quick and enjoying the fun, bounding around it, putting nose up close sniffing but wary of being nipped, then jumps up, runs around kicking up sand and then becomes muddled "where is it, my preciouses?" jumping in a ring, sniffing madly while somehow the crab sneaks off undetected, slowly does it, tentative moves, then finally with the sea in sight does the bolt, flat out and and in!! The dog still madly searching, sniffing, then looks puzzled and gives up. It has four cute pups and one comes over. The mother picks it up in her jaws, carries it to another crab hole, sniffs and starts the dig again. The pup clambers beneath
for a teat, gets covered in sand and is bowled out by the mother's energetic digging, sniffing, digging. Alas, no crab this time. Mmmm, a great hole to just lie in and watch the ocean. Plonk.




Well, I'll see you soon, back on Tuesday. No Christmas cards this year so happy Christmas and a beaut new year. luv youse all. Colleen, pls send to Stuart and Tony. fiona can you send to Owen pls? Sonia or hugh pls pass to anyone else at work who might be interested - who is left there?
Will yourself and Kirsten be available on Thursday? Cheers, Baz xxx

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Sharaine and Oliver - Mother and Son

OLLIE ZOOMS IN

Our third grandchild, Oliver Jack McGloin, hereto known as Ollie until he plays up, was born on 31 August 2007. He joins his sister Kaya and his cousin Safia. Sharaine and Brendan had a difficult time coping with the loss of Ollie’s twin, Jesse. Also Ollie was born with three fingers on one hand, however Brendan says it should be no impediment to his footy skills in that Ollie's Great Grandad Jack Bartlett had three fingers on one hand – admittedly the other two were blown off by a grenade but hey – and as a footy player he was no slouch, yes and it should prove no impediment to his guitar playing – gypsy jazz guitarist maestro Django Reinhardt had three fingers on one hand. The little man is a happy contented child, alive and bright and smiley. Here are some great photos, from around 12 days old, courtesy of Poppa Suri, followed by one in the Collingwood footy outfit taken by Sharaine in January 2008.

Pensive









Trust - 12 days new !!

Byron Bay Bluesfest April 9 to April 13 2007.

Yes I made the trip again this year to join Len and Patrick in the campsite over the road from the festival. The plan was to have a swim/bodysurf in the morning, followed up by a fortifying brekky in the cafe overlooking the beach - eggs benedict on salmon, or beans on toast, then music fest in the arvo and night. Too easy. Usually Byron has Autumn showers at this time of the year, in fact these can develop to deluge proportions - refer my Blog from last year when we were almost drowned and I was bitten by an angry soggy insect.
This year it rained incessantly and started to clear up when we departed on Tuesday. No surf or sun, however the music was excellent as always, and the attendance didn't appear to be affected. Photos I took over the 5 days can be found at my Picasa or Webshots sites.

Ratings.



My top spot (and Len's) went to Kevin Welch, Kieran Kane and Fats Kaplin, with Kieran's son Luke backing on percussion. It was the first time I have seen them and their musicianship, arrangements and songwriting were perfect. The vocal harmonies, textured instrumentation and interplay were stunning, particularly when they appeared to let go and allowed the piece to develop. I saw their two performances and was blown away each time. I recognised a number of tracks from their excellent last CD Lost John Deane, plus the rousing 'Jersey Devil' and the title track from the previous 'You Can't Save Everybody'; the three new songs sound very promising. I think their next offering could be even bigger for them if they continue with a similar song mix to Lost John i.e. atmospheric bluesy pieces, some gospel, hillbilly, sort of Cormac McCarthy in music, a sense of old values being compromised in this modern world, but conversly using a modernistic instrumental approach - percussion similar to Tom Waits', differing string textures, both acoustic and electric. I'm rambling shite. Anyhow, the 'rap' /spoken number from Kevin Welch indicates a willingingness in the group to expand and take risks which makes it all the more exciting. Top stuff, despite some sound probs, which also occured on the second gig - I was starting to think it was part of the act !!

It's impossible to see everyone - unfortunately I'd hoped to catch New Zealand 's Katchafire and Fat Freddy's Drop, and also Bela Fleck, Banawurun, Larry Carlton and Robben Ford, and I couldn't sqeeze through the Paul Kelly crowd, but ya can't do the lot without losing something else. So, my remaining order is :




2. John Butler Trio
No doubt about it, JBT is superb, each member a vituoso, and the new songs sound great. The audience went bananas (as ya do up North) - JB just has a beaut sense of dynamics, and that knack of reaching ever higher to an astounding climax.
My daughter Cara put me onto them back in 1998 I think it was - she had seen them in Melbourne and said that people were dancing on the tables. They were due to play at Tilleys here in Canberra so I went there and they put on a superb performance for about 60 people!! I met John afterwards, and he signed the Cd I bought for Cara, complimenting me for the thought ! A real nice guy. I wrote a glowing review in BMA mag so I now count myself as being responsible in no small way, if not solely responsible, for his success !! "Ah yeah Dad, and how many people read it??"




3. Sierra Leone's Refugee Allstars.
Last year Amadou and Miriam, the blind couple from Mali, were so good that I wondered whether the organisers would make the African contingent a regular part of the event. This year the Sierra Leone's Refugee Allstars, while not having the bluesish raw quality of Amadou and Miriam, were equally entertaining. Hopefully the organisers will continue with an African component - perhaps one of the African superstars like Salif Keita who performed at this year's Womadelaide, or Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal, Cheikh Lo or Manu Chao - now that would be special!!. Or maybe the great Malian blues band Tinariwen. They could get Robert Plant and do a double, a la Festival in The Desert. Let's get adventurous, get it happening.




4. Ziggy Marley
Ziggy, like his younger bro Damien last year, went down really well with the crowd, and with me, Len and Paddy. His own stuff plus the obligatory Bob Marley songs, where he sounded like his Dad, were just right on the button.


5. Ben Harper. Unfortunately I didn't see enough of Ben Harper but what I did catch was superb.
The opening number with Bonnie Raitt, "Well, Well, Well" and the following boogie piece were a knockout, and I caught a bit of one of Hendrix's Fillmore tracks - "Who knows" I think.

6. Hat Fitz and Itchy













7. C.W. Stoneking


















Both Hat Fitz and C.W. Stoneking are musical anachronisms, seemingly possessed by 1920's bluesmen, so true it's almost unbelievable. Audiences are astounded by the audacity, mesmerised by the performance. We saw Hat with Itchy last year ( he used to have Scratchy on bass) just after midday it was and he made some comment about people being up at that (ungodly) hour, it was a small gathering but he nailed us to the tent. This year we saw him in both the Crossroads and APRA stages and a very sizable crowd was right into him. Image: Ned Kelly/Son House on speed. A flat out boogie rhythm, Itchy beating and banging Hat's driving demon, Hat eyes wide like some blind man roaring some primal roar, head twitching with the emotion of release.
You wonder whether it is indignity, the shedding of some old pain or identity, but the strum is ferocious and the beat won't be denied. Hat is awesome.

C.W. Stoneking, cripes, mumbles to a bemused audience in some halting Delta/A'briginal patois "dis song goes sumptin' like dis" and there you are watching and hearing a late 20s early 30s Hillbilly hocum, reminding you of what you'd read about Dylan's early performances. But he's no hick strummer, he's a fine guitarist, banjo player and a strong vocalist, and a good songwriter using the blues metaphor to hilarious effect.

8. Lee Scratch Perry














Lee Scratch Perry, 'im a legend of reggae dub mon walks among us playing his deep Rastafari groove. Lee's voice not quite up to scratch, and the man is not really known as a singer but de groove is wonderful. You can hear many bands playing the so called reggae beat but this is like comparing Savoy Brown to Son House. About three years ago my eldest son Brendan and I saw Toots and the Maytals and Burning Spear play at Newtown. I was a big fan of Toots but my expection was dashed to Babylon when 'im was as showbizzy as James Brown. Now yer Winston Rodney, the Burning Spear, came out of the desert with fire from 'is lips, a true prophet singin' sackcloth ashes an' apocalypse... to dem 'oo would 'ear 'is word mon. De beat was true deep Rastafari reggae. We exhaulted and were 'umbled.

9. Kev Carmody















Kev Carmody is the most natural and relaxed of performers. He puts himself in with Us Mob, the audience, and tells it as he feels it. He has no pretensions and the man ain't humble, no he's on a par with anyone, as it should be with any bugger, you included. Kev tells his stories between songs, almost as good as the songs. I loved the one about him getting a parking ticket on his bike when as as undergrad he parked in the lecturers' car park at the Uni. Wasn't going to let it go, not Kev. He wrote back after working out the difference in parking fees on his land since 1788 and told 'em they owed him, less the five bucks they'd charged him. Heaps. They dismissed the fine.

10. Xavier Rudd



















St Xavier Rudd of The Didge. Jesuit surfer of the Bluesfest. The audience loved him. His sweet voice can rock above his organic rythmic musical soundscape, assisted at the Bluesfest by his brother on drums. Xavier blows through a battery of didges, plings pecussive tubular tones, stompboxes and guitars.

Other noteworthy performers:
The Ghostwriters - great rock attack, good songs, the drinking mens' thinking men
Kasey Chambers - a lovely memorable performance with the added bonuses of her dad and husband, both excellent musicians and Bernard Fanning, who wasn't even in the fest. Nice one.
(smiling) Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience gumbo'd you right into Louisiana
Joss Stone - so sexy and such a rich mature vocal, but when she spoke she could have been my daughter......damn. The kids loved her
The Black Sorrows - Magus Joe still has the power, and the group was great, but for me, Jo Jo Zep when they played Narooma Bluesfest two years ago
The Pigram Brothers - happiest group
Jackson Jackson - innovative mix of cabaret, modern and wierd
Alice Russell - great soul voice and good material
Chris Smither - loved his latest CD Leave the light on, but folky in performance
Fred Eaglesmith - rootsy, great wee bald mandolin player, good guitar from Kasey's dad
Ash Grunwald - fab latest Cd and always a strong performer
Bonnie Raitt - sounded good - but too Americana for me then and I was fested out
I caught Eric Burdon's last four numbers. Tent was packed and it was a huge improvement from last time. The audience all sang House Of The Rising Sun of course with it's improved arrangement.
The Re-mains first two numbers were tops, ragged and dirty rock.
Paolo Nutini, Ayo and Kaki King, Fiona Boyes, Floggin Molly, and Taj Mahal all had good moments.




Len's Luminaries:

1. Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch & Fats Kaplin - 10

2. Ziggy Marley - 10

3. Ben Harper - 10

4. John Butler Trio - 10

5. Kev Carmody - 10

6. Xavier Rudd - 10

7. Hat Fitz & Itchy - 9

8. CW Stoneking - 9

9. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars - 9

10. Fred Eaglesmith -9

11. Bonnie Raitt - 8

12. Paul Kelly - 8

13. Terrance Simien - 8

14. Jackson Jackson - 8

15. Amos Lee - 8

16. Alice Russell - 8

17. Kasey Chambers - 8

Holiday in Thailand

Denise, Jamie and I spent two wonderful weeks on holiday in Thailand in late November early December 2006. Three days in Bangkok, followed by 9 days in Ao Nang and 1 night in Karon Beach, Phuket Island.
We found the people friendly, the value excellent, the weather perfect, and the cuisine superb. Comparisons with Vietnam which we visited two years ago, and also enjoyed, were inevitable. Thailand is geared more to tourism, and the country is wealthier - modern cars, buildings, roads good, Bangkok subway and skyway faultless. Costwise, Vietnam is better value, it is more au natural, less affected by hordes of Brits, Germans, Swedes, Aussies. We found the people to be friendly in both countries, which in Vietnam's case was surprising given the dreadful "American" war (another great decision....which Australia supported - what makes these politicians so righteous, pompous and arrogant - is it religion, fear or just plain stupidity??).

Pictures can be seen at my Picasa site or Webshots site.
Personally I prefer the Picasa slideshow presentation which uses almost the full page, however the Webshots is quite attractive with it's new "inlining" which closes in or glides away from the subject.

While in Thailand I read stories/excerpts from the Picador Book of Contemporary Irish fiction edited by Dermot Bolger, an excellent compilation. At the Karon Beach second hand bookshop Denise found the Booker prize winning Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre which I have since read. An engrossing novel but not your standard literary read. It has been compared to other first person narratives such as "Catcher in the Rye" and A Confederacy of Dunces", but I found myself thinking of Patrick McCabe's "Butcher Boy" and the unfortunate but fascinating Francie Brady. Both books have similarities in satire, black humour and rollicking entertainment - as well as showering literary sparkle, but for my taste McCabe has the glittering edge.

Princess Safia, our beautiful youngest grandaughter at 2 months !

















and at 3 months !!




















And our eldest gandaughter Kaya celebrating her 2nd birthday
















November 2006 - Kaya and Safia the two grand daughters in Nanna's bed.


Reading:
I have had a feast of good reads over the past few months, which have occupied the early hours of morning when all is still.

I discovered Ian McEwan's Atonement and his latest, Saturday, both engrossing, lyrical and they stay with you for days. I won't go into the story line - you can check reviews on his web site or Amazon but suffice to say if you enjoy finely written characters, prose with great imaginative flights and a good strong story check them out. Atonement was a Booker prize finalist.



I read my first Stephen King - old mate Len put me onto his book on writing called coincidentally On Writing, part bio and the rest about his writing methods. I was so impressed that he could make a potentially dry subject so interesting that I thought that I'd sample the proof of his prose pudding. Incidentally the chap at Cantys, Fyshwick where I bought the book informed me that it is used as a textbook at University of Canberra. The proof I used? Hearts In Atlantis. The book consists of five interconnected short stories spanning 1950 to present day. The first story is riveting and swiftly hooks you and reels you in, his skill as a story teller is compelling and as a writer he's no literary slouch. I followed it with his The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon which coincidentally, like parts of Ian McEwan's Atonement is written through the eyes of a pre pubescent girl. In King's novel the girl is lost in National Park and like Hearts it's a quick quality read.

Tim Winton's latest book of short stories, also interconnected, The Turning, is rich and a joy to read, suprising you with literary crackers. His characters are usually earthy working class, with little of the middle class demeanor, the layers of 'civilisation', which for instance an Ian McEwan character might have. Consequently the language has a street sensibility, it is rough, direct but also poetic.

"Biggie truly is a funny bugger. He can do Elvis with his belly button - thank you very much - a toothless King sprouting manky black hairs in a face of fat. He can fart whole sentences, a skill St Augustine admired in others."

The stories are gritty, humorous and tragic, you are amazed and blown over by his boldness.
He and Carey are such wonderful writers - Robert Drewe, Richard Flanagan et al - more qualityAussie word shufflers than you can poke a stick at - and we have two Booker (female) finalists this year !! Check out the fabulous SMH Winton interview, "just an ordinary bloke who wears tracky daks".

I was fascinated to read that Tim Winton, like Stephen King, does not start a book with a plot in mind, just a few "little flickers and just wait and see what they end up being." Stephen King uses the metaphor of discovering a fossil and gently unearthing it, part of an undiscovered pre existing world. Start with a character or two, put them in a situation and see how they get out of it. He's the first reader, and sometimes reaches the outcome he expected, but mostly it surprises him. What? Fascinating.

What else? Ah yes, being interested in the creation of music, the Eric Burdon autobiography "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was on sale at a price you couldn't walk past, with an accompanying CD. My review is at Amazon.

Listening to:

Michael Franti and Spearhead's Yell Fire ! He appeared at the ANU here in Canberra recently and son Brendan and partner Shaz enjoyed it, and my good friend Kirsten enjoyed it while checking out the talent but was crippled in high heels.....that's Kirst! The album is excellent and was made following his visit to Iraq where he made the documentary "I Know I'm not Alone". He displays an empthy with the soldiers there, hey more so than the sorry lot of politicians who sent them, his lyrics bold and his music interesting with flair and attack, never passive.

Dylan and Paul Simon show that old Yid songsmiths can still do it - and Chuckling Len Cohen did it again last year - what was that hilarious song called about Len on his deathbed suurounded by beautiful women saying "Speak to me Leonard"? Well, Simon has some assistance from soundscaper Brian Eno and I'd give it four stars.

UK world mag Songlines provides me with updates in the world scene, and I usually buy the annual BBC awards and Charlie Gillett's world choices for the year. Daughter Cara is buying me the late Ali Farka Toure's Savane for Christmas - currently top of the world music charts. I'm looking forward to that one. Recent purchases include BBC Cream which I enjoyed and reviewed in Amazon, the Delux editions of Bob Marley's Burnin' and Rastaman Vibration - both with fascinating additional concerts, Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey - 2 Cds of Bill's favourite early blues recordings with a quality booklet, all good stuff as you'd expect - some standards and rarities. Some impressive world releases I have heard this year have been Mercan Dede's Su, Camille's Le Fil, the best of Manu Chao, and the award winning and world chart No 1 Amadou et Miriam's Dimanche a Bamako, produced by Manu Chao.

Great Southern Blues and Rockabilly Festival Narooma, NSW. October long weekend 2006

Daddy Cool reappears and plays among us, to the absolute delight of the huge audience !! The legendary OZ rock 'n rollers from the early seventies played classics plus material from "The New Cool" CD in a set which was better than imaginable. The harmonies are tight, Ross Wilson's vocals superb - "I'll Never Smile Again" was magnificent - Ross Hannaford's lead was eloquent and spare, and the rhythm section was boppier than you remember. They are cool, they rule, Daddy's back!!



The festival was held in beautiful Narooma, maybe for the last time due to local noise considerations - well you'd think the revenue would assist - but it's the vocal minority I guess.



The entertainment was well worth the price of admission as always. Unfortunately I was a bit crook so had to miss some acts - I didn't hear Bomba or Kevin Borich Express who Jamie my 17 year old son said were "awesome". Also there were a number of people buying the Audreys' CD, so they made an impact.

My faves from those I saw, apart from Daddy Cool were :
Charlie Musselwhite Band - a muscular swinging unit with old lege Charlie showing what a virtuoso he is, and what a nice guy
Jim Conway's Big Wheel - another fab harp player and wide choice of musical styles, also entertaining band
Kelly Joe Phelps - intense introspective performer playing to himself, but what a voice and masterful guitarist - those who missed him missed a brush with greatness
The Backsliders - with Broderick Smith filling the harp chair and adding his own personality - a very good gig
Lee Rocker Band - propulsive rockabilly with an edge from this ex Stray Cat


Kelly Joe Phelps

The Sunday service was blessed with the voices of the Gospel Hummingbirds. I was expecting Blind Boys' gruff sledgehammer vocals but these guys were smooooooth like 70's silky soul, but could steam it up as well with great guitar, rhythm and panache in their holy white 'meet Jesus' suits. In fact they were almost too good and maybe a bit too preachy for the blues crowd. Their parting song about "Meeting you in the Rapture" was almost The Three Amigos do gospel. Still, ya can't discount the sincerity...

The three speeches /sermons at the service were excellent. Thought provoking topics - diversity and ecology which we need more of in today's climate of erosion of human rights through the politics of fear and marginalisation. I read in Rhythms that Charlie Musselwhite , now in his 70s, was compelled to include three political songs on his latest "Delta Hardware" CD. "In the past I've never touched on anything political. I think it's patriotic to stand up and say what's right and he's [Bush] wrong. It's about greed and power and money - the worst president in history".


Legendary Charlie Musselwhite at Narooma 2006

Top 200 songs.

An interesting diversion. My Top 100 or so CDs have been nutted out over the years - refer Desert Island Discs. Now my old friend Len has provided me with a disc of his Top 100 "songs" so I felt that I had to attempt something similar, but I don't have Len's fortitude. 100 or so, I thought, then perhaps 150, nahhhhh.....maybe 200... could have kept going, but then there's the write up, the accompanying reasons for choice, which I must get started on.....world's yer oyster son, get into it. Is this final? Not likely - I could add more tomorrow. Only 1 classical?? Well I could have added more but then we'd be up to 300...this one had to go in.

Collectors are orderly creatures and jump at the chance of classifying and banging things into their appointed boxes - refer Saturday Morning Ashwoods and Collectors. But what is the basis of choice - nostalgia, artistic merit, lyrics, musical innovation, classic status, da groove mon, aesthetically appealing, dig the beat, cool man, tickles my ivories, absolutely fab, "oooh, ah like it"?

Well these are discs which I would hope to have with me, should I be stranded on a desert island (with a superb sound system and electricity of course, a fabulous tsunami proof island hideaway, a fishing rod... and maybe one or two mermaids....I didn't say that!!) Some have nostalgic value eg Cliff Richard's live version of "Move It" which I recovered from the lifeboat platform after a wind gust blew it over the side of the "Fairsea" in the Indian Ocean 1962. So, that had to be included didn't it? Nonetheless, it is a superb example of early British, pre Beatles rock - check out Hank B Marvin's lead and Jet Harris' bass. Edith Piaff's "Les Mots D'amour" has romantic attachment, but of course it is a great performance by a chanteuse magnifique.

Looking through the list I realise I'm a traditionalist, a roots aficionado. There is little from recent years and yet modern eclecticism does appeal. I love the use of technology, particularly when it incorporates indigenous music, as for instance with Mustt Mustt by Nusrat Farka Ali Khan, Amadou et Miriam, Lo Jo, Susheela Raman, Mercan Dede, Omar Sosa.

The final list, like the list in Nick Hornby's very amusing book High Fidelity, is a moveable target, subject to whim, nostalgia, vacillation, further listening and discoveries. If only one had more ears, and time.....! The record that gave you a glow back then and put a smile on your dial, your secret song, has now been flogged mercilessly by those two cent stations and one cent jocks. But that's pop music, instant glow.......or is it art where further listening reveals depth? It turns like a diamond and each face reveals another aspect......Mmmm sometimes - "Madame George" but perhaps not "Papa Oom Mow Mow". It depends on your memory and imagination. This is not high art and was not intended to be so, initially. It was intended for dance, excitement and foreplay, intimacy and instant glow. And along the way the moneymakers shook the roots out of it and tried to cabaret, homogenise and codify. But the roots prevailed, yea on back streets bro, porch and dance halls and independent small labels kept it alive. In writer Tim Winton's expression, "dirt music". Real music. The best of it sounding spontaneous, exciting and unpredictable.

I have included the top 30 here, the remaining 170 or so can be viewed on my website

Were You There Soul Stirrers (with Sam Cooke)

Laudate Dominum Mozart - K 339 Vesperae Solennes Phillips edition soloist (?)

Madame George Van Morrison

Mystery Train Elvis Presley

I Am The Walrus The Beatles

All Along The Watchtower Jimi Hendrix

Moonlight Mile The Rolling Stones

Drown In My Own Tears Ray Charles

Gimmie Shelter The Rolling Sones

Elvis Presley Blues Gillian Welsh

A Change Is Gonna Come Sam Cooke

Tomorrow Night Lonnie Johnson

Al Bowley's In Heaven Richard Thompson

Les Mots D'Amour Edith Piaff

Come On In My Kitchen Robert Johnson

Canned Heat Tommy Johnson

Dark Is The Night Blind Willie Johnson

A Strange Affair Linda and Richard Thompson

Oh Well Pts1&2 Fleetwood Mac (with Peter Green)

Lucille Little Richard

Unchained Melody The Righteous Brothers

See Emily Play Pink Floyd

The Green Manalishi Fleetwood Mac (with Peter Green)

Gimmie A Pigfoot Bessie Smith

Paint It Black The Rolling Stones

Future Blues Willie Brown

Pain In My Heart Otis Redding

Any Day Now Soul Stirrers (with Sam Cooke)

Give A Man A Home Five Blind Boys

Little Wing (live) Jimi Hendrix

A rare sighting of the Shy Bald Headed Steve Buzzard, alongside Eadaoin, Kirsten, with myself in the background.


A surprise birthday destination ended up in the Blue Mountains for our friend Eadaoin Corcoran, who was also hit with a surprise party at the Irish Club, Weston when she returned. Eadaoin will not believe anyone from now on, certainly not Kirsten or daughter Jamie ! A guest at the following day'’s bar-b-que, in fact a real Guest, was Barry Guest who had traveled from Sydney with partner Mary. Ex Woronora Bush Band member Baz and I had jammed a couple of years back at a similar function at the Steve and Eadaoin Burra manor and it was a treat to back him again on some Irish tunes. We then wandered into some blues, old rock '‘n roll and bush music. Baz, who is 6'’4"” was called B1, and I was B2, or Stumpy due possibly to a marginal height difference. Big Baz is an excellent cello maker, using Australian woods, and he can be located at BLOG Cellos-By-Guest.



The misty atmospheric Grose Valley and Angel Falls, Blue Mountains,
New South Wales, Australia.


Another surprise birthday destination ended at the Blue Mountains for my wife Denise. We had an enjoyable two days at the warm and cosy Pardolote Cottage, with its central heating, wood fire and spa. The large well maintained garden will be a delight over the coming months right through to Autumn, in fact even in Winter the camellias were blooming. Mountain scenery is so spectacular, it was years since we were there and despite heavy rain on the first day we thoroughly enjoyed it.


We met my brother Stuart at the Isobar Jazz Cafe/restaurant in Katoomba, which he calls Balmain in the mountains, and had an enjoyable meal and chat. Well, it's a rather unusual town, faded gentility to modern chic buildings, home to wonderful second hand bookshops and good eateries and some rather exotic species of humanity which festoon the streets. The mountain scenery is timeless and some pics can be found at my webshots site in the latest folder.


Norman Lindsay: Adolescence

Some pics also of the Faulconbridge property owned by artist and author Norman Lindsay, who was infamous back in the twenties for his nymphs and satyrs, in fact Norman adored the female nude no matter who was wearing it, the more the merrier. Huge hipped women with wobbly bums populate his pictures and actually drop from the sky in one extravagant painting "Spring" I think it was called!!. Yea the old Norman was a fabulous aficionado of the female form.




Norman Lindsay: Journalism and art

Anthony McGloin plays The Merry Muse

Friday 28 July 2006 saw my bro Anthony McGloin play at the Merry Muse folk club which is held in the White Eagle Polish Club at Turner. Trevor Dunham (web site coming soon) was the main support. It was a most enjoyable performance with Trevor'’s musical excursions into gospel (a great version of "“Wade in The Water"”), blues (an impromptu "“Crossroads"”), Cajun, folk, pop, rock and probably some genres I'’ve missed. A popular performer, who brought his own audience, ha ha -– Trev has a large family who can all either play or sing very well and although Trev'’s great aunt didn'’t show up (she was probably there in spirit !!) the others more than made up for her. Son Billy was impressive with his guitar compositions, which were according to my bro Tony "“soulful"”, and played with feeling.

Trev was also accompanied by fellow musos Baz on accordion and his harp player whose name escapes me but was especially fine on an instrument which is often butchered. Trev and Baz had Anthony join them on guitar for a lovely textured version of "“All Along the Watchtower"”. Trev has an engaging personality, shows great enthusiasm and appreciates audience involvement which makes for an intimate all inclusive performance -– we all kicked a goal there at the Merry Muse!!

Trevor Dunham accompanied by Anthony on mandolin.

Anthony'’s performance was relaxed, humorous and fluid -– he was obviously enjoying the venue and audience. He mixes a number of styles which show his influences, choosing mainly from the debut Cd "“Nightflight"” which has received some excellent reviews (I think he'’s working on getting some more up on his web site). It was great to watch his masterful playing take off in the intense rythmic numbers, and appreciate the deft colouration, the tone pictures.

His introductions, particularly in the longer pieces, such as "“Ship in The Storm"” and "“Nightflight"” allow the audience to travel with him as the music follows the journey. These are interspersed with shorter musical pieces such as "“Money Money Money/If I were a Rich Man"” and "“Sunny Afternoon"” both done with a sense of wry humour which enticed the audience to join in and sing along.

He has added a couple of songs and tunes to the repertoire, the Son House/Robert Johnson song "“Walking Blues"” and "Just a Dream", an amusing blues song using mandolin. Other new stuff were the lovely American Civil War tune "“Ashokan Farewell"” which was segued with "“Land's End"” as a mandolin medley and "Gloomy Sunday", a fine guitar piece - plus an excellent "Classical Gas".

I must admit that the warm ambience of the Merry Muse and the accompanying ambience facilitating beverages (the excellent Polish Zywiec beer and Annie'’s Lane wine) served to enhance the time, and subsequently blurrrrr the memory - oh– details where art thou?? But it was a fine night of great grass roots entertainment. Finally much praise is due to soundman Guy Gibson for a sensitive tuning of the mixing board and the welcoming, down to earth MCing of Bill Arnett.

Australia to be renamed GUUSLAND. Hail Guus Hiddink, a man with the vision to see Oz upon the scoreboard of the World Cup. At the least the capital Canberra will be now known as Guus. “This is Peter Harvey, reporting from Guuuuus”. A Guus ticket will be entered at the next federal election. Guus for Emperor, or at least Prime Minister. John Howard will be replaced by a visionary, a man with heart, hope and faith, a man who patiently waits at the bus stop of humanity for his dream to come around the corner. A man who occasionally makes errors... (Aloisi should have gone on earlier, maybe Josh Kennedy also) but who has the generosity of spirit to appreciate the strengths and allow for the weaknesses of the human condition. A man who knows his bus is late, but will arrive. A man who is happy to have you on board. Guus be with you.

The image above of an Italian soccer player purportedly taking a dive in order to obtain a penalty i.e. acting in order to obtain an advantage - which in this particular instance won the Italians the soccer match in the last seconds of a tightly fought game against Australia ( sorry, Guusland) - is just sour grapes. Yes indeed. It is extraordinary that some disgruntled person would go so far to vent his spleen by highlighting the thespian abilities of this player, and then post it to millions around the globe. Extraordinary....