It was so much fun to be involved in Tim and Sam’s radio show. The whole process of choosing songs, trying to find stories for each of them, burning them to CD.. and then driving off without the CD. As we were leaving Elphinstone, Tim drove off without an essential set of headphones. Then we got caught behind a learner driver, already behind schedule. Ah yes.. all part of the adventure.

The open mic can be a little terrifying.. even though we suspect there’s an audience of somewhere between 1-6 people. However these two wonderful people do their very best to make their guest feel comfortable. They are hilarious together, and are building up such a lovely new radio show.. i heartily recommend you listen in (fortnightly Wednesday evenings, wmafm.com).

Okay, here’s the set list i finally selected for Tim and Sam’s Junk City. Read the rest of this entry »

And the next day – after the Castlemaine festival madness – we all supported the legendary Sam Downing in her Sew Funky event “Beasty Beats” at the Elphinstone Hotel.. an awesome day of monster-making. Around 80 people, children and their parents, designed and created their own monsters in all shapes and sizes. At the end we had a monster monster dance. Fun.

It’s always good to remember how incredibly lucky i am, living in a developed country, having a roof over my head, access to public transport, and some kind of employment, as well as amazing social support networks. Many people around the world don’t get this lucky.

There’s been so much going on in my life lately:

• moved house back to Northcote which is very delightful, Lou and Anto have been putting heaps of energy into making a new dream house with a beautiful garden.. i’m struggling to deal with all my excess baggage newly out of storage (move on, baggage, move on);
• went to Womadelaide music festival, an extremely exciting and wonderful trip involving South Australian salt beaches, Mama Kin, Ojos de Brujo, Nortec Collective from Mexico, and much more;
• went to see Alice in Wonderland and loved it – except for the 3D;
• riding my amazing new bike every day and getting so much enjoyment from it – so super fast i have to be really careful;
• joined in Tim and Sam’s working bee sessions up at Elphinstone Manor, put up curtains in their bedroom, worked on a new carport with Tim, planted some trees and helped dig a long ditch for the plumbing pipes;
• read Russell Banks “Dreaming up America”, a history of the USA through his experience of film;
• went to see Lauren Simmonds’ exhibition down in Footscray, an intriguing paper-based installation;
• saw Monsters of the Deep in 3D at the Comedy Festival – very funny;
• joined the first chorus band of singers in recording with Emma Tonkin at Fairfield tafe studios;
• catching up with Buffy season 8 in comic book form, and it is getting super scary,
• plus all sorts of other things involving meditation and yoga.

But telling stories here on the blog.. haven’t had the follow-through lately. Too busy enjoying life, too nervous about writing in public, too stressed about moving house and finding new workplaces.

So there’s the overview.

Maybe i’ll come back with some detail, one day soon.

photo credit: cloud_nine