i am the time beeing
i am 53 earth years olde
i am among the best and worst
i listen to oophoi right now on shuffle
i sit in my dirty crowded spare bedgeroom
i call my studio
on my eisel a portrait of david mccomb
stares out into space
and im proud of myself
it looks like ‘im
this portrait and an article im yet to write
will be for a book about mccomb/triffids
being put out by a couple of melbo academics
funny to find myself considered such an authority
david and i were rivals i guess back in the day
there wasnt room for too many angry geniuses in australia
mccomb was younger more spontaneous and weirder than me
i heard about this guy long before i ever saw him
how amazing he was
ye olde killa not like to hear this in 1983 or whatever
people threw the triffids in my face
before i even heard a note
the triffids do this
the triffids dont do that
finally they opened for us at the great northern hotel
i couldnt tell ya what year it was 82 83 ?
i saw half a song
delivered my foregone conclusion of judgement to myself:
fucking amateur hour.
you see the olde killer
neither cares for excessive professional showbiz malarkey
(eg bono chris isaak robbie willy-ams)
neither do i like youth club stuff
(arctic monkeys most punk bands etc)
well
i snubbed em in the corridor
iva always ignored me
and it kinda impressed me that he did
so i thought that was always the way to go
and i tried not to ever have to speak to anybody else
in the music biz
anyway someone told me later
mccomb had said
only a girl would like the church
(remember this was the pretty daze)
and that was that
till in 1984 the triffids got hailed as the next big thing
in english press
i was jealous and envious
in 1984 i was 30
dave was only 24 and he was killing it it seemed
unfortunately the triffids didnt make a lot of money or anything
but boy did they get good reviews
born sandy devotional was hailed as a masterpiece
bullshit i thought
holed up in sweden during a freezing winter
anyway wide open road came out
how could you argue with that song
i secretly(hiding from my own nasty mind) bought b s d
it was/is a masterpiece
now im painting david who i never really met
i remarked to mr g lee
that david would spin in his grave
to think of me singing his songs
and waxing lyrical over his abilities
no no said graham
he would like it
you guys are very similar!
anyway
david
if you out there with grant somewhere
im gonna do my best with this portrait and this essay
it will be an honour to sing with the triffids at the syd fest next year
im singing a load of really good songs
including my favourite
stolen property

had a stupid argument with twillies lastnight
at family xmas do
bad timing killer
but twillies leave their dad only 2 possible options
accept what we do
or we’ll storm off in a huff
listen
i told them
i told their mother n her husband
i told my brother
and whoever else
i dont even know what i want
i dont know what rules to have
i know i dont want em roaming sydney on nye
whoops shouldnt have used word “roam”
they seize on that
and flounce off yelling at me
i tell em sydney is bigger n nastier than stock-home
but jesus christ
they know it all
soon everyone is arguing with everybody
while the twillies have slunk off upstairs
to have fun with their friends
something in my heart says stop now
but i keep going arguing with the swedes
smoking pot to them is absolutely forbidden
while overnighters with boys can be tolerated
me: its the complete opposite!
i hate it when i hear myself arguing on n on
in a loud hoarse voice
this daughter dilemma is a tough one
i need more patience and faith
but some things i’ll never agree with
imagine what itll be like when scarlet is 16
and i’ll be 67
what chance will i have…
but dad all the kids have got implants in their lobes!
i dont wanna be a relic from some bygone era
but theyre pretty quick to cast you as that
if you disagree
with em climbing over fences to get into festivals or something
me!!!
the anti-“straight”
ex junkie poet and rocknroll zero a layabout a beach bum
now im the olde guy who never understands

thanks to h heart
and ryan whos no slow coach
for gifts
and isolde for keyboard thank you
anyone else
im sorry my room is an explosion again
the kids
the gigs
the ears
the broke-dom
the mess
the dope
if i forgotten your gift
thank you
really
i appreciate it
thanks for my subscribers
you are making it possible for me to do this
now
someone sent me some ginseng from korea
thank you my friend
its about a year supplys worth
that should keep my pencil well leaded
someone else from china
sent me some stuff
some medicines
i have no idea what they are
no english instructions
can you please give me some advice here
if youre reading this
ricki
if you reading this blog
ive nearly run out of stuffing for my soy turkey
and the stuffing man is having the day off
so get thyself stuffed if you can
before you come over
anyway
theres always tomorrow
and threemorrow
sk xmas 2007 n bondi aust