weird daze post touring
i fly up to qld n do rock wiz show
i filmed it all
itll be available on my new upcoming website
travelling long singing my song side by side
stay at nice hotels
usual things aggravate me
i do yoga coldly sometimes in posh rooms
with good views
at night its the olde on with the show
and the people loved the show
and i taking some great solace in being a ‘umble cog
in the machine
because it was a good machine
and the cogs all worked well
fly back in time for all kindsa shenanigans
you wouldnt read about it
more good and bad excitement
fuck yeah
fuck no
then saturday drive to canberra for the school reunion
it was outside in a pub garden
an irritating jolly celtic-ish big band scraped my tinnitus
rendering conversations more painful than usual
a horrible bloody bonfire burned foul smelling smoke
nevermind all that
i filmed the whole thing
one day it will be available at my new supersite coming soon-ish
you’ll hear some women testify to my innate nastiness as a youth
you werent yourself says janet g a former classmate
others protest my innocence
my “fame” seems to blur some memories
the words fame n famous get bandied about a lot
not surprising
with a few exceptions
i am more popular with the ladies at this do
than the gents
the same old blokes who disapproved of me back then
still didnt dig my groovy stupid trip
the geezers who were neutral remained neutral
my couple of old pals still liked me n treated me the same
i mingled around
i guessed who most people were
i was looking forward to meeting megan m
who i had secretly had a long crush on thru school
i met bronny n jo from my old debating team
they havent changed and we pick up as tho not much has changed
jo still treats me with slightly impatient disdain
while bronny jumps in saying kind things
(as she did back in 1972)
a finnish girl who had been quite a plain jane at school
had blossomed into a willowy tall elegant woman
ones who had been willowy at school now seemed smaller and round
i am introduced to a lady with blond hair n glasses
she hides her name and i know i should know her
but i cant say who it is
c’mon she says guess who i am
but i dont know n i feel embarrassed
its megan….i didnt recognise her at all
some blokes were completely bald
others had hair just as it was in 1972 the last time i saw em
most of us drove to restaurant after the pub
a rude mouthy woman called linda b
sat behind me in my car pulling at my hair
gee your hairs pretty thin! she says
im fucking 55! i protest
we all are ! says a chorus of voices
later at the restaurant linda keeps pulling at my thin hair
its receding isnt it? she asks
but then adds
youve hardly any wrinkles on your forehead
is that botox ?she asks seriously
still youre bloody handsome she finally sighs
other blokes from school are unfortunately overfond of booze
they get a loada red wine into em
and become just like the kinda people we hated at school
actually they all seemed to like to drink
there was a slide show powerpoint thingy
some old poems from the school magazine are projected
a couple of pretentious poems by bronny appear
and bigmouth me declaims them to everyone
in a ridiculous accent like a boorish king from camelot
loving her embarrassment
but instant karma soon follows when a loada my 4th form dribble
is up on the screen
and people
it was the most awful stuff
that made bronnys poetry look like rimbaud
i hid my face deep in my coat and groaned
as i leave the whole do
i run into scrubby s (a former classmate uninvited)
who works the corner of antill n northbourne washing windows
(dickson, act)
i give him 20 bucks n we have a chat
i give him some tips about getting off the gearski
and he gives me some tips about having thicker hair
dont ever wash it!
and remaining young
dont eat anything….
it must be said that poor scrubby does indeed look younger
than many of the guys who did well
remarkably youthful in fact except for his teeth
he dont look much different
its all the food n booze that ages people we agree
and working for the man n doing a job you hate
makes you all bitter n boring n yer hair turns white
and it was a long sad strange drive home to bondi
it rained n i nearly rain outta petrol
thank heavens i didnt
over n out