yesterday did 2 shows
the first was a vegan expo festival
it was hard going i guess
a noisy room
broad daylight plus fluoros
people buying , talking, laughing
i was mediocre ..the music and ranting
both mediocre and tired
who fucking cares about my almost-veganism
preaching to the converted of course
everyone was already some kinda veg
i got a weak response
someone had to come on to get me more claps
afterwards i was whisked away to talk to supreme master tv
www.SupremeMasterTV.com (not a joke)
a goodnews channel for any who wants it
finding myself outside i wandered away
i did not go back in and talk to my veg friends
i just walked off
into a taxi
someone had given me a letter n some info
on the seventh day adventists and a bible
i perused these items
and then left my bloody prescription glasses in the cab
damn….600 bucks worth i could ill afford to lose

i got home and it was storming
i didnt wanna go back out n do the tibet gig
demoralised by losing my glasses
feeling weird from some lurgie
hungry but no appetite
i feel like im on a big losing streak
anyhow eventually i pulled myself together (mr humphries!!)
and drove the long lonely drive back into town
up old south head road
the red lights dazzling me
i shouldnt have been driving at all
so distracted and non-plussed i was feeling
eventually i find the angel place carpark
(isnt that a song?)
i stumble into the venue
i’d been there for soundcheck
the people involved were real real nice
i was singing utmw with jimmy little
australias first indigenous popstar
i was watching him in 1963 in dapto
jimmy was the most lovely laconic laidback fella
he liked to walk along with his arm round my shoulders
and i remember that reassuring feeling like it was my dad
jimmys down the best version of that song bar none
he found a lazy smoky bar room jazz version
he found the sinatra-esque soul of my original song
his version is on a wonderful record called the messenger
in which
jimmy amazingly reinterprets some of the best aust. songs ever
including
randwick bells
into temptation
are you the one that ive been looking for
cattle n cane
anyway
jimmy sings em all so smoothly
you’ll love it
he gives em all a lovely relaxed spin
i was also taken in a room and offered my pick of a row of
little golden buddha statues all in a row
theres like 25 little little ones
and one big little one
i say to the woman
its a test isnt it?
she smiles n says
take any one you want
but i say
theres only one big one
she says
if you want the big one take it!
i say
why should i have the big one
she says someone will have it…why not you?
i boldly snatch up the big-little buddha (its about one inch high)
she smiles at me
and i laugh nervously
it was a test
i had failed
and an hour later the uni-verse shoplifted my glasses from me
instant karma….just add kilbey and stir
anyhow jimmy n i became friends quickly
he has a nice manager too
some of you may know him as buzz bidstrup
drummer for the angels a big oz rock hard rock bunch
(tim just produced acoustic record for their singer, doc(very good))
so me n jimmy and all the rest had to sit on stage all the way through
there were some fantastic acts
tibetan singers who could sing in 2 octaves at once
monks chanting n intoning
drummers drumming up a storm
a choir
katie noonan from george
who is a divine n exquisite singer
she played piano on utmw
buzz played drums
i played bass
me n jimmy sang
what a strange fragile but lovely version
jimmy sings some lines so laidback
he illustrates the song with half ironic gestures
his eyes gaze up and hes seeing the stars themselves
thanks to jimmy utmw has also become a favourite
for many kooris n murris who tell me how that songs been adopted
it means something else to them now
and look
im quite tired of the bloody song
but the fact that these guys like it
fills me with fierce pride
its beyond a pop hit now
its a standard
anyhow
we do a nice version
i jump into the audience
watch the second hour of the show
amazing pieces of indefinable music
didgeridoo and classical instruments
the drummers take up bells n little blocks
the musicians disperse all over the audience
it was magical
amazing
i was truly surprised n inspired
afterwards a sadness amongst all the players
our short lived mission over
a happy ending….
i drive home listening to twilight singers
life is all ups n downs…aint it?