Taking a dive: Lest it been thought that I’m a total grump about Ostray-yah day, there was the alluring sight of drunk boys diving and bellyflopping into the harbour that did keep us mildly amused for an hour or two

A couple of weeks ago while we were ‘celebrating’ Australia day i had a funny feeling in my belly. As we walked around the harbour and the crowds of people something was niggling me, it wasnt until later in the day that i figured out what it was, it was anger. As we sat on the harbour wall i looked at the crowds, many of whom were draped in the Australian flag. I kept thinking ‘Why are you celebrating?’ were/are all those people happy with the way Australia is spiraling out of control into an almost conservative dictatorship?, the constant attacks on unions, gay rights, refugee’s, workplace relations etc etc.

I dont know what angered me more, the fact that these people ‘wanted’ to celebrate or the fact that they were too indifferent to care. All i know is ‘I’ didnt feel like celebrating, how long before that changes? .. please dont let it be long, i cant stand to read too many more horror stories that our political reporting has become.

I’ve attached a couple of letters from the paper i kept from early last year soon after Howard was elected again as our prime minister, these letters give me some sort of hope that i’m not alone in my thinking.

Still the coolest place in Sydney, where else can you find advertisments for Iggy Pop and eczama within a few feet of each other?, it’s the only place i could live if i ever have to move to the big smoke, spent the last day of my summer holidays just walking the streets, shopping and eating and drinking (lots) as with any inner city place, on a hot summers day there is no place hotter, all that ashphelt and cement = hot hot hot.

Hmmm, me thinks it might be time to call the refrigerator mechanic in.

If there is one thing I cant stand is an artist who announces their retirement only to make a spectacular comeback when either the taxman comes knocking, or they realize they cant live with out the roar .. Or groan, of the crowd. One such person is the Aussie singer John Farnham who for a myriad of reasons I just cant stand, I was filled with glee when only a couple of years ago he hung up his touring boots and called it a day, alas I now read in our local paper that he will be returning to the concert stage with a show in my home town, please John, just go away.

For whatever bizzare reason our regional tv station here in Wollongong WIN 4 has decided to start playing reruns of classic Aussie cop shows and drama’s at 3.00am each morning, and they have a different show every day of the week, so far we’ve had the ‘Sullivan’s’ ‘Division 4’ ‘Holiday island’ ‘Matlock’ and ‘Skyways’ (still waiting for the episode featuring a VERY young Kylie and Jason to be shown) better spark up the old vcr and catch these while i can.

I have this clipping on my notice board at home, i get pretty disheartend when i see the complacency that has overrun the gay community not only here in Aussie but world wide, not that i’m judging too harshly, our community is tired, battle scarred and bruised in the Neocon world we now live in, it’s an interesting, yet scarey .. bordering on terrifying time we now live in, and people my age (40) are at the right age to really notice the change, it was only recently .. maybe less than ten years ago, where it seemed we were moving forward with rights, relationship acknowledgement, freedom, sense of community.

We were on a roll, but now over the past few years we have had to watch as this has started to grind to a halt, as the world has shifted into an oppresive conservative age. This has all happend so quick, and it’s especially noticable down here in Aussie, where gay rights and legislation are being repealed!?, still what do you expect when something as basic as workers rights are being smashed and levelled on a daily basis.

Still, what i cling to is the notion that ‘The tide go’s in, the tide go’s out’ and that this madness wont spiral out of control and people will remember what we had and how far we had come, and then gasp it back before too much more is lost.

It will take three things for this to happen, people (Mr, Ms amd Mrs Joe Average) will have to be ..

* Less fearful of what the government feeds us

* Less greedy

* Less complacent.

This is a serious Tammy signing off.

B O-derant: Once again change is forcing me into financial straits, i’ve been driven into another round of mass purchasing after Rexona decided to change the recipe of my favorite underarm deoderant, oh that all the worlds problems should be so trivial i hear you bleat, but for me this is a disaster, it can take months or years to find the right spray for the right person.

With my old faithful i have 24 hour protection from odours, no staining, no itch .. alas now some insane person at Rexona HQ has decided that well enough wasnt good enough, so they have changed the recipe for the nook and cranny CFC propelled whiffsome mist, the ‘New and improved’ spray is nothing less than vulgar, i recoiled in horror upon my first squirt, it smells like one of those strawberry scented toilet deodourisers, like a fruit bowl has exploded under your arm. By the end of the first day of my trialling the new spray i fully expected to find a nest of wasps under my arms.

In true Tammy fashion i went out in search of the last stocks of the prized canisters, i found one little store that had a few last cans of old stock, so i swept them up and plonked down the cash.

I know i’m only delaying the enevitable, but really .. some things in life shouldnt be screwed with, thats underarm, toothpaste and soap.

In the below you can also spot my present from Adam of the ‘Oral-B ultrasonic toothbrush’ have you ever had one of these in your mouth? i suggest you try it.

While staying down the coast Adam noticed this sign by the indoor pool, i understand the no diving symbol, but what does the one showing a caricature of someone pulling the back of their shorts down ban?

Whilst visiting Los Angeles one of the big thrills for me was getting to visit a heap of recording studios where most of my favorite music has been recorded, i’ll be posting more photos later of different studios, here i am at ‘Ocean way’ studios 6050 W Sunset Blvd, this is where some of ‘Good vibrations’ was recorded in the 60’s and where most recently Paul McCartney recorded his best ever solo album ‘Chaos and creation in the backyard’ i’ve attached a screen capture of Paul arriving at the studio as well as some i took.

Sea Change: Last weekend Adam and i took the opertunity to get away down the coast for a couple of days, for both of us it was a welcome return to old stomping ground, Adam used to go to Lak Conjola and i went to Burril Lake for our summer holidays as kids. It brought back a flood of memories for me as i walked around the camping ground we used to go to, pointing out every signifigant tree and blade of grass to Adam and probably boring him into a stupor along the way. The bonus of the trip was meeting up with our ‘old’ friend Beryl who was holidaying with friends nearby, we were lucky enough to bum a dinner invitation and spent a beautiful night having dinner outdoors with good company, the next day we got to show Beryl around some of the places we knew down there, by a strange twist my sister and neice were staying in a holiday house just up the road from ‘Rancho Beryl’ so we got a visit in there as well, this was fun as the place where my sister was staying was like a little time warp from the sixties, right down to the original furnishings and decorations, i’ve attached a few photos taken in the house, i even got a pic of a retro fly strip from the 70’s left haning next to the orange/red/pink-ish velvet curtains. If you look closely at the pic of Beryl, Adam and i next to the lake you can see the water rippling behind us, thats because an out of control dog was in the water behind us and you can see delicate Beryl is poised ready to squeal.

Ahhhh, how sweet it is .. any ‘collectors’ out there probably have a ‘Wants list’, this is a list of your most desired items that you collect. For about 20 years #1 on my video wants list has been the early 1970’s action/adventure show ‘Primus’, this show was sort of a modern version of ‘Sea hunt’, in all my years of collecting i’ve never met anyone who even remembers the show, let alone having a copy on video tape, as far as i know it was never repeated after it’s first airing.

Imagine my joy when last Friday i scanned around ebay and found someone selling a copy of four episodes on video, got it at a really good price too. Now i have to look up my list and see whats next to get on my hit list.