Trip 4 part IV - More material for a Lynch film

As we headed south from Orange we somehow missed a turnoff and didn't realize we did so until we'd gone 110 K due West instead of South. Oops! There were two options, to return the way we came, losing a couple of hours, or to continue on and head south from the next town. We decided to do the latter. The sun was setting and cast an eerie shadow over the deserted land. We drove another 110 K and saw only one homestead. It was just a huge flat expanse of nothing, except some farm lands, but there wasn't anyone living on the land to farm it. It felt odd. Eventually we saw a service station and were relieved to stop. I made my way into the bathroom and as I opened the door came face to face with a young woman with a baby. She seemed relieved when she saw me. "She didn't nurse well and has been screaming for 45 minutes" she explained. The kid looked calm to me. She then asked if I'd watch the baby while she went to the toilet. Of course I agreed. I let the little one wrap her fingers around mine and peered into her eyes, thinking how odd connections are. I mean, here I was in the middle of nowhere with a stranger's child who I'll never see again but we had that moment. As soon as I had that thought she started crying again. Soon enough the mother returned and left the bathroom. After I'd taken my turn I walked up to the counter in time to witness and odd exchange. One woman behind the counter spoke loudly to a friend on the phone as another worker used the cash register to ring up customers. A rather long queue was growing as she tallied bills slowly. When I appeared from the bathroom Paul was at the counter, in front of the line. He paid for our gas and commented "in that last stretch there was only one house for 110 K, is the rest of the way through as deserted?" She stared at him blankly as if he were speaking a different language. An elderly gentlemen toward the end of the line spoke up. "Just watch out for the kangaroos" he said in a slow deep voice. Kangaroos? I thought. I guess they run into the headlights of oncoming cars, but I had visions of this being foreshadowing of killer kangaroos in our wacky David Lynch like real-life film. We jumped in our car and continued driving through the darkness until we made it home some hours later. Just as we rounded the corner down Acland Street, the main drag near our house, a drunk twenty something agrily kicked our car as he crossed the street. Paul stopped the car, jumped out and confronted him. I was terrified, I've never seen Paul get aggressive before, so should have trusted him but this was weird and I was tired. Luckily the police were right there and witnessed the incident. They took the kid to jail for public drunkeness so he could cool off and arranged for us to get remuneration for the damage to our car. Again I sat there thinking, "how did I get here?" One moment I'm in the middle of nowhere without a person in site and the next I'm dealing with aggression, police, property damage and drunk people. It was an odd night. But Phew, we made it home.

Trip 4 part III - Rocky's Royal 50th

I was pleasantly surprised that the country folk know how to put on a good party. The theme was "Royal" so everyone dressed up in costume. There was the King of Rock n Roll (Elvis), Dame Edna, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana, Gypsy Kings, a corgy, a guy in a british flag, The King of Scotland, Indian princesses, and a variety of other Kings, Queens and Royals. Paul and I decided to be a Royal Flush and pinned cards to our outfits. We mingled with friends and family, ate lasagne and then the real party started. Rocky and his wife and kids and friends are all musicians so we had great entertainment all night. The best was when Paul decided to play drums. Back in the 80s he was in a successful band called JFK and the Cuban Crisis, but gave it up to pursue other interests. He said it had been years since he played but he had a big grin on his face most of the time so must have loved it. He played so hard his hands were bruised the next day and he bent his ring. It reminded me of my younger days too, following bands and band guys around. :) An old friend he hadn't seen in 25 years was agast. She stood beside me snapping her camera saying how this brought back so many memories. She told me how she and Paul were in the city band together and that's how she met this crowd. She also talked about how drop dead gorgeous he was as a younger man. "So I've heard" I replied. "Still has that great bone structure" she said as she wandered off.

The music was great, a bit of jazzy bluesy work, and some classic songs. We had a great time. When we left the party we had to de-ice the windows it was so chilly outside. Again we cuddled up in our freezing cold motel room and slept poorly. In the morning we had a giant breakfast with Paul's father, his wife and her kids and grandkids. Eggs, massive amounts of bacon, tomatoes, croissants, bread, cakes, several juices, pineapple, grapes, bananas, coffee, I am sure I'm missing other things too. Lou kindly gave us a deck of cards from Trieste, the Northern Italian city he hails from and sent us on our way with full bellies. We stopped by his brother's house, Paul's Uncle Mario on the way out of town. I really enjoyed his English wife. They too fed us cakes and tea and coffee. We finally rolled out of Orange just before midday.

Groupies

I'll interupt my travel stories to introduce you to some fun music. Paul shares an office with Leila who is involved with band promotion in her off hours. She hosts monthly "Live in the Living Room" acoustic concerts in her flat, invites 30-40 people and charges a small entry fee that's given to charity. So tonight Paul and I joined her for the 5th concert to promote up and coming bands. First of all the apartment was absolutely amazing, I'm guessing it's probably worth 3 million. A funny place to rub shoulders with skinny messy haired kids. The first band, 17th Whole, looked like something out of Dawson's Creek. A cute blonde messy-haired boy sang sugary pop songs with a nice but timid voice while inexperienced band members supported him. The second band, Tokenview, had a much broader sound, and obviously more experience. They were two blonde messy-haired twenty-somethings who interchangeably played guitar, piano, and sang, accompanied by a bassist and a kid brother on drums. They rocked a bit more, had more confidence. The third band, The Basics, were really great. They came in wearing suits, looking like the Beatles and had a similar kind of sound. They are not only obviously talented but they showed that when there is synergy, and you're doing what you love and well, you have a lot of fun. They seemed to be having a great time, which engaged the audience. They had good senses of humor, and although all three had great talent, Wally had such incredible projection and a sort of bluesy quality to his voice that I just didn't want him to stop singing! Kris also sang a soulful song that reminded me of Johnny Cash (but Kris can sing ;)). Anyway, they are great live, so if you have the chance, see them on their world tour or check them out on myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/the3basics

also:

http://www.myspace.com/tokenview
http://www.myspace.com/17thwhole
http://www.liveinthelivingroom.com.au/701.html?*session*id*key*=*session*id*val*