The Cherry

In March I'll have been in my current house for four years - time flies when you're wasting your life away. (As an aside there is now scientific proof that time does actually fly when you're having fun).

So I've been here for 3 Christmases and I noticed an exciting first on Christmas day just past.

When I moved in one of my neighbours told me about the trees in my backyard - from left to right, pear, cherry, peach.

I've never had any trouble with the pear and peach trees. Except for all the fruit that ends up rotting in the backyard cos I'm too lazy to regularly pick the ripe fruit.

But on Christmas day just past I noticed some little red things on the cherry tree - actual real honest-to-god cherries!

Naturally the cherries are all well out of picking range so will provide a nice dietary change for the local bird population. In fact since taking this photo, none of these cherries remain.

And of course the peach and pear trees are going strong as ever, getting ready to provide a bit more compost to the backyard.

The Comedown

Ah Christmas eh?

This Christmas is going to be one many a music fan will remember.

It would be overstating things to say that I was a huge Vic Chesnutt fan - I didn't bother to see him when he played here a few months ago - but he's been on my radar for over ten years now and I'm always interested to hear what he's up to. (There is currently a free 6 track sampler on his website, including a track called 'Philip Guston'.)

It's always sad to hear of the death of people who have brought happiness to so many people while (and sometimes because of) suffering immensely themselves. I'm thinking of Elliott Smith and Kurt Cobain in particular.

I mentioned Smith here, when discussing the unexpected death of another 'friend'. Like McLennan, Smith made some of the most beautiful music of the past couple of decades - music that truly moved me. I even borrowed some of Smith's words for one of my shows.

Yesterday I got the Nirvana CD/DVD Live at Reading. It's not the most riveting watch, but considering this was recorded on August 30, 1992, before they had made their best album, their music still sounds incredibly vital today. I hardly listen to the studio albums anymore - familiarity has bred antipathy - but this has awakened thoughts of pulling them out and giving them a spin.

And now it appears that Vic Chesnutt, like too many before him, has decided he could go on no longer and left this world a little poorer.

And for something a little lighter, here are two recent reviews.

The Musical

This is what happens when your work heads over to Featherston for its Christmas party.

This is what happens when one of your work colleagues has a big camera fetish.

This is what happens when another of your work colleagues keeps a (special, improperly tuned three-stringed) ukulele lying around their place.

It's also what happens when you shoot dated film, apparently.

The Celebration

Last night, to celebrate the signing of climate change stuff I had a barbeque.

Nothing like a bit of blatant CO2 release to celebrate the end of anthropogenic global warming.

It's a good way to get rid of some garden waste. Another 80kg did go to the tip as my backyard isn't really big enough for a decent bonfire.

It's also a good way to smoke the house out, and when a good wind is blowing, to spread ash throughout the house.

But, in what I can only think was retribution, an ember did land on my foot and cause major damage. I'm heading out the Hutt Hospital Burns Unit shortly.

The Fuckup

It's kinda cool scanning old stuff.

And remembering old, long-forgotten grudges.

Guess which one is not entirely accurate.

Guess which one is far from freakin accurate.

Guess who I had the pleasure of abusing.

Sadly not the freakin idiot who made the freakin fuckup.

The Magical

More photos from the Magic place.

The Magic

New Zealand has a lot of places in the middle of nowhere as we have a lot of nowheres.

This is one of those places.

But this place is magical.

I have a clock in my car. It hasn't worked properly since I bought the car. And it has not worked at all for the last few years.

But one night in this place, and the clock in my car was magically working again.

Thanks crazy electro-whatever dudes/taniwha/ghoulies/etc.

Mind you I don't know it it's still working. Probably not.