| Author | Message | ||
     Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 5 Registered: 05-2005 |
I haven't posted, in ages and ages. It's not that I've not checked in on the site, or that I had good intentions of leaving messages. It's just that for quite a long time, I wasn't in the right frame of mind for posting.... I was just wondering what - if any - plans - people had for Sunday, Grant's first Anniversary. About 11 months ago, I made the decision to visit Ric's Bar in Brisbane, and drink a Long Island Iced Tea in his memory. So far, I've been in Australia for a week, and I've been living breathing moving to the tune of GoBetweens', Grant's and Robert's songs. I've turned the fan off, and gone for a walk by the lights down on Shield Street; Took (myself) down to Sheridan Street, Walked through the Mangroves, and heard them go quiet... And get this, My room-mate in the Hostel's name was Rosie, who happily obliged, and asked the question "what's bury?" I even met a guy who had a 4-wheel drive, who offered to drive me to double island point... Just wondered if anyone else out there has plans to mark the anniversary? | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 103 Registered: 04-2005 |
Well its not the best thing to have planned, but I'm watching my Rugby team (Widnes Vikings). I think later on I'll have a listen to a few albums and maybe the DVD. I'm going to plan a trip to Brisbane some day. Cheers Jon | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 569 Registered: 08-2006 |
I'm going to check out LCD Soundsystem Sunday night, figuring that a night of live music is a proper Grant tribute. I will - naturallement - wear my "McLennan" t-shirt. Catherine, your trip sound terrific. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 51 Registered: 02-2007 |
I'm goin to be having a couple beers at Ric's I think Sunday arvo might see u there Ctherine. Listen to some live local music might be a good way to commemorate. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1867 Registered: 03-2006 |
I'm going to weep, moan and gnash my teeth. In other words, a typical Sunday... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1148 Registered: 03-2005 |
I like your trip Catherine. It sounds wonderful. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 455 Registered: 04-2006 |
We will celebrate my son's ninth birthday! It is strange to remind on last year. The happy birthday party of my son and then reading the sad news. | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 91 Registered: 10-2006 |
Ah, dear old Grant, I hardly knew ye... I will take some time out on Saturday to watch 'That Striped Sunlight Sound' and/or 'the Video Singles'. | ||
| julia motzko Member Username: Julia Post Number: 33 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've been to a concert by Rocko Schamoni and Little Machine yesterday. and at the drums sat Matthias Strzoda (former Die Antwort, JaKönigJa). I thought this was really a special note for the evening because it meant a link to the Go-Betweens, since Matthias has also been the live drummer of the Go-Betweens once (on the Friends of Rachel Worth tour, right?). I already had that coming Sunday on my mind, too... | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 61 Registered: 01-2007 |
Will try and get some tickets to the Cambridge Folk Festival as the tickets are released on that day.It has a good line up this year (does every year),Steve Earle,The Waterboys, kate Rusby | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 6 Registered: 05-2005 |
As far as I can see from their website, Ric's seems to be a place for live music. I fully intend to check out some local bands while I'm in town. Happy birthday, Andreas Junior, and See you down the pub, David! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1413 Registered: 05-2005 |
Are you going to be in Sydney Catherine? Send me an email if you are. | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 93 Registered: 10-2006 |
Sorry, folks, I meant Sunday. Sunday is also my sister's birthday... but I'm going to wear my McLennan shirt to the party! | ||
| David James Member Username: Broadmajestic Post Number: 20 Registered: 10-2006 |
I'll be making Grant compilation CDs for friends, drinking Turi screwdrivers throughout the day, and remembering why the go-betweens are still so important in my life. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 7 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hi Padraig, yes, I'll be stopping off in Sydney for a while. I'm not certain when, yet, as I've got to figure out where I'm going after Brisbane. I'll email you as soon as I can find an Internet provider whih lets me open my email account! Trust me to be stuck in a place where the only internet provided after 5pm involves furry tree-dwelling eucalyptus munching critters!!! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1153 Registered: 03-2005 |
Catherine, where are you from? Your trip is making me jealous. Is Brisbane so green as to be psychedelic? (Robert's description upon returning after a long absence). | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1358 Registered: 04-2005 |
Sunday is my nephew's birthday, so in the spirit of celebrating the living, I'll confine my GM memorial to the car stereo on the drive over to my sister's house for the birthday party. Unfortunately, my nephew is not old enough to appreciate the subtleties of the Go-Betweens, or else I'd use the opportunity to "educate" him. Maybe someday... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1878 Registered: 03-2006 |
Here's your chance to exert some positive avuncular influence, Kurt. I think you should strap him to a chair and force him to listen to the GBs and pummel him with a pillowcase full of bars of soap till he sez he likes it... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 412 Registered: 09-2006 |
Agreed, LK...after all, it worked for me...  | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1361 Registered: 04-2005 |
I'd have better luck telling him that the Go-Betweens were Satanists and therefore, he's forbidden to listen to them. He's at that reverse-psychology teenage stage of life. (Somehow, the thought of Robert Forster onstage doing the devil's horn/heavy metal hand gesture duing the middle of a guitar solo amuses me no end...) | ||
| Paul B. Member Username: Paul_b Post Number: 21 Registered: 10-2004 |
'Is Brisbane so green as to be psychedelic?' Randy, at the moment it so brown and yellow its psychedelic. | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 94 Registered: 10-2006 |
But in one of Grant's warmest songs, he never saw the devil's eye.... *S* Repeat after me: The Go-Betweens are good for you, like Life cereal. Ear candy for the brain.... (from a recent testimonial) I hope spring comes soon to Brisbane. It finally came here in earnest sometime during a real live rain on a reasonably warm day! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1155 Registered: 03-2005 |
Paul, are you saying the drought there is so bad that it even dries out Brisbane? For some reason I thought Brisbane received a lot of tropical rain no matter what. Is the river low? | ||
| Paul B. Member Username: Paul_b Post Number: 22 Registered: 10-2004 |
Randy, Brisbane, and much of the East Coast if Australia are in the midst of the worst drought in 100 years. Its getting so bad, with the dams that supply the city are down around the 20% mark, that Brisbane city council have implemented heavy water restrictions. Hose watering isn’t allowed and gardens can only be watered 3 times a week using buckets only, washing cars is totally banned. I have a very small townhouse garden and am running back and forth from the washing machine with buckets of grey water just to keep the plants alive. Meanwhile, towns in the far north of the state are experiencing record rain falls. The river doesn’t look low, the Brisbane reach of the river is tidal, but there are reports of major water hyacinth infestations not too far up the river, caused by the decreased water flow. In most of the dams along the East Coast, towns that where flooded 50 years ago when the dams were made are appearing again. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 108 Registered: 10-2006 |
I will be at a birthday picknick on Sunday, wearing my McLennan shirt. The present is a compilation CD, which includes Cattle & Cain from the London 2004 album. In the evening I will either watch That Striped Sunlight Sound or the Real Madrid-Sevilla footie, I haven't made up my mind yet. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 8 Registered: 05-2005 |
Brisbane!!!! Not sure how psychedelic it looks, as I only arrived about 90 minutes ago, in the dark. Let you know how psychedelic it looks tomorrow. Having spent the past 11 days in Cairns, and then in various coastal towns, it certainly feels tall in comparison! Oceans apart was the soundtrack on the journey from Noosa to Brisbane, with Here comes a City and Finding You on repeat for the last 40 minutes, as we worked our way through Friday evening traffic jams. Had to swallow hard when I saw my first signpost for Spring Hill. Spent most of the journey swallowing hard if truth be told. This whole trip has been filled with Signs and strange little co-incidences. The rosie person I mentioned when I started this thread. Her surname is clarke - no joking - Ok she doesn't work in a feminist bookstore, but she is a medical librarian.. One place I stayed was a few doors down from a place which sold second hand furniture.. The place in Noosa was around the corner from Grant Street... On the road to Brisbane, we passed a sign for a new development called Bella Vista... And that's just a few of them. By the way, Randy, I live in Wexford (Ireland) but I'm from Tipperary (Its a long way, as I've been reminded 47 million times since I got here!!) I never thought I'd thank the Irish Government, but this trip is being funded thanks to a Government Savings Scheme I joined, which matured three days ago. I had earmarked the dosh for a new roof on my house, but instead, I've opted for this trip instead, a few repairs to keep out the rain, and I'll do the big job next year... I've been working on my nieces and nephews in the Go-betweens faith, for quite some time. The baby ones are easy - just strap them into their car seat, put on the stereo and drive. The older ones are a bit more tricky I must admit. Fickle teenage tastes mean you've got to catch them on the right weekend... Failing that, I'm with Little Keith.. P.S. To all brisbanites, I promise I will not part-take in Tallulah showers while I'm here... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1420 Registered: 05-2005 |
What a great trip Catherine. When I first arrived in Brisbane (in January 1999) and saw signs for Spring Hill I was very surprised as I didn't realise it was a real place. Check out New Farm if you get a chance. Grant's wake was in a place called, I think, The Powerhouse, which is in the huge park in New Farm. You can get the River Cat ferry up to there. That's a lovely trip. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 9 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hey Padraig, the only reason I knew it was a real place was from a message you posted about a million years ago. I had my eyes peeled as soon as the bus was within 20km of Brisbane. Just had my first night "on the town" in Brisbane. A scary place, if you're a single woman travelling alone... Went to Ric's, of course. I could see why it would have been a favourite of Grant's. If I let my peripheral vision do it's thing, I could almost see him sitting at the bar, a half-smile on his face, just taking it all in. Sat people-watching on some steps outside for a while, imagining him smoking a cigarette, doing something similar. It would have been a perfect evening, but for the fact that the band I caught were woeful, and some psycho guy got stroppy with me, because I wouldn't believe the shite coming from his mouth... Maybe I should get a tshirt printed to wear while I'm here, saying "I Don't take sh#t from nobody"... | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 11 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just noticed the time-code. because I'm registered in Ireland, it looks like I'm messaging from the past... ooooooohhhh!!!!! Forgive.... I am a touch squiffy... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1156 Registered: 03-2005 |
Catherine, your trip is so much more rewarding than a mere roof (says the guy in now-rainless Southern California)! Are you finding the epithet "Brisvegas" fitting? I look forward to my trip to Oz, for the Go Betweens communion but also as a native Californian who has watched his home change from the Wide Open Road to a monotonous expanse of gated Shangri-las (in the Ray Davies sense). Indeed, while you were able to associate the "Bella Vista" development with a new Go Betweens song collection I think about what your "Bella Vista" actually is and shudder inwardly. From a surprisingly young age I remember Californians gazing off to Oz imagining it to be a gigantic California. I hope that never becomes true because now I think of it as the last place on earth that isn't overfilled. Paul, we hear about the Australian drought but the stories are always short and superficial. I had no idea it was hitting Brisbane so hard. Your post reminds me how vulnerable Oz is to climate change and underscores the irony in the Howard government's lengthy dubious distinction shared with the US concerning Kyoto. Here where I live, we've had subnormal rain for two years running with this past season giving us less than 50% of normal and the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is also far below normal. But at least there IS a snowpack. And people here are still acting as if nothing is unusual. | ||
| sOOz Member Username: Soozyq Post Number: 7 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hi, As I can't be in Brisbane on Sunday, I'll be taking my family along to the "Ocean's Apart" bar in South London on Sunday evening. We'll be there around 5-6pm so if anyone else feels like dropping in and remembering Grant and the Go-Bs that would be great! (I wish I could be in Brisbane though!) | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 585 Registered: 08-2006 |
Paul, Randy, saw this piece about Perth and the OZ drought yesterday on the BBC Web site. A ghost metropolis? That's what I'm going as next Halloween. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/natur e/6620919.stm | ||
| sOOz Member Username: Soozyq Post Number: 8 Registered: 05-2005 |
sorry about the stray apostrophe... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1421 Registered: 05-2005 |
Catherine, I know what you mean about Brisbane being scary. I was afraid there after being at Grant's funeral. But then I was walking the streets alone after drinking for about eight hours straight and I couldn't find my hotel! I eventually hopped in a cab and, of course, it pulled up to the front of my hotel 75 seconds later. Oh, the time stamping on these messages is set to GMT for all of us! Randy, I've always found the sobriquet Brisvegas to be very strange; particularly as it is mostly used by Brisbane's near neighbour Gold Coast. If anywhere in Australia resembles Las Vegas it is Gold Coast's main strip Surfers Paradise! In fact Surfers more closely resembles Miami, but that whole area is all about glitz and Brisbane, to my mind, mostly is not. I loved Surfers when I was there precisely for the glitz, but I wish they wouldn't be so parochial as to cast such aspersions on their bigger neighbour. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 56 Registered: 02-2007 |
Randy, the term Brisvegas was originally used as an ironic dig at how small and parochial and boring Brisbane was in the 1970's. We used to use it that way anyway. Catherine if u read this in time I'll be at Rics at about 4pm Sunday, I'll listen for the Irish tones as u continue not to take shit from anybody! If not enjoy your stay. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1463 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'll be with my wee daughters (twins) playing on the metal jeep in the park at Bournville park opposite Cadbury's if anyone wants to join me in trying to catch them whilst they run rings round me! And, i'll stick on Oceans. Have a good one all. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 12 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spent the day walking round and round the streets of their town. Got the ferry out as far as QU, went for a walk while the sun set, and had myself a little cry... Between last night, and this evening, watching the city at night from the ferry, I can definitely get the Brisvegas vibe, but with touches of the faded grandeur of somewhere like New Orleans, when you spot the few older buildings, with their beautiful balconies, and focus more on the South bank. (Never been to either, my references are purely televisual and cinematic) Brisbane is a beautiful city, though. Streets of your Town was written out in front of me, in every building, every tree. You could feel the song everywhere.. Got turned around when I got off the Ferry, and ended up in a part of town I didn't know. Now that was scary! Thank the stars for those little maps they hand out in all the tourist offices. Saw a guy who looked uncannily like Robert in a Chinese restaurant. By the time I got the courage up to get a closer look (in case I accosted a total stranger!) he'd gone, so I'll never know... Poor Brisbane is not so Green as it should be. Definitely, shades of brown are far too common. The few green things left are looking rather sad and wilted... Am contemplating bathing from a thimble to conserve what little water is left. David, was planning to hit Ric's about the same time, so chances are, our paths will cross.. To all out there who will be thinking of Grant tomorrow, have a good day. Spence, if the twins get really out of control, at least you're close to the most gigantic bribe possible!!! While I'll be thinking of Grant, I'll be thinking of everybody here too. Take care all... | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 67 Registered: 09-2006 |
A trip to the botanic gardens in Brissago at Lago Maggiore, with some XXXX for dinner and the Grant-Mix in my i-pod - his music works so incredibly well with sun, blue skies, water and landscapes. | ||
| David Whiting Member Username: Dreamerdon Post Number: 9 Registered: 12-2005 |
Listening to Oceans Apart, thinking of the wonderful concerts I've been to, and having a fun day with the family. | ||
| David Whiting Member Username: Dreamerdon Post Number: 10 Registered: 12-2005 |
and having a tear.... | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 160 Registered: 09-2004 |
Sunday: watched the tribute concert that I was forced to tape last night. Listened to Horsebreaker Star. Felt sad and inspired. Caught up with some old and new names here discussing our love for this remarkable band and its two brilliant songwriters. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1157 Registered: 03-2005 |
Good to see you on here Peter. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1423 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hi Pete, I meant to email you about the program being on ABC... but thankfully you found out elsewhere anyway. What did you think? I really liked it the way they some of the old interviews in with the concert and other interviews done on the day of the concert. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1424 Registered: 05-2005 |
I hope nobody minds me posting it again, but here's what I wrote almost a year ago, after Grant's funeral. It's a week since I last posted. A week in which I have listened to The Go-Betweens and Grant solo constantly and some Jack Frost and Far Out Corporation also. A week of phone calls and text messages and emails with friends on three continents about Grant's death. I flew to Brisbane from Sydney on Friday morning. The only previous time I'd gone there was in January 1999 on a Go-Betweens pilgrimage. I always thought I'd go back one day to see The Go-Betweens play there. I never thought I'd be going back for Grant McLennan's funeral. It was a wonderful occasion (if you can say that about the funeral of a young man). But Robert brought home that we were there to say goodbye. "Grant is gone. He's in that box, he's also up there. He's up in the air and he's looking down on us all and he's thinking about us. He's got a smile on his face and he's lying sideways, kind of a Chagall thing." The eulogies were tremendously moving. Grant's sister Sally started out by saying "I really do recall a schoolboy coming home through fields of cane to a house of tin and timber". She told a hilarious story of Grant getting on a plane around the time of 9/11 using just a CD cover to prove he was who he said he was. Robert was called from his seat to go to the aircraft door and vouch for who Grant was! "So perhaps you can imagine Grant at the pearly gates using the same tactics," she said. Co-celebrant Reverend John Parkes quoted from Finding You and the words sounded like the most beautiful poetry. As we left the cathedral, I'm A Believer by The Monkees was played. Everyone laughed. And cried. Everyone was given a single white rose on the way into the church. Afterwards I was wondering if you are allowed to bring flowers interstate in Australia (you cannot bring fruit interstate) but then saw that some people were leaving their flowers on the coffin, so I did too. I touched the coffin slightly and thought how small it was. How could something so small contain such a worldly genius? I told Sally McLennan outside the cathedral how important Grant's music was to me and a lot of other Irish people. She asked my name and said they had cousins called Collins. I went with two Brisbane locals to Ric's bar afterwards and drank an excellent Long Island Iced Tea because I've read from other posters here that was his bar and his drink. Later on we went to The Powerhouse down by the water in New Farm. They were playing lots of Go-Betweens and Grant songs and showing images of his life on a big screen, including a beautiful one of him with his mum when he would have been about two or three. This photo was also in the prayer book for the funeral. I told Robert about how I had almost not gone to the Sydney show in January because I was having a lot of ear trouble at the time, but how I went anyway after the doctor said I'd be OK with earplugs. "Weren't you lucky you did go," Robert said. Incredibly lucky. On Saturday morning I went into Rocking Horse records in Brisbane and found an album I’ve been looking for for over ten years (the long deleted Australian edition of Fatima Mansions’ Valhalla Avenue with six extra tracks). I got a bunch of other stuff too of course. Back in Sydney now and a little while ago I made some lunch for my four-year-old daughter. I put on Oceans Apart. She did not say anything while Here Comes A City was on, but as soon as Finding You came on she said "I can hear The Go-Betweens singing in heaven". I almost burst out crying, but gave her a big hug instead. She knows why daddy's been a bit sad this week. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 14 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks again for that Padraig. Last night, I tried to find that very message on the Tributes thread, but once again, the sheer volume overwhelmed me. I've still not read them all, twelve months later. I'm still not able. It's the perfect narrative to round off what has been such wonderful day, despite the day. Had a wonderful wander around Spring Hill this morning with, of course, SHF playing on the walkman. It's still a beautiful place, despite the new developments. I would have loved to have seen it back when it inspired an album title. I let myself get a little lost, on the narrow hilly streets, which still have a good number of their beautiful old houses still intact. Being fairly tired after a few hours of walking in the mid-day sun (Mad dogs, Englishmen and Me!)I was planning on taking the lazy option of a Taxi to Ric's, but something inside told me to walk. Just as I approached St John's Cathedral, where Grant's Service was held last year, a wedding party piled out and crossed the street. So I had my very own Spring Rain, without the rain, but complete with cousins and child brides!! A perfect afternoon was spent in Ric's, and learning from your experiences Padraig, I had just the one Long Island Iced Tea, even though you're right, it was rather excellent!!! Met up with David, of this parish (Thanks for the lift back to the Hostel - you're a star!). I suspect we probably spent the afternoon as Grant would have spent many Sunday afternoons.. Chilling out in Ric's, listening to some (pretty damn good actually) local young acts, and generally having a fine afternoon.. Thanks again David, for taking a detour past the Tivoli on the way home. It was nice to see the place that had become the stuff of legend in my mind.. I received a text early this morning from my sister, hoping I would have a good day today, and reminding me to celebrate life. Of course the tears appeared every so often, but I think I did celebrate. If everybody's day went or is still going as planned, I think we'll all be doing ok. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 28 Registered: 06-2005 |
Got my recently arrived McLennan t-shirt on today, Grant's music soundtracking my weekend painting the house, the kids singing along with Streets of your town, Boundary Rider and Love Goes on! Hairs standing on the back of my neck listening to his voice on all those great songs..especially Riddle in the rain and What Went Wrong. Off to see those other purveyors of fine pop music, Camera Obscura tonight. Catherine, your trip wins hands down on the "How did you spend your SSIA?" Conservatory?, new car?, apartment in BulgariaŁ..nah a Go-Betweens pilgrimage to Australia..I like it, hope you toasted to Charlie McCreevy in Ric's too!! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 589 Registered: 08-2006 |
Woke up this morning and, while the coffee was brewing, I absentmindedly put the iPod on shuffle, forgetting that today was to be all GBs/McLennan, all day. First song up: "Easy Come, Easy Go." No kidding. 5,500 songs to choose from and that damn little gadget picks that. I laughed my head off. Glad it didn't pick "Fingers." I might have spent the day curled up in the fetal position. | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 96 Registered: 10-2006 |
In church today I lit a candle for Grant. Today at Jenny's party I will wear my McLennan shirt. Alex might get a kick out of it! *S* | ||
| Sloan Nevidy Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 15 Registered: 07-2005 |
"In Your Bright Ray" on today. "All Them Pretty Angels" seems so fitting. | ||
| sOOz Member Username: Soozyq Post Number: 9 Registered: 05-2005 |
Well we made it to the Oceans Apart bar yesterday, and toasted Grant and Robert. Very interesting! Definitely a 'diamond in the rough' sort of place...but it did feel like a few venues in the Valley (Fortitude) inside though! Had to play the album off my phone in the small beer garden out the back (they didn't have a copy). Glad you're having a good time Catherine. Have you been out to New Farm park yet, along the river? | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 15 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hey Sooz, I think I've walked every inch of Brisbane at this stage! Every day I walked around, searching out more places. Sometimes, I just let myself get lost in the side-streets, other times I got lost entirely by accident. Sometimes I walked in search of GoBetweens landmarks, other times, they presented themselves to me, when I least expected. I've spent time in Fortitude Valley, New Farm, Toowong, rode the river, always sat sideways on the train (although it was hard to prevent more than three other people coming into the carriage!) I even heard the sound of rain this morning, but it didn't quite fall down like sheets! Based on info provided by Lindy in an old thread, I wandered up around Petrie Terrace this evening, but couldn't be certain of which old walk-ups might have been those she referred to, so I just walked some more. Early today, I travelled out to the Cemetary in Mt Gravatt, to say a prayer for Grant, and maybe, as it wasn't too much trouble, put flowers on his grave. (What IS that song called, where he uses that line?) As it turned out, there is, as yet, no memorial erected at Mount Gravatt, so at first it felt like a wasted journey. Thing is, on the bus back into the city, I realised I'd been looking for him in the wrong place, and in fact, I'd found him every place else I'd been. He was sitting in a corner in Ric's, standing at the rail on the ferry, riding the river under the bridge, Walking round Spring Hill. As I walked round Brisbane, I could get a sense of why, so long ago now, The GoBetweens felt they had to leave. I could also see exactly why they later felt they had to return. Just like I feel I'm going to return. I leave Brisbane in the Morning, and back to the "bloody tourist" bit of my holiday. I kind of want to stay a bit longer. Part of me wants to say bugger Uluru, it'll be there next time! But to hell with it, When I get to Sydney, I'll play Here comes a City full blast on my walkman once more!! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 588 Registered: 01-2005 |
Grant and Amanda lived in an apartment in Sydney for a while I seem to recall. | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 97 Registered: 10-2006 |
Hello there Catherine! I am glad you've had such a time in Brisbane. The song you are referring to is a spoken word number called 'Reunion Dinner' which made one of the bonus CD's on a Go-B's reissue. (I think it was Liberty Belle if my memory serves me right) Did you see 'Sheridan Street by the dark wood'? Pilgrimages are always so meaningful... dear old Go Betweens, anyhow! | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 98 Registered: 10-2006 |
Paul - thank you for saying how dry it is in that part of the world. I was reading Bird Talk magazine* a few days ago and it mentioned in an article about budgerigars in the wild that parts of your continent have not had a drop of rain in six years and that the little birdies are having a hard time surviving in their natural wild state, even not being able to breed. Cherishing my brightly colored American birdies all the more now! E. Bird Talk gets very repetitive after a while, you might not buy a copy of it for a year, and then if you do, it's just like picking up where you left off. Once in a while something is newsworthy there, though. 'I used to get my kicks reading Bird Talk magazines... The birds come from Australia, just like the Go-Betweens... | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 16 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for that, Elizabeth, it was wrecking my head. I only had limited room in my rucsack, so I could only pack 24 cd, and some of the 2nd discs had to stay at home and mind the cat.. Yep, I saw Sheridan Street, and even took a walk in the dark wood... Michael, are you suggesting that I'll be walking the streets of Sydney looking for some vague appartment? Not a bloody chance. I'll be walking round Uluru in a few days (ROUND not UP) And then, no walking for me, it's taxis all the way!! | ||
| Paul B. Member Username: Paul_b Post Number: 23 Registered: 10-2004 |
Catherine, why is it that tourists get a better view of your home town than you do? I spent 12 months in Sydney last year and didn't do a single touristy thing, had big plans to go on the ferry, have fish an chips in Manly etc, but just got too busy. I went to Athens, GA, a few years ago for my own R.E.M. pilgrimage - at least in Athens there is tangible proof that the band came from there - the 40 watt club and Weaver D's etc. Its kinda sad that (apart from maybe Rick's) there is nothing in Brisbane that says 'Go-Betweens' or even 'Saints'. I guess thats because Brisbane is (was) somewhere that you run from in your youth and return to when you have a family | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 179 Registered: 07-2006 |
this sunday i shall have my usual sunday eggs, but in front of the replay of the go-bs tribute show on ABC2 at 10 am which i've managed to miss maybe three times now? then off to the pub for mothers' day lunch with my mum and legion of sisters. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1433 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hey Paul, I did that R.E.M. pilgrimage to Athens, GA in November 1989. I loved it and will make it back one day. I got a real thrill going into Wuxtry Records, where Peter Buck had worked - even as late as 1987 when he was bored on a band hiatus. I bought a Pylon tape there, which I lost within a week when it fell out of my bag in a plane's cargo hold. So I bought it again in Tower in New York a few days after that. | ||
| Paul B. Member Username: Paul_b Post Number: 24 Registered: 10-2004 |
Pádraig, my Wuxtry t-shirt is getting thin..... I wore my t-shirt to the last R.E.M concert thinking that nobody else would have one, boy was I wrong. Spotted 2 other people with the exact same t-shit, we all looked a little embarrassed and slunk off into the shadows. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1435 Registered: 05-2005 |
That's funny Paul! I remember wearing an R.E.M. Green tour t-shirt in Fanueil Hall in Boston in 1989 a week after seeing them at a place called Great Woods. I saw someone wearing the exact same shirt and there was a bit of an acknowledgement of each other but I was kind of pissed off too! | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 18 Registered: 05-2005 |
Still haven't gone on the Athens GA pilgrimage.... At REM's Slane gig in 1995, I wore a t-shirt I'd made, transferring Peter Buck's and Bill Berry's autographs (Met them after a few hours skulking about outside their hotel the morning after the RDS gig in 1989 - Looooooonnnng story). At least I knew I'd be the only one there with a t-shirt like it.... (Also told some little 15 year old to F off home and buy the back catalogue - he thought So.Central Rain was a new song) | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 62 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hope you are having a great time Catherine. You got to Sydney yet? Listening to Document and Fables of at moment. Great songs! | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 19 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hi David, yes, still having a ball. I got to Sydney (What day is it anyway?) on Tuesday evening. Haven't done a whole lot yet, other than to clear the record shops on Pitt St of their best stock! You'd think bringing 25 cds would satisfy for one month, but I needed to hear something different. Document and Fables are without question, two of REM's best albums, and probably the ones I play most of all. Don't have either with me... Damn, now I want to hear Wendell Gee!! |