Tuesday 18 January 2011

Turning 16 in the 2011 Floods

Our eldest child turned 16 last week....
Eventful enough... I think he will always remember it.... Our city of Brisbane and alot of other areas in Queensland had some horrific flooding. The footage on the TV, when we actually had power was devastating.
Thankfully we were not inundated with flood waters, we weren't far from them, but luckily, safe and dry but we had no electricity. Kale's best friend was unable to come because he was cut off by flood waters but Kale's girlfriend was able to get here OK. And because Mum leaves everything to the last minute...we were without a present to give him on his big day!  I had planned to go to the shops the day or 2 before to get his present but all the shops were shut because of the Brisbane river flooding in the extreme! I told him that his girlfriend was going to be his best present and he said that that was always going to be the case anyway.... awww! Young love, so sweet! So it was a bit of a laid back birthday for him. Leading up to his birthday, I couldn't help but think of my own 16th birthday.... I had been telling everyone that I had had a memorable birthday and that I wanted to make sure Kale had a good, memorable birthday and I was fussing about the party plans and he got frustrated with me because everything I suggested seemed lame or for dinosaurs like me and not what he wanted, so in the end I gave in and let him have his laid back birthday.... he just wanted his best friend and his girlfriend here.... well, unfortunately Danny was unable to come but Kale got his girl and he was happy. I went and dug out my dusty diary from 1986 and flicked through it looking for my youthful recollections of my 16th birthday party and ended up disappointed..... I had thought that for my 16th birthday I'd had a Punk Party.... I had remembered my cousin coming up to Hervey Bay from Brisbane and all my school friends and Sister 'pogo' and 'slam dancing' to the Dead Kennedys, The Damned, Sex Pistols and the like. We had ripped stockings and tartan mini skirts with lots of safety pins and I had the most awful haircut imaginable. My cousin Phil had an old army disposal jacket on, such great memories.... but my diary told me a slightly different version..... it wasn't my 16th birthday party after all.... it was in the same year but it was actually my Sister's 21st birthday party! I read the whole silly diary and there wasn't even a record of what I did for my 16th birthday! So that made me feel slightly better that I didn't give my son a huge 16th birthday party.... blah! lol...
We have had rain, rain and more rain for weeks and weeks on end (hence the flood) but the last 2 days of the peak of the flood, it was fine, beautiful weather. The day after Kale's birthday, the flood waters had started to recede and some shops that had been unaffected were able to open again, so I was able to walk to my local shopping centre and get him an iPod touch as a belated birthday present. It was a complete surprise, he had no idea what I'd planned on getting him, so I said before he opened it .... "If you don't like it, fake it"  obviously he was SO happy... I said... "are you faking it?" and he said "No!" biggest grin on his face. It's nice when you can make them happy .... and lets face it.... teenagers are hard to please sometimes...
Turns out that for my 15th birthday party, I'd had a 1960s party and all my friends wore dresses with full skirts, gloves, shoes and pointy bras that we'd bought from op shops (thrift stores).... so maybe that's why I didn't have a 16th birthday... because I'd had a big party the year before.... we'd listened to Roy Orbison, Elvis, the Beatles, Herman's Hermits, The Easy Beats etc and 'twisted' and 'jived' the night away.... what a transformation in less than a year, lol!!
Anyway... here is the layout I made about the mixed Christmas CD I burnt on Christmas Day...

The highlight of the CD were the first 2 songs on the list, especially the Ramones, of course.... they actually have a few songs that mention Christmas one way or other... in 'Danny Says' ......
Hangin' out in L.A. and there's nowhere to go
It ain't Christmas if there ain't no snow
Listening to Sheena on the radio
Oh-ho oh-ho 

and in 'We're a Happy Family' (I love hearing Joey imitating 'the father' or whatever, saying.... "where are my safety pins, what did you do with my safety pins, what is this"  so funny! :) )
We ain't got no friends
Our troubles never end
No Christmas cards to send
Daddy likes men

In 'I Wanted Everything' ...
I heard about the Easter bunny
Presents under a Christimas tree
It was dreaming and fantasy
There was no Mom or Daddy
I wanted everything

and in 'My My Kind of A Girl' they sing...
I think we'd look pretty good together
Walking through a winter wonderland
And this time I think it's forever
I hope your parents understand
Well, a 'winter wonderland' certainly isn't Christmas for us here in Australia, but still, it is a universal image of Christmas time.
and in Planet Earth 1988 they sing...
Guerrilla armies rule the street
No more christmas or trick or treat
Is this what the future will bring
I pray for peace more than anything

If there are any other songs I have missed... please let me know...
oh... and just tonight... looking at youtube, I see Joey had a solo EP album called 'Christmas Spirit...In My House'...... bugger, I need that..... good thing I am going into the city the first Friday the kids go back to school.... I'll be popping into Rocking Horse Records again.... if they have it... thinking I might have to order some of these things... *sigh*
Anyway... I need to get to bed... my eldest daughter has a friend over for a sleep over... they are not ready for bed, but it is almost 1am... but I can't stay up... too old, lol....
Goodnight.   :)

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