Spring!

Finally it is nice and warm again.  But first I will yap about a few winter activites....
Firstly, my 14 km marathon.... I did really well....enjoyed it alot, tho I am more of a lone runner...but it was fun anyway... I mentioned I was worried how I would go running without my music... well, you know how you get a song in your head and it won't budge... well my song for the day was Bottom Feeders by Hard-Ons... which worked well, kept me going the distance, thank you kindly! I had ordered a purple hydration back pack but wouldn't you just know it, it didn't come until 2 days after the race, so I had to stop along the way for water..so my times could have been better but I was happy with how I ran on the day.  I ran 14km in one hour and 17 minutes, so I think that is OK for a first go....

and here is footage of  silly me at the finish line... don't worry, you can't miss me, I'm the loon all in purple.whoo hooing..lol

Then the husband and I went to see Bill Oddie! It was a great night, he was funny and lovely. After the show (which started at 8.30 and went till 11pm!) there was a huge line up to meet Bill...we waited patiently in line and conscious of the multitude of people and knowing  the fact that my father, who is the same age as Bill, would be fast asleep snoring his head off in bed, I decided I had to be quick when I got to speak to him... my most ardent wish was to share with Bill that he was one of my key stepping stones on the way to becoming a vegetarian. So, I am all excited, racing my words to tell him this and I realise that by the look on his face that maybe I was coming across as some extremist animal activist (not that there is anything wrong with that!) ... my choice of words were probably not well thought through... I told him that I became a vegetarian because of the Goodies episode "Animals"   ... as a little girl, seeing him eating the rabbit guest, I thought, what is he doing, don't eat the bunny!"  and poor Bill says... "oh! the responsibility! I beg your pardon darling!" .... and then realising he was feeling awkward, like I was chastising him, I said "No! No! I want to thank you for helping me make that decision!"  and everyone laughed.... what a memory!! I have this photo of Bill and I on my desktop, I will treasure it always.

Then September arrived and our eldest daughter had a 13th birthday party that I am sure she will remember for some time to come. Then I had an Election Day High Tea in honour of our eldest son and his girlfriend's first time voting experience, using my new matching polka dot tablecloths. I wanted to make silly badges that said silly things like.... "vote 1 Chocolate" etc, but I didn't get around to it...  and  this week I went to see The Cult... it was 26 years ago when I saw them last! My similar music loving sister usually goes with me to these things, but as she only recently got married she decided she didn't love the Cult well enough to leave her husband alone, so I went by myself... I was a bit nervous about it but assumed there would be mobs of people there and there were, so it was OK.... and I am good company for myself anyway...I know what makes me laugh, tho the down side to that is, I was getting worried sideway glances from people as I was standing in the corner, talking to myself and laughing at all my own jokes, lol... no, not really but I did enjoy the night and glad I did push myself to go alone anyway...

Next week is my birthday and my sister is blessing me with her presence this time as we go to see the Brisbane debut of Tex Perkins new band The Ape. Yay! 

Winter Fell

Here it is...June already...
Bluesfest has happened and my oh my!
You can not believe how exciting that was, well, maybe you can but Holy Jeeezzus Joey Ramone, it was GOOOOOOD!
I was frantically looking for a suitable dress...at Tree Of Life (shop) they had a halter neck hippy type maxi-dress with pretty embroidery that I had been eyeing for awhile... but when I finally decided to try it on and buy it I discovered it was completely see through.... which may be OK if you are in your 20's but probably not so much when you are 42. But as time kept marching on and Cinderella had nothing to wear to the ball, I rethought that see through dress, deciding it might be acceptable if I wore really sensible under garments....? The husband said No and I had to agree, so I decided to stop being lazy and I scratched through my dress patterns and dug through my fabric stash and made my own halter neck dress....

Then we had our early Easter... My sis and her hubby to be and my nephew came over... and we had our Easter feast on Good Friday...

and then early the next morning, sis and I hit the road, with Beasts of Bourbon howlin' and wailin' just as we like it...then Iggy had his turn at blasting our ear drums.... as we approached the state line, I screamed the loudest YIPPEE I ever let out in my life! (I warned Miss Debbranne first of my ear shattering intent, didn't want her running off the side of the road in shock, lol) When we got to our destination, we got to work pretty quick getting the tent up and mattresses in place for our tired return later on. I was like Bear Grylls in a dress and plastic wedge flip flops, hammering in tent pegs double time....
After getting some food and coffee, we went and had a bit of a peep at RocKwiz, then watched Mark Seymore and The Undertow then went back to the car to get into some "sensible" shoes, then went and waited at the stage where Beasts Of Bourbon were to play. They did not disappoint, they were awesome!!

And, joy of joys, they played "I'm a Drop Out" I screamed so loud when they played the opening bars of the song and then when the pure gold line came along, I screamed even louder "Purple is my colour!" Actually, I screamed so loud I almost fainted, lol!

then we had to hold on for dear life when The DropKick Murphys came on....luckily we were right at the front and we could hold onto the guard rail thingie in front of us. As one of the photographers said to us before they started playing.... we were hammered! I had to dig my knees into the guard rail, and stick my butt out a bit to protect my tummy, coz it was still tender from the surgery.... but anyway, we managed to survive it. Anything for Iggy and the Stooges! And they were as fabulous as expected and it is a memory I will cherish forever. And my word, that man has the softest hands!!

The next day, we had a little trot around Byron Bay. So beautiful. 

The drive up to the light house was beautiful, breath taking views. We saw a 2 pods of dolphins in the waters below. The journey up the winding road to the lighthouse is a popular running track, which made me pine for a good jog. 

It was almost sad to have to go home. 

The very next week my lovely sister got married to her Punjabi Prince. 

She looked so beautiful and radiant in her traditional Sikh wedding dress and her stunning henna mehndi on her arms, hands and feet. Makes me want the same paisley patterns on my feet in purple tattooed ink!

Debbranne wanted me and my niece, as Brides Maids, to wear the same dress, so she was stuck with purple... I couldn't wear anything but...which was fine with my sister but I did not make anyone else wear purple, it is honestly what they each chose and I think our stunning purple looked brilliant with the bride's eye catching red. My eldest daughter read out a poem her Aunty had chosen for the wedding. She took it very seriously and enjoyed her part of the celebrations, as did my youngest daughter who was the flower girl. It was such a beautiful day.

I think a few weeks after this, I returned to my running, after about 4 months break due to my tummy tuck. I do so love to run!

In May, the next highlight was seeing the Hard Ons again at Punkfest. Always awesome. Their music has motivated me to live my life for me, to be who I am and to do whatever the hell I frikin well like, coz you only get one life and I'm sick of being scared and sick of trying to please unpleasable people.

the following week, Blackie (Hard ons lead singer/guitarist) had a solo gig supporting Isaiah Mitchell. A very groovy night of awesome guitars. Sadly, my sister and I were unable to stay for the entire show as in her rush to get there in time, she parked in a car park that shut at midnight. It was a terrible feeling leaving before Isaiah Mitchell had finished his set but it was unavoidable.

My camera did not capture the creative lighting well at all...

I enjoy Blackie's solo stuff very much... he is like a quirky Cat Stevens... hee hee.. and he has some beautiful ballads too. Tickle, for example.

Mothers Day was in between these two events.

We went to the movies to see Oz The Great and Powerful. All of us being great fans of the original movie, we really enjoyed it. Even tho' Keenan was not impressed to be kicked out of bed quite so early on a Sunday morning, he needed some convincing that it would be worth his while.

and my lovely presents...

I can't begin to explain how excited I am about those there bikinis! They are SO adorable! I wanted them a year and a half ago when they first hit the shelves at Myer but I hesitated and ummed and ahhed about it, not confident about exposing my tummy back then. I bought the matching thongs (flip flops) as a reminder to myself that I wanted to buy them, that I deserved them for all my hard work, losing weight, but just couldn't....and leading up to the surgery I agonised over those bikinis.... thinking I could have worn them once the operation was done... but they were the last seasons design and were now unavailable in stores.... I searched for them everywhere...then finally... after the operation, I decided to do a very thorough search of the internet, looking for them, and I found them..... along with the Ramones books (that I really desperately wanted too!) So it was a very happy Mothers Day for me this year. Sadly I will have to wait until Summer returns to wear the bikini... which is inspiration to keep hard at exercise to stay in shape until I can wear them to the beach, I can't wait!!!  :)

So, in light of that, and just the plain fact that I love to run and have been interested in the idea of a marathon of some sort for awhile... I have entered a 14 km fun run City2South...I am SO excited about that!

It's on Sunday the 16th of June, starts at 7am. Only bad news is they don't want us using any music devices.... waaaah! With music I am unstoppable. Pooh! I will just have to sing... sorry Brisbane! Trouble is, I only know the first 2 opening lines of my favourite running song and then I just bang my head and pump my arms as I run along to the music..... oh well.... I know all the lyrics of another good running song .... "Two Laps In Serbia"... but if I sing that out loud I'm at risk of having the ambos (ambulance officers) tackle me to the ground and carting me off on a stretcher.... omg, I'm so excited.... I AM Forrest Gump.... I'm a running fool! :)

Goodbye Summer

Goodbye to Summer, much as it was... here in Queensland we have had more rain than we need. We personally  haven't had any damage, other than loss of power, so nothing to complain about really, other than the inconvenience of damp clothes hanging around the house, mud tracked floors from outdoors and depressed and stir crazed feelings from being cooped up indoors for weeks on end. Other significant news is...I have been recovering from an operation. An operation that I decided that I needed, wanted and was determined to have.... After 2 years of constant hard slog and exercise to lose the 40 kilos I had gained 10 years ago, I felt I needed, wanted and was determined to have a tummy tuck. Maybe this is pure vanity, maybe it is some childish attempt to reclaim my lost youth but frankly I don't care and I am good with it.... I was tormented by my reflection in the mirror. After working so hard to lose the weight, it upset me that my tummy didn't look as good as I felt I did on the inside. No amount of sit ups, incline bench ab crunches, planks and side planks were going to reduce the excess skin that I had around my tummy. It cost alot of money, money that should have gone to more important things but I also felt like I really deserved it too. The husband could waste money on his own selfish, childish whims, so why couldn't I? When I first decided that I was wanted to lose weight, I felt I had to look deep inside myself and figure out why I had put the weight on to begin with. Chubbiness is one thing, but obesity is another. I was obese, lets just get that straight. I began thinking about the necessity of losing weight. I didn't want to face up to it but I realised I was not just simply chubby. I was obese. Obviously there are health issues that go along with that. I didn't have any health issues at that time but I knew if I let myself be that big for any longer that they would eventually arise. Type 2 diabetes for one. Back problems, cholesterol, blood pressure, heart problems. I didn't want any of them. Plus I also knew I needed to get back into the work force and I knew it would be easier if I was slim. I also knew that fat people were depressed people. I had to explore why I was depressed... why was I willing to punish myself with food. Food is the fat persons source of comfort, sometimes the only source of comfort. I looked at this and wondered why I relied on Tim Tams and ice-cream to cheer me up. My husband never called me fat. Never comlained about my weight, so I never thought of it as an issue. But I was unhappy about being overweight. If I was going to lose weight, I had to do it for myself. Then something happened to open my eyes as to why I had allowed myself to gain weight. My husband is an intensely jealous man. When he was a teenager, his first girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend. That little girl's mistake, made many years before I met him, affected the way my husband treated me. I learnt very early not to talk to other men, no matter how innocent it may have been. He would never be violent in word or action to another man but I would cop a verbal bashing if some poor bloke accidentally happened to look in my direction. This did not affect my weight directly but when I had half my thyroid taken out due to a tumor, the weight crept on and, probably only subconciously, I felt it made my life easier in that regard. I truely don't think men looked at me, it was just his imagination, but the fatter I got, the less I got in trouble for men apparently looking at me. Then, when I felt that that was no longer a problem, he had another hissy fit. Ridiculas, I told him. I'm 97 kilos, there is no way anyone would be looking at me! But he went on and on. It was then and there that I realised I was only allowing myself to be fat to make my life with him easier and it was now no longer working, so I aught to lose weight to make myself happy and be done with it. I am not responsible for the way he thinks. I am a good person, I have never cheated and have never given him reason to think that I would. I will not remain overweight so as to keep his insecurities at bay any longer. And so the hard work of losing all that weight started. I started small, and slowly increased my excersise over time and the weight came off. Not all of it, I am a big sookie girl and still think my legs are fat, but whatcha gonna do? So anyway.... I've had a tummy tuck. I am at week 8 and I feel wonderful and don't regret it for a second and am so happy and grateful that I was able to afford it. The husband sold his first motorbike after he got his Harley and I demanded the money he got for it for my tummy tuck. I get my way sometimes, lol. I have only recently returned to riding my bicycle to work and other than that and walking, I haven't returned to my beloved running or gym as yet, but I am determined to get back to that level of fitness, coz I get off on that adreneline buzz and recognise that excersise is the best depression buster there is..... it ain't just the rain that has made me a sookie blubber guts lately, it's the lack of hard core excersise. I miss it! All in good time.... So in the last 8 weeks post op. I have been trying to keep myself amused. The first 2 weeks I was off work. The doctor said I aught to have 3 weeks off, but I couldn't ask my boss for that long off. Not to mention we couldn't afford for me to have that long off anyway. In that time I read. Lots of reading. I read "Les Miserables"  I read "And the Ass Saw The Angel" by Nick Cave. Well, I had started that before the operation, but I had lay that aside so I could read "Les Miserables" before I went to see the movie. Then, as those 2 books were depressing, I felt I needed something light and fun, so I read Gretel Killeen's book "Visible Panty Line" ... very much like stand up comedy in book form. Then I read "Gridlocked" by Ben Elton. Extremely funny, tho also an intelligent read plus the hero dies, so now I am reading "Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge" by Clinton Heylin. I also started reading this ages ago but had a hard time getting into it as I am not so fussed on his style of writing but I hate starting a book and not finishing it, plus the genre interests me, of course.
On the 8th of this month, my sister and I went to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Brisbane Riverstage in the Botanical Gardens. (Same place we saw Blondie) I had sewn myself a lovely purple halter neck dress. Tho I was worried that it was a pointless waste of time, as it had been raining quite heavily for days leading up to the concert and assumed I would have to go sporting a purple long raincoat over the top of it but happily, the rain decided to take a hike for the night and we were not harrassed by it's constantant wetness for the evening. A truly wonderful night. Everything you would expect and more. Queensland Symphony Orchestra and a childrens choir from Annerley State School were also included, adding their talent to a stage full of it. Last time I saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was 19th July 1990. I even have a set list from that time.... From Her To Eternity,The Mercy Seat, The Witness Song, I'm Gonna Kill That Woman, The Weeping Song, Foi Na Cruz, City Of Refuge, Deanna, The Carny, The Ship Song, The Good Son, The Carnival Is Over, Black Betty, Tupelo, Cindy, Long Time Man, Knocking On Joe,  All Tomorrow's Parties, Shivers, Lament, Streets Of Laredo      (I got this set list from this website... )
and they are right...Nick did call the song Shivers "juvenile" ..... obvioulsy at that time, Shivers was an old song for Nick... and not even a "Bad Seeds" song.... but it was still fresh in everyone's mind due to the movie "Dog's In Space" and the audience was shouting out and requesting "Shivers"  and Nick said.... "that song is a little juvenile, isn't it?"  (I did not call out to request it.... just sayin'..... I never call out asking for songs at gigs.... the band will play what they wish to play and I am content with that.... I will call out for an encore tho of course.... the only time I called out for a song to be sung at a gig was at my first Rat Cat gig... I asked for their song "Car Crash" to be played, but they did not play it.... lol... that was their first song I heard of theirs via Rage.... ) anyway... back to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds...I was supposed to see Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at the Livid Festival on the 12th of December 1992.... but this was actually the first time I took my husband to a music concert when we were first going out.... I have mentioned it on this blog before. I had nervously got myself drunk, as I was concerned with seeing an old flame whilst with the husband... (he was only my boyfriend at the time) and he had insisted on taking me home before Nick came on, so I missed out that night. But I am very happy I saw them this time round. A wonderful night.

Opening with a collection of songs from the new album "Push The Sky Away" During "Wide Lovely Eyes" I so wanted to wave my arms in the air....it's unlike me not to... my only regret... 

Nick seated for a bit during "The Ship Song"  Beautiful.

Support act, Mark Lanegan, came on towards the end of the show to sing the 'father' role in the very beautiful "The Weeping Song"......amazing!

A truely wonderful night. I so enjoyed every minute.
Next wonderful thing to look forward to, in 2 tiny weeks time..... My sister and I are going to Bluesfest!! I could only afford to pay for one day... and of course that day is Saturday when the wonderful Iggy and The Stooges are playing. And as brilliant luck would have it.... Beasts of Bourbon are playing that day also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the name sake of this blog!!!) ..... (Beasts of Bourbon's song 'I'm A Drop Out' has the line....."Purple is my colour" in it.....god, if they play that song.... guess who will be screaming that line out????? LOL!! (somebody stop me!...channelling Jim Carey from The Mask!)  The sad thing is, the wonderful Wanda Jackson is playing at Bluesfest on the Thusday and Friday, so I will miss her there. Originally, she was to do a gig in Brisbane before Bluesfest and I was going to catch her there, but that gig has been cancelled. So devastated about that!! I would dearly have loved to see her :(    
Last week end I finally bought us a tent to sleep in on the Saturday night. My sister would have rathered we book a motel room somewhere but I would have none of that. I want the whole music festival experience. As my sister nor I have ever gone camping before (save school camps, a million years ago) I decided I needed to do a trial "tent erectus" to see if it is within my big girlie abilities. Happily.... I am capable of erecting a tent....and disassembling one. I was so proud of myself, I felt like Bear Grylls! Not so good at getting the rotten thing neatly back into it's carry bag, however. But we won't let that dampen our camping/music festivities. One of the guys that sold us the tent goes to Bluesfest every year, it was good to talk to him about what to expect... lots of good food on sale apparently, so no need to pack any... sniffer dogs... so no naughty treats stuffed down side pockets of hand bags..... by this I mean Easter eggs of course, lol! Yes, sadly, it falls on the Easter week end. No matter, I have decided that the family will have our Easter feast on Good Friday and the "Easter Bunny" will come on Friday night, so Mummy can see the kids faces before she choofs off and leaves them sugar rushing with their Father, lol....really all but the youngest is too old for "the Easter Bunny" and she is getting a little too old for it too, but it is hard to let go of these traditions. I will be more worried about the Easter traffic. Must burn a CD with good driving music for the road.... otherwise, God love her, my sister will make me listen to her Punjabi music all the way there. She is getting married in April to a lovely guy. I can't imagine going back for a second go, but each to their own. I wish her all the best and this will be a good week end to get away, just us two girls, being girlie and having fun. She has been to Byron Bay a few times, so is eager to show me the sights on Sunday after we leave the festival. I've got my bikini packed already.... she wants to take me swimming, just hope it isn't in shark infested waters! Hoping to do a spot of shopping too. I'm sure there are all kinds of purple things I might expect to find available to buy. Now I just need to find a suitable dress to wear. Yes, I have to wear a dress...my sister points out that a dress is not music festival attire, but too bad. I can't wear jeans at the moment due to my tummy being still a little tender, so a dress it shall be. Suppose I aught to hurry up, time is running out. So excited about this. I love having something to look forward to!