the ’sham

Last night I went over to Vanessa’s house for dinner. She made sushi and grilled eggplants with a miso sauce. We talked about thinking, the way our minds process thoughts. And memory. It seems that, even though we are good friends, our brains are utterly different. Vanessa is able to play and replay memories of particular events in her mind, a bit like flipping through a pile of records and choosing one to listen to. I, on the other hand, only rarely rummage through past events, and when I do, it’s a struggle to dredge up the details. Perhaps, I speculated, that’s why I did the sham project (and the Kellerberrin one too) - to lay down a trail of breadcrumbs showing the changing of thoughts over time. Certainly, during these periods, I felt my memory-mind being exercised in a way which improved it - but it’s gotten slack again since. It’s about practice, as all these things seem to be.

Vanessa and I recorded the episode where I first met her - at Darren Hanlon’s backyard where Caxton and The Triangles were playing a gig, just one year ago.

You can listen in to this broadcast here.
And you can read the original posting here.

Friday arvo. I join Alex at the Livingstone. The Waratahs are already being beaten by the Hurricanes. Alex says the locals are being surprisingly tolerant tonight. They despise rugby union, and resent having it shown on the TV in the pub. (Union’s a toff’s game). Alex explains “ruck” and “maul”. The players put their heads down and mesh together in a ruck, the matrix of muscley men pawing the grass and lurching about like a great twenty-legged beetle. Actually, it’s not bad to watch. Alex knows the names of all the players, and calls out to them in familiar tones, as if they might hear him through the TV set. He asks if I want a drink. “Yeah, how about a shandy?” I ask. “Oh man, I hope none of the locals hear me ordering that!” he says. As soon as the game ends he puts down his red bull and rushes out the door. He’s got to get across to Wooloomooloo. The play he wrote, about AFL, is due to start any minute…
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I arrived at “Darren’s Backyard” just before five. A band was setting up to play. This was Caxton. I weaved through the cool nerdy rocker kids shuffling about on the gravel until I spotted Vanessa. I’ve never met Vanessa, but I recognised her face from her Flickr site. It was a bit like a blind date, but without the sub-plot of romance. Don’t get me wrong - it certainly is romantic to meet someone for the first time whose work you have long admired. Vanessa is something of a legend in the zine world, and I’m a big fan of her obsessive writing projects. So it was super flattering to get her email saying she’d been following my blog, and inviting me to this backyard gig. I guess it must be a bit like this for people who “meet” online and then travel halfway across the globe to eyeball each other in the flesh. All the standard mini anxious anticipations apply: What will she think of me? Will I be able to live up to the online persona I’ve constructed? Will there be misunderstandings as to our intentions vis-a-vis romance? etc etc.
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photo from the Triangles website, showing Robert and Katherine’s wedding…

A very exciting email came thru from Vanessa. I didn’t realise she lived in the ’sham. More on her intricate and obsessive world later. In the meantime, here’s an ad for The Triangles (”energetic stage antics and a lot of yelling”) and Caxton (”piano driven post-punk”) - playing live in “Darren’s backyard” on Saturday afternoon!

Rock you there - it’ll be ’sham massive!

[The following excerpt is from an email Vanessa received about the gig, from someone called "Al".]

Here are the details for the show we are having in Darren’s backyard:
Saturday 29th April (next Sat arvo)
Starts 3pm
Address is 2 Fredereich St Petersham (right near Petersham station)
$5 entry

If people want to check out either of the bands they are at
www.thetriangles.net
and
www.myspace.com/caxtonband
Bring people! It’s going to be such a great afternoon.
Al.