The Waiting Man

"... It's only meant to repress and neutralise your brain"

While I'm going through the mountain of photos we took in New York City, back in 2012, in preparation for the final week of the tour diary, some news stories stand out more than others...

Being a musician, albeit a semi-retired & now mostly studio-based one, it's been heartbreaking to watch the music scene in my home town slowly dwindle & die. First the advent of the 'DJ' - someone who turned up with, at first, 2 turntables & a box of records, meant that they were cheaper to hire on a Friday or Saturday night than a live band, even when they started adding their own instrumentation to the records they played (bongos? drum machines?? sampled 'whoos' for when the 'vibe' wasn't happening enough...?!?!?). Then the advent of the new residents who move into a house near the local pub, then complain about the noise until the local council takes away the pub's entertainment license altogether, meaning all you got when you went there on a weekend was the landlord's son's iPod playlist on a loop, at just loud enough volume to make you shout to be heard

As bands thus naturally died, some players tried to keep the dream alive with the acoustic duo, or acoustic guitar & backing tracks that can be turned down at any complainant's whim, much more easily than trying to convince a drummer to hit 'em softer... "No mate, I meant the drums, not the punters!"... but legendary venue after legendary venue was closed down, then knocked down & turned into townhouses, or at the very least, had apartments built on top of them after a 'renovation' halved the size of the place

Then in 2014, following a couple of drunken/drugged 'one-punch' fatalities in the inner-city area, Sydney's pubs & clubs were knee-jerk heavily legislated under what was known as the 'Lock-out' laws. Nobly intended to curb binge-drinking & violence, what these laws actually did was force even more venues to the wall, as patrons abandoned the inner city areas & punched on at their local pub/beer garden/club/whateveryoucallit instead. And, naturally of course, the Sydney Casino, in the heart of the city, was exempt from these laws... but they never had bands or musicians anyway... not even a 'DJ' - nothing to distract from the poker machine siren's call of beeps, bells & whistles. These lockout laws were reviewed in 2020. but, given it was the height of the Plague's first wave, nothing was actually done. Then, as we know everything shut down... & many places, not only venues but myriad other businesses, will never open up again

Artists in general, including musicians received no help from State or Federal governments during the Plague. None of the business grants, or income supplements were designed for people who basically live from one project to the next - how are they meant to continue to work if those projects are taken away with no compensation? They couldn't even go & get a casual job as a waiter, or bartender because... well, you know... So we've probably lost a chunk of creativity, as these people have had to abandon their dream & get a job in Marketing, or Real Estate - never any shortage of supply in those careers

Now, as Sydney's reputation as a living, vibrant city lies in ruins, finally the various governments have taken notice of all the dull, beige, cotton-wool-wrapped blandness & are trying to get things moving again... but not without a fight from those same old NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard!!) who want to preserve the 900%-increased real estate value of their extensively renovated, early 20th Century worker's cottage, in its narrow street & its quaint old corner pub "that's hardly ever open now, so it's lovely & peaceful & a great place for the kiddies"

A drive around our Northern Beaches area today... just to get out of the house after a few too many dark (& stormy) days lately, figuratively & physically... First to Barrenjoey Headland, a recently declared 'Dark Sky sanctuary, to see how difficult it would be to climb up to the lighthouse for night-sky photography. Well, it takes about 30 minutes in daylight, with either a lot of stairs, or a longer track with, of course, no lighting, so it would be a bit of an epic trek in the darkness, but we haven't ruled it out

Taken from West Head, looking down onto Barrenjoey Headland. You can see the lighthouse... & Palm Beach, not to mention the tide coming into Pittwater from the Pacific Ocean. Pittwater is really part of the Hawkesbury River delta, but was named after the then British Prime Minister by Governor Phillip, back in the 1780s. I tried to find an Aboriginal name for it just now on Google, but didn't see one. West Head is part of the Kuring-Gai National Park, which follows the Hawkesbury's banks westward & was named after one of the local Aboriginal tribes, so at least they've made a token effort...

On the way back home, we decided to stop in at a local flooring store - do I know how to show a girl a good time, or what?!? Actually, it was L-SP's idea & the plan was for me to keep my mouth shut about what I do for a living & see how the salesperson treated her. Pretty well, as it turned out... I thought he was pretty good, but their prices were even more expensive than I would charge a really difficult client - something I call the "Fuckwit Tax". On the plus side, we are now in closer agreement about what style &, more importantly, colour flooring we would like, so not a wasted trip. Now I know what samples to grab from work...

A quiet evening at home, just hanging out...

No politics, no tragedies... just a quick catch-up

It's been a bit quiet 'round WaitingManor this week, as L-SP, Bella & I come to terms with a 25% reduction in residents. Bella is extra clingy, extra vocal & even accepting affection from L-SP... not something she's done much in the past - she even runs away from me sometimes & I'm the one who feeds her!! We've thought about getting another cat for her & if... I mean if* we do, it will most likely be a kitten, as another adult cat would more likely be seen as a competitor than a companion, whereas a younger cat may not upset the pecking/scratching order

*I mean 'when' - we're a pair of softies who can't say no to any animal, really...

A week & a bit after the finale of Game Of Thrones, Winter has come to Sydney, with a cold front blasting up from Antarctica & into the coastal areas of New South Wales. Harbour ferries have been cancelled, the airport is frantically re-scheduling flights, trees are falling, traffic is either crashing or breaking down everywhere. Sounds like a good time to leave town & head inland... which we're most likely doing tomorrow, Bella permitting...

We recently played tour & Restaurant Guides to some friends visiting from the USA. They were staying at one of the better Hotels in the Rocks area of Sydney &, between shopping & restaurants, we showed them a few sights - notably Taronga Zoo, lit up for the annual Vivid Festival



And some of the more quirky street art around...