lazy sunday, i'm up early wondering what to do with my day off, it's nice outside and i'm pulled in many directions, mostly pretty mundane and unexciting, i could do my washing, tidy the garden up, catch a train to the japanese bookshop, go hunting second hand shops for rare science fiction books, i could get stoned and turn up simple mind's 'reel to reel' while i write more bullshit or i could bake a cake. all these weird ideas float through my mind with a sort of non enthusiasm you find in these post jab years, i don't know it's a sunday.

then agent wilde rings to ask if i am not doing anything would i like to go to newcastle, to see sk play in a matinee performance at 1500. well i didn't have to think to hard, the muscle memory kicks into action and i almost say 'yes' before she has finished asking. i suggest i catch a train and meet her at newcastle but she invites me for a road trip with ryissa and offers to pick me up. this means i can smoke a spliff, have a drink and relax without the stress of trains, getting home and police intervention.

as we drive down the freeway in a lovely big sofa car, we chat about stuff, and  it's mostly hilarious. two things stand out. one is ryissa is a very incredible mimic, she impersonated all the characters from 'the league of gentlemen' with perfect accent and authentic accents. hearing her i was immediately cast back to the show, which we both agreed was the darkest comedy ever made. a blend of horror and comedy, often one was the same as the other, and you as a viewer were left shocked at the bizarre nature of what you were watching. 

the other thing was agent wilde finally giving me an answer to a question i had been asking for 30 years. in the uk when i was living at home with my parents we watched a documentary called QED and the initials stood for something latin that when translated meant, 'question everything...' but i could never recall what the d stood for.
agent wilde said in conversation always remember qed, question everything done!'
i was so taken aback by this missing jigsaw piece, the final one after such a long time, i was almost shocked. the girls thought this was funny but i couldn't begin to express just how much that meant to me. it's something that has puzzled me for so long and numerous attempts to uncover it ended in failure. 

it was a lovely journey to newcastle and great to spend time with such special people. i don't know many people but it was really lovely to feel like i had friends, real friends. thank you to both of them.

i arrived in newcastle feeling happy, it was refreshing for a change, this horrid cloud of bleakness had lifted and newcastle looked very interesting, new development and buildings, lost of cool people everywhere. the venue was in an industrial area, very nice place, lots of space, a distillery where they made gin. 

we met with sk and rachel who as usual were welcoming and busy doing their things, setting up and soundchecks. sk offered me his fave strain of weed, something called silver woman er it could be silver witch or silver something, i know it's not silver wizard. however it was recommended by a man who i imagine knows his weed. and let me just say here and now...sk has given me so much in my life. i know it's a clique and boring but soundtrack to my life, an appreciation of  words in songs, myths, the amazing music, the art, the exposure to him as a human and not rock god and the all round general bohemian wake he leaves as he creates his art. i even said to the girls on the way up he has a quantum mind, and i think he is from the future but whatever he is, he has given me heaps of knowledge experience wisdom and joy since i was about 15 years old so i am incredibly grateful. but silver witch, wow, it was not only a great flavour it was beautiful to smoke. now i am not an expert, i usually just smoke what ever i have as long as it's natural and grown wild, but i'm now a convert. 

the gig itself was fantastic, now i have heard all these songs before but it does feel like the first time hearing them played again, the sound today happened to be perfect, i could actually hear all the bass notes which was new as i enjoyed following them along, and his vocals were pure, clean and very strong sounding. the whole sound was crisp and clear, i was very impressed although sk said later from where he stood it didn't sound good. his stories between songs, again, i have heard them but they were hilarious and i was amazed at how much my memory fails me. sk puts on a show, gives 100% and i have to say, it's never just a guy playing songs, it's a mix of everything, and i came away thinking this experience is theatrical. everything about it, the linking of the narrative told a story, it had a beginning, middle and end' it was 'improvised in part' there was music, story, laughter and tears, it contained elements of pathos and despite the tragic elements it made you laugh and filled you with a sense of joy that from out of all that experience was forged a fantastic human being who not only reached the potential of a picassio has a lot more to offer his audience down the time line. (he is from the future)

it was also interesting to watch how he won the crowd over, they were slightly apathetic at first but he engaged them and drew them in and they responded very well. i guess thats another art form in itself.

i dunno, i'm getting old, my health is beginning to decline and i may die at any point in time, but i have to say i have had some interesting and beautiful experiences, seeing sk play in a band or alone, listening and learning, being part of a stange group of individuals who all orbit around him, this has given me a lot of joy. i don't normally like being part of anything, any clique, group, gang, thing. but this small group always makes me happy and i genuinely care deeply for all of them, it's strange for me, i'm slow to know, slow to warm to people and yet i deeply care for the church family.

during the show i caught up with dave and his lovely wife, we had a chat about the damned gig coming up, and it was great to see him again, unfortunately they disappeared after the show so i never got to say bye.

later was beautiful, the sun drenched street of a funky newcastle suburb, with it's outdoor food, cafes and kooky shops looked a lot like a side street of glebe, i really liked the vibe of the city despite only being there three times before. i gotta say we had a lovely evening. 

driving home was again a great journey, we all agreed the sound was crisp and clean and the gig was a success. apparently it was quite spontaneous and arisen only a week or so before hand so there was some uncertainty about numbers. it seemed pretty packed in there, but it was a spacious venue, high ceilings, warehouse- like so it might have appeared somewhat vacant but this was deceptive, all the seats were taken up and the audience response was loud and appreciative. 

these are our twilight years, i don't mind them if i can occasionally have days like this. who knows what's going to happen anymore, i just would like to die smiling, knowing i had met one of my heroes and it was a good trip, all that 'never meet your heroes' stuff i believed turned out to be false. you should meet your heroes because in some strange way you also get to meet yourself or perhaps what you aspire to be like.

on the way home the big bright moon follows us, and we speak about where we saw ourselves when we were younger, ryissa says she thought she would be independant, travelling and free but then she met her partner for 24 years. 

me, i thought i would be living in burma, sri lanka, bali, or some exotic island writing novels, getting stoned and married to some olive skinned native who cooked nice fish dinners and offered me the occasional coconut. instead i ended up looking after all these people with strange behaviours and abilities and came to understand everyone is disabled in some way, some people just are better at covering it up than others.

'if you want to make god laugh, tell him your plans,' they say.

and over my shoulder gods always laughing. that's why i like him so much.

it was a great day.

thank you to everyone.