...aand Sydney part 3.

I took Dave a big scrapbook with the Brand name MontMarte,
With the quieter tempo, I was pleased to see that he was not so subdued by the nursing home environment that he couldn't muster up a bit of repartée.  We hung out I wrote some pages of stuff in the book for him, and he waved his hand at me, 'come on hand it over...'  When I did hand it over "Wow" and Mont-marte!!"   Well it was lovely and sad.  I told him I'd return again before too long with Finn, and I told him I'd get everyone to write to him.

  c/- Philip House
321 Bronte Rd
Waverley
NSW 2024
Sydney   if you're reading this and you want to write to him.  But I'll make a Dave blog specially and put it there too.  Visit again for the link to that one, it will be the ongoing Blog of all things Dave.

Bob Orr is going to write regularly which is pretty cool.  It's letter and news and visitors he most needs, run the gamut of strung out nurses trying to have a morning tea ... hmm yes,  for more on the nurses you should hear it from Dave himself in his recent poems from the house at Bronte Beach which have just gone up on the EPC site Digital Bridge         http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/features/home&away/bridge.asp

There you will find pictures of Dave and his recent poems, and all sorts.

It was a race to the finish line after sleeping.  Sara and I had a plan to film her on the steps of the Darling school (both meanings) where she tells me Dave used to teach for a while.  It's one of those Sydney buildings which looks as though it's been made directly from the ground...  but we took too long at breakfast importantly!  Because we had to talk a lot about and then I had to pack, So I made her run to the ferry and then filmed her on the harbour telling the story of Dave arriving in Sydney. Which is Quite a story.

Caught up with Dirk for a coffee en route to the Aeroport, and he presented me most wonderfully with copied pages from a journal that I'd mostly remembered (I like the story as a film idea, so I'd asked him to copy it, but had definitely forgotten that I'd illustrated it with some funny little pen dot pictures. . .
Treasure! and a good way in to making the hand-made book that I'd promised all the fabulous people who sponsored me over there.  One more time, A BIG thankyou, your books will be in the post in the next few days.  It was cool. And did I mention the Jacaranda?

And so since I've been home, (watched Romulus my Father, and cried much to entertainment of fellow passengers), I've been in my office book-making, and doing various production jobs for These Four Walls and editing for Ayrlies, and planning an event for

February 11th at Time Out Bookshop to show case my work from the Decade.  

Please join us for that

Book it in I'll make a facebook event.

Yes it's been a Decade of Fat Blossom.  I can't upload any pics at the moment because we used up our broadband quota being a gadgety family.
   I've also just edited a short piece of Michele Leggott's off the page class chalking George Raft Hat on the footpath, and sent it off to Dave.

  Azure to zee you zoon.

Sydney part 2...

Look I didn't take a stills camera, I was busy enough with movie making, so I can't post pics up right at the moment.  But clearly I was long overdue for the Sydney Epiphany, It must've been Pott's point, the weather, and the differences...
   Bob Orr and John Pule Martin Edmond and Nigel Roberts all sat around and yakked, and Dave fingered his new books -gifts from John and Bob, like treasure, and signed copies of his book for Bob, and wrote in John's notebook too, it took him a while.  It was momentously slow, and the filming went well everyone!  Whew!  Dave seemed extremely reluctant to finally put the date on his last signing, I believe he was making a stand because he didn't want us to leave.  Aieee! it was really very special.

  I was in the mode of observance so that's what I did, and it occurred to me that when you find somewhere hilly to look down on water around Sydney, it feels a little bit like the Cote d'azur, I guess coming from NZ at 30º it suddenly does seem a little equatorial... I bought flimsy things from a stall that I feel a little bit too shy to wear in Auckland, funny that assimilating thing we do.
  And so it was that I found myself(always good) walking up to Observatory hill for the opening event of Euan Mcleod at the Ervin Gallery.  Of course this just enhanced an australian appreciation too.  And it was hot in the evening, and great to meet Jenny Neligan after having known Neil Rowe through the Dave connection.
  Dinner at Nigel's was a hilarious affair much thanks Nigel for putting sup, putting and us up and out fine dining, and putting up with us.  Not to be undone by my invented poems, Bob sat down and wrote a brilliant piece off the cuff. . .  crashed and exhausted rose, hooked up with Sara, and Sara, that place where you're living is so gorgeously Australian.  It's Balmain we're in now, and there's something about it I hadn't really had a sense of ever. . . . a timelessness.   a sense that a horse and cart is making the clop clopping noise behind you,  and for me, a poignant feeling not only of my own McClean heritage which dwelt several generations in NSW but also that my greek and arabic background was so very not unusual in this place.  Lovely.
   Darling street took me along in the heat and as I've told everyone I was totally blown away by the Jacaranda and Frangipani.  Sara was working on a multi-media live performance soundscape piece for uni, called Ze Black Dog Opera so I hung out with her in the studio at school for a bit and then went to visit Dave.