Squibblog

i dreamed i saw Phil Ochs last night*

Last night I went to see Billy Bragg at the Metro. He was, as always, the embodiment of the ordinary bloke up there on the stage, just him and his guitars for most of the show. His personality, the strength of his music and the collective memory of the audience fused to make the show spellbinding.

Despite the spell, though, I did wonder if I was being self indulgent. Was it a cop out to see a performer whose music I loved during my political awakening, but whose affection for the socialist economies is sadly outdated? Was I just trying to relive my passionate youth, bawling out the lyrics to A New England when those songs spoke to me about how I felt in my early 20s, not how I feel now?

Fortunately Billy has not allowed the room full of nostalgia blunt his political sensibilities. He spoke eloquently about the opportunity we have, as a nation, to make bold changes under the new Labor government, how the Howard era was over and we had the right to rejoice.

He warned us about the cynicism and isolationist techniques of the neoconservatives and implored us to keep the faith - even though the new government would inevitably disappoint, they will be infinitely better than the alternative.

I was heartened to feel that my political views are again part of the mainstream. That rather than criticise and diminish, what I believe is good might actually turn out to be possible.

Then we had a good old sing along to the music of my youth and I went home happy.

*The title of this post is from a Billy Bragg song of the same title:

I dreamed I saw Phil Ochs last night, alive as you and me,
said I to Phil 'You're 10 years dead'
'I never died' said he
'I never died' said he
...
The FBI harassed you Phil
They smeared you with their lies
Says he 'But they could never kill
What they could not compromise
I never compromised'

PS When he came out for his second encore, Billy started with The Milkman of Human Kindness and then played back-to-back every track from his first album. At the end he waved and said "that's for those wankers who go on tour and play the tracks from just one album, I can play a whole album in the second encore"

the everyday is a pain in the neck

Everything is feeling a little mundane today. Soy and I are back into the scramble of work. The kids are in vacation care which means cut lunches and lots of sunscreen. The washing is piled up after the rain and the house, which was immaculate when we got home because my mother was house-sitting and cleaned it to within an inch of its life, is now a mess again. And our cleaner has moved to Queensland.

To top it all off, I woke with a stiff neck.

There was a moment when we were away, I remember it precisely, when I realised I had had enough sleep. This is a very significant moment because I have not had such a thought in over 6 years.

I was swimming out past the breakers at Meelup Beach, at the very southern end of the Indian Ocean, just about where it meets the Great Southern Ocean. The currents were warm, the water was ridiculously clear. I lay on my back and looked up at the sky and thought: "I'm not tired". This was a revelation because, as I've just said, I have not thought that since I was pregnant with Zac.

When we got home from holidays the poor sleep started up again and we realised that our 10 year old bed was probably contributing to our failure to get enough rest. That, along with the internet, the fact we live under the main runway flightpath and the propensity to work too hard.

While we can't change much of that, we have now purchased a new bed in the January sales. Bed shopping was an eye opener, so to speak. We lay on a lot of beds, some of them quite expensive and uncomfortable (what is it with this visco elastic stuff? It feels like lying on play dough), some of them quite cheap and uncomfortable. We saw one bed (not the  wooden bed head / foot mind, just the base and mattress) which was on special for $12,000. You'd want to get a pretty freakin' good nights' sleep on that bed.

We settled on a nice, firm but comfy queen sized ensemble. Perhaps Australia's most mainstream bed choice. A sensible bed with a sensible price tag. We now need to buy a bed skirt. That is a sentence I don't think I ever believed I would type.

Maybe it's the fact we now know our bed is hopeless or maybe it's coincidence, but we have both slept very badly since we bought the new bed, and it's still a week until they deliver it.

return from the west

The water was clear cerullian, the heat was dry and the chardonnay full bodied. The children slept, ate, swam and played. The adults read, swam, ate and drank. We came home rested, our remaining case of Margaret River wine unbroken on the flight.

This holiday was full of break-throughs. It was the first time we have really been able to relax when traveling with the children. They finally 'got' the idea of a holiday which is for slowing down and resting. They accepted that sometimes they would have to visit places they weren't so keen on (like wineries) in exchange for hours on the beach digging in the sand. We finally learned that schedulling a few days in a kid-centred place, like a farm stay in the Karri country, would make everyone's life that much more enjoyable.

I have visited the south west before, back in my student days visiting a friend who hails from Perth. Soy was a new convert to the area, hardly believing that such good weather could be coupled with great food, surf and scenery. Now he's keen to get back as soon as possible.

Our two other break-throughs were more prosaic but also longer lasting.

Nell took her final steps to being fully toilet trained. Night nappies are a thing of the past, we've had only one bed wetting incident so far.

Zac, the carnivore, decided one night that carrot was the most delicious food in the world. Soy and I sat stunned as Zac munched through carrot after steamed carrot. We have no idea what prompted this change of heart but I put it down to Robyn Barker's advice to serve vegetables with every meal, even if they are left uneaten. Five years worth of uneaten veggies have borne fruit (so to speak) and my fear that Zac will die of scurvy are lessening every day.

It's been a good start to 2008.