Mum – “Always look after those worse off than yourself!”
Younger Brother Glen – “There is no one worse off than ourselves!”
Thought I’d take a moment to pay tribute to our Mum Margaret who is 91 and living on Phillip Island. Genuinely hard as a cats head, she has been on the critical list a few times in the last 6 months most recently 3 weeks ago when Lynda, myself, Corrie and Mia rushed to the home thinking this was it. Got there and she was all spritely asking what all the fuss was about!
My brother in law Bruce sent this photo yesterday taking her for a drive. My sister Pam and Bruce have done an incredible job bringing Mum over from Perth 10 years ago and looking after her. She is naughty by nature, cheeky and fundamentally a shit stirrer. A few months ago she pretended to punch me and I flinched! That’s how deep the trauma goes from childhood!
Mum gave birth to 5 boys and 1 girl and is stepmother to 2 boys and 1 girl. She also fostered 2 juvenile teenagers my brother Glen brought home from school like stray dogs. We were raised in an asbestos commission house in a tough area but we always had fun. Mum was a world class distance runner (women weren’t allowed to run more than 880 yards in those days) and only missed the Olympics because of the war and pregnancies. After leaving her first husband she looked after the 4 kids on her own, at one stage sleeping in a friend’s garage with the 3 boys whilst my sister slept inside the house. According to my brother Bruce Mum kept reminding them that it was just a “camping trip”. 12 months down the track, I think the kids were onto her! She met my Dad, a widower from Liverpool who had 3 kids, and she fell pregnant with me then Glen.
She used unorthodox methods of discipline with us to say the least. Cold showers in our clothes were the norm, and being ambushed and chased with the hose was common particularly in the WA summer. The other weapon was a “yellow ruler” which was an old Mattel toy car track that really hurt! Because she was fit and quick you rarely got away and I can remember one time she had Glen in a headlock in the back yard after he’d sworn at her, and she stuck the running hose down his mouth!
Her philosophy was all about breaking down the angst and frustration and converting it to humour. As we got older and stronger we always dragged her under the hose or the shower and ended up laughing about it, therefore forgetting what the hell we were arguing about! Mum didn’t care about any mess because she did the washing at 5.30am every morning in a washing machine that sounded like a Chinook helicopter taking off! Her theory was, “For every smack I gave you, you got 10 hugs.”
No workshopping behavior here!
Mum left school at 14 and her entire education has come from the ABC radio and TV, as well as the papers and magazines. A huge animal lover and supporter of every charity known to man, hence “there is no one worse off than ourselves” because she gave anything we had, AWAY!! Drove us crazy because there were so few opportunities to obtain anything of a nice material value. Go to school, come home, GONE!! Next day at school Glen and I start seeing all the aboriginal kids wearing OUR stuff!
Anyway, touch wood all us kids have gone on to lead relatively healthy and successful lives due to the hard work, commitment and love of this selfless women. A full life indeed and who knows how much more she has left. My brother Bruce reckons she did pass away a few weeks ago, but got to the Pearly Gates and saw her 2 ex husbands arguing over who was going to have her, and decided “stuff this” and came back again!” Love you Mum.
Monday 31stAugust 8am. Labor Day USA. To whoever is still reading this drivel, a big thanks for the feedback, and I apologise if I keep saying things like “best day ever” etc but there seems to be no end to the excitement here. Yesterday we headed off early to Times Square to get the bus to Harlem. The guide was a retired Harlem teacher and she was superb. Excellent insights into the history of Harlem’s formation from “black elitist” to the difficult drug and slum days of the 60’s and 70’s. Visual surprises everywhere and classic NY architecture. The highlight had to be the chapel that we piled into. It was a pentacostal, full blown gospel church. The music was pumping and as soon as we got into our pew Lynda burst into tears. It was the first time since we walked into The Cavern in Liverpool 3 years ago and came across 2 brothers singing pitch perfect Lennon/McCartney and we lost it!
The music was amazing and intoxicating. As an atheist, it was hard NOT to believe! These people were so beautiful and passionate..for a moment there I wanted to do a John Belushi and “flick flacks” Blues Brothers –style down the aisle! Thought better of it given my hammy’s and calves would have snapped!
Left to Right: 1. Park in Harlem 2. City College Harlem. Home to 5 x US Presidents 3 to 6. Apollo Theatre Harlem 7 & 8. Gospel Church
After the tour we went to a place we know in 8thSt Broadway where you can get awesome salads. $5 gets your choice of 5 things put in a stainless bowl, add some dressing and whipped by hand with a wooden spoon. In 1 minute it’s all put in a plastic bowl and you’re done! So healthy and quick. Perfect for the CBD.
Then we took off to Grand Central Station to get the F train to The Met. There was a Brazilian festival going on in Times Square with about a million people going off, so we detoured a bit. Grand Central is stunning and so is the Chrysler Building which sits a block away. The closer you get, you can see the eagles heads popping out the side. At this stage it’s about 32 degrees and 70% humidity so by the time we get to the Met I’m dripping. Don’t do humidity at all.
The Met was sensational and we were there for 2 hours. Only problem was we didn’t discover the Van Gough’s, Monet’s and other impressionists until there was 15 mins left so we will try and get back again and take it all in. All the contemporary stuff was great but my highlight was an entire living room transported from a house in the Midwest. It was designed by the brilliant Guggenheim architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Beautiful, calm, minimalist 60’s style that he is renowned for. Whilst we were in the Met we heard rain and everyone in the Met was wrapped! We so needed a downpour. Well we get outside and it’s now 35 dgrees and 90% humidity! Like Darwin in the middle of December!
Left to Right: 1 & 2. Broadway 3. Bryant Park Midtown 4 & 5. Grand Central & Chrysler Building 6. “Not my head, not my penis, not my problem” 7. “Cat” by Alberto Giacometti 8 – 10. Picasso 11. Unknown 12. Warhol 13. Lichenstein 14. Jackson Pollock 15. Van Gogh 16 & 17. Living room by Frank Lloyd Wright
From the Met we thought we’d go downtown to Chinatown but changed our mind when I found another movie site of interest for Taxi Driver. It was marked cnr Park Ave and E 28thSt. and it was Bellmore Cafeteria. This is clearly where De Niro takes Jodie Foster for some pie and coffee in order to convince her that teenage prostitution wasn’t a viable vocation for a 13YO.
Unfortunately the café is now a nail manicure place, at least they are the same windows that I can recognize from the film. Asked a café owner next door as well as the nail place but they were both too young and were probably too scared to have any sort of conversation with a sweaty hairy beast from Australia with a maniacal look in his eyes! We then headed to the Flatiron district and got a photo of that magnificent building. Area full of uni students and we headed to the blue train subway via the Chelsea Hotel. Hasn’t changed at all over the years and has plaques commemorating some of the great writers and artists that lived there.
Heading down the road for the annual labor day celebrations today with the Jamaican quarter of Brooklyn. The thing about New York is its unpredictability. God knows what we will see today, and I must say I’m becoming more a grumpy New Yorker each day. I know I’m a grumpy Melbournian at the best of times, but I’ve take to hip and shouldering people out of the way if they pause for too long.
“Don’t stand in the doorway, it’s a doorway stupid!” Bill Hicks
Even after I’ve bumped them out of the way and THEY apologise, I simply choose to ignore it and move on! What sort of an asshole am I becoming! The other thing I’m doing is ordering tourists to MOVE DOWN! in a crowded subway carriage. I’m becoming Harvey Keitel! Speaking of which, a nutbag in the subway yesterday could have been Harvey. Red shorts, red singlet, fit, carrying a cross made from mirrors, carrying a suitcase and a shocking mullet going halfway down his back. He was ranting at the top of his voice about being a savior called The Earth Angel and that any women turning as much as 1 minute past 21 years of age will be damned unless he helps them! Of course! Why didn’t I think of that! Everytime I tried to take a photo he held up a red piece of cardboard to hide his face. He would smile at me then drop into this demonic booming voice warning all 20 yo women of the impending doom…unless of course you let me into your life!
“Mum, Dad, I’d like you to meet Harvey my savior. I’m moving in with him, the other 15 girls he has saved, 12 children and oh I’m pregnant….finally we’re a bit short on cash and Harvey’s post office job isn’t really cutting the mustard, so could you give us…(whispers “how much Harv?” “$20,000”) $20,000? Thanks Dad love you!CRRuuuuunch!! (The sound of an axe careering into Harvey’s cranium!)
Oh and if you ever wonder why there’s not many people in a subway carriage, it’s for a reason. Our carriage on the way home had a big spew that had taken up the middle section. “Not my spew, not my poo, not my wee, not my business”. Hope all’s well love Willow and Lynda.
Left to Right: 1. Harvey the Earth Angel 2. The former Belmore Cafe 3. Flatiron Building 4. Flatiron Building and Empire State 5. Chelsea Hotel
