A lovely shot of the new venue floor here at Fire Depot, Collingwood. Those are gas pipes sitting over the hole. Had to join them & tunnel under the floor to that little hole in the bottom corner of the front wall. Dirty work. Stu the plumber had a rough day on the street. While getting something out of the driver’s side of his ute, someone smashed into the open door, narrowly missing him & snapping the door forward into the front of the vehicle. The guy took responsibility at first, then spent the rest of the afternoon sending abusive voice-mail. Idiot.

Then around 4pm a bus-driver barreled up to the ute & slammed on the brakes, horn blaring while Stu was frantically packing the last of his gear to get out of the clearway.

The joys of Johnston St.

Have a great weekend.
Fires out.

Legendary MC5 – Kick Out The Jams. Turn up load, enjoy…

Fires out.

Scary times. This article in today’s Age newspaper Melbourne.

Ukraine puts troops on high alert, threatening war

Soldiers block access to a Ukrainian border guard base near Simferopol. Photo: AFP

Simferopol, Ukraine: Ukraine put its military on high alert on Sunday in response to Russia’s move to seize control of the Crimean peninsula, and it threatened war against Moscow if the Kremlin made further incursions into Ukrainian territory as Western powers scrambled to find a response to the crisis.

“This is the red alert, this is not a threat, this is actually a declaration of war to my country,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said after Russia’s parliament approved the deployment of troops to any part of Ukraine where Moscow deems Russians are in danger. He warned that Ukraine was on the “brink of disaster” and appealed to the international community to stand by Kiev. Click here to read more

Another weekend working on the new venue. Max already on it, painting the toilet ‘complex’ in the beer garden. Me taking photos. Again, the boys (professionals) arrive at 7am tomorrow for more construction & transformation. Apparently the weather’s looking kick-arse for the weekend.

Max painting in the beer garden a few moments ago.

Have a great weekend.
Fires out.

Last Saturday night was the 4th in a row playing at Stalk & Kim’s place. Kind of a Feb ‘residency’. Been having a ball – great way to wind down after a week working on the new venue. Can’t make it this Saturday due to an important family birthday dinner. Need a fill-in. I’ve left the guitar in open tuning so Stalk can take over this weekend…

Last Saturday night at Stalk & Kim’s, slide-guitar with cigarette lighter.

Fires out.

We’ve probably stooped about as low as we can regarding the treatment of asylum seekers. An international disgrace right under our noses, and a government who would keep us all in the dark. Time for a major change in thinking and approach. This from getup.org.au –

“On Sunday 23 February, more than 20,000 Australians turned out across the country and around the world to spread light during a dark time in Australian history. They gave hope and radiated compassion to asylum seekers suffering under our government’s cruel and punishing policies. Watch this video to see what they made possible.”

Fires out.

This is an incredible photo. Sasha Pipa, injured in the Kiev riots.

Fires out.

This is awesome – give it a minute. Winds up & rocks out…

Thanks to Gav for sending the link.

Fires out.

Live in Taiwan, June last year. Our final festival date before taking the show off the road for a little while.

As regular readers of this blog, you’ll have gathered we’re taking a break from live performance & touring in favour of writing new songs & building (renovating) our own venue in Collingwood. This weekend it’s on again – more work on the venue space. The crew arrive at 7am tomorrow, sawdust & hammers flying…

Have a great weekend.
Fires out.

Amazing the difference just a few years can make. Ukraine is again in the grip of civil unrest, Kiev’s city square a conflict zone as protesters clash with authorities. 26 people dead at last count. Max & I walked through that square, marveled at the architecture & sat down to eat with our friends. That was 2009. Touring Ukraine was an eye opening experience at a socio-political level. At shows in the east, audience members often insisted we communicate in Russian. In the west they loved it when we said the few words we knew in Ukrainian.

Our hosts & tour mates had protested and fought for freedom against Russian political tyranny as part of the Orange revolution in 2003. They had gained so much at enormous cost. Freedom and peace. Our hearts go out to them & we hope they’re OK through another episode of attempted oppression. Courageous, resilient people.

Here’s an article by rt.com published yesterday.

AFP Photo / Louisa Gouliamaki – Kiev Riots.

Fires out.