Graeme Allwright

I was watching Campbell live last night, and lo and behold saw my grandmother's cousin who is over here performing!Wish I could go the the concerts, but he ain't coming down here! I might say I always loved his music!!! Here is more about him: Graeme Allwright is an anomaly. He is a NZ musician who is more famous in France that any Kiwi musician ever has been in New Zealand, yet having never before played here he is almost totally unknown. In France, the former Lyall Bay boy is considered a musical legend on a par with Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen. Graeme became famous in the 1960s when he began translating American folk songs into French. Mention the name Graeme Allwright to anyone in the great cities of Lyon, Strasbourg or Marseilles - and the chances are that you will not have to wait too long before a long list of Graeme’s hits are reeled off. But, conduct a vox-pop around the streets of Wellington and you’re sure to be greeted with a chorus of ‘Graeme who?’ Aged 78, Graeme is still singing and considered to be an iconic part of French popular culture. In the last five years, jazz has been Graeme’s main focus. Despite Graeme’s huge success in France and other French speaking nations such as Switzerland, Madagascar, Belgium and French speaking Canada, he is still very much a private individual who spends an increasing amount of his time living a simple life with his partner in Brittany. He has always shunned the lifestyle that goes with fame – preferring to spend long periods in India, the Himalayas and Madagascar. Having made millions and given millions to charity at 78 he still chooses to travel around on the metro with his bag and guitar – never thinking to take a cab. Graeme was born into a musical family and grew up in Lyall Bay, where his father worked as the local stationmaster. "You can imagine what it was like", he relates, "a young boy seeing his father put his cap on, blowing his whistle and watching huge locomotives slip out of the station. I loved my years in New Zealand. Later on we moved up to Hawera, where my childhood was full of fields, wild rivers, orchards and the bush. Magical. Wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world." Anxious to pursue a career in theatre, Graeme was only too well aware that his days in New Zealand were numbered - for then there was no professional company in the land. It was with a measure of good fortune, therefore, that former Prime Minister Peter Fraser happened to attend an Ibsen play in which the young Allwright was performing. He was so impressed by his performance that he promptly arranged for him to receive a bursary to attend the Old Vic School in London, keenly aware that he was one of the most promising actors in the land. It was at the Old Vic that Graeme met and fell in love with a French actress. Graeme relates how his move to France put a speedy end to his thespian aspirations - on the not unreasonable grounds that apart from the odd oui and non (the former an essential prerequisite for the marriage ceremony to Catherine) he could not speak a single word of French. He had married into a theatrical family, however, and soon found himself as an assistant stage manager cum general handyman. "As my French improved I started to do bit parts. And before too long I was playing the part of Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I had absolutely no idea that I would become a singer though. I guess the seed was planted when I began to mix some acting evenings with some singing as a kind of fill-in towards the end of a performance. This seemed to go down really well. I also learned how to play the guitar. Then I hit upon the idea of adapting some songs I particularly liked - songs by Cohen and Dylan." It was not too long before Graeme had hit the road as a singer in his own right. But his big moment came - exactly as it had done some years earlier at the other end of the globe - when a VIP happened to be attending one of his performances. That person was the managing director of Phonogram, part of the giant Philips group, and one of the biggest record labels in France. "The next day he sent along one of his artistic directors" Graeme continues, "and I was taken out for a drink. Well, then, this chap simply turned round to me and said ‘sign here, boy’ - which I did - right on the dotted line. It was just like in the movies. I signed up for 5 years. And was only too happy to do so." Whoosh! That’s just about the only word to describe what happened to Graeme’s career from that moment onwards. "Suddenly I became a star. My first record was an instant hit. In fact it was so popular that the entire LP was played on the popular radio station Europe 1 - nothing like that had ever happened before. I was so successful I really had no idea what had hit me. I was knocking out a mixture of protest songs - I got caught up in the 68 movement of student-led rebellion - but my songs seemed to reach out to all people of all ages and right across the social divide." And yet Graeme was never entirely comfortable having become part of the mainstream - even the alternative mainstream - and it was not too long before he deliberately walked away from his overnight success. For at the height of his fame he gathered a few of his possessions together, bundled them into a rucksack and, not for the first time, hit the road - this time heading out East. Had this move been designed by a shrewd and calculating PR man it would have been heralded as superb - for Graeme’s ‘disappearance’ elevated him to almost mythical status - he became a kind of cult figure with rumours and counter-rumours flying around thick and fast. In fact at one stage Graeme’s son was told by his schoolmaster his father had been killed in an accident. Others whispered darkly that he had committed suicide. And then unexpectedly and unannounced Graeme, ever the drifter, would reappear on the scene. Produce another record; enjoy a period of renewed success there - before withdrawing again. It was a marginal kind of lifestyle that took its toll - including not one but two failed marriages. You can say what you like about him, but one thing is undeniable, Graeme’s songs have won the hearts and souls of the French people, his titles such as Sacrée Bouteille and Suzanne having entered into legend and folklore alike. So looking back on his long and successful career (at 78 he continues to play in public) is Graeme proud of what he has achieved? "Pride is a nasty thing", he replies thoughtfully. I am not proud. But I am astonished. Astonished that a New Zealander should have made it in France. What I do find most satisfying though is that it’s clear that I do bring happiness to many people. And that is truly a wonderful thing to be part of."

Yes it's true!

Well it's the moment you've been waiting for, pictures of Karen in a dress. Yes I did say Karen and I did say a dress.In the bottom picture I am dancing with the groom while Piotr dances with the bride. Above is me and girls in the Sydney sunset.

They must be Australian!

Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints and problems as submitted by Qantas pilots and the solution recorded by maintenance engineers. (P = the problem logged by the pilot.) (S = the solution and action taken by the engineers.) P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. S: Almost replaced left inside main tire. P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough. S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft. P: Something loose in cockpit. S: Something tightened in cockpit. P: Dead bugs on windshield. S: Live bugs on back-order. P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent. S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground. P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. S: Evidence removed. P: DME volume unbelievably loud. S: DME volume set to more believable level. P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. S: That's what they're there for. P: IFF inoperative. S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode. P: Suspected crack in windshield. S: Suspect you're right. P: Number 3 engine missing. S: Engine found on right wing after brief search. P: Aircraft handles funny. S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious. P: Target radar hums. S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics. P: Mouse in cockpit. S: Cat installed. P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer. S: Took hammer away from midget.

Home again!

I am now back in the deep South of New Zealand. There are still heaps of things in Sydney that I want to do, so we'll head back there sometime in the not too distant future. We had dinner at the Polish club which was awesome cos it was all Polish food, but then Piotr decided to get to know the stairs a little more intimately so we spent the next 3 hours doing internal monitoring of Sydney emergency departments, cos Piotr needed his head checked! Seriously though he had some major lumps and bruises on his head but he'll survive.

Sydney

Well i've been in Sydney a week now and all I can really say is it's quite mediocre really. It seems like a more cramped version of Auckland. Watson's bay was nice, but that is in comparrison to the urban jungle, but it's pretty average compared with New Zealand. The aquarium was cool and the maritime museum was okay. The Powerhouse museum was good too. Olympic park is well flat, so at least I didn't have to push the wheelchair uphill, and the aquatic centre was very wheelchair accessible. Mostly Sydney seems pretty run down to me and not somewhere i would want to spend much time. There are heaps of cool museum and colonial things but the ones with any wheelchair access are mostly groundfloor only so not much fun for Piotr.

Peterpotamus

A hippo playing a trombone, perfect. It's Peterpotamus, even better!!!

Caught in the act

For those of us born before 1986

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's, shouldn't have survived. Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint, which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors and cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags - riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and guess what, it tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding, we drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps, and ball bearing wheels and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot about the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We got stung by red ants, but learnt that they hate salt. We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations, X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVD's, no Internet chat rooms. >We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics, rounders and stingers and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no lawsuits. We had full-on fistfights but no prosecution followed from other parents. We played 'tok-tokkie' and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school and sometimes it wasn't just around the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law. This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of these children, Congratulations! Pass this on to others who have also grown up as real kids. For those of you who aren't as old, thought you might like to read about us. This my friends, is surprisingly frightening...and it might put a smile on your face: The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986...they are called youth. They have never heard of "We are the World, We are the children", and the "Uptown Girl" they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle. For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam. AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's have existed since they were born. Michael Jackson has always been white. To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance. They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year. They can never imagine life before computers. They'll never have pretended to be the A-Team, the Hardy Boys or the amous Five. They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone. Now let's check if we're getting old... 1. You understand what was written above and you smile or laugh. 2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out. 3. Your friends are getting married or are already married. 4. You are surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computers. 5. When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head. 6. When you see 12 year olds holding hands at the mall you shake your head. 7. You meet your friends from time to time and talk about the Good old Days, repeating again all the funny things you have experienced together.