The Bobby Darin Closer

Off comes the make up

Off comes the clown's disguise
The curtain’s fallin'

The music softly dies.

But I hope your smilin'
As you're filin’ out the door
As they say in this biz

That's all there is … there isn't anymore.

We've shared a moment
And as the moment ends

I got a funny feelin'

We're parting now as friends.

Your cheers and laughter will linger after

They've torn down these dusty walls
If I had this to do again

And the evening were new again

I would spend it with you again
But now the curtain falls.

Your cheers and laughter will linger after

They've torn down these dusty walls
People say I was made for this

Nothin’ else would I trade for this

And just think I get paid for this …

“Goodnight ladies and gentlemen and God love you, thank you.”

Time for me to go folks. Thanks muchly for your support. The two reasons I started this blog have ceased - one person can't access a computer to read the blog and the other won't. So I've probably told you far too much (a major fault), but hopefully I've shown you something you haven't seen, or taken you to a place you've never been before. Thanks for coming on the ride with me. Burn brightly - all my love, Pete

Women on the 6th Floor

I sat in a cinema yesterday watching the delightful french comedy The Women on the 6th Floor.  A lovely diversion for over 2 hours, with some great actors (Fabrice Luchini is a great actor and Carmen Maura is always wonderful value no matter how small her role) and a simple if somewhat predictable script. As a failed actor, I'm always drawn to character and as a writer I'm always beguiled by plot - no great surprises here, but the performances were wonderful.

The experience was marred by my own failings - a devastating nosebleed in the middle of the movie at the point where the boss is enlightened. I left my bewildered friend to head off to the bathroom and recover and I'm getting better at detecting the problem and rectifying it quickly of late. It seems whenever I'm under stress, the body betrays me - another reason to get fit and another reason to de-stress. Christmas has not been a time of great cheer in my life with stresses and situations I was pushed into that I didn't want to be a part of. Let's hope the roll-over into the leap year enables new starts and we all can have another chance at it - just like the boss on the fifth floor.
Burn brightly, Pete

Keep me Running

Bought a new pair of sneakers a few weeks ago and started running again, gradually building up to 6km. I used to run a long time ago and was doing about 15km a day and have run on and off over the years. I decided it was time to lose weight and try and get into some sort of shape. Last night I managed to damage my heel and my right knee hasn't been in great shape as I've been laboring up hills in the early hours of the morning.

 I tend to run late at night when the heat of the day is gone, less traffic is on the roads and there is less chance of people seeing this tired and pathetic figure hauling itself through Brisbane streets at 1am in the morning. I'd forgotten what Brisbane sounds and smells like late at night and how friendly late night pedestrians can be - The last few nights I've had conversations with total strangers in the wee small hours of the morning. Currently I'm on my own in the house for the next few days and will spend most of my time reading and hobbling and waiting to get back out there... the physical can be a great remedy for insomnia of course. So if anyone knows of a great pain killer and muscle relaxant rolled into one, let me know. I'm hoping I can plug in my iPod and hit the Brisbane bitumen again soon.


Running allows me to kill two birds with one stone as I do the physical thing ( which if you saw me, you'd agree I need to do something), but it also allows for the mental sifting and re-evaluating that I'm desperately trying to work through before teaching starts again next year. I'd like to be in shape both physically and mentally for my students and am hoping this year shapes up better than this one gone. Last year, someone who was close to me accused me of being highly competitive - and maybe she was right to a degree - but only with myself. And I have to admit I was quietly chuffed when I saw the academic scores come out the other day and how well we'd placed. So yes, I am a competitor and this is the year I'm determined to wear out rather than rust out. Now its all down to the two questions I ask myself each night after pounding the pavements - "What did I achieve today?" and "How could I have done it better?"
Burn brightly, Pete

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