Flashbacks, Courtesy of Def Leppard

Earlier this week I went to a concert with some friends here in Canberra. A Melbourne band called the Galvatrons were the opener (sounded like they were channeling Van Halen - specifically "Jump"). The group I really went to see was Cheap Trick. And the headliners, Def Leppard.

Funny, because this is the second time I've seen Def Leppard in concert because they happened to be playing on a three-band ticket featuring a group I really wanted to see.

The first time? 1980. Heavy Metal Sunday at Hara Arena, an ice-hockey rink in Dayton, Ohio. Tickets were $6.50. Headliners were Judas Priest, on their British Steel tour. The special guests, the band I wanted to see, were the Scorpions. And Def Leppard, a bunch of young kids from Sheffield, England, who had just released their first album, were the warm-up act.

So the concert was kind of a flashback for me. I kept on casting my mind back to that earlier concert, to the friends that I went with, high school buddies, some of whom I'm still in touch with, some that have headed off to places like Texas and New Mexico and I've lost contact with. Ah, nostalgia.

Def Leppard themselves were quite different! In 1980 they were unknowns; I'd heard one song by them on the local rock station. By now of course, they've become rock veterans. They had their period in the mid-1980s where they were arguably the Biggest Band In the World. You couldn't turn on rock radio in 1083 without hearing Def Leppard - their video for "Photograph" even knocked Michael Jackson's song "Beat It" off of the #1 Most Requested on MTV.

Now they have a new album out - and they played four or five songs off of it. But much of their show focused on the classics. The crowd was interesting, too. True for other long-lived rock bands I've seen like Pink Floyd back in 1994, there was a mix of young people - teens, college age - who seemed to react more strongly to the new stuff. And there were the over-30 crowd - many SIGNIFICANTLY over 30, by decades - who didn't know the new songs but were there for "Rock of Ages" and other old classics.

And I have to say, even though I was really there to see Cheap Trick and Rick Nielson's five-necked guitar, Def Leppard blew them out of the water. They still have it. Joe Elliott really knows how to work a crowd. They never missed a beat. It was a great evening, all the better for including pleasant memories.

Halloween?

Over the previous two October 31s I haven't been in Canberra - been on travel somewhere, last year it was Broken Hill. So this was the first Halloween in Canberra.

And we actually had trick or treaters. Lots.

Now, I wasn't prepared for this - we had no candy because we weren't expecting anything. We hadn't even seen anything in the papers about trick or treat, the way you do in the US saying what night and time it will be.

So we cowered with the shutters drawn, so the kids couldn't see us not giving them candy.

BUT - I had to take out the trash (to keep the cats out of it...), so I went out the back gate, right as a batch of kids came up to ring the bell. Busted!

I told them, "Sorry I don't have any candy, I didn't know Australians did trick or treat."

So a little boy (maybe 7) dressed as a devil came up and gave me a handful of candy.

I said, "You don't have to do that!" but his big sister (maybe 10) said "That's okay, Mum says we have enough candy to sink a battleship."

So I took it. Nice kid, and nice parents. And a first for me: trick or treaters coming to my house and giving me candy!

The Running of the Sheep

Every spring the charming little town of Boorowa (in New South Wales about 80 miles from Canberra) has an annual Irish Woolfest, to celebrate the winter harvest of wool. They have all the fun things - good food, crafts, bagpipes and dancers, beer, sausage sizzles.

And they have the Running of the Sheep, Boorowa's answer to Pamplona's Running of the Bulls.

All played strictly for laughs, of course. The annnouncer went on and on about how one person injured last year was still in the hospital. I suspect that is a slight exaggeration.

But it was still pretty fun and funny. They fenced off the main street in Boorowa, brought in 150 sheep, and had a couple of herding dogs herd them down the street. It wasn't exactly blindingly quick - the sheep prefer to huddle, all trying to get to the middle away from those annoying dogs. Then one sets off and the rest follow. All very fun!

Alas, Yorick Visits Popapalooza

I remember last year during APEC, seeing the signs for "World Youth Day" in Sydney and being glad I wouldn't be here for it.

I was wrong. The Pope is in Sydney, and so am I. Bad timing again, but Something Came Up and I had to be here.

World Youth Day, if you don't know, is a once-every-3-years festival where young Catholics from all over the place gather for masses, conference, flag-waving, and lots of singing. At least, that's how it looks to me.

The Pope arrived in Sydney Thursday and toured the harbor and city by boat and Popemobile, with hundreds of thousands waving. Me, I didn't get to Sydney till after that was over. But today, as I went around town doing my work, and as I walked around this evening seeing what was going on, the pilgrims as they're called were in full force.

The pilgrims paraded down George Street, waving flags, heading to various locations where they were staging the Stations of the Cross. Big crowds all over. Masses here, there and everywhere. Lots of singing, although I personally did not hear "Kumbayah."

Tonight was interesting, walking in central Sydney and seeing the combination of casually (and warmly) dressed, sober, nice, clean-cut, friendly, young (high school & college age) pilgrims and the staggering drunk sharp-dressed self-satisfied young hot shots that work in Sydney's financial district, out for their Friday night piss-up* at trendy bars that have gimmicks like giving you a parka and letting you drink an overpriced vodka in a 23F/-5C chilled room; I am not making that up it's called Minus Five. The two groups in some instances didn't mix all that well - I heard one encounter where some pilgrims apparently asked a drunken Italian-suit-wearing spiky-haired young Aussie business dude something about Jesus, and the guy yelled "I've got your news about Jesus. He doesn't exist!"

Luckily for him, a law preventing people from "annoying" the pilgrims was recently nullified on a technicality.

But on another corner, a young Aussie (not a pilgrim, he wasn't dressed in flags) yelled "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" and right on cue, the group of Malaysian kids yelled back "Oi, oi, oi!" Quick learners, those Malaysians.

I saw lots of dudes in robes - various priests, bishops, and cardinals, out hiking with their flock. And lots of flags - every little group seemed to be waving the Stars and Stripes or the Union Jack or the Tricoleur or whatever they call the flags of Korea and Mexico and Argentina and Croatia and Italy and Brazil (disappointingly very very dressed unlike their World Cup fans - a Sydney "winter" must feel cold to somebody from Rio) and Papua New Guinea and Texas and Malaysia and South Africa and Germany and Canada and Quebec and from lots of other places. The places whose flags I don't know. Oh, and lots of Irish, very helpfully dressed head to toe in green so you could identify them. And even the Irish were sober - at least at 3:00 in the afternoon when I encountered them. Lots of guitars too - singing is a big part of this Catholic-a-thon. And of course, lots and lots of Aussies with their flags. And apparently 33 Burmese, who only got their visas late, based on the Australians' suspicion that they would stay illegally and work - the way at least one Russian pilgrim did, according to what one Sidneysider I heard tell another at a coffee stand, allegedly landing a job as a security guard within 48 hours of landing in Sydney.

On Saturday is the big thing, when 500,000 people are supposed to cram into Randwick racetrack to hear the Pope say mass. I'll keep away - crowds that big are a pain, no matter how nicely behaved.

*Night of heavy boozing

Survived the Torch

The Olympic torch procession made it through Canberra without too many problems, letting the ACT breathe a sigh of relief. There were pro-Tibetan protesters. But there were many more Chinese students waving the red Chinese flag. Media reported that over 80 buses of Chinese students came in from Sydney and another 50 buses from Melbourne, ensuring a suitable enthusiastic and pro-Chinese response. Some of these students allegedly intimidated Tibetans and their supporters along the route.

But still, nobody grabbed the torch or anything like that...

Here Comes the Torch

Canberra is anticipating with a mixture of excitement and dread the arrival of the Olympic Torch. Yes, it will be jogged thru the streets of Canberra on April 24 - the only stop in Australia.

The drama has already begun. One torch-bearer has dropped out, saying she doesn't want anybody to think she condones China's actions in Tibet. We'll see if any others throw in the torch, I mean towel.

There has been much back and forth about security. At first Australian police said the Chinese "torch attendants" would have to stay on the bus. Then they said that a couple of them could get off the bus to help light the torch, etc. Then today I heard on TV that the Chinese Ambassador said the torch attendants would take action if necessary to protect the torch - which sounds to me at least like they're crossing the blurry line from caring for the torch to providing security. We'll see how the Australians respond to THAT - they are usually inclined to keep a close hold on security arrangements...

I expect tens of thousands of Chinese and Tibetans and others will make their way to Canberra for the torch. The Tibetans (and others) to protest. The Chinese students to support the Olympic spirit. Or to be vigilantes. Or to provide unofficial security. Depending on who you listen to.

The ACT (Australian Capital Territory) government has already revised the route, sticking to broad avenues where they hope they can try to keep protesters at a distance. The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said that if Australians want to protest, they should do so by turning their back as the torch passes.

So - will we have another chaotic torch-grabbing scrum fiasco like in Paris and London? Will the ACT cross up everybody and do a last-minute switch to make an anticlimactic relay run from one sheep paddock to another like San Francisco (well, no paddocks in SF)? Will pro-Tibetans and pro-Chinese regime types clash? Or will it all be calm?

Stay tuned. The run starts about 8:00 AM on Thursday here, that'll be 6 PM US EDT.

Something Was Missing

I went with a buddy the other night to a club to see a Van Halen tribute band called X Halen. They were strictly a David Lee Roth-era VH band - no songs after DLR left and was replaced by Sammy Hagar and That Other Guy.

Their David Lee Roth guy was pretty good - long DLR-like hair, sang very much like Roth (including sometimes too-frequent howls and screams in place of lyrics). And when he spoke between songs (again, too much) you could never tell that he wasn't a nice Jewish kid from Indiana - absolutely NO hint of his native Australian accent on stage. But when he was circulating through the small crowd between sets, he was obviously Australian.

The rest of the band was very good. The guitarist was excellent. So was the rhythm section. Their versions of the various Van Halen classics were very good. And the lead singer several times criticized the Real Eddie Van Halen for firing bassist Michael Anthony in favor of his song Wolfgang (I agree).

They hit most of the highlights from each of Van Halen's first five albums, with more emphasis on Van Halen and 1984 (after all, they probably had the most hits for the originals) than the others. I particularly liked hearing "Dance the Night Away," always one of my favorites, and a smoking version of "You Really Got Me" (thanks again Dave Davies).

But they didn't play "Running with the Devil."

It was weird. It was getting to the end of the show. They'd just done "You Really Got Me" and then "Jump." Then the faux David Lee Roth was rambling and vamping about songs they would play next, semi-coherently just like the real DLR. The bass player tentatively began with the "bmm...bmm...bmm...bmm" bass line that begins "Running with the Devil" but faux Diamond Dave said something about "we already played 'Panama'" (which they had). The guitarist did a couple of goofy riffs from "Panama". Somebody else yelled something, and our ersatz David Lee Roth started riffing about when it's hot you want something to cool you off... and they played "Ice Cream Man."

It was a great song. And then they took their bows and the lights came on. No "Running with the Devil?" Whaaa?

Unfortunately, that put a mild damper on a very fun evening with great music and a crowd full of oddballs. The most uncomfortable thing was how the mock Roth kept calling up a guy called (I think Jimmie) on stage to bring him some more Jack Daniels (iced tea I think). Jimmy works at the club - his shirt said Security.

Jimmy is also about three feet tall - he's a Little Person. It was a little weird - not clear whether the Aussie Diamond Dave (who was about five foot tall himself) was laughing AT Jimmie or WITH him.

In any case, I didn't know they made leather pants that small.

Rural Stuff

We went on Sunday to the small town of Yass, about 45 minutes north of Canberra, for the annual Yass Show. Think small-time county fair in rural America. It was pretty cool. First, we watched the cattle being judged. It wasn't a big show, so like in 2nd grade, every cow got a ribbon. There was more competition in the sheep category, this part of Australia having more sheep than cattle.

We watched a sheep-herding competition. Like the movie Babe, they release sheep into a pen and the dog has to round them up, run them thru a pen where the dog's owner can squirt some stuff into the sheeps' mouths, then into another pen where the sheep would (in real life) be loaded into a truck. It was a blast to watch. The best dog to my untrained eyes was a German shepherd mix. He was coolly efficient. He only barked once, and I never saw him nip at the sheep - he had the on-the-field presence of Dan Marino.

In another part of the showgrounds were dozens of ancient tractors and other mechanical devices, part of the vintage tractor pull and engine rally. Some of those machines dated to the 1920s. Unlike much of the show, this was purely a hobby for the guys entering. We saw one contraption that was steam-powered with a boiler like a 1920s train. While checking out a mechanical thresher and another device chugging away we caught a whiff of the smoke from coal and wood - a small reminder of what western cities were like as recently as the 1950s when London still had killer fogs.

Like American county fairs, there were competitions for flowers, plants, food - and funnily, a competition for vegetable art! The winner was a turtle made out of melons and other veggie bits. Never seen THAT before - an idea for the Arlington County fair organizers...

After the show, we went to a pub in Yass for lunch. The other times we'd been there, they tried to steer us to the "fancy" bistro in the back, not believing a bunch of fancy foreigners would want to eat pub food. This time, maybe they recognized us because we bellied up to the bar to order our Resch's beer and fish and chips without being directed to the posh room...

Aliens Attack Canberra!!!

Giant one-eyed aliens attacked Canberra the other night. What, didn't know about that? Face it, Australia never makes the news in the US.

Anyway, after a fierce battle, the Australian army used a withering barrage of artillery and managed to drive the aliens into the outback -- where with luck, they will die of thirst and snake-bite before they can resume their assault on Australia's capital.





(More photos from the Night of the Alien Attacks will eventually be available at the Hot Pink Muumuu...)