Me and Stevio Down By The Schoolyard.

I had some good friends in high school, but I don't really know what happened. Within a very short time we'd all lost touch. Of course that was well before the internet and we all moved out into other worlds. These days I'm only really in touch with one of them, and that's infrequently and second hand through his wife on social media. Hey Steve B, thanks for all those years of friendship through school. I'd love to be in touch more often.

But what about the other other Steve C? What became of him? And Doug P? We used to play cricket and tennis and hangout after school. Doug D? I remember standing on the lunchtime soccer ground and talking about Bob Dylan. Keith F? Another Beatles fan. You gave me my first taste of Sgt Pepper and All Things Must Pass on cassette. Neil S? You lived just around the corner and I have no idea where you went. Tim G? I caught up with you once a few years ago and never heard from you again. Paul W? You left our school and moved to Sydney. A mad keen Carlton fan and a good writer. Where are you? Arthur C? We were good friends, and I have no idea where you moved to. Michael H? You got in touch with me at work many years ago, and asked me to call you back. I felt terrible because I lost your number on my desk and waited for a return call. 

And Johnny R? I search online for you from time to time, and can't find anything about you. We spent so much time together - fishing, listening to music, eating toast in the middle of the night.

I would love to hear from you all. I'd love to know what you're doing, what happened, hear some memories.

In fact, I'd be thrilled.

Snapshot 2020.

The Australian SF scene has now been snapshot for the sixth time. Every few years since 2005, a series of interviews is conducted with authors, artists, publishers and others involved in Australian SF.

Snapshot 2020 is currently being published, and my interview was released this morning. While the past year or so of writing and publishing has been quieter than usual for me, I have had publications. Due to other commitments, writing is currently on the backburner. But I am still making plans, still making notes, and will emerge at the end of the year ready to write more frequently.

Explore the site. Check out the interviews. Read mine. And links to my previous interviews can be found under 'Steve's Links' in the menu on the right of this screen.

Thanks to Tehani Croft for taking on this mammoth task.

Positivity in a Weird World.

There's no doubt things are very strange at the moment. The world seems to have gone mad, people have gone mad, even the  birds have gone mad.

COVID 19 has changed the world in wasy we couldn't even imagine only a few short months ago. I rarely go out, don't have visitors, work from home, and try to imagine how things will be. The world seems quieter. There's less traffic, aclearer skies, and more birdsong. Are they just encroaching further into urban areas because there are fewer cars and less pollution?  I have no idea. I know I just enjoy hearing them more than usual.

I had a birthday last week. Some family visited, socially distanced of course, and we had a great time. Lindsey organised a barbeque and there was plenty of food, great laughs and I was honestly thrilled with the presents I received.

But it is draining, seeing all the negative news. It's tiring working from home. I long to socialise with my workmates, my friends, have a drink with them. And not sit at the computer all week. I honestly want a clear deliniation between work and home.

In the meantime I try to share positive things in social media. On Facebook I post things I like - daily. I started the say we started working from home, and I honestly had no idea I would still be going three months later. And now there's talk we might be here til the end of they year or beyond.

Be positive, be understanding, be kind to each other, and stay safe.

Time is Never Time Enough.

A lot of people seem to be talking about how much time they have to read, or to watch Netflix, or simply to take up a new hobby. Sometime I wish I had that much free time.

I am extremely fortunate to be working in an area that is in demand. I commenced this role in Digital Education only a few weeks before lockdown. Not only did I have the learning curve that accompany most new jobs, but we had a short period of time to get programmes online, and to do it while working from home.

I'm thrilled I am part of a supportive and encouraging team.

I have learned a lot in the past couple of months, and I continue to learn everyday. Which is great, it is setting me up well for my future. I have a broad range of new practical skills to support my experience and education. And it all looks great on a CV - not that I have any plans to move anywhere soon.

I am pelased I have been furloughed, or placed on leave. But wouldn't it be nice just to have one extra day a week off?  Then maybe I could start watching some of those series on my list.

Oh well, back to work. I have an issue with some videos that won't upload properly.

All Mixed Up.

My reading selection has been a real mixed bag recently. A couple of Spec-Fic books and collections, some rock biographies, a memoir from a fan who visited a band while they were recording, and some non-fiction. I'm currently reading some short stories by Victoria Hislop, and I'm really enjoying them. A great selection of vignettes set in Greece.

I've also been ripping through some magazines. The Fortean Times, Popshot Quarterly, Mojo, and an odd little journal called the Teatles. This is not a misspelling, and it is about the Beatles, but mostly drinking tea. If this is your thing, as it is mine, follow them on twitter.

In between all this, are the academic journals, articles and texts I'm reading for my studies. As you can imagine, they are a right hoot to read - especially after a long day at work. But it needs to be done, and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Every now and then I get an itching to read an old classic. At the moment most of my books are stored away, which saves me from pushing these to the top of the TBR stack. But there are a few I want (and need) to revisit. It's incredible how different these books can be after many years. But for now it's Victoria Hislop in Greece. Somewhere I've never been, but somewhere I will visit one day.

Next on the list, however, is some old fashioned fantasy from Andy Remic. About time I dug back into a world not like our own.

Our Own Exclusive Spheres.

As a teen, I remember spending hours perusing the racks in the record shop before handing over my saved money to purchase an album. Once home I would throw it onto the turntable as soon as I could, and sit and read the album notes. Anything, in fact, that was on the cover, the inner sleeve and even the copyright notices on the label.

The names seemed strange, exotic. Pink Floyd, for example, were Waters, Wright, Mason and Gilmour. There were no photos of the band, they didn't appear on Countdown (Australia's music programme), I didn't have any books about them - I simply had to imagine what they were like based on the music.

The same with Steeleye Span. The first of their albums I bought, Commoner's Crown, had pictures of little figurines, with their names alongside it. Vocals by Maddy Prior. I'd never heard the name Maddy before, and I must admit I imagined the band as living in some kind of medieval village as minstrels.

There was no internet, no way for a lad in the suburbs to learn more about these artists. I knew about the Beatles and the Stones from TV and books, but the libraries and shops I went to didn't have books about anything other than the most popular of bands.

I never dreamed that one day it would be possible to make contact with my heroes, or even to have conversations with them. We moved in orbits in our own exclusive spheres. These days, those spheres can touch.

Recently, I ended up having an online chat with one of my guitar heroes. A guy I listened to in High School, and loved. And when I started playing guitar, spent hours working out a couple of his riffs. And yet, all those years later, here I was having a chat as he shared a few little bits about the album I didn't know.

Also recently I had 'likes' and comments from another hero.  It is a strange, strange feeling when that happens.

The world is a smaller place, because of the internet, and our heroes are now within reach. Sometimes, it can be terrifying for them. We read of celebrities chased from Twitter or Facebook by a rampaging mob carrying metaphorical pitchforks and flaming torches. Some have had mental health problems following harassment by the public.

I just hope that I was respectful, and am extremely appreciative of the time given to me.

On A Mission From God.

My history with the Blues Brothers goes back to the early 80s. SNL didn’t show in Australia, although I had heard of it. I missed the film at the cinema, although I suspect it barely raised a blip on the local radar at the time. A friend mentioned it to me, and we managed to rent a copy. Remember video rentals? Remember Betamax? Yes, we were nerds, and knew it was a better technology than VHS. What we didn’t know was the licensing arrangements that would result in the global dominance of the inferior product.

But we watched it, and loved it, and made a copy so we could watch it again and again. Remember, pre-recorded videotapes were insanely expensive in those days. I certainly couldn’t afford them.


I ended up becoming a regular at the Valhalla Cinema in Melbourne. For several years, until they were forced out, they showed a fabulous selection of cult and art films. And they produced the most wonderful posters. I still have a couple, but they're in storage. Here's one I found on reddit.

This is where I saw many of these films for the first time. But Friday nights at 11pm was reserved for the Blues Brothers. Much like the participation screenings of the Rocky Horror Show in other cinemas, we dressed up, posed, danced and acted in front of the screen. I was one of the main Elwoods for several years. I don’t remember how many times I watched that movie in the cinema, but I remember I stopped counting my viewings (both on video and on the big screen) at around 186.

They had an old ford which they painted up and parked outside the cinema. The manager added me to their insurance, and with a friend, I was able to drive around Melbourne for an hour or two prior to the film commencing. Yep, dressed as Elwood and Jake we got to drive the Bluesmobile. I wish I had photos of that.

So it was with some pleasure I saw this article today. The Bluesmobile lives. During COVID 19 lockdown, it tools around Milton Keynes, playing tunes. While some of the music listed would never be on my playlist, nor Jake or Elwood’s, I like the idea. It should, however, be playing that sweet soul music. Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs.

It’s great to see it’s still on a mission from God.