SOUNDS

Tastes vary across the spectrum. Like to listen what grabs me at the time and depending on the season. Just because I have a preference to an artist at a time does not mean I will like everything they do.

Beatles (particularly demo tapes) are probably at the top of my list - very diverse in what they did. Stones and 60's music are also enjoyed.

Into the seventies took a liking to Pink Floyd (though I think they lost it after the Wall), Vangelis and a variety of ambient/surreal music. My vinyl copy of Rick Wakeman's 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' was almost worn out in those days!

McCartney and Wings and his solo stuff became my surrogate Beatles fix after they split up.

ACDC and Angels from the Aussie selection from the eighties period.

Classical is enjoyed as well. No particular favourite, will pick and choose when I hear it.

Have found that general mainstream music (controlled by the big corporate boys) does not satisfy me intellectually and have drifted back to the past for comfort!

Live concerts down at the Hordern Pavilion were just insane and when the Sydney 'Empty Container' Centre got going I did get to some big productions such as Queen, Rod Stewart (how did I get talked into that one) and even booed Jethro Tull offstage when they failed to complete a concert! Unfortunately the SEC saw the demise of the Hordern - a treasured icon in a young lads memories.

Roman Astra, an artist and friend from Tasmania, has joined my collection. He has a strong interest in sitar/guitar variations. He has also put out stuff with a Tassie outfit called the GuruBusters who have appeared at a number of festivals in Tasmania. The boys enjoy "Train" from the 1999 album 'We've met B4'. Hendrix fans will either like or be outraged by their version of 'Are You Experienced', but hey - Hendrix experimented didn't he!??

Away from music there is the Goon Show, still broadcast on ABC radio. My interest in the Goons stems back to sitting in the back of a Datsun 1000 station Wagon (in the back - not in a seat!) on the way to soccer matches with a Pommy mate of mine from school and listening to the Goon Show at midday on Saturdays as we drove along. I must admit now that after many years of listening to it and reading the scripts I am one of those type of people that starts laughing at the joke well before it is done in the show.

The ABC used to also play the Goons on Monday night at 0800, then later on Thursday nights at the same time. Unfortunately they have recently had it on at 0530 in the morning on Friday and on Sunday afternoons at about 330 pm. Many of us aficionados mourn the loss of our Saturday Midday timeslot.

BOOKS

Sci-Fi and Fantasy have been my mainstay over the years. Attacked most SF books with zest out of the St Doms school library - they had a large collection of Andre Norton that grabbed me at the time.

First read 'Lord of the Rings' when in second form. Had problems with the slow pace of the first part of Book One and tended to skim till the action began happening. I would estimate I have read it at least 20 times now and eventually learned to appreciate the first parts of Book One! If you can survive this first part it will help you get into other Tolkein works such as the Silmarillion.

Asimov of course inhabits a place in the shelves and I also have many John Wyndham books (Day of the Triffids fame). Recently I have been keen on David Gemmel (Drenai Knights saga) and Michael Moorcock.

Occasionally I will pick up a non SciFi book and get into it but no real favourites have developed out of this erratic process.

For humour my love is Spike Milligan and the Goon Show scripts - a follow on from my radio listening. 'Puckoon' is the highlight - you can see people you know in it - quite scary. I had the pleasure of meeting up with Spike after a stage show in the early 80's and spent the good part of an hour with him witnessing his persona outside of his humour - a treasured moment. Go here to read some more about someone else's encounter with Spike in 1995.

Unfortunately my hero, Spike, died last year. The last of that magnificent trio of the Goons passed away on February 27 (weirdly our wedding anniversary), during the euphoria of Brennas birth a few days earlier. I did not learn about it until sometime afterwards.

Go to Spikes Obituary in the London Guardian.