Time Travel

I read an article a while back about super-fast neutrinos. Apparently CERN discovered neutrinos that travelled faster than light in one of their experiments, and this proves Einstein wrong, and means that time travel is theoretically possible. Last I heard, scientists everywhere were on a mission to either prove or disprove this themselves, and I haven't heard the latest.

But the thing about time travel is this. Surely if time travel were possible, we'd know. We'd know because we'd be inundated with visitors from the future, right now. Probably in big futuristic tour buses.

As soon as time travel is invented, theoretically any era would be ripe for a visit. And humans being humans, no one will be able to resist popping back to their favourite era. So the fact that we're not seeing time travellers currently, and that there are no extensive records of them in history, means that time travel will never be achieved. Don't you think? Even ruling out the tour bus idea, there will always be someone, someone unable to control their obsessive desire to see who built the pyramids, or meet Jesus, or find out whether the solos in "Flashdance" really were danced by a man.

I've thought this through, using the razor-sharp logic that brought you "Space Rabbits", and have come up with the following scenarios:

#1 Time travel will never be invented. Bummer.

#2 Time travel will be invented but humans will be too wise and wary of the ramifications to use it (NOTE: highly unlikely)

#3 Time travel will be invented and the future humans are among us already, just well-disguised. This might explain the man who looked at me funny in Coles the other day but is probably best not to think about if you have a tendency towards paranoia.

#4 Time travel is indeed possible, however our future selves have never used it because they exploded/moved to another planet/regressed to chimpanzees/became absorbed in the Great Karaoke Wars/are planning for the planet-wide simultaneous performance of Michael Jackson's Thriller dance.

Just a thought.

Sidmouth part 2 -- Silly Songs

Towards the end of the Sidmouth Folk Festival, to my great excitement, I was invited to join in on a Silly Song session. This is an annual session held by the Middle Bar Singers at the Anchor -- everyone who wants to sings a silly song in turn, unaccompanied. I was late arriving, but they kindly made room for an a capella version of "Space Rabbits of Brocklevoons", and we all bounced along. Then we all sang a very silly song about a gladiator, and I couldn't have been happier.

Then the next part of their annual event took place. They formed a procession, marched down to the sea, waded into the sea, and sang sea shanties.


I didn't go in for a dip, but was very admiring (it was very cold!). Here's me with two of the lovely Middle Bar Singers, Richard and Lynne, I hope we meet again soon:


And here's a video of the Spooky Men lending their voices and legs to Brocklevoons at the Anchor Garden on Wednesday night -- thanks to Cat Manners for putting up this video. Just look at Ryan bounce, that's some quality bouncing right there! Also loving the dance moves by Alex and Lisa, especially the extended "pounce" style by Lisa, and the enthusiastic crowd :-)

Sidmouth Folk Festival

We are currently camped in a village hall just outside Sidmouth. It looks as if some kind of sleeping bag monster exploded in here ... the hall is bursting with camp stretchers, suitcases, and mysterious objects dragged in from the Spooky Bus and Van while they are cleaned.

It's been a very busy time since my last post about Bristol. Being on Spooky tour is sort of like being part of a circus ... there are about 20 of us at the moment, travelling from place to place, usually a new place every day, and every night a new concert ... often a sold-out concert, which is brilliant. You get into a kind of rhythm ... the nomadic life seems very normal at present. Though it's hectic, there are a lot of laughs.

The Spooky Men were the hit of Cambridge Folk Festival last week, which was an awesome spectacle. I've had a couple of my own shows at the Sidmouth Folk Festival this week. Last night the Spooky Men came and sang harmonies with me on Family Outing (the pirate song) and Space Rabbits of Brocklevoons. The amplification this provides means that there was no shortage of people bouncing for their lives in the audience, and it was a lot of fun.

And the very kind folks at Hobgoblin Music lent Ryan a guitar so that he could accompany me --- I'm so grateful to them.

I'm enjoying walking by the seaside, surrounded by folk music lovers, Morris Men of all different colours and kinds, clog dancers, musicians, buskers ... it's bustling and rich and ancient, somehow.

Other highlights from recent times include a guest appearance from the Ashton Keynes choir the Magnificent AK-47s in my set (all dressed as pirates), the fascinating Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford, and the Baths in Bath. In Oxford we performed at the Holywell Music Room ... the oldest secular music venue in England. Amazing to think of all the people who have stood upon that stage, and what they might have been thinking, and whether they too had a hall-full of sleeping bags and mysterious objects waiting for them after the show...

Bristol update #2

Click here to read another lovely review of the Bristol show.

We're off to Milton Keynes tonight, and Ryan and I are planning to get the spoons out for the first performance of "Space Rabbits of Brocklevoons" this trip ... will anyone bounce? Hope so!!

Bristol update

Here's a smashing review of the Bristol concert -- it's by Les Gillam from the Bristol Evening Post. Click here to read the review!

Bristol -- St Georges

The UK Spooky Tour is well underway, and it's going fantastically well. I'm writing this from a bedroom in our new friends George and Rosemary's beautiful house with green hills out the window, dotted with black and white cows. Last night we played at Sedbergh in the very beautiful Sedbergh Parish Church. I played Sparky the Giant Squid during my set last night, so a big thanks to the Sedbergh folks for waving their tentacles around! :-)

I have some pictures of our Monday night concert at St Georges in Bristol (thanks Alex Gill-Chambers for the pics!). It was a huge night, with a 550-strong very enthusiastic, friendly audience-- I've never played to so many people before, and it was an absolute blast. The whole audience joined in with the chorus of Family Outing (the pirate song) in two-part harmonies, bless them, it sounded gorgeous. Also, because of the acoustic beauty of the space, we all performed with no amplification -- a bit scary for me, but it was so worth it! I got to move around the stage while I sang, and even did a little tap dance.




The Spooky Men's Chorale set was filled with huge amounts of fun and laughter (and I mean massive!): here is an extra special moment for those of you who know the Spooky Men ... the Sharing Caring Spooky Circle of Loving Feeling goes vertical!! That's Ryan on the top, supported by Stirling.

For a more detailed account of Spooky goings-on, click here to check out their awesome daily blog!

Packing with "Three Men In A Boat"

I'm going touring in the UK in a week, as the support act for The Spooky Men's Chorale. This time I'm determined to travel light. So I've been inspired by some classic packing advice: George's, in Jerome K. Jerome's most excellent book Three Men In A Boat: "We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can't do without."

The author comments: "I call that downright wisdom, not merely as regards the present case, but with reference to our trip up the river of life in general. [...] Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need — a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing."

Three Men in a Boat is one of my favourite books ever. First published in England in 1889, it tells the story of three friends who go on a holiday up the Thames River. It's so funny, and still rings so true, over 120 years later. It's testament to the writer's talent, I think, that the humour in it is still accessible to us even though the English language has changed — the writing style is a lot more formal than you'd find today, but so beautiful. I love it when J fancies he is ill because of the symptoms he has read in an ad for liver pills, Harris and George's disastrous attempt to pack the hampers, the account of Harris singing a comic song, the time he gets lost in Hampton Court Maze, and their terrible experiences trying to open a tin of pineapple. Humans have changed so much over the last hundred years, but not at heart; if this book is any guide, our warmth, curiosity, inventiveness, and general "larrikiness" are inherent in our very DNA. And thank goodness for that.

Anyway, I recommend the book to you, whether you're travelling or not. It's really good company in the same way that Robert Frost poems are, and is also a curious window into a past reality.

Lemon Meringue Pie

I made this video for fun a while ago ... two robots (one quite tetchy) discuss a recipe for lemon meringue pie.

Some lovely videos

While in W.A. recently at the Denmark Festival of Voice, I had the chance to see some wonderful performers ... here are some of my favourites, for when you have a rainy afternoon.

The Pepperjacks - incredible playing and stunning harmonies


Kate Wilson - an awesome beat poet, makes paintings with words


Penny Larkins and Carl Pannuzzo - just listen, it's so beautiful...

The Trouble with Teleporting

My favourite conversation from the Denmark Festival of Voice. We bumped into a couple of our friends in a cafe:

Monica: We've just been saying that what you really need at a folk festival is a Tardis. It gets you to all the different gigs you're singing in, plus it's somewhere to get changed.
Me: Yes. That's the advantage of a Tardis over a standard teleporting machine - somewhere to get changed.
Clive: Plus, when you teleport, you risk turning up as a fly.

So true.


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Ironfest

Here's me with an old friend, at Ironfest in Lithgow a couple of weekends ago:

The pic was taken at an exhibition by the Sydney Robot Workshop, a club for people who want to build robots. Awesome!

Although it was freezing, Ryan and I had a great time at Ironfest. We performed in a friendly venue, The Shed, tantalised by the smell of delicious coffee and chocolate brownies on display at the cafe. Thanks Ian Walton for the first pic below, and Ian Moore for the second! :-)


Meanwhile, outside on the oval, people dressed up to recreate famous battles, while others displayed their artwork in stalls. The costumes from all eras were amazing, but as previously established on this blog, I am a poor excuse for a photojournalist, and spent my time gawking instead of taking photos.

What I did manage to get, however, is a pic of the Reapers. Representing the forces of darkness, they had a motorbike-jousting battle with the friendly mortal Knight Riders in an attempt to steal the souls of everyone on earth.

(You'll be relieved to know the mortals won!)

A big cheers from Ryan and I also to the Brothers Three, who also performed at The Shed, and joined in with some tap-dancing during our set!

Mr Bandicoot photos

Here are some of the photos from the Mr Bandicoot show at the Victorian State Library in April (see two posts ago).

That's me and Elsha Lawson-Boyd on stage, and also Elsha being a train with the crowd! It was probably the best audience train I've ever seen, made of dozens of kids going round the library lawn in a conga line.

We were there to help launch the Library's Young Readers Program CD, which is a CD of fun nursery rhymes supplied free to libraries and health centres across Victoria.

Mr Bandicoot is a kids picture book and cd by Anne Lawson (Elsha is her grand-daughter which is extra cool!). It is made up of gorgeous nursery rhymes about tigers, seashells, fairies, trains and more that Anne made up for her kids fifty years ago, sung by me, and the book is illustrated by Hugo Moline and Heidi Axelsen. More info on Mr Bandicoot here!

Awesome Coffee Alert!!

These fantastic coffees are by Mike at Dr Java in Fitzroy, Melbourne (the cafe is on the corner of Gertrude and Smith St, and highly recommended!). The one with the dog's paws is in honour of my song Fred the Dog, about a dog who learns to talk. (If you haven't seen the YouTube clip click here.)

I'm still having a fab time playing around with kids songs for the album, including Fred the Dog. Recording starts in May. T-Rexes, the Big Bang, space rabbits, computers and Sparky the Giant Squid all get a look-in.

And before that, Ryan Morrison and I are off to the National Folk Festival in Canberra, to do both grown-up and kids shows over the Easter weekend. I love the National ... I can't wait!!!

4th Rock from the Sun

I was at the Melbourne Museum earlier this week. Wandering through the fascinating Minerals section, minding my own business, when suddenly, inside an ordinary glass case, this:




This is apparently a rock from Mars. If you can't read the label in the photo, it says that an asteroid hit Earth, and a bit of Mars flew off, and here it is. The piece itself is 2cm tall, 1 cm wide, and as thin as a silicon chip.

I didn't even know we had bits of Mars on Earth. It seems too incredible to be true. There was no info given on when, or where this bit landed. But its composition marks it as a Mars local.

I love Melbourne. The night before, I had been watching Shaun Tan's exquisite animation "The Lost Thing" on an open-air screen in Federation Square, and now, after brilliant coffee at Dr Java, I had wandered up the road and seen a piece of another planet.

I was in Melbourne to perform at the State Library of Victoria last Sunday, as part of the launch of their Young Readers Program CD -- it was great fun, and I'll post pics as soon as I have them.

The Crossroads

Hi, and welcome back to the blog. I’m aiming to post more or less weekly this year.

After my big tour with Ryan Morrison last year I needed some time off from music. So I did some other work for a change. On moving back to being a singer-songwriter, I found myself at a crossroads, wondering where to go next. It took me a while, but I was very drawn to the brightly painted sign marked “Record A Kids Album”. So I’m off in that direction this year, with a bunch of helium balloons in hand, and a unicorn and a T-Rex trotting along beside me. It's a lot of fun, and they don't eat much, being imaginary and all.

I find “being at a crossroads” fruitful, but frustrating. Many myths surround this experience, and understandably so, as it's so ambiguous. Exciting, bewildering, unpleasant. Somehow one is in-between, not here, not there. It’s the moment in-between past and future, where different realities stretch out ahead, and sometimes it's hard to leave for a new destination. At the crossroads you are equipped to make your choice with the knowledge you have earned, advice from your loved ones, and a dash of luck. (OK, and maybe Wikipedia, if you happen to have an iPhone on you.)

In my mind, this place is in the middle of a desert. Plain bitumen roads cross the sand, beneath an infinite blue dome of sky. It seems empty, but I remind myself that the desert is never empty, if you know what to look for. I guess the trick is just not to stay too long.