The Good Cabbie

I know, most of my cabbie stories involve creepy taxi drivers, but here's a nice story about a nice taxi driver...


The Streets That Have Our Names

September 7th, 2002

I stuck out my hand to hail the cab speeding towards me on the outer lane. I cringed as I watched the cab sneak in front of an annoyed car in the inner lane to get to me. The other driver was not impressed and blared his horn while mouthing some not very nice words.

The cab stopped in front of me, and I threw open the door and hopped inside. The taxi driver looked like a kindly gentleman you would want as a grandfather.

"Thanks for that," I said.

"No worries, my dear! Now, where can I take you on this lovely day?" He was whistling along to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

"Kippax Street, please, Surry Hills."

"Ahhh, Kippax...must be named after the great Cricket player, Alan Kippax. We Australians like to name our streets after people." He smiled at me knowingly.

I laughed. "Yes, I picked up on that. It's a nice thing to do, really. Naming streets after interesting people. I just can't believe that in the two years I've worked on Kippax Street, I never thought to ask where that name came from."

He winked at me and smiled warmly. "Maybe they'll name a street after you one day."

I laughed harder. "Yes, maybe they will. Maybe we'll both have streets named after us."

He nodded, beaming. "Yes, that would be nice! Very nice indeed!"

I thought for a moment, then said, "So, where would you like your street to be? And what would it be like?"

He sank back into his seat and sighed gently. It was as though he had waited his entire life for someone to ask him this question. "Oh, I'd like it to be on a beautiful tree-lined street, along the ocean, where families would come to picnic and lovers would sit on benches and embrace, just like they do in the movies. Her hair blowing in the wind, him running his hands through it. He pulls her closer, they hold each other tightly, looking at each other as if they're the only two people in the world. The camera slowly pans across the sea, the trees, the children playing, families eating and laughing, and then the camera slowly zooms in on the happy lovers who are eventually framed perfectly in the shot. They are the only people on the planet. They kiss with a love so powerful, everyone in the audience has to hold their breath. Fade out... Yes, that would be nice."

I caught my face in the side mirror and noticed my jaw hanging open. "Wow, that sounds amazing. You sound like you should be out making that movie."

He took his eyes off the road for a moment to laugh at me. "If only! But I'm too old. Maybe you can make it for me. You didn't study film at Uni did you?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. One of my degrees was in Film and Television. But it sounds like you could teach me a thing or two!"

"Good to know I've got my director and producer right here. So tell me, where do you want your street to be?"

"Oh, like you, I'd like my street to be near the water. It's got to be a beautiful spot - a relaxing, fun place where children can play and people can go for comfort and inspiration."

He turned to me with a big grin. "I'm sure your street would be quite popular!"

"As would yours, no doubt! Oh - my building is just here. If you could just pull over on the left behind that white van, thanks."

I handed him the money and he handed back my change with a big smile.

"Well, so lovely to have met you - I hope you have a great day."

"Thank you, you too." I got out of the cab and shut the door gently behind me.

He leaned over to the passenger side and called out the window. "I hope you get your street named after you... I hope we both do!"

I nodded in agreement. "We're obviously going to be famous, so of course we'll have streets named after us!"

"Oh, I hope so. And maybe our streets will be together." He winked again.

"Yes, I think they'll definitely connect....see ya!"

Bon Voyage, Congratulations, More Sweet Dreams, More Music

Bon Voyage
Going out to Ray's farewell dinner and drinks tonight at some Japanese restaurant in Darlinghurst. Once again I will be acting as the Token Girl of the group. Somebody's got to do it, it might as well be me. We're all jealous Ray's going to get to travel this gorgeous globe for 5 whole weeks!

Congratulations
Belated congratulations to my younger and almost as wise (hehe) cousin, Jeff and his new bride, Amy. My cousin was supposed to be born on June 7th, 1977 and I was supposed to be born on June 17th, 1977. But instead, I popped out on June 7th and Jeff came into this world on June 8th. As most of my friends would say, it was the first and last time I was early for anything in my life. ;-) Anyhoo, we have an ongoing thing where Jeff calls me his older but not-wiser cousin...friendly family banter. In any case, the family tells me that Jeff and Amy looked fantastic and that the wedding was excellent. Sorry I couldn't be there, guys, but if you honeymoon in Oz, I'll happily be your tour guide! ;-)

More Sweet Dreams
The never-ending stupid dreams/stupid nightmares saga gets dumber and dumber. I had a bizarre dream last night with a current friend, a current annoying aquaintance, a friend from elementary school, and my 'nemesis' from junior high school. She was this really evil girl who was pissed off that I was 'best friends' with someone else so she went and told all my friends lots of lies, so by the end of 8th grade, I had absolutely no friends to speak of. I had to start over and make all new friends. It was a very bizarre time. I haven't thought about her in ages - here's hoping I don't run into her on George St. or something!

I also had a weird dream where my parents dropped by my apartment to tell me they were concerned that I was never going to get married. It's not too hard to guess where this came from as when I called my parents for their anniversary on the weekend, the topic did come up. I think it's funny that my parents want me to get married, but they don't like the idea of me actually dating. However, as I'm not into the whole arranged marriage thing, I can't exactly skip the dating step. I told my mother that I'm in NO hurry to get married, AT ALL, and I'm not all that concerned about dating at the moment, but she reassured me that I might meet someone someday. Hahahaha. It was really funny - she even suggested that maybe I might run into that guy I met on a plane ride from Cairns to Darwin back in 1998. He was from Papua New Guinea and I wrote a story about him ages ago. I was cracking up on the phone. As if me bringing home a black man from Papua New Guinea would go down well with my family. ("What? He's not Irish?") Personally, I don't have a problem dating anyone from any nationality/background, and I wouldn't let anyone's views stop me from dating someone I liked, but I was laughing that my mom even brought up this guy. Is it a sign of my family's desperation? ;-) Anyway, it was a pretty funny dream, my parents flying 11,000 miles to tell me they're worried I'm never going to get married.

More Music
Going to see iOTA again tomorrow night and must get tix to see Shihad (Pacifier) on the 25th at the Sydney Metro. I'm sorry, they may be Pacifier now, but they will always be Shihad to me. They were trying to break into the U.S. market around September 11th last year and people decided that Shihad sounded too much like Jihad and that it wouldn't go down well with the American market, so they became Pacifier (which is also a great song of theirs.) It's a major bummer that the name changed occurred partly to not-offend poor litle Yankees, but hell, as long as they keep playing great music, I don't care what they call themselves.

Oh, I've been forgetting to plug this!

The John Butler Trio are touring the States at the moment, so get your butts down there to see them, you little Yankees. I gave my father their EP for a belated Father's Day present (as Father's Day is in June in the U.S.) because I thought he would be into them, but he still has not really heard it because he has only played right before bedtime and my dad falls asleep in about 30 seconds. I order you to go, Dad! It's only a couple hours out of your life and when's the last time you went to a gig, anyway? Plus, I know you will like them! Also, I have emailed all the little Bostonites out there to be @ the Paradise on September 18th. If you have any faith in me at all (at least musically!), you will go! ;-) They are incredible live!

John Butler Trio
September 18th
Paradise Rock Club (it's only 8 bucks!)
Boston , MA

September 19th
Pearl Street
Northampton, MA

You'd think I was getting commission or something! Sorry...but I love them, is that a crime?

Thanks to Tim for the link to Ani DiFranco's amazing poem, "Self Evident" inspired by Sept. 11th. It blew me away.

Have a good weekend, kiddies! And beware of Albania, as poor Rammstein can tell you from personal scary experience. ;-)

A 12-Year-Old Joni Mitchell
I've been told this photo of me playing guitar looks like a 12-year-old Joni Mitchell. Ahhh, if only I could play guitar even remotely like Joni. Alas, no. It's unfortunate as I have a really good guitar. If only its owner were up to par! My Lefty Ovation, my pride and joy. Must start practicing more! I am useless at parties though as I have forgotten all the songs I ever learned (with the exception of "Every Breath You Take" and "Blister in the Sun, " the latter of which I stumbled upon accidentally.) I only know how to play my own stuff, which makes me instantly useless at parties as obviously no one knows my crappy songs!

Oh, thanks to Ray, by the way, for scanning in the pic. This was part of his photography assignment for class.

Also, thanks to Claudine for a wonderful part the other night - lots of lovely people there!

Big National Campus Band Competition bummer - the NSW and VIC State finals are now happening on the same night, so I won't get to go to both. Looks like I'll just be heading down to the National Final in Melbourne at the end of October. In any case, head to a State Final near you if you are able - lots of funky bands cropping up this year!

Hey Mom and Dad
Come look at the TV screen
It's the coolest movie I've ever seen
Wicked special effects, a visual delight
Smoke and screams and fire with editing so tight
You'd swear those were real airplanes
On some top secret mission, a heroic flight
As long as the good guys kill the bad guys
Everything is going to be alright

Look at the people running
Look at all the people screaming
Look at all the people crying
Look at all the fireman and police
Trying to save all the people from dying
I don't recognise any of the actors
But they're all so good at playing pretend
I don't know the name of this movie
But we should rent it from Blockbuster on the weekend
I must have turned this on in the middle
I don't really understand the plot- do you know who started the fight?
As long as the good guys kill the bad guys
Everything is going to be alright

Look at the terror on their faces
Like New York City's all going to burn and stop
I'm on the edge of my seat now
Let's make some popcorn, with extra butter on top
Wow, so many ant-like people, all jumping from the roof
While hundreds of others are trapped inside
Where's the heartthrob hero? Where's his big gun?
As long as the good guys kill the bad guys
Everything is going to be alright

Everyone's running away now, covered in a thick dust
I can't believe how real this seems
This film's got to be up for Oscars in everything
Best Director, Best Sound, Best Screenplay, Best Editing
Incredible, one tower just fell, like some great big house of cards
Cool, there goes the other one - leaving a great big gaping hole
Who was the genius who computer generated this visual delight?
Isn't it amazing what they can do with technology today?
Imagine if that really happened?
Not that anything like that could really happen
Sisters and brothers
Fathers and mothers
Friends and lovers
Sons and daughters
Husbands and wives
None of them are coming home tonight
Thank God it's just a movie
As long as the good guys kill the bad guys
Everything is going to be alright


We miss you, Michelle.

Left is Right, Right is Left

Before I talk about the left-right, right-left problem, I want to say: Happy Birthday to Claudine! We're going to Mt. Druitt to celebrate tonight. I've never been there before, but I'm sure it will be fun. ;-)

Okay, now I ask you... is the entire world flipping over to the other side? Becoming a mirror image of itself? First, yesterday I read that the Google mirror beats the Great Firewall of China, which I think is excellent that the "backwards" Google (in which you have to type everything backwards for the search to work) broke through China's firewall. It helps if you actually have a mirror on hand to help you read the results.

So that's all well and good. Then I get home to my apartment. For those of you who don't know, my apartment building has an entry way that I like to refer to as "the cage." If any freaks are following you home (and you know with me that is a very good likelihood), once you stick your key in, open the cage, and shut the door behind you. You're safe. In the cage.
Right, so I've been living in this building for nearly 3 years. I took out my key and went for the cage lock only to discover that something was very wrong.

The door, which had always been on the right, was no on the left. Sometime between 8.30am and 7.30pm yesterday, some dumbass came along and took off the cage door and switched it around so it now opens on the left instead of the right. Huh? Why would you do that? It also opens out instead of in which just feels plain weird considering I've been doing the opposite for years. Is it a big deal? No. Is my life so boring that this is the best I can blog about today? Unfortunately, yes. But I just don't understand the logic of it.

At first I got scared and wondered if they'd changed the locks. That would be something my building would do. Just change the locks without telling anyone. The keys work, but you have to turn them upside down as they don't work the right way up anymore. Just as I got in the cage, my neighbour was coming out. The first thing he said was, "I'm not losing my mind right, the door is on the wrong side, isn't it?" I reassured him that it was. He looked at me, puzzled. "So, when we left for work this morning, the door was on the right and now it's on the left." I confirmed that was correct. "But, why?" I told him I had no idea.

And we laughed.

I said that it made even less sense than when they are painting the inside of our building and the painter thought he'd try to make the tenants feel like they were in "the know" by informing them of the names of the colours being used in the building. He would leave notes in the elevator like, "And the North walls will be painted Deep Forest Vine while the East walls will be painted Golden Amber Honey 10b, etc" and angry residents wrote things like, "Who the hell picked these stupid ugly colours and why are you telling us their names?"

Poor fella. I bet he was crushed.

Amendment: Okay, so I just got a message from a friend who said that it's a fire regulation that all public places must have doors opening outward. That makes sense, I get it. I think it's just weird they put the door on the other side without mentioning it to anyone. Maybe they wanted a good laugh!

Love & Marriage, Love & Marriage, Go Together Like a Horse & Carriage...

Happy Anniversary to Mum & Dad for September 7th and Happy Anniversary to Auntie Jo & Uncle Rusty for September 9th.