Log Book
Log Entry 21/04/2009 - 12:15:25
The Sydney Royal Easter Show is known for a magnificent collection of four legged beasts, giant fruit,assorted vegetables, moleskins and jodphurs and other crops that make up the NSW Agricultural industry and country life style. The Show has an abundance of fruit cakes, amateur art, vomitous carnival rides, show-bag riots and fairy floss. This year, the Show had the Dust inspired poetry of truck drivers; our posters were displayed right outside the train station entrance and on the big screens, in film versions of the poems that made a fantastic contrast to the other sponsor driven material on display. There was also a Bush Poetry event at one of the main stages which I missed because I was round and round on the Ferris Wheel. Tomorrow the posters on the Easter Show sites are unclipped and archived, just as I was relaxing, sitting back and admiring the work it's time to end this and start that. And, here's a recent article on the project for the fanatics.
Log Entry 24/03/2009 - 13:04:33
Our Dust Poems log-book anthologies have all sold and Tamryn is having a teenie break away from the sewing machine and shall not be crafting any more until she's had at least seven hours sleep. Bonny and I hooned around Kirabilli today exploring spaces to host poem workshops in and for what remains of Tuesday, I trust Bonny will rest.
On Saturday, words flashed across the brick of the Olympic forecourt, these were the poem-films we created in partnership with Nick and Andrew and they were stunning. As the visitor exited the train station you could hear the lyrics of each poem and delight in the sequences of sentences which at 6PM became our live performance of Dust Poems.
Mr Peter Wilkins, our emcee was robust, friendly and sensitive. With verve he introduced the poets, interviewed them and a Rugby players and invented a game that asked the crowd to submit their own poems. Peter had it tough on Saturday because at the last mad minute before we arrived to set up our depot, the security teams decided to make our performance-audience arena an alcohol-free zone. This meant our planned audience of 20,000 shrunk to the hundreds and those on the other side of the fence had to open their ears wide, sling their guts over the iron fences to hear our poets read. I am, as you may read, still livid and filled with rage about this.
Weather was a joy, th hot-dogs looked pink and pretty meaty and once Peter wrapped up the readings, the poets and crew lingered into star dust, talking about trucks, poems and Australian elegies.
Today, it's a task to feel light fingered and exuberant, instead my legs are jelly and sawdust and if the sun wasn't so scintillating and if days were just a little longer I'd cover my mind in the green sheets upstairs, whilst Dolly, my parent's dog whom I am master of for a few weeks, snored on the floor beside me.
Log Entry 23/03/2009 - 13:03:28
G'day all, just a short note to let you know Bev & myself had a wonderful time on Saturday night & was great to finally meet you all, would be great one day to get together again, friendships were made with memories to last forever. stay safe. Dave & Bev.
Log Entry 20/03/2009 - 22:43:08
Hi all, a last (and last-minute) entry before the launch day arrives... First, though, not having written since the Victorian bushfires, I want to send wishes and thoughts out to those affected, including Mick from this site and his wife Kim. On the same sombre note, a recent article about Dust Poets Dave Delaney and Mick O'Brien noted that 275 people died in truck accidents up to March 2008. This reminded me of a web site I came across while researching for this project, called Lights on the Hill , which is the official website for a Queensland memorial to truckies and coach drivers who have died on the roads. The site says: "The name originated from the famous Slim Dusty trucking song "Lights On The Hill". Before the late Slim Dusty passed away, he and his wife Joy agreed to use the name "Lights On The Hill" and to be patrons of the memorial, along with John "The Ferret" Moran." The other discovery I made while googling about was a story about the Bicentennial Mack Super-Liner trucks , complete with a commemorative poem and a truck named Henry Lawson (after the poet and writer, pictured on the right)... The trucks are beautiful (were? not sure how they're looking twenty years down the track!) and the poetry connection was too good to pass up mentioning on this site!
Log Entry 14/03/2009 - 22:48:36
The Overflow stage, Olympic Park screens and their 'tah Bar will host our 'Dust Poems' launch next Saturday from 5.30-7PM. This time next week all six poets, myself, The Red Room fleet and Peter Wilkins will be reading poetry and distributing log books to a crowd of rugby union fans who, rather than just drinking at the bars and thinking of kicking balls will get to know a bit of road poetry. Tonight I watched the rain fall as my neice lay beside me on a trampoline and together she and listened to the trucks run up and down the wet roads and we spotted planes blinking their way through the thunder. The only sign of dust was the most obvious - being told my grandfather has a few days to live and flesh, in no time, will be timeless, formless and dust.
Log Entry 06/03/2009 - 09:58:03
Thanks Nick, wasn't a bad trip that one, though you failed to mention how on the way home we noticed what we thought was rain but as we got closer I hastily said to wind the windows up as this so called rain was actually a huge swam of bush bee's, then at the next small town the only thing I had to wash the sticky mangled honey'd bee's from the truck was my shampoo. From memory I did pick up a full load from Townsville back to Brisbane.
Our partners © 2010 The Red Room Company Highway photo by Bill Strong