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| Lovely weather before the Neil Diamond concert on November 5th, 2015 |
Some Days are Rocks, Some Days are Diamond?
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| The two calendars that I have hanging in my kitchen |
Why?
I don't know, as it was opened on April 8th, 1930, which oddly enough was the same day my father was born, as I wrote in a previous post -
Brisbane City Hall
That calendar has shots from all over Australia for each month, so I thought this was really strange for me personally to see that picture for the month of November.
The doors opened at seven and the show was to start a eight, and after just paying $15 for parking and $9 for one beer and getting there at 7 o'clock I was thinking it was getting a little boring standing around in the foyer, so I bought a program for $30 (it had a CD with it) and headed in to sit down and wait in my seat for the show to start.
There was a couple sitting behind me in the very last row (Z) and I heard the lady say that she paid $120 for her ticket.
I had only paid $60 for my ticket, so I had to turn around and ask her why she paid so much for her ticket.
She told me they were sold out in September, so she went to a Spanish website and bought them form there.
I told her I bought mine in October and there were still quite a few left, then I got to talking to her and her husband and they told me that they drove up from Lismore, N.S.W.
I told them that I loved that area and had my sights on moving to Bangalow in the future.
The lady's husband then told me he had grown up around Bangalow and we started trading stories of Bangalow, Byron Bay and Ballina.
He told me stories about Bangalow Bill, who I've never met personally, but did have the honour of seeing Bangalow Bill's last ride down the main street on billy-cart derby day.
Bangalow Bill and Jack Brabham
We got to talking about the Melbourne Cup horse race run two days before and he told me how he backed the 100-1 winner of the cup and was telling others at the Lismore Bowls Club where he was helping punters with the marking of their tickets on the day, to back it also.
What a Payne!?
I couldn't believe that of all the people in this venue I had a pair sitting right behind me who drove over a hundred miles away, living in the area I wanted to move to.
Unfortunately, I never got their names and they never got mine, but it was nice, and at the same time spooky, meeting them.
When Neil finally came on stage it didn't take him long to sing the song I came to hear him sing, Love on the Rocks.
I had told the couple sitting behind me how I threw my ring onto the rocks off Cape Byron and they asked me if I had any regrets doing it.
I told them that as much as I liked the ring that I had worn for over 24 years, that it was good therapy throwing the ring into the ocean among the rocks, as it was very symbolic and felt better than any money that someone may have paid me to buy it off me.
Love on the Rocks ... A Fool's Journey?
I was going to have another chat to the couple behind me after the show, not that they knew I was going to, but they left just as the encore was nearing the finish, probably to get a head-start on the crowd and start the long drive home.
I headed out the door to the carpark only to find slippery when wet signs placed all over the outside steps and thought to myself that it had been raining during the show.
But I soon discovered that when I stepped outside it still was raining and soon as I had made it down the steps a big fork of lightning hit close by and scared the s#!+ out of me.
I thought I should head for cover and wait it out under the building where I had come in, until the lightning had settled down.
I was telling another couple walking next to me just after the big fork of lightning hit how a man was killed today by lightning out west, so I was going to play it safe and stay under cover until the storm passed.
Man dead after lightning strike in north west Queensland
As soon as I reached cover and stopped to wait it out, I heard a familiar voice call out my name.
I looked down to where I heard the voice and saw my soon to be ex-brother-in-law sitting down dressed in his work gear (he is a limo driver) and his uncle (also a limo driver) who lives with him at my mother-in-law's place across the road from the house my wife rents now ... talk about moving back home.
I don't know, as it was opened on April 8th, 1930, which oddly enough was the same day my father was born, as I wrote in a previous post -
Brisbane City Hall
That calendar has shots from all over Australia for each month, so I thought this was really strange for me personally to see that picture for the month of November.
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| The $30 program |
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| My two favourite ND songs at the moment |
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| The CD that came with the program |
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| My view from row Y on the night |
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| Row Y?-) |
I had only paid $60 for my ticket, so I had to turn around and ask her why she paid so much for her ticket.
She told me they were sold out in September, so she went to a Spanish website and bought them form there.
I told her I bought mine in October and there were still quite a few left, then I got to talking to her and her husband and they told me that they drove up from Lismore, N.S.W.
I told them that I loved that area and had my sights on moving to Bangalow in the future.
The lady's husband then told me he had grown up around Bangalow and we started trading stories of Bangalow, Byron Bay and Ballina.
He told me stories about Bangalow Bill, who I've never met personally, but did have the honour of seeing Bangalow Bill's last ride down the main street on billy-cart derby day.
Bangalow Bill and Jack Brabham
We got to talking about the Melbourne Cup horse race run two days before and he told me how he backed the 100-1 winner of the cup and was telling others at the Lismore Bowls Club where he was helping punters with the marking of their tickets on the day, to back it also.
What a Payne!?
I couldn't believe that of all the people in this venue I had a pair sitting right behind me who drove over a hundred miles away, living in the area I wanted to move to.
Unfortunately, I never got their names and they never got mine, but it was nice, and at the same time spooky, meeting them.
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| Neil singing Love on the Rocks on November 5th, 2015 in Brisbane |
I had told the couple sitting behind me how I threw my ring onto the rocks off Cape Byron and they asked me if I had any regrets doing it.
I told them that as much as I liked the ring that I had worn for over 24 years, that it was good therapy throwing the ring into the ocean among the rocks, as it was very symbolic and felt better than any money that someone may have paid me to buy it off me.
Love on the Rocks ... A Fool's Journey?
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| Neil singing Red, Red Wine on the night |
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| Diamonds are forever?-) |
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| The encore and final song of the night |
But I soon discovered that when I stepped outside it still was raining and soon as I had made it down the steps a big fork of lightning hit close by and scared the s#!+ out of me.
I thought I should head for cover and wait it out under the building where I had come in, until the lightning had settled down.
I was telling another couple walking next to me just after the big fork of lightning hit how a man was killed today by lightning out west, so I was going to play it safe and stay under cover until the storm passed.
Man dead after lightning strike in north west Queensland
As soon as I reached cover and stopped to wait it out, I heard a familiar voice call out my name.
I looked down to where I heard the voice and saw my soon to be ex-brother-in-law sitting down dressed in his work gear (he is a limo driver) and his uncle (also a limo driver) who lives with him at my mother-in-law's place across the road from the house my wife rents now ... talk about moving back home.
I haven't seen them since my wife decided to leave me and head back home to her mum ... more, or less.
We shook hands and treated each other like long lost friends, as they asked me how the concert was.
After the initial greetings I started thinking this is going to be awkward waiting here for the storm to finish and wondered if I should stay or take my chances of being struck by lightning.
I chose the latter and headed off in the storm for my car, which was a good distance away.
It wasn't raining that hard, but the lightning was striking close by, and I had my car keys on me, as well.
I couldn't help thinking how ironic this all was and how funny it would be if I got killed by lightning right then.
And the words to Love on the Rocks kept playing in my head as well, as if to drive the point home a little more, as I desperately tried to find my car.
You need what you need
You can say what you want
Not much you can do
When the feeling is gone
May be blue skies above,
But it's cool
When your love's on the rocks
First they say they want you
How they really need you
Suddenly you find you're out there
Walking in a storm
And when they know they have you
Then they really have you
Nothing you can do or say
You got to leave, just get away
We all know the song
When I did manage to find my car without getting hit by lightning, I hit the road back to the south side of town and had to cross over the Gateway Bridge, the tallest bridge in Brisbane.
Now here is the weird part to cap the night off.
Just as I was heading up the Gateway Bridge, a massive crack of lightning appeared to hit the top of the bridge.
I was wishing that I had a dash-cam right then as I would have had great footage of it.
We shook hands and treated each other like long lost friends, as they asked me how the concert was.
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| Lightning strikes from November 5th, 2015 in Brisbane city |
I chose the latter and headed off in the storm for my car, which was a good distance away.
It wasn't raining that hard, but the lightning was striking close by, and I had my car keys on me, as well.
I couldn't help thinking how ironic this all was and how funny it would be if I got killed by lightning right then.
And the words to Love on the Rocks kept playing in my head as well, as if to drive the point home a little more, as I desperately tried to find my car.
You can say what you want
Not much you can do
When the feeling is gone
May be blue skies above,
But it's cool
When your love's on the rocks
First they say they want you
How they really need you
Suddenly you find you're out there
Walking in a storm
And when they know they have you
Then they really have you
Nothing you can do or say
You got to leave, just get away
We all know the song
Just as I was heading up the Gateway Bridge, a massive crack of lightning appeared to hit the top of the bridge.
I was wishing that I had a dash-cam right then as I would have had great footage of it.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder, I see a surfer was struck and critically injured by lightning on a beach not far from where I threw my wedding ring into the sea over a year ago.
Love on the Rocks ... A Fool's Journey?
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| Byron Bay areas including Tallow Beach (pictured) and Suffolk Park |
That hill pictured above is Cape Byron and my ring was thrown somewhere to the left in that shot.
My thoughts and prayers go out to this poor guy, as that could easily have been what could have happened to me on Thursday night when trying to foolishly get to my car in a storm.
Life is one wild ride, that's for sure.
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