so....

Steve is going to be performing at the ARIA Hall of Fame award show this Tuesday -- twice. Once with the Triffids (vocals on Wide Open Road) and once playing The Real Thing (according to the bulletin sent out from his Myspace page he's doing vocals on that too) for the induction of Russell Morris.

I swear sometimes I'd like to shake that man. Last year the Aria people tried to induct the Church into the HOF but the band declined because they were "unavailable." I'm sorry but I don't quite believe they were so damned busy they couldn't have made it if they wanted to. I'm especially doubtful after reading SK's blog rant about what the Aria people wanted (they were asked to play two of their best known songs -- imagine the fucking gall of that!!! :rolleyes: ) which ended with "i'd rather circumcize myself with a blunt plectrum". Granted the rant was pretty funny (especially that last line), but sometimes his (and the band's) refusal to do so many things that could help them publicity-wise is maddening.

Whether or not they get inducted into this HOF has no bearing on my admiration or respect for them, and I doubt it does for many hardcore fans. But I do think things such as an Aria HOF induction or having one of their albums featured on a program such as the "Great Australian Albums" one SK appeared on talking about the Triffids would help raise the level of awareness of them amongst a whole host of more casual fans. I'm hoping SK's (and Tim's) appearance at this ARIA HOF ceremony and the Rockwiz appearance (yet to air, but taped a few months ago) is signaling a change of heart in regards to taking advantage of this type of publicity. I hope so anyway.

But SK's self-circumcision...ouch! -- that's bound to hurt!

ok...we're gonna try this again

The second SK exhibit reception is tonight. This one is in conjunction with the town's Art Stroll, a gallery hop type of thing and the turn out has been pretty good for those lately. So even without a lot of SK or Church fans (slackers!! >:( ) there should be a decent number of people though to look at everything.

Steve's been working on a "Get Stoned and Paint" dvd and he sent me a 10+ minute teaser dvd to play for people at the reception. It's pretty cool to see him actually working on various pieces and talking about what he's trying for with them. I think that kind of stuff is interesting -- it's a bit like watching a sound check or getting to hear a musician's unfinished or demo tracks -- and hope other people feel the same way. It's cool to be allowed a peek into the process instead of just getting the finished product.

For your viewing and listening pleasure

Fipster (of the Church Discography fame) was kind enough to set up an online photo tour (with loads of audio clips!) of Steve Kilbey's current art exhibition. It gives you a really good feel for the exhibit.

Here's the link: Steve Kilbey art exhibit photo tour

Enjoy!!

!!

Loki, my little old now toothless grey cat with a variety of other health issues too, is scampering around the house and up and down the stairs. He's positively romping around. I've had Loki for four years now and have never seen him do that before. Getting his few remaining teeth out was certainly a great thing for him. He's feeling mighty spritely. Makes me happy. :-)

if I consider it a dress rehearsal...

maybe I won't be as disappointed.

The turnout was dismal -- the people who came were great, but there were damned few of them. The exhibit looks great (all the pieces are up now -- I'll get some more pics and put them up here) and Steve was interesting and hilarious and talked with us for a long time (over an hour), but only a few people came to see it and hear him.

Maybe they are all planning to come next weekend and catch Street Fair too or aiming for the second reception on the 20th, but I'm so discouraged right now I'm not counting on it. At least the next reception is set as Art Stroll for the whole town so there should be more people coming into the shop, even if they aren't there specifically for the SK exhibit. Might make a few new SK art fans. :-)

On the good side:

- fipster came and took pics and will work up a nice virtual tour of it. I'm looking forward to seeing that.

- met Kat (and her friend Debbie -- I think that's her name). That was enjoyable

- the paintings Steve came up for this really are wonderful and I'm very proud of him

- Steve was lovely and chatted happily about his art

But overall...sigh.

in less than 24 hours....

In less than 24 hours the first reception for the Stevie show (SK's art exhibition ;-) ) will be over. I am sooo stressed about it. I still have loads to do before it happens and I doubt I'll get all of it done. Granted it will happen whether I get these things done or not, but the more I get done the better it will look/work. I still need to put up several paintings (still being framed) and need to put some of the older original paintings in protective bags (they are gouache/pastel on watercolour paper so they need to be covered if they are going to be handled a lot) so people can check out those too.

I got a bunch of stuff for the reception (it's a casual place so the food is casual too) -- fresh fruit (cut up), veggies and dip, pub mix, chips and salsa, mixed nuts, mini cream puffs, mini cheesecake squares, soda (coke & 7up or sprite), wine, and bottled water (it's gonna be hot so I figured water would be good). I sure hope there is at least one other co-op member there to help me set up as I suck at this stuff. I guess the person working tomorrow can help if it's not hugely busy. I emailed the group (co-op) to see if I could borrow a cooler from anyone so I could put the drinks in there and then fill with ice (the little fridge we have at the shop freezes everything), but I haven't heard from anyone yet. I can brorrow one of my brother's if need be, but would like not to have to haul it around if I don't have to.

Steve is supposed to call between 7 and 7:30 pm (my time) so people who show up right on time for the reception (the exhibit will be open all day) will have time to check everything out before he calls. That should be fun and interesting -- I just hope everyone will be able to hear with the speakerphone. I did give it a test last week and it did ok, but I'm still a bit stressed over it.

And the thing most stressing me out is...cue dramatic music.... What if no one shows up? Ack!!

Exhibit pics

These are just very quick snapshots I took. I'm sure the photos taken by Fipster (the Church discography website guy) will be a whole lot better. These are just to show the basic layout. There are still five more paintings yet to go up (they will be up by the reception); a few paintings will be moved when the new ones get there; and a couple of other things will be moved in the area too.


The pedestal in the corner will be removed, and the blank space behind it will have a painting in it. The tables will most likely be moved for the reception (covered and used to hold food and drinks). The one next to the flip bin (holding various prints and maybe even some older originals) has a small cd player to play a recording of Steve reading his Jim's Mirror blog entry. It sounds absolutely sublime.


I need to get some better light on The Vegetalista (the pic in the center).


The painting closest to the camera might be moved for one of the new ones which I think will be large -- the same size as the pic in the middle of this pic. If there is room I will put four pics on this wall, but I think the larger pic will take up any extra space. Beyond the doorway is another of Steve's paintings (Painkiller right now, but will be a commissioned piece by reception time).


The David McComb painting and a couple racks of cards. There are over 120 different card designs in those holders! I need to remember to remove that extra hanging bracket.


A series of smaller paintings is in the hallway. I could have packed more into the main room by putting some over the doorways and fitting more closer together, but they would be hard to see there and I didn't want to crowd them, so I thought the hall way a better option. They actually show up pretty well there.


A view from the other end of the hall. Same pics as in the photo above.

I'll try to get more photos from the reception...the place actually cleans up pretty nicely. I really hope it goes well....