Christmas BBQ gig jam session thingy

Friday afternoon was one of those days you live through and look back having no idea how, no idea what happened but all you know is that you never want to live it again.

Between rejecting customers that decided to call me on their last day of work before closing for Christmas and trying to cope with a bit of a stomach bug as well as enduring the abnormally cold weather compared to the day before. I just wanted Friday to end as quickly as possible.

At the same time, while the cooler weather was a welcome change there was also rain and really dark clouds covering the otherwise clear, blue sky. This was bad. It was bad because for the last three weeks I have had a musical BBQ planned where I invited all the people I know who play music to come along, bring their instrument of choice.... acoustic only as there's no power to the backyard and I didn't want loud amps all over the yard sitting in the evening dew.

My main request was that people bring their singing face.

Most did, some didn't. I was hoping that everyone joined in but it appeared that no one really knew what to do. So I played a couple of songs, others joined in and played a couple more. It turned out to be a great evening.

My wife went overboard with all the food. It was suppose to be a basic sausage sizzle. An Aussie tradition, light a fire, cook some good sausages the butcher made fresh that morning. Sit back, drink beer, talk shit and have a right old laugh. The wife made spinach dip, salads, and all that other stuff that men don't think about. Beer and sausages, that's all really... apart from tits and arse, but that's a whole different train of thought that doesn't mix with beer and sausages... will it might come up in conversation.... being male and all, one thing at a time... hahahah.

Despite being under the weather, I really enjoyed myself. I surrounded myself in brilliant company and I loved sitting around talking to people in various conversations. My music night was a great success and I will be doing another one in a few months. If I could afford it, I'd do it every weekend.

Oktoberfest

I've never been to Oktoberfest in Germany. Instead I have settled for the offerings around Sydney that seem to wet my appetite enough for me to return every year. And it's a damn sight cheaper and quicker to get to.

Every year a couple of my mates and I go down to the German club in Wollongong to sit on the grassy fields, drink ample amounts of that sweet amber nectar, watch the helgas walk by (the lovely women dressed in the traditional outfits), and eat more than enough bratwurst to have to avoid dinner. It's one day a year when us blokes get to leave the wives at home and be blokes for a day.

The greatest part about the whole day is sitting on the grassy hill, watching the helgas walk past and talking absolute rubbish about everything.

It's the worst case scenario. Beer, the boys and talking crap. The subjects don't relate. They just appear, stick around for 5 minutes, or if it's a good one, 30 minutes. Unless some of us break off into some deep and meaningful story, then it's and hour or so.

Topics discussed are things like, "Do you trim or shave down there?" "How do you like your women?" "Why does her skirt have to be that short?" And you say it just loud enough for her to hear it, because chances are she's drunk enough to get us to cop a glimpse of her underwears. Yes, we're all in our 30's, yet none of us have actually grown up yet. And it's fantastic!

Once the girls have walked out of sight and no longer distract us, we all try to remember what we were talking about, which we never do, and so the subject changes and the day moves on into the night. While the subjects get worse, and for the sake of my reputation, won't go too much further into, I will say it's one of those days when you think back and say to yourself "If only ever day could be like that."

While I get to see one of two of the friends that were with us on a regular basis, the others I barely see. So it's always great to have an entire day with them and most of the night too where we can have a really good catch up.

And what better way to catch up than over a stein of German beer, the sight of a beautiful German helga and munching on some German sausage with sauerkraut and fried onion. The perfect compliment to any good day, regardless of the wannabe Oktoberfest. It might not be the real celebration up in Deutschland, it's a celebration none the less and it'll do me just fine.

I can't wait for next year already.