There are things that don’t make much sense in retrospect even though they sort of did when they were first sold to you.  Our household were seriously committed ‘water-savers’ because we believed cotton farmers had a god-given right to flood irrigate in the central desert. So, to save 2 litres every flush we put a brick in the dunny cistern; a big brick – one of them concrete ones.  We pissed in the garden – sheilas too - and we only flushed the dunny once a week or when the last politician on the pile scraped the doors of the bomb-bay.  So serious were we with our water saving that we broadened  the practice to its logical extent:  we glued lego bricks into the bottom of every mug and cup in the joint and superglued plastic ice-cubes into every glass. By our calculations we were saving enough water to make a fair start on having our own lake Alexandrina in UNDER five thousand years or so. So confident was I of this aspirational outcome that I had started building a luxury 'yot' in the back yard so we’d have something to swan about in when our lake was full. That was until the plumbing disaster. It seems we didn't flush with enough water so our pipes got blocked. Go figure that one out! Do you know who don’t give much of a fuck about saving water...? Well... saving OUR water, that is....  Plumbers. The plumbing prick made me flush the dunny about a hundred times to clear the pipes after he dragged a chain and claw through the doings. That was all my years of water savings gone down the fugging drain in half an hour.  Rather than start again I took the bricks out of the cistern and set fire to the boat. Then I used the garden hose to put out the shed.  With so much rain about these days I’m sure the clever people on North Terrace have done their best to put some aside for a not-very-rainy day in the future.

Rain or shine - get along to the Hotel Whitmore on Wednesday July 14 for the Blues and Roots music evening. Live music played by excellent musicians. it's a great vibe in the city.

More great things - the Gilbert Street Hotel has Sweet Baby James and Rob Eyers working the voodoo on Thursday evening, July 15. The Gilbert is another city venue with a great music vibe and excellent scran. Get in early for the buffalo wings!

Live music at the Wine Underground, Sunday July 18. Band kicks off at 5 pm and plays till 8. 

Back at the Whitmore for Wednesday July 21, Blues Avenue Trio will be swinging the Blues for all the cool cats. Dancing is a specialty item on the menu with The Blues Avenue Trio. Sweet Baby James Meston, Rob eyers and The Preacher Denis Surmon will put you through your paces.

Friday July 23 has Honky Tonk Angels - The Loretta Lynn Story -  at the Encounter Bay Football Club. That's all I have at the moment but if you want to go to the show - it's purdy dang good -  and need more info, chase Amber Joy Poulton on:  http://www.myspace.com/amberpoulton

Saturday July 24 get ready to pan!c at the Daniel O'Connell Hotel in North Adelaide because it will be more fun than a two-fingered vibrator when that irrepressible trio of nutbags - pan!c - steps up to the microphone and say: "testing, testing...is this thing on?" They will do that around 9 pm. See you there.

Looking Ahead...

John Earle Walker at...

• the Semaphore RSL Friday July 23;
• the Rex Hotel July Saturday 24 and...
• the Wine Underground on Sunday July 25.