I was in Melbourne for new year's eve (as some of you will know from the odd drunken text I sent - apologies for that). Anna's client was paid to sing a few tunes at at 1950s rock 'n' roll themed party at Crown Casino, who put on a gratis party every year for their 'high rollers', to thank them for all the money they've pissed away over the year, and no doubt also to get them back in for a big spend on a big night.
I sorted myself out with an outfit - varsity jacket, white tshirt, white converse and slicked backed hair - as it was either that or 'dinner wear' for the evening. Needless to say I was one of the only blokes in 'fancy dress' and most of the others had just worn a normal suit, or a shirt and strides (I don't suppose they enforce the rules very tightly on big spenders, at one point I went to the dunny and there was a Chinese lad in their smoking a huge stogie). I didn't know that many people and Anna was mainly working until midnight when the lass she looks after had finished her duties. As the lass was previously in Neighbours for years (as Izzy), and one of her storylines involved Karl Kennedy leaving Susan for her, she's big mates with him and he was on our table with his missus, who wasn't bowled over when I started blethering away to her: she asked what I did and I told her I worked for the ABC, then I asked what she did, as I didn't have a clue who she was - she's apparently a newsreader for the ABC...
Big first impression having been made, I played it pretty cool until after the bells, when we legged it from the party (filled mainly with rich pikeys, shifty gangster types, and loads of shifty gangster-type Asians, some smoking big cigars in the toilet whilst shouting on their mobiles) up to the top-floor suite that they'd laid on as part of the deal. I was quite merry by then and once Nyron popped in for a chat there was no chance I wasn't going to give Alan (or Fletch, as he's known to his close showbiz pals) a bit of an ear-bend - I'd been introduced to him earlier, then made a solid impression on his wife (who'd then done the off to another party at about half ten) so then we chatted about his band and being on Jo Whiley when he's in the UK. He was quite upset that his good mate Jo had been goonered in favour of Ferne Cotton, and he told me about getting her a cameo on the show when she was in Melbourne, and he blethered about his two kids for a bit but I was fairly gone by that point so I can't remember very much. I'd be very surprised if I didn't give as good as I got on the bletheing front but fortunately we were both slightly worse for wear by that point, as you can see in the picture. Which is very unflattering, but worry not, I haven't cut my hair (it was slicked back) nor put on a load of beef (weird angle? That double chin's come out of nowhere).
He regularly appears at the Neighbours pub nights with his band Waiting Room, punting out stuff like I Predict A Riot and a load of other modern classics for the discerning backpacker audience. He also told me that the story about Toady getting barred for getting stuck into the female fans wasn't true, a terrible fabrication, but then I doubt he's going to start spilling all the good stuff to some gattered oddball in Happy Days fancy dress.
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