Vale Les Gilbody (1958-2008)

I found out today, while doing a Google search, that one of my best friends from high school, Leslie Gilbody, passed away almost exactly a year ago. I'd been trying to track him down for ages, but found his online obituary today. I miss you heaps, Les, and my sincere sympathy to Cathy and your family.

I dug through the old photo albums today, to find a pic of Les and Cathy's 1978 wedding, but I'd forgotten that Les had his eyes closed in the shot! So I kept digging and found two snaps from a much earlier time, taken at the end of our first year at Kogarah High School. Les's parents were a school principal and infants' mistress, and Les attended their school for his primary years; otherwise, he'd have probably attended my primary school, because he lived only a few metres from my house - even closer when he took the shortcut through the canal! We became very good friends at high school, and it's frustrating to think we lived so close to each other for so long before our first meeting.


Leslie Gilbody (below right in the b/w pic, and the tall one, in the green T-shirt, in the colour pic)
at my 13th birthday party, December 1971.

Les and I often walked home from Banksia Station together. The two of us developed a wonderful friendship with the woman who ran the newsstand in the subway, and, over several days, he taught me how to blow bubbles with bubble gum bought from her stall.

Being one of the "cool" guys at school, he was an effective bodyguard if ever I was being hassled by schoolyard bullies. In the September of 1971, Les volunteered his services to help my family move house (from Arncliffe to Rockdale). Les left school rather abruptly, halfway through 1974, if I recall correctly, but he made a point of reconnecting every few years, even when we moved house again. He tracked us down in Kingsgrove, turning up at the front door one evening, eager to take me for a spin in his new car, and out to the Shire to see his parents' new house.

One of my fondest anecdotes about Les was the afternoon that our pals, Jim and Greg (who were so much shorter than lanky Les), decided they needed to have revenge on him for some reason. Unbeknown to me (I guess I was in a different carriage that day?), they held him down on the train, preventing him from alighting at Banksia Station and taking him on to Arncliffe Station instead. While one boy pinned him to the train seat by his hair, the other sat on Les's chest and drew glasses, a beard, moustache, sideburns, scars and freckles all over his face with an indelible, thick, black Texta. I was chatting to Mrs Sheppard at the newsstand and Les arrived, having had to catch a train back to Banksia, and we had to walk all the way home with Les's face still decorated. He took the boys' prank in such good humour, and we laughed such a lot that day as we pondered how he'd remove the ink before a family wedding scheduled for the next day.

Thanks for the memories, mate!

Juan Mann in a million

A young friend, Ben, and I were wandering through the Pitt Street Mall in the Sydney CBD today, pondering where to eat lunch - and there, like clockwork, was the Free Hugs Man, or indeed, Mann (as in his pseudonym, Juan Mann). Musta been Thursday because there he was, giving out his free hugs and being - as he says - "a friend to Sydney". A friend in a distinctive maroon(?)/puce(?)/scarlet(?) velvet jacket, and holding up a big sign with an obvious message.



Meeting Juan six months ago, despite having noticed him on the Mall for the four years leading up to that meeting, was an amazing experience. I came home so enthused to research his now infamous endeavours, and immersed myself in his various TV interviews (by Oprah Winfrey and Andrew Denton), the highly popular Youtube video (rated #1 on Australian Youtube, I noticed recently), and the controversial Internet invitation for the world to visit him in his flat, at any time...

As I said to Juan and Ben today, I'm a firm believer in the concept that, in our lives, we can run many parallel levels at the same time, and sometimes the tiniest positive or negative experience can bump us up or down onto a different, but similar, track. My free hug with Juan last year put me on a very high plane for several weeks.

To think that - for four years - I'd just passed him by, bemusedly. Today I made sure to get (and give) my free hug and I made sure Ben took up the offer as well. (I have to discover if a free hug made a lasting impression on Ben, but for me it was a comforting reinforcement that the next time I'm feeling down, I can at least try to link back those thoughts to a time - like now - when I'm feeling confident, positive, and very pleased with the way my life is unfolding.

Thanks Juan and Ben for a great day of stimulating conversation (and window shopping), without the thought of those back-to-work responsibilities that will very soon click into place.

Reversal of fortune, or, About Face

In complete contrast to yesterday's gorgeous weather, today was overcast/drizzling/pouring all day.

I spent the day finally tweaking my Facebook page. Sorely neglected, and never of particular interest, I get the occasional automated email from friends updating their Facebook profile.

Considering that, in a very short time, I'd jumped from five to 35 friends I'm quite pleased! I can certainly see that it could become as all-consuming as a blog, or Flickr, or a bbs (bulletin board service).

I'm sure I have plenty of other tasks awaiting, but all these acknowledgments of linking keep popping through on the email! What fun! It's like a virtual school reunion here!

Sunday's magic number: 93.6 - Okay. Drat. 'Cos I felt much skinnier!

Hog's Breath Sunday

Still recovering from Friday night's wine bar debacle, I had to organise a group booking for lunch today at the local Hog's Breath Cafe.

Always a reliably great meal and good, jovial service - and with a fun group of friends I simply don't see often enough these days - so it helped to remind me that not everyone is as hard to get along with. Our friends from Brisbane, Maria, Peter and little Ben, were down for an extended weekend, and it was a great excuse to get the ol' gang together to share good food and good conversation.

It was also too hard to ignore the Mars Bar Sundae. Sigh.

Sunday's magic number: 94.5 - Double sigh.

Passing through

Tonight, the Sydney Star Trek Meetup Group had its latest get-together. It was fun to meet Yvonne, a UK backpacker on her last few days in Sydney. I love how a common interest in Star Trek can result in instant rapport among strangers.