English: Graham Swann at Lord’s Cricket Ground 20th July 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hi, it’s Martin ‘Werewolfie’ Adams, satirical comedy sports correspondent at the Greenygrey.
Unfortunately Graeme Swann has announced his immediate retirement from all forms of cricket.
Swann is getting on in cricketing age, and has been out of form on the England and Wales Ashes tour, which the Aussies lead 3-0 (just realised that now won makes a nice palindrome… before then realising it was a mistake… but didn’t want to waste it!).
Swann becomes the second travelling casualty of the Ashes tour, after Jonathon Trott returned home due to mental health issues.
Werewolf of Oz Swan Lake Tragedy
Swan Lake (Photo credit: Cindy Andrie)
Swann’s retirement is poignant for the Greenygrey, after the Werewolf of Oz featured a Swan Lake tragedy, with the loss of Kalbarri Barry and family in Swan Lake, N.S.W.
The 5th Ashes test will be in N.S.W., but before that, there’s the 4th test in Melbourne, Victoria.
Hi, it’s Greenygrey. It was great to have the blog filled up with interviews this week; as it has given Team GG an easy week! Not that we’ve been completely at leisure, as there’s always work to do in the Greenygrey world. For example, I found this great greenygrey image to brighten and dull your day in equal measure.
Image by Greg Annandale via Flickr
Greats of Television and Writing
I’m glad I had a break, as today’s Werewolf of Oz blog is a sad one, reminding Grey of the time when he found out that Belinda Emmett had passed away at a tragically early age. Although it was her beauty that first brought her to our attention, she does also seem to have lived a particularly nice life, which touched a lot of people in Australia and around the world.
Iain Banks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Some people might question her ‘greatness’, but it all depends how you measure ‘greatness’, which is just a subjective human concept: for example, should greatness be measured more for leading a nice good life or acquiring power and wealth?
Yesterday, Iain M. Banks, who we think justifies being called a great writer, even though we haven’t read any of his books, revealed the sad news that he is terminally ill. We thought it was particularly poignant that he hoped to see his latest book published, and appreciated his humour in asking his girlfriend to be his widow.
Anyway, on with the show, and another literary nonsense poem episode:
62. CENTRAL TASMANIA PROVIDES PAINIER
Too Late to Pay Tribute to a Great
Wolfram showed us north
was the sensible way forth
over lakes of Great and Arthur
and across Central Plateau after
through Meander we did stroll
in Mole Creek we saw no troll Jumpin’ Jack Flash had a gas
with Angry Bonzo in Sassafras
from Beauty Point we did see a peach Rebecca Fisher enjoying Green Beach
the vision swam gracefully out to sea
rising above waves until she was free.
—————————————————————————————————-
Notes
Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Rolling Stones song). Rebecca Fisher (character in Aussie soap opera, Home and Away. She was mostly played by Belinda Emmett, who died in 2006).
—————————————————————————————————-
English: Baby wombats at Mole Creek, Tasmania, Australia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hi, it’s Stella Lagerwolf-Bruno, rounding off the London Fashion Week greenygrey comedy – satire clothes highlights, after the amazing accessories blog earlier in the week.
Lucas Nascimento Friday Finery
Lucas Nascimento (any relation to Pele?) rounded off the greenygrey with a nice little number on Friday:
To be honest, it was such a whirlwind week I thought that was the only greenygrey outfit until I looked at my notes (editor’s note: realised I was only looking at Friday’s highlights!).
Looking back through the week I saw there were several great greenygrey outfits. House of Holland had one or two:
But it was Antipodium on Day 2 that stole the greenygrey show, with several great greenygrey delights:
Dress and shoes:
Dress and coat:
Following on from yesterday’s blog, and our Grey’s wonderful Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps book crossing dusty sandy paths with the awesome Oz: the Great and Powerful, there’s also an Australian dog connection. The designer, Geoffrey J. Finch (not a bird), has an Australian background, and his future plans are for ‘downward dogging’.
Hi, it’s Greenygrey. It’s Werewolf of Oz time, with the last episode no doubt keeping you on the edge of your seat for the last few days, as our travelling trio faced a crucial decision that would decided their timequake fate on the edge of what humans know as Adelaide, South Australia.
Remember Wally B’s Marauder t-shirt at the end of Rainbow Valley in a previous episode. It’s relevance is revealed in this episode; or that’s what the travelling trio hope anyway…
With 142 chapters in the Werewolf of Oz, there’s only 100 more to go after this. And the literary nonsense just keeps flowing…
42. TIME TO THINK…
TIME FLIES…………………* (Photo credit: Neal.)
Time will make you Wait, and never be Late
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
time waits for nobody
even in a state of stagnancy
of an alien world strange city.
Crows can fly
redbacks scurry by
if they fought beyond Y
which one would die?
It’s a dilemma, my oh my,
could easily induce a cry.
What temperature is ice meltable?
No, their choice is more hypothetical
than some real world conundrum
that is scientifically measurable.
We cannot help, or advise,
for our words would become lies
in a land where time waits for no-one
and only flies when it’s having fun.
Had time stood still? It certainly seemed so, and I was none the wiser. Then Elle looked up and pointed to the Marauder t-shirts; before reminding us that Wally B had said he thought they’d be useful in Oz South.
Tension was replaced by relief, as we looked at each other with knowing grins. Elle confirmed my thoughts, ‘Crows are birds, and the Marauder t-shirt features a bird image, so according to Wally B theory, the Crows will win.’
We rushed over to Theold Gumtree
and said we’d wager our timesanity
on Crows to beat Redbacks
confident we’ll make tracks
back to our own place in history…
English: Illustration of the tracks left by Corvus spp. (crows and ravens)(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hi, it’s Greenygrey. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Stella, Susie, Max, Baron and Andy for their posts this week; and welcome Stella and Baron to the pack. While our esteemed colleagues have been keeping you entertained, we’ve been planning our Winter Solstice Christmas marketing campaign.
Before starting, we’d like to point out that we’re not practising pagans, we’re perfect ones. No, only joking, we don’t believe in a changeable nature, but we believe in respecting it.
We also don’t believe in a monotheistic god, but respect people’s rights to worship one, as long as they’re not imposing it on others, and using it to justify war and power over others.
English: Inti Raimi, the festival of winter solstice and the beginning of the year (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Winter Solstice Christmas Marketing Campaign
As we enter the sunrise season for 9-5 workers in the northern hemisphere, with the sun rising at the perfect time for the regular risers, we started our winter solstice Christmas marketing campaign yesterday on Grey’s old Werewolf of Oz website.
Yes, do you remember that two-year feast of everything land-down-under, where ‘I’/’my other half’ blogged its historic fantasy-travel across what you know as Australia, daringly manoeuvring its way across perilous Google maps… and trying to entertain you lot with its comedy-fantasy at the same time!
Hopefully the book, priced at the lowest possible tariffs on Amazon, might make an ideal present for those trying to protect animals and environment; enjoy South Park and Monty Python-style comedy; have an interest in travel and Australia; and/or the powers of body, mind and spirit.
And here’s another thrilling episode to surely tip you over the edge into putting your paws in your pockets and purchasing our book, which we’re not likely to make any money out of, and Amazon’s not likely to pay any taxes on in the UK; but hopefully it’ll entertain you, and help me rise up the book charts…
Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps
Oops, just seen the next episode, and it’s not an epic classic, more of a five-minute cartoon, but the significance of the emerald cork hat is emphasised, and the arrival of Alice starts off a pretty cool little sub-episode containing the great gig in the sky above Uluru/Ayer’s Rock. Here it is anyway:
29. ALICE SPRINGS in THE DESERT
Before shooting off into the stratosphere, MiMo said ‘Bonzo and Were, beware. Hold onto your hat and keep to the dust sandy path, unless the hat glows, because when it’s safe it knows.’
Newgrange (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We continued south. It seemed hellish to the east and west, and each side seemed to be pulling us its way. I tried to shut it out and continue progressing on the path.
Poor Bonzo was singing Gimme a Bullet to Bite On, while Elle said she was worried her body wasn’t going to be strong enough to make it. I was struggling myself, and tried to think of a reunion with Green in the Greenygrey world to take my mind off the ordeal.
Alice Springs Outback Sunset (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We were finding the going particularly tough late in the day, when suddenly a woman sprang out of the red sunset and landed on the path in front of us.
Hi, it’s Martin ‘Werewolfie’ Adams, sports correspondent at the Greenygrey. At the Greenygrey, it’s not the winning that counts, it’s the taking part in greenygrey… or playing amongst glorious greenygrey.
And we noticed a great coming together of greenygrey venue and greenygrey kit at the recent Shanghai Masters tennis tournament. We just looked up some photos from the tournament; bit late to be topical we know, but it’s been a busy Greenygrey news week; and the Denver Post has a great selection of photos from the men’s tournament. So we just have men’s photos below, which is due to us finding enough material there, rather than sexism or sexuality. And here they are:
Jo Wilfried-Tsonga looks overjoyed to be playing amongst greenygrey.
Is Tomas Berdych getting into the greenygrey spirit of things, or trying to camouflage himself? Nice greenygrey design anyway, and thanks to Tomas for wearing our colours.
Thanks to the Shanghai Masters for all the great greenygrey photo opportunities, the players for taking part in glorious greenygrey, and the Denver Post for sharing the photos.
‘Many athletes win tournaments while believing in god; and perhaps that belief gives them an edge over their opponents. However, I doubt if any win through belief alone; without training.’
Martin ‘Werewolfie’ Adams
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 11: Jacob French is welcomed as he completes his trek at the Sydney Children's Hostpital on April 4, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. French today completed the over 5,000 km trek from Perth to Sydney on foot, donning a full body stormtrooper costume he successfully raised over $100,000 for the Starlight Children's Foundation. Since July 2011, Jacob has walked 10 hours a day, Monday to Friday, lost over 12kg in weight, and gone through seven pairs of shoes. The Starlight Children's Foundation provides programs to help lift the spirits of sick children in hospitals accross Australia. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Hi, it’s Greenygrey here. We’re proud to say that Grey’s epic ramble around Oz is now up on Manic Readers. We’ve let our ghost-writer, Marc Latham, take the credit.
To celebrate, we have put the Werewolf of Oz big battle scene as a free doc on the home page of the Greenygrey website, while the arriving in Sydney poems are a free doc on the biography page.
Why Existence is Miracle Enough
We read a good article by Ben Gilliland in Monday’s Metro (May 21st, 2012), and thought we’d share some its wisdom with you; mainly because it had a kind of greenygrey theme.
Why Existence is Miracle Enough asked ‘Why do we need religion to see miracles in the world around us, or to find significance in our existence?’
We agree with this, and so does Marc Latham. It was the theme of one of his Folding Mirror poems in March 2011:
For God’s Sake
If there is a
god
it gave you
life
for love of
god
is that not enough
While a belief in a personal or cultural monotheistic god can be a comfort, and a motivator, it can also create divisions, prejudices and war.
Hi, it’s Susie Dentinfang, dictionary diva at the Greenygrey and Countdown to the Full Moon. While you are probably eager for completely new Greenygrey material, the recording of Greenygrey history can be a slow, laborious and painstaking task, so please bear with us.
New Greenygreyism similar to Seeing Wood for Trees
And it is very exciting news for us, and we hope it will be for you too. We think we have a new greenygreyism.
While Martin ‘Werewolfie’ Adams was an amazing sportswerewolf, and is a great sports correspondent, he’s not an etymologist. And he is the first to admit that when he used the phrase ‘not seeing the Green for the greenygrey’ in his recent post about goalie kits that he was unaware (not un-a-were) he was making Greenygrey history.
I can confirm that it was the first time the phrase ‘not seeing the green for the greenygrey’ has been used in the Greenygrey world. I have found a related phrase in the English language, which goes something like: ‘not seeing the wood for the trees’.
It is explained by our beloved free English dictionary as: ‘if someone can’t see the wood for the trees, they are unable to understand what is important in a situation because they are giving too much attention to details.’
Maybe Green’s greenygrey kit disguised the West Ham goalie so much that the Blackpool strikers spent too much time looking for details, such as aiming for the goalposts, but sent most shots wide; meaning they couldn’t see the goal for the posts, like the wood for the trees.
Werewolf of Oz poems in Tips for Writers
Secondly, an addition to the recent post about Grey’s Oz poems in Tips for Writers. Greenygrey admits just skimming through Tips before blogging that Tips 89 contained the Oz Flight poem, which is the opposite to not seeing the wood for the trees; more like not seeing the trees for the wood!
Turns out that after a closer look there are several Werewolf of Oz poems in it. Altogether there’s: Rainbow Valley Shropshire Lad, The Greycliffe House Mouse, Oz Flight, New Day, 3×4 and Tree to Sea.
Thanks to Tips for publishing them. They’re all available in the Werewolf of Oz, and will be blogged here over the next few months. Cheers.
Hi, it’s Greenygrey. We’re delighted to bring you the first instalment of Grey’s edited and published Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps epic comedy-fantasy book. After I (we) made the first fantasy solo expedition of North America by google maps in 2008, Grey made the first fantasy solo (or even semi-solo, as it was only one half of the Greenygrey at the time) expedition of Australia (Oz) between 2010-2012. It was quite some journey.
The Cover Image
They say the cover is one of the most important parts of a book, and so we wanted to produce a bright cover that captured the essence of the story. Marc Latham let us use a photo of his from outside Vinales in north-west Cuba; the sun was setting and a lone local was walking out of town on the long road somewhere. The trees, a house and the road were lit up.
The image therefore combines many of the key elements of the Werewolf of Oz: lone travel, nature, human settlements, the road, mystery, the unknown and sunshine.
The Cover Creation
Using Photo Impact we chose a turquoise background. Then we added the solo Grey’s image to the road at the bottom of the photo, and our image at the top of the photo, to signify the epic journey Grey would have to take across Oz for us to be reunited; and our two halves to have some laughs.
Then we added the title and author, giving Marc Latham the credit, as he edited it.
Hi, it’s the Greenygrey. I’ve just been picking out some quotes from the Werewolf of Oz book for our Shelfari page. I didn’t want to use any that give the story away, for those who don’t know it. Here’s the thirty:
“The desert chose my direction, or at least limited my options; I was heading to north and new, and the alternative was south and scary. I was happy to be. Just to be. To be without decisions, pressures and stress. To be the only life I could see. To be able to sing thinking I was in harmony; without anyone to contradict me. Although my feet kept to the road, my mind flew this way and that; to the north, west, south and east horizons; looking north to the future, south at the past, and wondering about what I have missed and will miss to the east and west. Sometimes my thoughts settled into the outback, nothing in nothingness; it was a nice place to be.”
“I envisaged Blighty being so brighty that stars dropped to Earth in the form of birds to re-energise their glows amongst the overabundance of sparkling effervescence.”
“Come along off the path, you all look plum pole-axed piqued out. The ghangiant could be along soon, and you don’t want to be around when it turns up.”
“I just came round to see if anybody fancied coming to the Oo-loo-roo Air’s Rock festival at Uluru / Ayer’s Rock this weekend. There are many magnificent macropod bands there. The way you’re singing it sounds like you could even play there yourselves.”
“I had a good chat with Wesgrey about kangaroo mythology. He said their creation myth told of their escape from the Grapes of Rolf, and how they lived their lives fearing the return of Rolf”
“I thought we might not survive, such was the dive, but after a minute or three we began to slow down. Elle brought us to our final stop by grabbing us. I had to laugh when Bonzo turned around to me from under her right arm and declared: ‘She’s Got Balls!’”
“However, despite all the rum on the deck and presumably inside the sailor, he still seemed to have a sense of decorum. So it wasn’t a shock when he introduced himself as Captain Dec O’ Rum.”
“Captain Dec replied that he wanted to introduce him to us. After telling him our names, Dec introduced the wine and women loving salty dog as Dai ‘on the Seas’. We had a nice chat, and Dai said he had acquired his nickname to differentiate him from his two best friends back home, a pilot now known as Dai ‘in the air’ and a farmer called Dai ‘of the land’.”
“The Fawlty reminded me of the Hotel Tazmania, which had reminded me of Fawlty Towers. The owner seemed quite confused when I asked for a Werewolf salad; not seeming to know how to make one. I told him it was similar to a Waldorf salad, and he seemed to remember making one of those before.”
“Our bellies full, we headed north-east to Geelong. The name ‘Geelong’ reminded me of Green and me when we are together, because our initials are a sort of long Gee: a GG.”
“We got in a huddle, over a squeaky puddle, ready to answer the Valance knowing we could leave nothing to chance for our bellies were starting to rumble in need of a big brunch of bubble.”
“all the donkeys have exclaimed e-ohand most dogs have clapped at least one pawthe coldest ice maidens it did thawand even beavers stopped their gnawonce I told it on the sea-shoreand the waves kept coming back for more”
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe: Faster Pussycat screeching on stage at the Rainbow Bar and Grill; I’ve watched Seasick Steve die in a dark shared with Love/Hate. A poison-dart-frog glowing in the Italian Job; Janis and Jimi running wild in the 1970s streets. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to fly.”
“It didn’t take long before we were berrying an incrediberryble amount of berries into our bellies. I don’t know what type the Canberra berries were; maybe cranberries with the r left out.”
“We headed back down south once our berry ballooned bellies felt balanced, but we made slow progress; because we took along some sloe berries. However, the sloe berries did satisfy my desire for more berries and set my mind at rest; because prior to berrying them, I’d been regretting our decision not to detour to Dairymans Plains, as it sounded good for a raspberry ripple.”
“My hat seemed to be getting stronger with every step, and provided enough glow for us to see clearly; it felt like I was wearing a green neon sign pointing ahead.I started singing ‘Always look on the bright side of life…’ and the others quickly joined in.”
“She said these were the Alician Fields. They are a natural wonderland for those who have turned the world upside down to improve it before returning it the right way up; where sparkling spring water irrigates the earth from underground, and the sun always shines above.”
mistYmuse 