It is Pip Proud's 57th birthday today, despite the number of times he has told me he is going to be 60. Unless he lied about his age in his entry in Australian Poetry NOW! in 1970 when he said he was born in 1949. Anyway, Pip is probably about to do his first live show since 1969 when he played the Arts Vietnam benefit (unless the Best in the World concerts came afterwards - I thought they did). He will be supporting Ariel Pink later this month somewhere, I forget where. His backing band will be me, Mia, Julie and Marney. There will be at least four songs, all new. As I just a short while ago said to confirmed Pip fan Ash Wednesday, it is guaranteed to be interesting.
What's bugging me though is the driving to and from Healesville. It's not that long, really, a bit over an hour and as I've said in this place before, it's a marvellously pleasant drive through Kangaroo Flat and Christmas Hills. But I went to and fro yesterday and I am just totally and utterly exhausted (of course, waking at 2.23 am and going back to sleep after 4 didn't help).
Yesterday afternoon after rehearsal Pip and I went to Campbellfield K Mart to buy him some Lego. He wants to build Lego things to get some strength and movement back in his left hand, which is pretty useless after the stroke and some bad surgery. It's very interesting to me to hang around with a blind man - other people's reactions, from the 10 year old boy who said loudly 'That man's blind', upwards. Most people are just very respectful/ scared? Pip regaled me with the various condescensions he's suffered in recent months, from the nurse (I think it was a nurse) who said in his hearing that blind people were quite intelligent, upwards. He told his doctor he was hoping to get some improvement in his arm movement and the doctor laughed, which naturally makes Pip very angry.
Pip is an incredibly intelligent man (not just because he's blind - joke) with various problems brought upon him. I am very keen for him to get a computer with voice recognition so he can write his life story. Anyone got any recommendations? It's been a long time since I've seen this in action - probably the late 90s - and it seemed problematic to me then, though I suppose you could create documents that someone could clean up/work with. I guess I could go online (hey, wait - I already am on line! How's that for efficient!) and search for it. Dragon or something? But I'd like to hear other people's opinions.
* PS Pip's short memoir of his music career is in the next Meanjin, or at least I think it is.
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