Tao of the Sober Bullfrog

Flew to Adelaide, South Australia yesterday; did a quick interview and a couple of tunes on the local independent music station (3-D Radio), and then played a gig that night at the Grace Emily Hotel. Stayed true to my decision not to party for a while and didn't drink or smoke - apart from ten billion tonnes of passive smoke. 'Doing Nothing' in the face of temptation wasn't always easy, but by associating pleasure with not imbibing (by visualising myself waking up in the morning without a hangover), the desire to swill some brews soon passed.

Not that drinking is bad per se, it's just that sometimes it is good to have some (or a lot of) time away from it to give your body a rest. And smoking, of course, is pretty much always a bad idea - but it can be hard to convince myself of that when I am several beers into the night.

There was quite a healthy crowd gathered and as always in Adelaide, very friendly and most respectfully attentive to the music. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, the air conditioning on the plane made me lose my voice. I haven't played for a while and forgot that this sometimes happens. When I say 'lose my voice', I really mean - nearly lost it. Basically my always-fairly-gravelly vocals turned to pure rubble, thinning out and essentially resembling Tom Waits.

There was a day when I would have reacted to my own disappointment at this by pouting and sulking, and probably getting completely pissed. Instead I called upon my Taoist leanings and went with the flow. I did my best (which wasn't too bad according to the claps and reports after) and kept smiling. It ain't always easy, but if you try it usually works out okay.

And if it doesn't?

Flow Like Water...