Woke up this morning from the strangest dream.

I was in the biggest army the world has ever seen. We were marching as one, on the road to the Holy Grail.

It is not often that I will ever say something nice about the convict colony off the coast of New Zealand (not connected to us by the Sydney Harbor bridge but we are thinking of building a wall around it), however at one point in my life the music that emanated from that large island was, unlike their rugby team, pretty damn good (just like Jim Jefferies is now) The lyrics from Holy Grail by Hunters and Collectors (you can search for it on your Alta Vista search engine) popped into my head this morning after waking up pretty early on POETS day. No idea why, maybe just because I woke up this morning :)

Started out, seeking fortune and glory. It's a short song, but it's a hell of a story, when you spend you lifetime trying to get your hands on the Holy Grail

I think everyone has a dream of what their life should/could be when growing up. Whether it be a person in the slums of Manila seeing planes flying overhead and just dreaming of being able to get on such an awesome machine or a kid passing an oval shaped ball around with their friends dreaming of being handed their first official black jersey before running onto the paddock at Eden Park. Everyone has a Holy Grail but more often than not the path to the Grail and the Grail itself can change. We need to be able to accept that life is full of change and move forward, otherwise we can get stuck. It is a bit like some idiot thinking they can write a weekly blog with something of relevance to people, something that resonates with people every week without the posts themselves becoming weak :) Life changes, work situations change, demands on time change, home life changes, physical and mental health can change and suddenly the weekly posts become fortnightly, then monthly then "Crap, Paulette Beete (a real published poet and friend of POETS Day) just called me out, I need to get my shit into gear".

But have you heard of the Great Crusade? We ran into millions, and nobody for paid. Yeah we razed four corners of the globe for the Holy Grail.

When Mark Seymour penned these lyrics he was inspired by a book about Napoleons chef when they invaded Russia in 1812, a story of survival (and of the interesting tactics used by the Russians, which were basically run away, burn all the stuff the French need and wait till winter). It also related to the band's quest for fortune and glory in the US, a market that they never cracked (otherwise y'all that are not from the deep deep south would not have had to Alta Vista the song - I am really trying to get Alta Vista to trend for some odd reason).

All the locals scattered, they were hiding in the snow. We were so far from home so how were we to know, there'd be nothing left to plunder when we stumbled on the Holy Grail

I guess that is the problem with questing for the Holy Grail, if you do stumble on it there might be nothing there, more importantly that if you spend your life hoping on a Golden BB chances are you are going to miss a whole lot of awesomeness on a quest that may never end. Life is about moving North-South, sometimes you might need to take a step back, take a detour East-West but ultimately you need to keep moving forward with the knowledge that the game of life has some speed bumps and worse but that also it has a purpose. You don't have to have religion to believe that life has a purpose, you just need to have a heart and a soul. You might not understand the purpose (sometimes I have no idea what mine is) but there most likely is one :)

Oh I, I've been searching for an easy way, to escape the cold light of day. I've been high and I've been low but I've got nowhere else to go. 

Ok, well that bit sounds a bit bad but the way I look at it is that there is no where else to go but forward. I think there is a Holy Grail for everyone, but more often than not we do not recognize it, we might want it to be a shiny goblet covered in precious stones but it is just as likely an unassuming, burnished drink cup that we overlook because our image of what the Holy Grail is is set in our heads as a child. Sometimes we cannot believe that what we hold in our hands is really what we have been looking for all along.

I followed orders, God knows where I'd be. But I woke up alone all my wounds were clean. I'm still here, I'm still a fool for the holy grail.

All that being said I still occasionally buy lottery tickets :)


As usual this weeks blog was bought to you by the NZ Heralds Word Jumble, the faint memories in my head of Indiana Jones movies, Air America (the movie, not the drug/weapons/cash smuggling CIA airforce) and Hunters and Collectors. The standard disclaimer for all of my blogs apply, i.e. if you don't like it don't read it and nothing is my fault. I would like to thank my landlord for organizing some window units for my place as my AC has been out for a week (but thankfully they are fixing the broken bit as I write this) and to Heineken for helping me get through these past few sweaty days. I would like to also apologize to anyone who thinks this weeks blog is sub-standard, but I am not going to.

Oh yeah, I'm a fool for the Holy Grail


Work hard, play hard and earn your inspiration
Happy Poets Day


The chick suggested I add a link from the Tube of You's so here's a live version


Since I am posting songs this is Paul McDermott from the Doug Anthony Allstars (yes Aussies and yes they were talented and funny, not that I will ever say that in public) singing one of the most iconic Aussie songs ever, also written by Hunters and Collectors - this is my favorite cover of it