Jecca Zane
Sandra 1The Lone Goon-Bag Piper
August 23rd 2007 04:28
On the corner of Collins and Elizabeth sits the lone piper wringing a haunting tune from his pipes.
The lone piper; Brendan has been busking in Melbourne for about 20 years but has only been sending these drones through the city and surrounds with his Dag Pipes for just one.
You've probably seen him somewhere in the city. He's the bloke with the white beard and the goon bag under his arm. Yes...A Goon Bag. Not your regular Goon Bag, the day when this chalice held precious Fruity Lexia or Fresh Dry White is gone, and new life has been breathed into it by this veteran musician, just like Jesus did to Lazarus, except better.
The Dap Pipes are an invention of Brendan's and his mates. It comprises a foot pump, of the type intended to inflate mattresses and blow up companions. A steel pipe with holes drilled in to make notes. A length of hose connecting it all and finally the focal point, the key stone, the glorious giver of life: The Goon Bag.
Previous to seeing Brendan's take on the bag pipes I had only thought of limited uses for a Goon Bag. It could be used as an inflatable pillow after a hard day spent draining a Cask of Stanley Colombard Chardonnay in the hot sun. It could be used as a soccer ball if you felt sporty after a hard day spent draining a 4 litre Cask of Coolabah White Lambrusco, in the hot sun. A number of 4 litre De Bortolli Premium Unwooded Chardonnays could be hung from a Hills Hoist and spun above the heads of excited participants in one of Australia's favourite drinking games: Goon of Fortune. A 4 litre Sunnyvale Medium Dry Red could be poured directly into the mouth of a person performing a GLB or in layman's terms a Goon Lay Back. But today and forever the way I and all my fellow Melbournians look at Goon has been changed forever.
Goon or Cask Wine makes up 10% of all alchohol we Australians consume a year. It's an Australian invention and the sheer want of it was enough to make a Tasmanian man living on Cape Barren Island kill his mate because he would not share his vino. Tragic.
It s a fantastic contraption and as all fantastic contraptions tend to be, it's easy to operate...and carry. And just in case you're one of those clever little chaps that are always trying to put square pegs in round holes, Hardy Wines has put together some easy to understand instructions about how to get the most out of your Goon Bag:
• Lay cask flat with perforated 'cutout opening' facing upwards.
• Gently break and lift up perforated flap, and remove round section.
• Carefully pull out tap / pourer through the cut out section and position on perforated hole. Use the ridges closest to the foil bag to locate the tap in position. Avoid pinching the bag, as this may cause leakage.
• Push tab section onto the threaded section of the neck to secure tap.
• Remove the security seal from push-button type taps. Avoid damaging the tap when removing the security seal - do not use sharp implements eg knives, corkscrews or chisels.
• To dispense wine, stand cask upright, and gently activate tap. Avoid excessive force, to prevent tap failure.
Brendan does alright out of the Dag Piping; it seems like a good life. Plus the goon bag doesn't need to be inflated by mouth so Brendan can have a Durry while he entertains the masses. And entertaining is what makes Brendan happy to sit alone on a seat a squeeze a goon bag. He told me about one fateful Friday; a Business Woman walked past his chosen stage carrying an obvious double handed weekend workload. She past him with a steely determined glare until she became overwhelmed by the sight of a man making sweet music from a humble Goon Bag; she dropped her yoke of files spin a circle on the spot and roared with a laughter that would warm the cockles or any cruel black heart. "Thank you, I needed that" the woman said to Brendan.
So if you're in the city, or if you're not, go to the city and wander the streets until you from around a bend, down and alley or anywhere the wind can go, you hear the haunting sound of the Scottish instrument of war and follow it until you find Brendan. Stay awhile, listen, have a chat, relive yourself of some change. Then go and buy some goon and make some Dap Pipes of your own. Or you could just drain it in the hot sun.
The lone piper; Brendan has been busking in Melbourne for about 20 years but has only been sending these drones through the city and surrounds with his Dag Pipes for just one.
You've probably seen him somewhere in the city. He's the bloke with the white beard and the goon bag under his arm. Yes...A Goon Bag. Not your regular Goon Bag, the day when this chalice held precious Fruity Lexia or Fresh Dry White is gone, and new life has been breathed into it by this veteran musician, just like Jesus did to Lazarus, except better.
The Dap Pipes are an invention of Brendan's and his mates. It comprises a foot pump, of the type intended to inflate mattresses and blow up companions. A steel pipe with holes drilled in to make notes. A length of hose connecting it all and finally the focal point, the key stone, the glorious giver of life: The Goon Bag.
Previous to seeing Brendan's take on the bag pipes I had only thought of limited uses for a Goon Bag. It could be used as an inflatable pillow after a hard day spent draining a Cask of Stanley Colombard Chardonnay in the hot sun. It could be used as a soccer ball if you felt sporty after a hard day spent draining a 4 litre Cask of Coolabah White Lambrusco, in the hot sun. A number of 4 litre De Bortolli Premium Unwooded Chardonnays could be hung from a Hills Hoist and spun above the heads of excited participants in one of Australia's favourite drinking games: Goon of Fortune. A 4 litre Sunnyvale Medium Dry Red could be poured directly into the mouth of a person performing a GLB or in layman's terms a Goon Lay Back. But today and forever the way I and all my fellow Melbournians look at Goon has been changed forever.
Goon or Cask Wine makes up 10% of all alchohol we Australians consume a year. It's an Australian invention and the sheer want of it was enough to make a Tasmanian man living on Cape Barren Island kill his mate because he would not share his vino. Tragic.
It s a fantastic contraption and as all fantastic contraptions tend to be, it's easy to operate...and carry. And just in case you're one of those clever little chaps that are always trying to put square pegs in round holes, Hardy Wines has put together some easy to understand instructions about how to get the most out of your Goon Bag:
• Lay cask flat with perforated 'cutout opening' facing upwards.
• Gently break and lift up perforated flap, and remove round section.
• Carefully pull out tap / pourer through the cut out section and position on perforated hole. Use the ridges closest to the foil bag to locate the tap in position. Avoid pinching the bag, as this may cause leakage.
• Push tab section onto the threaded section of the neck to secure tap.
• Remove the security seal from push-button type taps. Avoid damaging the tap when removing the security seal - do not use sharp implements eg knives, corkscrews or chisels.
• To dispense wine, stand cask upright, and gently activate tap. Avoid excessive force, to prevent tap failure.
Brendan does alright out of the Dag Piping; it seems like a good life. Plus the goon bag doesn't need to be inflated by mouth so Brendan can have a Durry while he entertains the masses. And entertaining is what makes Brendan happy to sit alone on a seat a squeeze a goon bag. He told me about one fateful Friday; a Business Woman walked past his chosen stage carrying an obvious double handed weekend workload. She past him with a steely determined glare until she became overwhelmed by the sight of a man making sweet music from a humble Goon Bag; she dropped her yoke of files spin a circle on the spot and roared with a laughter that would warm the cockles or any cruel black heart. "Thank you, I needed that" the woman said to Brendan.
So if you're in the city, or if you're not, go to the city and wander the streets until you from around a bend, down and alley or anywhere the wind can go, you hear the haunting sound of the Scottish instrument of war and follow it until you find Brendan. Stay awhile, listen, have a chat, relive yourself of some change. Then go and buy some goon and make some Dap Pipes of your own. Or you could just drain it in the hot sun.
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