A new dark force is arising in the world. Forget the "Axis of Evil" that is yesterdays sinister alliance. In breaking news US President George The Lesser has named the Spooky Men as part of the Axis of Spooky.

Dressed in black and representing the embodiment of secret men's business the Spooky Men meet to conduct their spooky business in dark misty corners of the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney from whence they stealthily emerge from time to time spread their spooky message and to promote the Axis of Spooky.

So it was that the NFF came under the spell of the Spooky Men.

Naturally The Green Man, who has always thought of himself as being a bit on the spooky side, felt an instant affinity with the Spooky Men and promptly bought a copy of their CD and a "Bush Names Spooky Men as part of the Axis of Spooky" t-shirt. This was to reap unexpected and bountiful rewards later in the festival.

It is time perhaps for you to hear some of the Spooky Men. Click here

Sunday afternoon the Spooky Men were performing in the "Singing Room". This, as The Green Man was later to discover, was a venue where everyone joins in. The Spooky Men were teaching a crowd of about 200 a Georgian chant. Given that this was a male choir teaching a male song it was somewhat perplexing that there were quite so many women amongst the participants but they were allowed to stay as long as they pretended to have beards and spoke in low voices. (cast your mind back to the stoning in Life of Brian) Definitely no soprano singing was allowed.

At this stage it may be appropriate for The Green Man to include a sample of his own singing so that you can judge the appropriateness of his attendance at this venue. This has not been done however to avoid the risk of permanently tainting your appreciation of music with the memory of his voice.

So it was that The Green Man found himself in the midst of 200 other people who could actually sing. It was at this stage that the experience took a truely bizarre turn. There is a pause in the singing and a man near by asked The Green Man a question.

"Should you be able to sing that whole phrase in one breath?"

Having no idea GM replied

I suppose so, if your breathing is OK.

Then someone came by and gave GM a glass of water. Strange when there were all those other people who didn't get one.

The light on top of The Green Mans head can take a while to flash on at times but eventually a strange realisation swept over him. Spooky man t-shirt, beard, unusual hat (like they wore) - the audience thought GM was one of the Spooky Men!

It was a bit wierd at first but GM was soon in the swing of it, offering advise all over the place.

"You are doing fine, but you need to focus on your breathing"

was particularly well received. People love that sort of assistance and GM was embracing his new found role as a pseudo Spooky Man with enthusiasm. At the end people were coming up congratulating and saying how much they loved our, oops, their, performance. GM was most gratious on their behalf. This is about as much fun as you can have standing up and without any talent or practice.

Anyway here is a photo of the real Spooky Men's Chorale

Their CD is a must buy in The Green Man's humble opinion. Buy it here.

Finally, one small grab of a song that gives an insight into the political acumen of the Spooky Men and their sophisticated tactical approach to the next federal election. Click here.