Longing for the day ...

Serendipity and musical appreciation

WOW! I wa just having lunch in the Tivoli Theatre (which is right next door to where I work).

The guys from Beyond The Darkside were soundchecking anfd testing their lights and stuff, when suddenly, the opening keyboards of Wish You Were Here rang out. I recognised it straight away and the feelings of my identification Roger Waters's wannabe Rock God came flooding forth.

But at the same time, an anonymous funk band strained for attention through the restaurant PA, and my eyes were drawn to John Mayer's (why do these guys insist on having flashy Flash websites??) poster from a tour before he became the international behemoth he is now ...

I was stuck by the feeling "I love Music!" Where else could it all come together. What a wonderful, many-splendid thing we have and how precious it is.

I love it all!! Especially Australian Music!

Ahhh ... predictions.

I notice that Roy Masters has made ten predictions in his SMH column today. I don't see much reason to doubt most of them - they seem pretty sensible - but I think this year I will keep him honest.

I have saved his list of predictions and will tick them off as they are either correct or incorrect. Then, at the end of the year, I'll review tham and see how Roy went.

Of course, if anyone else makes similar predictions, let me know and I'll do the same.

BTW - the Panthers lost to Bradford 22-4 this morning. Bummer. I didn't get to watch the game but it seemed to me that the Poms played very well and the Panthers just didn't have their usual spark.

It was a bit galling hearing the Pommy commentators remarking that this "World Club Challenge" adds to the Poms' recent football credentials on the world stage .... yeah, right.

Well played, the Bradford bulls - including all the Kiwis and Aussies in the team ...

Lost weekends

When I was growing up, I had plenty of back-breaking jobs. I picked beans, zucchinis and cucumbers. I cleaned toilets. I spent days on horseback. But one thing I never did was work in construction.

Well, I now know what it takes to wield a jackhammer for a day and I've gotta say that anyone who can do that has my undying respect. If I never see a jackhammer again, I'll die happy.

See, we have been planning a new kitchen, to replace the dripping taps, lifting benchtops and decaying chipboard shelves in the one we've got, since the middle of last year. We had one all picked out and the builder told us to call in the middle of February because the'd be busy until then. Last Wednesday we got a call: "Gonna start on Monday".

What this meant, since we had to replace the floors at the same time, was a mad scramble to dig up the tiles, arrange the electrician and lobby the tiler to come early. In the end we decided that I could use a jackhammer as well as anyone, so we'd make it easier by me digging up the tiles in the kitchen. I hired an electric jackhammer and my father-in-law and I went hard at it Saturday monrning.

By Sunday lunch I could not lift the thing any more, so I took it back. The hire place didn't charge me for Sunday morning, which was great.

I have almost got feeling back in hands but will not be able to work on anyting musical for about two weeks ...

Reviews

Bun’ Ber E, publicly voted [Brisbane's] No. 1 Celtic Ceilidh Band, has an approach to Celtic music that sets it quite apart.

..
Bongoes and bagpipes may seen a quantum leap, as may double time reels that suddenly drop into military marches and reggae rhythms under waltzed, but in the hands of consummate professionals, good music is always good music – it just gets better.

-Jan Nary, Publicist, Kedron Wavell Services Club Celtic Festival 2001.