Longing for the day ...

Dean's a special

I have been avoiding Australian Idol up to this point, but my darling was watching it on Sunday night (I slept through last night's episode) so I caught the guys performing.

The only real standout to me was Dean "the million-dollar package" Geyer. He's the most polished, best-looking and most complete performer I've seen at this stage of Idol. Obviously, Australia agreed with me and he's through to the next bit.

However, I agreed with Mark Holden's comment that he needs to work on his interpretations, which are a bit soulless (he's only 20), and I can see in Dean the potential to fall into the same trap as Anthony "plastic performer" Callea. Sometimes you get the feeling that he's going through the motions a bit, knowing that the smile and camera smarts will get him through. But if he pays attention to those slight glitches, Dean Geyer is a special. if I was a gambler, I'd be backing him from this far out.

Of course, I've said that before and we've had voting catastrophes in which the best performers were voted off the show.

One final point: I hate to be negative but I hated the peformance of Damien Leith. He has a lovely pure falsetto, sure, but the rest was singularly lacking. Also a bit pichy - I don't know what the judges see in him but it must have to do with the difference between being there and seeing it on TV. Obviously, Australia disagrees with me because he got up ...

Raindrops (What might be and what is ...)

I wrote this one years ago during a storm. I was sitting on my parents' mountainside front verandah watching it steam in from the coast and thinking about all the little things and little people that get lost among the everyday concerns we obsess over. Somehow the metaphor just seemed perfect. A couple of weeks ago I found it in the bottom of one of my piles of writings and gave it a good polish.

I'm working on a version with very little background music - just sounds. Live, I perform it a capella. It's in A minor but has a very simple melody with two variations. Streaming version can be heard here and the bootleg download is here.

Update: If you feel generous you can now buy the version of this song released on The Genre Benders' debut CD "I am leaving! I am leaving!" from iTunes, or GroupieTunes, or Payplay.FM. If you have a different favourite online store, search for it there and if it's not there, let me know so I can put it there.

Raindrops

Today I watched a raindrop die
I stood alone and wondered why
In truth I have no alibi
Except to blame the weather.

A million raindrops died today
I fell beside them all the way
But why they died I cannot say
We didn't die together.

There came a rainbow in the dawn
It said the raindrops were reborn
And for the rain I should not mourn
Between the showers.

I'd like to know what makes them fall
What makes the raindrops die at all?
That by their deaths I may stand tall
Among the flowers.

********************************

Please note This song is APRA registered: Work ID GW09004954; ISWC T-060144693-8. You can copy, reproduce and distribute any part of these lyrics for any non-commercial purpose as long as you acknowledge its source. I'm interested in your feedback, comments, suggestions. If you make something good out of it, let me know and I'll consider adding it to this site.

If you perform it or broadcast it for any purpose, please let APRA know.





License this music for commercial use through Pump Audio









This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

Nearly!

Well done, the Wallabies. Good effort but not quite close enough. Much better aggression at the start but lost concentration at the end of the second half and the All Blacks were just too good.

I can't understand why the Wallabies wasted the lead they had - they seemed to be just waiting for the ABs to catch them, which they did. Once again, awesome Ritchie McCaw. Great to see Loti get more involved, though he needs to watch that tackling technique.

Still, that was a vast improvement, boys. Bring on the 'boks.

Summing up Leyton Hewitt

Caught the new Channel 10 show David Tench Tonight last night. It was mostly pretty egotistical and forgettable, though worth keeping an eye on. The show's website says he's returned to Australia after broadcasting in the US for years - it shows in his style and I'm not fussed over it.

Australians tend to like modest champions, so if he scales back the ego just a little and sticks to the interesting and genuinely funny stuff, the show could be interesting. At the moment, though, it's pretty obvious that the interviews are just a vehicle for Tench's one-liners, and THAT doesn't work for me. Interesting to read that he's the creation of Andrew Denton's mob - his style is not at all like Denton's ... but some of the humour definitely is.

The best statement of the night (and one that's not quoted on his website, so it may have been spontaneous) was the one he made about Leyton Hewitt during the interview with Pat rafter:

"Love to watch him win because he's an Aussie; love to watch him lose because he's a Nob!"

That's about right. I also thought his quote about Coldplay: "They're U2 without the Spirit" is about right, too. Very Denton!

Great entertainment ... ??

Went out Sunday night to see John Harley Weston and Indy Clark play accoustic sets at Ric's Bar in Fortitude Valley. Great value! Picked up both their CDs with autographs! Real live performers playing real live music fromtheir hearts and souls - there's no substitute for that.

I was thinking particularly hard about that last night after watching the end of the Australian Idol auditions. Talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous. I hate the freak show part of Idol with a passion. There's simply no need for the destuction of so many egos ...

Even the next bit is fairly ordinary - the weeding out of those with over-blown expectations. Actually, there are a lot of totally unrealistic expectations presented to Idol. Makes me wonder what the process is whereby people with so obviously little talent can think they're a geniune chance when people like Indy and John, with such obvious talent and ability, struggle to gain any form of recognition.

Of course, the next thought is to wonder where I fit on the talent/expectations graph ...

Never a truer word spoken ...

Yesterday I read a great post from a great songwriting blog. It makes a simple but profound point for all those of us who value the expression in songwriting:

"What 'serious' songwriter would've thought?
Imagine sitting down with a publisher and them saying, “what have you got for me? I hope it’s good!”. And replying, “It sure is! Listen to these lines…

Whatcha gonna do with all that junk? All that junk inside your trunk? I’m gonna gonna get you drunk, get you drunk off up off my hump. My hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps! – Will Adams, David Payton, Black Eyed Peas

And there are more examples. Short message: a lotta groove and a little tits 'n ass goes a long way ... Write for the hook, forget about being serious for its own sake!

An inspiration to this site, and a lot of others

Wayne Bennett's book, "Don't Die With the Music in You", was one of the main reaons I decided to pursue my current course of action. Personally, the title was very applicable because I'd pretty much resigned myself to doing exactly that. But both my wife and my mother (separately) gave me a copy of the book for my birthday, which told me something.

When I read Wayne's book, I realised what a waste that would be and decided to take as many others along for the ride as I can. Thanks Wayne, thanks mum, thanks darling.

What a load of rubbish

I'm disappointed to again read the predictable crap about Big Brother's ratings. The fact is that 1.88 million might not be as big as previous years, but it's still VERY healthy. Not to mention that the show had THREE entries in the top 10 for the week. That said, I tend to agree that the finales are overblown at 150 minutes - perhaps shorter and sharper would work better, guys ...

Yasmin might have fallen flat - I hated the idea right from the start - but that is hardly a "slap in the face" for the network. I didn't watch Big Brother, and I'm not watching the start of Australian Idol either, but obviously plenty of people do.

On the subject of Idol, I hate the freak show at the start. It's maccabre and the crushed egos and broken hearts makes for horrid TV. But I'm sure they'll find some great talent that will probably be neglected if it doesn't "win". It's great to see them casting the net into the bush and other regional centres. I just wish they'd just concentrate on nurturing what they find ...

Mind you, you gotta love the spin when this bollocks is run in a newspaper claiing Idol has "changed its image" when everything said in it is about what hasn't changed ... easy for some to get publicity.

Or am I dreaming?

A headlne-writer's gift

Just read the story about a dog destroying Elvis's teddy bear. It came under the title "Hound dog destroys Elvis's teddy bear". What a gift!

Wait for the "man bites dog" angles to follow ...