Category Archives: Music

100 Up

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So this my 100th Post – It’s timing is perfect just as I start my next journey.

Michael Clarke’s Celebration after reaching 100 in Adelaide. Source: www.news.com. au

My blog has not met the WordPress suggested approach of a theme and stick to it. Rather it has been the thoughts of a fifty something as he contemplates what’s next. 

While it hasn’t been a “Dear Diary” it certainly has been a reflection on my thoughts. There has been plenty on music including my discovery of Country Music and the regular paying homage to The Boss. There have been posts on our trip to Europe and our plans for 3 months in Italy. There’s also been the opportunity to post on our local scene – the fabulous Adelaide Oval, Tour Down Under and Second Valley. I have also mentioned my move back to study on numerous occasions but the topic I expected would appear most being Sport has only been mentioned sparingly.

It has  enabled me to meet an objective of writing a thousand words a month and I think also improved my writing skills. 

It’s a time for celebration!

The Sound of Music – 50 years on

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Source : Amazon.com

 

Its 50 years ago today that the immortal Sound of Music hit the screens. I would be lying to say that I don’t still enjoy the soundtrack.

I haven’t seen the movie for some years, but I must have seen it 50 times. I stopped counting after I’d seen it 7 times in the theatre as a child. I remember the first time I saw it, a Saturday matinee at the now defunct Regent Theatre.

Source: http://regentarcade.com.au/History.aspx

My grandparents took my sister and I for a Saturday outing, Something they did most weekends when we were little. After that I don’t recall who I saw it with, though I am fairly sure it wasn’t with my school friends, as none of us would have admitted we liked it – it just wouldn’t have been cool. Then as  our own children were little I remember watching it with them.

From the opening scene until the end it’s just a classic of its time. We certainly don’t make musicals like that these days.

The soundtrack is quite amazing. Continue reading →

It’s been comfort music!

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It’s been a week of listening to safe songs. Back into study and focussed on my last few weeks before leaving my firm.

Where else to turn but Springsteen all week. It’s always safe ground for me.

Born to Run – always a great place to start

Growin Up – it’s about transition which occupies so much of my thinking these days

Rosalita – my favourite person’s favourite Springsteen song

We Take Care of Our Own – inspiring

Just like Fire Would – my week has been full of listening to Springsteen and this one is awesome in concert as well as an Aussie classic.

So that’s my Playlist of the Week

The only thing you did was “Yesterday”

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Paul McCartney is reputed to have composed Yesterday in his sleep and for a considerable period afterward to have been sure that he was guilty of plagiarism.

My wife tells me that Yesterday is the song most selected as the one that songwriters wished they had written. I am not sure if that is true but it certainly has a list of accolades that supports the view and it surely ranks as one of the greatest songs ever written.

Wikipedia notes

  • there are over 2000 cover versions
  • it was voted the best song of the 20th century by listeners and music experts in the BBC 2 Radio Poll
  • both MTV and Rolling Stone voted it the best song of all time

    Beatles bible.com notes that according to the Guiness Biok of Records it is the most covered song of all time.

    So if John Lennon was correct in his sledge of Paul McCartney in How do You Sleep from the truly momentous album Imagine that

    The only thing you done was yesterday

    then that would for most people be enough.

    I was lucky enough to see Paul McCartney when he fronted Wings sing it as a solo in 1975. Just thinking about it now sends goosebumps down my spine. It was awesome! It was one of my most memorable concert moments.

    I find it incredible that apparently The Beatles were afraid it would tarnish their image if it was released as a single only being released I the UK many years later. It appeared on Help and was released as a single in the US.

    So often I hear that my favourite Beatle was John, Paul,only wrote silly love songs. Certainly the music primarily credited to John in the Lennonon McCartney partnership was sharper however MCCartney’s ability to write a pop,song is perhaps unparalleled.

    As you find yourself reflecting on The Beatles and perhaps considering who was the most talented (what a pointless task when you consider George’s list of credits and Ringo who according to Mark Lewisohn was sought after to join the greatest band of all time) is it possible to go past The Beatle who wrote Yesterday?

    • 2014 – That’s a wrap and now for 2015

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    Well that’s 2014 over and 2015 has begun.

    2014 has been about transition, getting over relevance deficit syndrome as I handed over my clients and relationships,embracing study, discovering country music(sorry to my wife, family and friends and my dear blogging friend, David Perry), comfortably meeting my cycling target of over 5000kms for the year and preparing for new experiences as I move from the comfort of working in professional services to something else.

    It feels quite surreal. Normally, I find the period after Christmas quite a let down as it signifies the last few days before it all starts again, but this time it is quite different. That shouldn’t be surprising as in 2015 my focus will be completely different. I’m not thinking about finishing off client compliance work, billing targets, collecting cash or winning new work. That’s all for my successor who is now well ensconced.

    2015 is about winding out of my firm and embarking on a new adventure. Completing Honours, focussing on building my academic credentials, and maybe some advisory boards. Also it is about planning an extended stay in Italy in 2015, something which has been on my wish list for the last few years.

    It seems quite surreal, but as I sit at my desk writing this post, for the first time since 1978 I don’t have my year planned at all. Sure there are a list of “to dos”, not the least of which is a 20,000 word thesis but I don’t have a back log of work and a diary full of appointments that usually fill me with dread in the first week of January each year. What I do have is lots of “white space” and a question about how it will be filled?

    So its on with 2015…