Why I've been away

Haven’t I been slack then? Yes, yes I have. Well this is the reason:




Not just Uke lessons, but a big weekend in Melbourne. Then a big week at work. Big weeks.

I promise to be better next week.

Keep it going!

After my rambling post yesterday, I mulled over a few people that weren’t included. Sure, I think that the list I put together is a pretty tight list, but it wasn’t necessarily my favourite people. Also I had to pass over some people that were pretty influential too. So here are some more:

Nirvana – was the sound track to Gen Y, and developed grunge. You could put Pearl Jam here too

Jeff Buckley – I think most people would say they like Jeff. He was my favourite artist from about 14-20, all from one album. Now I still love him, and would go as far to say that some of the songs being prepared for his second album are amongst my favourites of his (‘Witches Rave’, specifically). Some of his early stuff (‘Be your husband’ – I love how there is so much background noise, then people are just blown away by his voice) was incredible, ‘Grace’ has so many layers it’s just incredible, and most people say that his cover of ‘Hallelujah’ is one of the best covers of all time. Terrible shame that we didn’t get to hear more from him

Joy Division – I think Joy Division was really important to 1980s UK music, and they did kick off trance a bit too, but another band that was probably growing into its potential cut down by Ian Curtis’ death. New Order had some good stuff, but Joy Division was something special

Jerry Reed – Certified guitar player. Jerry is one of my all time favourite artists, Chet Atkins was his mentor and he took playing to another level. Love Jerry, Son!

Nina Simone – I think she was a really important African American artist, she wrote some amazing songs. She had the most amazing voice too, love Nina. How about this as a comparison, just for you.

Miles Davis – the King of Cool, he brought Jazz mainstream, and has stuck there ever since. ‘Kind of Blue’ has sold 4 million copies – it’s an amazing album, I’m surprised it’s not sold more. Another important African American.

Madonna – She was a big thing in her generation, I never liked her much.

The Strokes – I remember the first time I heard the Strokes. It was on Channel V, they were touring for ‘Is This It’ and played ‘Last Night’ live. I have never looked back, love them.

I could go on and on. I’ll stop.

Lists, list lists list.

Perhaps this is a repeat, perhaps not. I’ll go ahead with it anyway. And a warning, this post grew and grew and grew, so it's a bit long.

In music world (or ‘Music Land’ as I like to call it sometimes), people often pose the question - Stones or Beatles? Pfft, I know, for 99% of my life I have been all like, ‘Are you SERIOUS?!? No one can compare to the Beatles’. I think a lot of people would agree with me, but I know that some people don’t. Some people disagree. I’ve always wondered why, but I think I start to get why. The Stones are great. I’ve been listening to 40 licks a bit lately and I think that in terms of ‘top songs’ they are pretty hard hitters. ‘Miss You’ for example, probably one of the catchiest songs ever written, it doesn’t get old. Then, you have to consider that ‘Miss You’ came out in 1978, some 15 years after they released their first single. That’s pretty impressive to be making a song like that 15 years after you started, given the amount of change that the 60s saw in music and culture. By the same token, ‘Start Me Up’, which was a number one hit in 1981 on release and was bought by Microsoft in 1994 for $14M to launch Windows 95, was 18 years after they first got on the scene. That’s impressive. The Beatles were together for 10 years. Interesting point.

So I get it. Satisfaction, Brown Sugar, Sympathy for the Devil, Can’t Always Get What you Want, Paint it Black – awesome. Great band, very influential. Still though, I’m in the Beatles camp. They changed music, and given that they were together for ten years the amount of hits they produced is unrivalled. They develop pop music as we know it now, and 90% of the songs on every one of their albums are good. Hard to beat.

That takes me to the next question though, influential people. Lists. Good fun. So here are some comparisons, top 10s from a few different sources.

The Billboard Top 100: 1. Beatles 2. Madonna 3. Elton John 4. Elvis Presley 5. Stevie Wonder 6. Mariah Carey 7. Janet Jackson 8. Michael Jackson 9. Whitney Houston 10. The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stone Magazine Top 100: 1. The Beatles 2. Bob Dylan 3. Elvis Presley 4. Rolling Stones 5. Chuck Berry 6. Jimi Hendrix 7. James Brown 8. Little Richard 9. Aretha Franklin 10. Ray Charles

The VH1 all time top 100: 1. The Beatles 2. Michael Jackson 3. Led Zeppelin 4. Rolling Stones 5. Bob Dylan 6. Jimi Hendrix 7. Prince 8. Elvis Presley 9. James Brown 10. Stevie Wonder

Top 10 Country Stars of All Time (CM Time): 1. Johnny Cash 2. Hank Williams 3. Merle Haggard 4. Patsy Cline 5. Jimmy Rogers 6. Bill Munroe 7. Carter Family 8. Willie Nelson 9. Waylon Jennings 10. George Jones

Top 10 Highest Seller: 1. Beatles (600 odd million) 2. Elvis Presley 3. Michael Jackson 4. ABBA 5. Madonna 6. Led Zepplin 7. Queen 8. Elton John 9. Mariah Carey 10. Celine Dion

The Guardian Top Ten Composers: 1. Bach 2. Beethoven 3. Mozart 4. Schubert 5. Debussy 6 Stravinsky 7 Brahms 8 Verdi 9 Wagner 10 Bartók

So then, what to make of all these lists!??! Well, maybe I should make a list too - a list of my top ten musicians? Well here you go, with a reason:

10. Hank Williams
Hank was the original cowboy; he made a huge difference to music in the US, brought together Cajun with bluegrass to really found country music. Seeing it’s so big now, I think it’s important to have him on this list, plus I really like his stuff.

9. Eazy-E
I think NWA was probably the biggest and most influential early Rap group, and given Eazy-E’s place in that he should have a place here. All about places really. He had some amazing lyrics and was one of the first off-the-hook MC ‘s, and NWA were amazing...

8. Aretha Franklin
I think she was an important role model for a generation, and I think she was also the ‘mother’ of Gospel. I also felt bad that there weren’t more women on this list, and I think that probably has the best voice on this list.

7. James Brown
The Father of Funk. He really influenced a generation too – not only did he bring about soul and funk, I think that he inspired P-Funk, Bootsy then the white funk like KC that ultimately turned into disco, then disco influenced dance music and a lot of the club music that we have today. Long bow, but I’m going to draw it.

6. Motzart
I think his body of work and his continued popularity, as well as his amazing personal ability, necessitate a spot on this list. He was also a bit of a freak.

5. Johnny Cash
Johnny had a huge influence on Elvis, wrote some amazing things (‘Folsom Prison Blues’ is one of my favourite songs), and made records from 1957 (With ‘I walk the line’) through to 2002 when he was on deaths door (how about ‘Hurt’ on that album – amazing). I think he also shaped a great deal of American culture. He's had a movie made about him too, surely that's a big deal!

4. Elvis Presley
Elvis is still ‘The King’ – whilst I don’t think he was as revolutionary as some of the other people on this list, his star power probably outshone most of them (‘Elvis was so good they let him appear in movies even though he couldn’t act. They’d let him sing his lines – ‘Hey Elvis, want some Lemonade?’ ‘Leeemoonnnadde, that cool, refreshing drink…’_ oh Eddie!), and he continues to have people travel to his shrine at Gracelands. The King has left the building, but he is still the King!

3. Chuck Berry
Chuck is the pioneer of rock and roll, and could equally be claimed as one of the pioneers of breaking down the racial divide in America through his music. His music was a huge influence on the Beatles and the Stones, and was just bloody good. Amazing guitarist, great lyricist too!

2. Bob Dylan
I think folk music played a really important part in the development of America, and Dylan was the darling child of folk. As such, he would have to be an American Darling. He wrote the songs of that generation, and that generation defined so much of our present culture (via modern day America) so it would be impossible to downplay his influence. He also led the protest movement against Nam, which was again a very important shift, and will continue to play a part in the future via those songs. I also think the number of people who have taken his music and reinterpreted it (Hendrix, Guns and Roses, The Byrds just as top line examples) show how important his music in. I think ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ is one of my favourite songs of all time too – it’s just sensational.

You take a while to like Dylan, I really grew into liking him; but now I’m here it’s hard not to love him.

1.The Beatles
Hard to put them anywhere but here. They’ve sold more records, influenced more people, had their music covered by the most people (look at ‘I Am Sam’ – a whole album of amazing covers. ‘Other side of Abbey Road’ too!!!), look at how they changed pop culture, look at how they still shape current pop music. Each of the Beatles had good solo careers too (well perhaps not Ringo) that also produced some of the biggest songs of all time – ‘Imagine’, ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’, ‘My Sweet Lord’ – they were amazing musicians and I doubt we will ever see the likes of this band again.

So there is my list. Some of the people I wanted to include but didn’t were Beethoven (huge classical composer), Michael Jackson (very influential in so many ways, bit of a freak too), Bob Marley (spoke for a generation and was an important activist), Earl Scruggs (Father of Bluegrass, which influenced so much) and Chet Atkins (one of the best guitar players of all time), but that wouldn’t make it a top ten but a top 15. So many more, but that’s just what I think.

So there you go! Boom!

Look what I did

I am so good with money, I buy things like this:




Still when it's back up to original spec it will be amazing

See!!!! See!!!!!

I just clicked onto the SMH (something I'm trying to do less and less, but thought I should have a look at Rugbyheaven) and saw this article on 'Bogans', written by David Nichols to promote his text (it's almost an ad isn't it).

How funny that this has come up straight after my Lucky Country Post!

Why did I miss this one?!?!

I hate picking things up late. I also hate realising that I’m ignorant too. It’s fair to say that the older you get the more you realise you don’t know, but still, when you miss out important information or texts you realise that you’re a long way behind the times.

I had a moment like this yesterday, it will continue till probably tomorrow night. I finished reading ‘Farewell my lovely’, the wonderful Raymond Chandler novel on Thursday night, so went to the book shop and got 3 more Penguins. I picked up ‘The Lucky Country’ by Donald Horne, I obviously knew the name but thought it was in the realm of ‘Shiralee’ or ‘Cloudstreet’ as an important Australian Fictional work, so hadn’t jumped on it earlier. I kept on thinking whilst I was reading the book (and I’ve read about 2/3 of it since picking it up last night, nearly sat and read the whole thing last night but was getting tired) that I wish I would have picked this up when I was 15 or 16, as everything would have made so much more sense.

Whilst written in 1964 (with several revisions subsequently), this text reflects Australian society perfectly even now. You can apply the key messages readily now, I think they really resonate:

‘Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck'

This quote is pretty widely known, and quite ironically it is often used incorrectly to imply that we are indeed rocking along. Really though, how relevant is it today?!? Carbon Tax anyone? Resource boom is putting plenty of money in the coffers, but Australians are no-where near courageous enough to have the foresight to cipher any of these funds to protect the long term future of the environment. Climate sceptics are falling by the way-side, so there is no debating that something should be done, but we do have second rate people who are too scared of business to take a stand

‘Most Australian writers seem to find it impossible to come to grips with their own people. They caricature their countrymen or idealize them for qualities most of them don’t posses’

Horne goes on to describe Australia as the first suburban nation, and talks about the difficulty of actually identifying any Australian cultural values of note. He also talks about the difficulty academics have with respecting Australia , and our unusual position between the US and the UK when looking at cultural influence.
I found this fascinating. The ugly American OS has been replaced by the ugly Australian, particularly in places like Bali and in the UK. I hate the parochial lust for booze that Australian’s OS have made synonymous with our country, and of how hard I find it to respect so many of my peers. There seems to be a lot of self loathing here, and I think it’s a really poignant statement that we have built ourselves up on nothing, really.

‘There is no real feel for Asia’

I think we’re still very ignorant of our neighbours. We may travel there more often now than what we did 40 years ago (I think all Australians wanted to travel back to the UK), but I believe that we still don’t respect our neighbours, and we don’t build the community of this region. Our immigration policy is disgraceful, we look towards Asia as merely a potential refuge for illegal detainees that we don’t want to process here. It’s terrible.

I don’t think I’ve made my points succinctly enough, Horne makes them very well. I’ll finish the book and write some more, but just wanted to jot something down now. Key take out I guess is that I wish I would have read this years ago – I would have been on the ball so much more!

The Time is Now

I don’t really have anything profound to write about at the moment. I’m sort of drifting through the day, so nothing too great to really drive my motivation.

Though I will tell a fun story. The guy next to me thinks my watch is quite hilarious. He thinks it looks silly on me. I can see why he thinks this, it is quite small on my wrist, but really I think it’s quite rad. What do you think?:



So what sort of watch should I wear? I have an expensive Swiss watch (other than my expensive Swiss Swatch) that is more manly, but do you need to run something like that? I don’t tend to wear it because I like to save it for special occasions. I also have a Polar heart rate monitor – I like to wear this as it makes me look sporty, but I don’t think it’s as cool as my swatch.

I always thought that a person’s shoes told a lot about their personality, but I think that it could be argued that their watch also says a lot about them. See how dull this story was? If I was really up with it I should have just spoken about Flavor Flav for a while, now THAT GUY knows how to tell the time!

Hey Good Looking...

Beautiful people tend to hang around with one another. Sometime they have an ugly friend, but they generally the surround themselves with other beautiful people.

I noticed this today at work of all places. All the ‘attractive’ girls were organising to go out with one another! Natural selection of the fittest? Perhaps!

Fortunately I too am surrounded by beautiful people, in fact as this photo demonstrates I’m probably the ugly one!



How good is this too - Hank Williams & Australian Crawl references! Amazing. So many musical references in one simple post

Snap Happy

You know what I really miss. Taking photos. When I bought my camera a few years ago, the criticism came that I wouldn’t use it enough. That’s probably quite fair criticism, as I’ve not used it as much as I should have.

But the issue is this – you can’t take an SLR out and about all the time with you, it’s just too big & not practical. Secondly, you really need to have interesting things to take photos of – you can’t really keep taking photos of the light in your house without it becoming a tad dull after a while.

So here is an idea – be more interesting. No, that’s what I need to do with EVERYTHING. No, what I should say is think more about taking photos, then go and do it.

DO IT!

... like a monkey with a miniature cymbal

Reoccurring themes. Themes that reoccur. I think you’d have enough of them here to last a life time, don’t you think? Yeah for sure, I’m all about it.

So themes – me over analysing things. In this instance, I was talking with a friend who’s OS about their birthday celebrations over the weekend. Full of drugs, booze, and wild times. There was some chat about financial difficulties about living over there, and there was talk about how wild it is. There was talk of tattoos, of future trips, and of how good life is, despite having just given up work because they loathed it. And more financial difficulties after run ins with debt collectors.

I thought initially about how irritating I find these discussions and their choices – I feel that they’re self destructive, that it’s all excessive and lacks any responsibility or accountability for their actions/decisions, save for perhaps a hole in the nasal passages, significant debt and some lame tattoos. I find it hard to deal with as I look for rationale behind all these actions/decisions, which is obviously hard to find – near on impossible really.

WELL I was thinking more about it more last night & this morning (wow, more thinking) and I had a very different thought. A bit of an ‘Aha’ moment. What is wrong with living to the max? Nothing really, it’s actually not a bad idea at all. Life is really so short, so you should live life to the max! I think I like to try and do that too – I like to be on the go all the time, but in a slightly different way. I should in fact respect this individual for being adventurous and living it up. But I don’t. For a clear reason…

I don’t like stupid people. Clearly there are some stupid actions here, contradictions and poor decisions, and that’s what really frustrate me. What they’re doing doesn’t interest me (i.e. the way they’re living OS) which is fine, but it’s the way they go about it that is stupid. So that is that. But still I worry.

So why do I worry? Well I can’t, based purely on my new understanding that you have to live life to the max. Life is too short to worry about other people & their decisions; you can’t change them. I still think that you need to have some understanding of the repercussions of your actions, but you should evaluate them and weigh them up in the light of the situation. If you’re naff you can’t do this, so that’s the problem.

I again feel better. I’ve over analysed an area of pervious over-analysis, which makes this ‘super-analysis’ amazing. Perhaps overdone, and it’s been done too often, but look at the outcome! Solid movements. Solid! Did this make sense? I’ve drawn a flow chart of the understanding to flesh it out simply:



Did you like the Hot Chip reference too? I did. The song's going Over and Over and Over and Over in my head now...