Monday, December 07, 2009

Hallelujah!

Went to see a performance of Handel's Messiah at Sheffield Cathedral this evening. This was the first time that i have seen this piece performed. Me and Danni walked into town straight from work and, befitting an occasion of high culture, we had a McDonald's. I noticed that some workmen were, at the same time, removing all the fixed signage from the Bradford and Bingley building opposite. Sadly this bank fell during the crash and were bought out by Santander. After finishing our meal we walked past the building and i asked if i could take the little bowler hat, a symbol synonymous with the Bradford and Bingley brand. So now i'm the proud owner of this little hat :)
The music in the concert was beautiful, the acoustics of the cathedral are lovely. Must admit there were the odd bits where you just wished the singers could finish a word without so much repeating and warbling. During the interval we went to get a drink and had to join the world's longest queue. As I was closing in on the drink point i could see an old dear looking my way and she seemed to recognise me. I wasn't too sure that i knew her but gave a nod and a smile back, just in case. This obviously caused a stir amongst her friends and one of them turned and said to me, "you are one of the soloists aren't you!" which made me laugh in side as i have perhaps the worst tone deaf voice you can imagine. I had to confess that unfortunately i was not and made a mental note not to wear a white shirt and black trousers to such a gig.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

blogging, so 2006

not blogged for ages, why is that? Am i too busy or can't i be bothered, or maybe it's so 2006. Blogging's for nerds who aren't busy enough. But i like blogging and maybe i miss it a bit. Or perhaps it's cos i'm reading jPod and i'm feeling all nostalgic for 2007. Loads of interesting stuff must've happened and will i miss those memories and thoughts not captured here? Were hours spent on facebook worth it. Seemed fun at the time, but it seems these days i can't be bothered to keep up to date with a myriad of people. Any way stuff has happened, good and bad and days, weeks and years have been ticked off. So anything to show? weddings, friends, kisses, life, death, job, worries. Anything new? dreams. is there time to dream. yes. no. but dreams stay dreams, time moves. can you strive for something tangible, or are all tangibles fleeting? Yes i'm getting all douglas coupland, and that's why i love his books. do i Like them because i elements of myself in his characters or is he astute at capturing the zeitgeist. Do i wish i was the Zeitgeist. Or am i just a nerd that gets excited when someone writes about a character that is excited about pi and prime numbers. I love coupland's quick and crisp narrative that floats between story and random interventions. Pages of chinese characters, computer code, lists and ingredients. There's something that excites me and compels me to read. mediocre. life. nonsense. there is so much to see and do yet time just seems to slip through and if i sift through all the mundaneness is there anything of value left. and who measures that value? what about the kingdom of god? Is that mundane too? maybe i should blog just to remind myself how mundane life is, and maybe i will see things that count. what counts? and who says it counts# who says i need a question mark^

just downloaded a new version of iTunes, probably sold my soul by agreeing to the new terms and conditions, waited ages for the installation, rebooted and not a lot has changed. i can still play my tunes.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Michael

Turned on the radio last night just before heading to sleep, listening to 6Music when between songs they head over to the news room. An unusual thing to happen on a predominantly music station, and there I hear the news that Michael Jackson has been rushed to hospital and there are reports that he wasn't breathing. Immediately it sounds very grave and I feel a sense of shock, this is not a man whose time it is to die. Then there are the rumours that he has died and I just can't get to sleep, so wander downstairs and watch some 24 hour news, where this is the top story. At that time there are various reports that he has died or in a coma, until eventually the sad news is reported that he has died. Unbelievable. How can someone I have never met, nor indeed, desired to meet's death cause me an emotional shockwave? There are few celebrity deaths that have stirred me, and I can still remember the events now. Waking up in November 1991 to hear that Freddy Mercury had died, even though his illness was well known, probably the first person to die that I would recognise as a pop star. Then getting into grunge music during my teen years, being particularly influenced by the music of Nirvana, there was the shock of Kurt Cobain's suicide in April 1994. This news I remember hearing during a power cut at home, listening to the radio on my walkman. The news of Princess Diana's death in 1997 shocked the world, and finally the death of John Peel in 2004. Michael joins this list, and it's interesting that the majority of this list are in someway connected to the music industry. I love music, and growing up in the 80s, Michael Jackson was just part of the scene. Everyone new who Michael Jackson was, even when i wasn't really into music, I was aware of Thriller, that video, and his pepsi advert where he caught fire. Autumn 1987 I can vividly remember a newsround dedicated to the release of Bad, people rushing into the stores and buying handfuls of LPs. Everyone at school could sing "I'm bad, I'm bad, you know I'm really bad." A few years later I remember sitting glued to the bbc who were going to exclusively show Michael's video to "Black and White". The suspense surrounding it was justified, it was a ridiculous bombastic and expensive video featuring Slash on guitars. To be honest I recall being fairly ambivalous to the music, but was completely blown away with the special effects used to morph people's faces from one to another. The first time I'd seen such technology, something which will cause no stir these days, but back then it was the talk of my peer group. How could a computer morph people's features - amazing! Though the succeeding periods saw the demise in the quality of his music, he continued to be headline news and sell records by the bucketload. Hi unusual and eccentric behaviour, his fascination with children began to lead to him being vilified by the press - culminating in the Martin Bashir documentary which painted Michael as the weirdo we all thought he was. Though I'm sure this documentary was deliberately made to portray him so, and I expect if they wished they could've compiled footage to portray a completely different person. However, even during all these allegations, Michael continued to showboat, turning up to court in pyjamas. So I guess throughout my life, Michael has continually been in the headlines - for exceptional music and for his eccentricities. And his music, particularly from the 70s and 80s always makes you want to get up and dance. I was hoping that his forthcoming live performances would be great and remind people that it was the music and performances that were what made him Michael Jackson, not his eccentricities. His death will sadden many, and I'm sure there will be swathes of over-emotional fans, cos he had such a crazy fan base, and I remain saddened. The death of an ever present showman who has always been there throughout my life has gone. A stark reminder to the fragility and shortness of life, we are just dust in the wind.