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musical weekend

I have had a rather musical weekend. On Friday night Mum and I went to the Powerhouse to take in a show as part of the Brisbane Cabaret Festival and on Saturday night I went to see Bernard Fanning at the Convention Centre.

Barbara Fordham is a voice that I guess that most people outside of Brisbane will never experience which is a real pity as this lady can sing. I would personally put her up there with Eva Cassidy on vocal talent and they both do really good versions of Fever.

For one of our pieces of assessment for year 12 English we went to see a rock musical called Still Standing and the singer in the band just blew me away with her voice. That was June or July, by Christmas I had seen her perform a further three times in a genre that she could own, the jazz standards as well as some other little pieces thrown in for fun. Then I guess I sort of lost track of when she was playing gigs. The other week I saw an ad for the Brisbane Cabaret Festival and spotted her name on the poster.

Off Mum and I trotted to the Powerhouse for a delightful night of music, conversation and fun. Barbara was the second act of the night, the first act was Jacob Diefenbach, a young lad who could certainly play the piano and had a couple of good songs. Then there was Barbara and her band playing a delightful set with plenty of laughs, commentary and ripping vocals. If you are ever in Brisbane and see the name Barbara Fordham on a poster or in a gig guide you should make every effort to go along.

Saturday night, I went along to the Bernard Fanning show, with support from Sime Nugent and Augie March. Ahhh what a night! Sime Nugent was pretty cool, just a man and his guitar singing about life. Augie March are a band that I have heard of for years and probably heard a few songs on the radio but never really “listened” to them before. They were pretty rocking too so will have to have a good check out of some of their songs. Then it was Mr Bernard Fanning, the poster boy of the Brisvegas music scene. He took over the world with the boys from Powderfinger and again with his solo album Tea and Symphony. He rocked. It was a really good night and he was well worth seeing live as he sounded even better live than on the CD.

Next up is U2 next Tuesday night 🙂

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Regrets

There has been many times this year and in the past when I have put money, uni and other things before going to concerts and in the end ultimately regret it.

Michael Franti and Ben Folds both played in Brisbane last month, both two shows that I had ummed and aahed over about because of the price but also two artists that I enjoy dearly. When I decided I wanted to go it was too late and they were sold out. Earlier this year I regret not going to have seen Beth Orton, Martha Wainwright, Tristan Prettyman, The Posies, Misfits, Bouncing Souls, Sigur Ros, Xavier Rudd, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Gerling, Split Enz, Claire Bowditch, Jason Mraz, Bic Runga and Dianna Ross (but her show has been cancelled so I haven’t really missed out) and so many others.

In two weeks time Chris Isaak is playing at a local vineyard with Alex Lloyd and Ross Wilson, I ummed and ahhed and now it is sold out 🙁 Now somebody’s (really) crying 😉

My mantra now is that I will go with my gut feeling when I first hear about the concert, price will not be the determining factor; the factor will be what sort of rotation do I have them on in winamp or have I heard good things about their shows.

I don’t want to look back at my life in five, ten years time and regret not going to those concerts as I continue to enjoy their music especially when I hold such special memories of concerts from the Mountain Goats, The Whitlams and others.

The other day I saw an ad in the paper saying that tickets for Madeleine Peyroux go on sale this coming Friday (well that was yesterday) and this morning when I was cycling to work I saw a billboard advertising the concert so one of the first things I did when I came home was to buy my ticket 🙂 I am five rows from the stage and pretty much smack in the middle 🙂 I stumbled across Madeleine from something I had read about Yann Tiersen (the artist who did the Amélie soundtrack) and was just enchanted by her voice, listening to the magic it weaves in the air, just magical stuff, I can’t wait!

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I cried

Nearing the end of four years at uni, yesterday I came home and cried for the first time about events that had happened at uni.

I didn’t cry because someone had said something mean to me or a friend.
I didn’t cry because I had fallen over or stubbed my toe.
I didn’t cry because someone had died.
Instead …
I cried for the students and teachers who will say that we are above the general public in our understanding of a topic but then we put ourselves below then them when we display our ignorance about a topic.
I cried for the people who use Arab and Muslim interchangeably.
I cried for the people who will talk about the Middle East but display no idea about the diversity that exists there or the history of the region.
I cried for the people who see a bias in media that is not Western but don’t see a bias in our media or don’t see anything wrong with our bias.
I cried for the future of the world and for humanity.

I know I am not perfect, I know I don’t know everything, I know I am not the most eloquent but I will be the first to say I don’t know enough about a topic to comment fully on it.

I was able to say a few things at the start of class before it turned but after that I sat there shell shocked about what was been said or perhaps more about what was not been said.
It was a very quiet class compared to our usual class discussion and I was glad that there were two people who were trying to voice views that are similar to mine but saddened that what they tried to add seemed to be largely ignored.

Every so often I will hear things in public life that may be factually wrong and you make a comment and try to move on but hearing those things in a university context just makes you cry and realise that the future of humanity is perhaps more shaky than I like to think.

Man In Black
Johhny Cash (1971)

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there’s a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he’s a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you’d think He’s talking straight to you and me.

Well, we’re doin’ mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin’ cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we’re reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought ‘a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin’ for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen’ that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen’ that we all were on their side.

Well, there’s things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin’ everywhere you go,
But ’til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You’ll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything’s OK,

But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
‘Till things are brighter, I’m the Man In Black

Now for some lighter notes.
Carlton has just released their new Carlton Draught ad for the year following on the success of the Big Ad. This year the ad spoofs off that memorable dancing scene from Flashdance. It is not up on youtube yet so just go to the Flash Beer website to view it.

I have had the most delightful birthday week. Matthew gave me Bride and Prejudice on DVD (Bride, not Pride!) and then one of my dearest friends at uni gave me a Corban & Blair notebook as well as piece of cake! The cake was not just any ordinary cake but Date and Pecan in a Polenta Ricotta cake! Total yumness!

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21 today :)

Sometime round 3:00pm this arvie I entered my twenty-first year of life.

Twenty-One years of been Helen Thura Palsson or Helen Þura Pálsdóttir depending on where you are in the world.
Twenty-One years of been the littlest sister to Karl, Anika, Herdis, Hafthor, Toti and Palli.
Nineteen and a half years of being the older sister to Matthew.
Almost at the end of seventeen years of schooling.
Three trips overseas.
Countless km’s spent on foot, bike, canoe or car exploring this Great Southern Land.
Friends made, friends lost and friends re-united.
At least one computer around for almost as long as I can remember.
Close to eleven years of orthodontics.
Four different musical instruments.
One broken arm, two broken toes, torn ligaments in my fingers and my ankle.
Countless trips to the library.
Four different jobs.
Three cameras of my own.
And countless other little bits and pieces that make me who I am.

I went to work as usual at 5am this morning and had the most delightful shift. When I rang the bell to be let in I was greeted with a big “Happy Birthday” from my closest friend at work so that was very nice and then as I moved through the store getting ready for work more people came up and wished me a good day. Then about 7:30am (30mins before the store opened) my line manager put a message over the PA system telling everyone it was my birthday and they should find me and wish me Happy Birthday.

Every Monday a lot of people start work at 5am, whereas on other days they would start between 7am and 9am, this is because of all the things that need to be done to set the shop for a new week of trading; display ends need to be built and tickets need to be changed (that is what I do). Because of this every Monday a group of us have morning tea together and we have a little roster set up so we all take turns brining in something to share. One of the other girls who I am also close to had her turn today so she made me a white chocolate mud cake with Happy 21st Helen on it as well as 22 little tiny cupcakes that spelt out Happy 21st Birthday Helen, it was so very nice! There was of course singing and chatting and people trying to remember how the tune to Happy Birthday Helen goes.

Yep, there is a song by the pretty classy Australian rock band Things of Stone and Wood called Happy Birthday Helen and every Aussie worth their salt knows the song. Of course the lyrics may not be totally relevant to my life but still it is Happy Birthday Helen.

Happy Birthday Helen
Things of Stone and Wood
[audio:Things of Stone and Wood – Happy birthday Helen.mp3]

Let’s not forget last night
Yeah, how we drove along the Yarra
How we sang harmonies
To Carole King

These three years now just gone
They are the legends of my mind
We both kneel at these rocks
To drink of the mem’ry

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion
Happy birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…

We kissed on that bridge that fell down
While we held hands at the Taj
We’ve been stuck in a cave
With that bloke who says Oi Am

And when I cried for my cruel heart
You rubbed my back ’til I felt better
We ate bread on the lake
And yearned for the seasons

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion
Happy birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion

You are the storm on the ocean, poems in the trees
The smell of the winter that haunts me each autumn
You’re my everything
You are my everything
You are my everything
Happy Birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Shake

Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Happy birthday Helen

Tonight for dinner I made Roast Chicken with Sultana and Almond Cous Cous (from the Claudia Roden book) and Mum made Mulberry Crumble with the Mulberries I picked at the farm yesterday on our way home from having a birthday afternoon tea with Grandad. It was all just so very nice!

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The All-American Rejects

Last night Sam and I went went along to The Arena to see The All-American Rejects, hellogoodbye and Avalon Drive.

Sam, her ticket and the gig poster

The Rejects were great, way better than when we saw them last year with Simple Plan, I would say they have developed their stage show more. It was a pretty good night overall and the plus of it been an all-ages show meant that it finished nice and early but of course the minus was all the under age kids who need to take the “etiquette of a rock concert” series of lessons that include a study of how a mosh pit works and how to behave in one. 18+ shows are fine, people all play nicely, all-age shows are a whole new ball game.

Damion Page Jesse Kurvink and Forrest Kline Forrest Kline Tyson Ritter II Tyson Ritter I

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Advance Australia Fair

I reckon our national anthem is a pretty good song, however there are just some cases when you wish the anthem was, say, slighlty more progressive, so when I came across a reference to ABC Comedian Adam Hills perfoming such a version this morning, I had to find myself a copy. A quick search of youtube and there she was in all her beauty 🙂 enjoy.