How brightly they shine

This city is about to reach a major birthday, 100 years as the capital of Australia.  A political centre that has grown over time, drawing people to it from across the country and the globe, Canberra continues to build as a centre of creativity and thought.  Though many Australians would deny it, this city has a lot that captures the imagination.

Recently tagged the second most liveable city in Australia, and let down only by its extremes of weather, tonight it is pleasantly warm, and a great evening to explore Enlighten, now an annual festival that makes the most of the city's public buildings.   Colour, light, and movement - and everyone is out with their cameras and tripods, families and friends.  As enchanting as the pictures on the buildings, couples and families poise like statues, young and old, waiting for the pictures to change, and celebrating together the beauty of this event.  Enlighten is part of the Canberra Centenary festival, and will continue through to 9 March.

I'm sorry Shane Howard

I'm sorry Shane Howard, I googled you on my phone while watching your show as the opener for Carole King.
I'm sorry Shane Howard, I didn't remember you were the singer of the Goanna Band's hit song from the 80s about Ayers Rock.
I'm sorry Shane Howard, I didn't realise your website was going to launch into playing that song.
I'm sorry Shane Howard, I should know my phone better,
I tried squeezing my phone, and swiping it to get the browser menu up, but nothing worked.
I'm so so sorry...
- it was me playing Solid Rock from the audience while you were introducing it, and me who couldn't turn it off.
I'm sorry Shane Howard, but I did enjoy much of your show, especially the song you opened with - I'd rather be here.  It was wonderful.

Special mention should be made of Carole King's fantastic show that followed.  It is, in fact, her birthday today (thanks google).  So Happy Birthday Carole, and thank you for writing the sound track to our lives, for continuing to sing it so beautifully and for being such a glowing and energetic performer.  What an inspiration!

Song to the city

Just went for another evening walk.  I am not far from Parliament House and tonight I heard the sounds of the Australia Day concert as I strolled.  Australia Day is celebrated tomorrow - the anniversary of the first European settlement.  As one brave candidate for Australian of the Year said - maybe it's time to debate the date and find a better day that acknowledges the centuries of Aboriginal settlement that came before.

There is not much to say about the music drifting from the concert - mainstream Australian artists, some who've been around forever (Jimmy Barnes) and a few Australian idol winners or runners up (Guy Sebastian, Timomatic).   It's nice to be close to a celebration though.

We are expecting other local celebrations this year.  I was just reminded from the Parliament House website that the building is 25 years old.  That is ancient for Canberra.  We are still a young city.  Our centenary falls this year, but we've really only grown from a country town in the late 50s and early 60s.

Today the population of Canberra is about 350,000 working in the public service and service industries.  It is still a place where there are usually three degrees of separation, not the often quoted six - most people you meet know someone who knows someone you know.  It's a livable city though - good restaurants, lots of theatre, music and genuine people.

There is a confusing richness of events planned for Canberra's centenary - many will take place during Canberra Week in mid March.  One of the objectives is to increase national pride in Canberra.  As the capital city, and therefore the political centre, it can be the subject of some disdain from other Australians.  It seems we have set out to improve the way Australians view their capital by having the world's longest champagne bar - surely a quaint way indeed to show our worth.  Also learnt today of some kind of build them up knock them down event in the city - building a city out of cardboard boxes - I bought tickets to that!  It all reminds me of our Y2K celebrations - water skiing on our lake, and planes in formation overhead.

Canberra was designed by Walter and Marion Griffin, a husband and wife team from America.  The central components are built around the natural geography - triangles that fall between the local hills, with a man-made lake in the centre.  I was once told by a friend of the mystical powers of a location down by the lake (from where we watched the water skiing), and that the Griffins intended that this (and Canberra) would become a centre of creativity.  Perhaps, like all creativity, it takes time to mature.  Maybe 100 years, and a long line of champagne will see that happening sooner rather than later.

Before the March party we get a day off for Australia Day - Monday is a public holiday though the actual day is tomorrow.   Apparently it is traditional to have a barbecue on Australia Day - something I've never (ever) done.  I've been invited to a barbecue tomorrow though, so that will be something new.

Enjoy your weekend, wherever you are.  I will be sleeping in.

The hammock swing

It is still hot.  I drink water.  I sit in air conditioned restaurants with friends who don't want to be outside in the heat.  I love the heat though.

So sometime after I get home, after 9pm, I head off.  I walk.  One foot in front of the other, across the bridge down the bike path, under the trees.  I walk along the path I usually run, cutting through the warm air.  Moving forward.  One step.  Then the next.

At first I am walking just to walk.  Then I remember a destination, a place I have run past many times, and though it always catches my interest, the rhythm of my runs stop me from stopping.  Walking there is taking longer than running, but I have more time to observe. I walk down the path and pass houses with their lights on, their occupants inside, resting and avoiding the heat.  One house has fairy lights stretched through its garden, passable as backyard decoration, rather than Christmas.  Surely it is too late for that.  These are lazy summer days, hot and begging us to rest.

The path stretches on.  My feet keep moving, and my mind quietens.  I cross roads.  I think about the dark, and feel safe, though I am alone, a little melancholy and wishing I had some company.   Then I arrive at the park, and find it free.  I jump on the swing hammock and it rocks underneath me.  I could fall asleep as I rock, and I wonder if I could stay here on this swing in the Canberra suburbs all night.

Above me the silhouette of the canopy spreads across the sky, behind that clouds and breaking through them a crescent moon, and stars.  I close my eyes and rock, then open them to enjoy the trees. I am in no hurry to move, happy just lying here.

Then suddenly I hear voices.  The end of this rest, I think, and jump up quickly.  Without hesitation I begin walking again, heading back home, this time along the road.  My peace disturbed I feel a little less safe, but quickly regather.  My own shadow towers over me as I walk home, and I know that any other would appear quickly too.  The occasional car drives past and adds to my comfort.  And there are no people about.

It is hot.  But I love the heat.  One day, maybe, I will live in a place that is hot like this most of the year, somewhere where most of the people step out of their houses on nights like this, and there is no reason to fear a voice in the night.  And where some of those people might walk with me.

Counting

A short post to honour summer.  Hot, hot days and sometimes restless nights.  Swimming laps, lazing, reading and hanging with friends.

Been back at work for a few weeks though, so over the daytime hours it's hard to be completely restful.  There is plenty to do, I enjoy my job and it may keep me going for several years.

Part of me is counting though.  Knowing that I will reach a point in a year or so when it will be viable to stop working for a while, or longer.  I have a long list of things I'd like to do then.  Writing, traveling, perhaps working overseas.  Exploring other cultures.  And learning - music and Indonesian - whether formally or just to have more time to teach myself.  So I am counting days and months till I might take an extended break.

Ironically, counting is the thing I need to focus on with music.  My playing has stretched into time signatures other than 4/4 and 3/4 and understanding the differences can be a challenge.  I seem to be able to identify the notes quite readily now, and do understand that some notes are a half or a quarter as long as others.  There are unwanted pauses at the end of bars though, and sometimes my playing just doesn't reflect the tune.

The good news is I'm able to adjust, and it seems that rhythm is something I'm much better at by ear, by listening to how a tune should be played.  I think this is because I've listened to lots of music over my life.

I know the solution is to count out the rhythm then play it, and I try to use a metronome, but that seems another layer of concentration when I'd much rather be able to disappear into the tunes.  Guess that's the aim though, to let the tune take over, and the counting is just the way to get there.

Searching for Singer Songwriters

In fact - it hasn't so much been a search but a flood of live performances and movies.  Over the last month I have been immersed in the work of one singer songwriter after another, have learnt lots about their lives, and how their music reflects their times.  Oh, and I have also been learning to swim.

I'm actually a bit surprised myself when I list out all the shows I've seen (and also by the swimming but that comes later).  Here is what I've been up to:

• First, Steve Kilbey in a bookshop, as written about earlier.  After this gig I discovered that Steve has a fabulous blog where he features extraordinary existential poetry, moment after moment in his life, colorfully described, and just waiting to be harvested into song.
• Then Mal Webb, at The Artists Shed, playing at a relatively new venue in nearby Queanbeyan.  The Artists Shed is an eclectic place - in an industrial part of town it combines gallery, small theatre and performance space with the feel of a party in a 60s group house.  Not yet fully discovered, but certainly another venue to add to the growing number of boutique spots emerging in Canberra.
• This was followed by a fabulous theatrical show featuring Michelangelo and the Tin Star at the Polish Club.
• Then I saw a show about Woody Guthrie to celebrate the 100 years since his birth, again at The Artists Shed - performed by Shortis and Simpson, a local theatrical duo.
• Soon after I saw a new movie out about Paul Kelly - Stories of me.
• And then another movie Charles Bradley:  Soul of America.
• And this week, Homemade Jam, a local singer songwriter competition, featuring some great talent, all ages - old and young.
• And lastly another movie - this time about 70s star Rodriguez - Searching for Sugarman - an amazing story of a great American musician who didn't know he'd made it big in South Africa (and Australia).

So what makes a great singer songwriter.  Is it a compulsion?  Is it the incredible ability to observe and recast what is happening to the people around you? Is it a life lived hard with love and passion? From the shows I've seen I've learnt that:

• if you are a singer songwriter, and you are short of material, the bible provides an endless source (Steve Kilbey, Paul Kelly), 
• or else try the back catalogue of other great performers (Woody Guthrie, Paul Kelly).
• don't hesitate to use cliches - they resonate with people.
• it is never too late to gain recognition (Charles Bradley, Rodriguez).
• and recognition can come when you least expect it and in unexpected ways (Charles Bradley, Rodriguez)
• you don't need a big audience to have fun (Mal Webb),
• if you have a back catalogue, the audience will want to hear the songs they know which means playing them again, and again and again.  You can get away though with just playing part of the song and the chorus(Steve Kilbey, Mal Webb, Shortis/Simpson interpreting Guthrie).
• you may become an influence to others (Woody Guthrie, oh and probably all of the others)
• you are unlikely to get rich writing songs, but your songs will be a rich reflection of your times.
• everybody has to start somewhere (Singer/Songwriter competition)
• a good singer songwriter has a memorable voice and a feel for music and a soul that shines.  It is always fleeting, but a magical thing when the world connects with them.  And outside these moments, most are humble and surprised at the attention.

I enjoy music, seeing it live, learning about how others have lived musical lives, and listening to the tunes that hold their souls.  Music is both an intimate and a collective thing, and a way to remember we were here.  It is the beat within us all.

As for my own musical journey, I continue to play guitar daily.  I have joined the local guitar society and am rehearsing with the ensemble every fortnight.  There will be a performance in December and hopefully I will be ready.  If I am ready it will have a lot to do with the young school of music student who has been teaching me for the last few months.  She has been great at helping me interpret the sheet music, become better at rhythm and learn to play notes all over the neck.

It is too early to be writing songs, though one day I will (I hope).

And as for the swimming - I am training for novice triathlons and as part of that am learning more about freestyle.  I have always loved water and can swim breast stroke forever but have always struggled with breathing when it comes to freestyle.  It seems the first thing to do is to treat swimming as an art, and to concentrate on floating forward gracefully.  From that with some focus on the arms and the body the swimming comes - and I'm pleased to say doing this has had an effect.  I am swimming laps comfortably.  What a revelation!

Poems float and this one will too, to change in time

Land locked
Looking for oceans
Slowly opening to sunshine
Skin stretched across asanas
Bending, breathing
What a simple joy
To be a voice that is heard by standing still
On earth
In time
Just