Rollercoaster

Currently Listening To :: No Such Thing :: John Mayer

I normally try to not do the whole "this is what happened today" type posts, but this is the epitomy of frustration...

Upon Riss' recommendation, I downloaded this song, and fell in love immediately with it. Reading Riss' site, I couldn't believe my luck. JOHN MAYER WAS COMING TO SYDNEY, and his concert was on Sunday!

In very un-Ben like fashion, I fell out of my seat at the computer in attempts to rush to the phone and call Riss. Stumbling up the stairs while trying to find her number in my mobile, I finally made it to the phone.

Beep...beep..."Hi, this is Larissa, unfortunately I can't come to the phone right now..."

Ben: Riss!!! It's Ben here! Are you going to the John Mayer concert this Sunday?!?! Have you got tix yet?!!?! Have they sold out?!?!?! Call me about this PLEAAAASE!!!!!"

I breathelessly called The Metro next, hoping that tickets hadn't sold out, and that even if I couldn't reach Riss, I could still get a ticket...

Beep...Beep...Ben: "Hi, is this the Metro? I was wondering if the tickets for the John Mayer concert have sold out yet?!?!"

Reception: "Um...the John Mayer concert isn't on until next month. And tickets don't go on sale until next Wednesday."

....

Ben: "Um, thanks...yeah...um, I guess I'll go on Wednesday...um...thanks...yeah...

click

YES...yesyesyesyesyes...there was still plenty of time to get tickets, work out what day it was, and make sure I had all my work done by then. How cool would this be? An artist who I actually liked, who was actually coming to Sydney for a concert. I hadn't felt this way since I bought tickets to my first Wang Faye concert in Taiwan almost 2 years ago...

Scanning through the John Mayer website, I checked the date in my diary..hmm...27th of October. Now why does that sound familiar?

Stop.

Oh no...why was there a "Depart for Malaysia" on the 24th? And WHY was there a "Leave KL at 9:55am" written on the 28th?!?

It couldn't be...it CAN'T be...the wedding!!!! Ben places head in hands and slumps over keyboard

Bring!!! Bring Bring!!!!

Ben: Hello?

Riss: Hey Ben, I just got your message. You're coming to the John Mayer concert right? Don't worry though, it's not this Sunday, it's not until...

I Know You Got Soul!!!

Currently Listening To :: Spooky :: Dusty Springfield

I had the privelage of attending the Arts Week opening last Monday night (well, actually, it was open to everyone, if they bothered to turn up), and part of the entertainment was this accapella group called The Elementals. Dressed in purple and black, I thought they were part of a Church choir who had lost their way into the University Club Bar on their way to practice. So imagine my surprise when they were called up on stage...

2 men, 3 women. All Caucasian. They introduced themselves, and told the audience how they were an accapella group, who's specialty was Black Gospel songs. Now if one of your eyebrows is raised already after hearing this, imagine both my eyebrows in disarray as they began to sing. Technically, I couldn't fault them; they hit all the right notes, and they had excellent harmony. Their soloists gave it their all, and I could tell they were just happy to be up on stage singing and doing their thing.

But, (and there's always a but), there was something lacking. Something small...impercetible at first, but with each song, it became increasingly clear what was missing.

They had no soul.

Now tempted as I am to reach for my dictionary or google the word soul, I'm resisting; I don't think the kind of soul I'm talking about will be there. These singers, while technically excellent, just couldn't tap into the soul of the song they were singing.

So before anyone starts to start that whole "only Black people have soul", let's get it straight. "Soul music" may have been pioneered by Black people, and I still think all the best soul music is by Black artists, but that doesn't make it exclusively a "Black" thing. If you say Nelly has soul, to me it really depends on if you mean Nelly "Whoa Nelly!" Furtado or "Country Grammer" Nelly. For me, Furtado wins hands down. And don't get me started on the whole "neo-soul" issue...

Just running quickly through my mp3 list, taking out, let's see...

Avril Lavigne - Complicated (soul clap)
Blue - Fly By (no dap)
Cecelia Cheung - A Different Me (no dap)
Jay Chow - Simple Love (soul clap)
Incubus - Are You In? (soul clap)
Nelly Furtardo - Shit On The Radio (soul clap)
Norah Jones - Don't Know Why (soul clap)
Sun Yan Zi - Beginning To Understand (soul clap)
Tenacious D - Tribute (soul clap)

Now while there is more clapping in the above list than anything else, you'll notice that none of them fit in the "traditional" chategory of soul music. But to me, those tracks that get a soul clap get the nod from me, while those that didn't...well, don't. Most of the artists in the above list are doing their own thing; not trying to copy anyone else, singing and playing in a way that works for them. And if they can for only one song, then they should hang up their record deal after that one song (which is where I think part of the phenom of the one-hit wonder comes from). I'm not saying these artists can't make decent music either; but to me, it's this difference that has me going to the store and buying that CD, or just ripping it to my mp3 player.

So while I think it's going to take some thinking trying to not associate "soul music" with "Black people" (as easy as it is to try not to associate "country and western" music with "White people"), I'm not trying to convince anyone out there. No one has to tell you that you're listening to soul music, because soul music is felt exactly there, and if you're feelin' it there, then you're feelin' it. If knowledge is food for the soul, then I think soul music is the warm sticky-date pudding on a cold winters night...indescribably good.

So to sum up my case, it's the Constitution, it's Mabo, it's the vibe, and...it's just the vibe.

I rest my case.

Ben sits down

In The End...

Currently Listening To :: Waiting To Reach You :: Travis

I got off the train home about 8pm. It was dark, cold, and it was spitting here and there. The air was so heavy with rain you could smell it, and I had just seen the most beautifully depressing movie I have seen in a long time. As I realised no one was home, the scene was set for a long melancholy walk home. So I turned on my MD player and began the trudge home...

And my mind began to wonder...the building inundation of September 11th rememorabilia, the feelings evoked by the movie, the fact I haven't been to see Gavin's grave in a while...

Put up your hands if you’ve ever wished you could live forever. Let’s be honest. Now assuming most of you put you hands up and currently aren’t suicidal, keep your hands up if you think that you can choose when you want to die. I thought so…so if we already know we can’t live forever and that we probably can’t choose the time when we go, how come death is reserved for those selling life insurance, wills and people in the “twilight” of their lives?

While a lot of us rarely take time out to stop and smell the roses, even fewer of us have even contemplated the concept of death. And who could blame us? We’re (mostly) (relatively) young, in the process of gaining an education, and the future is still ours for the taking. So where does death fit into the scheme of things? Well, for the majority right now, it luckily doesn’t.

For a smaller number however, death is a very real concept. We are blessed that our generation so far has not had to go to war and risk our lives on the battlefield, and that modern science has reduced sickness and life-threatening disease to a minimum. Here in Australia, we are indeed a lucky country.

But what strange times we live in. While the specter of war and death is an everyday occurrence in some countries, modern film now graphically depicts death to the extent that watching people being cut down in a swath of bullets is just another 5-second action scene. Realistic computer games (such as the hugely popular Counter Strike) where the whole object is to eliminate the opposition with realistic weapons have become worldwide phenomenon. Rappers and rockers alike scream about killing and death; the record label Murder INC is the name that holds some of today’s most successful commercial artists. It’s almost like death has become a commodity, just another tool with which to make money. Death, like sex, sells, and no matter the age group, we’re consuming in mass amounts.

While we may deal with death everyday in an abstract way, it is the realness and finality of death that death has for us in this life is universal. No matter what religion you hold on to or what culture you come from, the result is the same, and no matter how many prayers you say, how many questions why, or how much anger you hold, the fact of the matter is the matter of fact. Nothing is going to bring that person back.

Death comes to us all, and when the time comes, there is no bargaining with death like the movies would have you believe. It strikes like a bolt of lightning with no thunder, it comes unseen like a blast of wind that chills you to the bone. But most of all, it leaves you empty inside, asking questions that there are no answers to, and looking for answers there is no comfort in....

What is endurance?

It's holding on...holding on...