Musical Geography December 24, 2007

Yes I know, two blogs in one morning. I agree, it is a little excessive. Yet depending on how long I’m kept here at work with nothing to do, there could be more by the end of the day! 

I would like to know if I am alone in finding that music sounds different depending on where you’re listening to it. I don’t mean so much if you’re listening in the car vs at home on your stereo (although that may well be true), I’m thinking geographically.

I came to this conclusion during my time in America. My first case in point is Razorlight’s second, self-titled album.

                           

Now I have always preferred Up All Night. To me, the two albums could have been produced by two entirely different bands. There was something about the second album that I just didn’t quite get. I mean I still thought it was good, but it wasn’t connecting somehow. Then one day whilst walking home, about a month into my time in Ohio, it popped up on my mp3 player. Suddenly it seemed to make more sense to me. I know that the band wrote the majority, if not all, of the record whilst in the States, and I think it must clearly have had an effect on their sound. It wasn’t until I sort of, returned the album to its point of origin, that I could really appreciate where it was coming from. I’m still not saying it’s better than Up All Night, but it’s definitely gone up in my estimations!

The second thing to catch me off guard was when I then listened to some more British music, typical of the current brand all over the UK charts. In particular the Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand and Hard-Fi.

       

Somehow they too sounded different! Their songs were suddenly more… well, gritty. I’ve never liked that as an adjective for music but there’s not really an applicable alternative! It was very strange to hear such familiar songs in a different way. It wasn’t a bad way… just to hear them speaking into a foreign context I suppose. They don’t connect with the listener in quite the same way. I wonder if this explains the difficulty many British bands have in succeeding across the pond. Not only their lyrics but also their sound is so often quite specifically culturally relevant. Even if it’s unintentional.

Where is my blog entry going? December 24, 2007

As I start to write this, I have no idea what I’m going to blog about. I guess there are a lot of things in my head, but they’re all mixed up and intertwined with one another. That or my head is an empty vacuum… which is possible at this time on a Monday morning, especially on Christmas Eve, when being at work (as I am) is not exactly where I want to be! That said, much as I did not want to get up out of bed and head into work today, it did allow me to witness a completely beautiful sunrise. This is the one bonus of it getting lighter later in winter, since in the summer I am never awake early enough to catch it! The sight of all the winter trees silhouetted against a sky of orange, pink, white and blue was rather spectacular. If I’d had time I would have stopped to take a picture but, in a shocking and unusual turn of events, I was running a little late!

I think I’m finally excited for Christmas! Even though I wish a certain boy was not going to be 4000 miles away on the day… We had the carol service at church last night, which was great in a number of ways. One of them being that it was awesome to see so many people in the church, another being that I love singing carols and it made me feel festive at last. The main reason though was that it helped me to re-focus on what Christmas is. What we’re actually celebrating. Christmas. God’s amazing gift to us in Jesus! And that makes me very.. I was going to say happy, but actually joyous is a more accurate word. Happiness can be fleeting, whereas joy… I think it is possible to have joy deep down inside even when you’re not super-happy on the surface. It’s longer lasting. Though I am currently both joyous and happy – lucky me!

On an entirely unrelated topic, did anyone else see the programme on BBC2 last night where Richard Hammond went and met Evel Knievel? I wasn’t intending to watch it, but somehow got drawn in. It was interesting but generally I found the whole thing kind of sad. I guess he met him just a few months before he died. And he was a strange guy. Very frail by that point and kind of tempermental. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of him, and I don’t think Richard Hammond was either.

However, I did like the moment where Hammond (looking rather disconcerted) said, “It’s all just got very American!”

I could empathise with that!

Oh by the way… anyone in need of a laugh on a regular basis should investigate installing a webcam in my kitchen. I mention this only because for today’s early morning dance-off (with… erm… myself!) I traded Simon & Garfunkel for Slamm by Pendulum…

Imagine that.

Call Me Al December 21, 2007

This morning at approximately 7:30am GMT I was drinking coffee and dancing round my kitchen to the sounds of Simon and Garfunkel.  I should maybe point out that this is not a usual passtime for me at such an hour of the day, nor would I generally select such a soundtrack, but the radio was tuned in to Wogan and I was in a surprisingly good mood!

Anyway, whilst busting some moves to those retro beats, I realised that I don’t know anyone called Al. I then reasoned that this was due to it being somewhat of an American name… but then I did just spend three months in America! How do I still not know anyone called Al? Do such people actually exist or is Al nothing but a ficticious moniker?

This mystery remains unsolved, but it did set my train of thought off down the names track. One of the things I noticed whilst I was away, is that pretty much everything in America is at least just slightly different to here in the UK. This includes a lot of things which you wouldn’t expect and even extends to people’s names.

As evidence to support my observation, I present to you a selection of identities found using that wonderful source of information, Facebook!

Taken at random from Joey’s wall postings:  Molly, Conrad, Kendra, CeCe, Brent, Morgan, Zak, Ryan, Randy and Meagan.

Taken at random from my wall:  Daniel, Edmund, Jenny, Liz, Jonathan, Joanna, Andy, Lucy, David and Rachel.

Quite the contrast.

Techno. Techno. Tech…nooooo! December 20, 2007

Those moments when technology suddenly lets you down have to be some of the most infuriating in the world.

When the programme crashes just as you move your mouse towards the “save” button.

Your computer’s hard drive breaks, losing you all your photos from the past year.

Your VHS/DVD/DVR fails to record the last ever episode in that TV series you have been utterly addicted to for the last three years…

I’m pretty sure it happens to us all. Every now and then we’re each struck down with the urge to take a sledgehammer to a certain piece of electrical equipment.

You should have seen my reaction the other night when the internet ceased to function in our house… NO INTERNET??!! For an entire evening?? Good grief! Panic! Call the police! Fire! Ambulance! Alert the authorities… WHAT DO WE DO??!

Ahem. That was until someone pointed out that it is still possible to use this ancient device known as a “telephone” to call someone.

Then last night, a failed microphone resulted in a suddenly aborted Skype conversation, much to my dismay. And the red mist was about to descend. Until I thought about it and really, I should be pretty grateful for all the times technology does work. I mean, it’s the fact that I like it being functional and rely on it so much that leaves me so distressed when it breaks.

Imagine how different your life would be without the internet. I have no idea what mine would be like. I would never have gone to America for starters. I would have lost touch with a lot more people who I’ve met in my life. Probably quite a few of those whom I now count as close friends. And it’s strange to me because being the age I am, I do remember when I was younger and the internet was new. When for homework we had to look up information from CD-Roms, and that was the cutting edge. Life before the information super-highway. I remember when we got our first computer. What if that had never happened? What if the world wide web had never existed?

It’s an interesting scenario to consider.

So, despite everything… 

Three cheers for technology!

Life just wouldn’t be the same without it.

The Waffley Stamp of Approval December 19, 2007

So I realised that having my blogroll over there on the right is kind of cool, but also a bit mysterious. I mean, who knows where those links will lead? Me, that’s who. And whilst I do recommend your clicking on them to find out, I also thought I’d give a mention to each of the elite blogs that have made it on there.

First up – Constant Journey. This blog is primarily written by a guy named Kevin. He and his lovely wife Leah have just recently moved to the UK from the good old US of A. I met them during my time in Ohio and was able to catch up with them in Birmingham this past weekend. They are here to live and work for Jesus and the furthering of His kingdom. Which is really the best possible reason to be anywhere! They are ace people, and the blog is a great way of keeping up with what they’ve been up to. It’s also fun to see what they’re making of life this side of the pond.

Secondly – Giraffe-a-licious. In my utterly unbiased opinion this is the best blog out there. It also happens to be written by my sister. But that’s purely incidental. Giraffe-a-licious blogs about anything and everything; including sports, film, TV, God, being haunted by pigeons, country music and her struggle with M.E. <— the illness, not the struggle of having ME as a sister…

And finally – Mymirroredreflection. This is the blog of one of my best friends, though I’m not sure if she wishes to remain anonymous or not, hence her name not being present! She is however a great, fun, lovely person who also resides Stateside and I miss very much! She needs to come visit me very soon. If you feel like it, comment on her blog and tell her so!

9 lives? December 17, 2007

Have you ever found yourself using the phrase “it seems like a lifetime ago”? I realised the other day that I spout it fairly frequently, often without really stopping to think about it. But when I do, I conclude that thus far in my life I have had what I would say were four different lifetimes. Not to say that I just live to the max so much that I do as much as four people. Nor that I believe I have died and been re-incarnated on multiple occasions! More that, looking back, my life splits into four different periods of time. And after each it changes and is never the same again. 

The first was a pretty consistent 16 years; from birth to around the time I took my GCSEs. Now obviously I changed massively over that period of time, but I still class it as one lifetime because things were relatively stable. In terms of who I was, I was growing up and finding that out, but aged 15 I didn’t feel like a different person to that which I was at 9. Just older. A lot of great things happened during that lifetime. I had wonderful family and friends and I came to know Jesus Christ as my saviour and be able to call the creator of the universe Dad. There are a lot of happy memories, but many of them do feel several lifetimes ago.

The happy go lucky lifetime number one was rudely interrupted by the second part of my life so far. The one I oh-so-fondly refer to as “The Depression Years”. Sounds like a cheery book title doesn’t it? If I’m honest, that year and a half was more like an absence from life than a lifetime. It was existing, and very little more. It was painful and it changed everything. Yet it went a long way towards forming who I am today. God carried me through it and brought me out the other side.  The other day, a friend of mine said that you feel closer to people who’ve been with you through difficult times. Horrible as my depression was, it definitely proved that statement to be true when it comes to my relationship with my heavenly father.

Moving swiftly on to the frustrating third era… recovering and waiting. I was mainly better from my depression, and I knew that, but finding what my life was afterwards proved hard. If I’m honest, I still don’t know what my life is as such, but I know how to live it. When I was 18, recovered from depression but facing the aftermath, it was a slightly different story. Not having any qualifications beyond GCSEs meant no university, and instead getting a job. This was somewhat of a shake-up of my future plans and I was a little at sea! I spent the summer working at Wickies and avoiding the reality of my situation, before being forced to face it head on in September, when all my school friends left Kettering for further education in more exciting parts of the country. Slowly but surely I got myself together, got a job and a car and then another job.. and another one.. and another one… My life of temporary working had begun! It continued for another few years, until August this year.

When I got on a plane.

And everything changed again.

Never has a lifetime shift happened so quickly as this last one! From the first week I spent in Ohio, I was already a different person. I mean, I was in many ways the same but something had changed. I can’t really explain. I just knew that I was into the next phase somehow. Everything before I went away seemed a long time ago, despite the fact it was only a matter of days! Maybe it was the independence. Being away from all the places and people that I had known before – not that what I knew before was bad, I was just used to it. It was all so familiar and comfortable. Now I was suddenly being thrown in the deep end with the option to swim or drown. God helped me swim. And it was incredible.

It still is incredible. I have not shifted back into a past lifetime since I returned home. Nor have I moved on into another. It is not about the location, it is about the person that I am. Though I am back doing temporary work it is not the same, because I am not the same.

It’s exciting to think though – where will this phase of my life take me? How will it change me? When might my life change again?