...war in Gaza been going on for way way too long now and finally there is a scintilla of hope, a speck of light, a hint of positivity and maybe a cause for celebration if all this holds...if the US has indeed brokered a permanent peace then all nations who believe in global harmony and the preservation of peace and happiness should be very pleased that this has transpired...let's hope it's for real and that the senseless death and destruction of the past couple of years is coming to an end...cause everybody's talking about ministers, sinister, banisters and canisters, bishops, fishops, rabbis, and pop eyes, bye bye, bye bye, all we are sayin' is give peace a chance, don't say it if you don't mean it...

so, my dear old Dad passed away over the weekend and it was sad but it was also an amazing time with him through the week prior being able to talk to him and say proper final goodbyes...not everyone gets that so I'm really grateful that we had that opportunity and were able to recount with him some of the great memories we share... Pop (as we called him) was 92 years old, several months shy of 93 and 2 years younger than his mother, who for a while there I thought he'd surpass her milestone but alas he succumbed to the dreaded flu, which then turned into pneumonia, which then started shutting down vital organs and once that gets a hold at that age there's no stopping it...age, what a cruel and unkind acquaintance to all of us...the Stones said time is not on our side; Railroad Gin (great Brisbane outfit from the 70's) said it would only be a matter of time and the great Dave Bowie said it may change him...what have do I know about time...? I know it discriminates and that it's unfair to a lot of people, but I can't say that about Pop - he lived a great, long life and was seen as a very kind man who loved his sport (he was Australian, what can we say...lol), family and even didn't mind the odd flutter on the fillies (we'd always ask him for his tip on the Melbourne Cup - he wasn't bad and he never bet heavy so the house was always safe...had a friend whose father almost bet theirs away...sad) He played tennis until he was 88 years old...man, can you imagine that...and he was super competitive even to the point of maiming people on the court (haha! lol) I'd tell him that he and his brothers who also were raised with the same kill or be killed attitude that they were nuts and I wouldn't play with them any longer as they'd headhunt you at the net...for those who play tennis you'll understand...So, understanding my face meant more to me than a point I politely declined to show up every Wednesday night...Well he's now up there maybe serving up an ace or looking to knock St Peter's block off with a sneaky pretend side-line shot deliberately intended to whistle through the air like an Exocet clipping one's ear lobe...lol, haha! He was also the gentlest man I'd ever met, who was raised 'tough' by his father but organically was kind and exceptionally fair minded - we get lucky with who our parents are in the instance they turn out to be really good people...I got lucky and stayed lucky for a long time...vale Pop!

..and all along it was always just like it had always been...in the immortal words of David Byrne’s ’Once in a Lifetime’, we see through his lyrics the mundane life of a person who goes through the motions and trappings of social constructs whereby he marks his milestones in personal wealth and status symbols..we chase these things thinking they’ll be seen by family and friends as important and of course they’re not but we seem to fall for it over and over and sometimes sadly we lose sight of what really matters and is truly important..we complicate life in order to do this and it’s crazy to think that we would do that when with just a little more energy and planning we could un-complicate our lives and lead a more simple and easy existence and reconnect with things like nature or history or culture or even our own past and find genuine happiness in ordinary pursuits..they say living is about feeling totally alive, so some jump off buildings with chutes or climb Mt Everest or solo navigate the world in a dinghy to give themselves an adrenalised awakening but you know, tracing your past back to an old picture theatre that used to be a general store which was owned by your family over 150 years ago, can also give you a sense of not only being alive but of how you got here in the first place.

Louie! - Ai composite done by my daughter of the infamous Louie (very formal portrait, lol!)

so, songs dealing with people feeling blue or down have always been a running theme in the land of pop music (maybe love songs or breakup songs rate higher in sheer number but that's probably for AI to work out, lol!) we generally, regardless of what genre we relate to, are already sensitive to begin with - we can't be anything else as otherwise we wouldn't take the time to think about, write, produce, mix and play on our recordings, which we're obviously protective of...we all want respect (mutual) for what we do (and showcase) and essentially that's what happens in most music forums like this and therefore a community of 'like' musicians and artists can share their ideas and creative output without the fear of thinking some one will be highly critical (like who really wants a searingly negative critique of their work at our age or scope of ability...we're not likely to improve or spend hours practicing with the belief that INXS are calling anytime soon in search of another lead singer/co-writer, lol haha!) so, we do our thing and hope everyone is happy, not feeling blue and not using the site in order to vent too much about anything other than music, because that's where the common thread is present amongst us all (not religion, not politics, not wealth status, not philosophical ideology etc) We quietly respect (or should) someone’s differences in relation to any subject, music or otherwise..or even something as completely unrelated to music as say medieval religious practices in the era of burning witches at the stake (in reality I have no opinion on it at all but just to make a point...) However, such alt banter can (and does) look out of place on a music site.. But we get it if someone is having a difficult time and empathy is therefore shown in due measure and accordingly because we all have lived thru difficult times so it should be relatively easy to, as Gandhi would say, walk in another's shoe...if we ourselves are faced with hard times we immerse into the music, which acts as a effective diversion and in the words of a great prophet we end up healing thyself... Harrison (the quiet Beatle) stated, 'all things must pass' and they do and sometimes we should just take the time to work it out and deal with what we can and leave the rest to God, Hari Rama, lady luck or whatever belief system one has... We can try and help people by expressing our sympathy but only up to a point on a site like this (there's no psychiatrist or therapists in residence, thank the Lord) and when it's all said and done this site is all about rock and roll and therefore to be enjoyed for what it is - the music and a healthy respect for artists and musicians who create the music (regardless of whether it's our 'cup of tea' or not, - everything everyone does here takes time and a lot of effort and we all put ourselves through a lot to bring these songs to fruition). Which leads me to the point that drawing inspiration for new music through pain and sadness is something entirely different to 'venting' or lecturing (or preaching) and in my book should always be encouraged as long as it's not at the expense of others - if it's cathartic to write and create (which it is) then great, go for broke on any subject, any theme (even witch burnings on Tower Hill if that's what works) but with the clear understanding not everyone wants to take that journey or be open to that subject, or be lectured to about that... In closing and using the immortal words of INXS, 'do wot u do' but dig what other's do as well and don’t lose sight of the primary reason this site works and continues...and that's down to the music, always the music.