SNOW PATROL

30th March 2009

Snow Patrol pulled all the right moves. With lead singer Gary Lightbody, a charismatically fun guy with a great smile, the band rocked and wooed and captivated the audience with their superlative songs and melodic pop-rock charm.

Apparently Snow Patrol love Australia and have been here a number of times. To date they have sold in excess of 7 million albums worldwide, including their latest - A Hundred Millions Suns, which houses the mighty radio hit Take Back The City. They’re probably best known though for their super-hit song Chasing Cars which propelled the band into public consciousness. When Grey's Anatomy featured it in its show the entire demographic claimed Snow Patrol as their favourite band.

The venue was the Hordern Pavilion, which I can’t really remember being in before – but perhaps in the early 80’s or (dare I say) late 70’s seeing bands such as ACDC or Hush or Ted Mulry Gang or . . . you get the drift! Anyway, it was just too easy to get to – even though most of the CBD was blacked-out (including my house!) We parked on the street, practically outside the venue and to top it off – the parking meter wasn’t working – so free parking it was! Bonus! The Hordern is pretty much square with a big pit in the middle for the moshers and tiered seating around the perimeter. We had unreserved seats and found a great spot on the side of the stage that was reasonably close with a good view of the band. So it was a great concert with a number of ‘oh my gosh!’ moments including Gary’s short rendition of Inx’s New Sensation, the sing-a-longs Chasing Cars, You Could Be Happy and Shut Your Eyes and the current fave Take Back The City.

Now – onto the special guest - Jenny Lewis. What a star! I hadn’t heard of her before. What a voice! She is an indie folk singer/songwriter/guitarist, who is best known for being the lead singer and guitarist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. She has released two solo albums, 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat (with The Watson Twins) and 2008’s Acid Tongue. She is also a former child actress. Her ‘oh my gosh!’ moment song for me was Godspeed - a song she wrote for a girlfriend of hers. I’m going to download some of her music verrrrrry soon!

HAPPY LIST #2

My second weekly happy list (not in any particular order)

1. having lunch in the lovely gardens at my workplace on a sunny autumn day

2. pink roses

3. Pont Alexandre 111 – my favourite bridge in the world

Would love to be in Paris now!

4. Dudley – my gorgeous cocker spaniel

5. walks in Ubud

LOVE

When hurricane Hannah separated two white tigers from their mother, Anjana came to the rescue. Anjana, a two-year-old chimpanzee at TIGERS (The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species) in South Carolina, US. became surrogate mum and playmate to the cubs - Mitra and Shiva, even helping with bottle feeding, according to The Sun in London. But here's the truly amazing part: This is something Anjana does all the time, having helped raise leopard and lion cubs on several occasions.
Anjana has been a constant companion to infant animal carer China — and the chimp loves aping her work. TIGERS founder Dr Bhagavan Antle said: “Anjana has joined China in caring for baby animals. Monkey see, monkey do and Anjana has helped China raise them."

Check out these gorgeous pics:

PHOTOGRAPHY

Have I told you about my new camera? It’s a Canon Ixus 80 IS.
I loooooove it! I bought it earlier this year on sale at Officeworks.
For a cheap camera it takes great shots.
Some specs:
· 8.0 megapixel
· 3.0x optical zoom lens with Optical Image Stabilizer
· super fast DiG!C III Imaging Processor with ISO 1600
· 2.5 inch PureColor LCD screen
· face detection
· red-eye correction
· motion detection
· movie recording and playback
If you’re looking for an inexpensive compact digital camera
which takes high-quality pics this is the one!

HOME DECOR

I’ve decided to paint my bedroom.

After much consideration I’ve made a decision. I had to think about colours and trends and fashion and . . . well, I’ve decided !!! I want a warm, dark, smooth, sexy, moody, nightclubby feel to the room – the opposite to what it is now. So . . . I’ve chosen a metallic. It’s Wattyl i.d Copper Pearl. There are 20 colours to choose from in this range of shimmering colours from rich copper tones to lustrous bronzes and old golds. I think I’m going for ‘Trilogy’ a rich bronze/copper colour.

I’ll try and get the room done before I go to Ubud – that’s less than 4 weeks away! Better hurry! Keep you posted.

Photo courtesy of Wattyl

HAPPY LIST #1

I think a weekly happy list is in order. Got the idea from another blog - thepaperplanes. This is where I list a number of ‘things’ that make me happy –mainly small, seemingly insignificant items. But they are smile-inducing, heart-warming, soul-touching . . . you get the idea.

Here goes!

happy list #1

1. lavender

2. learning to play the piano




3. roasted duck – yum!

4. my funky pencil case

5. travel plans to Ubud

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

It was in my Masters of Educational Leadership study that I came across Love After Love. It’s amazing isn’t it, how one field of interest can lead to another – and they’re so singularly very different! Educational Leadership to Poetry! I was reading an article on Authentic Leadership by Bill George and low and behold, here was this poem that clearly spoke to me – hit me right in my emotional entrails. In his article, George articulates how in his early days as a leader, he felt he had to be perfect, or at least appear that way. He felt he had to hide his weaknesses from others, fearing they would reject him if they knew who he really was. Eventually, he realised that they could see his weaknesses more clearly than he could himself. In attempting to cover things up he was only fooling himself. He refers to the poem Love After Love as speaking to the benefits of being in touch with your disowned aspects and welcoming them into your life. If you are able to do this, you can become more comfortable with yourself and then more authentic in interactions with others.

POETRY

This is my very first blog posting.

I came across this beautiful poem that many of us probably relate to.

It was written by nobel-prize winner Derek Walcott. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Walcott

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome.

And say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life,
whom you ignored for another,
who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

It could be for people who have been heartbroken.

Love yourself and then love another person. Get to know yourself. No matter how much you may get hurt, you can always turn to yourself for strength. Yourself never leaves you or forsakes you. There is no greater love than self love!