Top 10: Switched-on Bach

Earlier this year I was tagged on Facebook for one of those things where you post favourite albums and I didn't finish

When it came time to pick a final album I blinked.

After some consideration I'm picking Wendy Carlos' landmark electronic music recording.

I can remember asking my mother to play it when I was a kid and loving the otherworldly sounds.

That would've been around a decade after it was released, so I can't imagine how wild it must've been when it came out.

There's a lot of electronic music I've come to like decades later, particularly techno and then electronica in the '90s.

All For You



Been a while since a song caught my ear in the way this has

Exhibit local culture at The Roxy

Leeton’s iconic Roxy is many things to many people

As one of dozens who have exhibited in that venue it seems important this activity is promoted as part of future development.

Between 2012 and 2013 over a thousand people attended exhibitions in the Roxy Artspace based on figures collected by Western Riverina Arts (WRA).

Regional Arts Development Officer Dr Greg Pritchard revealed many of the talents in our region and they were literally put under spotlights thanks to funds secured to develop that exhibition space.

The Roxy is the only public facility in Leeton Shire with quality lighting for exhibitions and neutral-coloured walls.

In 2014 WRA supported a visit to the Artspace by Parkview Primary students and a number of that Year Five art class said they had never visited an art exhibition previously.

Many studies have found benefits for students who are able to attend exhibitions.

I am certain that I am not the only person who enjoyed the opportunity to see exhibitions in the Roxy and hope to see more.

Let me add how much I’ve enjoyed the displays on local history, for example.

While I am a member of the Leeton Art Society and the Western Riverina Arts Board, the views expressed here are my own.

I believe it is important for Leeton Shire to retain a visible presence for local culture.

Hey! Nietzsche!

Pun from my son

Oscar asked to bottle the stout

As he was tipping the fermenter forward to get the last of it, I asked him to be wary of slime at the bottom and he replied with a pun: "I'll see those in gradients"!

Wild At Heart



Recently I returned to the film Wild At Heart, which has been a favourite since I first used a fake ID to buy tickets to see it at the cinema

I remembered an idea to use lines from the film in a song and added them to lyrics about how I met my partner, Jo:


Thinking back to when we met
years ago but I can’t forget
a staring woman, I couldn’t ignore her
you later told me you could see my aura

After that I kept seeing you in town
seemed like you were always around
you then confessed it was engineering
inventing ways so that you could be near me

It wasn’t easy but you persisted
your thoughtful charm overcame my resistance
you opened my mind with the things you said
then found a way into my bed


This whole world’s wild at heart and weird on top
If you’re truly wild at heart you won’t turn away from your dreams
 

There we were talking in the dark
I touched your arm and I felt a spark
a fairy tale cliche but I do believe
then I knew you were the one for me

It was strange how I became bewitched
and it was like our roles then switched
I asked you to marry me you said get in line
you’re here for a good time not a long time

This whole world’s wild at heart and weird on top
If you’re truly wild at heart you won’t turn away from your dreams
This whole world’s wild at heart and weird on top
If you’re truly wild at heart don’t run away from love


Now I've tried the song using different chords on my ukulele: