whileiwaswaiting

2012-01-24T23:35:00.001+10:30

2012-01-24T23:34:00.004+10:30

Two weeks ago I drove the Jag up to Thredbo from Melbourne and stayed a week. Then drove down through Jindabyne (country Michael knew well) to Canberra, where I stayed two days. This little jaunt would have cost more than Michael would have seen in a year when he was alive. What follows is not an example of the stunning lyricism of which he was capable. It is more close to a facsimile of his last day and experience on earth.

THAT WHICH WE CALL A ROSE

Black greyed into white a nightmare of bicycling
Over childhood roads harried peaceless
Tomorrow came a mirage packed in hypodermic
The city we lived in then was not of your making
It was built by sculptors in the narcotic rooms of Stanley St
We solved time an error in judgement
It was stolen by the bosses and marketed as the eight hour day

Waking under a bridge in Canberra to chill scrawl
Seeing the designs we had painted on its concrete like gnawed fresco
Venice with merchants feasting while Cimabue sank deeper into cobweb

As the sun approached in skin boats
Back in the world Ric and George on the morgue lists of morning
One dead of hunger the other of overdose their ideals precluded them
From the Great Society they are with the angels now

I dreamt of satori a sudden crystal wherein civilisation was seen
More truly than with cameras but it was your world not ours
Yours is a glut of martyrs money and carbon monoxide
I dreamt of next week perhaps then we would eat again
Sleep in a house again
Perhaps we could wake to find humanity where at present
Freedom is obsolete and honour a heresy. Innocently
I dreamt that madness passes like a dream.

~ Michael Dransfield.

2012-01-24T23:34:00.001+10:30

2011-12-09T09:36:00.003+10:30

Remembering John and thankful for what he left in this world; his humour, his insight, his knowledge of the flaws in himself and all of us....and a wish that we might reach out to help each other despite this.

2011-12-09T09:36:00.001+10:30

2011-11-03T14:38:00.001+10:30

2011-11-03T14:37:00.001+10:30

2011-11-03T14:36:00.002+10:30

LAUNCH OF “The Divorce Papers” by Ray Liversidge at Collected Works Saturday 29th Oct 2011.
I was lucky enough to be amongst those to witness Ross Gillett launch this new chapbook from Ross Donlon’s MARK TIME PRESS up in Castlemaine and authored by the poet Ray Liversidge. There have been a number of worthy releases on the Australian poetry scene recently and this is one of them.
I have been praised by a critic in Oxford UK (yes, not in my own country) for my insistence on emotional truth in my poetry and this stands out strongly as a marvellous characteristic in this collection. And it comes in a context of subtlety and integrity, gentle humour, soft but deep insight into the loss and grief associated with the splitting of a meaningful relationship by people whose goodwill at one stage was focused toward the creation of a loving lasting relationship.
It is a strong book and herein lies a slight worry. It is small but it is not a slight book. In my opinion the whole of this little collection needs to find its place in the context of a larger book which will be more visible, accessible and saleable in the marketplace. I sincerely hope this will be its fate. It is too good a work to be misplaced amongst the more substantial collections on the shelves.
This is a book for reading and treasuring. It rewards close reading and I look forward to it finding its way into a larger and more comprehensive representation of the work of Ray Liversidge. He deserves it.

2011-11-03T14:36:00.000+10:30

2011-11-03T14:34:00.001+10:30

2011-10-10T10:16:00.002+10:30

2011-10-10T10:10:00.000+10:30

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN... Wherever you are. You helped us know that we didn't have to be perfect, jujst good enough (as Winnicott said). And that we could all still dare to dream

2011-09-26T13:51:00.000+09:30

I start teaching this course on Saturday. So here is a....
Short extract from my intro to : Working with Children & Adolescents

I have also maintained my interest in Working with Children & Adolescents as I have progressed through my professional life and find some of the readings I have encountered in my ongoing professional development in the field are some of the most valuable and moving in my experience (yes, chuckle, just in case you didn’t have enough reading to do already).

So I look forward to introducing you to some old friends, Dibs In Search of Self by Virginia Axline, Building the Bonds of Attachment : Awakening Love in deeply Troubled Children By Daniel A. Hughes (the best book I have ever read on Working with Children & Adolescents), and new ones, Facebook and Podcasts, with, and at the same time as you. If you will help me I will try to help you, after all, it is my job to help you.

1. What is Working with Children & Adolescents ?
Working with Children & Adolescents is a crash course in remembering who we were as we grew up and going through a strange process of wish fulfilment that somehow human development will have changed in between the time we ourselves were children and adolescents and now when it is our job to professionally meet children and adolescents.

The wish fulfilment part is where we pretend that somehow all those experiences which invoked an absolute terror of the unknown in ourselves will have been replaced by a calm and coherent structured experience which we can wisely dip into in the face of the sometimes sheer panic of our clients. Well, as they say in the best jokes, we have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that there have been some enormous progresses made in fields such as neuropsychology so that we now know an awful lot more than we did even ten years ago about the neurochemical processes that so involve the development of the brain during childhood and adolescence and all those raging hormones, what they are, how they interact and how they affect our behaviour.

The bad news is that the huge anxiety that accompanies these multiple changes that actually constitute the human experience that is childhood and adolescence remains essentially exactly the same as when we ourselves experienced it. So the experience of childhood and adolescence, working with it as a professional, and the course will be a rollercoaster of a ride and I will be joyfully accompanying you on that ride.

2011-09-18T17:37:00.002+09:30

To be desired is perhaps the closest anybody can reach in this life to feeling immortal. - John Berger, BENTO'S SKETCHBOOK, p.27.

2011-09-18T17:36:00.002+09:30

2011-09-18T17:33:00.001+09:30

As long as a person is affected by the image of anything, they regard the thing as present, although it may not exist, nor will they regard it as past or future in so far as its image is connected with the image of time past or future. - Spinoza, ETHICS, Part III, Proposition XVIII, Proof.

2011-09-18T17:32:00.000+09:30

2011-09-01T14:09:00.001+09:30

2011-09-01T14:08:00.001+09:30

Page One – Inside The New York Times – Film:
Last night I took a little break from marking and met my daughter for dinner in Carlton and then went to a movie. We were both tired and just chose the one that we liked the best that was starting soonest after we arrived at the theatre. This just happened to be: Page One – Inside The New York Times.
A wonderful and intriguing little doco which traces a path of some very traditional and then very unlikely journalistic characters through their life and times and various assignments at the New York Times newspaper within the context of both the Global Financial Crisis and the reflexive impact of new technology on the sales, impact and culture of newspapers now.
I have just told the story over lunch and a friend has described my rendition as powerful and beautiful and moving but I gave away lots of secrets (including the ending) in the telling so I do not intend to do that again here. What I do intend to do is recommend that you see this little gem, majorly for the humanity and edge of the seat ride through the experiences of young and old, stars and unknown, and unknown who are stars by the end of the film. We were both tired when we began to watch this but energised and enthused by the end.

2011-09-01T14:06:00.001+09:30

2011-08-23T22:16:00.001+09:30

2011-08-23T22:12:00.002+09:30

Don Walker & Band; Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh, Melbourne, Australia. Saturday 20th August 2011.

Wonderful show. Sounded like an album produced by Daiel Lanois. Coming together well, needed harp on one song. Just to be provocative I'm hoping the Cold Chisel reunion does not throw this little unit off track.

2011-08-14T14:33:00.001+09:30

2011-08-14T14:32:00.001+09:30

2011-08-14T14:31:00.001+09:30

2011-08-13T11:42:00.001+09:30

2011-08-13T11:40:00.001+09:30

I'm a bit proud to have been chosen by the judges to be the co-winner of The Word Tree Poetry Slam, along with the lovely Emilie Collyer who read such beautiful poems with genuine feeling and engagement. Thank you judges, thank you audience, thank you fellow poets.

2011-06-22T10:55:00.001+09:30

Sadly, goodbye to Clarence Clemons, for me the greatest saxophone player in the world of rock and roll, who died on the weekend. All of my adult life I have been going to see Bruce Springateen and the E Street Band with world halting solos by Clarence. It will not be the same without him.

2011-06-20T07:05:00.002+09:30

2011-06-20T07:02:00.006+09:30

COLD MOUNTAIN

Many thanks to Anne Gleeson and Steve Lamb for opening their home in Daylesford for a wonderful reading of Han Shan poetry by Richard Perry Emeritus Professor of Visual Arts at York University, Toronto, who has also taught Zen Buddhist painting and poetry at the Victorian College of Arts. It was incredibly enriching to hear Richard read these poems so beautifully and to enhance the reading with his knowledge of both Zen and poetry. Our questions were at times naive and at times raising the unanswerable paradox of translation by poets and academics.

Thank you also to Ross Gillett for organising the reading and inviting a broad cross section of contemporary poets from the local region and from Melbourne.

The path to Han-Shan’s place is laughable,

A path, but no sign of cart or horse.
Converging gorges - hard to trace their twists
Jumbled cliffs - unbelievably rugged.
A thousand grasses bend with dew,
A hill of pines hums in the wind.
And now I've lost the shortcut home,
Body asking shadow, how do you keep up? (Translation by Gary Snyder).

I hold to the principle of the Buddha-mind. It is fortunate to meet with men and women of Tao, so I have made this eulogy.

2011-06-20T07:00:00.001+09:30

2011-06-18T17:42:00.000+09:30

2011-06-18T17:40:00.002+09:30

Libby Hart, “THIS FLOATING WORLD” Book Launch...

Warm and lovely launch of the new Libby Hart poetry book "This Floating World" from Five Island's Press at Kris Hemensley's COLLECTED WORKS today. Warm and delightful Irish music setting the feeling and tone. Warm and engaged and engaging conversation between Kris and Libby with reading of specific poems from Libby to launch her loving poetry with a dual passport from Australia and Ireland. Recommended buying and reading. I am now doing both....

2011-06-18T17:37:00.002+09:30

2011-05-29T16:55:00.000+09:30

http://youtu.be/VvxJ23a_BOw

2011-05-29T16:50:00.004+09:30

TAKE IT EASY. Driving back from a poetry reading in North Carlton Library listening to some acoustic Jackson Browne. Do you know that instead of "I'm looking for a lover who won't blow my cover" the Spanish version says "I'm looking for a lover who is not religous, not dangerous, and who will eat me like a lobster in pink sauce." ssounds like a way to go...

2011-05-14T16:08:00.001+09:30

"Should we meet again, introduced as friends, please don't let on that you knew me when, I was hungry, and it was, your world."

2011-05-14T16:07:00.002+09:30

2011-05-09T18:43:00.001+09:30

2011-04-26T12:42:00.001+09:30

2011-04-26T12:40:00.000+09:30

Lyndon reads his poem "Compassionate" for his father at the Anzac Day Reading at Passionate Tongues in the Brunswick Hotel, Monday 25th April 2011. Lyndon also read as part of the featured reading the poem "Beach Burial" by Kenneth Slessor, Collected in "The Golden Apples of the Sun - Twentieth Century Australian Poetry" Edited by Chris Wallace Crabbe, published by Melbourne University Press (1981). "Compassionate" by Lyndon Walker is Collected in "So Many Rivers, So Much To Learn" published by Five Islands Press (2000). Thanks to Michelle Leber for this photo.
Michelle also read a moving poem for her father, again on the effects of war on fathers and families.

So Many Rivers, So Much To Learn is available from Collected Works Bookshop, specialising in Poetry at Upstairs, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne.

2011-04-02T19:00:00.000+10:30

2011-04-02T18:55:00.001+10:30

COTEMPORARY POETRY READINGS SHINE OUTSIDE BIG CITY LIGHTS
Solidifying for me is an opinion that the best readings in Victoria are occurring outside of the City (or the CBD anyway). Attended a wonderful reading at the WORDTREE in Upwey today, where featured reader, Claire Gaskin gave a sensitive reading of new work, teasing an upcoming new book from John Leonard Press. This was admirably supported by an open section of strength and diversity. Maurice McNamara, Jennifer Compton, Michelle Lieber and Catherine Bateson stood out for me. Following on from the stunning performances at the Guildford readings near Castlemaine I truly recommend trekking out of the city for a surprising and uplifting poetry experience.

2011-04-02T18:42:00.002+10:30

2011-04-02T18:40:00.002+10:30

Agree with my friend Carmen that Carey Mulligan and the scenery were the saving graces of "NEVER LET ME GO" (Nova, last night). I have been a big fan of Kazuo Ishiguro since "THE REMAINS OF THE DAY" (1989 Booker Prize). Adored both film and book but the heavyweight stars of that film far outshone the somewhat weaker performances in "Never Let Me Go" (in my humble opinion).

2011-03-31T14:54:00.002+10:30

2011-03-27T11:05:00.002+10:30

2011-03-27T11:04:00.000+10:30

A beautiful if timid reading from Susan Fealy yesterday at the Dan O’Connell Hotel in Carlton. Delicate poetry attempting to find a balance between events and effect and affect. And the risk was to attempt this in a pub with some of the audience and open readers unreconstructed, alcoholic male dinosaurs stuck in the midst of illusion that drinking yourself stupid and then making chauvinistic, unenlightened commentary might contribute to a fantasy that they are good poets. It does not.

However Susan’s reading saved itself by teaching for those who were prepared to learn, the lesson that thoughtful self-reflection offered up in reverbent imagery can lift us all to a different level and make us glad we went there.

2011-03-19T08:48:00.002+10:30

2011-03-19T08:47:00.000+10:30

Am I just naive, cheeky and silly to think IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO BUILD NUCLEAR REACTORS ON A GEOLOGICAL FAULT LINE ????

Perhaps we could ask the UN to formulate the first universal international law to say that it is not allowable to build Nuclear Reactors on a geological fault line

2011-03-17T14:56:00.002+10:30

2011-03-17T14:55:00.000+10:30

Yes, the Japan news is terrible – and made worse by the way the Japanese do business with each other – the bureaucrats in the power company will lie to the government (so as not to lose face) and then when another explosion happens they will apologise and promise that they will not let another one happen and then it will and so the process goes on – it’s a terrible process for transparency in government. In the old days finally the bureaucrats would have committed suicide – but these days they will put thousands of lives at risk in the process. It’s essentially cultural and very ingrained but in the current situation it is incredibly unhelpful and a disaster in so many more ways than one. Makes one pale and shaky to think about it.

P.S. The shortsightedness and inadequacy of organisations like the APS in fostering a cringing dependence on Americanised kindergarten psychology like CBT is revealed in how it fails to understand the psychology of culture (See below). Only a Psychoanalytic approach through a lens such as that provided by Wilfred Bion could be of any help here. Of course the stupidity of the APS has devalued if not virtually eliminated such knowledge from our learning and culture

2011-03-17T14:52:00.002+10:30

Lyndon Walker Poetry reads 'Compassionate".mp4

2011-03-01T17:25:00.000+10:30

2011-02-21T11:12:00.000+10:30

30 POEMS FROM THE GHINKO : Sunday 20th February 2011 : Williamstown Beach

Melbourne summer beach
Rain & Clouds
The seasons move south.

The ancient tradition of Haiku
Now in Australia
Four poets meet.

Cold wind
Outside the cafe
A dog waits

Wind & rain bend trees
The car Park
Where we used to meet

On a wild day
The old baths in the waves
All at sea

Seven distinct shades of green
In this cold and wind I paint in my mind
Just leaves

Under this tar
And before the cars – just sand
And an absent people

Sanpellergrino limonata
You bring your peace
To the red star cafe

White castle on a grey line
The ship on the horizon

Bring me your poor
Your huddled seagulls

Grey clouds sea and tar
On the road
The red car

Windy washed sheets
Banging on the modern window glass

Tiny forest in the park

Traffic divider
Like a grave

Williamstown Lacrosse Club
A red ball
Rolls the grass

Such a strong wind
Magpies chat on the deck
Out the back

Lighter and butt
Cohabit the grass
A dying breed

The ship of the old baths is beached
No more swimmers

Christmas is gone
The trees still wrapped in plastic

Nothing but wind in the trees
Then high up
A jet

Australian summer park
Above the succulents
Spiky palms

A boab in Williamstown
No noticeable enlightenment

The urban boab
More space for graffiti

A single boab in a desert of green

The boab remembers centuries
The graffiti
Written by teenage goldfish

Green grey green yellow brown shade
My eyes go back to their starting point
In the gardens

A fig
A long way
From Moreton bay

White statue on a plinth
One history, one life
Five lines

Outside the restaurant
Blue chairs, white tables
Black & white umbrella trees
By Schweppes

Inside
Old man, young girl
Good luck.

2011-02-17T17:24:00.000+10:30

2011-02-17T17:22:00.000+10:30

THE MESSENGER, by Yannick Haenel, interviewed by Mark Baker.

Last night I attended an Interview with Yannick Haenel, author of THE MESSENGER, Text Publishing, 2011 at The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne, Australia. This first edition in the world to be published in English was translated from the original French (2009) by Ian Monk. The Interview was conducted by Mark Baker, Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation and Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Monash University. I found this a staggeringly moving interview for a staggeringly moving book. The book is available from Readings and all good bookstores, as they say.

“Who bears witness for the witness?” This quote from the French Poet Paul Celan, opens this extraordinary, important and fundamentally moving book. The answer of course is: the writers, the poets, the composers, the musicians, the sculptors the visual artists and anyone who speaks where one or more are gathered, and who speaks the truth, not just of themselves, but of those who are gone and who are unable, except through such a process, to speak for themselves.

I have spoke elsewhere*, of the therapeutic importance of bearing witness for those who have been traumatised by violence, abuse or rape. As have other therapists, such as Paul Gibney* (Australia) and Alice Miller* (America). This book, is such an act of witnessing. Its publication will be controversial. It is faction; a combination of the reporting of the facts of the life of the man charged by the Polish Jewish people in exile with carrying the horrifying testament of what was happening to the Jews of Europe to world leaders of the time, such as Roosevelt, and others, any, who might listen; and fictional recreation of conversations we can not have heard and a reporting of the film of the man who was the messenger long after the war had ended and the asking of the question why his message was not apparently heard, or if heard, not acted upon

* Walker, L. (1997, 1998, 1999, 2003), Melanie Klein’s Concept of Reparation and Its Use in the Counselling of Clients who have Suffered Significant Abuse in their Past, Paper delivered at the Australian National Family Therapy Conference, 24th - 26th September 1997, Adelaide, South Australia. The author was invited to present this paper again as a Professional Development Paper for The Victorian Association of Family Therapists and it was delivered on June 23rd 1998 at the Monash Community Health Centre.

The author has since presented an updated and augmented version of the paper to the first Psychotherapy In Australia Conference held at Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne on Friday 2nd July 1999.

* Gibney, P. (1993), The Relative Truth and/or the Truth about Relatives: Freud, Masson and the Constructivist/Narrative Model of Therapy. Unpublished paper delivered at the Australian and New Zealand Family Therapy Conference, Canberra, Wednesday, 7th July.

* Miller, A. (1991), Banished Knowledge : Facing Childhood Injuries. London, Virago Press.

Throw your arms around me (Eddie Vedder & Mark Seymour) Pearl Jam

2011-02-17T12:31:00.000+10:30

If i could tell you, Poetry by W.H. Auden.wmv

2011-02-17T11:38:00.000+10:30

2011-02-12T16:11:00.000+10:30

THE ME & JULIAN MYTH: Come on guys, this is just a little silly. Yes Julian and I are both from Townsville. Yes we probably attended the same High School (however as I am twenty years older than he you would be what the lawyers colloquially term drawing a long bow to claim any connection here). Yes we were in Sydney and Melbourne at around the same time. Anything further is just getting silly as the Monty Python Team would say. I have been a registered psychologist in the state of Victoria for the last decade and to discuss any of my clients or patients openly would be a clear breach of my ethical responsibilities – regardless of their celebrity status (or lack of it). I would be as happy as the next person to claim celebrity by association if there were any basis for it. In this case I’m afraid, there is none.

2011-02-08T14:12:00.000+10:30

2011-02-08T14:07:00.003+10:30

Les Murray in Melbourne...briefly...

Spent a lovely half hour with Les Murray yesterday, chatting under a tree outside Readings in Carlton, Melbourne. Affable, wry, self-depreciating, generous. Soory I won't get to hear him read on this trip down but will treasure the memory of the twinkling chat. Monday 7th February 2011.

2011-02-01T12:27:00.000+10:30

2011-01-27T20:49:00.000+10:30

2011-01-27T20:48:00.002+10:30

"The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it." (Introductory synopsis for The King's Speech). I and my friend S recently went to see this omnipresent film and afterwards S asked me to reflect on the film; all this within the context of my personal habit of thinking like a turtle and a reflection process somewhat akin to what a cow does slowly with its cud, my shyness and S's acute and impressive intelligence.

Nevertheless, of course, I did reflect, and later offered this: Within the shadow of our hopeless and less than bright media's gross response to "Australia Day" I thought there was something more subtle emerging here. I thought it was about two things: One was about the contribution we, one, can make to the lives of others. This spirit of contribution I think is becoming something valuable in our community and culture.

Secondly I thought this film offers us something of the valuable nature of personal friendship in the existentialist battle against shyness, loneliness and alienation from a vast and undefinable mass of fellow human beings. These are two things that I hold are of worthwhile and lasting value in this film.

2011-01-27T20:44:00.001+10:30

Cold Chisel - "When the War is Over"

2011-01-19T12:37:00.000+10:30

Death of Steve Prestwich : Sunday 16th January 2011.

2011-01-19T12:35:00.001+10:30

It is a sad duty to acknowledge the sudden passing of Steve Prestwich, gentle person, superb songwriter and generally lovely human being (and eternal drummer for Orange and Cold Chisel). All any musician could hope for is to write one song as good as this before they die; and Steve did. So for Steve the war is over but forever now, whenever I hear this song, ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away. Lyndon

2011-01-17T21:08:00.000+10:30

2011-01-15T05:38:00.000+10:30

Floods in Australia..

2011-01-12T18:16:00.001+10:30

Further posts on my Blog and Facebook will be halted while much of my country goes under water. Wishing the best to all. Lyndon.

2011-01-12T13:46:00.000+10:30

Raindance 2...

2011-01-12T13:44:00.001+10:30

This was essentially a serendipity event, hastily organised by people with their heart and feet in the right place. I personally think it would have gone better if there was out loud music so everybody could hear what everyone was dancing to – and the general public and it might have made the dance vibe more infectious and joinable and maybe to dance across the road on the WALK signal. Nevertheless, it was rather lovely to see my friends enjoying themselves, even me (occasionally) and my beautiful friend Chrissy H, who I think stood out and who, of course could not help striking a pose for the camera...

Raindancing 1

2011-01-12T13:31:00.001+10:30

I have a lot of catching up to do, on Facebook, and on my Blog. I'm going to be briefer than usual. I am going to catch up on a few things I've been up to while whirling around this country, and I'm going to start backwards with an event here in Melbourne on the evening of the day I got back: DANCE DON'T WALK : DANCE PORTAL : 6.00pm Intersection of Flinders and Swanston Street, beginning under the Flinders Station Clocks.

2011-01-12T13:27:00.000+10:30

2011-01-02T11:09:00.000+10:30

2011-01-02T11:06:00.002+10:30

In the photo is Lyndon at lunch on New Years Day with his favourite female of the moment : Mishka, the long haired jack russell terrier....

2010-12-23T17:43:00.001+10:30

Been In The Storm Too Long

2010-12-23T17:29:00.001+10:30

Gospel Recorded in Warnnambool, Victoria Australia, November 2010. Tony Backhouse Gospel Workshop.

Unnerved...

2010-12-22T22:19:00.001+10:30

My friend and fellow poet Libby and I attend the Unnerved Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. Contemporary View of Contemporary New Zealand Art. Redundant verbosity intended. Review to come another day.

2010-12-22T22:15:00.000+10:30

http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/exhibitions/unnerved-contemporary-new-zealand-art

2010-12-22T21:56:00.000+10:30

2010-12-22T21:55:00.002+10:30

Superb but exhausted get together by most of the Tuesday Night Soulsong group at generous Magda's for end of year celebration; Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. Brief respite and peace on earth and goodwill to all men and women. Bless you one and all

2010-12-22T21:50:00.001+10:30

Went to church on Sunday !!!!

2010-12-20T09:58:00.001+10:30

Went to church on Sunday to sing at a service for the church attached to our little hall where our Soulsong singing group has practised and rehearsed for several years now. It was a strange mixed occasion (for me). I thought our singing was lovely. A bit rusty on Amazing Grace (because we hadn't warmed up – many were wandering in slightly late – bit of a shambles guys – but warm and lovely once we were all there) but the Ale was fantastic just a lovely and warm harmony, really appreciated by us and the small congregation of the church. Just stunning – wish we'd recorded it. I felt sad a little for the small and ageing congregation in the church but there's not much I can do about that – except to posit the possibility that if we sang there on a regular basis we might increase the size of the congregation – but a bit of a huge ask of the other members of Soulsong who lead full and active lives. Then we kind of went on to top it when Liz and Jo and Stella sang the loveliest high descant to an old English Hymn at the end of the service. OK – I cried. It was like that. Thank you Soulsingers for a lovely mornings singing – Richard had us do "Over Yonder" on the steps but it was a bit cold and windy and we had no audience except a few wandering shoppers on a Sunday morning. But it was followed by a pleasant coffee/brunch/breakfast at Loco's in Glenhuntly Road in Elsternwick. And a pretty happy and lovely bunch we were. Thank you to all for making Jinty welcome – she'd driven a couple of hours from the country, early in the morning to hear us. She thought it was worth it and so did I. Really looking forward to our end of year party. Feeling warm, thank you, on a cold Melbourne summer's day.

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

2010-12-17T21:16:00.000+10:30

Bruce Springsteen: RACING IN THE STREET

2010-12-16T10:00:00.000+10:30

2010-12-15T13:54:00.000+10:30

2010-12-15T09:25:00.000+10:30

2010-12-15T09:23:00.004+10:30

Hope the audience was equally impressed - considering that I forgot words towards the end and that it was a LONG Bruce song and a pity they didn't get to hear the beautiful piano work. I think I will keep concert songs much shorter in future... but I loved all the other contributions - each shone in its own special light - moving and lovely sounds.

TONIGHT IS IS IS IS THE NIGHT....

2010-12-14T08:34:00.001+10:30

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT: End Of Year SOULSONG Soiree. Tuesday 14th December 2010. 7.30pm. St John's Church Hall. 567 Glenhuntley Rd Elsternwick. Time to woo your friends, cool their bodies & warm their little hearts as we sing a selection from our repertoire. We look forward to seeing you at an evening to enliven your hearts bodies and souls...

2010-12-13T21:53:00.000+10:30

Birthday Blues...sort of...

2010-12-13T21:40:00.001+10:30

A short lunch and cup of tea with a friend for my birthday then off to see "Winter's Bone" and dinner with my delightful daughter. Not all bad. The day improved as it went on. Thank you to all the boys and girls and men and women who wished me well one way or another. I appreciate it.

2010-12-13T08:31:00.000+10:30

Happy Birthday Dear Lyndon. Happy Birthday to me..

2010-12-13T08:30:00.001+10:30

"Happy Birthday Lyndon hope it's very, very special xoxo"

2010-12-08T11:08:00.000+10:30

2010-12-08T11:07:00.002+10:30

Just a brief reminder that this is the 30th Anniversary of John Lennon's death. Let's spend a moment of gratitude to the sounds thoughts images and songs he gave to the world.

Final rehearsal...

2010-12-08T08:28:00.001+10:30

Final rehearsal last night (sounding good) for: End Of Year SOULSONG Soiree. Tuesday 14th December 2010. 7.30pm. St John's Church Hall. 567 Glenhuntley Rd Elsternwick. Time to woo your friends, cool their bodies & warm their little hearts as we sing a selection from our repertoire. We look forward to seeing you at an ...

2010-12-02T20:34:00.000+10:30

Reflections on the U2 Spaceship touching down in Melbourne...

2010-12-02T20:30:00.001+10:30

I went with my friend Carmen from singing to see the initial touchdown of the U2 Spaceship in Melbourne last night. We kind of tried to miss the support act (Rapper Jayzee) by turning up around 7.30 (after an advertised starting time of 5.30) only to find that Jayzee hadn't even started his thing. Prior to getting in the door we were forced to check our umbrellas (even after a day of pouring December rain) an aspect of huge overseas concerts I could have done without. Of course on reflection Etihad Stadiums usual attendees could have cornered the market on the Neanderthal demographic (so maybe their concerns for the use of umbrellas were valid) but perhaps not for a U2 audience.

So then there came an hour of doof doof slightly augmented by the occasional nod to Islam in a musical sense but the content was as subtle as rap and it became clear that the size of the venue was needed in order to accommodate Jayzee's ego. This faculty will not be enhanced by my only notion of his fame stemming from the fact that he's Beyonce's husband.

After JZ had finished there was half an hour of set up for the main gig with entertaining graphics on the spaceship claw. 60,000 were there, essentially separated into ground floor residents (obediently obeying every rapper demand for arm and shirt waving and the "make some noise" command – limited vocab is apparently prerequisite for rapping). This was augmented by 3 rows of seating that remarkably reiterated the Coliseum, with some minor drawbacks; ground floor seating would have had difficulty viewing anything but the huge projected figures on the 360° screen; 2^nd level (where we were seated) gave an OK view of all but the "real" people were pretty small; 3^rd level could look down on everything but would clearly have only viewed the ant version of U2 so would have been entirely dependent on the projections. These projections were extraordinarily well crafted and choreographed and a state of the art experience which produced the effect of a monster spaceship bearing Rock Gods introduced appropriately by David Bowies MAJOR TOM. Still, for a group as sophisticated and with the range of U2 you have to wonder about the need for stadium rock, apart from of course producing the largest amount of money with the smallest amount of effort and scheduled playing dates.

The music was exquisite anthem rock all superbly done (everybody, including me, sang along to the favourites) which covered material as far back as the BOY album, touched on everything since, and provided glimpses of new material to come (cynically I'm predicting a double live album of this tour – perhaps with DVD – and with "previously unreleased material"). I may say this cynically, but I'll be buying: they remain a great band.

Mind you Carmen, who can be moved to move with delightful facility by music , stayed in her seat the entire evening and could not be drawn beyond the enigmatic when asked to comment on the event. Of course we had seen Leonard Cohen, The Master, (slightly smaller venue, better feel) about a fortnight before. I did sneak a quick glance at her when Bono included one of her favourite Cohen quotations "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in" in the midst of a U2 lyric.

Other aspects worth noting: Political and spiritual messages seemed lost on the beer swilling morons in front of us (hope they weren't driving home – you can bet they were – come on Australia "GET A LIFE" alcoholism is no replacement for personality) and it was less than edifying to be treated exactly like cattle during the exit process. At over $ 200 a ticket, not good enough. This was not power to the people Bono, this was animalising the people.

I know: tired and grumpy the day after. Remember the take home message: "The music was exquisite anthem rock all superbly done..... I'm predicting a double live album of this tour – perhaps with DVD – and with "previously unreleased material"). I may say this cynically, but I'll be buying: they remain a great band."