In the suburbs
I learned to drive
And you told me we’d never survive
Grab your mother’s keys we’re leavin’…
In my younger days, when the stress tide was rising, I used to pop on my favourite record at the time, crank the volume up to maximum and bathe in an anodyne sonic sea. Cheaper than Valium and a [...]
Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
And you feel so right, but how come you can’t sleep at night?
You shall have a fish and you shall have a fin
Speaking of songs for boys, Colin Meloy’s version of a traditional Northumbrian folk song is my current favourite…
Dance to your daddy, my little laddie
Dance to your daddy, my little lamb
You shall have a fish and you shall have a fin
You shall have a heron when the boat comes in
You shall have a lobster boiled in [...]
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
(Or on Puff the Magic Dragon and masculinity.)
One of my favourite sources for kids’ music is Cover Lay Down’s Kidfolk series. Not too long ago, one of Boyhowdy’s featured tracks was a version of “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame. “Puff” is a song that I remember fondly [...]
Peter, Paul and Mary "Puff the Magic Dragon" [3:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Peter and Bethany Yarrow "Puff the Magic Dragon" [4:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Broken Social Scene "Puff the Magic Dragon" [5:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadHe’s the hairy, hairy gent, who ran amok in Kent.
Reason #143 that I love Australia: public holidays for trivial reasons. There’s the Queen’s Birthday in June (which is not actually the current or any past Queen of England’s birthday), Family and Community Day in the ACT in September, Eight Hours Day in Tasmania in March, Picnic Day in the Northern Territories in August and yesterday’s Adelaide [...]
I live out yonder where the snakes and scorpions run
Boy Z and I need dates this weekend. For WOMADelaide. Dr. O’C is not a fan of ‘hippy shit’. (Nor, for that matter, am I. But I’m too old and Boy Z is too young for Big Day Out and I want to take some advantage of The Festival State’s offerings) And she reckons that [...]
It’s that time of year when the world falls in love
I’m not typically a fan of the old fashioned Christmas carols, especially those of a religious nature. While I’m fully aware that Jesus is the reason for the season, I take my Christmas without much Christ. But for the past week or so, I’ve really been bopping along to Frank Sinatra’s contribution to the holiday [...]
The ice is thick and my feet are clamped, I know how my cards are stacked
I made a resolution this year to try and suppress my natural Grinchy tendencies. Now that I have two young boys around, Christmas is going to start to become less about me being grumpy and self-indulgently miserable and more about them being smitten with Christmas magic.
They’re both still too young to properly appreciate Christmas, but I’m [...]
I was always told that you have to have the balls to break down, now I’m older I’m not too sure
29 Oct 2009 at 22:20
A Free Man
A Life In Music, Australia, British Artists, Dr. O'C, Music, parenting
This week has been a grueling battle over sleep. On one side, two exhausted parents. On the other, two young boys to whom going to bed is tantamount to defeat. More than once during the hostilities, both Dr. O’C and I have daydreamed about the halcyon days before we had kids. The quiet, the leisurely [...]
Gomez "78 Stone Wobble" [4:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Gomez "Little Pieces" [3:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadWell I think I see another side, maybe just another light that shines
For about six months after my ill-advised and short-lived marriage, I locked myself away in a cave and proceeded to go temporarily insane.
My hermitage was a converted warehouse space in the shadow of the Kingdome – vast, sterile and windowless. I rented it as a base of operations for my fledgling freelance photography business. After a [...]
Mazzy Star "Halah" [3:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions "Blanchard" [4:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadBut how this life will change him, that we don’t know.
Once a week for the last year I’ve been taking a day off work to spend with Boy Z – Boy Z and Papa Party Days. I’ve done it regardless of work obligations, choosing to arrange work around Party Days rather than Party Days around work. These days are like oases in the work week. [...]
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