”You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” – Johnny Cash
Johnny & his mate Bob
I came across this singer song writer last month and I’ve really been enjoying her work. In fact so much so her EP has been played over 20 times on my iPod. I didn’t know much about her so today I thought I would do a bit of research. Beforehand I would have said that she was probably a woman in her thirties with at least a decade of experience behind her – was I in for a surprise. It turns out she is a 17 year old from Bathand this is her first EP!! Flamin nora her lyrics and song writing are amazing. Give her video a blast and see what you think. Her EP “Never Fade” is definitely worth a listen and at £1.79 on iTunes its outstanding value!
The past is gone, it’s dead. Learn from it or forget about it, but whatever you do, don’t dwell on it. Such thoughts will only hijack the present and cast the future into doubt. Athletes don’t save energy for races they have already run. Chris Evans
I’ve been reading Chris Evans book “Memoirs of a Fruitcake” and have found it an exciting read. Whilst I’ve often aspired to read autobiographies I very rarely do. However, during the summer I wanted a light read and picked this one up. I like Chris and thought it would be a fun book – it hasn’t disappointed. I love his quick wit and energetic persona and in recent years I’ve had a growing awareness of a new honesty within him and an appreciation for people and life.
I’ve recently had reason to consider a few things in my past. We’ve all made mistakes and done things we regret but for some reason I have a mind that sometimes won’t let go of them. My mind can sometimes be quite a vicious place for its owner. Don’t worry there is nothing major nor horrendous in my past! I haven’t murdered someone or done something equally as horrible. In fact I’m often baffled as to why my mind remembers the embarrassing minutia of my life and insists on casting it up. I’m sure a therapist would have a field day. You can see why therefore the above quote of Chris’s hit a chord, it’s time to stop the past hijacking the present and to march freely into the future.
If you’re looking a light fun read with the odd poignant moment thrown in let me recommend this book to you!
I recently came across a local band called the 1930s. I have to say they are a breath of fresh air.
If you like Mumford & Son you will want to give this a listen. The lyric below jumped off my iPod yesterday from a song of theirs called “I’m a vapour” and it has been banging round my head since.
Some people die when they are forty
But they’re not buried to they’re 75
Just because your heart is beating
Doesn’t mean that you’re alive
I’m a vapour here today gone tomorrow
Don’t want to live my life here
With a heart full of sorrow
At one stage or another we have all had the conversation with ourselves or others as to what it means to be truly living. Each one of us will have an individual answer I’m sure but here’s a little additional thought. Having an answer to what it means to be truly living and then transforming the thought to experience needs attention to detail and careful monitoring. We need to frequently visit the question and remind ourselves of the answers. If we don’t the pace at which we live often allows the answers to drop out of our daily agenda and day to day experience. For £3.16 on iTunes I think it’s worth every penny – go buy the lads EP “All these things” and see what you think.
Recently I have been getting excited about the release of Noel Gallagher’s new debut album. I’ve been avidly keeping an eye out for any interviews he’s given and any pre-release stuff in general. It’s not like me and I’m not sure why this time and with this album. In fact the more I think about it the last time I got this interested in a new album before its release was U2’s “Rattle & Hum”. How long ago was that lol…
On Facebook I happened to mention this on an occasion or two and also happened to mention my lament at my decision not to purchase it. Truth be told I’ve spent way too much on cycling of late and with Christmas coming I need to slow down on the expenditure.
The mail arrived on Tuesday like any other day and I noticed a padded envelope with my name on it. Strange I thought as I haven’t ordered anything. Filled with a sudden excitement and curiosity I opened it and there and behold was Noel Gallagher’s new album. There was no note with it, nothing. It was all I could do to boot the PC up and give it a listen…
Now truth be told an old mate recently and randomly asked for my postal address and so I figured out who had sent it. The fact is I haven’t seen this lad in over 18 months. What a friend and what a cool example of a random act of kindness. I’m not for a minute suggesting we all start buying each other music but I think we could all take a leaf out of his book and support each other with something other and more than the odd word on Facebook. In this respect I know I need to sort my act out!
Last night our eldest said “I think I’m starting to like U2 what songs would you recommend”. Where does one start? U2 whilst not my most favourite band are certainly one of my favourites. Throughout the past 25 years I’ve listened to most of their albums more times than I care to mention. So in response to the request I quickly put a wee playlist of 20 together where I tried to stay away from the usual radio hits.
I was glad to get the feedback today that he loved such classics as “The Unforgettable Fire” and their version of “Satellite of Love”. On the way home from school he selected “Zooropa” and boy did the memories come flooding back like a massive tsunami! I could hear myself share the memories of seeing them playing live in Dublin– ZOO TV anyone? The opening moments of the concert were we seen the silhouette of Bono doing some kind of one legged dance whilst smoking a cigar. The many BIG TV screens with the words swiftly changing across them alongside bits of historic film. These are just two memories of what was a magical night in 1992.
One memory I won’t forget was when we sneaked home across the border under blankets in the back of a mate’s estate car. We had somewhere between 7 and 9 people on board that night if memory serves me correctly and we were scared of getting caught. With the troubles very much still in operation what the army would have thought and done should they have found us? It would have probably landed us with a few hours of interrogation.
I remember as teenager going to see various bands and thinking tonight’s a night I’ll share with my kids and grandkids… little did I know how soon the story telling would come along. If there is a lesson to be learnt here I think it’s in noting how fast life passes us by. Time to get out and do a bit more living me thinks!!
Ocean Blue 