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Take Me Away

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

It has been a distressing week here and across the world for many reasons. These troubles have been the subject of extensive reporting so I won’t go into those matters now. Instead, I would like to acknowledge the incredible work that everyone has been doing in Australia to respond to the growing Delta outbreak here.

The New South Wales government has made some mistakes which has allowed the virus to grow exponentially. We don’t know whether it would have been possible to contain it anyway, but they hesitated. This, however, in no way diminishes the huge effort of frontline and other essential workers, as well as Sydney residents who are turning out to get vaccinated, to try to minimise infections. Thank you all. Great jab.

Many will know that the Sydney outbreak has made its way to Canberra. Here in Canberra, we have just completed our first week of quiet time and movement restrictions. Canberrans have been re-organising their lives, monitoring the growing number of exposure sites, getting tested and otherwise staying at home.

I don’t often heap praise on politicians, but I hope you forgive me this one indulgence. I have been greatly impressed by the responsiveness and swift actions of our local government to keep Canberrans safe. It has been a huge effort and I really, really appreciate it. Of course, I cannot speak for those who have been in quarantine after having caught the virus or who have been a close or casual contact. Our youngest son’s timing was impeccable, missing “the excitement” by a mere hour. Commiserations to those who haven’t been so lucky. I hope you have friends and family who can keep the chips and chocolates flowing to you.

Speaking of chips and chocolates, my eldest son who is in his mid 20s, got tired of waiting for the Pfizer vaccine, so he got the AstraZeneca yesterday. He rang my GP and it took him less than 24 hours to get an appointment to get the jab. Despite my other son’s lucky escape, he has decided to wait for the former. It will be an experiment to see who is fully vaccinated first. There is one thing for sure, and that is, whoever wins will have to go out and get the chips and chocolates. Given the difficulties in obtaining grocery deliveries, I wonder whether this is a reason some people are breaking quarantine in Sydney?

Anyway, I need to turn off the wondering and the wandering for a while. Let’s have a song. Is Norah Jones singing Come Away With Me acceptable? Take us away, Norah.

Stay safe, stay sane, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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A Busy Week Already

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

I’ve almost run out of groceries (no bread or milk left) as I normally get them on Thursday or Friday. Food doesn’t last long in my house with three men and one anxious, stress-eater woman residing therein. I knew I should have gone food shopping yesterday, but the sun was shining so I walked instead. So of course, a Covid case turned up in Canberra (Australia) today – the first local to Canberra case of community transmission in over a year. Anyhoo, this afternoon Canberra went into a snap 7-day lockdown with only a few hours notice. As soon as I heard the news, I dashed across town to get the fish for the dog with the copper storage disease. Unfortunately, I didn’t get into the shopping centre because it was a shit-fight for parking (and no doubt shopping trolleys) so I returned home instead. I also briefly cruised past the little local shopping centre I often frequent but it was pandemonium there too. I did manage to get some Turkish bread from the local takeaway so the lads should be good for a day or so.

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On Your Marks

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

Let’s get physical, ladies and gentlemen. No, that’s not the song.

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Absent Friends

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

In July 2019, I participated in the Share Your Music Challenge – one song every day that month. At the end of the month, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had managed to make it through the challenge and was ready to hang up my air guitar. One of my Canadian readers urged me to keep going and so my Friday Song Day and a musical exchange began. This interaction brought me great joy.

These days I have fewer Canadian readers – death, old age, illness, pandemics, caring responsibilities, other commitments, etc, have intervened. For several weeks I have been concerned for my musical buddies, Sid and J. Today I have chosen a musical piece for them both and their loved ones. The piece is Ravel’s Miroirs III – Une Barque sur L’Ocean, performed by renowned Canadian pianist André Laplante.

This beautiful piece and performance is a gift to us all. I know Sid and J would approve. Enjoy.

Let kindness and compassion be your legacy, ladies and gentlemen.

Love to you all.
Tracy.

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Hold The Line

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

Who is an essential worker? That is the question that the New South Wales Premier has refused to answer. Politics! Meanwhile, cases of the Delta variant grow in Sydney (Australia). The Premier is not personally to blame for the increase in cases, but it would be helpful if she could say who should stay at home under her government’s lockdown provisions. I am sure she will get around to it soon because she is a sensible woman. A few more people may have to die first before official advice is given.

I send all my love to family and friends in Sydney. Thinking of you. You can do this. My thoughts are also with all those in hospital at the moment and with the families who have lost loved ones to Covid.

Today, we need a big song. This is for everyone in Sydney and other parts of the world who are dealing with the horrors of Covid at the moment. The song is Hold The Line by Toto.

Stay safe, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Photo Credit: J Bar, Fairfield Railway Station, Wikimedia Commons

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Celebration Of Country And Culture

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

It is NAIDOC Week in Australia. During NAIDOC week, celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) peoples. There are around 500 First Nations groups, each with their own culture, language, beliefs and practices. I think we should celebrate NAIDOC week with a couple of songs, but before we do, I would like to acknowledge and pay my respects to the traditional custodians of the land where I live, the Ngunnawal people.

It was a difficult choice as there are so many wonderful performers from which to choose, but today I have decided to go with Emily Wurramara’s wonderful performance at TEDx, of three songs – Black Smoke, Hey Love and Ngerraberrakernama – from her first album. Since some of my fellow Aussies are in lockdown this weekend, I chose this longer video, rather than limiting my choice to just one song. Ms Wurramara takes inspiration from family and childhood home of Bickerton (Milyakburra in language) and Groote Eyelandt in the Top End. I think we all want to go there. I hope you enjoy.

Take care, everyone. For those Aussies stranded overseas, I hope you will soon be able to return home.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Photo credit: NASA astronaut image of Bickerton Island in Australia, Wiki Commons

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Rocky Times

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

Photo by Scott Webb on Pexels.com

What a rocky week it has been. In North America, record breaking heatwave exacerbated by climate change is killing people, flora and fauna, as well as damaging infrastructure and disrupting economic activity. In Australia, the national government announced it will provide a loan to a private company, Pembroke Resources (established 2014), for a new metallurgical coal mining project. The mine will have an operating life of 80 years. Pembroke Resources is owned by US private equity firm, Denham Capital. No pesky shareholders or bankers to worry about, but who is going to insure a project like that? Do Australian governments (there is bipartisan support for coal projects) really not care about the damage that our addiction to coal is causing? I wonder if all our fire fighters are vaccinated now in case they are called to help fight fires overseas this year?

Let’s not go there. It is too depressing.

However, since we are chatting about rocks, I learnt from another blogger, Martha Kennedy, that Colorado town, Crestone, is known for its geology and for the discovery of a partially mummified body of a cult leader at the town (see here). I guess it is pretty dry in Crestone. The name of the cult group is called “Love Has Won”. So naturally, I thought of the song, Love On The Rocks, written by Neil Diamond and Gilbert Bécaud. You thought that too, didn’t you? Anyway, it is my choice for Friday song day. Enjoy.

Cheers.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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Timing

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

The people of eastern Australia spent another week on tenterhooks with coronavirus hotspots popping up across three states. Unvaccinated people took to their doonas or had parties, including at one state parliament house. I do note however that many health workers have been vaccinated so that is good news. Let the good times roll. In other news, one political party in a governing coalition had a leadership challenge while the leader of the other party in that coalition was in quarantine after returning from o/s. Yep, things are almost back to normal downunder. I imagine that developments overseas are just as challenging to the collective psyche. I don’t know about you, but I need to chill out. Let music fill the chamber, so to speak.

We can still make beautiful music if we work together. We can worry about the rakali another day (in joke).

Here is one of my favourite pieces – Ravel, Introduction and Allegro for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet, performed by L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Enjoy.

Take care, everyone. Peace.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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Bizarrely Enough

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

I have amended this blog post because I was rather unfair in some respects.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has revised its advice on the AstraZeneca Covid 19 vaccine in response to new vaccine safety concerns. it has been recommended that administration of the AZ vaccine be suspended for the 50-59 age group. This group should instead have the Pfizer vaccine (excepting those who have already had their first dose without incident). The AZ vaccine is still recommended for those above 60 years of age. See here for the ATAGI advice.

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