I’ve been to the panto this evening. A friend, well the Dad
in the family that has kinda adopted me was Will Scarlet and his eldest son had
a fab little role too. I haven’t been to the panto in a few years, me and
Boyfriend went to see John Barrowman in the one in Cardiff one New Years Eve
–probably 2009/2010. For our 50 month anniversary we decided on date afternoon
to go see Les Mis at the cinema (well on our actual anniversary being Methodist
Geeks we went to see the President of Conference then had burgers at Spoons).
Anyway I bring up Les Mis as like the panto people sing rather than talk and
tonight’s blog topic is music.
On a slight tangent if I was ever on Room 101 I would put
songs with siren noises hidden in. These are the ones on the radio that you
have to turn off when driving just to check it’s the music not a fire engine, ambulance
or police car.
I think I listen to music a lot less than some people. Maybe
that’s not right, what I mean is that I don’t intentionally listen to music as
much as some people do. (Not that I compare myself to others often).
I don’t own an iPod, my mp3 player is rather old, and to be
honest I don’t really like head phones. During the day when I’m driving I have Radio
1 on (so that's music!), and in the evening (after 7) I choose between Radio 2’s
music (must be getting old) and Radio 4’s chats (turning in to my mother), or
sometimes I have a specific cd in my car; the Disney blog came out of that time
of driving and cd listening. When I’m at home I sometimes put the music on my
laptop, but often I just sit in silence or relative silence anyway.
Something that music does is help us recall certain
memories, I’m reminded of a fellow steward whenever I hear the Yfriday version
of Strength will rise, I can no
longer sing And Can it Be without
thinking of Boyfriend or One more step
without getting the giggles from old Exec days. For everyone Born will always be a MWiB / South Africa song. Some
songs have negative memories though. The other day I was on a train that was
packed between Huddersfield and Manchester and at Hudds two lads, one very
drunk and one not quite so drunk got on and sat one next to and the other
opposite me in a four seated bit – like the table seats but without a table.
They were boasting the fact they had been kicked out of 4 out of 5 clubs in
Huddersfield, still wearing yesterday’s clothes and were on their way to
Liverpool, or maybe Manchester. After the first stop many in our carriage got
off and I had the opportunity to move seats, but believing it would cause more
agro stopped where I was and had an interesting 30-40 minutes being asked if I
thought they were attractive, if I could tell they were wearing yesterdays
clothes and the more drunk one singing over and over again “I want to scream
and shout and let it all out” This song is now in my bad books for two reasons
as when it came onto the radio the other day it took me back to that train
ride, but it also has siren like noises in the background.
There is one type of music I seem to listen to a lot, and
obviously this goes in peaks and troughs, is on hold music. It reminds me of my
grandparents and Radio 3, it reminds me of placement in 1st year
when I spent ages calling a bowling alley and each 20 seconds of song were
disrupted by an advert. I don’t know what the answer is to decent on hold
music, but I’ve not heard it yet.
Yesterday’s issue with music was that of a facebook game.
This particular one where you have to fry or grill different types of chicken
had a rather annoying sound track background, however if you turned it off you
also lost the sound effects, the bell as a customer came through the door, the
click of the frying pan saying it was done and the ring of the phone for take
away orders. So the choice was include the annoying music or lose the detail
that made the game easier.
Now I’m not about to burst into song when mid speech but I
do talk a lot, so it may come as a surprise to you that I’ve booked a mostly
silent retreat. The idea is at meal times I can chat with the Nuns and others
who are staying at the Monastery but the rest of the time is for me, my
thoughts, my questions, some books and God. I’ll probably take paper to write
on, pencils to sketch with, my camera (rather than my phone) all to help me
find God
Like I’ve said I don’t intentionally seek out music often,
right now all I can hear is the ticking clock and the sound of the keys on my
keyboard as I type. But silence, that’s something else altogether.
