The Weekly News Blues

Ahh the weekly news, you love it. Don't you? Isn't it great that you can learn all about the woes and worries of the world, even faster than you used to be able to ? Doesn't that prospect just fill you with joy ? yes, the news, our way of finding out just how miserable the rest of the world is compared to you. I guess its supposed to make you feel better about yourself or possibly your situation. Depending on who you are of course. If you're the person or group that the news has decided to focus on this week then chances are you probably aren't so happy. Its so rare to hear good news now, sometimes we forget that good news even occurs. reading the news can leave you somewhat disenchanted with the world we live in, when even now, with all our wealth and technology; there are still people without running water.

 

Now I'm not saying that good news is never reported, it is, it's just done ever so quietly. You hear about bankrupt celebrities and faulty iPhones but you don't here about how India have just managed to get a satellite into Mars' orbit or that the USA and China have recently pledged to try and reduce CO2 emissions. I also believe there was a rather bizarre story about an operation on a fish to remove a rather large brain tumour that it had. But no, the news has a habit of fear mongering, they convince us that everyone from the 80's are paedophiles and that the world could possibly end next week, but only if we read the news.

 

Now I managed to get by with listening to the news too much, I rarely pay attention to stuff. But I'm not clueless, I still hear about the news, I just tend not to listen unless its hugely important. 

News is great and all, but its true what is said, sometimes no news is good news. 

 

A Change Of Heart

Classical music...

Prissy, snobby? Maybe… That's what I used to think anyway. Classical music was always inaccessible to me, but then, I was never particularly interested. But a recent (and rather fantastic) trip to London gave me reason to look a little deeper.

Now, I'd never been to the Albert Hall (or should I maybe give its full title? The Royal Albert Hall). But it's safe to say that the towering dome, scrawled with Latin and effigies of times long since past, left me awestruck. Then suddenly. I was terrified. Here I was queuing for a promenade, a musical tradition that stretches back to 1895! And Me, standing in line as tiny and insignificant as a grain of uncooked rice, I know nothing!

As I panic away to myself, two fantastic musicians (albeit dear friends) discuss the brilliance of Bach, and Shostakovich's symphonies. All the while I stand and wondered what in Gods name I’m getting myself into. I feel like a very small fish, in a very, very, large pond filled with grandeur, and instruments.

After paying for a ticket (surprisingly only £5) my friends informed me that the conductor and his orchestra are world renowned. A man, who in my classical music infancy, I had yet to hear of or learn about, Daniel Barenboim. Now those of you who are seasoned classical music fans may gasp in pure horror at my lack of knowledge. But admittedly that concert shot me into the universe of that gorgeous genre of music that is classical music. And, although I am still learning, I am sure that I will never forget that shiver that accompanied swell of Ravel's Bolero as it all came crashing together in one fantastic finale, neither will I forget how the sounds reverberated through me, chasing themselves around the domed ceiling before following me into my sleep to become the soundtrack for that nights dream.

It's safe to say that classical music has grown on me since then, it’s an ever expanding universe full of subtlety and beauty. One, I personally, can't wait to become better acquainted with. The more I learn, the more I want to learn, it has rekindled my love for my poor, slightly neglected piano, and made me slightly guilty for being so close minded about the world of classical music.

My dearest classical genre, can you ever forgive me?

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