February 2021 Newsletter

Read deeply, steal what you can and always listen for the music

Well, here we are at the end of another month. This one was a short one so I’m running a little late.  There has been a couple of life things. I went back to work this month. A new Navy class that I get to hang out with for 10 weeks. School has gone back so I have a few year-12s this year. In much more exciting news I’m allowed back into the library to select books for the home library service.

RIP Chick Corea

Chick Corea passed away this month. He is most famous for being there for the birth of Jazz Fusion. He created over 100 albums and won 23 Grammy awards. I’m not actually that big of a fan of a lot of his music. But his influence on the development of Jazz fusion had a huge impact on artists I enjoy. He also collaborated with one of the favourite artists of all time Gary Burton, vibraphone extraordinaire. In 2014 Mum and I went and saw them at the Opera House. Here is Chick Corea and Gary Burton talking about the Hot House album which I saw them perform. Here is them in a Tiny Desk Concert. I could probably listen to the vibes forever.

365 days since I came home

This means I’ve completed 365 days straight of learning Norwegian on Duolingo.  An epic achievement in my books. I got so excited the other day when an artist came up on my Spotify, Hver gang vi møtes, and I could translate it without trying. Talking about Norway, it was the Melodi Grand Prix 2021 last weekend. Keiino, who competed in 2019 at Eurovision, was back with another epic song Monument. They were pipped at the post by TIX who sang his song in Norwegian in the semi-final, then in English in the final. The Norwegian version is heaps better. Keiino was robbed though, definitely the better song.

Books, books and more books

This month I have gone a bit mad with the reading.  I think it might have something to do with being back at the library again. I read the second book in the Dales Detective Series, Date with Malice. A lovely escape into the Yorkshire dales with great characters and a few dead bodies.
Then onto ‘The bookish life of Nina Hill’ by Abbi Waxman. Unusually for me, not a murder mystery. Its about Nina Hill who works in a bookstore and one day her life changes when her father, who she didn’t even know the name of dies. She finds out about her massive family, falls in love with a cute guy and lives happily ever after. An enjoyable time spent. Laughing out loud and crying in parts as well.
Bricks and Mortality by Ann Granger. Back to the murder mystery. This one is book 3 of the Campbell and Carter Mystery series. Set in the Cotswolds, it is your standard small village murder mystery. I didn’t really connect with the characters as I did in the Dales Series. It was enjoyable. Luckily I borrowed it from the library.
Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen, set in the upper class in 1930s England. It is #10 in the Royal Spyness series. It starts just after a royal wedding with Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 35th inline to the throne, heading off to Scotland to elope with the handsome Irishman Darcy O’Mara. They don’t make it to Scotland because of the snow. Then it is all off because Darcy’s Dad is accused of murder in Ireland. Cue the murder mystery. It was heaps of fun. Lots of laughs and a couple of twists.
So maybe not that many books. Compared to my reading of novels over the last couple of years this was a lot.

Sport

Cricket is still going on with both the ladies and the gents touring New Zealand. Excitingly motorsport is starting up, Rally, Supercars, Formula E. Also the BPL, the Bowls Premier League has kicked off. Lawn bowls if anyone was interested shown live on Kayo all of last week. The Tweed Head Ospreys won in the final.

Music

I went and saw the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Town Hall. It was lovely to feel the bass in my body again. The concert was brilliant.  They played a commissioned piece by Kyle Chan and Symphony No 3 by Saint-Saëns. I had brunch before and lunch after it was a great day out. If you want to learn more about the concert check out this post I wrote about it.