On Saturday I attended a reunion to mark 30 years since I finished High School. I was very much in two minds about attending as I didn't enjoy the 10 year one and avoided the 20th! However, I was glad I went. It was great to catch up with a wide range of people and to have a look at what has become of our small school. It's now huge! The area I grew up in used to be characterised by fairly awful urban areas with the surrounding countryside being nothing short of gorgeous. Not much has changed. The towns look to be struggling for the most part but the rainforest, bush and mountains are spectacular.
Midnight Oil - One Country - https://youtu.be/Mz3HShQkdd4
The other reason that I travelled, through a million lots of roadworks, to Gippsland was to finally have a crack at cycling up Mt Baw Baw. It's reputation is pretty fearsome so DJ Dad and I drove up to check it out on the Saturday morning. It's a windy and beautiful road through Neerim South, Noojee and Icy Creek heading to start of the climb at Tanjil Bren. Driving up it looks like a wall in places and I was starting to question my sanity. Then we saw a para-athlete making his way up using a hand cycle. Kudos to that hard man! The weather was 8 degrees at the top that day. Brrrrr! Fast forward to Sunday morning and I hopped on my bike at Tanjil Bren ready for the ascent. After a short warm up and a then a few kilometres downhill the climb begins. And for a few kilometres it really isn't that bad: a steady manageable gradient. And then you get to a spot called The Gantry where the road suddenly kicks up and it's on like Donkey Kong. I'm not going to kid you, it hurt a lot and a couple of times my GPS unit paused as I was going so slow. The gradient is over 11% for the next 6.5km topping out with a short section of 20%. Ouch. This is where all the hill climbing I'd done in preparation stood me in good stead. Even though I spent almost 75 minutes out of the saddle climbing it was almost all at a good rhythm. I was glad to hit the last 700m where the gradient is more friendly and even gladder to see my Dad at the end! The view from the top of Mt Baw Baw is so spectacular that you can see the curve of the Earth! I'll admit that I wasn't brave enough to ride back down the hill. Maybe one day on a bike with disc brakes. Apparently that's Australia's hardest climb. It certainly isn't the longest but for steep and sustained climbing it's right up there. People have asked me why I wanted to do this hill in particular. One reason is that it's near where I grew up and the other is because a challenge keeps me focused. There's a 7 peaks challenge in Victoria which includes Mt Baw Baw. One day I'd like to spend some time doing all of those.
BB King - Better Not Look Down - https://youtu.be/iAE9Le_Hiy8
Angus and a couple of other people sent me a link to the next song. It's a great take on an Australian classic. The Oils aren't an easy band to cover well. Looks like The Presets have got just the right amount of the original sound plus their own stamp on the song.
The Presets - Power & The Passion - https://youtu.be/vSNxUFolTTY
Today is my Dad's birthday. I was lucky enough to spend last weekend with him and was mighty glad that he was there as my support crew on Mt Baw Baw! Here's an artist that he introduced me to as a wee boy that I'm still listening to today.
Tom Paxton - The Last Thing On My Mind - https://youtu.be/iUlXOsYhO24
A year ago Malcolm Young from AC/DC passed away. And while there are rumours of a new AC/DC album being recorded, nothing will ever be the same. Gretsch guitars have just released a replica of Malcolm's beat up old guitar and it truly is a thing of beauty. One day...
AC/DC - Fling Thing / Rocker (live) - https://youtu.be/ASJy3c4ACiU
I have to say that I am really enjoying the remaster/remix of The Beatles' white album. It really is a treat. Loads of the demos and outtakes are well worth a listen. Here's one of my favourites...
The Beatles - Rocky Raccoon (Escher Demo) - https://youtu.be/pjz4Xujx8Wg
Eric Clapton has released a Christmas single. There are two videos for it as well; a performance one and another that's animated. The song is part of an entire Christmas album. I reckon if you combine this with the Elvis Christmas album, the one from Bad Religion as well as Snoopy vs The Red Baron then you'll have yourself a VERY merry Christmas. Ho, ho, ho! The animated clip is so cool. I remember wanting an electric guitar so badly that it hurt. One day soon I'll drag the ones I have out of mothballs and actually play them!
Eric Clapton - White Cbristmas - https://youtu.be/vmw9vHZCbMo
Recently I heard John Schumann (Redgum, Vagabond Crew) playing this song on Remembrance Day. It was quite unexpected but it worked well with his voice. I assume Lee Kernaghan was there too but I was heading into work and couldn't spot him on stage. I still like the Tom Waits original better but certainly the emotion I heard when it was played live was moving.
I'll eave you this time with something from the Dixie Chicks. I listened to their double live album (among others) from start to finish when I was driving home from Gippsland on Monday and they are a firm favourite of mine. Country music with attitude and not a million layers of auto tuned gloss.
Dixie Chicks - The Long Way Around (live) - https://youtu.be/s5HKLteH9Mc
That's all folks. And remember....when you're out on the roads...keep left.
Rob
"...twenty empty houses and they put you on the waiting list,
twenty years of day school and they put you on the night shift...", Revolution Baby, Transvision Vamp, 1988
