World Wide Woozle episode #608

Hi everyone, here it comes.

Skip the next paragraph if you don't want or need to read about what's been going on in my head.

I've not been feeling myself for a couple of weeks. It's something that I haven't quite been able to put my finger on. Seriously, most things in my life are pretty good. My kids are happy, work is excellent and I'm blessed with some good friends. I've been sad about my brother being in the hospital but he's on the mend and though his career as a lower leg model may be over, he's going to be OK. So what's doing this? I was so worried that I thought it was time for a chat with the GP about maybe going back on some medication. Suddenly my diet had become an issue, cycling was no fun, I hadn't really played a guitar for a week and I'd felt a bit lethargic. Guess what? I've worked it out. Certainly taking myself off Facebook has helped a lot as has limiting my exposure to the news. The thing that has been triggering me though seems to be television. Not TV in general but one particular show. And that show is Alone. For those unfamiliar, Alone is a survival show where participants are dumped, truly alone, along with film gear, and have to survive as long as they can in a very challenging environment. Whilst camping isn't my thing, seeing that on telly didn't worry me. As the show progresses though, other than injury, the main issue that the people deal with is being alone. It's pretty raw at times and some of it made me quite emotional. Whilst I live alone, I am rarely lonely. The TV show seems to amplify those feelings though and as a result something inside me shifted. My routine fell apart and I couldn't get it back. Since I realised that a couple of days ago, I watched the final episode of the season I was on (I had to know who made it) and now I won't watch any more. I've spent time looking at my routine with a clearer understanding of what it means to my mental health. We're not talking about me needing to obsess over it, but I do need to get the major building blocks back in place in a healthy way. So I'll do that for a few weeks and with any luck I'll continue to feel better.

Skunk Anansie - Twisted - https://youtu.be/Zqe4NbLW7Ww

I've been spending more time going through my cassettes of live shows that were recorded from the radio back in the day. This past week I've treated myself to The Living End, The Mark of Cain, AC/DC, and Pearl Jam. I think I still have Billy Bragg, The Screaming Jets, Nitocris, silverchair and The Poor to go. Those are all 90s shows other than AC/DC which is from 1977. There could be more. Oh, and if I loaned you my original copy of Judas Priest's Killing Machine cassette then I'm keen to get it back! I bought it in K-Mart in Moe back in the late 80s.

The Mark of Cain - Point Man - https://youtu.be/OtKdXwLuCo0

I'm off this week to see Henry Rollins do his spoken word thing. I'm not too proud to say that Henry is one of my heroes. He's brutally honest, insightful, funny and totally committed to his art. Whether it was when he was a singer, his many books, spoken word or a multitude of other things, you could never accuse him of being half-arsed...ever. I'll report back.

Henry Rollins - Top 3 CDs - https://youtu.be/hY6sMm7y-hc (language warning)

This weekend I saw an advertisement for an Australian alt-country singer called Fanny Lumsden. I'd never heard of her but I saw that she was playing at the Street Theatre soon. So I listened to one song and then booked a ticket. It's time to get out more. Again, I'll report back. Oh, and the ticket price was much more sensible that the thousand dollar Def Leppard ones that DJ Donuts alerted me to!

Fanny Lumsden - Real Men Don't Cry (War On Pride) - https://youtu.be/-a7NrwChdB8

Fanny Lumsden - When I Die - https://youtu.be/JB0tOZ-jCwI

I want to talk about songwriting for a minute. It's something that I would really, really like to be good at. I started writing songs in the early 1980s and I assure you that whilst I remember some of those early moments, they are dreadful. I did record a song for a girl when I was in Year 11 once. She liked it but she dumped me anyway! I wrote another good song in 1992 and a couple in the last few years so as you can see, I'm not setting the world on fire. Not all that long ago I worked out, with help from Jason Isbell, that I could write songs about other people and not have to be the main character and that was a bit liberating. Still, it's not been easy. Like a lot of people I'll get halfway through a track and realise I've basically rewritten something I was listening to last week but with worse lyrics. Last week I was watching a documentary about Don McLean (you know him, American Pie; the song, not the film). He said something along the lines of, "I never had a pickup truck but in a song I can have anything I like". That really helped me too. I do have a new song almost ready to record and after saying all that, it's actually about me. I'm not sure if I want people to hear it because it feels a bit like unexpectedly appearing naked in front of a crowd but I'll have a think about it. The last song I wrote was about someone else and they've not heard it yet despite a couple of subtle hints. I think I'm moving past worrying about embarrassing others and myself. Life is a journey that happens to all of us; good, bad and in between.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Hope The High Road - https://youtu.be/ci-6Au1Gnrs

Finally, a shout out to Angus who not only kicked his first senior goal this weekend in Australian Rules Football, but got the nod as best on ground for his team. How good is that?!

Tune in next time for my thoughts about the new Witchskull, Motorhead and Jason Isbell albums. And lots. lots more.

Thanks Blakey, you got me at just the right moment.

Rock on everyone,

Rob

"So needless to say

I'm odds and ends
But I'll be stumblin' away
Slowly learnin' that life is okay..."

a-ha - Take On Me, 1985 (the Weezer cover version)