Another Reflection

1 Reply

If we were having a coffee I’d be telling you that as I looked at recent posts, that reflections have been somewhat of a common theme. So here is another.

My blog, and how it has evolved across its life. It very much started as a part of my retirement project or as I referred to it ‘What’s Next’. That was more than 10 years ago. Across that period I’ve had periods where I posted regularly and then had gaps. Over the last couple of years those gaps have been longer and my desire to post has waned somewhat.

Once again, I wondered if I would continue it. This time, when I got my web hosting bill. I nearly fell off my chair!  The charge had gone through without me getting notice that it was about to renew. It was my fault, as I hadn’t notified the hosting service that the email attached to the account was no longer valid.

I wondered if it was worth the money to continue. Perhaps my blog had served its purpose. I wasn’t sure. In the end, after a chat with the hosting service, I found a suitable hosting plan that better matched how I view my blog. I’m now on a new plan and have committed to a 5-year service.

But as I discussed why I had my blog with my favourite person, I started to think about how I will use it in the future. So many of the posts in the past were about travel, but we are doing less of that now that we delight in spending time with our grandchildren. Our travel is domestic and shorter, but as my favourite person said, there is much to write about these trips.

I also blogged about my journey through my PhD which was very much a ‘What’s Next, project. I completed it around three years ago. It’s a bound book on my bookshelf. I still use what I learnt in the few consulting projects I have but I’m not sure if that is a topic for this blog .

Then there are the general reflections on wine, music, and the world. I realised, as I thought about it, that I have a number of posts on songs that look at the songs in a more reflective tone, e.g.  I just want ot enjoy their music – A reflection on Bob Dylan. Perhaps that a direction for future posts?

So with my hosting service renewed, I have whet my blogging appetite with a new motivation to keep on posting!

A reflection – Barry McGuire’s Eve of Destruction

Leave a reply

 

Eve of Destruction (song) - Wikipedia

I was driving home recently when Barry McGuire’s Eve of Destruction came up on my playlist. I hadn’t heard it for quite a while, but as I listened, I was struck by how familiar it sounded. Not because the world it described was the same as the one we live in today (the song was released in 1965), but because the anxiety behind it was. 

Eve of Destruction became one of the anthems of the 60s. 

It’s a song about war, nuclear weapons, racial tension, political violence and a generation wondering where the world was heading. I recall talking to my grandpa, a First World War veteran, about the end of the world. I can only imagine what he thought of the rantings of this grade 6 child, having experienced what must have felt like the end of the world while serving.

Listening to Eve of Destruction in 2026, I found myself thinking that although the circumstances have changed enormously, the feeling that the world is somehow on the brink of disaster hasn’t changed very much at all. In fact, as my favourite person said when I discussed it with her, we are always ‘dancing on a pin ’, and that really we are only a step away from some form of disaster, whether it’s man-made or natural.

Maralinga | National Museum of Australia

In 1965, the Cold War was at its height. The United States and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other and all of us many times over. The Vietnam War was escalating; we had the draft, thankfully I was too young, but my favourite person’s brothers weren’t!  On the other side of the world, the civil rights struggle was exposing deep divisions within American society. The assassination of President Kennedy was still fresh in people’s minds, and all of this was being presented in our living rooms via television. 

Even as a pre-teenager, it felt quite literally as if we were on the eve of destruction, but we survived. The world didn’t end, and in fact we went through a period of peace and greater harmony.

Continue reading →

Wine – a fifteen year reflection

2 Replies

 

My favourite person and I at Taltarni

This post was inspired by Lettie Teague’s articles on wine in the Wall Street Journal.

Her comments, were witty and insightful. Sadly a few months ago here tenure at the WSJ ended. Her articles were an easy read and bring to an Australian wine enthusiast an American perspective on the broader wine world , the US market, what she’s drinking etc. There was barely a mention of Australia or Australian wine. It was a refreshing take as my wine reading and consumption is very much based on the Australian market. And what a wonderful market it is. We are truly blessed with the quality of our wine, but there is so much more out there.

In one of her articles Lettie reflected on changes in the wine industry, and the American market over 15 years. It was an interesting read and led me to thinking about changes in the Australian industry over a similar period. 
Continue reading →

The Long Wait Is Over: Reflections on Arsenal’s Title-Winning Season

2 Replies

Source- Yahoo Sports

For an Arsenal supporter living in Australia, late nights and early mornings come with the territory. Yet without doubt, this has been the most stressful season I can remember following any team. That includes my lifelong support of Sturt in the SANFL and the Adelaide Crows in the AFL.

As I’ve written before, I can’t remember exactly why I became an Arsenal supporter. What I do know is that my support stretches back to my high school years in the early 1970s. Back then, following English football from Australia required patience.

Source – Retrosepcto.co.uK

The only way to keep up with results was through the classified sports results on the radio early on Sunday mornings or by reading The Advertiser a day or two later. The only live football we saw was the FA Cup Final and the European Cup Final. There was also a weekly highlights package from either the BBC or ITV—I honestly can’t remember which. Every week I eagerly waited for Shoot magazine to arrive. By the time it reached Australia by boat, the news was already weeks old, but it still provided that vital  connection to the club.

Towards the end of the 1980s, the occasional First Division match began appearing on Australian television, including the incredible final game of the 1988-89 season. Gradually, coverage improved until there was usually one match on television each week. Then came Pay TV, bringing regular access to the Premier League, along with other European leagues and competitions.

With improved coverage and a career spent working for an international professional services firm, my interest grew into what can only be described as a passion. Sometimes I wonder whether Arsenal has become my true favourite team, even ahead of the Adelaide Crows.

Years of watching matches in the middle of the night have helped me perfect what I call the “silent roar” — that moment when Arsenal score at three o’clock in the morning and celebrating too loudly would wake the entire household. Continue reading →

So where am I

Leave a reply

One of my favourite non-mainstream media reads is The Free Press. While much of it is focused on politics, more and more articles are appearing on softer topics.

I was really taken by The Surprising Pleasures of Widowhood by Elinor Lipman. At the outset, I am not a female, so I am not faced with being a widow, and thankfully, my favourite person is still going strong. However, we have watched our mothers go through widowhood. Both had different reactions, but as I listened to Elinor, I was taken by the term ‘grie-lief’, which I think applied to my mother, who cared for Dad as he suffered cancer and then dementia. Mum did so much of her grieving before he died, and with his passing came a release of sorts. It didn’t mean she was pleased he was gone. He still featured in conversations, and there were photos on the mantel shelves, but Mum got on with her life. Her next few years were ones she got a lot from, and I’m thrilled for her. I miss her and Dad still.

There is much to take out of Elinor Lipman’s article and accompanying interview with Suzy Weiss. I wanted to focus on the final piece of the interview, where she considered some questions Continue reading →