After a move from East to South, I’m resettled in London and am ready for new adventures. I’d like to:
I just watched the ep of Frasier with fast talking, wise cracking Dr Mary.
She gets on Frasier’s nerves because instead of giving callers reasoned and analytical advice, she spouts a fountain of homespun wisdom – “a cat can have kittens in the oven but that don’t make ‘em biscuits!”
It reminded me of the many sayings of Addam Stobbs from JOY 94.9 – he too seemed to have a piece of advice or a one liner for every life situation. In person he was a total softy, one of the most loving men you could meet and a brilliant teacher. Whenever he got on air though, he was the ‘bitch’ of the airwaves and his acidic, catty, witty maxims on radio were unforgettable.
Here are some favourite Adam Stobbisms:
Pie in the sky thinking does take you places!
Sometimes, just to shake things up, I like to do something that’s a bit different, a bit unusual. Here’s ten things I’ve done in the last year that you may like to give a go too.
Meet up with someone from Twitter
Remember, a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met!
Travel far and wide
Travel, travel, travel, and see all those places you’ve always wanted to. Go as far and as long as possible.
Give a new city a go
Live in a new city – get down and dirty with the locals; talk to them, drink with them, dance with them.
Try the local delicacies
Eat weird food! Duck embryo, snake, rat, tortoise, dog, scorpion, cricket – I’ve tried it all, even British ‘pie and mash’.
Talk to randoms
My conversations often start with a really lame opening line, but often lead to wonderful new friendships.
Take the 100 Things Challenge
Can you live your life with only 100 things? You can live with less and still feel rich.
Deeply and profoundly believe in yourself
When I remind myself ‘I deeply and profoundly believe in myself’ – challenges that only seconds ago scared me become totally doable.
Face your worst fears
Sometimes you not knowing if you can succeed becomes a great motivator; cowardice can lead to courage.
Give a tourist a tour of a city you’ve just arrived in
Taking the lead means you do things that you’ll be more inquisitive, daring and bold.
Share yourself
Wearing my heart on my sleeve was scary at first, but the rewards are great when you share with others.
Back to Zero is a philosophy of mine that made it possible for me to travel the world living out of a 26L bag without debt and without fear of failure.
Freedom and independence is important to me and there is certainly joyful feeling I get when I zip past lumbering giants shouldering 150 litre backpacks at airports.
Recently though, when I moved apartments in London I realised I’d begun accumulating again. My hereditary genes of hoarding were trying to take hold. I’d been lured by the ‘shiny’ in Singapore, ‘cheap’ in Hong Kong, ‘cheap-cheap’ in Vietnam, ‘designer’ in Seoul and ‘stately’ in London. More luxuries than necessities in my life? This could not be!
Coming to my rescue was this 100 Things Challenge article. I did a stocktake and pared my life once again down to the bare. I counted one hundred and ten. Not bad. If I donate ten more things, I’ll happily gain another ‘zero’.
You may thing this odd – I don’t speak French and I am way too young to know these songs.
But these are the songs of my childhood. French music was still influential and very much enjoyed in ’60s South Vietnam. Songs from this era were ‘carried over’ to Melbourne by my family and I heard them almost every day growing up. It must have reminded my folks of happier times.
Recently, in Saigon I was in a lovely cafe which controversially had a playlist of exclusively French songs from pre-Communist days. It somehow felt like home. It was there that I penned this list of French favourites:
La Boheme – Charles Aznavour (1965)
An easy start. This is a masterpiece of French chanson and the man’s signature song for a reason – it’s brilliant!
Le Temps De L’amour – Francoise Hardy (1962)
Sung by one of the world’s most beautiful women, then and now. Many 60′s Vietnamese singers have emulated her sound (because it’s a gorgeous).
La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser – Sylvie Vartan (1963)
The string riff is sublime; dat-dat-dah-duh (dut-dut-dut-dut). It was a big hit in Vietnam and there is a fantastic cover in French and Vietnamese by Thanh Lan.
L’amour Est Bleu – Vicky Leandros (1967)
One of the most recognisable songs in the world thanks to the Paul Mauriat orchestra cover. There is a melancholy bliss in the original that Mauriat misses. My favourite Leandros is Apres Toi from 1972.
Capri C’est Fini – Herve Vilard (1965)
Recorded when he was only 19, Vilard was uber cute (in a Ferris Bueller kind of way) and suffering from a broken heart. Ah, young love; I’m sure he got over it!
La Nuit – Salvatore Adamo (1964)
Adamo has an unmistakable voice. When he modulates the ‘uuooo’ it sends pleasurable shivers down the spine. Another fav is Mes Mains Sur Tes Hanches with the catchy la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la (yes, that’s 9 la’s).
Garde-moi La Derniere Danse - Dalida (1961)
This song is fine, but I’m adding Dalida just so I can mention her song with Alain Delon Paroles, Paroles from 1973 (it was played at every single family gathering!).
Aline – Christophe (1965)
This song has been doing the dance remix circuit since the late 90′s, bizarre, but it goes to show that a good song can go a long, long way!
Et Maintenant – Gilbert Becaud (1961)
Before Shirley Bassey got her delicious chops on this hit (aka What Now My Love), Gilbert ‘Monsieur 100,000 Volts’ Becaud was already raking in gagillions in royalties for his recording in French.
Dans Le Temps – Petula Clark (1965)
Last but not least, I could not be a gay man and talk about ’60s music without paying tribute to the fabulous Petula Clark (and who doesn’t love Downtown?!).
George shows us he's happy.
Some of you were curious about George’s ‘high kick of happiness’ so here it is.
It’s a spontaneous show of his delight (secretly I sometimes use to to gauge how satisfied he is). It pops up at the most random of times because he does it without realising. For example when chatting with my boss once about the weather, George’s sandled foot decided to join the conversation.
I usually keep a relative distance when telling George good news because I’m convinced that one day he’s going to accidentally knock me out with his impulsive act of joy!
My adowwable man.
I promised Nick and Petro I would write a post about George.
Obviously that would lead to a never ending essay, so I’ve settled on a little list of 10 things I love about George:
The BBC doco World’s Worst Place to be Gay? had quite an unexpected impact on me.
The one-off show follows BBC1 Scott Mills’ travels to Uganda as he to speaks to everyday people to discover the extent of homophobia in the country – he’s searching for the reasons why Uganda tried to introduce a death penalty for homosexuality.
An outstanding moment was when Mills met a group of gay and lesbian people living together in a slum; hated by their community, rejected by their families, and constantly harassed and beaten – they remain resilient. One brave Ugandan gay man declared:
We are born gay, we shall live (as) gays, we shall die (as) gays.
While we now know the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill proposing death for gay and lesbian people has not be instituted, the hatred has not passed since Mills’ visit. His interviewees said gays should be hanged and have “everything bad… done to them”. Indeed, some Ugandans take matters into their own hands, administering beatings or worse, such as ‘curing’ lesbianism with rape.
Like 1.5 million other people, I have signed the Avaaz Petition that condemns the bill and any future iteration of it. To change the mindset of the majority of the Ugandan community is a complex issue; but great things can be achieved with small steps – the first step is to watch Mills’ documentary and the second is to sign the petition.
They say ‘history is written by the winners’.
I have difficulty finding decent resources on past Vietnamese leaders, because of this adage. Vietnamese history has undergone so many rewrites under various regimes that it’s sometimes difficult to pick the heros and villains of Vietnamese culture. Even gods and goddesses fall in and out of favour depending on the government of the day.
Vietnamese people are a hardy and resilient; in the blood of my people is the lineage of centuries of accomplishment through hardship. We have defeated Imperial China (twice), stopped the Mongol hordes at our doorstep (twice) and taken on the greatest world powers of their time including the French, Japanese and Americans.
While every time we have retained our country, each battle and war sees part of history destroyed. Also during the period in which we are dominated by the stronger power, our culture is eroded. Raiders pillage treasures; reformers burn libraries and ‘defenders’ bomb cities from above.
Also, of the remaining books, publications could suffer from poor translation from old Chu Nom script (based on Ancient Chinese) to modern Vietnamese; even poorer translation from Vietnamese to English; or worse rewrites to suit a contemporary political agenda. Truly, history is written by the winners.
I finally find what Johnson called 'the happiness of London'
Yesterday at the Museum of London I found an another quote from Dr Samuel Johnson.
Despite calling London the “sewer of Paris and Rome” Dr Johnson was also very passionate about the greatness of this town. The esteemed dictioneer proudly declared,
When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.
I’m reminded of a friend’s insistance that everything you could want in the world could be found in London. I stubbornly argued that may be true, but London is not livable (my home town of Melbourne consistently tops the most livable city in the world list).
In the last week though, I’ve been bewitched by this city. The weather has been sublime and I’ve been drawn to the many lovely courts, flowering gardens and green squares.
I’ve also visited the Museum of London which was wonderful because it helped answer some pertinent questions I’ve had about London since day one. I’ve had a petty gripe with the city which I’m sure so few people care about, but it’s always puzzled me as to why signs are flat to the wall of a shop instead of perpendicular (and visible walking towards said shop, instead of only when standing in front of it). As a newcomer it’s always been difficult for me to find shops quickly while walking on the street.
According to the Museum of London, after the great fire of London in 1667 (which destroyed 13,500 houses and displaced almost 200,000 people across central London) new building regulations were implemented to avoid a repeat catastrophe:
No jetties, windows or anything of the like sort shall be made to extend beyond the ancient foundation line of any house.
Thus, signs are flat to the wall. Understanding this trifle matter which had previously caused much pericombobulation helps me appreciate London.
When I visited the V&A today and saw the collection there, I called up my friend and apologised. He was right, London has more to offer than I’ve ever seen anywhere else in the world.
London is truly amazing. As Dr Johnson eloquently puts it,
By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can shew.
@danvogue
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