Cale!

Tonight, in my own little celebration for getting through RA Training this week, I listened to my new copy of John Cale's "Paris 1919," his album from 1973. This is a new release of his old album, with many bonus tracks and freshly remastered.

The album has never sounded better, with songs such as "Antartica Starts Here," "A Child's Christmas in Wales," and the title track being revealed in all of their glacial splendour. Cale has said of this album that it's all about ugly things, said in the prettiest possible way, which is a fairly accurate assessment of the music. It is a very "pretty" album, but the lyrics have an undertone of darkness, but with a wistful, longing turn in places. I love the album, and it was good to just sit and listen to it, letting it wash over me.

Too much, I'm listening to music as background, while I'm doing something else. It's good to be able to take some time and really focus on the music. Not to let the musical journey be in the background, but put it to the foreground, to have it be the experience itself. It's rare when we have the time to do it, but I try to make time to listen to music I find worthwhile.

I have to thank Joe McGlinchey for my John Cale fixation, as he introduced me to his music back during my senior year of college, with the album "Fragments of a Rainy Season," which I recommend to EVERYONE.

Of course, I was listening to this, as I mentioned, because of the end of RA Training, and I finally had some time to just sit and relax. Between the 18th and today, I presented a total of about 21 sessions, with each one lasting at least 30 minutes, and with most being an hour. One of my co-workers asked me today if I had ever thought about being a teacher, as he thought I was very natural in front of the group.

I think that if I hadn't gone into Higher Education, I would have enjoyed being a teacher, perhaps in History. That would have been fun, but I like what I'm doing now, so it's all good.

Back to the present job, it's going to become very busy this week, with new students arriving on Monday, and upperclass students coming back on Tuesday. It'll be fun, but hectic. I also need to start thinking about more longer term issues with the work, now that I've got RA Training under my belt.

NP: Steve Hackett - The Silk Road