The Sountrack of Life

9 July 2022

I'm not sure how the last 2 weeks went by so quickly! It was super quiet at home, and it seems that my boy had an absolute blast in Normanton over the school holidays. I'm about to meet Mum part-way there to pick him up, so that means a bit of time in the car this weekend.

Usually car trips involve audiobooks and/or music. I've been listening to a bit of The King since seeing the Elvis movie at the cinema last week. I can't actually remember what I saw at the movies prior to Elvis - it's been a while! Anyway, I got home and found a Spotify play list and have been listening on and off since.

I enjoy a variety of musical genres, and there doesn't seem to any particular rhyme or reason to my taste - I just like what I like. Coming up with a Top Ten songs was super tough though. It often depends on my mood, but I decided to list the first ten that I could think of that I will never skip.

1. Biscuits - Kasey Musgraves

2. Way Too Pretty for Prison - Miranda Lambert and Maren Morris

3. You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive - Brad Paisley

4. A Thing For You - Easton Corbin

5. Out In The Parking Lot - Brad Paisley and Alan Jackson

6. Takin' Pills - Pistol Annies

7. Tennessee Whiskey - Chris Stapleton

8. Whiskey Lullaby - Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss

9. Pretty Bitchin'- Miranda Lambert

10. Have You Ever Seen the Rain? - John Fogarty

Now that I've put those down I can think of umpteen more! My "boppy" play list on Spotify (Purple Fairy) is over twelve hours long and is compiled of songs I will never skip (unless Cody in the car and takes over). It's kind of random in that House of Pain could be followed by Johnny Horton, and then Dr Hook, for example. I initially started putting it together as an alternative to the play list the videographer/announcer was using at a Cutting Show that I was photographing, so "slower" songs didn't make it onto the list. I could easily put together three times that amount of listening time if I were to compile all the songs I like, and possibly even miss some on the first run through and have to go back and add another 10 hours worth. I just love music!

I have thought about what it would be like to have a soundtrack to your day, like in the movies. A song to accompany your walk down the street, tempo dependant on the mood of the walk, location, and purpose. A song to add interest to the monotony of boring every day tasks like grocery shopping. A song to build to crescendo and enliven and amplify an experience, or give you a few moments of wallowing in despair and sadness before the melodic strains of something hopeful and rejuvenating brought you back to being in the present. In that former life many moons ago when I entertained the notion of creating for the screen I was excited about producing a story, and not just telling it verbally, but also with accents to enhance it aurally.

I've always been in awe of songwriters. I can tell you a story, or explain something, using verbose prose that might even inspire a mental picture, but songwriters do it in time to music and with the limitation and challenge of the number of syllables, and usually some kind of rhyming. Genius!

I wish I was musical. I attempted to learn guitar, but apparently it is near impossible for each of my hands to do something different simultaneously, especially without looking at them! Car Karaoke will have to do. I sang actual karaoke in a pub with a friend last week, and while it was lots of fun I have to wonder if my voice really does sound like that. Apologies to the people in the pub. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to get up there on my own, without my security blanket (thanks for that Chloe!), but until then I shall practice in the car.

Last week's 52Frames theme was Pattern. Aside from the stripes and spots of zebras and big cats, lines in seashells and leaves are possibly the most commonly first thought of patterns in nature. Lacking a local zoo with such animals, and having already photographed patterned leaves in previous weeks I hunted through my shell collection for a striking pattern that would convert well to black and white. Both photographers that I had looked at during the "Inspired by a Photographer" week (Imogen Cunningham and Harold Feinstein) had photographed seashells as well as botanical material, and this black background, black and white image is a mix of both of their styles.

This week is Negative Space. I created a plantscape for that, and got the photo taken a couple of days ago because I knew I'd be pushed for time this weekend with all the driving (and singing in the car).

Coffee, road snacks and play list ready, and I'm off. On the road again...

It's been quite a party, ain't it

Purple Fairy