Snippets from Simon

Image: screenshot from youtube The Piano Guys are known for their video cover versions of other pieces of music.  From Soundtrack excerpts of Twilight and Star Wars to Scottish Fight Songs, they have enthralled viewers.  As wikipedia says: The Piano Guys   is an American musical group consisting of pianist   Jon Schmidt , cellist   Steven Sharp Nelson , videographer Paul Anderson, and music producer Al van der Beek. Originating in Utah, they gained popularity through   YouTube , where in 2011 they began posting   piano   and   cello   compositions combining classical, pop,   film score   and original music, showcased through elaborate or cinematic videos. As of March 2020 the group had surpassed 2 billion views on their YouTube channel and had 6.7 million subscribers. In this clip , we see them at a residential aged care centre performing a Charlie Brown Medley  https://youtu.be/tyPDQpel8bI  .  Now that we are ...

Restrictions and Rations Then and Now Last weekend I recorded a message that referred to Paul Byrnes' book The Lost Boys  (pictured). It is an historical account of young men, indeed teenagers really, who went away to enlist in the armed services in World War I. I had opened the pages of that book because it was Anzac Day weekend and, as is often the case, was trying to enter into some of the original ANZAC experiences. As a youngster, I recall my own parents talking of their experiences during World War II. They used to talk of restrictions, rations and coupons. They usually had their own cow or chooks, so they didn’t need coupons for milk or butter or eggs. So they would swap with other families for coupons like flour. As we begin to understand what it feels like, what it seems like, in these days of the restrictions of COVID-19, I was wondering how some of the restrictions, including the struggles to buy some goods in the shops, was in someway similar to wartime ...