My routine of late has been to post something new on a Saturday but yesterday was fully booked what with meeting old friends for a long brunch, and then a hairdressing appointment. Both things went really well as the girls I met up with (we’ll always be girls however old we get) were the people I shared an office with 25 years ago when I first went back to work after having DD. As for my hairdresser I’ve been going to the same one since we moved to our current house 27 years ago, so she knows me well, and there is always lots to catch up on.
But yesterday was Valentine’s Day I hear you say – shouldn’t you have been getting all romantic with Mr WIAA. Well probably, but after 37 years together it’s not such a big deal nowadays, and anyway, The Cairngorms offered up the best day of the year yesterday, so Mr WIAA hotfooted it down to the slopes for a day of snowboarding. Come evening we got together to exchange cards and share an M&S Dine In For Two. And they say romance is dead!
Interestingly, a new celebration has been coined for the 13th February – Galentine’s Day, when you meet up with your female chums (the gals). I was a day too late but DD did just that this year on Friday night – any excuse to dress up, sip cocktails and listen to silly love songs!
But back to Mr WIAA and the snowboarding. Whilst he doesn’t much like to watch sport, but rather get out and do it, I am a bit of a couch Maris Piper when it comes to sport and I am loving the Winter Olympics held this time around in Italy. After a bit of a podium drought and disappointment during the first week, we’ve now finally got some medals and both of them are gold. I also know some people think the sport of Curling is like watching paint dry, but we tend to be really good at it here in Scotland and two Olympic medallists live locally. We narrowly missed out on a medal last week in the mixed doubles but I am hopeful there are still opportunities left for medals in that sport.
Not many songs about Winter Sports and Curling but last time I wrote about the Winter Olympics I shared this clip as I am a great fan of the Carpenters and the video for their cover of Ticket To Ride is set in a winter wonderland. Their version was originally recorded in 1969 but then re-recorded for their first Greatest Hits album in 1973. The long piano intro means it doesn’t really kick in until 0:35, but in the capable hands of Karen Carpenter, the line “I think I’m gonna be sad” sounds truly convincing.
But this is a music blog so what have I been listening to this week? Although I wrote about the Grammy Awards last week I didn’t mention that the big winner of the night was a Hispanic artist called Bad Bunny, and he was chosen to be the half-time act during the Super Bowl final last Sunday. I’m afraid I know next to nothing about American Football but I do know that these half-time performances are often very memorable and we hear about them in the following days. Mr Bunny’s performance will be remembered for a long time, and in my humble opinion, for all the right reasons.
First of all the POTUS didn’t like it, claiming he was “not an American artist” – ignoring Puerto Rico’s status as a US territory. I can’t show a clip here but you can watch the whole performance on YouTube – Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl. His Grammy-winning album was recorded entirely in Spanish and he also sang in that language on the night. To understand why his whole performance caused the administration to get in a bit of a flutter you’ll have to read the news stories about it, but for many American citizens it was important.
Here is an excerpt from an article by Michael Quintana for the Idaho Statesman: For young viewers, especially Latino children and first-generation Americans, this moment was more than representation. It was affirmation. It said that success does not require erasing your roots or shrinking your identity… At its core, Bad Bunny’s halftime show reminded the country of a truth that often gets lost in political noise: Latino culture is not separate from American culture. It is woven into it. Spanish belongs here. Immigrants belong here. And the stories of those communities are not side notes to the American narrative. They are essential chapters. In a divided and uncertain moment, this performance offered clarity. Representation is not symbolic. It is powerful. And when it appears on a stage this large, it has the ability to reshape who feels seen, who feels heard and who feels they truly belong.
And here is the moment when Bad Bunny finds out he won the big one at the Grammys. Very emotional, for everyone.
Until next time…
Silly Love Songs Lyrics
(Song by Paul McCartney/Linda McCartney)
You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs
But I look around me
And I see it isn’t so
Some people want to fill the world
With silly love songs
And what’s wrong with that?
I’d like to know
Cos here I go again
I love you, I love you
I love you, I love you
Ah, I can’t explain
The feeling’s plain to me
Now can’t you see?
Ah, she gave me more
She gave it all to me
Now can’t you see?
What’s wrong with that?
I need to know
Cos here I go again
I love you, I love you
Love doesn’t come in a minute
Sometimes it doesn’t come at all
I only know that when I’m in it
It isn’t silly, no, it isn’t silly
Love isn’t silly at all
How can I tell you about my loved one?
How can I tell you about my loved one?
How can I tell you about my loved one?
How can I tell you about my loved one?
I love you, I love you
I love you, I love you
Ah, I can’t explain
The feeling’s plain to me
Say, can’t you see?
Ah, he gave me more
He gave it all to me
Say, can’t you see?
Postscript
For those of you following my updates, another change at the top of the UK Singles Chart this week. Probably because of his success at the Grammys and the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny now has a song at the No. 4 spot, but the No. 1 this week is held by Taylor Swift with yet another song from her Life Of A Showgirl album, Opalite. It’s been in the chart since last October but this is the first time it’s reached the top spot. As I predicted Harry Styles only stayed at No. 1 for one week so Dave (ft. Tems) recovered their top position last week. Who knows what next week will bring?
And here’s a postscript to the postscript. If you go right to the end of the Opalite video you’ll see that it came about as a bit of a challenge on the Graham Norton Show. The five other guests on the sofa the night Taylor appeared, were all cast in the video. Domhnall Gleeson jokingly suggested it because of his dancing so Taylor obliged, and added the others too. She’s a creative type that Taylor Swift.
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