Day 9, Level 3: Warm on the beach, flying nowhere, Italy and Shona Laing

A gloomy morning at Omaha. I had work to do so barely looked outside to notice it. 

Came up for air around 1:30pm and the day had turned quite nice, although still blustery. Went for a walk to the beach - oh man, it was really hot down there, and not really windy at all. I was way overdressed and ended up sweltering. Took off the windbreaker but couldn't remove the jumper. Shortened my walk so that I didn't expire due to heatstroke at the far end of the beach! It must have been at least 20 degrees. It's August in winter!

There were quite a few people on the beach, the tide was low and the waves were crashing in. The sand was pockmarked with the residue of earlier raindrops. Firm underfoot; easy walking. Nice. 

Back onto the laptop, head down working. No distractions whatsoever. Great progress made. 

Came up for air again around 4.30 and prepared an early dinner - burger. Home-made beef & mushroom pattie, egg and blue cheese. Red onion, red pepper, gherkins, lettuce, mayo, tomato sauce. It was looking good!

As I ate it, watching the news, I had a feeling that something was missing and it wasn't until I finished it that I realised that would be the beetroot! Bugger. It was home-cooked beetroot too. Dammit. A burger is always best with beetroot - makes it a Kiwiburger! Too late.

There was an item on the news tonight (along with 5 new Covid cases) about people in Japan going on virtual travel expeditions - they go to the airport, check in, go through customs, board a real plane, sit down (with masks), buckle up, "take off", look out the windows at fake skies and clouds, get delivered an airline meal and settle in for the "flight". And when they "land" at their destination, they are handed virtual goggles so they can sit in their seat and "explore" the far-off land they have supposedly visited. In the clip we saw, the people were in Rome looking at the Trevi Fountain etc. They all seemed terribly enthused. Then when it's all over, they disembark, shuffle through immigration, go home and get back to their lives. WTF!?!?

I love flying - but not when you're sitting still going nowhere and just pretending! Flying is all about the anticipation of the destination. And has often been a chance for me to relax and do absolutely nothing. 

This "travel" scenario means having to endure the worst part of travel i.e. all the airport palava, just to pretend you're off somewhere nice - oh spare me! Who would do that? Who's making money out of this? Who's paying money for this? It defies belief. It kind of goes to show how fake and unreal life has become and how sad it is. And even sadder, is that people queue up for it, pay money for it, enjoy it. 

I can only shake my head. But I did have to smile at the enthusiasm and zest for travel the people on that plane had. Families off on "holiday" ... I guess it's an experience you can only have in Covid and, one day, it could be an iconic and memorable one to be recalled with affection and horror!

Talking of people actually in Italy ...

Yesterday I had a long chat with my friend Anna who is living in Italy. She's a Kiwi who I met in Auckland but she'd been living in Melbourne for quite a few years (which is where we last rendezvous-ed in April last year). Shortly after that she headed for Italy. She now lives in a small village near Siena. When we spoke yesterday, she was spending time in Livorno with her partner's family, a little escape while working through this whole Covid thing. 

Oh it's not easy, not simple, at either end of the world, and it was good to chat.

As we all know, Italy was one of the countries in most turmoil at the beginning - but wearing masks has been second nature there since things got out of hand at the get-go and it seems that no one goes out without one. Sensible. NZers are only just getting the message "wear a mask". Like the beetroot lacking in my burger ... a little too late!

Apparently the main problem in Italy lies with Milan. In NZ it lies with Auckland.

She also told me that the government is giving everyone a 500 Euro holiday payment - people can use this to travel within Italy. It's a sort of voucher system - make a booking with a hotel, they claim your room cost from the government. You can only spend this money if you get out and about around the country, it's not money in the pocket. Of course - you have to eat and drink wherever you go. And will no doubt do things, buy things. So the money goes round.

This was mooted here a while back, but never took off. I guess, with NZ's ridiculous prices for accommodation and just about everything to do with tourism and travel, $500 or similar wouldn't actually go that far, especially when a mediocre motel room in a small town is around $200+. You have to get there, spend all you need to spend to actually have a decent time - and just like that you've spent $1,000 for a 3-day trip for two.
(I always equate the euro and pound to our dollar at face value, rather than actual exchange rate, as when you take into account wages and cost of living, it works pretty much on a par). Sad but true. 

I know I go on about it but ... people still, somehow, for some reason, constantly deny or excuse the fact that NZ is ridiculously overpriced and has been for decades. Possibly because during the '70s & '80s Kiwis were led to believe that NZ was the utopia of the world, the cheapest and best country going, a haven, a mecca, or something like that (fake news!) ... and the majority believe it still is. Perception is everything and it often becomes truth.

Sure, the cost of living was more manageable back then, but there wasn't much of a benchmark, and life was pretty restrictive although no one realised it.  In my own funny way, I did, and went off to discover life and the world! Best thing I ever did!

Real deal right now - NZ IS EXPENSIVE AS SH*T. You have to have lived and earned overseas for a lengthy period (not OE style) to fully appreciate this. Those who have done that understand. Those who haven't do not.

Friends who come regularly from the UK cannot understand how Kiwis actually survive. Reality is - many struggle to do so. 

Being a tourist in a place is different from living there or staying with friends - and sure, the world is not cheap to be a tourist in - but NZ is right up there with the priciest in every way - as both a tourist and a resident. 

No wonder people flock overseas - it's always been so much cheaper to travel to other countries than tour about our own. Now we can only travel in our own country - and it's at the usual huge and alarming cost. Sigh. 

Enough of my rant ... let's refer back to Italy - here are some pics from lovely times spent there!

The Duomo, Florence

St Mark's Basilica, Venice

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Shona Laing ...

Tonight, I had a bit of Kiwi music YouTube fest all by myself - immersing myself in Shona Laing

Anyone who is not a New Zealander likely won't recognise this name, but she's a female Kiwi musical icon who wrote songs that had real things of substance to say when many songs were about love, sex and ego. Her voice is so clear and the words just hit the mark. She sang with Manfred Man for a time years in the 1970s. 

She wrote songs about real people, the world, events, life. Folk, hippy, rock - a bit renegade and a lot passionate - her songs have an edgy singer/songwriter style that is still going strong today. The songs are quite simply timeless reminders of real times. Sung with a distinctive and authentic voice. 

I've loved her music since she was first seen on a TV talent quest in 1972 as a 17 year old with a song called "1905" which she wrote about Henry Fonda who was born that year. Not quite sure why a young girl would write a song about Henry Fonder (although he was charming)! Shona was born 50 years later in 1955 (this line features in the song) and she made a name for herself with that song. I was 10 and I was hooked. 

Listening to it again tonight for the first time in many years, it has a quality you can't quite put your finger on. Worth a listen if you've never heard it. Worth another listen if it's been a while.

In 1975 she did an ode to feet called "I Love My Feet". Quirky, odd and kind of lovable. But not a big hit! Forgettable, but memorable at the same time!

She moved from movie stars and body parts to a political activist voice and in 1987 came her most enduring and unlikely classic. 

"(Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy" is an outstanding song. Initially, NZ radio stations shunned it but it became something of an international hit, although not widely enough. The title says everything and it features archival audio of the ill-fated president. I remember hearing it for the first time when I was back in NZ on holiday from the UK. I was immediately spell-bound and couldn't get enough of it. 

And when I returned to NZ for good at the end of 1990, it was my go-to song for many years. Listening to it again tonight - oh what a song, it grabs me as much as it ever did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a6hu6Z7Pkg

In that same year, 1987, Shona wrote a song about Chernobyl, in the anti-nuclear vein, called "Soviet Snow". It was worthy of so much more attention than it got. Beautiful melody, poignant words and an engaging video. I wonder if she ever went to the USSR? Didn't matter, she captured the essence. Enduring, even today.

These two songs were on her album "South" - which this year was accorded the award for Independent Music NZ Classic Record. Recognition - in 2020! YAY!

In 1992 she released a new album. Called "New on Earth" - OMG I loved it and played it constantly. On cassette! I was pregnant and I think I would call this my pregnancy soundtrack! The songs are enduring and clever, and they grab you in from the first note. I've been in heaven tonight listening to them again. 

Thank god for songs that tell real stories about real life and acknowledge what's really gone on, going on and will go on ...

• Thief to Silver
• Walk Away
• Mercy of Love
• White Water
• Fear of Falling

She even did a song called "Masquerade" in 1973 - it's a quirky song with insightful lyrics. Interesting for me as I don't recall the song - but Masquerade has been work and passion for me for 20 years. As my little Masquerade saying goes "Be who you think you want to be - or unmask, unveil - and be who you really are!" The lyrics in Shona's song allude to similar.

Although she was big, she also went largely under the radar - feminist, activist, bisexual - many Kiwis just didn't click with who or what she was.  Too controversial, too quirky, back in the day? Who knows. But she's still going strong and I'm thrilled that she's released an album this year! 

Called "Hindsight" it includes many of her iconic songs. I'll be checking it out thoroughly!

Do a bit of googling about Shona Laing and her songs and, if you know her, you'll relive some great tunes. If you don't - you'll be introduced to some timeless music that actually says something.

(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy is a "must listen/must watch" - features footage of JFK - and Shona with a very bad mullet haircut!