We have said goodbye to 2014, and I must say good riddance to it. It has been a very difficult year and I hope that 2015 will be much much better.
I used to detest New Year's Eve, because, of course, my birthday is on New Year's Day and so I had the double whammy of looking back on the year that was and my year that was and assessing how successful I was and whether I had accomplished anything or whether I was just older. As a girl in Weyburn, I always imagined people out at fancy parties and nightclubs, dressed beautifully and having witty conversations, dancing like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and drinking champagne out of shiny glasses. But now I have experienced the nightclub New Year's Eve, and realize that the champagne isn't real and comes in plastic and that when you dance, someone steps on your dress and tears it, and the conversations are usually shouted and half heard over the loud music (and probably not witty enough to worry about missing).
My sister tells me that a survey she read said that 78% of Canadians planned to stay home for New Year's Eve and that's what I did. Mike remains in the hospital, making progress at a glacial speed (although maybe that adjective is misused in this case, because the glaciers are melting quite quickly and poor Mike's progress can be measured in very small advances -- I'm not going to go into details because I feel like I am explaining the situation endlessly with family and friends and this isn't the venue for it) and I don't feel very social (not hugely social at the best of times) and so I spent a pleasant evening watching classic films of rock and roll: "A Hard Day's Night" (glorious, black and white, Richard Lester directed, transformative for music-films forever, I think), "Gimme Shelter" (muddy and horrible, focusing on the disastrous free concert at Altamont at which the Rolling Stones performed and "a guy got killed" by the Hells Angels, who were supposedly there to provide security) and "Woodstock". I read that the two events are like the light and the dark of the sixties, like the beginning of innocence (Woodstock) and the end (Altamont) and you could see it that way quite readily. The films really express that difference, too, because although the film "Woodstock" shows some of the mud and discomfort of a big music extravaganza, mostly it is about the great music -- Richie Havens, and Joan Baez and that terrific performance by Santana and then the ending with Jimi Hendrix which almost seems like a kind of heavenly experience. I find it hard to actually describe but Jimi Hendrix seems angelic, in the way he performs and the other worldly sound of the music and even his appearance in this white, fringed, beaded tunic. Contrast that with Altamont, which seems chaotic and dangerous right from the beginning and you can't see what's going on and the guy from Jefferson Airplane gets attacked by the Hells Angels and you get this little scene with Jerry Garcia talking to Carlos Santana's drummer, Michael Shrieve (who also performs like an angel at Woodstock) and he's telling Garcia that it's a "really bad scene" and scary and he actually convinces the Grateful Dead to leave without playing. A couple of rock and roll (to use the term loosely) movies I would have liked to add to the epic music journey of New Year's Eve would be "The Last Waltz" (with the Band and a bunch of their friends, directed by Martin Scorsese) and "Purple Rain" starring the fabulous Prince.
Let us hope for wonderful times in 2015! Many happy moments, success, peace and good health for all of us and for all the world. May we make good decisions that have a positive impact, may we treat each other with respect, may we think before we act, may we treasure the good fortune we have and find ways to improve the lives of others.
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