Maybe I'm not so stupid ...

Simple things keep me happy. Listening to music ( normally by you- know-who ... ) , sitting on a deserted beach watching the waves rolling in ... seeing a winter morning start with a flaming sunrise ... losing myself in a book. As I have mentioned before, I enjoy reading. It is an escape route from my sometimes dull life, part of a continuous learning process ... a way of travelling without moving.

Another pleasure is wasting an hour or so wandering around a library or bookshop .... all those books, all those possible alternative lives, places, realities, just waiting to be discovered. It was while doing that one day in Waterstones ( a UK book retailer ) that I noticed something interesting ( well, to me ). They were promoting a competition. They wanted customers to send in their stories, tales, recollections. The best 3 would be published in a small book, with similar short tales from established authors. There was a catch though - the story/ tale had to fit on one side of a large postcard, so it had to be a short story ( or written in VERY small letters ... ). Something in my head just went *ping* , like a light bulb switching on ... so I thought I would have a go, and enter. I didn't think I would win in a million years, but if I didn't enter, I wouldn't know if I could would I ?

That was all a few weeks ago. I hadn't heard or thought anything more about the competition until last weekend. I was out shopping with Mum when we walked past our local branch of Waterstones. In the store window, there was a feature about the competition ... a selection of the postcard stories that had been sent in. There must have been about 40 or more postcards there ... and near the centre was one I recognised - MINE! . I haven't won ( at least, I don't think I have - Waterstones said they would only contact you if you had won, and so far nothing ... ), but just finding my effort in the store window with all those others ( some which are very good indeed ) brought a huge smile to my face. Maybe I'm not so stupid .... not that actually I believe I am, but after being treated as a brainless fool for most of the week @ work, I can start to doubt that fact by the weekend ... this was a pleasant surprise, a small conformation that when I try and use it, my brain isn't completely dead ..... yet.

What follows is my entry. It is no great novel ( I'm not even sure it is a story ... ) , but I'm happy enough with it. Read it and see what you think of it ..... .

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THE KEY:

A.
It is just a letter, the first in our alphabet. There are many other letters, from B to Z. They are all different but they are all same; they are just letters. But I know a secret about them : a special, magical, amazing secret. I know they are part of a key that opens the door onto an endless, wondrous world.

One letter alone normally doesn't unlock the secret door. You need to combine them to release their power. Individual letters become words, then words become sentences, and sentences become paragraphs, and paragraphs ... well, paragraphs can become whatever you want them to be - a chapter of a novel, the essence of a love letter, the core of a treaty ... anything.

Letters and words are a magical force. They can show us our past, our present, our future. In their many combinations they can transport you to a fairy wonderland, or a war zone ; to another country, another culture, another world ... another universe. There is no limit to their power other than the limits of imagination itself.

So, I know a secret. A magical, wondrous secret. I can travel through space and time at will. I can go anywhere in this world or any other of my choosing. All it takes is for me to open a book and start to read. To read the letters and words, sentences and paragraphs .... and now you know the secret too !!!

Je suis une geek ....

... or so I am according to the Telegraph newspaper. How and why ? .... well, it is connected, unsurprisingly, to my petite obsession with the Maestro ... this time seeing him in concert in London, when he performed at the Royal Albert Hall in late March ...

“... Emerging from a retro egg-chair Jarre (who will be 60 this year) was in a similarly nostalgic mood. This, he told the full house of worshipful geeks, was music from a time when our vision of the future was "more innocent, poetic"...... ”
(taken from the review of Jean Michel Jarre concert @ Royal Albert Hall, London - 30th March '08 - published in the Telegraph newspaper )

Yes, I was one of those "worshipful geeks" who filled the RAH at the end of March . I know that is over 3 months ago now .... but it has taken a while to get my thoughts together into any sort of order to write here about it ( and I'm not even sure they are now ) ... the day kind of passed in a blur of anticipation, excitement and pleasure ... I expect I have forgotten lots of things, but here goes !! .

This was the second time in 3 months I had seen the Maestro in concert - the other time was in Paris last December (... I never did get around to writing about that though, did I ? ). Both shows were basically the same : connected to the live performance of the same piece of music - Oxygene. The small number of shows performed in Paris to celebrated the 30th anniversary of the album's original release had expanded to become , at the moment at least, an European Tour. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was going to take every chance I could to see Jean Michel live again, and although I had already seen the show in Paris, the RAH was just such a special location ... one I , and others I expect, had dreamed of seeing the Maestro perform at. It was also the first time in about 11 years that he was playing in the UK ( well, other than the 3 shows - in Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham - he had done earlier in the month ... :-) ). So, with a couple of thousand other "geeks" - including bigbrother, who didn't come with me to Paris - I made my way to London and the Albert Hall one sunny Sunday afternoon.

My memories of the day ....
Seeing the RAH itself. I had seen it on the TV many times, but hadn't actually been there before myself. It was very grand, if a bit smaller than I thought it would be. It exuded a sense of slightly faded glories on the inside ... not that anything was worn or shabby , but it is an old building ... with its plush seats and red velvet , brocade and golden gilding ... it must have been VERY impressive when new .... a symbol of a lost empire made solid ....

Finding myself surrounded by sooo many Jarre fans, and of varying ages if not sex ( most of them seem to be male, although not exclusively so.) I know I am not the only person in the UK to like the Maestro ( the forums are proof of that fact ), but the normal reaction to his name here is "WHO ?" ... it was nice to be around people who knew what I was talking about for a change ... although some of them didn't seem to be as up-to-date with their knowledge as they could have been ( made me realise just how obsessed I actually am .... ) ...

Standing outside the auditorium, waiting for the doors to open to get to our seats ( in the gods, unfortunately ... ) and hearing snatches of familiar music ... wetting my appetite for more ... it was just magical, hearing the strains of Oxygene 13 drifting through the air , bringing a huge smile to my face ( I'm smiling now, just thinking about it ..... ). Then, sitting and feeling the atmosphere and excitement build as the venue filled ... the familiar sound of Waiting for Cousteau softly playing as we waited ... not long now ...

The concert itself .... many things come to mind .... a spotlight focusing on a large white plastic egg-like structure sitting to one side of the stage, which slowly turned to reveal its secret - the Maestro seated there in its red silk interior, greeting us with a wide smile and "Good Evening London " ..... Jean Michel talking to us about the reasons behind the tour , about the music and how it was created ... introducing us to the familiar faces ( well, they were to us, the fans ) who were performing with him and to his " Old ladies " ( the selection of vintage Synthesisers he and the rest of the group were playing ... ) .... someone shouting " I love you Jean Michel " from the darkness, and Jean Michel replying with " I love me too " ... :-) .... him dedicating the final track to us and to " all those we love " ... a heavy looking metal chain disconnecting and swinging down from the ceiling with a clatter, just missing Jean Michel and all that precious equipment , and his reaction (" No, we are not ready to start yet ... " ) ... the instruments being warmed up and tuned, like some retro-futuristic ( to use one of the Maestro's favourite phrases ... ) orchestra before a brief silence and then ..... a few simple notes, and the journey began ....

Ahh, the music ..... * BIG GRIN* ... the reason we were all there. I have to say, Oxygene is one of my favourite albums EVER , so hearing it being played live in its entirety on the instruments that created it, and especially in a location such as the RAH was almost too beautiful for description. The sound quality was amazingly good ( if a bit loud at times ... ). Despite the fact I already basically knew what to expect ( after seeing the concert in Paris ) once the music started, it didn't take long for its spell to be cast upon me again, and I was transfixed. For the majority of the concert , the world around me just melted away, and there was nothing but the stage, the music and Jean Michel. There were no speeches between the tracks - Jean Michel only spoke to us, the audience, at the start and the end. Other than that he was totally engrossed in his music , pressing buttons , turning knobs ... someone once described him as looking like a mad Scientist when he was performing, and that was just as he seemed. We were there, but we were not .... his concentration on the sounds he was making was total ... it was wonderful to watch the Maestro in full flow again. The fact that he was as handsome as ever ( if just a little older ) helped as well .... looking very smart in black suit/white shirt/ shaggy hair combo ... the years seemed to fade away from his face as he played and * THAT* gaze I love so much reappeared .... the 'old' Jarre most of us knew and loved was back ....

The visuals connected to the music were simple but effective - the synths bathed in coloured lights, further coloured lights and images projected on screens behind/above the musicians and the piecé de resistance, a large mirror which tilted at an angle, so you could watch what all the musicians on stage were doing ... unfortunately, that effect was lost a little on me because of where I was sitting - I couldn't see all the mirror. There were a few other things that just broke the spell momentarily ..... for some reason which I cannot fully explain, Oxygene part One just didn't have its usual mystical quality ; it was as beautiful as ever but something just didn't connect with me that night , something was missing ....... the synth solo in part five was a bit too free-form for me ( sorry Jean Michel ! ) .... and during Oxygene 12, Jean Michel seemed to be playing just a fraction out of time with everyone else ... but these things didn't detract so much from my enjoyment of the evening - how could I feel disappointed when everything else was so good ?

So I was a very happy geek that left the RAH that night ... it was another special , magical experience to lock in the vault of my life's memories. I am just as obsessed as ever with the Maestro - I hope that feeling never changes .....

( looking @ the length of this post , it seems I remember more than I thought I had .... just to note - the images with this post are not my own ( they are taken from various sources) , and relate to various concerts within this tour, not just @ the RAH ... )