It is International Nurses Week beginning May 6.
A wonderful nurse from the ACT runs the website ImpactedNurse, and he initiated a 'Book Of Nurses' to showcase the diversity of people around the world in the profession.
I decided to submit my story to the site. Today, I was the 'star'.
Have a read.
The Book Of Nurses: Rebecca
I had a blast of nostalgia today. The Brisbane International
Film Festival is having a short ‘drive-in’ season this month, and I received an
email advertising the documentary Under African Skies, which is about the
making of Paul Simon’s Graceland album and the 25 year anniversary of its
release. The blurb: The story behind the recording of Paul Simon's Graceland
album is revisited in Joe Berlinger's latest documentary. Don't miss the
politics - Simon allegedly broke the UN cultural boycott of South Africa - and
the music - featuring Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Quincy Jones,
Whoopi Goldberg and David Byrne.
The trailer:
I have such powerful memories surrounding this album. It was
released in 1986; I was 10 at the time. I remember Dad bringing home the
Graceland record one day (yes, we had lots of vinyl!). Dad was a big music fan
and had a pretty varied collection, everything from Cream to Bruce Springsteen.
I’d heard Paul Simon before with Simon and Garfunkel, but when he put Graceland on, it blew my
10 year old mind.
I’d never heard
anything remotely like it. I knew very little about apartheid in South Africa
and the trouble that eventuated with Simon recording with black musicians in the country. All I
knew was that these sounds, these wonderful singers and drummers and rhythms
were out of this world. As I’ve gotten older I can appreciate lyrics more, and
Paul Simon really is such a wonderful lyricist. How can you go past snippets
like these –
Graceland She comes back to tell me she's gone As if I didn't know that As if I didn't know my own bed As if I'd never noticed the way she brushed her hair from her forehead Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes The poor boy changes his clothes and puts on aftershave to compensate for his ordinary shoes
I still know all the songs, can sing all the lyrics. It’s hard to clarify,
but listening to this album kind of makes my heart sing a little bit. It is
that beautiful to me. And not a lot of music is capable of doing that anymore.
It is International Nurses Week beginning May 6.
