I used to assume, because it seemed rather obvious, that time ran in a linear manner. Now I'm not so sure.

The more I stumble through life, the more time seems circular, with new experiences just the same old things coming round in different disguise. Or not even in disguise.
I felt that the other day when I sat down – with great anticipation I should add – to watch the first ‘new' episode of Twin Peaks. Deja vu all over again.

Or is that deja voodoo? I remember having the same experience exactly 27 years ago, though back then it seemed like the whole world was fixed on Twin Peaks too.
After all there was no reality TV so minds were a lot sharper.

But at the time I never thought that 27 years down the track I'd be doing the same thing again, and with almost the same level of over-excited anticipation. I guess I am a romantic after all.

And I'm chuffed to say that the show still delighted, horrified and frustrated in roughly the same measures it always did. And the music is still fantastic.

Angelo Badalamenti

I don't know if Angelo Badalamenti's score changed the way music was used in television back in 1990.

Probably not. But it was one of the most striking examples of a soundtrack that worked absolutely hand in glove with visuals and drama: it is almost impossible to imagine Twin Peaks without its dreamily flowing accompanying music. I was struck again by one tactic Badalamenti uses frequently, which is particularly effective given that many Twin Peaks scenes are intentionally drawn-out.

Aside from the title music, the most used piece is ‘Laura's Theme' – memorialising the murdered girl at the centre of the initial mystery – a piece that starts with brooding minor chords before the melody slowly rises and at its peak hits a beautiful open major chord, like a ray of sunshine bursting through dark clouds, finally bringing release to the scene on-screen.

But, cleverly, there is no set path to get from the opening minor chords to final major lift. In a short scene it'll happen straight away but in longer dramatic moments the keyboard will just keep playing rising phrases, none of them resolving, higher and higher until the tension is almost unbearable, before that final release into harmonic satisfaction. It is a thing of beauty, and allows infinite variation.

Blues in Rotorua

Coming back to the real world, we're approaching the first weekend in June, Queen's Birthday Weekend – any excuse for a day off – and the annual Rotorua Blues Festival.
After a year off last year there were doubts about the event's future but this year it has a whole new set of organisers and they have taken a whole new approach to the beast.

What's immediately striking about the programme is how big it is.

There are a pile of acts in bars over the Saturday and Sunday, and a big headlining concert by dynamite American guitarist Chris Cain.

The second thing that strikes me, as a follower of the blues scene, is how many of those acts, which play in Brew Bar, Ambrosia and the Lakeside Cafe, are unknown to me. I see Mike Garner and B-Side Band, Auckland's Recliner Rockers and Hamilton's River Rockers.

That's about it. (There's also an evening concert by the legendary Larry Morris whom I've certainly heard but I'm unable to discern the blues connection.)

So who are these people?

Well they're mostly the local Rotorua blues players, people from the BOP Blues Club.

Because money was tight and because they want to support their own locals, the festival organisers have proudly featured a bill of predominantly local acts.

Good on them.

It seems eminently sensible given that you can save on both accommodation and travel expenses that way.

And given that it's the Rotorua Blues Festival, why would you not make a display of Rotorua musicians?

They're what makes it different from every other blues festival in the country.
The Club's website is a bit iffy – check out the full programme on Eventfinda.

watusi@thesun.co.nz