Life is uncertain, the world is weird, and if you want to do something you better get on with it.
That sounds almost like a philosophy, albeit possibly not one up there with the complexities of Kierkegaard or Kant. But if there's one thing the Christchurch earthquake has shown us, it is that trouble is indeed lurking behind every tree and can leap out at any time. Clichés about expecting the unexpected should be applied constantly.
I was reminded of this last week when I read that one of the founders of seventies rock group Electric Light Orchestra had been killed under surprising circumstances.
Deaths of rock musicians and movie stars tend to fall into three loose categories: unfortunate experiments with drugs; unsafe aeroplanes or helicopters; and self-termination (usually in garages or hotel rooms). There is a smaller group – joined recently by David Carradine – which involves unwise attempts to heighten sexual pleasure but this is, after all, a family newspaper so we'll leave contemplation of that to others…
However, Mike Edwards, a cellist with ELO who played on all of the band's big hits, died in a far more unexpected manner. He was killed when a giant bale of hay tumbled down a hill in Devonshire, smashed through a fence and landed on his van. Weighing roughly 600kg, those hay bales can do a considerable amount of damage.
It's a sad story, but does reinforce one thing – there are some events you just can't plan for.
And with all our demises possibly just a hay bale away, it does seem to strengthen the imperative to do stuff you want to do now.
I was impressed and heartened when, a couple of weeks ago, a local musician launched his first book. Eugene O'Reilly, of Stormfish, 5 O'clock Shadow and other bands has written a self-help/philosophy tome called Thank Ahead. Now, in all honesty, it's not exactly my kind of thing. My personal self-help philosophy involves drinking a significantly higher number of cocktails. But I've heard so many musicians over the years bang on and on about the book they're going to write one day… and Eugene has actually done it. That gets a big swoop of the cowboy hat from me.
Another person following through on what he said he was going to do is Peter Hodge. About a year – or maybe longer – ago I wrote a column about a musical that Peter had written and was preparing to workshop. He was looking for singers and musicians to help out with the process, with the plan to present a public performance sometime around the beginning of the year.
Well, just like mixing an album or painting a house, everything takes 10 times longer than you expect. But Peter is not one to give up on a good idea and the first instalment in the Bedlam trilogy will have its premiere in the Oropi Hall at 8pm on Saturday 2 October.
Bedlam is a musical set around a bed, or at least a bedroom. Late one night Peter was watching Alan Berliner's acclaimed documentary about insomnia, Wide Awake, and had the idea to create a rock musical centred around sleep, beds and the folklore associated with sleep. And so Bedlam was born.
This instalment focuses on the character Dolly Dreamer, her infatuation with sleep, and desperate desire to find love. At Oropi, Dolly will be played by Marilyn Collins-Smith, who recently played the MC at the Kit Kat Klub in Tauranga's Musical Theatre's restaging of Cabaret.
Along with Dolly is Mavis the Maid, played by Cassandra De Barcenas and Dr Dick the Dream Analyst, who thinks he is the world's greatest lover. That part goes to Sean Crowe. Peter's daughter Ezra is also in the show: after suggesting having a teddy bear in the story, she now plays the specially-written Ted E Bear.
Peter himself will be playing bass in the show's band, which also includes the drumming of Jimmy Kirkpatrick and Bevin Hayward on guitar.
You can check out some of the songs at www.bravo-bravo.com. There's an email link there for tickets, which are also available from the Waimapu Garage (just up Oropi Rd). Students $10, adults $20, families $50. Bedlam has an R13 rating.