Oliver is now just on six feet tall. He owns the tailcoat which I hope he'll use at some stage. It was so well made in the 40s that it's still in fantastic nick.
And Mensa and genius. Not sure about Mensa - but the child is VERY fucking bright and works very hard.
October 29, 2015
There
was little doubt that Oliver was going to be a bright child with a
mother like his. My bias will tell you that he leans towards
Mensa/Genius status. Perhaps I equate intelligence with a genuine desire
to learn. The school system has at last (I say this with a fair amount
of irony) provided us with an objective measure that I understand to
determine his cleverness. He loves to read and enjoys numbers. As I
write this his favourite author is Hergé., Tintin is the book du jour.
As a parent in this digital and televised age there is nothing more
exciting than when your child looks forward to reading a book. Sometimes
this is at the expense of watching TV (not often) or having a story
read to him. He was genuinely excited when I arrived home with a
compendium (when last did you hear that word out of the Asterix
context?) of Tintin stories – I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. He
grasps language logic very quickly. He was given an Afrikaans story book
and he grasped the pronunciation very quickly even when certain words
looked like English words.
Oliver becomes a more well-rounded boy each year as his exposure to sport and extra-murals increases. A highlight of our weekends this year was watching him and his soccer friends play in the Shabbos league for Wanderers. He's also stuck with tennis for the whole year (except yesterday when the EFF march went past his school – I got him out of there before they got there). He's learned a few discipline lessons in this process but they've stood him in good stead. I think I've spoken about him and the trampoline before, this is what I've learned – if you spend at least an hour a day bouncing up and down you are going to develop a gymnast's physique. I'm not sure where his brother is going to get time to develop his gymnast's physique because Oliver is very territorial when it comes to THE TRAMPOLINE.
There is one story (amongst 365 others) that resonates with me that I would hate to forget. We were away during the August holidays with Oliver's grandmother, aunt and cousin Julia. The Juliver (as the collective is referred to) have always just slotted into each other. They only see each other once a year but they immediately play together like they've never been apart. Julia is a year older than Oliver and a character of note. The resort we were staying at had a talent show and we all assumed that the Juliver would do something together. Unfortunately for Oliver a 12 year old girl had decided that Julia would be her new best friend. You know what it's like – someone three years older than you pays you attention………. We watched Oliver trying to get into this new clique. He was met with little success. I know he's a sensitive little boy and I thought that he might withdraw, but to our surprise he didn't. He decided that he was going to go ahead and do the show on his own. He and I rehearsed three great timeless gags in a very short time and he got up and did it. I was almost tearful. We were so proud of him. We were just as proud of the Juliver after they perfected standing up on a surf board in their first surfing lesson (we know what we are doing this December).
There are other things about my marble-mad boy that cannot be omitted. He was bitten (nipped) by a lion cub this weekend (proper hey, nice little bruise he's got). He still overcame the shock and petted the same cub. He loves his school, his teacher and is fiercely loyal to his friends. He now enters his 9th year on this planet and in our lives. He is absolutely adored by his family and all though he appears to fight with his brother ALL THE TIME, he is a fantastic, concerned older brother.
Happy birthday my beautiful eldest son. You make me so proud. The world is your oyster and you are well on the way to claiming it.
Now back to tradition. It is well known that Peter Green shares Oliver's birthday. As it turns out so does Denny Laine – I only figured that our last year.
The more I listen to the genius that is Green the more I don't understand why Oliver doesn't worship him as much as I do (he will tell you he hates Green and the guitar but he knows every lick in "Oh Well"). I'm going to veer off the safe Green pasture and post an oblique Green-like track. This song is in fact a Beatles' song. It comes off their last album and was inspired by Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross". You explain it George.
In an interview in 1987, Harrison said that the recording was inspired by Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross". "At the time, 'Albatross' (by Fleetwood Mac) was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, 'Let's be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.' It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac... but that was the point of origin."
Denny Laine is best known as McCartney's rhythm guitarist in the seventies. He was always going to be overshadowed by McCartney but he did release a few solo albums during that period. I only know the "Ahh Laine" album and I like it. It's patchy and under-rehearsed at times but has some great moments on it. I posted a track off the album in last year's post.
And
then Ollie Halsall. Another absolute favourite. Ollie is perhaps best
known as the Leppo character in the Rutles' movie. He doesn't act in it
but there is a picture of him in the movie (it is available on any good
search engine near you). Ollie was initially considered for Dirk
McQuickly (McCartney character). It would have been a perfect fit, Ollie
was left handed and brilliant musician but alas not as well-known as
Eric Idle. Nevertheless Ollie recorded most of the guitar parts and sang
many of the Dirk parts in the movie. Boxer was a post-Patto band, which
included Mike Patto. This is a Beatles' cover taken off the
Bloodletting album and rivals the original.
(By the way - the picture is Oliver dressed up as Oliver Twist at school. He's wearing my old army boots and a tail coat that belonged to his great grandfather. The same coat met Princess Elizabeth (Brenda to you) in 1947. He looks more like the Artful Dodger in that get-up. When he announced who he was on stage he sang the chorus "you've got to pick a pocket or two", an Artful Dodger standard.)
Comments
Post a Comment