It seems incredible to believe that the concert took place 41 years ago in a couple of weeks' time. My how time flies.
It also reminded me what a great poet Paul Simon is with some of the most inspirational lyrics of all time. You could quote the whole of Sound of Silence as pure poetry but I guess my favourite two lines come from Homeward Bound.
All my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity.
This to describe how homesick he was during his one night stand concerts in the UK and how little what he was doing meant to him.
If you ask people to name poets they will come up with Wordsworth, Keats, maybe Rupert Brooke, Auden, Masefield, Betjeman and a few others. But for me the likes of Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and many more rock artists are the true poets. If you want to see what I mean, look up the lyrics to a song called "Nexus" by Dan Fogelberg. Come to think of it have a look at "Another Auld Langs Syne" and "Leader of the Band" by the same artist.
Many years ago I saw Art Garfunkel in concert at Norwich Theatre Royal. It was a stunning evening of song. As we left the theatre I heard someone say: "It was ok but it's a shame Paul Simon wasn't with him." The obvious reply to that was "if Simon was around do you really think they would be playing Norwich Theatre Royal?" And I don't mean that as an insult to the Norwich venue.
Incidentally the musical Les Miserable is back at Norwich Theatre Royal for a three week run. The world is turning again. I well remember the night that lockdown was imposed and I turned up with my son for the performance of Les Mis, only to be told it had been cancelled. We stood incredulous on the pavement. And we all know what that was the start of.
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On Thursday I made a quick trip to Hethersett Library for the presentation of certificates to youngsters who had completed the summer reading challenge. The chairman of the Friends of Hethersett Library and the village representative on South Norfolk Council and Norfolk County Council David Bills presented the certificates and I took a load of photographs for various outlets.
Which reminds me that I need to tell you that the latest Hethersett Herald is online at www.hethersettherald.weebly.com.
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I'm not sire how much I have written about the new pavilion on Hethersett Memorial Playing Field on these blogs. It could be a lot, but equally could be a little as I've written so much about it in various publications etc.
But as the days move on, I feel a heightened sense of pride that the old building is no more and the new one is imminent. Three or four of us were responsible for gaining the original planning permission for a new build. It's taken some time to make it a reality and I pulled away from the project for a variety of reasons. But I have remained 100% behind it and I think that has been reflected in my writing on the subject.
The parish council has also backed the project and has to take a tremendous amount of credit in making a dream become a reality.
I look forward to the day not so long away now when a ribbon can be cut and the new pavilion can be officially declared open.
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The first of my two articles sent to the local Media has appeared online and is about the celebrations for the new pavilion.
If you are interested in reading this you can find it at:
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/hethersett-old-pavillion-demolished-9249020.
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Final word on Simon and Garfunkel. It seems impossible to realise that Paul Simon is 81 in a month's time and Arty is 81 just a month later. Mind you in a month's time John Lennon would have been 82!