Technology? Canny be good for you...

Well they say kids have their heads stuck into their games machines far too much these days...I would agree that a time limit should be imposed, but who are we really to say such things, I ask?  I spent hours and hours watching two plumbers shoot, fly and ground pound their way through various worlds, and spent an unbelievable time sorting blocks as they fell down to make a wall. I think my gaming time has been well spent, and would encourage my daughter to take advantage of all the technology she can get her hands on.  Her knowledge of the world is not limited to Mario characters, or what moves her Pokemon can do.  Her reasoning and logic skills are challenged by puzzle games, quizzes and strategy games, and her hand eye coordination is brilliant!  she can dance and sing along with Just Dance, rarely sits down while playing the Wii (even if the game doesn't require jumping about).  

Then there's other technology.  If someone had told me 20 years ago that you would have access to a mine of information so mindbogglingly huge you could find out almost anything you wanted to know about almost immediately, I'd have checked them for shrooms. And not Mario shrooms... I amaze myself with my constant need for information myself, whether it be on Facebook or other sites...Whereas we would have had to go to the library or consult some Tefal head for info on something, it's there, right there in the palm of your hand.  

Now I know, and you know that some of what is on the net is rubbish.  Claims of wonder drugs and diet pills etc are all over the place, but again i think we are all becoming more choosy about what we believe and disbelieve, and we should always check these facts thoroughly.

So, back to the sprog.  I'm more than happy for her to spend time with her 3ds, wii or android tablet, as they can all be used to expand our minds, hand eye coordination and logic skills.  Those who say we are wasting our time playing on "they hings" should pick one up and have a look.  I think they will find they might have a bit of fun, step outside their wee world and finally realise that technology can be our friend.....

I'm away back to play Call of Duty MW3 again - I've just prestiged up to level 3, so if you'll excuse me......

Things up with which I will not put......2013

So. I find myself unable to gig at the end of 2012.  After a relatively illness free year, I have flu in October followed by (what I suspect to be) laryngitis. Unfortunately, like a violinist who breaks a wrist, or a runner who strains a muscle, a singer is unable to sing if the equipment she uses in unable to move as it should.  No manner of pills and potions have helped, and I can only try to get a doctor's appointment after the busy new year.

Other people's attitudes towards singing never cease to amaze me.  Everyone has a voice (unless they have some form of problem in that department), and so everyone thinks that singing is just a matter of opening your mouth and making a noise. I suppose it's handy that we can carry our musical instrument with us at all times, but the downside to this is that it cannot be replaced with a new one should it develop a fault.  And it takes a fair amount of training to sing well without causing any damage - warming up and warming down are essential to my vocal health.

Anyway, if a singer cannot sing, there is nothing we can do.  We have to take time to recover, no matter the time of year.  We put ourselves under such pressure, which does no good and can exacerbate the problem. 
So next time you book a singer and they call off sick, spare a thought.  We don't want to let you down, and we probably could do with the money to pay for all the usual household bills etc (we have to live, same as you).  

Right that's out the way.

So it's 2013..

There are hundreds of "Happy New Year!" messages on my facebook wall, some of which are just simple messages of hope for the new year.  Some point towards a desire to change behaviours for the next 365 days through "resolutions".  Well if you need a day to make 'em, I suppose there's no better one.  Or is there?  Maybe a daily resolve to be a better person should be first on our list of things to do today. 

I recently posted a list of resolutions for my life in 2013, but they were really a list of continuing promises to myself and those around me.  

1.I will not bullshit  
2. I will always be straightforward,
3. I will not lie, 
4. I will never mess people about
5. I will never say that I'm ill when I'm not.
6. If you book me for a gig, I will not cancel for a more lucrative gig. 

Nothing changed from 2012 then.

Good friends and others who are in the same situation as I am will totally understand.  
Those people who do not trust others, and think everyone has some form of agenda will receive short shrift from me this year.  In my 42nd year on this planet there are things up with which I will not put.

So, some interesting blogs on the way for 2013....

look oot, world

xxx

Joanie

first impressions

I was recently approached by a very nice man who commented that I could sing in tune and asked if I'd ever done a real concert.  I was gigging at the time, so I must admit to being a bit of a wide-o and saying "is that not what I'm doing now?". And I felt a bit patronised to be told I could sing in tune, like I'd never thought about it before.  However, it occurs to me that he wasn't to know what I can and can't do.  And he was very nice, BTW.

I find that if you are a singer around pubs and clubs people tend to think that's all you can do.  In fact, not to blow my own trumpet, I have a grade 8 in singing (singing 5 different songs in three different languages from memory),  performed with the Fife Youth Choir and Chamber Choir whilst at school, performing with orchestras and windbands, and on one occasion a solo in St Andrews with just a harp for accompaniment during the choir's performance of Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols".  I did higher music, with my second instrument as clarinet.  I also learned trumpet at school, and was heavily involved in music at school and then at college at Napier in Edinburgh.
I was a choral singer, music student and mentor to other singers.  
I've also performed Backing vocals at Retrofest music festival in Glasgow.
So have I ever "done a concert"? yes.  

I'm not a big one for telling folk all my achievements, but maybe these days it pays to sell yourself.  Modesty leads to people underestimating you in this business.  

In my humble opinion, people are guilty of taking each other at face value all the time.  There are so many talented people out there working in jobs they have to to survive, and no one takes the time to find out anything about them. 
I've been a self employed singer for over 11 years now, and yet still I have people amazed that I do anything other than what they see me do.

Maybe those people who do something talented - I know of an actress, a singer and a dancer who have had to work in a local store to get by, and no one has been any the wiser - should shout from the rooftops about their abilities?  Well maybe not, as today's society views such as "showing off" and comments "Who does he/she think he/she is?"

So can we win? Can you have your cake and eat it?  

Modesty means I will now apologise for telling you how brilliant I am...


Sorry.

lol.

Groundhog Day!!! Stop complaining!

Seems to me that the weeks are flying by!  As a mum, you are always busy doing something- whether it be washing and ironing clothes for your family, loading and unloading the dishwasher, sorting out bills and doing the dreaded weekly shop.

It can be easy to get caught up in the pace of it all, and the week seems to fly by.  No sooner have you got through one week relatively unscathed, scraping by on last week's wages, than it's bloody Monday again, and it all begins anew.  I say anew, but the routine can get to you a bit.

I suppose that's where us entertainers are quite lucky in a way.  We get to step outside the normal, boring routine and show off for money each weekend.  But sometimes even that can become routine.  Oh it's Saturday.  Routine is - finish work, take kid to babysitters, quick tea and relax, then get ready for the gig.

Do gig.

Go home via some fast food place just cos you're too tired to cook, or alternatively pop into your local all night store and roam up and down the aisles trying to decide what you fancy for supper, dodging the cages of stock to be put out and listening to the harrumph of the night staff.  They are always nice enough, but I can imagine customers would just get in the way, and the majority of the customers at night are drunk or worse...

Then it's home,false eyelashes peeled off, face cleaned and jammies on. And stare wide eyed at the TV til 3.30am.

So maybe it's not so glamorous...maybe it's sometimes a slog, just like any other job.  But sometimes, just sometimes, you get a crowd who REALLY enjoy what you do.  Applause after applause, and a roar of MORE! at the end of the night.  Those are the nights we remember when we are having a not-so-good night, when there is the sound of crickets chirping and tumbleweed blowing across the floor.

But still, we could do a worse job.  Showing off for money isn't all that bad.  We might all be those poor staff who have to fill the shelves at your local 24 hour shop in the early hours.  Spare a though for them next time you stagger in for some "munchies, man".  

My day job pays around £6.50 an hour.  A three hour gig can bring in a LOT more than that.

So maybe I shouldn't complain about the boring routines of my existence.  I suppose it's not too bad after all.  

I just wish the car insurance wasn't so flipping dear...

I forget if I had a point to this blog.   Best go and see to the washing - those school shirts don't wash themselves!..

How things used to be...

Well my goodness, that was some night!  I had a full house at my weekend gig.  Not for me, you understand, but there was a birthday party going on.
The room was heaving with folk, and I must admit to looking back to times when every gig was like that - people out at their local to have a good time, a drink and a bit of banter, and to enjoy the live music.  People used to actually prise themselves away from the telly and go out!  Shock!  
These days, what with the price of booze and, well, pretty much everything, most of Joe Public is content to sit in of a Saturday night, with their Smart Price Vodka and 17p cola drink, a big bag of cheap crisps and order a take away when they get the munchies.  No waiting for taxis, no getting ready, no waiting to be served at the bar, no queues at the kebab shop/chinese etc.  No exorbitant taxi fares home (particularly at this time of year).  And if you feel tired, you don't have to wait about to tell your friends.  they are right there (or a facebook post away).

Why would people even go out of their doors these days?

Well there's actual PHYSICAL INTERACTION. Speaking to people with your MOUTH and listening with your EARS.  No smiley faces and LOLs, no "likes" or "shares".  Just talking to people, with no electronics involved.

Are we becoming a nation of computer nerds?  I must admit that I, for one, am happier to communicate when I can say something then edit it before it is "out there" for people to see, comment on and usually disagree with. And emailing or PM-ing someone is a lot less scary than a phone call.  

So what should we do?  

I have no easy answer to this.  

Maybe the powers that be should make Saturday night TV sooo boring that people actually want to go out for some stimulation.  Maybe they should bring back the discounted happy hours in pubs and clubs.  Maybe we should be trying to attract punters?
There are always going to be those who are idiots.  You get them everywhere.  The ones who drink their bodyweight in happy hour drinks then throw up or cause a fight.  Maybe they should stay home... Some people just need a reason to go out.  

Maybe we could socialise our way out of the recession by simply going out and spending a few hours at our local pub.  We could enjoy the live music again, have a few drinks on promotion, have a laugh.  

I think I may have just found the answer.  Ban all the reality TV shit and get the public back into their own reality!  Life!

first blog brain fart

I suppose the question everyone asks themselves when starting a blog is "What the f**k will I write?" so I'm asking myself that very question.
My facebook posts are apparently quite amusing, and I had no idea that some of the stuff that comes into my brain had entertainment value for others until I was carrying out a clearout of my facebook pals.  A few of em took time to say "Don't delete me!", and a few others were confident that I wanted to keep them as friends.  
To give you a bit of background, I'm a 40 year old mum of one, and I'm a shop assistant by day, international superstar by night.  Erm maybe not.  

Joanie sings Adele.

I'm a singer around the pubs and clubs of Scotland.  It's a good job. 
You know when you stand singing into your hairbrush like a total idiot, dancing about like a loony? I get paid for doing that in public (although maybe not in my dressing gown with a towel wrapped round my head). Sometimes it's all "This way, madam".  Most of the time it's "There's the toilet, get changed and set up there" (pointing at a stage the size of a postage stamp, or alternatively the oche).
On my website at www.joanie.co.uk I do a wee review of the venues and gigs I do, and there's also a wee section to have a moan.  
This blog might just replace my moany section.  or expand on it.
like most things I do, I have no particular plan for this blog.  I just intend to start it, and fill a blog in now and then when I remember.  

I find that's when things become more interesting.....

so let's see how it goes....

Love

Joanie

xx