Dancing Is Good For The Soul
Amit Bolds
Keith's dispatch from Sri Lanka is the main event today, so I'll keep it brief. The Public Address Radio podcast items are up in numbers now, and they include a look at Christchurch's (probably) legal substance culture and Craig Ranapia's debut as a radio commentator. If you wish to subscribe to the podcast, the feed is here. Let us know what you think.
The Christchurch piece turned out to be quite timely, what with 60 Minutes running a story about the party pill issue that revolved around the near-death of a young man in Greymouth. The item was pretty good, although, inevitably, the producers found it necessary to play down the fact that the young man also took illegal drugs to keep their party pill angle afloat.
And there would have been a few youngsters on party pills amongst the unpretentious crowd at the Soulwax/2ManyDJs gig at the St James on Saturday night. The promoters got a bit panicky on Thursday about having only 500 pre-sales, and flicked out a few comps, which led to me and my compadres Andy 'n' Daz venturing out for a dance.
I liked Soulwax more than I thought I would and I liked them even more in their 2ManyDJs guise. The latter dropped in quite a few classic house music references for us oldsters - a bit of Todd Terry here, the intro to 'Your Love' there - before satisfying the kids with some indie-crowd-pleasing mash-ups. We ducked out for a breather and by the time we came back about a third of the crowd was actually onstage, where they remained for the duration.
Their take on Nirvana's 'Lithium' brought the house down (little bit of cellphone video here if you're curious, plus one captured earlier in the orchestra pit) - as you might expect from the crew who, as The Flying Dewaele Brothers, created the brilliant mash-up of Destiny's Child and Nirvana that was 'Smells Like Booty' - but the final number just sounded like they were playing a Smashing Pumpkins record and a dance record at the same time. Can't moan, though: dancing is good for the soul, even when it hurts your back a bit.
I think TV3 also neglected to mention/disclose their connection to the victim's mother; who I think (RB will have to fact check) is a stringer with one of their Sth Island camera crews. Which possibly explains why TV3 News were "all over" this story ... I'm hesitant to call it a beat-up but they certainly went overboard.
As soon as they 'broke' the story I was sceptical of their initial claims that the Mullet had only taken party pills, and no illegal drugs, hence party pills must be banned!. Of course, a few days later his friends finally admitted he had taken other substances, including Ecstasy. Not that that stopped the doctor on 60 Minutes still insisting it was a party pill overdose.
I don't take party pills, I think they're stupid, but they are legal (at the moment) so its a bit late to ban them. I think the best solution is to regulate their manufacture so that some cowboys can't (as they are doing now) toss in 1000mg of BZB. One outcome may be that liquour companies decide to enter the market - wouldn't that be wacky!? Which reminds me: if its not too late to ban the currently legal party pills, then surely its not too late to ban alcohol? There are more people being harmed by alcohol than party pills.
60 Minutes said this week they will be showing who the people behind the manufacture of party pills are - millionaires all of them, evidently. Funny, cos the only time I saw Matt Bowden (head of the industry association) he was working his party pills stand at Erotica while his wife was stripping on stage to pay for the stand. (She's a former Aussie Penthouse Pet evidently - will TV3 manage to work that into their story?)(with some salacious footage?)
A top night there RB, and might i add that your dance technique has improved... You just had to drop those arms a bit, and you did- well done! Lithium was a highlight, as was when they mashed into Weezer's 'Hashpipe'- genius. I haven't pogod with both arms in the air like that since... since... since 2many dj's played the boiler room in '06 and mashed Primal Screams 'Rocks' into some bastard techno track! Biggie ups to Daz too- my homie for life.
Have you ever danced and somehow gotten lost in the moment? Or zoned in so much that you felt your body was moving subconsciously to music? Have you ever felt fully alive when you dance? You have just caught the dancing spirit!
We all have different ideas of feeling well. Through a physical manifestation, it could be feeling confident in your body, loving all of your flaws or being mindful in your body in a pain- and injury-free way.
When our physical being is addressed, parts of our spiritual being feel satisfied and fully engaged. Ultimately, feeling good in the body and soul is the fullest, most purposeful expression of who we are.
It seems to be a trend at the moment to see a lot of dancers wearing trainers.Mostly its the younger guys.It puzzles me surely they are too grippy to dance easily in or are there particular brands that have smoother soles.Can anyone who uses trainers comment on why they prefere Trainers and how they perform on untalced floors.
My current footwear of choice are Adidas Sambas, which suits my style of dancing as I prefer a bit of grip. Back in the 70's I used to wear Adidas Kicks, which were very similar, so I don't think there's anything new there. Can be quite sticky on the floor at the start of the night but once the floor gets scuffed up a bit they're ideal. Hate talc on the floor, and people who go around with a bottle of the stuff like some industrial crop sprayer are a pain in the arse. Keep it to your own patch if you're going to use it, don't cover the whole dance floor. Or better still, wear slippery shoes. Incidentally, saw somebody out the other week with a bottle of talc labelled up as "Northern Soul Talc". Wonder how much the mug paid for that.
Probably the extra grip trainers offer due to all the people who cant seem to constuct the most basic of 2-Step Northern Soul dances without having a 2" deep carpet of foot odour products for a 30 foot radius around them on the dancefloor.
Over the years i have used Brogues,and Hush Puppy/Padders type shoes,but never considered trainers.I imagine the extra grip could be fine for the acrobats but must play havoc on the knees and calfs.Must say after many years i have still not found the ideal type shoe yet but if the record grabs you you can dance in OWT i guess
Hiya Patto. You really must stop going to Jazz evenings at The 100 Club... Trainers are OK with cord trousers and baggy round neck pullovers, especially when the dance floor is soaked with beer and all the blokes dance like Mick Jagger on stage.
Well, at The O' Jays on Friday at the O2 , the dance floor was caked with spilt drinks from the night before. Sticky and unprofessional. Even my sliders had issues...but, I managed a few decent steps. Sadly I need comfort these days and I wear some smart 'white stuff' sneakers that give a nice feel on the floor and should the talc brigade pepper where I dance, they save my back from breaking if I misjudge something.
More times then not I'd go with a descent soled shoe but have shook a wicked hoof in a trainer or desert wellie type in my day without major problems.What I would say is over the years dancing at varied size "do's" with not always room to get on the actual dancing surface I've found a preference to throwing a few shapes on the surrounding carpet?Found I get the grip I need for the odd sharp turn but also allows a bit of slide when needed,said carpet is certainly not trainer friendly I've found?
I must admit, my new dancers at Prestatyn wore one of my toes out, so I had to use Crocs ha ha! Even I couldn't believe it...but I needed to dance so took the risk. Somebody asked me for my autograph, so I asked them why, and they said bravery.
It was strange when I first put them on and went on the dance floor, I was the only one on there as it was early. So I was extremely conscious that I could damage my dancing reputation with them, but most people, once they stopped taking the p*** actually said it was a good idea. Next day. no less than 8 other people had them on!
Frank Wright's where I believe the original comos. Used to have a pair when I was at secondary school they like all school shoes got wrecked. Bought some royal brogues in about 1978, still got them, knackered now but can't bear to throw them out. I do remember the last time I got them soled and heeled that it cost me way more than the 17 that the shoes cost me originally.
Polyveldts were for girls, although I bought a pair about 5 years ago and they are the best city walking shoes I've ever had. They must have clocked up several hundred miles of walking and are still going strong. I should have bought a few pairs when I had the chance.
And everyone used to think they were cool! Only had the one pair mesen and then thankfully the dress code moved forward a bit. I better add - imo, or I'll have some die hard lot wanting to lynch me by me shoe laces.
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