One of the most evocative lyrics to emerge from the partnership of Simon and Garfunkel and a major hit for them.
Mary Lou and I have, over the past month, endured one of the most stressful things that humans can do, we moved homes.It was an appalling experience.
I won’t dwell on the details too much but almost everything we worried about came true.
The removal men were great, very professional, but their truck was too small and what was planned as a two journey move turned into a four journey one and we finished up stacking remnants of the contents into our car, not to mention the logistics of keeping a highly stressed cat away from the main activity area…we locked her in a bathroom for two days, with food and water of course, plus the occasional hug and some soothing words as we passed from an inner city apartment block into a house in a very remote farming village at the foot of the Italian Dolomites.
We had then to wait for the famous Italian beurocratic machine to creak into action and grant us leave to actually purchase domestic supply gas from a provider, that took two weeks for someone to sign and stamp a piece of paper.We are almost thawed out now, but hey it was worth it.
We now reside in a small but perfectly formed farming village with stunning views of the mountains and at the bottom of our very long garden we can step through a garden gate and almost into the local supermarket which just happens to be next door to the only bar in town…Idyllic..
In more ways than one and which brings me back to the title of this article.
It is silent here….for the first time in years we are surrounded by almost total silence for long sections of the day..It makes a powerful noise.
Last night I lay awake in the early hours and revelled in the fact that I could hear nothing, no vehicles, motorbikes,chatter from the odd drunken group making their way home, the very noisy street cleaning machine, bakery delivery trucks etc,and the complete absence of near neighbours carrying out their bathroom ablutions.
Silence is an abomination on mainsteam television..it is abhorred, banned, almost totally eliminated, why?
Some of the very best feature movies of recent years have joined the telly noise makers, the soundtracks are at earsplitting levels and in my opinion totally detract from the scene on the screen..
I am in the fortunate position of being able to view, for judging purposes, the entrants in the BAFTA Foreign Film section.
The difference is quite marked…these foreign johnies certainly know how to keep quiet when quiet is called for.
Sometimes a situation between two actors is carried out by looks, glances, small body movements etc, and its not because the scripwriters are being paid by the word and the producer has a limited budget but because they know how to use silence….and they let silence become a dominant player, it becomes the conduit, it crosses between the characters and conveys all manner of information.
We do not need the spoken word at all times and at all costs, keep the crashing music away, let the receiving sensors in our overstretched brains enjoy the very loud and crystal clear Sounds of Silence.
Please.
Mary Lou and I have, over the past month, endured one of the most stressful things that humans can do, we moved homes.It was an appalling experience.
I won’t dwell on the details too much but almost everything we worried about came true.
The removal men were great, very professional, but their truck was too small and what was planned as a two journey move turned into a four journey one and we finished up stacking remnants of the contents into our car, not to mention the logistics of keeping a highly stressed cat away from the main activity area…we locked her in a bathroom for two days, with food and water of course, plus the occasional hug and some soothing words as we passed from an inner city apartment block into a house in a very remote farming village at the foot of the Italian Dolomites.
We had then to wait for the famous Italian beurocratic machine to creak into action and grant us leave to actually purchase domestic supply gas from a provider, that took two weeks for someone to sign and stamp a piece of paper.We are almost thawed out now, but hey it was worth it.
We now reside in a small but perfectly formed farming village with stunning views of the mountains and at the bottom of our very long garden we can step through a garden gate and almost into the local supermarket which just happens to be next door to the only bar in town…Idyllic..
In more ways than one and which brings me back to the title of this article.
It is silent here….for the first time in years we are surrounded by almost total silence for long sections of the day..It makes a powerful noise.
Last night I lay awake in the early hours and revelled in the fact that I could hear nothing, no vehicles, motorbikes,chatter from the odd drunken group making their way home, the very noisy street cleaning machine, bakery delivery trucks etc,and the complete absence of near neighbours carrying out their bathroom ablutions.
Silence is an abomination on mainsteam television..it is abhorred, banned, almost totally eliminated, why?
Some of the very best feature movies of recent years have joined the telly noise makers, the soundtracks are at earsplitting levels and in my opinion totally detract from the scene on the screen..
I am in the fortunate position of being able to view, for judging purposes, the entrants in the BAFTA Foreign Film section.
The difference is quite marked…these foreign johnies certainly know how to keep quiet when quiet is called for.
Sometimes a situation between two actors is carried out by looks, glances, small body movements etc, and its not because the scripwriters are being paid by the word and the producer has a limited budget but because they know how to use silence….and they let silence become a dominant player, it becomes the conduit, it crosses between the characters and conveys all manner of information.
We do not need the spoken word at all times and at all costs, keep the crashing music away, let the receiving sensors in our overstretched brains enjoy the very loud and crystal clear Sounds of Silence.
Please.
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