Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.
Elton celebrates ‘extraordinary’ 10th number one album
Article and audio interview at BBC news and sound
I was delighted to read this news about Elton considering some disturbing recent articles reporting his loss of eyesight such as ‘can’t watch sons play rugby‘.
Elton John’s collaboration with US country star Brandi Carlile on the record ‘Who Believes in Angels‘ has topped the charts 52 years after the star’s first number one. “It seems quite extraordinary that my career has gone on so long“. In the BBC’s ‘Top of the Pops‘ audio podcast he discusses the making of the record (from 13:30 min and is interspersed with sample music from the record):
Elton: “I had more doubt on this record than I’ve had in my life. I just wanted it to be special…But if I had been on my own, without Bernie, Brandi and Andrew this record could never have got made. It was the combination of all the energy in the room. All the aggravation, all the anxiety, pushed us to make electric music…When I got to make it (the record), I was exhausted, tired, grumpy, you know she pushed me and Andrew pushed me and Bernie pushed me. I didn’t want to make the same record I made years before. I wanted it to be fresh and exciting.”
Brandi: I had like existential doubt because there was the risk of what if the lyricists who I idolised didn’t approve of my lyrics..what would happen the first time I put my lyrics down in front of Elton John, what if he was just like it doesn’t inspire me, he couldn’t write to it. And also Elton wasn’t exactly the zen master…you know, he was feeling these things too which manifest in him in kind of a very short attention span and it’s intense. When it clicked – Wow!
Rory McIlroy’s four-year-old daughter Poppy sinks putt at Augusta
Video at Guardian Sport
I remember when I was a wee-tacker in Australia and my father waking me up in the dead of the night to watch the premier event on the golfing calendar – The Masters. Since I moved to Colombia in 2009, the UTC−05:00 time zone fits snugly into the Golf schedule, so I can watch most events during waking hours. This also goes with other sports I adore including World Football, Baseball and Tennis. The only sport that I’m crazy about which doesn’t correspond to my current time zone is Australian Football (AFL).
As we embark on Holy Week (Semana Santa) here, after my son’s football training yesterday we dedicated the afternoon to watching the last round of The Masters. This event you could describe as ‘The Wimbledon’ or ‘the World Cup’ of Golf. The Irish golfer Rory McIlroy was chasing yet again (11 years to be exact after his third major) the ‘Grand Slam’ of Golf. He had won the three other majors, but was yet to chalk off the biggest and most prestigious major there-is. Low and behold, the 35-year-old from Northern Ireland became only the sixth man and the first European to win the career Grand Slam of Masters, Open Championship, US Open and US PGA Championship titles.
I cannot begin to describe how special it was to see this ‘once in a generation event’ with my children – shot by shot until McIlroy’s last putt on the 1st play-off hole to win against the classy and unfortunate Englishman Justin Rose (his second defeat at the Masters in a play-off -Ouch!). When someone tells you that golf is boring you direct them to this final round. Couldn’t believe the rollercoaster of emotions.
In the final nine holes, McIlroy delivered four of the greatest approach shots I’ve ever witnessed in one round – including the unforgettable one on the first playoff hole at the 18th, which all but sealed victory. Granted, his putting – his Achilles’ heel – continued to trouble him, but it didn’t matter in the end. He battled on with a grit matched by few before him to achieve this near-unassailable crowning moment.
I highly recommend his official press conference after victory where he begins with – I would like to start this press conference with a question myself – what are we all going to talk about next year?
The key moments of Rory’s success can be found in any sporting news page today or scattered all over You Tube, but the video I would like to share here was not even in the Masters event exactly. It was in the family day prelude last Wednesday, when Rory McIlroy’s four-year-old daughter Poppy stole the show at the Masters Par Three Tournament sinking an incredible putt alongside him. The remarkable shot sparked heartwarming celebrations from McIlroy and his family, as well as playing partner Shane Lowry.
Now if that video doesn’t induce a big grin in a sporting fan, I don’t know what would.
That is all. Thank you for reading.
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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