I love Simon and Garfunkel. Got the DVD-CD set of their "Old Friends" Live on Stage tour (2003) from the public library the other day. The concert(s) shown was in New York City, Madison Square Garden.

The songs are just so good. I was not too impressed with this particular concert the first time I saw it, because I had recently watched the 1981 Live in Central Park concert, when they were younger, and Garfunkel's voice
was clearer and purer, and the set-up was less flashy and 'modern'.

However, this time round, I'm enjoying the musicianship of the huge band, the riffs, the sounds and lights and all that. It gives you something new to notice each time.

Still, the best part of the DVD (besides a really ripping version of "Cecilia" in the second Act) is maybe the extra features, clips from a 1970 TV special 'Songs of America', which shows behind the scenes and some concert parts of the two on tour.

In the clips, there are bits of interviews and backstage stuff, and Simon says:

"I don't write to get something through to somebody. I write for various reasons... Some songs I write for the pleasure of writing a song... Songs are nice... Kids sing songs all the time, for the pleasure of the singing, the pleasure of the rhythm... There's a pleasure in singing a song, there's a pleasure in writing the songs."

That really shows through, I think, the pleasure of singing and writing. The songs are fun and well-crafted. Anyone who likes words will like a Simon and Garfunkel song. Then there is that great Simon and Garfunkel sound, the two voices and the acoustic guitar (with low-key bass, drums, etc. accompaniment).

It's changed in this last concert, but I guess that's alright too, though I still prefer the earlier sound, which is so much more arresting.

As a younger person (come to think of it, I'm about the same age they were when they did that 1970 special), it's sort of fascinating to look between past and present, and think, wow, someday I'll be on the other end looking back as well. I'll have evolved, too. I wouldn't want to be just the same as before. I'll have done a lot of other things, yet I'll probably still cherish and enjoy things that I enjoyed when I was younger. All of it will be part of who I am. And I'll be happy if I'm still as 'rocking' as that when I'm 60-something.

Just finished: The Art of Crossing Cultures by Craig Storti (2nd ed, 2001).

An easy read, and some really good insights and things to think about when going to live and work abroad. The book is targeted at expatriates in multinational companies going to an overseas posting (usually in a developing country). He addresses such things as country shock, or the stress of moving to a new place, new climate, food, language, all those little things, not yet even getting into culture, and provides some very good common sense principles for dealing with the inevitable "cultural incidents" that will happen.

He has great quotes and examples, and recommends literature for those who like that kind of thing. Some of the titles sound great!