Massaging the Cogs of the machine

After another 6 hours of slumber the final day of my commitment to an awesome experience has begun. Starting with the obligatory chocolate Easter egg and a cup of coffee and reminiscing over everything that both the work and music has had to offer.

Today I head off to massage in a different area and a far more important group of people. Setting off with my portable massage chair to a corner of the administration building spending the day treating people who's entire focus is smooth running of this annual monolithic event.

Five days, 5 tents, band scheduling from midday to midnight and over 30 acts per day all with varying numbers of muso's wants and needs to be tended to will always take its toll. Six hours of  Remedial massage to shoulders, necks, lower backs, just about every body part that holds stress.

Still these endless hard-working Ambassadors of the "behind the scenes" music industry had smiles, laughed with each other and continued to assist with every enquiry with the full energy of a toddler at play.
To compete my day of massage I wandered up to the "Volly tent", miles away from the rest of public facilities and the home of hundreds of volunteer workers. These are the unsung hero's who give up their time freely to assist in the other wheel of this musical machine. Litter free grounds, spotlessly clean toilets, assistance with directions and many other small gopher tasks we take for granted were completed by a youthful (possibly drug assisted) enthusiastic team of Bryon-bayers.

But what of the music? Another strong roll out of artists and many I had never heard of before. Unfortunately missing out of Richard Clapton performing at 4pm was my only "oh no" for the long weekend. One or two well deserved beers and off to listen and gyrate to the sounds of the "Melbourne Ska Band" OMG fantastic, fantastic, fantastic! Not only did they brass out songs of well known blues artists but also encouraged the audience in full vocal participation.

An oxymoron of this Ska group was performing in the nearby tent, Seasick Steve, an aged bearded wizen-faced American singing "hobo" blues. His instruments included several pieces one made of two hubcaps and a broom sticks, another from a cigar box and his ever famous 3 string guitar. Describing himself as a poverish Hobo who now has a few extra cents in his pocket. The bonus to this performance was the inclusion of Led Zepplin base player John Paul Jones, this was a "chillaxed" 90 minutes with people sitting on the ground and taking it all in.

Last 2 attractions of the night were Weddings, Parties Anything followed by The Pogues OR Blue King Brown followed by John Butler Trio. 1st choice easy as I have always been Weddings groupie, but to see possibly the last performance by the Pogues or listen to John Butler in all his glory was my plight.

My best analogy of John Butler is a cross between Robyn Hood and an early Australian pioneer. His looks, his lyrics and his passion drew me in and kept me mesmerized for 2 hours along with the 500 + other people looking for a leader to guide them into righteousness of the saving of our wilderness versus the greed and need of the politicians and big businesses.

Old songs and new were much to the delight of all who attended and this author happy to have capped off her first experience of the Byron Bay Blues in this fashion. Will I come back again??
You bet ya"

Day 2 duff,duff,dance-offs!!

Entering the Artists tent on day 2 saw the walking wounded setting up all necessary equipment to entertain the slightly hung-over, moderately unkempt masses. We embark on a full day of hard yakka of remedial massage on both the tireless behind the scenes workers with their aching legs and feet, to the drummers and guitarist's with ailments with their shoulders, arms and lower backs. It's about now that I am very happy in my career choice, overhearing band members' discussing that 2 hours of sleep is totally acceptable as long as you can get a hot shower!

Ian Wood and I are assigned to this tent again and now I am prepared adorned in my shirt, to be signed, by anyone that I think is worthy of becoming part of my history of this long weekend escape.  This is my mission to have a memento of the 8 hours x 3 days of massaging artists including members from Ziggy Marley, Ollie Brown, Blitzen Trapper, James Vincent McMorrow and even the girls from Eagle and the Worm.

Santas from Ziggy Marley

Scheduled short breaks let me emerge into the sunlight of another glorious Bryon day, to hear the resonant duff, duff, duff of the bass guitars, woofers and other electronic devices echoing through the sound systems. This sound reaching deep into the core of our body's which I realise is the beating heart of the festival.

To my right I hear the amazing tonal qualities of Keb Mo, to my left Blitzen Trapper and their high energy reach my ears and in the distance the familiar beauty of Ashleigh Mannix tries to draw me in. I have already decided on an old favourite of mine as I weave my way to the front of the Crossroads tent to listen to David Bromberg and was NOT disappointed. This man though no longer in his youth has not lost his distinct vocal qualities, and assisted by electric fiddle, bass and drums to recite his emotional past lives in song.

We packed up our tables and sports tape as the sun set, eager to join in the fever that had already infected the hundreds of blues fans today. Upset that I missed the Tijuana Cartel I paced towards Steve Earle and grooved to songs including his famous "Copperhead Road". Next on my agenda to find the perfect beat was Angelique Kidjo and at an unknown age she way out did most of her junior singers in energy and enthusiasm.

The cruising sounds of Donovan and his old favourites kept the older groups and the "narley" smokers in their zone but I marched towards the beat of a different drum.... Rockabilly!!

Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot was aptly named and did not disappoint. You may not be familiar with the band but you will know the songs - "Stray Cats Strut", "Runaway boys", "Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash) to name just 3 from the 90 minute set. His famous green guitar, 2 bass guitarists, pianist, and drummer did not stop swinging, dancing, and dualling instruments to the exhilarated crowd. A 3 double bass play-off had to be the winner for this author and will go down in my top 100 things of the long weekend.

Finishing off the night with the powerful voice of John Fogerty and most of all of the best known songs of Credence, the strength of his voice was amazing and everyone joined into each and every song that we knew (which was most of them).

Day 3 emerges to see what the previous days damage has caused to artists, administration and support groups. But if one picture says it all it is the crowd, and I am happy to say I'm one of them.

From the Sublime to the ridiculous(ly good).

Wow what a first day for this Remedial massage therapist! Whisked past the madding crowds towards the artists' tents where Sonya Leslight, my fabulous friend and one of the major organisers of the massage management, had been working non-stop since arriving 4 hours earlier. A well needed break for her and an introduction into the 15 minute "rub-down" for muso's across the planet for me.

What a group of talented guitarists, drummers, DJ's and even organisers I got my hands onto. Rocky Rock from the Sublime was in full high voltage both on the table and on stage, cruisey Stevie Vai US legend from the 3G's taught me that these guys work so hard that no amount of kneading and stripping is too much for their over-worked forearms and necks.

But more about the music, my thoughts were that I was going to be listening to soulful Blues but that was far from the truth. First time I had chance to tear my way from the massage arena I pushed towards one of the 4 humongous tents where the bands were performing. I wasn't the only one with that thought and I was eddied along with hundreds of others with the same thoughts, getting the "best vantage point" to both see and dance our heart's away.

"Ska" is what we were bopping to, from Sublime a more recent group with that Californian style influence of US vibrancy.  Later the unmistakable original "Ska" performed by The Specials, a UK band from the late 80's and wow how to get the crowd pumping with that Bluesy-Jamaican beat. The  roof of the Mojo tent and its footings shook to every toe tap, side step, swing, sway, jump and bounce of the entire audience, but it really went into hyper-drive with the magistry of Earth, Wind and Fire.

But if gyrating and grinding in Tribal dance frenzy isn't your thing then there are 3 other huge tents with musicians playing the many other forms of Blues. On a few occasions, when my brain said "enough jumping cant be good for you girl", I wandered over to the Crossroads tent where my re-energizing took place. The gorgeous tonal qualities of Keb Mo, effervescent of Buddy Guy and to top it off, Crosby Stills and Nash in all their aged glory left no-ones soul unmoved.

Ian Wood and me in full swing in the Mojo Tent

So for today's adventure both in the massage performance and when I get the chance to appreciate all that is to offer for my ears, eyes and vocals. Will be looking out for John Fogerty, Ziggy Marley, Brian Setzer, Donovan and David Bromberg; but how will I get them all in!!

Massage madness Byron Bay Blues festival

Easter Good Friday is usually reserved for many in the pursuits of camping, trekking, beach-frolicking and the like. I'm usually rendezvousing with great friends Lisa and Graham in Kingaroy but this year your musculoskeletal specialist Paula Nutting has opted to drift down south of the border to northern New South Wales.

This is my inaugural visit to the Bryon Bay Blues Festival, an iconic event which had evolved here over 23 years. My role not as an observer, though I will be doing plenty of that, but as a massage therapist for the many who have need for assistance to relieve stiff necks and shoulders, aching backs and tired feet.

The tired and weary I will be kneading are not the general public, even though there are tents set up full of eager new remedial therapists' tending to their needs. My "walking wounded" are the artist's who have travelled far and wide to caress our ears with their deep, rhythmic numbers. A great deal of these performers songs have been mutilated by us at dinner parties after imbibing many bottles of wine!

I will be providing nurturing to such legends as Rodger Daltry, John Fogerty, Cold Chisel,The Pogues, Keb Mo, Crosby Stills Nash, Ziggy Marley and the list goes on.... God knows it's a hard road to travel rubbing all those legendary superstars but if someone has to do it then so be it, I am happy to take up the task and record it so you can feel like you've had a touch of this amazing annual event.

For all of us late Baby Boomers and our struggles into this brave new world!

At the ripe age of ... (sorry did you think that the female sex discloses that horrid bit of information!) I have decided to launch into this century, and the social media that has become second nature to children of all ages. Why I was enjoying my daily soy flat white with a girlfriend whilst her 18 month old daughter was happily pawing over the photos on Marian's IPhone and at the same time managing to finger the soft bubbles of her baby chino into a mouth covered with that chocolate dusting powder, showing multi-tasking at its very best. On the other side of the scales my 85 year old mother eagerly gets up and turns on her IPad feverishly waiting for the time sheets to download so that she can get the pick of positions and players for the next week at her Golf Club.


Now it seems that I am faced with more people looking at the world wide web for their wants and needs, and my wants and needs include paying off my mortgage and giving my children all that they desire. At this stage my close friends are laughing as they know my kids have all grown up in the school of "hard knocks"!


It is the realisation that I must advertise my expertise within a forum that is both foreign to me (what exactly happened to the White and Yellow pages I ask you) and, as it appears, as mobile as the lava running down Mt Vesuvius.


People get broken every day and my expertise it to mend to the best of my ability, and I'm pretty darn good at it I gotta say. Just ask the many happy people that limp into my clinic and bound out afterwards my clinic is at Wavell Heights and all the details can be found on by website http://www.yourmusculoskeletalspecialist.com


I am a Musculoskeletal Therapist, to which most people say "a what??" imagine a Remedial massage therapist, a Physiotherapist and an Osteopath all running into each other, well that's sort of the best descriptive term for me.I was a Remedial massage therapist, a personal trainer, an aerobic instructor and a Registered Nurse but none of those are relevant to this new art of both Bloggery and marketing on the www.


I am hoping to give you two things, one which is my knowledge and most likely the passion and drive that goes with my work, and two my frustration in how someone my age manages to learn new tricks in IT!!!


Please enjoy the readings and I hope to make you laugh at the very least and learn at the very most.


Cheers
Paula

Stretching, stretching and more stretching...

Stay loose to stay lovely says the muscles

When one is in the search for the fountain of youth the last thing we need is the creeping in of that morning stiffness, that so mysteriously targets the lower back, neck and shoulders.

I don't know about you but I certainly do not remember waking up in my teens any other way than at a full spring, bounding out to meet all that the day could throw at me. Now it feels like the spring has sprung! This apparently is a very common sign of our internal cellular aging but one that can be addressed very easily.


It is extremely difficult to deny the onset of the aging process if you are not prepared to get off you "hiny" and do something about it. Make no mistake if you sit for long hours at work in front of that time vampire otherwise known as  the computer, in the car behind the steering wheel or at home like a couch potato blankly staring at the "idiot-box" then sure as eggs your body will stiffen up and each muscle fibre will hint at you as to what is to come.

The muscles around the hips, knees and shoulders will shrink to their new lazy/idle length. This produces the pulling at the lower back, reduced range of movement in any number of areas but commonly in your neck, ribcage and shoulders and stiffness with the potential addition of pain each time you leave yourself in one position for to long.

Check out my video for some awesome tips how to stretch out for strength, stability and suppleness of that all important "core" muscle group.

When those muscles return to normal pre-ancient length, so too will that spring in your step, that bounce in your body, the vim, vigour and youthful vitality you felt from days when you really were the age you're now trying to convince your friends and peers.
Get more information than just this Blog by subscribing to my website http://www.yourmusculoskeletalspecialist.com for fortnightly newsletters full of facts, freebies and thought provoking concepts.

Are all computers like naughty siblings??

http://www.yourmusculoskeletalspecialist.com in a lather

In my family, and I use that term imaginatively, I have anywhere between 3 and 6 children. Most from Australia whom arrived via my womb but included in my clan are boys who hail from Brazil, Turkey, Spain, Japan and the list goes on. My current darlings set sail from Colombia and Saudi.

exporting should be reserved for international travel only!!

Now if you count the computers in your home making sure to include your Blackberry, IPhone or Android then the numbers add up. Why between my youngest who is 14 and has the matching attitude from hell, and myself we have 6 between us (disgusting I know). You can blame Education Queensland for 2 of them and my National presenting for 1 more and of course the trusty Blackberry that hooks onto my hip like a pederast.

So with multiple sources of IT communication to deal with, there comes the equivalent level of sharing of very valuable information and this is where it gets tricky!! 
I take bookings from any one of these beastly devices and need them to happily share and impart their knowledge fairly so that I don't become unstuck with multiple bookings. Trust me no-one wants to make the effort to climb out of their cosy bed, show up at my clinic at the crack of dawn, just to see another of my walking wounded patiently waiting for their ailments to be addressed.


Does anyone have half a clue how to export and import ANYTHING from Microsoft Office?? I mean don't get me wrong, I love the power, ease and control that Bill Gates has given me but to what end of hair greying and brow creasing do I say enough is enough?


Exporting and importing should be reserved for my great friend Tracey's voluminous shoe collection and not for  a few simple calendar or address details, shouldn't it??? If anyone can take a well educated, intelligent, forward thinking girl like me and step me through what should be  a simple process then I am more than happy, and eager to take up your challenge. But until then bring on the Prozac!!!

Day one.... sitting at home on a Saturday night.

At the ripe age of ... (sorry did you think that the female sex discloses that horrid bit of information!) I have decided to launch into this century, and the social media that has become second nature to children of all ages. Why I was enjoying my daily soy flat white with a girlfriend whilst her 18 month old daughter was happily pawing over the photos on Marian's IPhone and at the same time managing to finger the soft bubbles of her baby chino into a mouth covered with that chocolate dusting powder, showing multi-tasking at its very best. On the other side of the scales my 85 year old mother eagerly gets up and turns on her IPad feverishly waiting for the time sheets to download so that she can get the pick of positions and players for the next week at her Golf Club.

Now it seems that I am faced with more people looking at the world wide web for their wants and needs, and my wants and needs include paying off my mortgage and giving my children all that they desire. At this stage my close friends are laughing as they know my kids have all grown up in the school of "hard knocks"!


It is the realisation that I must advertise my expertise within a forum that is both foreign to me (what exactly happened to the White and Yellow pages I ask you) and, as it appears, as mobile as the lava running down Mt Vesuvius.

People get broken every day and my expertise it to mend to the best of my ability, and I'm pretty darn good at it I gotta say. Just ask the many happy people that limp into my clinic and bound out afterwards my clinic is at Wavell Heights and all the details can be found on by website http://www.yourmusculoskeletalspecialist.com
I am a Musculoskeletal Therapist, to which most people say "a what??" imagine a Remedial massage therapist, a Physiotherapist and an Osteopath all running into each other, well that's sort of the best descriptive term for me.I was a Remedial massage therapist, a personal trainer, an aerobic instructor and a Registered Nurse but none of those are relevant to this new art of both Bloggery and marketing on the www.

I am hoping to give you two things, one which is my knowledge and most likely the passion and drive that goes with my work, and two my frustration in how someone my age manages to learn new tricks in IT!!!
Please enjoy the readings and I hope to make you laugh at the very least and learn at the very most.

Cheers

Paula