Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Z is for Zanzibar

Z is for Zanzibar

“The two men exchanged pleasantries then Wittaya quickly drilled to the core.

‘What happened on the Albany?’

Wittaya pictured Cassidy’s face during the brief pause before he answered. ‘Was it a mistake? Did someone do something wrong? Is that what you want to know?’

‘Don’t play @#$%ing games with me Cassidy. I need more than what I am getting from Admiral Masters. I’m getting the feeling that the Navy is closing ranks on this one.’

‘I’m meeting with Masters this morning, and I’ll be looking for more answers than I got yesterday.’

‘Why didn’t you stay and press him?’

‘I had personal business to attend to in Canberra.’

‘Personal business? For @#$% sake. We don’t have the luxury of personal business. This is serious. You understand that don’t you?’”
from chapter 3, Ashmore Grief

For my final 2014 A-Z Blogging Challenge post, I will make my greatest leap. Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar. I have loved Queen forever. They are one of the all time great rock bands, and the man behind the mike and tinkling the ivories, Freddie Mercury, is one of the all time great rock singers. I read Leslie-Anne Jones definitive biography of this rock legend, and I was appalled by the man behind the music. It is no exaggeration to say that I seriously contemplated ditching Queen from my playlist. Wisely, I overcame that extreme initial reaction and I still enjoy their wonderful and unique sounds.

It did make me think about the divide between the professional and personal lives of superstars of music, movies and sport, and from there to thinking about politicians, and regular everyday low profile people like you and me. Is it a question of integrity? Do those who entertain me, inspire me in some way, or even lead me in a political sense have to be perfect people? Of course not, there are no perfect people. This is a vexed issue which cannot be dealt with in a blog post.


What, you may ask, is the connection to my novel Ashmore Grief? The characters in the book all have personal and professional personas. Readers will know more about them than many of the other characters in the novel with whom they interact. Most of us have public personas which may or may not align with our personal lives. Do you?

Photo source
www.telegraph.co.uk

14 comments:

  1. Congratulations on finishing the A to Z, D.A.!

    I was surprised to see this post. I, too, am a huge Queen fan, and whenever I think of Zanzibar, I actually think of Freddie Mercury. So, this wan't a big leap for me. I think I'll skip the Jones biography and focus on the band's music. IMO, there are celebrities who allow their excesses to become their performance (Lindsey Lohan for example). But I think if a performer continues to give their all, we don't have the right to expect them to be perfect, nor if they choose to keep those excesses private do we have the right to probe.

    I am more cynical and skeptical in my personal life than in public—more's the pity. The best I can do is rationalize my natural angst and try to put a positive spin on it. Otherwise, what you see/read is what you get. I am not a good actress, and I'm a horrible liar, even when the situation calls for it.

    VR Barkowski

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    1. Good to hear from you again VR, and not just because you are another Queen fan.You've been a little quiet of late. Busy with other things? Thanks for popping in and taking the time to comment. Of course, I agree with you. :)

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  2. To live incongruently is a messy business. It makes for misery and confusion. We all do it to a degree. So much better to get private persona and public persona to unite into one. Congrats on reaching the finale. Maria, Delight Directed Living

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    1. Thanks Maria, Congrats to you too. Thanks for your contributions to Square Pegs. I agree on the messiness of double lives. It's a recipe for disaster and yet...

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  3. We all keep ourselves to ourselves. At least to a certain extent. We compare our rough drafts to others publications most days. The rough drafts are not really meant to be seen.

    (That made no sense. Sorry. I guess I'm a little done with this whole thing.)

    Liz A. from Laws of Gravity

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    1. No, no...I think I know where you are going. It's a pretty neat analogy actually. I do think of myself as a work in progress. You did well, Liz. Thanks for blogging with me.

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  4. Someone did their a-z on famous movie stars of the past. Some had scandalous lives, but it's their screen presence I relate to most. Just wouldn't have hung out with most of them. Same persona online as off?...I'm braver and more social online, but I value privacy. Some things are off limits.
    Nice to blog with you again in the a-z!
    Shells–Tales–Sails

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  5. Thanks Sharon. the feeling is mutual.

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  6. Congratulations! WE DID IT :) Thank you so much for your visits to my blog over April :) xx

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    1. We did Vicky, we did. Congrats and thanks to you too.

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  7. Congrats on surfing the A-Z! I think we are all a little different publicly than privately, but we seem to want stars to be the person we want them to be and we often don't want to hear who they really are.

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    1. The old double standard. Yes. Thanks for being a part of Square Pegs. I'll look forward to hearing about your Alaska trip. Congrats to you too on finishing the challenge.

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  8. Freddie Mecury's voice reaches depths within me. Iranians consider him half-Iranian, because of Parsi heritage. I'm curious about this biography and what you found appalling. He was self-destructive and excessive, of course. But beyond that?

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  9. His promiscuity and the way he treated people. I found it difficult to read because of how much I liked him as an artist. Anyway, aren't 'self destructive' and 'excessive' reasons enough to be appalled. Nice to to hear from you again GG. It's been great blogging with you. Thanks for contributing to Square pegs.

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