Dinner with Joe

Joe mostly lives in Canberra so opportunities for us to get together for a chat are few.  Last night, however,  I shouted him a dinner at my usual Greek restaurant, including beer.  I think it is the first time I have had a beer with my son so that is a bit of a landmark.

He arrived at my place about 5:30 pm so before we left I took the opportunity to play him my latest audio discovery:  An immaculate performance of Beethoven's piano concerto no. 5 with Emil Gilels as soloist.  It reduced me to tears (of joy) when first I heard it.



Fortunately, Joe likes classical music too.  Here is another audio treasure I must also play him some time soon.  An amazing performance of Bedrich Smetana's "Vltava" by two Japanese ladies.



Amazing what you can do with a Steinway.  Joe is himself a pianist so he may have a particular appreciation of both above works.

Anyway, Joe told me a lot about his life in Canberra over dinner, which  I was interested to hear.  I offered various words of advice at different stages but, as usual, he had already arrived at similar conclusions by himself.  He and I are quite different in personality and appearance but the mental similarities are considerable.

After dinner we went back to my place and had a cup of tea with some Smetana selections playing in the background.  Joe asked me quite a bit about my recollections of times past and there were a few laughs in that!  I myself find it rather amazing that I wore platform heels in the 70s!