Sometimes you find what you are looking for and then find it isn't what you wanted at all. Philosophical thoughts strike at the strangest of times. Finding myself in the corporate retail splendour of The Apple Store with the sole intention of reacquainting myself with the band Sonny Marvello, the significance of the situation struck me.
A bit of background perhaps? Sonny Marvello are a band who have been about for a good while now and are, undeniably, classy purveyors of popular songs and tonight they played both well kent songs like "Pull Me Up" and new ones like the magnificently dubious "Charlie Sheen". The special thing about this band, though, is that they write proper songs. Songs that are not reliant on production trickery to make their impact. Time for the epiphany. It occurred to me that they were out of time, so to speak. They should be in a time when music was recorded to spinning reels of 2 inch tape before being pressed on to slabs of black vinyl. They would fit perfectly into that era.
Here I was surrounded by all the latest technology – it is an Apple Store after all – looking at miniaturised music carriers called iPod Nanos. All your favourite songs (by N-Dubz of course, as Sonny Marvello are too big to fit inside that little plastic box) stored on a device that you could easily hide should you find yourself suddenly on the way to prison. Want to record the decline and fall of civilisation to video in HD quality? No need for a camera. In fact, cameras are for squids. You can just use your shiny white iPad. How did John Alton or Vittorio Storaro ever manage to practise their craft without one?
So, while you reflect on the fact that the times they are a-changing, consider the case of the Garden of Eden. What caused the sudden foreclosure of that particular paradise? What did the snake offer Eve? I'll give you a clue. It wasn't a really nice pair of shoes.