Van the Man

Van Morrison celebrated his 70th birthday today with two concerts on the street he immortalised in his songs--Cypress Avenue, which is about a 10 minute drive from our house. Tickets were $140 each and sold out immediately. People came from California, Australia, you name it, however most of the 3,000 attending were local.
My neighbour Marshall's son and daughter both went because they knew someone who lived at 2 Cypress Avenue.
Van does not generally give media interviews--he detests celebrity. However, the Irish Times published a lengthy interview with him done by its literary editor, Fintan O'Toole. It is extremely well done, an intimate look at the creative process.

I stayed in my little room writing all day. I was bummed about missing what was billed as the biggest music event in the history of Northern Ireland, however I'm two weeks away from my deadline and have to focus focus focus.
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