1) Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones says he is finally growing up at age 71, influenced by having grandchildren who made him realize he has a "longer haul". 2) He credits his mother with influencing his love of music and cites artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong. 3) Richards chose songs by Hank Williams and Etta James for his Desert Island Discs playlist, praising their musical talents. 4) He spoke frankly about his relationship with Mick Jagger, saying they fight occasionally as brothers do but always for the right musical reasons.

1. SNVIEWPOINT SHEPPARTON NEWS, MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2015 11
Show bags
Champagne
& nibbles
Gold coin donation
to support the
Cancer Council
LADIES
NIGHTWednesday
28th
October
7-9pm
Chance to
WIN a BBQ!
Valued at
$
599*
*
Make any purchase on the night
for your prize draw entry. Winner
drawn on the night.
ShSh b
20%
OFFSTOREWIDE*
S O
*
Excludes gift cards
and products in
current catalogue.
MOOROOPNA
7 MILL ST
PH: 5825 4660
Supporting the Cancer Council
Bookings essential
SUPPLIER DEMONSTRATIONS:
COME AND CHAT
WITH OUR
SUPPLIERS
and
many more!
Guy Sebastian
Picture: AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson
It’s happy birthday today to
Australian singer-
songwriter Guy Sebastian
(1981-).
Guy Sebastian has outlived
the momentum of winning a
TV talent show to carve out a
successful career with his
urban-pop hits Battle Scars,
Tonight Again and Who’s That
Girl.
Guy Sebastian has achieved
much more than the average
TV talent show star.
Since winning Channel 10’s
Australian Idol in 2003, the
well-mannered Malaysian-
born artist has remained a
constant on the Australian
music scene.
Six singles and two albums
have topped the charts in
Australia, making him one of
the most successful home-
grown male artists.
This year, he broke even more
ground, by helping Australia to
fifth place in Eurovision with
his upbeat track Tonight Again.
It was a long way from the
Adelaide churches in which
the former choir boy cut his
teeth.
Sebastian’s family had settled
in the City of Churches when
he was 10, having moved from
Melbourne and, before that,
Malaysia.
At university, Sebastian quit
medical studies to further
pursue music, and signed up
for auditions on new singing
TV show, Australian Idol, in
2003.
Performing under pressure
proved no burden for the
21-year-old, while his skilled
voice and ‘‘afro’’ hairstyle won
more fans.
His inaugural single Angels
Brought Me Here broke sale
records and helped propel his
debut album Just as I Am to
No. 1.
Sebastian introduced an
American influence with later
albums focusing on soulful
sounds.
Throughout his career,
Sebastian has maintained a
commitment to charity,
including work with the Red
Cross.
In 2008, he married long-time
girlfriend Jules Egan, with
whom he has two sons.
Cleansing to keep kind mind
elaine.cooney
@sheppnews.com.au
ELAINEELAINE
COONEYCOONEY
Calming influence: Elaine Cooney has vowed to read two chapters of a Dalai Lama (pictured)
book daily for at least two weeks. Picture: AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia
I have written myself a
prescription to warm my
heart and calm my mind.
Two chapters, three times
a day, of a Dalai Lama book
— any of his books — for at
least two weeks.
Each chapter must be
taken with a cold glass of
water and a steaming cup of
chai.
Yes, that should cure the
mind that has gone into
full-scale Western mode
due to the nine-to-fiving
and indulging in first world
problems.
The extent of my Western
sickness became apparent
when I displayed quite a
passively violent act while
giggling with my bestie on
Skype.
I watched a line of ants
scurry dutifully from the
corner of my desk, turn
around by the side of my
laptop, jump over the head-
phones chord and I
proceeded to absent-
mindedly squish them.
Before I realised what I
was doing, the massacre
had already occurred.
I tried to overturn one
that was wiggling, but he
had been a bit squashed, so
thought it better to put him
out of his misery.
Now what was the point
of that horrible burst of
violence?
Okay, it may not seem
catastrophic in the scheme
of things, but it is absolutely
mindless, and so unkind.
These are the things we
need to pay attention to, for
kindness to filter into every
part of our lives.
My favourite story ever
told was by Tenzin himself
(the Dalai Lama) one misty
morning at his mountain-
side temple in McLeod
Ganj, India.
As I sat cross-legged with
my little radio and
earphones among a sea of
patchouli-wearing,
dreadlock-sporting West-
erners, I listened to the
English translation of the
great man’s speech.
Even though I had no clue
what he was saying in
Tibetan, his infectious
laugh made me beam while
I waited for the translation
of the joke.
So, the Dalai Lama was
on a flight and an air host-
ess killed a mosquito in
front of him and then loo-
ked at him in shock at what
she had done and proceed-
ed to apologise and explain
her actions.
Of course he laughed it
off and told her that some
days he could patiently
allow a mosquito to suck
his blood, other days he
would blow it away, but
some days he — making the
flicking action with his
thumb an index finger —
would simply flick it off.
I take some solace that
the Dalai Lama has prob-
ably become impatient and
possibly killed a bug before,
but at least he is mindful of
his actions — mine were
not.
From mindfulness,
comes compassion, kind-
ness and patience and
these are traits I hope to
regain from my two weeks
of treatment.
In India, I was a queen of
kindness, always helping
others — I even gave up my
sun umbrella and bottle of
water to someone less for-
tunate on my descent from
a mountaintop on a boiling
hot day, and ended up
dehydrated and sunburnt.
Now I am bogged down
by sounds of beeping traffic
and bad news on the radio
and the general mundane
trivial problems associated
with everyday life, that I am
not hearing the sound of
birds chirping or relishing
in the good news — and the
most appalling thing of all, I
am not going out of my way
to help people in a mean-
ingful way.
Along with my fortnightly
book-and-chai treatment, I
endeavour to inhale the
smell of coffee in the morn-
ing and spring air as I step
outside the door, to see the
beauty of the trees, pad-
docks and farm animals in
the morning sun as I drive
to work and strive to be
kind to every living creature
— even the ants.
Maybe I will bake them a
cupcake and leave it by
their nest — I do owe them
one.
● Elaine Cooney is a News
reporter.
I’m growing up, says Keith Richards
LONDON: The Rolling Stones’
Keith Richards says he’s finally
growing up, or evolving, at 71.
Richards told Radio 4’s Kirsty
Young on Desert Island Discs that
having grandchildren made him
realise he was ‘‘in for a longer haul’’.
Asked about his rock ‘n’ roll
image, Richards said: ‘‘That’s the
image and it’s like a ball and chain,
but, you know, I recognise it, and
I’m in that sort of jail, but at the
same time I do love the old Keith
and I love the way people cotton on
to him . . . a lot of that’s in the past.
‘‘I’m growing up, or rather, evolving.’’
He credits his mother Doris as
being the person who influenced
his music tastes.
‘‘Doris would know where there
was going to be a half-hour on of
good music played by certain DJs,’’
he said, reeling off the names of
great musicians they played, such as
Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and
Louis Armstrong.
Among the discs he chose were
Hank Williams’s You Win Again,
calling Hank ‘‘the father of modern
country music’’, adding: ‘‘I couldn’t
imaging living without a bit of
Hank.’’
He also chose Etta James’s Sugar
On The Floor, saying she was a great
friend of his, but also: ‘‘I’ve got to
have a soul diva in this list some-
where!’’.
Richards also spoke frankly about
his relationship with The Rolling
Stones’ front man Mick Jagger.
‘‘Mick and I have a great relation-
ship except when we don’t, which is
when everybody hears about it,’’ he
said.
‘‘With Mick, I’ve felt like it’s a
brother thing, and what brothers
don’t fight occasionally?
‘‘And we’re always fighting for the
right reasons; we just think that
our version is more right than the
other’s.’’
Formed in 1962, the band went on
to become one of the greatest rock
bands of all time.
Richards reckoned they are
still performing because ‘‘we still
think we’re getting better. We
could be fooling ourselves,
but from the response from the
audience and the way I’m feeling
and the way the boys are playing, is
this promise of more and I
mean . . . who is going to jump off
a moving bus?’’