Crystal Head Vodka, Father's Day and Death

This has been one very weird year for me and a real emotional roller-coaster ride, which is far from over I sense.

The Storm coaster broke down just
days before the Sharks beat the Storm:-)

Sea World's Storm roller-coaster stalls, prompting mid-ride evacuation

The team I have been following since I was 14
won their first grand final trophy this year

My father passed away on the 13th of September this year

The Sharks made it to the grand final on my birthday
(Sept 23) and I was there to see it

My Happiest Birthday Ever
To sum up my feelings of the year is best to quote Charles Dickens famous novel, 'The Tale of Two Cities' (a novel I have never read BTW), "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
Father's Day in Australia fell on September 4th this year and I saw that my local bottle shop was promoting bottles of spirits as gifts for Father's Day.
I noticed that there was a bottle of Crystal Head Vodka with a 'Rolling Stones' 50th year celebration CD inside.

I always wanted one of those Crystal Head Vodka bottles to place on my bookshelf, as the real crystal skulls have always fascinated me.

My Crystal Head Vodka bottle

The crystal skull at the British Museum

I was also always fascinated by Jen Palmer's talk about the 'Rolling Stones' logo and synchronicity and I've always liked the 'Rolling Stones' song, 'You Can't Always Get What You Want ... But You Get What You Need' used on the soundtrack of 'The Big Chill' ... not to mention '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'.

And since my own father didn't drink, I decided to buy the vodka for my own Father's Day present ... or birthday present (September 23rd) ... or for both. 

I'd also seen the re-boot of 'Ghostbusters' earlier this year and noticed how Dan Aykroyd had a cameo as a taxi driver in the new 'Ghostbusters' movie.

My own father was a taxi driver for most of his life and Dan Aykroyd is also one of the guys who started Crystal Head Vodka.

"Dan Aykroyd considers himself a Spiritualist, stating that: 
I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge. 
Mediums and psychic research have gone on for many, many years.... Loads of people have seen spirits, heard a voice or felt the cold temperature. 
I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimension, and that they visit us frequently. 
His great-grandfather, a dentist, was a mystic who corresponded with author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the subject of Spiritualism, and who was a member of the Lily Dale Society."

Other than Spiritualism, Aykroyd is also interested in various other aspects of the paranormal, particularly UFOlogy. 
He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network. Along these lines, he served, from 1996 to 2000, as "host" of Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, which claimed to describe cases drawn from the archives of "The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research." 

In 2005, Aykroyd produced the DVD Dan Aykroyd: Unplugged on UFOs."

"On September 29, 2009, Peter Aykroyd Sr., Dan's father, published a book entitled A History of Ghosts. This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist Movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers."

I started drinking the Crystal Head Vodka on Father's Day, while listening to the bonus Stones CD that came with it, while wondering if my football team was going to have any luck come their way before their 50th year.

My view of the celebrations on Grand Final night 2016

The trophy that has alluded my club all of my life, until now.

Sometimes you can get what you want it seems

I had planned to finish the vodka on my birthday (Sept 23rd) but ended up finishing it the night my father unexpectantly died in his sleep (Sept 13th).

"You Can't Always Get What You Want"
on your birthday?-)

You can't always get what you want in this life it seems ... but maybe you get what you need?
Stop the Clocks? Signs?
Life ... and death ... is strange.

Cheers.