What happened?

So it comes down to Winston.

There are still special votes to be counted.

It seems that 2,169,802 people voted.
National got 998,813 party votes, Labour got

776,556, NZ First got 162,988 and the Greens got 126,995. It seems that a lot of people didn't vote - our population was 4,818,981 this morning. A guess babies and children can't vote. Personally the saddest thing is that the RBB electorate has gone to National. The only good thing is that the Greens are still there.

Election Day.

We've received a lot of mail this week at Richard's Bass Bag.*

People are asking us about the NZ political elections. They're asking about the parties and how they should vote.

Okay, let's see if we can clear the fog.

To understand political parties you need to understand bass bows.

The German and the French bow basically do the same job but they bow have subtle differences. The German can produce more power but the French is a quick string crosser who can produce a sweet tone. A coalition between these two bows would be a good idea, but not many bassists use both bows. These two bows could be compared to the Labour Party and the Greens. The French bow, while maybe not being as loud, would bring up environmental issues. The German bow would be concerned more with housing.

I hope that clears politics up for you.

So it's Saturday!

I have some charts (music) to check out today because next weekend it's off to Rotorua for Shelley and I. (and La Gloria and my guitar Jim Dandy) The Rotorua Jazz Club evidently likes happy music and singers. Jazz clubs these days seem to attract an older audience that is not necessarily that keen on jazz. Funny that.

We've got a few people in the band who will sing and hopefully we'll all be happy. My contribution is to sing Autumn Leaves. I've sung this tune quite a bit. I'm thinking of starting it off with bowed bass (French bow) and a bit of Mongolian throat singing. Why? Well, if nothing else, it will take them by surprise. I think it's good to surprise them. Almost as good as being happy. 

"Those autumn leaves drift past my window..."

* the original bass bagging site

No news on the bass yet.

I thought I'd have heard by now.

You can't rush  a  luthier (especially an older one) or annoy him with constant phone calls.
So my much loved double bass spends another night in Upper Hutt.

Upper Hutt.

Rotorua jazz gig 2 weeks away.

Un sonaglio.

My bass has had a rattle.

Not one of these.

A rattle in a bass can be very annoying and hard to track down because there is a lot of wood and a lot of joins.
I took La Gloria to un liutaio on Friday. He was very good at his job and found the problem.

Not this sort of problem - this is a maths problem.

He said it wouldn't be hard to fix and should take a couple of days. I was hoping it would be done by today, but no phone call yet.
I have a practice for the Rotorua jazz gig this afternoon and will have to borrow a bass guitar, unless I get a ring this morning.
Now you all know that, as a relief teacher, I don't look forward to early morning phone calls.

Today is different. 

Anyway, schools don't ring on Sunday mornings and I'm already booked up for every day this week.

Time will tell.

Let there be bass bags!

Exciting new posts on RBB2 & RBB3. Gosh, you readers are so very lucky to have four bass bagging sites running at full steam.

Richard's Bass Bag*

Bin's Bass Bag

Richard's Bass Bag 2

Richard's Bass Bag 3

* the original bass bagging site

Time for a party (vote).

I think I'm going to give my party vote to the Greens.

I'll still be voting for our local Labour candidate, but we can't afford to lose the Greens.

I plan to vote today.

Friday morning at Richard's Bass Bag.*

I know, I know, many of you will be agasp and saying, "Shouldn't it be Saturday morning at...?"

Well, today feels like Saturday because I won't be going to work.

"Why aren't you relief teaching today, Richard (of RBB)?"

I'm not relief teaching because I have to take La Gloria to the doctor; well the string instrument doctor actually - the luthier.

She has had a bad rattle this week and, although she seems to be feeling better, I thought I'd get it checked out. We have an important gig together on the first of October in Rotorua and I want her to be well for that.

BLOGGING COMMUNITY ON A HIGH!

Welcome back Bin Hire

and Angry Jesus.

Having you two dynamic bloggers back in action has certainly reignited enthusiasm in our blogging community. There is also refurbishing going on at RBB2 & RBB3 and these two sites should be back in action over the next few days so please use our LINKS service to keep an eye on them.

* the original bass bagging site