Tomorrow morning's post.

 (PLEASE DON'T READ UNTIL SATURDAY 5th. JULY, AM!)

Good morning - another wet, cold one. 4 degrees here.

Thank Zeus for my heater!

"No probs, Richard of Richard's Bass Bag."*

The ABs play this evening, and I intend to watch it. It'll be a very interesting match. I've heard that the French have turned up with a bit of a second rate side. That's their problem.

As I said, I set up The Curmudgeon to cover my morning post but, as I should have suspected, he fucked up and posted it on Friday. Hey, they're not on a different time zone up in the Rei.
He went to a restaurant last week and the waiter asked him two questions in quick succession.

"Have I given you enough food on this plate? What's your IQ level?"

The Curmudgeon answered both questions with one word, "Moron."

My backing music gig went pretty well last night. It was nice not to have to drive home in the rain and cold. 

Still no news from Robert, though I did hear that he's posting his religious nonsense on Facebook. You can't see it, unless you're one of his three friends - that's really getting the word out there!

Well, that's just about it from me this morning.

Hey, please be nice to The Curmudgeon as he's getting old - he turns 73 next month.

Bloody hell! No wonder his proofreading isn't up to scratch.

Enjoy your Saturday and don't miss the ABs!

Ciao tutti.


* the original bass bagging site

Should I take over Rob's biblical messages, now that he has buggered off?

Luke 1:5,6,7 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

Luke 1:8 Zechariah prayed to the Lord. He asked for a son. For the first time in our words of teaching God swore. "Sheesh!" he said, "What the shit! You're both too old!" The priests of Abijah tried to justify the Lord's words, but none of them could work out the word 'Sheesh!'. "Did he mean to mention sheep?" some of them wondered. "Did he also mean to say, "What a hit!"? The priests of Abijah decided to blame it on translation. 

Luke 1:9 Elizabeth prayed to the Lord and asked for a virgin birth, but the Lord said that was just not possible. 

"It wasn't me who swore!"

So, I'm off to play Irish music and Jazz tonight on my violin (with backing tracks). We're staying the night, so there won't be a post in the morning. Maybe Peter could write one? He could just write one of those short ones, with a video and a picture. That wouldn't take him long. He'd only need to write a few words. Hey, here's an example he could just copy, if he'd like.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

THE CURMUDGEON

IT'S UP TO ME THIS MORNING

So, Richard is off on a sleepover. Inconsiderate of him really because he normally writes a bolg in the morning. Yes, I know, we'd be better off without his Wainuiomata attempts at humour. 

[Video of a song about making people laugh by a 70s rock band]

Well, locally I am writing this blog to myself, now that Bob has disappeared again. Fortunately, I have many overseas readers.

[A map showing many countries and the numbers, in thousands, that follow TC's blog]

Well, that should cvoer my obligations. I don't want to show him up too much, poor old 3G guy!

COMMENTS

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

I put in two typos to make it realistic. Thanks, TC, for filling in for me.

Ciao tutti.

There are some underpants that men used to pull right up.

That was before the low slung pants of the 1990s and onwards.

Listen to these chords and see if you can pick the tune.

One famous pair of men's underpants, in the old days, was called 'Over The Rainbow'.

Try singing these two lines to the first four bars of the chords.

"Some wear Over The Rainbow, 

Way up high."

How did you go?

Leave a comment, if you like.

Ciao tutti.

The 'Kumara Is Gone' was really into writing out lyrics to songs last night.

On a post, that started out interestingly, he wrote the complete lyrics to a song. He also left this comment on my last post.

"There you go, you can do the rest." Thanks, The Kumera Is Gone, but I'd rather write this one...

The Curmudgeon forgot to buy his veges,

Now the kumara is gone.

For songs he likes to write away,

After too much Chardonnay.

He should really keep a clear head,

Like he does when he washes his chin.

Wasting money on fancy wine.

He'd be better off with Cleanskin.

* * *

There you go, TC. Now you can sort out the chords. Probably best not to use the bagpipes to do that.

I've been asked to play double bass in a folk band. I thought it might be a challenge to practise listening for chords and to supply some interesting rhythms to the band - I listened to a couple of their tunes. I'm playing Neil Diamond music Jazz and a fair bit of Irish music tomorrow night. Solo violin with backing tracks. I'm trying to practise violin and double bass for an hour each, each day. 

No news from 'Bob's boring bantering'.

At times he has told both Peter and I that he loves us. Now he doesn't want to have anything to do with us. Is that how old friendships work when you're a Catholic? God only knows!

Ah well, that's me for today.

Ciao tutti.

I'm a pearly.

 

Oops, sorry, I meant to say, "I'm up early."

I got up at 6am because my feet were cold. Hey, it's nice sitting by the new heater.

Not quite this grand, but you get the idea.

I've been asked to play at a mid-winter dinner on Friday. The guy who once put on Neil Diamond when I was taking a quick break will be there, so I'll have to be careful with the jazz selection. I've pulled out my Irish music charts and started practising them yesterday - my old mate Aidan is Irish, so this will get him on my side. I was playing a well known old tune when Shelley passed through the room. I asked her, "What type of music is this?" She replied, "French?"

I guess she's just preparing me for some of the silly comments I might get on Friday. 

Robert's posts have all gone again. I think he is putting all his religious stuff on Facebook now. He evidently has three readers there. Actually, I know the three people and I know they're not really into religion. Maybe he can convert them?

I guess it's up to me to write about religion here now.

Here's a picture of Adam and Eve with their belly buttons to get you started.

Humans and their ancestors have been walking the planet for about 6 million years. Homo sapiens, who are the modern form of humans, evolved 300,000 years ago from Homo erectus. Human civilizations started forming around 6,000 years ago. So, the Christian god must have plucked Eve from Adam around 300,000 years ago. God left human civilizations alone for about 4,000 years before he made himself known. Weird. Think about it. Those early civilizations worshiped things. The list of gods in ancient Greece runs into the thousands. Here are a few you might have heard of - Apollo, Areas, Dionysus, Hades, Hephaestus, Hermes, Poseidon, and Zeus. 

Ancient Egyptian gods are recorded on tombs and manuscripts beginning in the Old Kingdom of about 2600 B.C.E. and lasting until the Romans conquered Egypt in 33 B.C.E. Here are some of them - Anubis, Bastet, Bes, Geb, Hathor, Horus, Neith, Isis, Nephthys, Nut, Osiris, Ra, Set, Shu, and Tefnut. For anyone who is not sure, B.C.E. stands for Before Common Era and is now often used in place of BC (Before Christ).

Okay, okay, I can hear Peter asking, "What about your double bass playing?"

Well, I practised 'il mio contrabbasso' for an hour yesterday. I've been asked to play in a folk band. Beggars can't be choosers, so I said, "Yes." The first job is to harden up my fingertips. They're probably a bit soft at the moment through lack of practice. Here I am in the early stages of warming up.

Firstly, pizz.

I'd better do some arco too.

Before Peter makes any 'pizz.' jokes, this is short for 'pizzicato' - to pluck with the fingers. 'Arco' means to use the bow.

I mean, Peter would have left a comment saying something like, "Where are you? Have you gone for a pizz.?"

Well, to be fair, he is practising jokes he can use when he comes to the Nui.

That's it from me.

Ciao tutti.

Gesundheit!

 I heard this quite a lot when I was young. I think my mum might have said it when someone sneezed. 

Gesundheit!

Please let me assure you that it has nothing to do with these.

But how can we be sure that my mum wouldn't have said it if she entered the room where Peter was doing this?

"Gesundheit!" said Gloria.

Well, my mother's grandfather was German.

auf Wiedersehen für jetzt.

Gig done.

 

                     Home again now,

                    My regrets are none.

                    Posting again,

                    Gig done.

The play at the open mic seemed to go very well. I got very enthusiastic applause. I was the only violinist there. Everyone else was a singer with a guitar. The lady running the show offered me a double bass gig. I took the opportunity and said, "Yes."

Driving home to the Nui, this morning, I remembered this song I wrote in the 1970s.

Dickery dickery dobits,

I'm the man from Murray Roberts.

I'll deliver your grog,

You can drink like a hog,

Dickery dickery dobits,

I'm the man from Murray Roberts.

[slower pace] Man from Murray Roberts.

* * *

I used to sing this when I was out doing deliveries.

Hey, like Robert, I've got to go. Don't worry, I won't delete my posts.

Ciao tutti.