What's in a name?

 

"Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon)..."

It is certainly a long name but, in these times when one strives to please the identity of others, I feel it is important to address Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon) by his full name.

Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon)'s name has grown over about the last fifteen or so years. From memory, it was about 2007 when he started blogging. He started off with a blog that went under the name of The Curmudgeon. For some reason, he thought that he needed different nom de plumes for different topics that he wanted to write about. Philosophy? "That will be the job of The Philosophical Curmudgeon." he thought. Laziness? Yes, that is covered by The Lazy Curmudgeon. I think you get the idea.

Along the way, Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon) decided to pinch a character from Richard's Bass Bag*. The New Different Time Zone Bill. With a little more thought he could have come up with The Time Travelling Curmudgeon, or something like that. You don't hear a lot, or get many posts, these days from quite a few of his 'characters'. For some reason, The Blue Man no longer appears on the list. This seems unfair when people like The Polemical Curmudgeon, Northland Musings and Right As Rain don't seem to be contributing much at all.

Maybe it is time for Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon) to thin down the list a bit. I'm sure that quite a few of his characters are now obsolete.

Ah well, I suppose he enjoys the length of his creation and, what with Robert writing huge posts about things like Transubstantiation (though that one got deleted), it gives Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon) a chance to match word numbers with him.

Everyone to their own, I suppose.

If it makes you happy, go for it Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon).

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

Transubstantiation.

 Now, there's a big word!

Peter (aka THE LITERARY CURMUDGEON, PETER'S GOLF BAG, THE WINE CURMUDGEON,THE CURMUDGEON EXPRESS, RIGHT AS RAIN, THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON, THE INCONSTANT CURMUDGEON, THE CULTURED CURMUDGEON, THE LAZY CURMUDGEON, THE MUSIC CURMUDGEON, THE FOOD CURMUDGEON, THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON, THE MUNDANE CURMUDGEON, THE CHURCH OF THE BLESSED CURMUDGEON, THE NOSTALGIC CURMUDGEON, THE CURMUDGEON'S - AGONY AUNT, THE ALUMINIUM FOIL CURMUDGEON, IRASCIBLE OLD BASTARD, THE NEW DIFFERENT TIME ZONE BILL, NORTHLAND MUSINGS, THE CURMUDGEON, THE CURMUDGEONLY LUDDITE, THE CURMUDGEONLY INVENTOR, THE HAPPY CURMUDGEON,THE POLEMICAL CURMUDGEON, THE PHILOSOPHICAL CURMUDGEON, DEACON TANIMATE and THE DARKER CURMUDGEON) challenged the blogger, now known as Rob, to convince him (them) that Transubstantiation is true.

For those of you who may not have heard of it, Transubstantiation is the process where bread and wine are turned into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Sounds logical enough. Anyway, on his blog, you'll find it under 'Robert' on our LINKS service, he wrote an explanation that is about a million words long.

I tried to read it all and got over halfway through it. I left a comment.

You've got to say, "Good on you Robert." for leaving such a 'detailed' reply to Peter (with all the other names that I won't repeat here). The trouble is that I tried very hard to read it all and I wasn't feeling that I was getting a distinct line of information, other than Transubstantiation is true and must be believed. Maybe I (and others) need a distinct summary that clearly sets out the main points?

 I did get the point that Tom Aquinas was/is the greatest of scholastic theologians. He said that the existence in the Eucharist of Christ's real body and blood "cannot be grasped by the experience of the senses. but only by the faith which has divine authority and its support."

The faith which has divine authority and its support.

Robert, can I take that as being the 'magic' ingredient?

I use the word magic because of the definition of the word faith. Maybe that was a bit naughty of me?

FAITH

noun
1. Complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

2. Strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.

Well, I'd better leave it there because it's Sunday and I'm off to mass.

No! Joking!

Ciao tutti.

Sabato

John 16:23b-28

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."

Okay, I copied this from Robert's blog.

1st thing: I suspect that John made a grammar mistake in line 4. It might have been better to say,

"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name."

2nd thing: Ask for anything? I don't believe that Jesus was thinking about the crazy things that some people might ask for. (I won't go into details - use your imagination.) Maybe Jesus should have added the phrase, "Within limits."

Jesus probably didn't have this in mind.

Or this.

Okay, Robert will argue that there were no giant beer cans on trucks or luxury yachts in biblical times, but you get the idea.

Fortunately, Robert goes on to give us a bit of an explanation.

Well, I guess that's that one cleared up.

* * *

Readers are probably expecting a post from Peter (aka The Curmudgeon) today. 

The last post was from The Religious Curmudgeon (same guy really) and that wasn't a bad thing after Peter's previous attempt.

Then we hear all about the courtesy car and how you drive it. Then we get a little bit about the weather up north. I suspect that Peter had been drinking when he wrote this post.

Ah well, that's me for this morning.

Ciao tutti.

It's not the end of the world.

I went along to our local cards club. They said you needed to bring your own cards. Earlier that day I had meant to pick some up but had forgotten. I searched all the cupboards and draws in our house as it was now time to go to the club. All I managed to find was some very small playing cards. I got to the cards club and sat down at one of the tables with three other people. The three of them looked at my cards.

One of them said, "Hey, they are very small cards."
I thought for a second and then I replied, "No big deal."

Friday.

Named after Friedrich Fri, a little known (these days) Presbyterian saint who used to fly around like a fly.

There's a story that some Catholics made a huge fly swat and used it on him.

It evidently took six Catholic men to lift up and swing the fly swat. The fly swat in now in the National Museum in Bonn.

Bonn. Germany.

It tells us, in the museum, that there was a song written about the event. Here it is, translated from German to English.

He was a peaceful man of the cloth,

Who used to sleep up in a loft.

He cooked his own pigeon pie and

Then he'd go for a fly.

Whether the weather was wet or dry

Didn't bother Friedrich Fri.

Whether the weather was wet or dry

Never bother Friedrich Fri.

One day, while using a pencil,

He saw an almighty utensil.

It was red and very large,

Six men were in charge, one called

"We've got you a pressie, flying Presby!"

They started to swing it around while

Poor old Friedrich started to get off the ground.

They started to swing it around while

Poor old Friedrich tried to get off the ground.

Friedrich nearly peed when saw it

Coming with such speed.

He tried to fly but cried,

Shortly afterwards he died.

He tried to fly, he really tried, but

Shortly afterwards he died.

There is a lot of evidence of this story being true and it was almost made into a film in the 1960s, but some Catholic called Joe got to be in the film instead. A lot of German Presbyterians don't trust Catholics to this very day. Who can blame them? 

Next time you're in Bonn, have a look in the National Museum.

Bis bald. Genieße deinen Tag.

Jesus, "Talk in English so that Peter and Robert can understand."

 

Joseph, "Okay, what's on your mind son?"

Jesus, "Well, you're not really my father because God did the bonking."

Joseph, "Yeah, I know. I didn't even have time to get it out. Still, we look like a happy family in this picture."

Jesus, "So, do you believe that I'm the son of God?"

Joseph, "Well, actually, I believe in Nothing."

Jesus, "What? What do you mean?"

Joseph, "Well, there is a very old saying about Nothing. It's a very powerful concept. There is a phrase that people have used forever. A phrase about Nothing."

Jesus, "Really foster dad? Is it more important than me and my real dad?"

Joseph, "Well, yes, actually. It simply says that Nothing is forever."

Jesus, "Holy Hell! Oops, please pardon the expression."

Joseph, "That's okay, foster son. Just tell your real dad to get off his high horse. Remember, Nothing is forever."

Jesus, "Holy shit!"

Gesù, "Babino, m'avete chiamato?"

 

Guiseppe, "No caro, ho colpito un dito del piede."

Gesù, "Perbacco!"

Guiseppe, "È una rottura di culo."

I woke up to dropping comments.

 6 comments in the last three posts. Two of those posts with no comments. I assume that no one even listened to my recording of 'The Immigrants' on my second to last post. Ah well, maybe music just has no interest around here.

Woke: used in a lot in old blues songs - "I woke up this morning to the sound of a train. I said...(repeat first line)"* "My alarm clock was working but I couldn't hear it for the rain."*

Taumarunui (on the main trunk line)

These days I think it's supposed to mean that you're a leftie, which I am. I guess that's why I woke up this morning. I'll look the term up, just in case I got it wrong.

It's funny how I still remember all the words to The Taumarunui Blues. One verse went, 

"Well, Taumarunui ain't a one horse town, I said

Taumarunui ain't a one horse town.

Them horses got more sense,

Ain't a single horse for fifty miles around."*

Here's one definition I found of 'woke', though I think it probably also has other connotations...

"Alert to injustice and discrimination in society, especially racism."

I wonder if it also covers people who use big words? I can't really imagine Tent Horn being considered 'woke'.

Are Robert and/or Peter woke? Well, they can leave a comment here to inform us.

I'm off to have something done to my left eye. I guess that, if the procedure goes badly, I can always become a pirate.

Hey! Wrong eye!

Ciao tutti.

* Richard (of RBB)'s 1970s blues - The Taumarunui Blues.

Did he stay or did he go?

 The greater RBB family started a chat site that looked promising, but I pulled out this morning.

Why?

Because Robert started posting at 6.30am and my phone kept going B D# B A# F# - that's what android phones do when you get a message.

Okay, I'm not the world's best whistler.

I decided that sleeping was more important than belonging to the chat room.

Peter has disappeared.

This is the past post that he wrote...

...and he hasn't left any comments on other blogs.

Maybe he has moved to his sister's batch where there is no reception for blogging? He doesn't want to dirty the house before Lynn gets home.

And, talking about chickens, Robert is frequenting another church (it might be Presbyterian) because two old guys have been bothering him.

guy 1                         guy 2

I went for an eye exam this morning. I've got to go back on Thursday to get one checked for something called 'dilation'. While I was waiting, I noticed this sign.

Whatever they were giving away had been very popular.

I guess I'll never know what advice was given.

It is very unusual for Peter not to comment or post. Less unusual for Robert.

Let's see what eventuates.

The Testore Trio and a tap for Peter.

 

For Peter.

And now, the video...

Notice the reference to The Wheels on the Bus at the end.

The Immigrants - tap on the name.

Metro Gnome vs Metronome.

 Poor old TC got himself a bit confused on my last post. He left a comment that seemed to get his old mind trapped into a certain line of thought.

He was referring to this video.

The guitarist and the bassist are tapping their feet (one foot each), but the violinist (me) is not.

Now it pays to be careful when talking to old people, so let me make it clear that we are not talking about one of these.

What he is referring to is two musicians in the video moving a foot up and down. I told him that my time keeping was internal and he got upset. You can read his other comments on my last post.

Okay, I'll try to explain something to the old chap (he's quite a bit older than me).

This is a metronome.

TC, please don't confuse it with a gnome who lives in the city - a metro gnome.

"I'll meet you down at Joe's cafe."

Musicians, well serious musicians, practise playing good time by playing along with a metronome. After a while they internalize different time feels and moving one's foot becomes optional.

TC might be better to research topics like this, rather than fighting with other men at tennis.

Mike, who gets his rackets muddled up.

Roger, who has a different taste in music.

I hope that helps TC. Probably a good idea to go easy on the Cleanskins too. Keep it to two glasses when you are posting.

Ciao.

At Tawa Library.

 Here are a couple of short clips...

My intro to 'The Immigrants'.

And a short bit of Sweet Georgia Brown.

Here are some photos...

Daryl

George

The Testore Trio in action...

Today's Gig.

 

Tawa Library 11am.

It's quite a long gig - we play for half an hour. (I was joking about it being a long gig.) We'll be playing some jazz standards with violin, guitar and six string electric bass. I'm thinking of throwing in 'The Wheels on the Bus' and sort of blending into 'Billie's Bounce'. If my grandson is there, he'll enjoy that one. I'm on the left in the photo. The other two people are George (centre) and Daryl (on the right). We all have the same surname.*

I'll put on some nice tidy clothes for the gig. Please note, Peter, that shorts and a t-shirt wouldn't really be appropriate. 

I also won't be wearing fake hair.

This wouldn't be appropriate either.

No siree, it'll be tidy, sensible clothing today.

Thanks for reading.

* I don't mean 'of Richard's Bass Bag'.

I tracked down Roger's blog! Here's his latest post. I thought you'd all be interested. Remember that there can be two sides to a story.

Hey, there are hairdressers
around here. Why not use one of them?

That idiot Peter turned up to tennis again today (I wasn't there on Tuesday).
He seemed in a snot and ignored me.

He seemed to spend his time watching me. I smiled to myself the way that my 'friend' Paul does.

What is it with people and things whose names start with a 'P'? Peter, Penis, Puke, Paul.

I got out of my ute and could feel his eyes on me, so I played some music from my car. It was easy to sense him feeling superior, like he listens to Haydn, a guy who sounded like all the other composers of his time and used pretty conventional harmonies.

I didn't argue with him - I just ignored him.
After tennis some of us went to the local cafe. Peter didn't come. He probably went home to listen to superior music like Abba or Webern. One of the tennis members made some comments that weren't well thought out. She said that it was hard to play up high on the violin. Then she was rude about Taylor Swift. I had her on about both statements, but she wasn't a listener, so I went out to my ute and turned the music volume up, just to piss her off. I bet she went home and got on the phone to Peter.

I bet Peter will have written a blog post about this. I don't know why, but I keep wanting to call him Wayne.

What rate should Tent Horn be paid if he takes up cleaning?

 

Well, we know he'd do a quick job. Babble, babble, you can't get a word in, babble.

What sort of music would he ask the man of the house to put on?

Maybe that music that Roger plays?

Roger

Before Peter chirps in, let's be fair to Roger - he has never had an abortion, and I bet he has never played Gregorian Chant. Talk about complicated music - Gregorian Chant doesn't have any chords and usually only uses the notes from one mode, often the Dorian mode.

While we're on the topic of Gregorian Chant, I played a jazz gig on Wednesday evening at the Realm in Hataitai - this gig, that features different jazz musicians, has been running for 19 years.

The gig went really well.

The three other guys in the band have Maori heritage and we played some Maori tunes that Poropiti (the sax player in the above picture) had written. These went down very well with the audience.

I played a violin feature.

That seemed to go down well too. There wasn't a big crowd, but they seemed enthusiastic.

Outside it was pissing down and I had to lug my gear quite a way as car parks were scarce. I didn't come across any cleaners, so I couldn't ask them what they were getting paid. No one was playing music from their car either. I surmised that Roger was not in the area. Admittedly I didn't check the Hataitai tennis courts.

I don't know what freelance cleaners charge in Nuova Lazio. Robert might know. 

Time for a change!

 I see that Rob took Peter's advice and returned to a long, silly name.

Was Peter's advice good advice? I don't really think so.

I had a change yesterday, something I haven't done for about 35 years. 

Can you guess what I did?

Is it to do with music? Was it something to do with work? Did I give up drinking Cleanskins? Did I start growing a moustache? Am I now wearing shorts and a t-shirt everywhere, just like Peter? Have I changed Richard's Bass Bag* to something silly like 'Richard the bassist and violinist and occasional trumpet player who sometimes, through necessity, has to clean the toilet at home and always does the vacuuming'?

Have a think. I'll ramble on for a while to give you some breathing time.

I have an important gig on Wednesday. It's a jazz gig in Wellington. I'll be playing double bass and maybe a couple of violin numbers.

We have a late practice in Wellington tonight, so the pressure is on. The traffic into Wellington, around 5pm and 6pm, is very bad at the moment, so I'll have to allow about 1 1/2 hours to get to where I need to be. 

Okay, okay, I hear you. You're waiting impatiently to hear about my change.

Here goes...

I changed a nappy yesterday and, yes, it was poo.

My son and his wife picked up some food poisoning and were not well, so Shelley and I spent most of the day looking after our grandson Harrison. It stood to reason that, sometime, in the 7 hours we were 'in charge', he'd likely 'use the bathroom'.** Sure enough he did. Shelley held him down a bit and used a toy to distract him from endeavouring to get his hands in on the action. I went to work. Like a lot of things in life, the process came back to me quickly. Harrison seemed happy with the result.

Mission accomplished!

I've got to admit that it was fun spending so much time with him. It's amazing watching his development and his interaction with us. 

Let's hope that his parents have a speedy recovery, but I'm standing by today - just in case.

Another nappy change? Ah, all in a day's work!

* the original bass bagging site

** in this case the bathroom would be a nappy

More Eh, aye!

 Eh, aye! photos are free!

Here is Jesus with Richard Dawkins.

Eh, aye!

 That sounds like something a Scotsman might say.

"Eh, aye!"

This same man was asked, "What's worn under the kilt?" He replied, "Nothing, it's all in perfect working order."

Everyone seems to be talking about Eh, aye! lately. Are people all going Scottish? I know I am - I found out recently that I'm a quarter Scottish.

On Rob's blog, that doesn't really seem to make sense anymore and comments are getting deleted, one post is titled, "Microsoft cop it a lot, a look at Eh,aye!" (Okay, there are a few spelling mistakes in his title that I corrected.)

I don't know which Scotsmen Rob has been
talking to, but that doesn't look like Richard Dawkins!

That looks more like a Scotsman, and why is Jesus still wearing his crown of thorns? That happened years ago! Get over it Jesus!

With pictures like this it's fair enough that Microsoft is coping it a lot.

Stop Press.

 Peter (aka The Curmudgeon, The Happy Curmudgeon, etc.) has a new guy he is fighting with at tennis. So long Mike and, as they say, welcome Roger.

Roger comes to tennis, listens to crazy music, and then drinks beer. Peter prefers vino over Roger's last choice.

Please let me make it clear - Roger and Peter are not good friends.

"I went to tennis this morning but left early after an altercation with an idiot who occasionally turns up (not Mike). This guy Roger is a bit bi-polar I think. He sits in his car for half an hour before coming in, blasting awful music out in a peaceful bay setting. When he came in to the tennis courts he was drinking from a quart bottle of beer. A couple of members remonstrated but he ignored them so I gave him a couple of barrels (not beer kegs).We had a slanging match where I told him how inappropriate he was being. Unfortunately the two tennis club committee leaders there wimped out and wouldn't support me so I, like Robert with his rugby ball back in the Botanical Gardens in the 1960s, took my tennis racket and went home. Sheesh!" said Peter.

Tennis, up near the Whangarei Heads, sounds like a very volatile game! I doubt that they thank God after each match.

At least, when he's at tennis, he is not falling down banks while looking for golf balls. For an old guy like Peter it does sound like a safer option.

Wafers for lunch after tennis. 

My post, but not really the last one.

 

I'm in there somewhere.

Oh, there I am.

There were an awful lot of people there, but out of shot.

I did my best job this year, thanks to some thoughtful practice.

As usual, they praised God near the end of the ceremony, and for many things. I just thought of Zeus.

Don't forget that he swallowed one of his wives whole. A very clever god was Zeus.

I hope god (whoever he is) does something to stop wars soon.

When I got home, I played a special Last Post for Shelley's dad. 

'Schoie'. Captain Scholefield - My son
bears his name and I'm proud of that.

Last Post.

 No, this won't be the last time I am posting. The title refers to the fact that I have already played The Last Post twice this morning.

That's not me, but I played the same tune.

One more to go - the big one, where people march past and a guy goes on and on about God.

"Thank God for all the wars."

I don't know why God gets a mention. See how I used a capital G. That shows I'm talking about the 'real' god and probably not Zeus. 

This year my practice paid off. Two performances and I didn't crack any notes! I did a lot of work on pitching and breathing. I think I'll keep practising the trumpet throughout the year. It's kind of fun.

* * *

Hey, I got a comment from 'Rob' on my last post! He told me that 'transgender' is a big word and that Tent Horn isn't a fan of it.

"RBB used a big word 'transgender', so I looked it up: 'A person whose gender identity is different from what they were assigned at birth'.
Evidently some children in the USA are believing that they are trans-species, and that they are really cats and dogs! (Tent Horn podcast)." said Rob in his comment.

I took the liberty of adding a couple of spaces to Rob's comment. Proofreading IS important. Oh, and I corrected the spelling on Tent's name.

I actually have two close relatives who are transgender. Two people who I love very much. It seems to me that they are being what they need to be. One of them is in her late fifties, no kid. Tent can go suck his own horn for all I care. I had a boss who was transgender, and I can tell you that he is much happier as a man. 

* * *

It's now 7.12am and my two female flat mates are asleep, so music practice is not possible. I guess I'll just write on. Peter won't be up yet.

Peter in bed.

Peter's last post was written under the name of The Happy Curmudgeon.

However, he starts writing, "Hello readers.
I thought that a post from the Happy Curmudgeon is in order after that rather dire one from The Darker Curmudgeon yesterday.
I'm happy today - how are you all going?"

Is that The Curmudgeon or The Curmudgeon talking? I honestly don't know.

Anyway, then he (whoever he is) gets onto food.

"It's a smoked salmon and cream cheese pizza with red onion, capers and Feta. I'll further experiment tonight but think I've got the recipe right. I promised to make it for The Old Girl when she gets home in a few weeks time."

Is The Happy Curmudgeon in a relationship with 'The Old Girl' too? Well, the bad grammar (a few weeks time - should be 'a few weeks' time') suggests that The Curmudgeon (aka Peter) is still writing.

Anyway, it is probably the most boring post you could read. Maybe The Happy Curmudgeon is happy for his boss to take the 'credit' for this one? 

* * *

Well, that's just about it from me. 

Though I still have time to fill in.

Maybe I'll read a bit of Italian.

Ciao tutti.