So, what's going on?

Someone forged four comments, pretending they were from Angry Jesus, Bin Hire, Phillip Edward Nis and The The The Guy. Unfortunately, I seem to have deleted the Angry Jesus impersonation by mistake, but here are the other three.

Okay, there are a few obvious 'give aways' here. Look at the name for 'The The the guy' - that's sloppy! Phillip Edward Nis is actually a friend of the guy (Rick Tim Bagno) that he is supposed to be running down. Bin always signs his comments as 'Bin Hire'. As for angry Jesus, he always tells me when he is going to leave a comment.

So, who did this?

Rick Tim Bagno is a new guy around here and, even though he is keen on becoming a Catholic, he is very welcome. 

He is a plumber by trade and lives in Auckland. He has turned up around here at a time when comments have been pretty quiet, and he has shown a lot of enthusiasm to get involved. I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually sets up a blog of his own. 

It's also good having Phillip, Bin and The The The Guy around to keep our blogging community active and feeling alive. Let's treat them with respect! Geon, as Rick likes to call The Curmudgeon, should be grateful that he's getting comments.

Ciao tutti.

It's not 5am yet. At Richard's Bass Bag* we don't muck around when a post is required.

Here we are again,

Happy as can be.

All good friends and

Jolly good company.

Listen HERE.

Well, it's Thursday and I'm up and showered before 5am and all so that I can write a post for you before I do my Atomic Habits and then go to look after my two year old grandson.

No thanks necessary.

So, what's the latest around the blogs?

Robert = nothing.

Peter = sorting out his spectacles.

Alex Perry was evidently responsible
for these ones.

Well, the old chap looks happy. That's good.

There's a new chap named Rick Tim Bagno hanging around and reading the blogs. He is evidently keen to become a Catholic. Well, I guess we need a few new faces around here, especially with Robert not around to uphold the faith. "Have fun boys, but don't sin." Yeah, right!

I thought that I should get to know our new almost Catholic reader, so I had a personal chat with him on Messenger. He said that he was happy for me to share it here.

Richard (of RBB): Hi Rick and welcome to our little blogging world.

Rick Tim Bagno: Hi Richard and thanks for the warm welcome.

Richard (of RBB): That's an interesting surname that you have. It's Italian, isn't it?

Rick Tim Bagno: Yes, my father is an Italian, though I was born in this country. 

Richard (of RBB): Bagno is bathroom in Italian.

Rick Tim Bagno: Yes. I know you speak some Italian. Evidently his original cognome was Bagnogetti but his friends started calling him Bagno as a joke and the name stuck. Some people say that my Christian name and middle name sound a bit like rectum, but this was not planned. It's just like how some people might call you Richshit.

Richard (of RBB): Yes, I understand. So, what part of Italy is your dad from?

Rick Tim Bagno: Altamura. It's a town in the south.

Richard (of RBB): I've been there! I have a friend who lives there. It's a nice place. I'd like to go back sometime to see my friend. Is your mother a Kiwi?

Rick Tim Bagno: Yes, they met in Altamura when she was on her O.E. He came to New Zealand to visit her, and the rest is history, as they say.

Richard (of RBB): So, why are you interested in becoming a Catholic?

Rick Tim Bagno: Dad was brought up a Catholic, as many Italians are. He never took it very seriously, but that is my heritage. Someone must have made the world and the universe. In The Bible that is attributed to God. God wrote The Bible, so it must be true. Me and my two sisters weren't really brought up as Catholics, but we did attend Catholic schools, which is a bit weird. We certainly got all the info from school. I think I'd like to give it a go. I certainly don't want to finish up in Hell or Purgatory! Better safe than sorry.

Richard (of RBB): And I saw that you like the cello. Do you play it?

Rick Tim Bagno: No. I just like its tone. I did learn the violin when I was a school, but I haven't touched it for a very long time. Did you visit Cremona when you were in Italia?

Richard (of RBB): Yes. I certainly did. I went into a violin shop that had a lot of people in it, and I was asked to try a very expensive violin by the owner. I played a bit on it. I guess I can say that I played the violin in Cremona.

Rick Tim Bagno: Hey, yes. That's special! Does The Curmudgeon play an instrument? 

Richard (of RBB): Well, he evidently had a go at the bagpipes when he was younger. I don't think that the neighbours enjoyed him practising.

Rick Tim Bagno: So, I see he's planning to move to Wellington.

Richard (of RBB): You've certainly been reading the blogs! He has to sell his house in Whangarei first. 

Rick Tim Bagno: And where does Robert live? Is he in Wellington?

Richard (of RBB): He lives in a place called Moera, which is in the bottom end of Lower Hutt, near Seaview. Do you know Lower Hutt?

Rick Tim Bagno: Yes, I've been to Wellington quite a few times. I've been to Wainuiomata once. I don't really know Moera, but I'll check it out on Google Maps.

Richard (of RBB): Hey, it's been nice chatting. Would you mind if I copy our chat onto my blog? It'll help people get to know you.

Rick Tim Bagno: No, not at all! Go for it. Hey, Richard, it has been nice getting to know you, though I've already learnt quite a bit about you from your blog. I hope the jam goes well on Saturday.

Richard (of RBB): Thanks Rick. See you around the blogs.

* * *

Well, I know all you bloggers will make Rick feel welcome.

I'll leave it there for this morning.

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

The day after April Fools' Day.

 March 2026. Traffic is held up heading south down Happy Valley Road. Drivers are becoming impatient as there are seldom traffic hold ups around lunchtime. The drivers at the front of the queue spot the problem. It is a trailer that looks like it is headed for the tip.

An old man is strapped to it, sort of like a horse, and is trying to cross into the tip road. He can be heard mumbling, "Sheesh!"

Well, I guess you don't need a car if you're living in an apartment. I guess he should have got rid of the trailer too.

***

So, how is everyone this morning? I hope you're all practising your Atomic Habits. 

The Prowse Bros are all busy sending emails about Saturday's jam. That's where I read about Robert's tune 'Siting on the Toilet' which was meant to feature a certain cello sound. One could only guess that it was a fart sound. 

Yes, I'm up early again and will head off to teach at about 7.30am. It'll just be violin today. I get there early so that I can get some of my violin habits done. I really enjoy practising my violin. 

Robert hasn't posted for a while and his comments on other blogs are sparse. Hey, Peter got one comment on his last post and that was from me! I think that Catholics are into Lent. They're supposed to give up eating something. It's really not that hard when there are lots of things that you can eat. I'd give up mushrooms because I don't like them.

Yuck!

The Prowse Bros seem to have calmed down about tritones. If I was going to get excited about something, I think it would be a Coltrane diminished lick that I have worked on. It sounds great over Dom7b9 chords and, of course, diminished chords. I won't show it here because I know that no one will be interested. 

I just checked and there is still no new post from Robert. Maybe he's busy perfecting the toilet tune?

What else can I tell you?

I'll be looking after my two year old mate tomorrow. His mum is going to produce a brother for him really soon. Busy times for them, and I suppose for Shelley and I. All good though. Two little Prowses.

My new car is running well.

I managed to get the clock set right (one minute slow but I can live with that) and I've got the radio tuned into the National Programme. No mean feat, considering that all the instructions are in Japanese. Yes, it's a Japanese import. A good little car. I bought a smallish car so that Shelley would be comfortable driving it, but she finds it a little too big. What? It's just a little bit longer than her Vitz. I find both cars almost identical to drive. Ah well, she's happy driving the Vitz. 

I guess I'd better leave it there for this morning. I'll empty the dishwasher and put the washing through. I might have a shower too. I've been to the toilet, but I didn't use the time to practise Robert's song. I know, I know, too much information.

Ciao tutti.

Damn, I slept in!

Didn't wake until 5.30am!

Maybe it was too much talk of tritones? Hey, but that was a good night's sleep.

I'm off to golf today. No, sorry, that's probably Peter. I'm off to teach violin, viola and double bass. I'm teaching the kids about Atomic Habits but I won't mention tritones - diabolus in musica.

Actually, the #4 (#11) is one of my favourite sounds in Jazz. I remember when I first became aware of it. I was thinking, "I've got to find that sound!" An easy way to get it into a major chord setting is to use the Lydian mode - F  G  A  B  C  D  E  F. Can you spot it? 

My sister Daryl knows all about this stuff. We're playing a short gig together, at the Tawa library, on May 3rd. at 11am. Her on piano and me on violin. I'm looking forward to it.

I did a little bit of trumpet practice yesterday to start getting ready for ANZAC Day.

You can see my gold
mouthpiece in this old photo.

Today is May 1st. - April Fool's Day. Actually, I'm not sure whether it's 'April Fool's Day' or 'April Fools' Day'. I remember that, as a kid, we used to tease each other...

"Hey, you just played a tritone!"

"What! But I played A, B, C?"

"April Fool!"

We certainly knew how to have fun back then!

I found this on the net...

"April Fools' Day, celebrated on April 1st., is a global tradition involving pranks and practical jokes aimed at creating laughter. The origins of the day are debated, with references dating back to medieval Europe and Chaucer's tales. On this day, people typically play tricks on each other, concluding with the trickster revealing their deception by shouting, "April Fool!""

At primary school we were frequently told that it was about Jesus being taunted by Roman guards and the like. I think he had been arrested, or something.

Well, there you go, that's it for this morning.

Ciao tutti.

The Theme from Richard's Bass Bag.*

How many blogs around these parts have an original theme tune? There is a link to ours on the blog, but here is... HERE.

Hey, it's worth a listen!

AND it contains NO TRITONES.

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

That hat and the tritone.

 

Is Peter really planning to wear that hat in Wellington? I thought that I could help by offering some other choices.

There you go. Plenty to choose from.

And here is something that Robert might like.

Note the Catholic one.

The Catholic god created Original Sin to punish people and then he needed his 'son' to die on a cross to save everyone. Those Catholics are weird!

Okay, let's move on to the tritone.

The Prowse Bros are getting together for a jam on Saturday. I briefly saw an email where Chris and Robert are both very excited about a piece of music Chris wrote that contains tritones. The devils! Robert would like to play it on his cello. In my brief look I saw that the first two notes in the melody are C and F# (actually the order is F# to C). This is a tritone because it contains three tones... C  D  E  F#. The distance between each of these notes is called a tone. A tone is like going from C, skipping C# and going to D (I put that explanation in for Peter). 

However, there is one little problem - the piece is in C minor. That means that the notes would be C  D  Ed  F#. One could argue that is not really the foundation for a tritone and that the interval might be better called Cm#4 or Cm#11. Ah well, who really cares? Those boys will probably dispute this. They really need to brush up on their music theory.

My Atomic Habits are going well. I'm working on habits for violin, double bass and Italian language. Tomorrow I will also have to add the trumpet because ANZAC Day is approaching. Hey, but I only usually practise the trumpet in April, so I guess it doesn't really count as a regular habit.

I guess that if those two bros got into Atomic Habits, they'd be practising tritones.

If they're after a real range of 'out' sounds, there are a lot of other things they should be practising regularly. I have 12 that I practise (but these also include major, minor and dominant 7th. scales and their arpeggios (3 things that are not really 'out there')). They include things like a Coltrane diminished lick, the augmented scale, using the ascending form of the melodic minor up a fifth from the root to play over a dominant 7th. chord and using the same melodic minor up a minor third to play over a m7b5 chord - notice that this gives you a #2. 

Ah well, each to his own.

I wonder what Peter practised on the bagpipes?

A young lady I know, a good violinist, is about to get lessons on Irish fiddle playing. I refrained from saying, "All you have to do is play the tune over and over again." Well, I could have saved her money.

What else can I tell you?

I was up at 5am again this morning. Well, it does give me a lot of time to post on my blog - Richard's Bass Bag.* Peter really needs a tag line for his blog.

Here are some suggestions:

1) The Curmudgeon*

* Gardens and American politics here.

2) The Curmudgeon*

* I do jokes, if you can call them that.

3) The Curmudgeon*

* Fighting at tennis and playing golf on my own.

4) The Curmudgeon*

* A carless Wellington guy in a silly hat who can be grumpy.

That last one is for his possible future.

Well, I guess I'll leave it there for this morning.

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

Post started at 5.03am.

 Why?

Well, I got my sleeping done, 7+ hours and then I woke up. I lay in bed thinking of a respectable time to get up. I normally aim for 6am, but I thought, "What the hell!" and got up at 5.

I got out my small playing cards so that people wouldn't think it was a big deal.

Now there's a good joke for Peter!

Did you know that, the other day, Peter walked into the tennis club and said, "Ouch!"?

A new Lego shop just opened up in Wrong-a-way. Peter was keen to have a look, but he didn't because people were lined up for blocks.

Hey, the world tongue-twister champion just got arrested. I heard they're going to give him a really tough sentence.

"Knock, knock." "Who's there?"  "Icing."  "Icing who?"  "Icing 'Bad Habits' very loudly and I printed the words on one of my blog posts." said Peter.

Talking about habits, it's good to see Robert getting into that book 'Atomic Habits'. When I say 'getting into it', I really mean that he's reading it.

Is Peter making a habit of cooking linguine in a tomato pasta sauce with home-made lamb meatballs? Breakfast, dinner and lunch?

A little man walked up and down,

To find an eating place in town.

He read the menu through and through,

To see what 50 cents could do.

One meatball, one meatball.

He could afford just one meatball.

I wonder what Peter's meatballs cost?

It's good to see Robert back around the blogs. Robert has probably made a meatball or two in his time. He just doesn't brag about them.

He told the waiter near at hand,

The simple menu he had planned.

The guests were startled, one and all,

To hear the waiter loudly call,

"You get no bread with one meatball!"

Hey, I really don't know if you get bread with Peter's meatballs.

"Hey, can you stop showing
this picture of me in a silly hat?"

No.

I'm off to a birthday party this morning. The birthday boy is turning two. I managed to get his present assembled yesterday.

They are holding the party in Wellington at Capital E. I don't know why it's called Capital E but it's a place designed for kids.

If you recognise the building, you'll know that it's on Queen's Wharf. The party runs for two hours, then it's sleep time for the little guy. Maybe Grandad will need a sleep by then too?

It's back to the hospital (just visiting) on Monday. They have a procedure that I have to attend four times over the next few months. They are certainly thorough. I have had more blood tests than the tests most All Blacks get to play.

Hey, it's getting close to 6am!

Peter won't be up yet, but Robert is probably up saying The Rosary. I hope he fits in some cello habits. It's too early for me to practise here. I'll have to wait until about 8am. Maybe I could get away with it at about 7.30am? Let's just see how it goes. Maybe I'll work on some of my Italian language habits. Yes, that's a good idea.

5.57am.

The new car seems to be running well.

A good number plate, eh!

The instructions in the handbook and on the dashboard are all in Japanese. Evidently you can replace the little 'screen' thing with an English version. I'll have to find out about that.

My violin practice is going very well.

The new strings are sounding good and the replacement E string is okay - remember that I broke the expensive one that I bought. Silly me. I think that the Prowse Bros are having a jam next Saturday. I'll try them on Blue Moon of Kentucky. It is in C and only has three chords. C, F and G. How easy is that boys?

Well, that's it from me. Have a good Sunday.

Ciao tutti.