Sometimes, when you're an 'andad', it is necessary to wear a lampshade.

What 'andads' have to do.
Me wearing a lampshade to impress my two year old grandson.
 

"Makes me wonder if it is just the teachers that like girls to where skirts." Robert's back, and he's sorting out teachers!

This is a comment he left on my last post where I mentioned that schools in England, in a place called Teesside, plan to ban girls wearing skirts as part of the school uniform. Unfortunately, Rob hasn't sorted out his grammar. I assume that he means 'to wear skirts'.

I guess the question is, "Do girls like wearing skirts?" I guess you'd have to ask the girls. Most secondary schools in this country (I assume that just about all do) give girls a choice. It is certainly not unusual to see them wearing pants. I've worked in a lot of secondary schools. Okay, I do accept that I know almost nothing about fashion, but many older women seem to choose to wear skirts. 

Anyway, let's move along.

I've been asked to try out for a folk band - this try out will happen in early August because they have a gig at the end of that month. I actually practised the bass for an hour yesterday. This is quite an interesting concept. Folk music is generally on the easier side to play. This band has three guitarists, who also sing, and a percussionist. I've listened to a few of their videos and the time seems pretty 'up and down'. It could be quite interesting to inject a subtle rhythmic thing from the bass. Another question is will they give me charts, or will I be expected to work the chords out for myself? This type of guitarists often use a capo. I know guitar chords very well and could easily spot what chords are being played. A capo can add another dimension. For example, a guitarist might put a capo on the 3rd. fret and play G  Em  Am7  D7. What he is really playing is Bb  Gm  Cm7  F7. That makes it a bit harder to spot the chords. My practice yesterday was listening for chords. This is a great skill to really develop. It's like playing melodies that you haven't played before, like a singer does.

Missed the Saturday dance,

Heard they crowded the floor.

Ain't nothing without you,

Don't get around much anymore.

That's a great song, but it's Jazz.

Like Robert and his skirts, Peter has a thing about perfume. See his 'LOCKER ROOM' post. If I need to cover up smells, I often pinch some of Shelley's perfume. One day, many years ago, I'd done this and was sitting in a secondary school staffroom at morning tea. I heard one woman teacher ask her friend (they were both wearing skirts), "Who's wearing that lovely perfume?" I didn't own up.

Well, that's about it from me for today. I have jobs to do, and I'm not talking about going to the toilet - put a new door seal on one of our doors. try to put up a tricky to fit lampshade in our bedroom, change the batteries in our three fire alarms and record the due dates of our car warrants and registrations. 

Ciao tutti.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad world.

 I just read by chance that, in a place called Teesside somewhere in England, oh here's a map, they're banning skirts for girls as part of the school uniform.

Where Teesside is.

"A school trust has been hit with a backlash from parents after they chose to ban skirts in its new school uniform policy. The Northern Education Trust told parents it would make a change to its school uniform policy, which will come into effect from September 2026. In a letter published online across four of its Teesside secondary schools, the trust says: "From September 2026, the school uniform will no longer include skirts as an option, and all students will be expected to wear tailored school trousers. This decision has been made following careful consideration and feedback from all stakeholders across the trust, where it highlighted the benefits of a more practical, inclusive, and consistent uniform policy.""

This is just a guess, but I suspect that a lot of women and girls feel comfortable wearing skirts. I wonder if Scottish schools will ban kilts?

* * *

Ah well, moving on.

Robert's blog is still 'blank'. If he doesn't post in a few days, I'll probably remove the link to his blog. I'm assuming that he doesn't love Peter anymore.

"Hey Robert, you cutie, I
told you to love your 
neighbour as yourself."

I watched "grown men kicking a ball around and touching each other" (Robert's description of rugby) last night. The ABs just got home and the 'second rate' French team played very well. Their kicking game was superior, and they had some great outside backs. The second test will be interesting. To be fair though, the second ref with a camera disallowed two All Blacks' tries. Final score, 31 - 27.

It is getting close to 7.30am and the sun is starting to rise in the Nui. I won't be going to mass this morning, nor will I be working in the church shop.

I will be doing some violin practice and some double bass practice. 

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

Ciao tutti.

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.