166

 

Today is the 166th. day of the year and I have already done 166 hours of practice! My violin gets most of the practice. I'll spend some time on the double bass later today. 

Yesterday's jam was a bit of a waste of time but at least there were nice people there. I have absolutely no gigs coming, so why do I practise so much? Well, as a jazz bassist said once, "Funk is its own reward." I don't know why he used the word funk and not jazz but, never mind, the intended message is the same.

Rob is back to regular posting but nothing is really happening over on Peter's site. No big surprise there. Rob's latest effort is really short. Four short sentences, actually.

"Thank you God for this wonderful world and all you give me. I haven't done anything to deserve your generosity. Your world is beyond comprehension. Your intellect beyond limit. I pray you forgive those who treat you with contempt." There you go. You won't have to visit his site now. Peter left a message, "At least horseshit is good for the roses." He left a comment on my last post about roses too.  "I guess that your roses are doing ok." I don't know why he is suddenly so interested in roses. 

I thought he was more interested in meat pies.

Well, I've got some school reports to write, so I'd better move on. Peter might write a post some time over the next week or so. Robert's posts will no doubt be giving advice on the Christian god. Yawn.

Oh yes, and here's Peter's favourite picture.

You can thank Rob for that one. Evidently, in the Philippines, Catholics like things like that.

Ciao tutti.

Unusual, to say the least!

Good morning.

Here's a very unusual thing that Rob evidently bought in that very Catholic country called the Philippines.

It appears on his latest post. He also wrote a warning to brothers.

""Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it in the court, if a man calls his brother "fool" he will answer for it in the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him "Renegade" he will answer for it in hell fire"....Jesus the Christ Mat 5:20-26"

For those of you who were wondering, like me, the Sanhedrin was a big Jewish council thing. 

Well, Rob is a bit of a renegade (a person who deserts or betrays a set of principles) for buying a little wooden man with a huge wooden cock! Oops, I'll be answering for that in Hellfire! At least I'll be warm. It's freezing in the Nui this morning. 

Day number 161 of 2026. I only got half an hour's practice done yesterday. That means that I need to practise for at least one and a half hours today. I'd better get about half an hour done on the bass. I've been a bit slack on bass practice over the last few days. I wonder if you can practise musical instruments in Hell? The fire would be a bit of a danger for wooden instruments. Also, you wouldn't want to be caught playing the tritone. That interval belongs to Satan. 

I hope that Peter is being careful to keep his car locked now and is not leaving keys in it. Maybe he should have left his racoon hat in the car?

Anyway, it's good that he got his locks sorted out. 

I'll leave you there for this morning.

Ciao tutti e ci rivedremo in molti all'inferno.

Oh, and thanks to Peter for returning this. *

Yes, I'm in front of the heater again.

 

I've received a message from Rob saying that his flight to Wellington will now be much later. He says he'll get a taxi. He doesn't say what time he's arriving. I can't find arrival times online.

It was nice to have Peter pop around yesterday. However, I don't think he'll be interested in the latest diminished thing I'm working on. I'm talking about the violin here. If I get this thing working, it could be quite spectacular. It's really an extension on something I've been doing for a while. Okay, okay, I'll keep it to myself.

I also had my younger grandson pop in yesterday. What a cute little chap! Obviously, he came with daddy because he's not driving yet. Nor is he up to walking from his place. His name is Henry and he is not quire 14 months old. He reaches that milestone on June 15th. He can stand up and crawl very fast. What a guy!

I really have nothing else to tell you.

I guess I should go and take my meds.

At least it seems that the rain has stopped in the Nui. Maybe I'll be able to go for a walk today. I'll certainly be working on those diminished ideas too. Yes Rob, I'll try not to sin. Actually, all that sinning stuff is a pile of nonsense!

Oggi sarò felice se riuscirò a stare al caldo.

Ciao tutti.

Rob returns.

 

Opps, sorry, that's Peter.

Rob returns.

Rob left a comment on my last post and will return on Sunday. I'll be at the airport to meet him.

I haven't got much else to tell you. It's a very wet day in the Nui. It's probably sunny in Thorndon. I suspect it's probably hot and sunny in the Philippines.

I'm hoping that the people who empty our rubbish and recycling bins will shut the lids today so they don't fill with rainwater. They usually don't. By the way, that photo of Peter was taken in 1970. Long before he acquired his racoon hat.

I'm working on diminished things at the moment.

I have to deliver my elderly neighbour's paper, so I'll head off now.

Buona giornata.

A cold Thursday morning.

 Well, we are into winter.

Okay, a question.

What is the link between this ocean and Peter's bath?

It was somewhere around where this picture was taken that Rob entered the water with his phone in his pocket. Now we don't have much (if any) contact with him. We only know that he is in a place full of Catholics and very short on toilet paper. I'm supposed to pick him up from Wellington airport on Sunday. I do know the approximate time of his arrival. I will have some toilet paper in my car.

Yesterday was day number 154 of this year and my practice reached 152 hours. In a year I normally aim to reach at least 365 hours of practice. Obviously this means one hour of practice for every single day. I need to do an extra hour in a Leap Year. I don't always achieve 365 hours, but I'm on target so far this year. A good amount of practice today would help.

I'll concentrate on violin today. I did an hour of guitar practice and an hour on the violin yesterday. I'll do some more double bass practice in the near future. I need to check out some of my 12 violin unaccompanied pieces today. Well, I don't have any gigs or chances to play on the horizon. Maybe I should make some videos? Yes, that's always an option. 

I don't have any plans for today, except for picking up my little friend around 4pm, but it would be nice to go out and do something interesting. Time will tell. Anyway, it's nice not to be working today. Also, on the bright side, I have a dry phone. Peter will be envious of that. Maybe that's a good topic for his next post, instead of what he is putting in his garage cupboards?

"It's looking a bit wet for a round of golf today. Maybe I'll write a post. Well, here I go. In the P class days we didn't have mobile phones. You had to ring your mates on a landline. These days I take my phone everywhere, even into the bath. I see that Rob is following my example, except that he's looking for places with even more water. I see that Richard prefers a dry phone. Maybe that's why his posts are so boring. All we seem to hear about is how cold he is and how much practice he has done. I don't tell you about my golf practice. Hey, this is turning into a long post for me! I went to tennis last weekend, after putting some of our fancy cups in the cupboards in the garage.  Mihi placet dare omnia in armariis. Yes, we learnt Latin in the P classes. The dumber guys were made to learn French. Sheesh! I had a disagreement with a guy at tennis and it felt like old times! Well, that's it for today."

Thanks Peter. I'm feeling warmer now so I think I'll go and get organised.

Remember that avoiding sin is not as important as finding toilet paper.

Ciao tutti e non preoccuparti per il latino.

Believe me, you wouldn't want this jam on your toast!

 

That's me at yesterday's jam. I'm the guy you can see from back view standing on the left. 

I only stayed for about 40 minutes, maybe a bit less.

The jam was controlled by one guy who set out the rules and also sang most of the tunes. The jam was set to run for two hours. Notice how everyone is reading music from stands. I've got to be mean and say that the standard of playing was not very high, so I suppose it's my own fault for having different expectations. 

My expectation of a jazz jam is:

1) You don't have a music stand in front of you with all the music on it. Okay, sometimes the rhythm section might need to see the chord changes, but melody instruments don't really need to see that. Use your ears!

2) A tune is decided on by the majority, one that enough people know. If you don't know the tune, you should still be able to knock out a solo and maybe play some backing things.

Okay, maybe this jam was designed to cater for people with less experience. I should have stayed home and had some peanut butter on toast.

* * *

We (Shelley and I) are heading up to Greytown soon to see some old friends who have just become grandparents for the second time. We'll have a lot to talk about and grandparent notes to share with each other. 

Sorry to hear that Rob is a bit unwell in the Philippines and his phone is wet - he should have learnt from Peter's clumsiness. I hope he's feeling better soon.

Okay, I'll leave it there.

Worry about how your music practice is going, not sin.

Ciao.

Heathim on.

Sorry, I should explain, a heathim is a male heater.

It's cold and dark in the Nui. 

I did half an hour on each of my instruments yesterday. That gets all their practice up to date (sort of). I'll concentrate on violin today because my plan is to take it to a jazz jam tomorrow. Yesterday I sorted out five tunes (all my originals) for the guitar. I was thinking that, maybe in the future, I'll record some trio stuff with me playing my three instruments. Obviously I'll call such a session 'Playing with Myself'.

I really have nothing else to tell you today. 

Here are some random pictures...

The sun is starting to rise. 

I guess I'll leave you there for today.

I might do a little bit of guitar while the sun is still coming up.

Ciao.