Is The Curmudgeon to bossy what Robert is to big words?

 

Has anyone else noticed that, since his readership rose to two, Peter (The Curmudgeon) is becoming rather bossy? I decided to consult my mum.

Richard (of RBB): Mum, is Peter getting too bossy?

Gloria: Well, he was mean to Robert about the car thing. Poor old Robert was just doing his best. I do think that Peter is becoming a bit of a know all. Yes, you could probably safely call him a bossiness crank. 

Richard (of RBB): Thanks mother for clearing that up. Peter is now officially a bossiness crank. Hey, when it comes to labelling people, what Gloria says goes. Sorry Pete, take your label like a big boy and don't be a baby about it and say sorry to my mum.

Peter: Sorry mum, I mean Gloria.

[no reply]

Richard (of RBB): Oops, she may not talk to you for a while. Just be patient. Do your time.

A little sesquipedalian thought.

It has been a long day and the accoutrements of my dress style certainly need a bit of assiduous thought but I really am too tired to even worry about a callipygian woman; even that!  Some of my fellow bloggers who buy into the circumlocution principle of writing might certainly agree. In the end we are all consanguineous. Some of our debate about abortion was a consanguineous example. Hardly coruscant at times.

I stand aghast at the desideratum that is required, or sort after, by some bloggers in expressing their opinions. It can be enervating. I might need to excogitate more time with a dictionary! 

I guess that some gasconading and grandiloquent people like to come across with a complicated presenting style to make up for a lack of logic in their honorificabilitudinitatibus arguments.

Indubitably!

Well, I'm too tired for this tonight. 

Buonanotte.

Buonafortuna.

When does Peter go off duty?

 I assume by the lack of comments that Peter is through watching tonight.

Will he prove me wrong?

It pays to remember...

 Peter is watching.

Tidy up at Himatangi.

"Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to tidy up the showroom at the pottery so that it can be used for a memorial service."

Easier said than done. The showroom is covered in cobwebs and has a few big, heavy 'machines' stored in there. There is a pile of clay on the floor and all sorts of dirt over the rest of the floor.

Let's get to work!

That little contraption on the right weighs a ton!

While my workmate Shelley got busy inside, I cut back some trees with a handsaw so that trucks with bins would be able to get onto the property. It's bloody hard work cutting back trees with a handsaw! Then I set to work moving big, heavy things from the showroom. That little looking thing in the photo above was the hardest to move but I was lucky that it didn't cause me any injury. 

That thing on wheels has a
solid concrete top and,
when moving, a mind of its own.

We worked on the project for two days. I think it's looking pretty respectable now.

* * *

On the way home I heard that they're banning abortions in America. Then they give youngsters access to automatic rifles to shoot children. It certainly is a crazy old world! Maybe that cold little hotel in Foxton is the safest place to be?

To the tune of "San Francisco Here I Come!"

 Himatangi here I come.

In a car sitting on my bum.

Looking forward to an evening in Foxton,

One thing's for sure, I certainly won't feel boxed in.

There'll be many things to do!

Himatangi here I come!

Okay, let's slow down a bit. I don't think it's going to be a bundle of laughs in either Himatangi or Foxton. It'll probably feel a bit like being around some of these blogs lately. I hope Peter and Robert can buck up their ideas while I'm away. Peter promised us thoughtful posts and Robert, well, he's giving us nothing. Come to think of it, nothing has changed. Maybe a night in Foxton will be refreshing and open up new options?

Well, sometimes you have to be optimistic.

Ciao tutti.

Frozen.

 I've woken up to a very bad frost. It's freezing. Colder than anything they've ever had up near the Whangarei Heads - yes, I know all about that storm that blew an outside chair over.

Oops, sorry, wrong picture.

That's better.

Tomorrow we're going up to Himatangi to tidy up some of the pottery for a memorial service. We'll spend a night in Foxton so that we have two days to clean up the showroom and the workshop. There is no toilet at the pottery but the trip to Foxton is doable if anyone is desperate.*

Remember that book of bass melodies?

I thought I might get my bass practice kicked along today and see if I could possibly manage a performance some time in August - that's when The Old Curmudgeon turns seventy. Old alright!

Today I'll also be packing for the Himatangi trip. We plan to take the Batmobile** because the lay of the land is a little rough at the pottery. The Batmobile doesn't mind a bump or two.

Well, I'll leave you there for now.

Ciao tutti.

* it has happened before

** what my old car is affectionately known as

"Have fun boys but don't sin."

 That's a message from Robert whose blog posts have gone and it seems I might be responsible.

He wrote a think saying which one of my brothers is the best musician (compared with the other brothers) and I questioned his qualifications to make such a call.

I have four brothers and they all play music and I think it's fair to say that they are all (me included) on a different journey. I have no problem with that whatsoever. There are lots of facets to 'being a musician'. 

Musicians discuss many things including:

• Who knows the most about chords?
• Who is famous?
• Who can read well?
• Who can play the highest notes?
• Who can play the fastest?
• Who can play the hardest music?
• Who touches your soul?
• Who is the most 'out there'?
• Who has the best technique?

And on the list goes.

Really a musician only has to do three things:

• Play in time.
• Play in tune.
• Play music that says something to some people.

There you go.

I'm tired and I'm off to bed soon.

Ciao tutti.

Have fun boys and don't worry about sinning. Just try to be nice to others.

Everybody likes to be master of something.

 There is no question that The Curmudgeon is the master of the short post.

Here are a few ways you can improve your short posting:

• Don't have much to say.
• Start and then run out of ideas.
• Both of the above.

As he got into his thirties The Curmudgeon was quite cool.

As a youngster he fancied himself as a chick magnet but life is not always fair.

Now he can't even remember when he needs a haircut.

Now, to top it all off, he is writing short posts.

"Sheesh!" To quote the old guy himself.

* * *

THANK HEAVENS FOR RICHARD'S BASSBAG!*

We welcome comments on this post by people who would like to thank 'the original bass bagging site'.

We know there'll be lots of you!

* the original bass bagging site

Trip to Martinborough.

 Martinborough is a town that I know pretty well. I've been visiting Martinborough since I was a little boy - my parents had close friends who had a little farm there. We had lots on fun on that farm.

Back to the present.

Some friends decided to have a mid-winter Christmas celebration in a big fancy old house that we've often stayed in. I supplied some background music along with my trusty backing tracks that kept playing away while I had a sip, or two, or three of my Cleanskin.

I also visited a vineyard run by the son of a very old, and long gone, friend Willie Brown.

Willie's second son Shawn.

Shawn is a really nice guy with a great sense of humour. I'd visited him about 12 years ago but I knew that he wouldn't know who I was. As we spoke, I dropped in lines like, "You remind me of your mother." Soon the truth was out and I explained who I was and how I had worked with his dad. I bought a $50 bottle of Pinot Noir, which we all tasted back at the house (though I'd also had a taste at the winery) - it was very nice, really a lot better than some Cleanskins. Then something special happened, he gave me a bottle of wine made by his father in 1991. He said he was unsure of the quality. I intend to keep it unopened and on display in our house as a memento. He asked me to toast his father and mother when I open it. I certainly will do that.

I didn't realise that wine bottles could have such complicated labels.

RIP Willie.

One for The (know it all) Curmudgeon.

 

Sort of proves Joseph was a carpenter.

I think the old guy is looking for a copy of that old newspaper "Truth".

 

I'm talking about The Curmudgeon who doesn't really look like this...

Or this anymore...

He actually looks like this...

And, without a haircut, this...

There is a rumour that a few people read his blog in Crimea but the official count of his readers stands at 2. Hey, that's not a short way of saying two thousand - I mean two. 1 + 1.

The poor old chap (he is a lot older than me) tries to compete with this famous blog.

What is he thinking?

Take a look at the number of comments we get compared to his.

Comments tell you a lot about a blog.

Even Robert, since he has ditched his idol Trent, likes to post a few comments.

You can see (by the photo) that Robert is more up with current events. He also gives video advice on violin playing. Peter (The Curmudgeon) really sucks on the violin and knows very little about Paganini or which violin strings are the best.

Then he has the audacity to try to criticise this famous and well read blog.

I rest my case.

No Comment.

 The down side of starting a new post is that you know you'll have to build up your comments again.

Back in the days before Trent got into kick boxing and ram raiding, Robert used to hang onto his every word. Trent told him how abortion was bad but, once they were born, you didn't need to worry so much about kids. Trent had also told Robert that comments were sinister and evil. Then Trent took up knife fighting and he fell from grace. Even today Robert is not known for leaving many comments.

For Peter it's swings and roundabouts. On those days when he's bored and hasn't been out picking fights at the tennis club he is prone to writing lots of pointless comments. Robert's blog is Peter's favourite place to comment. I think he really likes Robert's ideas on the world, politics and life in general because you'll often find him over there leaving lots of comments. It's obvious that he learns a lot from reading Richard's Bass Bag* because he'll leave simple comments that say things like, "That was great!" or "So, what strings did Paganini use?"

* * *

I've taken today and tomorrow off work. We're heading up to Martinborough tomorrow to spend a couple of days (and nights) with friends in a rented house. I'll take my violin so that I can run through some Paganini and a bit of jazz. I'm building up the 9th variation (of Caprice 24) that features left hand pizzicato. Some of my fingers have been a bit sore lately and I'm not sure if that is caused by practising Paganini or playing with my phone too much. Maybe it's just part of getting old.

* * *

Miss-spelling, silly errors and difficulty with grammar seem to feature as an important part of Peter's and Robert's blog posts. Neither old man seems interested in proofreading. For example, they both struggle with knowing the difference between 'to' and 'too'. Maybe, at their age, they're too old to learn new tricks.

Well, that's it from me for today.

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

Broadway Jesus.

 

Star Wars style music.

Welcooooooome to Heaven!

* * *

I wonder how many comments I can generate from this?

Playing the violin.

 

One thing is for sure - the violin is not the easiest instrument to learn or play.

Another thing is for sure - Paganini's Caprice no. 24 is not the easiest piece to play on the violin.

No, don't stop reading and move over to another blog. This is not going to be all about notes on the violin and I promise not to mention Evah Pirazzi strings.

Look, give me a chance here. This will not be as bad as The Curmudgeon's post on making bread. I promise. 

I just want to tell you that there are two states of consciousness used when playing the violin:

• The analytical mind and
• The intuitive mind.

A performance will not go well if you are using the analytical mind and a practice session won't go well if you are only using the intuitive mind. These two states of consciousness need to be turned around.

• We practise mainly with the analytical mind and 
• We perform mainly with the intuitive mind.

So, why do people play out of tune?

Mainly because they haven't properly done their homework. Each variation of Caprice no. 24 needs a lot of analytical practice before a performance is attempted. It also needs some intuitive practice, in that the player needs to hear the sound of the music in his head. 

What causes nerves that lead to wrong notes?

Either not enough slow thoughtful practice or not enough wine.

St. Paul said, somewhere in the bible, that, when the Romans are coming after you, a glass or two of Cleanskin will never go amiss. It's the same with violin performance. Though, be careful, there is a point, when using wine, that your performance might sound good to you but sound like shit to everybody else.

Shit.

I hope this helps.

I'm off to do some practice now.

Ciao tutti.

And the award goes to...

 Robert!

It's good to see both Peter and Robert picking up awards. It seems like our little blogging community has been very successful lately, with Richard's Bass Bag* leading the way. Don't forget that we took out the OUTSTANDING BLOGGING award.

Still, it's great that there are lesser awards that less successful bloggers can win. Let's remember that the boys have full cups, they just happen to be tiny cups.

Well, there you go. 

I'm off to practise Paganini variation 9 (from Caprice 24).

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

Hey, The Curmudgeon got an award too!

 Well, I guess it's better than nothing.