Friday.

 Una pietra che rotola non fa muschio.

Cinque pietre che rotolano.

I'm back at Nuova Lazio High today, so not much time to post. I was there yesterday too.

I only did half an hour of practice yesterday - on the double bass. Not good.

I'm still working on that half hour concert at Johnsonville library where I intend to perform solo on the double bass and the violin - only about six or seven tunes in total. Still, it is something to practise for.

I'm off now to get ready.

TC is probably still in bed, but Robert is probably already in Eastbourne. Though, who would want a cleaner showing up at just after 7 in the morning?

Okay, I'd better go.

Ciao tutti.

Praise be to Zeus, the one true god!

 

Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter. 

Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera.

What a guy! What a god!

He swallowed one of his wives whole. Jesus couldn't even get a wife!

"Sad, but true. Dammit!"

All praise to Zeus!

The blog that keeps updating!

 Hi, updates are on their way.

"I've got lots of neat stuff to tell you about!"

"Hi, I'm Andrew Joker and I love this blog!"

"Hi, I'm Modern Baxter and I fully 
approve of this blog!"

"Firstly, let me apologize for the many
bad actions of the Roman Catholic Church.
I'm Evil Doctor Richard and you can read 
my thoughts on this blog!"

"I'll bite my lip again if this isn't the best 
blog around!"

"I love you Richard, and your blog!"

Well, the words of many speak for themselves!

Keep watching for the next exciting post!

Coming soon.

 A new post.

Another new post.

 I just rang Peter only to find that he is still in bed. 

He said they had no electricity (there won't be any red wine chilled today) and the road to town was blocked. At least the toilets seem to be functioning. 

Be safe up there, Peter and Lynn.

My work today got cancelled, not because of a storm but because teachers have been freed up by the year 13s being away from school. Suits me. My job this morning will be to do double bass practice.

I went to an old time/bluegrass jam yesterday and played for two and a half hours. My brother Daryl said to me, many years ago, that if you're going to a jam, take an instrument that is fun to play - he was really talking about taking a melody instrument, as opposed to something like a bass. I took my violin and my steel string guitar. I only played the guitar on one tune.

There were roughly twelve or thirteen people at the jam. About half of them had banjos. About four had guitars and one of the banjo players also had a violin. There was a guy with an acoustic bass guitar. My violin was the loudest instrument there. Yes, it was louder than all the banjos! The other violinist played quietly and was often out of tune. It reminded me of the importance of working on tone and tuning. 

The tunes they played had very easy chord progressions and the melodies were pentatonic - which made them easy for me to pick up. Someone there said that most of the tunes were in D or G because it made it easy for the violinist. Personally, I found that boring and wondered how many of them could play in, say, Eb. I told them there is only one scale on the violin, but they didn't seem to get my drift. It turned out that the banjos only worked in a couple of keys, so the chosen keys were probably more for them.

Wind and a bit of rain have arrived in Nuova Lazio, but I don't think we're going to experience what Peter is going through up north.

I guess it is time to get that bass out.

Let's hope that things settle down quickly in Whangarei.

Ciao tutti.

The long awaited post.

 Sorry but I've been busy.

I'm back at work, as well as tidying up the section and trying to get practice done. It's lucky that I don't go to church because today is Sunday, and I hope to get some bass practice done this morning. You can't let church interfere with your practice. That's for damn sure.                                                      Obviously I won't be at the church shop either.

Actually, I never go to the church shop. I don't use condoms, or holy pictures.

Remember that 'old time' jam I went to last year, and I was critical of the playing level and confidence of some participants? Well, I'm going back today. Yes, yes, I know, but I just feel like a play. I'll take my violin and maybe a guitar. Maybe I'll try to get them all playing together, instead of one person playing all the tunes he knows? 

I'm playing a solo gig at the Johnsonville library in May. I made up this info sheet for it.

The gig is only half an hour long. I'll probably play five double bass pieces and two violin pieces. The programme could be:

• ALMOST BLUES (DB). A 14 bar swing blues that I wrote.
• MY GENTLE GIANT (DB). A 6/8 piece that I wrote with my double bass in mind.
• GYPSY FEET (DB). A Gypsy Jazz style piece that I wrote.
• SHELLEY MY DEAR (aka. SMD) (DB). A country style piece that I wrote for my wife.
• MANHA DE CARNAVAL (VLN). A beautiful piece from the film 'Black Orpheus'.
• ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL (VLN). A famous Bluegrass violin piece.
• SII GENTILE (DB). A piece I wrote for Jacinda Ardern. The title translates to 'Be Kind'.

Okay, some of you may ask, "Why are there more double bass tunes than violin tunes?"                    Well, that's just the way it turned out this time. In a funny way, the double bass adapts well to playing solo, but also a solo double bass can provide more novelty value. Anyway, that's my plan at the moment.

Okay, time to get the day sorted.

Ciao tutti.

Here's a little test.

Okay, here's a little test for you.
Let's pretend that there is a Heaven. Many souls are trying to get in. They are sorted into 26 groups, with a letter of the alphabet assigned to each group. Each group is assigned a different letter. Which group probably has the least chance of getting in?

New post coming soon.

 While you wait, here's a bit of advice for my fellow bloggers.

The little temporary shops you have at fairs and market days are called stalls.

S - T - A - L - L - S

STOOL refers to some quite different things:

NOUN

1) A seat without a back or arms, typically resting on three or four legs or on a single pedestal.

2) A piece of faeces.

3) A root or stump of a tree or plant from which shoots spring.

So, if you wrote something like this, which stool would you be talking about?

"Opposite us was a booth selling pretty dresses, a guy selling mechanical things to assemble, another selling outdoor ornaments like the wind features in my front yard... so many stools!"

The worst outcome would be if you were talking about number 2.

This piece of advice was brought to you by the RBB Correct Grammar and Spelling Service.*

* The RBB Correct Grammar and Spelling Service is a free service that offers advice to bloggers to make their posts look smarter. 

For some reason this song popped into my head when I was waking up this morning.

 I wrote it in 1977 when I was teaching in Taumaranui. It's called The Taumarunui Blues. It's a standard twelve bar blues.

I woke up this morning to the sound of a train, I said

I woke up this morning to the sound of a train,

My alarm clock was working but

I couldn't hear it for the rain.

I've got the Tau, Tau, Tau, Tau,

Taumarunui blues.

I've got the Tau, Tau, Tau, Tau,

Taumarunui blues.

I'm stuck here in Taumaranui,

That's why I'm singing the blues.

Now 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.

I've got the Tau, Tau, Tau, Tau,

Taumarunui blues.

I've got the Tau, Tau, Tau, Tau,

Taumarunui blues.

I'm stuck here in Taumaranui,

That's why I'm singing the blues.

* * *

There were probably more verses, but I don't remember them.

Taumaranui

Actually, there was a very famous song written about Taumarunui. It was called 'Taumarunui on the Main Trunk Line'.

HERE

Notice how the singer pronounces Taumaranui incorrectly.

If you didn't, check your Maori pronunciation.

I remember an old teacher in Taumarunui telling me, "If you can't see the mountain, it's raining and, if you can see the mountain, it's going to rain."

I spent just under two years in Taumarunui. Most of 1977, school was already underway when I got the job. Maybe it was around March? And 1978. It was quite an eventful time.

Peter will no doubt recount the famous Cosmopolitan Club incident. 

I'll leave it there for today because I have practice to do.

Ciao tutti. 

Blogging community happy as TC makes it home slowly but safely and that hose i8s is secure and dry.

 

He got home at 10.30pm last night, having left for Wellington airport at 10.30am.
He spent hours and 'hors' sitting around in Wellington and Auckland airports.*
His personal opinion is that Air New Zealand do a great job, even though Chris Luxon was once in charge, and they can't help the weather.
There were lots of slips on the Whangarei Heads road but they all got cleared up. There was evidence of flooding.
Fortunately, the hose 'i8s' was secure and dry. He didn't mention the house. 

"i8s secure and dry."

I think the 'i8s' might be the hose size identification number.

There must have been a deluge as more gravel has been washed from the driveway than ever before.

He'll be collecting barrowloads of it from the roadway below today. He received a quote from the drain-layer on Tuesday, which he has accepted. It was less than half what he'd expected. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

TC hopes that Wellington doesn't get the Northland and Auckland storm.

* I'm not sure what 'hors' are. Maybe they are a form of cryptocurrency?

Self expression.

La madre degli imbecilli è sempre incinta.

I'm practising a repertoire of six solo double bass pieces and six solo violin pieces at present. I have a little gig in a library in May - not the biggest gig in the world but, at least, I have a gig. 

I have a gig!

A chance for a bit of self expression.

I went for a walk this morning through the very beautiful Richard Prouse Park. Hey, that name sounds familiar! 

Well, it was a beautiful walk, until some people got into a bit of self expression.

The guy with the orange spray paint has been expressing himself all around our part of Nuova Lazio.

He has left his mark on bus stops, signs and various other items.

His fellow artists usually don't quite reach the impact level that orange affords this man (woman).

Amateurs!

At the school where I relieve, they had a class called Graffiti. Maybe this is where he (or she) was first inspired. Actually, I doubt that is true.

The mother of imbeciles is always pregnant (for those who don't read Italian).

Is it just me, or is playing the violin a slightly higher form of self expression? I guess it depends on how you define art. These graffiti guys are getting more gigs than me - and with less practice required. I have got a couple of spray cans in my tidy shed that are left over from my attempt to tidy up my 'gang car'.

Could be time for a new approach to self expression?

Sciocchezze!

Ciao tutti.