I just bought and installed a new computer system.

 

It's a multiscreen Hexatonic Shiftdivert 4707. It wasn't cheap! I also bought equipment for analyzing things like songs, density of walls and bass strings. The wiring is quite complex because I need to connect a 300OBM sorter to a SemiOrganic Chrystler Shifter and a 50DSM Sintotecker. The Sintotecker is an amazing little box that converts badly played notes into Carbon Desiginoted Perfection. Shelley doesn't want it set up in the lounge, unless I move my two basses. I fitted both my basses with a wheeled 72OPM Movagadget. This moves the basses at regular intervals of a b9th and a minor 7th. I was going to get a mic for my musical recordings, but have decided to insert a Mudcauzng box. Another expense, but worth it. The Mudcauzng, if you check it online, is much more efficient than the other two alternatives - the Reinwader and the Idongeevafuk 320.

Okay, time to do some bass and violin practice.

I changed the strings on The Bob.

 As I'm sure all my readers know, I have two double basses in my living room. They take their names from my mum and dad.

I've played many gigs on The Bob, over many years. When my mum died, I used some of the money she left me to purchase La Gloria.

La Gloria is a very fine bass and my go to bass for most gigs these days. She was made in China but fitted out with parts in the USA. She is a fully carved bass. I have her fitted out with soft (weich) Evah Pirazzi strings and she is a pleasure to play. I rate this bass very highly.

The green and black windings 
on the strings, near the tailpiece,
tell you that these are Pirastro
Evah Pirazzi strings.

The Bob is a 'plywood' bass. Plywood basses are usually at the cheaper end of double basses, but The Bob (like my dad, a very durable and practical man/bass) has proved himself to be a very good bass. He has played some quite 'high pressure' gigs and never let me down. 

It's quite fitting that my mother
made the bow holder that you
see in this picture. The Bob
has worn it for many, many years.

In this picture note the colours of Pirastro Obligato strings.

I haven't been using The Bob much lately, but I got a call, from one of the schools where I teach, to fill in for a performance in a string quintet for their bassist who has Covid. I don't like the school bass, so I decided to use one of mine. For this gig, my bass will have to sit in my car, while I do some teaching before the gig. The Bob is a sturdy, practical bass and I thought that he might be the perfect choice for this gig. However, I wasn't enjoying the strings he had on, so, yesterday, I changed them. I had a set of Obligatos in my string draw and thought they might be a better option. I was right.

I'll spend a bit of time on The Bob over the next few days, but he is sounding good!

If you'd like to learn more about The Bob and La Gloria, please feel free to leave a comment.

Ciao tutti.

What do you write about when you really have nothing to say?

 Yep, that's a tricky one.

I guess I could always take my lead from Peter or Robert.

Peter would start with a tune that is vaguely on topic.

I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'

With Robert it would either be something from the bible or something about AI.

John 23b,7:

"Does a Catholic Apologist plan his next blurb while sitting on the toilet? Well, only if he wants to make a shit speech."

Everyone always assumes that AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, but what if the particular, or chosen, AI is just not that smart?

I think that Rob (on his blog) was saying something about fried ice cream. Peter would call that scatological because that's his favourite word. Haven't you noticed? For Peter just about everything is scatological. No wonder Lynn kicks him out of the office!

Why has Rob's link to Tent Horn disappeared from his blog?

Look to the right - Curmudgeon, RBB, My facebook, but no mention of Tent.

Has Rob finally gotten sick of his fast spoken big words and the fact that he doesn't let his opponent get a word in? Well done Rob, if that's the case.

I didn't do any double bass or violin practice yesterday. However, I did fix a cupboard door in the kitchen. Why does that make me think of this picture?

Well, that's about all I can muster up for this post. Maybe one of the boys might post today, but I wouldn't hold my breath, if I were you.

Ciao tutti.

 

Three things all those who blog should be aware of.

Okay, quite a few people get a kick out of having a little blog and writing posts. It's sort of like being on Facebook but having more control over proceedings.

Most home bloggers won't have access to
a computer that is this big.

However, there are three things that bloggers should be aware of, and I only mention this for your own enjoyment and safety:

1) A transcript of a recorded conversation IS NOT a live recording or podcast.

Some bloggers make the mistake of purchasing a squeaky swivel chair and, when it comes time to record a conversation, it just sounds like, "Welcome squeak, squeak, Peter, Squeak, it's squeak good to squeak have you in squeak the squeak studio."

Often, in this situation, the blogger will resort to a transcription like...

Watch out for this.

2) Two's company, but not a crowd.

If you have a regular readership of two, you are not getting through to many people and should really consider returning to Facebook as your way of getting your message out to more people.

Generally, the concept of a crowd starts with three people. Remember that old saying, "Two's company, three's a crowd."

I know of two bloggers, in particular, that are lucky if they're getting two regular readers. These people should look at their comments - if comments are only from two people, back to Facebook for you!

3) People are not interested in your outside furniture.

There was once a blogger who wrote about a 'storm' that blew one of his outside chairs over. After he had posted, people (okay, the two people who read his blog) were heard to have said, "Who really cares?"

It's not really up there with world events. Please think before you post!

* * *

I hope that this gives some guidance to people who are thinking of becoming bloggers.

Ciao tutti and remember that, if you want a really satisfying 'blog experience', Richard's Bass Bag* should be your first port of call.

* the original bass bagging site

God Almighty!

 

There are several phrases that we tend to use when much smaller things go wrong.

"God Almighty!" is one of them. So is, "Jesus Christ!" However, I think the two all time favourites are, "It's not the end of the world!" and "It's not rocket science."

These last two phrases are used in circumstances where something, like the following examples, has happened:

• "Hey, I got a flat tyre today! I didn't know how to change it" - It's not rocket science.
• "I feel like a failure, I failed my maths test at school." - It's not the end of the world.
• "I can't work out how to get the bag out of my vacuum cleaner."  - It's not rocket science.
• "Is it hard to follow the signs on State Highway 1 to get to Taupo?" - It's not rocket science.
• "I played a violin concert today and I just didn't achieve what I am capable of." - It's not the end of the world.
•  "I soiled my pants!" - It's not the end of the world.

Okay, these two phrases are designed to compare your little bothersome mishap to either a very severe occurrence or a very, very complicated procedure.

If and when the end of the world occurs, there will be mountains blowing up, countries being completely flooded with ocean water, cities turning to rubble, people getting sucked into space, and much worse. Believe me, having trouble changing a car tyre wouldn't even feature in the same book! 

How many of us really know much, if anything, about rocket science - say, sending a rocket with valuable data gathering machinery to Mars and then bringing it home? Even thousands upon thousands who managed easily to change their vacuum cleaner bag will never even come close to dealing with rocket science!

So, my point is, let's downscale the comparison we use to cheer someone up who has failed with a task.

It's not the end of the world could be replaced by It can be hard to successfully fold a bedsheet.

It's not rocket science could be replaced by It's harder to service a lawnmower.

I hope that helps a few of you.

Ciao tutti.

What's in a name?

 

"Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon)..."

It is certainly a long name but, in these times when one strives to please the identity of others, I feel it is important to address Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon) by his full name.

Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon)'s name has grown over about the last fifteen or so years. From memory, it was about 2007 when he started blogging. He started off with a blog that went under the name of The Curmudgeon. For some reason, he thought that he needed different nom de plumes for different topics that he wanted to write about. Philosophy? "That will be the job of The Philosophical Curmudgeon." he thought. Laziness? Yes, that is covered by The Lazy Curmudgeon. I think you get the idea.

Along the way, Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon) decided to pinch a character from Richard's Bass Bag*. The New Different Time Zone Bill. With a little more thought he could have come up with The Time Travelling Curmudgeon, or something like that. You don't hear a lot, or get many posts, these days from quite a few of his 'characters'. For some reason, The Blue Man no longer appears on the list. This seems unfair when people like The Polemical Curmudgeon, Northland Musings and Right As Rain don't seem to be contributing much at all.

Maybe it is time for Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon) to thin down the list a bit. I'm sure that quite a few of his characters are now obsolete.

Ah well, I suppose he enjoys the length of his creation and, what with Robert writing huge posts about things like Transubstantiation (though that one got deleted), it gives Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon) a chance to match word numbers with him.

Everyone to their own, I suppose.

If it makes you happy, go for it Peter (aka The Literary Curmudgeon, Peter’s Golf Bag, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon Express, Right As Rain, The Twitter Curmudgeon, The Inconstant Curmudgeon, The Cultured Curmudgeon, The Lazy Curmudgeon, The Music Curmudgeon, The Food Curmudgeon, The Religious Curmudgeon, The Mundane Curmudgeon, The Church Of The Blessed Curmudgeon, The Nostalgic Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeon’s – Agony Aunt, The Aluminium Foil Curmudgeon, Irascible Old Bastard, The New Different Time Zone Bill, Northland Musings, The Curmudgeon, The Curmudgeonly Luddite, The Curmudgeonly Inventor, The Happy Curmudgeon, The Polemical Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon, Deacon Tanimate and The Darker Curmudgeon).

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

Transubstantiation.

 Now, there's a big word!

Peter (aka THE LITERARY CURMUDGEON, PETER'S GOLF BAG, THE WINE CURMUDGEON,THE CURMUDGEON EXPRESS, RIGHT AS RAIN, THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON, THE INCONSTANT CURMUDGEON, THE CULTURED CURMUDGEON, THE LAZY CURMUDGEON, THE MUSIC CURMUDGEON, THE FOOD CURMUDGEON, THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON, THE MUNDANE CURMUDGEON, THE CHURCH OF THE BLESSED CURMUDGEON, THE NOSTALGIC CURMUDGEON, THE CURMUDGEON'S - AGONY AUNT, THE ALUMINIUM FOIL CURMUDGEON, IRASCIBLE OLD BASTARD, THE NEW DIFFERENT TIME ZONE BILL, NORTHLAND MUSINGS, THE CURMUDGEON, THE CURMUDGEONLY LUDDITE, THE CURMUDGEONLY INVENTOR, THE HAPPY CURMUDGEON,THE POLEMICAL CURMUDGEON, THE PHILOSOPHICAL CURMUDGEON, DEACON TANIMATE and THE DARKER CURMUDGEON) challenged the blogger, now known as Rob, to convince him (them) that Transubstantiation is true.

For those of you who may not have heard of it, Transubstantiation is the process where bread and wine are turned into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Sounds logical enough. Anyway, on his blog, you'll find it under 'Robert' on our LINKS service, he wrote an explanation that is about a million words long.

I tried to read it all and got over halfway through it. I left a comment.

You've got to say, "Good on you Robert." for leaving such a 'detailed' reply to Peter (with all the other names that I won't repeat here). The trouble is that I tried very hard to read it all and I wasn't feeling that I was getting a distinct line of information, other than Transubstantiation is true and must be believed. Maybe I (and others) need a distinct summary that clearly sets out the main points?

 I did get the point that Tom Aquinas was/is the greatest of scholastic theologians. He said that the existence in the Eucharist of Christ's real body and blood "cannot be grasped by the experience of the senses. but only by the faith which has divine authority and its support."

The faith which has divine authority and its support.

Robert, can I take that as being the 'magic' ingredient?

I use the word magic because of the definition of the word faith. Maybe that was a bit naughty of me?

FAITH

noun
1. Complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

2. Strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.

Well, I'd better leave it there because it's Sunday and I'm off to mass.

No! Joking!

Ciao tutti.

Sabato

John 16:23b-28

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."

Okay, I copied this from Robert's blog.

1st thing: I suspect that John made a grammar mistake in line 4. It might have been better to say,

"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name."

2nd thing: Ask for anything? I don't believe that Jesus was thinking about the crazy things that some people might ask for. (I won't go into details - use your imagination.) Maybe Jesus should have added the phrase, "Within limits."

Jesus probably didn't have this in mind.

Or this.

Okay, Robert will argue that there were no giant beer cans on trucks or luxury yachts in biblical times, but you get the idea.

Fortunately, Robert goes on to give us a bit of an explanation.

Well, I guess that's that one cleared up.

* * *

Readers are probably expecting a post from Peter (aka The Curmudgeon) today. 

The last post was from The Religious Curmudgeon (same guy really) and that wasn't a bad thing after Peter's previous attempt.

Then we hear all about the courtesy car and how you drive it. Then we get a little bit about the weather up north. I suspect that Peter had been drinking when he wrote this post.

Ah well, that's me for this morning.

Ciao tutti.

It's not the end of the world.

I went along to our local cards club. They said you needed to bring your own cards. Earlier that day I had meant to pick some up but had forgotten. I searched all the cupboards and draws in our house as it was now time to go to the club. All I managed to find was some very small playing cards. I got to the cards club and sat down at one of the tables with three other people. The three of them looked at my cards.

One of them said, "Hey, they are very small cards."
I thought for a second and then I replied, "No big deal."

Friday.

Named after Friedrich Fri, a little known (these days) Presbyterian saint who used to fly around like a fly.

There's a story that some Catholics made a huge fly swat and used it on him.

It evidently took six Catholic men to lift up and swing the fly swat. The fly swat in now in the National Museum in Bonn.

Bonn. Germany.

It tells us, in the museum, that there was a song written about the event. Here it is, translated from German to English.

He was a peaceful man of the cloth,

Who used to sleep up in a loft.

He cooked his own pigeon pie and

Then he'd go for a fly.

Whether the weather was wet or dry

Didn't bother Friedrich Fri.

Whether the weather was wet or dry

Never bother Friedrich Fri.

One day, while using a pencil,

He saw an almighty utensil.

It was red and very large,

Six men were in charge, one called

"We've got you a pressie, flying Presby!"

They started to swing it around while

Poor old Friedrich started to get off the ground.

They started to swing it around while

Poor old Friedrich tried to get off the ground.

Friedrich nearly peed when saw it

Coming with such speed.

He tried to fly but cried,

Shortly afterwards he died.

He tried to fly, he really tried, but

Shortly afterwards he died.

There is a lot of evidence of this story being true and it was almost made into a film in the 1960s, but some Catholic called Joe got to be in the film instead. A lot of German Presbyterians don't trust Catholics to this very day. Who can blame them? 

Next time you're in Bonn, have a look in the National Museum.

Bis bald. Genieße deinen Tag.

Jesus, "Talk in English so that Peter and Robert can understand."

 

Joseph, "Okay, what's on your mind son?"

Jesus, "Well, you're not really my father because God did the bonking."

Joseph, "Yeah, I know. I didn't even have time to get it out. Still, we look like a happy family in this picture."

Jesus, "So, do you believe that I'm the son of God?"

Joseph, "Well, actually, I believe in Nothing."

Jesus, "What? What do you mean?"

Joseph, "Well, there is a very old saying about Nothing. It's a very powerful concept. There is a phrase that people have used forever. A phrase about Nothing."

Jesus, "Really foster dad? Is it more important than me and my real dad?"

Joseph, "Well, yes, actually. It simply says that Nothing is forever."

Jesus, "Holy Hell! Oops, please pardon the expression."

Joseph, "That's okay, foster son. Just tell your real dad to get off his high horse. Remember, Nothing is forever."

Jesus, "Holy shit!"

Gesù, "Babino, m'avete chiamato?"

 

Guiseppe, "No caro, ho colpito un dito del piede."

Gesù, "Perbacco!"

Guiseppe, "È una rottura di culo."

I woke up to dropping comments.

 6 comments in the last three posts. Two of those posts with no comments. I assume that no one even listened to my recording of 'The Immigrants' on my second to last post. Ah well, maybe music just has no interest around here.

Woke: used in a lot in old blues songs - "I woke up this morning to the sound of a train. I said...(repeat first line)"* "My alarm clock was working but I couldn't hear it for the rain."*

Taumarunui (on the main trunk line)

These days I think it's supposed to mean that you're a leftie, which I am. I guess that's why I woke up this morning. I'll look the term up, just in case I got it wrong.

It's funny how I still remember all the words to The Taumarunui Blues. One verse went, 

"Well, 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."*

Here's one definition I found of 'woke', though I think it probably also has other connotations...

"Alert to injustice and discrimination in society, especially racism."

I wonder if it also covers people who use big words? I can't really imagine Tent Horn being considered 'woke'.

Are Robert and/or Peter woke? Well, they can leave a comment here to inform us.

I'm off to have something done to my left eye. I guess that, if the procedure goes badly, I can always become a pirate.

Hey! Wrong eye!

Ciao tutti.

* Richard (of RBB)'s 1970s blues - The Taumarunui Blues.

Did he stay or did he go?

 The greater RBB family started a chat site that looked promising, but I pulled out this morning.

Why?

Because Robert started posting at 6.30am and my phone kept going B D# B A# F# - that's what android phones do when you get a message.

Okay, I'm not the world's best whistler.

I decided that sleeping was more important than belonging to the chat room.

Peter has disappeared.

This is the past post that he wrote...

...and he hasn't left any comments on other blogs.

Maybe he has moved to his sister's batch where there is no reception for blogging? He doesn't want to dirty the house before Lynn gets home.

And, talking about chickens, Robert is frequenting another church (it might be Presbyterian) because two old guys have been bothering him.

guy 1                         guy 2

I went for an eye exam this morning. I've got to go back on Thursday to get one checked for something called 'dilation'. While I was waiting, I noticed this sign.

Whatever they were giving away had been very popular.

I guess I'll never know what advice was given.

It is very unusual for Peter not to comment or post. Less unusual for Robert.

Let's see what eventuates.

The Testore Trio and a tap for Peter.

 

For Peter.

And now, the video...

Notice the reference to The Wheels on the Bus at the end.

The Immigrants - tap on the name.

Metro Gnome vs Metronome.

 Poor old TC got himself a bit confused on my last post. He left a comment that seemed to get his old mind trapped into a certain line of thought.

He was referring to this video.

The guitarist and the bassist are tapping their feet (one foot each), but the violinist (me) is not.

Now it pays to be careful when talking to old people, so let me make it clear that we are not talking about one of these.

What he is referring to is two musicians in the video moving a foot up and down. I told him that my time keeping was internal and he got upset. You can read his other comments on my last post.

Okay, I'll try to explain something to the old chap (he's quite a bit older than me).

This is a metronome.

TC, please don't confuse it with a gnome who lives in the city - a metro gnome.

"I'll meet you down at Joe's cafe."

Musicians, well serious musicians, practise playing good time by playing along with a metronome. After a while they internalize different time feels and moving one's foot becomes optional.

TC might be better to research topics like this, rather than fighting with other men at tennis.

Mike, who gets his rackets muddled up.

Roger, who has a different taste in music.

I hope that helps TC. Probably a good idea to go easy on the Cleanskins too. Keep it to two glasses when you are posting.

Ciao.

At Tawa Library.

 Here are a couple of short clips...

My intro to 'The Immigrants'.

And a short bit of Sweet Georgia Brown.

Here are some photos...

Daryl

George

The Testore Trio in action...

Today's Gig.

 

Tawa Library 11am.

It's quite a long gig - we play for half an hour. (I was joking about it being a long gig.) We'll be playing some jazz standards with violin, guitar and six string electric bass. I'm thinking of throwing in 'The Wheels on the Bus' and sort of blending into 'Billie's Bounce'. If my grandson is there, he'll enjoy that one. I'm on the left in the photo. The other two people are George (centre) and Daryl (on the right). We all have the same surname.*

I'll put on some nice tidy clothes for the gig. Please note, Peter, that shorts and a t-shirt wouldn't really be appropriate. 

I also won't be wearing fake hair.

This wouldn't be appropriate either.

No siree, it'll be tidy, sensible clothing today.

Thanks for reading.

* I don't mean 'of Richard's Bass Bag'.

I tracked down Roger's blog! Here's his latest post. I thought you'd all be interested. Remember that there can be two sides to a story.

Hey, there are hairdressers
around here. Why not use one of them?

That idiot Peter turned up to tennis again today (I wasn't there on Tuesday).
He seemed in a snot and ignored me.

He seemed to spend his time watching me. I smiled to myself the way that my 'friend' Paul does.

What is it with people and things whose names start with a 'P'? Peter, Penis, Puke, Paul.

I got out of my ute and could feel his eyes on me, so I played some music from my car. It was easy to sense him feeling superior, like he listens to Haydn, a guy who sounded like all the other composers of his time and used pretty conventional harmonies.

I didn't argue with him - I just ignored him.
After tennis some of us went to the local cafe. Peter didn't come. He probably went home to listen to superior music like Abba or Webern. One of the tennis members made some comments that weren't well thought out. She said that it was hard to play up high on the violin. Then she was rude about Taylor Swift. I had her on about both statements, but she wasn't a listener, so I went out to my ute and turned the music volume up, just to piss her off. I bet she went home and got on the phone to Peter.

I bet Peter will have written a blog post about this. I don't know why, but I keep wanting to call him Wayne.

What rate should Tent Horn be paid if he takes up cleaning?

 

Well, we know he'd do a quick job. Babble, babble, you can't get a word in, babble.

What sort of music would he ask the man of the house to put on?

Maybe that music that Roger plays?

Roger

Before Peter chirps in, let's be fair to Roger - he has never had an abortion, and I bet he has never played Gregorian Chant. Talk about complicated music - Gregorian Chant doesn't have any chords and usually only uses the notes from one mode, often the Dorian mode.

While we're on the topic of Gregorian Chant, I played a jazz gig on Wednesday evening at the Realm in Hataitai - this gig, that features different jazz musicians, has been running for 19 years.

The gig went really well.

The three other guys in the band have Maori heritage and we played some Maori tunes that Poropiti (the sax player in the above picture) had written. These went down very well with the audience.

I played a violin feature.

That seemed to go down well too. There wasn't a big crowd, but they seemed enthusiastic.

Outside it was pissing down and I had to lug my gear quite a way as car parks were scarce. I didn't come across any cleaners, so I couldn't ask them what they were getting paid. No one was playing music from their car either. I surmised that Roger was not in the area. Admittedly I didn't check the Hataitai tennis courts.

I don't know what freelance cleaners charge in Nuova Lazio. Robert might know.