IGNORANCE.

 As usual I read Rob's latest blog post in bed at about 5.30am this morning.

He told us how some stupid woman, who had just been praying the rosary, took his name off a list because he told her he was a cleaner.

IGNORANCE!

A few weeks back I arrived home at midday to find that our house had no taps working - NO WATER! It's one of those things that you don't realise how important it is until you haven't got it. It turned out that a pipe had broken quite a way from our house, and a lot of houses were without water. 

Here is a list of some people who weren't important to us on that day when we spent six hours without water:

Lawyers, university professors, accountants, eye surgeons, astronauts, concert violinists, soldiers, politicians, the prime minister, scientists, wine experts, school principals.

Here's a group of people who were very important:

People who could fix a water pipe.

We had trouble with our toilet cistern quite a few months ago.

At that time the most important person to come to our house was a plumber. 

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER underestimate the importance of jobs like plumbers, electricians and cleaners. If you're ever in a hospital with a bowel condition, I can assure you that cleaners will be among your favourite and most respected people!

* * *

I'm not a fan of AI, most people probably know that. [toilet break]

To make my point, I'm going to write about my violin twice today. I'll aim to write firstly in AI style and then I'll write in my style. Here goes:

Practicing (notice American spelling of the verb) for three hours a day will almost inevitably improve your playing. You'll need to organize (American spelling again) your practice to cover important aspects like tone, bowing, scales and studies. Time must also be spent on your performance repertoire. Three hours of daily practice is what many concert violinists do. Remember to take time to stretch and exercise your muscles and limbs.

Okay, I only achieved two hours of practice yesterday. This was due to being careful with my sore finger (I bought some 'tape' from the chemist to put on it) and, at times, feeling a bit unwell. After I have warmed up my bowing, I like to move through the tunes in my repertoire, picking out bits of them that need practice. It might only be four bars, or it might be longer. For example, with The Orange Blossom Special it is the hokum bowing part that needs regular practice. It really is only four bars that is repeated. The bowing rhythm covers three strings using double stops. If we call, say, the G & D strings 'do' and the D & A strings 'dee', the quaver rhythm (over two bars) goes like this - do do dee do do dee do do dee do do dee do do dee do. It certainly needs regular practice! That's enough information for one day.

* * *

Oops, Robert's posts have gone again. Why does he do that?

Peter's posts are still there. Though I can't tell you when a new one will be written.

He often 'steals' ideas from me. See his last effort about altar boys.

* * *

I saw the Jacinda Ardern film yesterday. I fully recommend it! Quite moving. It was very interesting to see those major events again, the mosque massacre, the volcano, Covid lockdown and the invasion' of parliament grounds by idiots. Quite a lot of the film was shot by Clarke (her husband) and it gives a real inside view - baby, breast feeding, Clarke and Jacinda chatting and having a few laughs, Jacinda with tears, etc. Words like empathy and kindness stick in your mind. That's why I use my sign off statement - Sii gentile (Be kind). That's also the name of my band, when I have one up and running, and my solo performances.

* * *

That's it.

Get your violin practice done.

Sii gentile.