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.

The heater is on.

 Good morning.

Absolutely no practice yesterday. Not a single note on any of my instruments. I got a ring from daddy early yesterday who told me that the electricity was out at childcare and that both he and mummy needed to go into Wellington* for work. Their younger son was okay in his childcare but there was nowhere for the elder boy to go. That's where grandparents come in. H, as he is often called when his name is written, is three. Three year olds are very busy people and grandma and I were both exhausted by the end of the day. There was definitely no time for music practice. I'll try to make up some of that time today. The poor old double bass feels forgotten. The other day I showed H my violin to show him the similarity and main difference (size) between a double bass and a violin. He told me that the violin would make a good double bass for Henry, his 13 month old little brother. He often seems to outsmart me!

Today Shelley has 'balance', which I will drive her to, and I need to pop into Wellington to pick up a school violin that needed some work on it. Then it'll be H later in the day. So, it'll be another busy day.

Rob has been writing posts from the Philippines. Interesting stuff. It seems that it can be very difficult to get toilet paper over there. Obviously not a good place for me to visit. Hey, it's also full of Catholics. 

Peter actually wrote a post. I left some comments to cheer him up. To save you having to go over and read it, here is the most informative part of it.

"I've been busy today having done a major and breathtakingly expensive supermarket shop (it'll be cat food and cleanskin wine for us soon) after taking cardboard cartons to the recycling centre and then going to play golf. I played 6 holes only but played them very well so I'm reconsidering my opinion of Berhampore golf course."

You probably understand now why I had to help out with the comments. His post will not turn out to be a comments magnet, I can promise you that!

Maybe his post will attract nails?

Well, that's it from me. Let's all be thankful for toilet paper.

Ciao.

* Wellington includes the suburb of Thorndon, where some people might be drinking Cleanskins soon, so I've been told.

Off to work.

 Another cold morning. *

Video HERE.

* Peter style post.

Up, heater on.

 Another cold morning.

I practised my three instruments yesterday. 2 1/2 hours in total. I won't be expecting me to do every instrument every day, but I will be giving preference to the violin. 

Today's plan: 

- Take Shelley to 'balance'.

- Haircut.

- Go for a walk.

- Practice.

- Go to the supermarket.

- Pick up the boy from childcare.

C E G Eb - Eb G Bb F# - F# A# C# A - A C# E C 

This is a John Coltrane lick. It works over C7 or C7b9. It's made up of notes from the diminished scale starting on a semitone - C Db D# E F# G A Bb C. Bear in mind that I'm using some enharmonic notes there.

Enharmonic?

A# = Bb, Db = C#, etc.

I mention that for anyone who is not schooled up on music theory.

Peter's last post was hardly a post.

In a time when Rob has buggered off overseas you'd think that this is a good time for Peter to help out by writing some posts. He did sort of try with a post named *** POST CANCELLED ***. He starts off by mentioning some guy called Martin Heidegger, then he writes, "But, blow me down, today has sprung (well, Autumn really) a surprise in the form of blue sky and sunshine so no Heideggerian posers for you readers today I'm sorry. I'm off for a nice walk and hopefully some tennis in the afternoon.
Auf Wiedersehen." And, along with a silly picture, that's it!

There was a silly comment under the picture
but we won't bother with that.

This is why you're better off coming to Richard's Bass Bag.*

Okay, I think I'll start the day with some guitar practice, followed by a short walk.

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

Welcome back, old friend.

 I have decided to start practising my guitar again.

Yes, I know, that's three instruments I have to practise now. I have two guitars, but the one shown here is my favourite. It makes such a great sound. It's a small instrument, I think it's called a box guitar. There is nothing small about its sound. When I bought it, quite a few years ago, I had a pickup installed. My plan is to do most of my guitar practice in the evening, though time will tell. Why the evening? Well, hopefully it will take over the time I waste sitting on the couch and looking at Facebook. Don't worry, my violin will still occupy first position.

Obviously, I'll still be working on my double bass pieces too.

Here's an old video of my Gretsch in action.

Hey, that was quite a few years ago!

What's happening around the blogs.

Nothing really. Rob has buggered off overseas and, as you know, we only get the occasional post from Peter - normally about something in his house, like fixed windows, or a video of a song he likes. Don't worry though, Richard's Bass Bag* will be here for your reading enjoyment!

Well, that's about it from me this morning. I think I might put in a bit of time on my guitar.

Enjoy your Sunday and stay away from Catholic churches. Hey, it's only a mortal sin for not going to mass.

Ciao.

* the original bass bagging site

Morning has broken - just.

 I'm dressed and my heater is on.

No post from Rob this morning. Obviously nothing from Peter.

I plan to drop off some feijoas at Peter's at about 11.20am today. It doesn't matter if he's out walking or picking up things from his storage unit to sell, I'll leave them by his front door. It'll be a roundabout trip because I have to drop Shelley at 'balance'* and then pick her up at midday. I think, from memory, it's Lynn who really likes feijoas and not Peter. Peter prefers a pie but I'm not giving mine away.

Tomorrow morning I pick up Rob and L at 7am to take them to the airport. They're off to the Philippines. A big adventure for Rob that will probably mean no blog posts for a while. Though maybe he can still post from over there? Only his god knows.

"I know, but I'm not telling you."

I'm practising my 30 memorised tunes at the moment. I don't mean right now, I mean during practice time. I must get some double bass done too. You'll remember that I have 6 solo pieces, written by me, that I'm working on. I have no gigs, for either of my instruments, on the horizon. I guess this is why people take up busking, particularly as they get older. 

I have written this post without using RZ. Remember I told you about RZ in my last post? Ah well, if you didn't read the post, that's your problem.

That's it, I'm off.

Ciao tutti.

* Exercise for old(er) people at our local library.

A B C D E F G H I The truth behind AI.

 I see that bloggers around here have been looking into AI. In reality they're like musicians who only play in one key.

AI covers nine letters of the alphabet (A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 I) and can really start on any letter. Let's take Peter's name - P Q R S T U V W X. Now let's look at Rob's - R S T U V W X Y Z. So, Peter should be using PX and Rob should be using RZ. I think that the old blogger boys should look into this.

* * *

Yesterday was quite a busy day, but I did manage to get 1 1/2 hours of practice done. 30 minutes of that was on the double bass. Not too bad. As you may know, I'm really into playing my violin like a singer. At our recent PBs jam we played a lot of tunes that no one had practised or played before. Daryl (on bass) was onto it, but I noticed that the other three boys were struggling a bit and two of them spent quite a bit of time playing percussion instruments. Playing like a singer gives your playing a whole new dimension. Though, I did notice that the lady who sang with us sang songs that she knew in keys she felt comfortable with. I played on every song, as did Daryl. I played a lot of melodies that I had never played before. No one said, "Well done, Rich." I guess they all had egos to look after. 

I'm presently making sure that all of my 30 tune repertoire is well memorised. If I ever get to play it anywhere, I won't have any written music in front of me. Actually, there were only four tunes that I didn't have fully memorised already. I've done some work on those.

* * *

Okay, okay, I admit it! I did use RZ to write my musical bit of the post today. 

That's it from me.

Enjoy your day and don't waste time worrying about sin. Especially if you're not a Catholic.

Ciao tutti.

Some interesting thoughts for all you readers.

 

BLANK

Sorry, but I have to go to work.

Ciao.

Another cold morning.

 

Again, not my actual heater.

I'm off to work soon. The car warms up when I climb the Nui hill. I'll look forward to that. 

Rob heads overseas on Saturday, to a place that has week weeks. "Here's where we will be based. In the second week week go to a little island resort for 3 days at the very top of Panay." Maybe they use a different form of English there? Sort of like how Americans talk about sidewalks and spell things differently. 

Peter wrote a short post yesterday. He seems to have a thing about a guy named Samuel Beckett. Ah well, it keeps him busy. Remember that Peter is the guy who uses the phrase, "For cough." I assume that means, "For a cough." Maybe he meant 'far cough' and just forgot to proofread again?

Okay, I'm off to work.

Ciao.

Monday morning and it's cold.

 

Not my actual heater, but you get the idea.

Far cough.

 I see that TC has been busy using a term 'for cough'.

"For cough."

He seems to have stolen this from my phrase 'far cough', which is a cough in the distance. He is a bit of a Benedict and seems to, as he and Rob do, have got the phrase a bit muddled. Boy, I hope he's not wearing that silly hat in Thorndon or on the Berhampore gold course.

The PBs are getting together for a jam this afternoon. I'll take Signora Violina and my little amp. I'll let the boys call the tunes. Don't expect much jazz because Daryl is the only brother who really knows how to play jazz. Hey, that's okay. I like playing my violin like a singer - getting through tunes I haven't played before by using my ears. Rob mentioned in his latest post that he won't be using the diminished whole tone scale. No big surprise there. Personally, I'm more interested in using diminished scales but augmented sounds are important too. Hey, I suspect there won't be much need for them today. Anyway, it'll be nice to see the boys and play some tunes. 

At present I'm working on the four tunes in my thirty tune repertoire that I haven't got memorised. That's enough tunes, with a few short breaks, for a three hour gig. If a gig ever comes my way, I'd like to do it with no music. Well, I already can, if I leave those four tunes out, but let's go the whole hog. I'd use my backing tracks on a gig because I think it makes it easy for the listeners to hear the whole thing, as it were. 

Hey it's time for me to far cough and get a few things done.

This one's a bit close.

Ciao tutti.

Nothing to say.

 

Well, I guess I could tell you about the diminished whole tone scale. 

Starting on C this would be C Db D# E F# G# Bb C and it would work well over a C7#5#11 chord. 

Okay, I can tell no one is interested.

Ah well, I might as well just wrap this up.

Bye.

Lack of haircut pulls in comments.

 Ah, so that's how you get comments!

Both of the elderly bloggers are concerned about my disability to get a haircut.

"Can't you get one in the Nui?"

"I'm not sure how you spell 'Waiwetu', is it Wyfetu? Why can't you get a haircut there?"

"What's wrong with Thorndon? You've got a car. Drive there!"

"Buy some scissors and do it yourself!"

Well, I'm certainly getting comments now!

I've been going to a hairdresser in Queensgate Mall for quite a few years. I've got to know a lady there and, to be honest, haven't thought about going somewhere closer. When I arrived there yesterday they were busy and I waited for twenty minutes. They did nothing wrong, they were just busy. I had other things to do, so I decided to leave the haircut. No big deal really. I think I will find somewhere closer to home. Just for convenience. Ah well, it got me some comments.

I did some good violin practice yesterday. I've been doing quite a bit of work on diminished scales. I also spent an hour playing through my 'with a backing track' repertoire. There are 30 tunes in that repertoire. Maybe I'll get a chance to play it somewhere, sometime?

It's another cold morning in the Nui. I'm up early because I need to take Shelley's car for a warrant check in Seaview. Oops, that'll start the old boys off again!

"Why not get it done in Whyneweomarter?"

"There's a place in Island Bay that could do it."

"Try Mowerror."

Gsus!

I see Rob has posted this morning. He wasn't impressed to see a statue of a Hindu godess at the creche he has been cleaning. Why? He says, "I wonder if parents really want their toddlers being familiarized with eastern spiritual entities? They'd be safe with a statue of the BVM; not so sure with spirits bordering on the demonic." In case you don't know BVM stands for Bloody Virgin Mary. I don't know what makes her so safe for toddlers. Is that because no bonking was involved when she had her kid? Well, she really got bonked by the old god, God the Father's name tells us that. What a strange religion those Catholics have!

No post from Peter. Hey, to be fair, he has probably dropped his phone in the bath again. Why can't he just leave it in the kitchen or by his bed?

That's it from me. I have a WOF to sort out. I will get some bass practice done today too.

Ciao tutti.

See...

 ...no haircut.

No comments...

 ...no haircut.

They were too busy. I suppose the boys must be too.

Nessun commento:

What happens when your hairdresser is busy too often.

Another stimulating morning on the blogs?

 Good morning. I think I'll get a haircut today. Before that I'll have a peanut butter toasted sandwich, I'll have a shower and I'll take my pills. Hey, I know that doesn't sound very exciting but what else have you got to read on the blogs this morning? Rob briefly told us about a book he was reading and paying his accountant for sorting out his tax return. Peter's last effort, if you can call it that, was yesterday when he handed us over to his 'Agony Aunt'. 

Boar ring.

Obviously I'll be doing some practice today. I only managed one hour on each of the last two days. Going to work and then picking up my elder grandson took up quite a bit of my time. I'll try to make up for it today. I'd better get some double bass practice in there too.

What else can I tell you?

Hang on, I'll make that toasted sandwich first. 

Done and dusted.

[I'll add a bathroom visit to that list of things to do this morning.]

Okay, there is really nothing more to tell you, so I'll get this day underway.

Ciao.

Really no time to post this morning.

 Though, I must say that a comment by Rob on my last post has disappeared.

A post, but not my blog post.

STRANGE.

Hey, I know his blog disappears a lot. Maybe this is just a minor version of that?

Well, I'm off to work on this cold morning. I have pills to take and I need a shave, and possibly a bathroom visit. I've just had a peanut butter sandwich.

Have fun but develop a good set of morals that have nothing to do with sin.

Ciao.

The day starts with a banana toasted sandwich.

 I'm up and cold. I got dressed fast and have the heater on full.

Lovely.

I got two hours of practice done yesterday. I've been doing quite a bit of work on diminished scales and arpeggios. I've also run over the two whole tone scales. Yes, there are only two. Just like there are only three diminished arpeggios and three diminished scales for playing over dominant 7th chords and three diminished scales for playing over minor chords. These sounds give lovely character to a solo. 

I don't think that Robert likes me replacing the c**t word with Catholic. He said, in one comment, "As Phillip Jenkins said in 2003 anti-catholicism is the "last acceptable prejudice"." Okay, maybe I'll have to find another word. 'Benedict' would work because he certainly was a c**t. What Catholics forget is that, through their clergy, the Catholic church has done a lot of harm. I'm talking about hands up little boys' pants, etc., etc. I remember some very sadistic nuns too.

I'm off to work soon. I didn't sleep well last night, but I'm up early because it was cold in bed. 

Ciao tutti.

Here we are again...

Happy as can be.

All Good friends and

Jolly good company.

The heater is on. I've seen that Rob has posted and Peter hasn't. That's what I'd expect to see.

Rob tells us he's up early, "... to clean the creche which RBB says isn't a kindergarten." I didn't actually say that. There are childcare centres and kindergartens. Quite a few of these places fulfil both functions. Ah well. He also tells us, "Those in purgatory desperately need our prayers." I don't know how he knows who is in purgatory. He has got to be guessing. Never mind. 

Rob also left a comment on Peter's blog saying, "Did you hear me beep at 12.40? I drove passed to show K your house." Rob, you drove past Peter's house, and there you are criticising (in a comment) my lack of vocabulary! Gsus!

I practised for two hours yesterday. Not too bad. 1/2 an hour on the double bass and 1 1/2 hours on the violin. I won't tell you what I practised because I know that no one is really interested.

Moving on.

No gigs coming up but the PBs are having a play on Sunday. Oh, yes, I told you about that in my last post. What else have I got to tell you? Nothing really. I really need some biblical quotes like Rob likes to drop into his posts.

Derek 23:7 Gsus was walking through a town and he spotted a group of people praying. He walked close to them and listened. "Lood, please save the people in Purgatory and don't send them to Hell." "Who is Lood?" Gsus asked. "He is a fourth person who missed out on getting into the Blessed Trinity. He's the older brother of God the Son." a man told him. "Well, that would make him my older brother and I've never heard of him." said Gsus. The people ignored him and carried on praying. Gsus walked on, looking for someone else to bother.

I hope you enjoyed that biblical quote. I hope you learned something from it. 

What a wonderful chord the dom7b9 chord is! Oh, that's right, you're not interested.

Hey, I feel like a banana toasted sandwich. I should eat something before taking my pills. It might mean another trip to the bathroom, but what the hell!

I was told, at Peter's place on Saturday, that I'm not allowed to use the 'c' word. I'm talking about the word that has 'u' as its second letter. I think it is troia in Italian. I did get called tonto when I was in Italy. That's pretty close too. 

Okay, okay, I've run out of things to say.

I think I'll leave it there for today.

I'll go and make that banana toasted sandwich and take my pills.

Ciao tutti.

No coffee this morning.

 Today is Rest The Bathroom Day.

RTBD

It was great to see Peter and Lynn yesterday. They have plenty of bathrooms, so it was a relaxing visit. Thanks guys. I found a good park too!

Today is Mother's Day. I always think that it should be Mothers' Day because there are a lot of mothers out there. I gave Shelley a gift, even though she is not really my mother.

I must make sure that I get some double bass practice done today. I only did half an hour's practice on my violin yesterday. Ah well, that sort of makes it like a rest day. I'll endeavour to make up for it today. I probably should record my six original double bass unaccompanied pieces, not that anyone really cares. Well, I do. Recording is a very good form of practice. You certainly find out what you need to work on. 

The PBs are having a play next Sunday. I'll take my violin. There will already be basses at Daryl's place. He has converted his large garage space into a music room. It'll be interesting to see the finished product. It has been functioning as a music room for quite a while, but he has put in some finishing touches. 

Well, that's it from me for this morning. Hey, I forgot to tell you that Lynn and Peter have some amazing art on display in their residence. I didn't see anything that I didn't like! Well done, you two.

Oh, and judging by the comment he left on my last post, I think that Robert wants it known that he does believe in sin and will continue going to confession. Ah well, that's his problem. 

Ciao tutti.

Saturday and I'm heading out for lunch.

 

Good morning. I did two hours of violin yesterday. I didn't do any double bass. Well, it's unlikely that I'll ever get another double bass gig. Though I do have six original pieces that I constantly practise. I worked on a few of my violin pieces yesterday, with particular effort put into two Bebop tunes - A Night in Tunisia and Anthropology. Anthropology has the subtitle 'Thriving on a Riff'. As I've told you before, it uses what are referred to as Rhythm Changes. A common thing that pops up in quite a few of my chosen jazz tunes is the progression m7b5 to dom7b9. I practised playing over this progression yesterday. The b5 and the b9 in this progression are the same note and it opens things up for substituting with a diminished triad. That gives a really nice effect to your solo. Talking about double bass gigs, or lack of them, I'm hardly inundated with violin gigs either. For example, May is Music Month. In past years I have been asked to play at libraries. Nothing this year. Never mind.

I'm off to see Peter and Lynn today.

I couldn't find one of these at the supermarket
yesterday, so I had to buy a different bottle.

I've been told that I can't bring pies. Ah well, it'll be great to see them. Shelley is coming too. Finding a park could be interesting. Peter suggested, in a comment, that I park in Mount Victoria. That's helpful advice. Not.

I read Rob's latest post this morning. He has been practising his bowls and has gotten rid of his golf clubs. He also said that he sees my point about sin. He implied that he'll stop wasting his time by going to confession to tell stuff to paedophiles. Good on you, Rob!

It has been very windy in the Nui. I've just been out looking for our elderly neighbour's newspaper which we deliver to her door. The person who delivers it throws it on her drive. I don't know why it can't be put in her letterbox. I even hopped in my car and drove around adjoining streets. No sign. I'm having a coffee to settle down my lungs. Yes, I know what will be required next. [Bathroom.]

While I'm at it, another thing that annoys me is that on wet rubbish collection days the people who empty the bins always leave the lids open. It would take half a second to close them, then the bins wouldn't fill with rainwater. I don't think they give a shit.

Well, it's nearly time to think about getting some practice done. No gigs? Who cares? I enjoy the challenge of getting better.

[Bathroom is calling.]

I'd better go.

Ciao.