JPM Gardens

As evidenced by the number of posts I manage to make here you can be pretty sure that I a not that much of a dedicated Blogger, I have lots of other calls on my time, family, work, bands, orchestras etc. etc.

My work will always take quite a lot of time and effort, to a great extent that is the nature of self employment, when you are self employed there is no Human Resources Department, no Marketing Department, no Accounts Department, no IT Department to help out we have to do it all.   Well I have made one small adjustment and have started another blog, but one that will not require much in the way of regular updating but one that I hope people will enjoy looking at.

Basically it is just a series of photos of jobs I have done, flower beds, patios and steps.   A little bit of this and that, all the things in a garden that need doing I that I do.

Pop over and take a look at JPM Gardens

The Black and White Show

No I don't mean underskirts, I worry about slipping up, making a mistake especially when it comes to getting everything right for a performance.    I have nightmares about arriving at the wrong venue (it has happened on one occasion I arrived at the Roman Catholic Southwark Cathedral instead of the Anglican one), or with the wrong clothes (again it happens white shirt instead of black etc.) so I like to make sure I avoid these sort of slips.

 Last night I agreed to play in a concert with a local band that I am not a member of but am a good friend to.   Just to make sure that I had all the details correct I sent a text message to the conductor.

"OK for Sat. please confirm time venue and dress"
The reply;~
"7pm St. Paul's Church.  Black dress for you"
 As he often wears a kilt as formal wear I replied
"Are you suggesting I wear a dress to distract the audience from you wearing a skirt?"

Having said all that I do have night mares, real night mares about getting on stage and not having my music, sometimes I wake up in near panic about a concert that isn't even real, but where I found myself on the stage all dressed up with my instrument and ready to play a solo but with no music so unable to perform, any way to get back to the point,

After taking a shower I took note of what I ad been told a put on a black dress shirt and trousers, and as it was a warm night didn't bother with a jacket.   When I got to the concert all the men were wearing dinner jackets with white shirts and all but two of the ladies were wearing black bottoms and white tops ~ ARGHHHH.   I'm, glad I had the conductors text with me to show why I was wearing all black.

A Big Disappointment

"My faith is very important to me" when ever I hear this sort of thing I tend to think that the speaker has it all wrong, faith shouldn't be important to you, it should be central to who you are.   My Church is something I do, a group I am a member of and activities I undertake, my Church is very important to me.   A bit like when Bill Shankley was asked how important Football was he replied that" some people think it is matter of life or death, they're wrong, it's more important than that".    So my faith is central too who and what I am, it dictates my attitudes and my behaviour, my Church is very important because it is part of the where and how I express my faith.

I say all this by way of preamble to explain why I was so disappointed yesterday to hear a talk from the pulpit of my Church that I just could not agree with.   While it was meant to be on the subject of wisdom taking James 3 as the text, it ended up as being a poorly put together attack on rationality.   I am used to hearing members of the Church voice homophobic views and embracing creationism, however to hear it from front apparently as the sanctioned view of the Church was more than disappointing.    I like to think of myself as a tolerant person but this has pushed me over the edge, I have done something I hoped I would never feel the need to do, I have written to the Rector complaining.   I have tried not sound like Mr Angry from Tunbridge, rather I am encouraging him to be more cautious about who is allowed to speak and to monitor what is said.

I know this is not really quite the sort of thing many of you may come here to read, but this is about the whole of me, all of me, I am not just a tuba payer, I am a Husband, a Father, a Son, a Musician, a Gardener, a Friend, and a Christian.

A Good Thing

Most of the time we just potter through life getting on with our own little lives, but every now and then we get the chance to do something, to stand up get noticed and influence people, to do something important.   For most people most often this will happen when it is something that effects us directly, but as a musician every now and then we have the opportunity to do something important.  

Last weekend a few members of the Croydon Band had one of those opportunities.    We were asked to play at an event in Croydon Town centre for IDAHO, that is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.   A selection of gay, and trans groups combined with some local Churches to promote freedom within diversity.   Freedom from violence, abuse, and prejudice.   I'm not sure how much effect this first local event will have, but there did appear to be some conversations being had and notice was taken.

I don't know whether the band will be back next year but I will be as it seems to me that this is A Good Thing

Every Silver Lining has a Cloud

I know I have talked about the value of having something to look forward to, I have looking forward to an orchestra rehearsal on Sunday, so that I can start to familiarise myself with the music we will be playing and get some serious playing done on the trombone again.   Since I am not a bank I have only just worked out that Monday is a Bank Holiday, the rest of the week is half term, so no orchestra Rehearsal on Sunday and no Band rehearsal on Wednesday.   Foolishly I have arranged to work on Saturday and have one appointment on Monday, I think I will try to rearrange Monday so we can go out together and watch the sprints at Crystal Palace.

It seems that as a family we rarely get to do much together, of course at the moment much of our emotional energy is absorbed by the GCSE exams, that will then be replaced by performances by one or the other of my daughter or me, to go out as a family together and just enjoy the day will be good.

Having said all that without the rehearsals I was expecting I shall have to do at least some practise, and I do need some time off.   Not sure how I am going to engineer that, maybe I should just wait and see if it rains, and then sort out my silver lining

Go on, yo know you want to

I have actually been doing a fair bit of playing recently, lots of practise / rehearsal on trombone for a concert in a couple of weeks, and a bit on the electric bass for services at Church, and of course my regular nights at CSB on tuba.

I have taken a plunge that I meant to make months ago, I have resigned as MD of the Brass Band, although I have enjoyed the job enormously and found the musical challenge very stimulating, I just don't have the time for the commitment, sometimes family is just more important.

Valuable Tips

No matter how experienced, or competent a performer we may be we can always do with learning from the valuable experience of others.

These are all from one of my favourite cartoon strips 9 Chickweed Lane.

We have been having a busy performance based week, on Wednesday my Daughter had a public run through of the song she would be singing at her audition for the BRIT school, on Thursday I had a Brass Band Concert, then on Friday my Daughter had her audition.

Today we will be going down to Brighton to buy her a new guitar, then tomorrow I will be playing Electric Bass at the morning service, before dashing up to London for an Orchestra rehearsal.