New Year, New Leaf

It is that time of year when you sit back and take a good hard look at how you have done over the last year, well some things have gone OK and some not so much so.   It was good to have a holiday (I missed out in 2011) and the business is still going, on the other hand I have not been playing as much as I would have liked and I am tired too much of the time.   So it's now time to look ahead at what I want to achieve over the coming year.   I am going to limit myself to six things and I am going to try to make them SMART that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

1 To achieve solvency ~ I think I may have mentioned before that money is an issue, like so many other people I ran up credit card and other debt that I suddenly found I could no longer service. I have had to make "arrangements" with my creditors and have, with difficulty being sticking to these arrangements. Towards the end of 2013 I anticipate a small windfall, nothing substantial, but it should be enough to settle everything except the mortgage, that would be a very nice feeling!

2 To take off one day each month, solely for my own edification. I have tried to do this a few times but have always ending up missing a few, these are my days to go to an art exhibition visit a garden or house, time to myself to go out and do something that will inspire and enlighten me. I have already set this in motion I have booked for a couple of exhibitions at the Royal Academy.

3 To spend quality time with my wife, to restore our relationship and to get better at communicating. I think we have started this and things have improved over the last month or so, but I am still very aware that I could "blow it" big time with one false move. When our daughter was born I bought my wife a gold chain, a couple of years ago it broke, as part of her Christmas present I had it repaired, this was meant to be symbolic of my determination to repair our relationship, I hope this was noticed.

4   I mentioned I am tired a lot of the time, too often wake up on the same day that I go to bed, I will aim to go to bed on the same day as I wake up more often.

5   Last year (2012) I managed to visit Wells Cathedral, something I have longed to do for ages, this coming year I want to visit Ely and Lincoln Cathedrals, I long to visit Durham as well (or instead) but I think Ely and Lincoln could be achieved on a single trip over two or three days.   I know that this may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I do enjoy visiting Cathedrals, especially the old ones.

Ely Cathedral

6 To play more music, by this I mean both recorded music to listen to and as an instrumentalist. I need to do more (or indeed any) practise, especially on the tuba, I have noticed that I am not as good a player as was even a couple of years ago. I think that a lot of this is down to my conducting, this takes a lot of the time that I was previously devoting to playing, and I have not made up for it any other time. To a certain extent it is just keeping the muscles in trim, but I definitely need to play the bass guitar more so that I can get to the level where I am playing the music, rather than the instrument! It also struck me the other day that I rarely get to listen to music, the television tends to dominate in our household, but I am determined that I should listen to more of the music I know I love, and some that I don't know, I think this is one of the ways that we grow as musicians, exposure to new music as well as looking deeper into what we already know and love. It could be as simple as retuning the radio to Radio 3 and Classic fm occasionally rather than leave it stuck on Radio 4.

Maybe these are not all very SMART, but they are at least all timed. I'm not always good at making changes, but it is always worth trying to change the things you are not happy with.

Am I Getting Old

The other morning I woke up later than planned, and feeling definitely second hand, I had far too much to drink the previous night and paid the price in the morning. Too make matters more complicated I had at least some sense and didn't drive home but "crashed" at my friends house, so in the morning I had to go home, get changed and then get to work, only around an hour late.

I don't think I was giving prime value for money, I just can't do this sort of thing anymore. I have to admit that I'm no longer a teenager, there was a time when I could (and did regularly) do this sort of thing with little care, now I am wasted for the whole of the following day, ahh another aspect of growing old.

We went out again that night, and for once I volunteered to drive and not drink,  it has to be said that not drinking did not have any impact on how much I enjoyed the evening.   This is a time of year when introspection is very much to the fore, maybe this is an aspect of my lifestyle that could bare a little self inspection.

'Tis the season......

As a tuba player I am suddenly in a lot of demand, on Thursday evening we played carols around our Parish, four brass players and a little choir while others knocked on doors and handed out mince pies sweets and a list of the Christmas services in the Parish over Christmas. As we are a joint benefice with two ministers and two Churches there are quite a lot of services. Then on Friday evening we had an outdoors carol service in front of one of our Churches, this time three brass and electric keyboard along with the choir. All great fun and a good thing to do but none the less pretty tiring after a days work, on both days I didn't get home and have any dinner till around ten.

So it was nice yesterday to have a bit of lie-in before driving down to Hever Castle for a final concert of the year, this time with a different local Brass Band playing BBb bass. It was good to play some different music and meet up with some old friends, also the way the castle and grounds were lit up was very pretty, indeed I wondered about using the title "Hever on Earth" I didn't have a camera with me so these shots are ones I took on my rather poor quality phone camera.


It seems odd but I realised the other day that I only seem to play Mrs T (my old Hawkes Cavalry Model BBb) at Christmas, I used a band instrument yesterday evening so Mrs T went back up into the attic for another year. This evening I will be playing at our main Parish Carol Service for what feels like the first time for ages I will be using "the new toy" my Conn CC. I shall have to find some time today to have quick practise to see if I can remember which fingers to use!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

I'm not the most enthusiastic person when it comes to Christmas, in fact in many ways I'm a bit of a Scrooge. I can't get into the "Christmas spirit" until I have played a few Christmas gigs, well this weekend I have managed two. Yesterday evening the Brass Band played at Brookwell Park Lido, maybe not the most prestigious of venues, but alongside the choir from St Paul's Church over the road we had a great time, playing carols and Christmas songs. We had a good audience with a great age range, from some quite small children to some ladies of much more "mature" years. For once my wife came along as well, we had a good time, and on the way home stopped for a quick drink, all in all a good evening.

Today I took a little trip up to town with Mrs T (my pre first world war Hawkes and Sons BBb Cavalry model tuba) to join with around 40 other tuba players to play some carols on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. I missed this event last year but have played the previous four or five, and I suspect that this was one of the smaller turn outs. I don't know why since the weather was nice and mild, and there had been a fair amount of publicity so I would have expected more like 70 or 80. Still there is nothing like the sound of massed tubas playing carols in four part harmony, it was good to meet up with some old friends. It's a bit early for there to be any photos available on the Internet so this is one I took on my phone as I arrived, I shall be checking over the next few days and if there are any good ones I will stick them up.

Audition

This mornings post brought the usual seasonal selection of Christmas cards and bills, along with one large A4 envelope addressed to all of us. This letter was from the BRIT school, a while back my daughter applied for the sixth form there, we were told that we would hear from them by the beginning of April. We had steeled ourselves to a long wait, so I was very pleased when I opened the letter to find that my daughter has an audition and interview next month.

There could be a lot of pressure on her over this, she has an audition piece to prepare, and another to learn for a theory test. They also want a letter explaining how she is preparing, sounds like a lot of work, but I'm sure it will be worth it. I can't imagine her being happy unless she is singing and playing, one way or another I am sure she will be involved in the music business.

There is also the added attraction the school is a lot closer than her current school, Selhurst is within walking distance whereas her current school is the best part of an hour's journey each way. It would be really nice if she could not have to do that journey anymore. Many (many) years a ago I attended the Selhurst Grammar school (for Boys) the BRIT School has taken over the buildings of the Selhurst Grammar School (for Girls) next door. If she does get in I truly hope that she will be a lot happier there than I was next door.

Somehow it sort of puts my evenings work into some kind of perspective, I will be conducting the local Brass Band in an outside "singalong" of Christmas songs, still it should be fun and they are providing "Bambi burgers" and mulled wine

Frosty

Wednesday mornings I go to an early morning prayer meeting at my Church, at the moment this means getting up early (for me) and getting out while it is still dark and before breakfast.   By the time we are finished it has got light and we can begin to see something of the day.   This morning that meant frost and mist.   Walking back home through the local park I was struck by the beauty of the trees covered in frost, I was quite sorry that I didn't have my camera with me.

When I got home I could see some details of the garden picked out by the frost, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.   While I am not particularly looking forward to going out into the cold again to do some garden work, I am cheered by the beauty of these images.

 

Later today I will be cooking for the final session of the Alpha Course we have been running, this will be quite a big deal, since it is the last night I will be preparing a three course meal including a hot dessert, and as yet I haven't even done the shopping.   So I am in for another busy day, set in a busy week, and next week I start my two days a week in the office, as well as all the gardening work; and this is meant to be my quite time!

Up Dates

Written mid day Monday 10th December 2012

 

I am thinking of running a series of pictures of Christmas trees, here is the first example.            I keep missing a few days of posting so this is a quick catch up, I have been very busy with lots of different things

Saturday night my Symphonic Band played a concert at my Church, my first "Christmas" event of the year. As I was in effect the host this meant I had to set up, move the platform around set up chairs, while my wife and daughter prepared mulled wine and fruit juices, mince pies and "nibbles", decorated the tree etc. I also had to introduce the band and plug the appeal. The evening was a great success, the band and audience both enjoyed themselves and we raised over £450 for the food box operation we run. All very good but by the end we were all a bit drained.

• Sunday and I found I was on rota for both morning and evening services, due to the timing this left little time for much else apart from having lunch. I find that of all the different roles I have in the Church family that praying for others can be one of the more draining, so yesterday we made a point of praying for each other after we had prayed for others, I think this is a good thing and we shall continue to do it.
• In amongst all this I have had to arrange three pieces for the Brass Band for tonight's (Monday's) rehearsal so we can perform them on Saturday, they are only short pieces but it all takes time, I have completed the arrangements but still have to print out the parts.

In short a very busy, but progressive time. I also expect to have a lot of work on (which is good) as tomorrow I will be seeing one of my consultancy customers about taking on a period of office cover which would mean two days a week for a few months. This would be a big change in the way I work, but would give a much needed financial boost and some useful security.

Widening the Franchise

I have just had it pointed out to me that I have not posted much for quite a while.   It seems that I will go through a period of regular posting then just let it slip, well here goes again, this time with quite a heavy one.

Those of you who know me know that I am a big fan of marriage, and so want to see the institution flourish. It looks like the Government will soon be publishing a bill extending the opportunity to be married to same sex couples. At first I believed all the hype from some Christian activist websites and e-mail news that this was a re-definition of marriage, that Churches would be forced into having to hold ceremonies against their firmly held believes, that in short this was the end of society as we know it.

The case against

This is not a crazy as it sounds after all marriage is the bedrock of our society, it is the standard context for a family, and although it has been through a time where marriages are breaking up more and more, there does seem to be no popular taste for abandoning it as our standard for living. I was interested to hear David Cameron saying that they will now after all allow same sex marriages in places of worship, as a response to the consultation! Several Churches and synagogues want to be able to solemnise these marriages, just as I now feel that people who happen to be born homosexual should not be denied the joy, the dignity, and the security of true marriage, then neither should those of faith be denied the opportunity to have this solemnised in Church, or indeed neither should the Church be denied the opportunity to serve it's members in this way. It seems that for once I am actually agreeing with David Cameron and the Government (if not the Conservative party), I find this somewhat uncomfortable but when I find I am wrong I am prepared to change my mind!

The case for

I do think it is important that there is protection for those religious groups who are opposed to this, whatever their faith, and there may well be areas of law such as equality and human rights legislation that have to be looked at to accommodate them, without such an accommodation I cannot see such a bill getting through Parliament, and I now feel that it is more important that as a society we should allow all who wish to be married to be married. This is not a re-definition of marriage, more a widening of the franchise.

The Church of England has a pretty poor track record recently of following the will of it's members, this may be an opportunity for the (all male still) Bishops to take a lead, make sure that the rights of individual Churches are protected, while not impinging on the rights of individual people