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.

A day at the Museum

We had a little more snow on Wednesday, not much but it certainly didn't do much in the way of aiding the thaw, so yesterday morning once again I looked out and saw settled snow, with the same again this morning, not much but enough to stop me doing any of the work I have in hand, as well as the lack of income I am beginning to get stir crazy, I need to get out and dig, chop, or lop something. I find it very depressing and frustrating when I have work to do, customers waiting, but the weather won't allow it. It is quite nice to have the time off, but when it's not my plan, when I am not in control, not making the choice then it gets very frustrating. And, I need the money to be coming in, especially with income tax due at the end of the month.

At least we did get out for a bit yesterday, as it was my wife's birthday she took the day off and we spent a pleasant couple of hours visiting the Horniman museum. We particularly like the aquarium and the musical instrument gallery, but there is a pretty eclectic collection here, based on the original Horniman collection donated to Londoners back in 1901. It was nice to just spend a bit of time together, just the two of us, no daughter or Mother craving attention, no customers needing stuff done.


After that she went to visit her mother in Hospital (knee replacement) and then we had a nice dinner and a bottle of wine at home. So not such a bad day really ~ if I could just get some work done.

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

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

New Toys

Today I have spent a small fortune on new toys.   On Saturday it is my daughter's birthday, for ages she has been lusting after a proper digital SLR. She had more or less set her heart on a Cannon, but I felt we should at least have a good look around to see what else is on the market, and make sure that whatever we got did what she wanted and was comfortable to use.   I didn't have too much on this afternoon so we took a little trip to our local camera warehouse.   All the staff there know their stuff and are very helpful.  Since they are enthusiasts they don't mind spending time chatting.   I'm glad we did since when we tried them all we ended up with a Nikon.   It was a good deal and she is happy with how it feels and operates.   So result then!

I also bought myself a new toy.   I now have three chain saws, two of them won't even start, I tried to get them repaired but was told that they are too old and the parts aren't available.   I suspect that they are perfectly repairable but I don't have the time or the inclination to try myself.   After a fair it of consideration I decided it was easier and probably cheaper to just buy a new one.   I have a couple of jobs looming where I could really do with it, indeed it will probably hit payback within a few weeks.   There is also the element that knowing I have it available I know I can take on pretty much any job now.

I now have a working chain saw, hedge trimmer and strimmer, next I need to sort out my mowers.

Cut and Run

There are some really good things about my work, for one I can normally see what I have done, and most gardens look better when I leave than when I arrive, and that makes people happy. I started with a new customer today, pretty much all I did was cut her grass. However this made a big difference to the overall look of the garden and she was very happy to start getting her garden back.

Before I got started

It doesn't sound too much but the whole thing had to be strimmed before I could even think about getting a mower on to it. As we had more rain earlier in the morning the whole thing was pretty wet, in places sodden. As I started cutting with the strimmer a fine spray of water came off the grass, making a mist all around me. I was working with the strimmer for about two hours, and that was interspersed with raking up the cut grass. Only after I had strimmed the lawn, and raked up all the cuttings could I get my mower on. even then with the blade at it's highest setting it still clogged up, however after going over it twice I think it looks quite respectable, but I am exhausted, and my right forearm is almost in spasm..

The Supervisor

For a large part of the morning I was supervised by a large black cat, not sure he was impressed by the noise and the destruction of cover, still he stayed around to make sure I did the job properly.
There is a lot more work to do in this garden, but it is more a process than a makeover, I will be there for a few hours every couple of weeks from now on. After this start I should have it looking reasonable after a few visits, and next year it will be a real garden again.

Finished

That's about it on the work front today, but this evening I will be playing a big concert at the Fairfield Hall with the Croydon Symphonic Band.    Assuming that I manage to get any work done during the day I shall be making a quick change into my concert kit before getting over to the concert hall for a final run through before the performance.   Then on Thursday evening we have a meeting with my daughters teachers, all about A levels, she's only just half way through GCSEs and we have to start thinking about A levels and sixth form already. Like it says on the right I am many things, Gardener, Husband, Father, Musician.......

A night out on the town

It's Saturday night and we had a little celebration, it is coming up to a big birthday for my wife so we had to celebrate, during the summer we saw the Spaghetti Western Orchestra play a prom on TV. We enjoyed it so much that we decided there and then to make sure we saw them live next time they were in London. Well they are in London at the moment, they are at the QEH (Queen Elizabeth Hall) until Wednesday, we went to their performance tonight.

Perhaps I should explain that they are not a conventional orchestra, indeed five guys play everything making a much bigger sound than I for one would have thought possible. This is something that comes across so much better live than on a recording or on TV. I know that as a musician I may be biased but it is true, live is best, for sound, communication with the performers, for atmosphere, and for enjoyment.

Without a doubt this has got to be one of the best shows I have ever seen, and the only time that I have spent an entire concert with a smile on my face. By the very nature of the band the repertoire is a little limited but the standard of musicianship and the visual impact of the performance and the production was excellent. While maintaining their high level of musicianship they also managed to extract music from coat hangers, cereal, an apple and sundry oddities (Jaws harp duet!, ukulele, mandolin, bassoon, harmonica and plenty of others). My recommendation is to see them as soon as you get a chance, even if you are not a fan of Morricone you will still find plenty to enjoy, they even had my 14 year old daughter singing along to the Good the Bad and the Ugly! I don't think I can beat the description "Genius and Insane in equal measures"

Anyway take a look at their website http://www.spaghettiwesternorchestra.com/ check out the clips and make an appointment to see them live. I don't think that there are many bands that can entertain my wife, my daughter and me at the same time.

They are nice guys as well, they signed a CD for my wife, with a little note for her birthday - I hope I managed to score a few brownie points tonight!

Weird

I spent a (very) little time in our garden today, amongst the dead leaves I haven't cleared up, all the weeds and shaggy grass we do have some flowers.   In fact we have quite a few flowers out, at the moment Winter Jasmin, Cyclamen, Primulas - not too weird eh? we also have daffodils and roses.

I know this has been a weird year as far as weather goes, we have had a daffodil out on new year before, but I think this is the first time I have seen a pink rose flowering through winter Jasmin.

I start back at work tomorrow, nothing scheduled but plenty to get on with, then there is a shed to mend and on Friday I start what will be the biggest job I will have undertaken since starting the business.   Starting off I have a fair bit of clearing to do, then we will be putting in a large deck and finishing off with a paved area.   I will be doing this job more or less in reverse ideally I would start with the paving then the deck, but the layout of the garden dictates the order.   This is a big job and I will be putting a lot of work into it, and maybe a few posts as well.

On a personal level my wife had to be rushed into A & E and will have to g into hospital for an urgent opp within the next 10 days.   At any moment she could get the call to go, she will then have to stay in Hospital for at least a week, and will then have to be off work for a further three weeks or so.   All in all it looks like we're in for a busy start to the year.