Category Archives: history

Copacetic

Delta Ladies, Diana Stones Songs, glass cage, music, Musings, other, whatever

Here is a recent Jazz fusion type tune that I recorded.
Violin plus Rhodes Piano and Fretless Bass sound.

I just escaped from Martins Charity Irish session at the Mill hotel in Bedford (In aid of the recent disaster at  Creeslough ). 3 hours worth, so I was all fiddled out by that point. Nearly got stuck in the car park, with a tickety machine malfunction, but all sorted. It got really irish so I was blagging it on the violin to the max. Lots of people there so the charity hat filled up well. I am knackered today, 3 hours of fiddling has done me in. It was good fun and a worthwhile cause. There was an accordionist (Italian/Irish perhaps? ) We also played a latin thing and the Theme from the godfather then we segwayed into Molly Malone and some rebel songs and so forth. Some huge and stunning voices in evidence too.My A string decided to start unwinding too, but I got through it just before it got too unplayable. I realised that I am actually on my last full set of strings. Normally I don’t get to that point but I have got a little chaotic recently.

As I write this a phenomenal amount of rain is falling again.

Covid and me

I am wondering not if my possibly up to 4 separate bouts of covid have done me any lasting damage. I am beginning to have my suspicions now. I have had some very odd but niggling health issues that seem to drag on and manifest in rather strange ways. Some so odd that you start to doubt the sometimes fragile grip on sanity.

I do wonder if it’s just the onward march of time and I am desperately trying to blame it on some other weird pathology. I also have a first in Hypochondria, which does not help much.
Wait and see maybe is the answer?

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” —Desmond Tutu.

Autumn Musings

music, whatever

Yes indeed, mists and mellow fruitfulness, all’s right with the world, god’s in his heaven, and all that, or is it?

Would you credit it. Got off the loo and my backs started acting up. I was possibly going to Esquires as someone I know was guesting with a band from @5.00 but it will be way too uncomfortable. Curses. I wonder what get off the toilet ninja moves set that off.. Actually toilet ninja sounds like one of those wonder cleaning which claims to harness the power of the atom and blast the germs to oblivion whilst simultaneously polishing it so bright that you will need sunglasses.

And in other news… Cat herding, can it be done? We demand to know. Lots of musical projects with various people but all of them seem to be stalled at present. Just a tad frustrating but hey one day maybe. Is it me are kids getting much taller now? I went to the shop and as I came out the the kids were getting of the school bus and I swear they were all tall as me or taller. We must be feeding them too much 🙂

Today I started recording a jazz thing that I suspect I will regret. It sounds OK but the next part is to add will be violin. I suspect it will take some effort to get it right. But not tonight. No doubt I will post it on my blog when it’s cooked but there is a way to go yet.

My partner is away on a residential course for a week as I write this, so it is very quiet and also I have no rehearsals coincidentally, so I am left to social media and my own devices for company
I have just watched 2 episodes of Ghosts on BBC Iplayer. Its very funny. I had not watched it when it was first aired and a friend recommended it to me as a bit of light relief and indeed it is.

Those were the days, my friends we thought they would never end…

October Musings Part 3

Diana Stones Songs, glass cage, music, Musings, other, Piano, pictures, whatever,

Yes, it’s the next thrilling installment and I bet you just can’t wait.

My reptile part of my brain is convinced of the following: 1) I will die of something awful soon (This thought has been with for years generally and ebbs and flows in it’s intensity like weather patterns ). 2) Something will go wrong and I wont receive my pension, even though I have a piece of paper telling me exactly when and how much. 3) Although my car has a very expensive service and drives smoothly, that it will fail and leave me stranded somewhere. 4)….. In fact I could go on listing stuff forever. It’s really annoying but I have had to deal with feeling like this for what feels like time immemorial. 

A perfect example of an anxiety driven logical fallacy.

At the time of writing I have just added a Violin part to a track sent to me by Jon Bickley and I am pleased to say he likes it.  I tried a slightly different recording set up to simplify things and it worked like a treat. The more I do the more I want to do. That helps when the depression thing kicks in.   It’s a typical autumn day out here almost countryside land, Sunny cool and the  trees giving a decent display of colour as the leaves turn. 

Here is a tune from earlier this year,(February perhaps). Its a Violin and synth tune with a lush orchestration. Its starts slowly and dreamily then the beats kick in. Ideal for dancing around your lounge after too many cans of cheap larger and/or other relaxants.

Musically speaking generally things are going fairly well though still not very much happening on the gig front alas. So another Saturday night in doing solo interpretive dancing because it’s good exercise, though it might look silly. So maybe I am interpreting myself in that case .

Tea is the essence of life, with no tea life would be dull indeed.