Category: Uncategorized
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Dusting off the clarinet
So there I was, doing a bit of guitar practice with The Diligent Drumcondra Man and The Santa Dude. We got to chatting about the upcoming gig in The Great Institution of Chatham Street and before I had time to say that Acker Bill is your only man for clarinet, I had agreed to dust…
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A second gig
The first one went really well and so the green light has been given to do another gig upstairs in The Great Institution of Chatham Street. Wednesday November 16 is the big night, kicking off at 8.30. A few changes will be made to the line up with a view to keeping things fresh. All…
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A lovely evening
Over the years I’ve been involved in the organising of many events. Most have gone well, the occasional one has not. And so it was particularly pleasing to be able to put on what proved to be a very successful little musical gathering last night in The Great Institution of Chatham Street, the best pub…
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The Big Gig
So there I was, propped up on my usual perch in The Great Institution, doing my bit for the Guinness Pensioners of this world. The Boss was holding court behind the bar and somewhere along the line I put forward the idea that I might play a few tunes in the upstairs lounge some evening.…
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The Queen and Sir Alex
The late Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Alex Ferguson had very different upbringings. A life of sheltered privilege versus the harsh times of working class Glasgow in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. However in some ways they became similar people. For one thing they shared a love of horse racing. For another they were the…
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A great woman moves on
The recently departed Queen Elizabeth II of England was , without doubt, one of the great people of history. By all accounts she was a very impressive human being and scored many understated diplomatic triumphs during her reign. Arguably her finest moment came with her visit to these shores a few seasons back. Hitting all…
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A moving moment
Every now and then something happens when I’m busking that tugs at the heart strings. So there I was, plucking away on a beautiful South King Street afternoon. Near the end of my set a couple of Spanish sounding young ladies sat down on my bench and started happily chatting away to one another. When…
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The three quarter guitarist
Although speed is not the most important thing in the learning world of classical guitar it is a useful indicator of progress. ‘Cavatina’ and ‘ Classical Gas’ are the two benchmark pieces that I judge myself against. At present I am cruising along at three quarter pace on both tunes. With a bit of luck…
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A week at the Palace
It’s Thursday afternoon so that must mean I’m nearing the end of my annual sojourn in Staines Palace and will be making tracks back to The Ranch tomorrow morning. It’s been a very pleasant time catching up with the royal gang again. Along the way I’ve managed to hook up with a few old skiing,…
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Catching up with royalty
It had been a while since I last visited Staines Palace. The time had now arrived. It was a relatively early start to proceedings, tumbling out of the scratcher around 5 bells. A wee bit of meditation and brekkie, and it was then into the Joe Maxi shortly after 6 for the brief trip down…
Blind light 