Dammit! I have a cold, I’m as contagious as the plague, my voice is so deep I sound like I have three gonads, and I can’t go to music tomorrow.
So I did the next best thing and played a classical clarinet trio with two people I know pretty well – me and myself.
The piece is Rondo (from Divertimento IV) by Mozart.
I chose this piece because although it looks easy, the timing is a bit of a challenge. And I need to improve my timing.
Hope you enjoy it!
I thought it might be interesting to publish copies of postcards that I send and receive. Her’s the first one.
I bought this one on eBay because I love QE2. But as an added bonus, the writer got to travel on Concorde as well.
I’ve also joined PostCrossing so I’ll share what I send and receive from them also.
Click on either image for a larger version.
Oh – by the way, please send me your postcards if you’re feeling generous. Just send them to “Musings”, PO Box 30, Petrie Qld 4501, Australia.
We had a quick picnic down at the beach at Redcliffe late this afternoon.
It didn’t all go to plan – some kid’s football ended up in the middle of of our food, and splattered it everywhere. Plus we couldn’t find the geocache we were looking for.
But it was a lot of fun – really relaxing to get out of the house.
And the light was wonderful too – that lovely blue-hue that you get after sunset, which usually makes for good looking photos.
But the most fun was just watching the kids play, and not having to worry about everything.
They’re both on the right side of 40 (you know WHICH side of 40 that is don’t you?).
They’re both unique.
They both have an elegance, class and beauty which seems to improve with time.
And I love them both.
Well in different ways of course.
The floating Lizzie won’t be with us for much longer. She finishes up in October. And I’ve never actually “met” her. But I do “watch” her a lot.
But the flesh and blood Lizzie? I’m hoping we both turn 100 together. She makes my life sweet.
What a woman.
By the way, I took the photo of “my” Lizzie a few months ago on our deck one afternoon over a bottle of wine.
I took the video of QE2 from a series of webcams as she made her last transit of the Panama Canal.
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Brian sounds amazing on the sax.
Here’s a few pieces we recorded on Saturday with Brian playing Soprano & Tenor sax, and me on WX5 as Clarinet and Flugel Horn.
The backing tracks for the Bond tracks are great to play along to. But the raw and real feeling of that last blues piece, with no backing track – I really enjoy that.
When this sunset just happened outside my front door yesterday, I just couldn’t resist trying to capture it.
I think they’re magic, and are one of the many wonderful things that makes life enjoyable.
Here’s a piece Brian and I did a couple of weeks ago as part of my lesson.
It’s “C Jam Blues” by Duke Ellington.
The Drums, Bass and Piano are on a backing track.
I’m playing the brass quartet at the start, plus the clarinet, trombone and trumpet, all on the WX5.
Brian’s playing guitar.
This is one of the reasons the WX5 is so much fun to play – there are so many different instruments available. the challenging part is that when you play a “trumpet” it’s important to think like a trumpet. When you play like a trombone, imagine you’re playing a trombone, and how you’d like it to sound. I have to adjust my playing technique depending on the type of instrument I’m trying to mimic, otherwise it doesnt sound convincing.
With this piece, although we in front of us the chord progression that Ellington used, we improvised all of what we played.
One thing Brian has taught me about improvisation is that it’s not about trying to play every riff and lick in your repertoire. It’s all about fitting in with your fellow players, and with the ideas that the composer originally had.
It’s real music, and it’s a lot of fun.
Here’s some photos from our recent cruise on Oriana.
Mum & Dad’s photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magictyger/sets/72157604094394019/
Kevin’s photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magictyger/sets/72157604011072449/
My photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magictyger/sets/72157604011236961/
She’s a lovely ship, a little bit older than but very similar to Aurora. The design improvements between Oriana and Aurora are noticeable, but they’re both very classy ships.
A couple of fun photos:
King’s beach Caloundra (at night) as seen from Oriana:
Queen Victoria (at night) as seen from Oriana, off the Sunshine Coast, Qld.
Sydney Opera House (at dawn) as seen from Oriana just before we disembarked.
The mascot on the bridge. “Evan the Ever Watchful”
