RECENTLY THERE HAS BEEN AN UP-SURGE IN THE NUMBER OF MESSAGES I'VE RECEIVED FROM FACEBOOK ASKING ME TO VERIFY THAT DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE ADDED ME TO THEIR SITES. I HAVE NO WISH TO OFFEND ANYONE BUT I DON'T LIKE FACEBOOK, CALL  ME CRANKY IN MY OLD AGE!
I'VE ADDED AN INSERT ON THE INDEX PAGE BUT THOUGHT I'D BETTER EXPLAIN FURTHER.
I WILL GLADLY CONVERSE WITH ANYONE, EITHER BY PHONE OR E-MAIL AND CAN BE CONTACTED ON 01752 295061.
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENTS AND HAPPY READING (AND LISTENING)!

If you're any sort of gardener you'll know that, when you get weeds, you dig out in the hope that they'll go away, but, sadly, it never works that way.
For every one you get rid of, it seems two more take it's place and this fact doesn't just apply to gardening, it applies to Life in general.
The Americans learnt the hard way in Vietnam, the Brits with the IRA.
At least they SHOULD HAVE, but it seems that's not the case.
Would you stick your hand in a hornet's nest? No I didn't think so.
Chances are, if you leave it alone, the hornets will leave you alone because they only attack to defend their territory.
I wish I had all the answers to the problems we hear about on a daily basis but I haven't.
Two things I do believe are that Enoch Powell was right, and the UK should NEVER have joined the EU.
History shows that none of them could defeat us at war, now they're walking all over us in peace-time!
Another saying that springs to mind is "When I shout SHIT, you jump on the shovel".
Very fitting these days, especially if you happen to be a member of the Armed Forces!
If you've got an opinion on the above, email me and I'll air your views.

     

It's official, I've got Senile Dementure!
I was sat at home last night (Sunday 1st November), fat and full after consuming a big roast, when the phone rang.
It was Lin from the Tamar Valley Westerners wondering if I was going to turn up to play for them at their club!
I had checked the diary a week or so back and noted I was booked but, for some stupid reason, I thought it was the week after (next Sunday).
Obviously it was a mad panic to get the car loaded up, quick change, and off to the club where a load of the lads helped us get the gear in pronto.
Within 30 minutes of the phone call I was ready to play but then there were more complications!
Although I had checked the tuning of my guitar a couple of times after the re-fret job, it was still tending to go out of tune, and it seemed to take forever to settle in, with me having to check the tuning literally after every song for the first set.
Eventually it settled down and was fine from then on and, I was chuffed with the re-fret because the action seemed a lot lighter and easier to play.
My only other problem was physical! For years I have had to endure a nasty Hiatus Hernia, so, when I know I'm doing a gig, I tend to eat sparingly, normally a tin of soup.
As it was, I had not long eaten a big roast, and it was laying heavy, making singing that much more difficult.
To add insult to injury, it was a Birthday Celebration that night for Lin and, as usual they'd put on a fantastic buffet which I could only look at!
I played over the normal time (to make up for being late) and eventually packed up, went home, and took a double dose of Gaviscon!
If there was an MOT Test on musicians I reckon these days I'd be struggling!

    

My ol' mate Bobby Jones had a couple of cracking jokes from Ivor James which he's passed on to me, they're on the JOKES page.....

Wednesday 21st October -
There's light at the end of the tunnel concerning re-fretting my Gibson.
I've replaced 12 frets having decided "in for a penny" and, after some VERY careful filing, am happy with the result.
One of the biggest problems encountered was, not so much fitting the new frets as removing the old ones because, it's is very easy to mess up the fretboard.
The knack,  I discovered after some research, is to use a hot clean soldering iron which melts the glue enough to very gingerly prise them out.
Maybe at this point I ought to mention that, as an engineer familiar with "delicate" work, I found the project fairly straightforward, but I wouldn't recommend re-fretting a guitar unless you are reasonably proficient because, should things go "pear-shaped", it's liable to cost you an arm and a leg to get it put right!
Anyway, I've had the strings back on, tuned to concert pitch, slightly adjusted the truss  rod to get the required action, checked the tuning the length of the fretboard and everything seems fine. At the moment the strings are off again and I'm in the process of giving everything else a severe looking at, like the tune-o-matic bridge etc, and I'm waiting on delivery of a bottle of leather stain to give the custom-made leather plectrum plate I made years ago a face-lift.
Considering my RD Artist was built in 1977, and I've had it from new, it ain't done bad, has it!
One thing I've never been able to understand is that it has never been classed as a classic like the Flying V, or the Les Paul, neither of which, in  my humble opinion are fit to kiss the RD's backside. It's like comparing Mini Coopers to a Ferrari!


   

Wednesday 7th October -
For a while now I've been contemplating a fret repair job on my beloved Gibson RD Artist as the bottom-end frets are looking pretty worn.
I decided to "google" the subject and study the results before jumping in with both feet which turned out to be the wise move.
Having said that, I did feel that the write-ups I read tended to advise the job being done by experts, although you could do it yourself if you didn't mind ruining the guitar.
Just as a matter of curiosity I looked at so-called professional pricings online and found them to be around the £250 - £300 range which is a bit OTT!
So I began the business of getting all the bits I would need.
I ordered the fret wire from an eBay supplier (after first measuring the existing frets) and it arrived in a very unique form of packaging.
The 2 foot length wasn't bent into a coil, it was laid out straight in a groove that had been cut into a piece of wood and then packaged in a thick cardboard sleeve.
Andy, my "postie", must have wondered what the hell it was!

Next thing I obtained was a tube of Aliphatic Resin which, probably like you, I'd never heard of until now.
It seems it's what the pro's use because it sets hard, fills all the gaps, and can be lightly sanded and shaped which is ideal.
The next thing needed is, what is known as, a fret-press, which is used to clamp a new fret in position until it's set and they run out at around £150!
If you're doing re-fretting for a living it's a good investment, but for a "one-off" it's a bit steep, so, after studying pictures of it, I designed my own.
The first thing you need to bear in mind is the slight curvature  of the fretboard which is different for different models so it's got to be right.
With this in mind I cut a piece of cardboard until I got the exact shape, then stuck that onto a piece of, what is know as, mending plate,  and filed the necessary curvature.
When I was happy with that, I sawed off a piece of the wood pictured above and then filed a groove in it, into which I  fitted the plate.
Then I  drilled 2 holes in the groove straight  through the wood and then, 2 bigger holes from the underside just in part way.
The idea being that, when the groove and holes were filled with Araldite and the plate inserted, when it set off, it wouldn't be able to fall out. 
I then mixed up some Araldite Rapid, filled the groove and holes, inserted the plate, and let it set off, which doesn't take long believe me!
Next I stuck my contraption to one jaw of a quick release clamp with some strong double-sided tape and hey pesto, ready to go!
Bearing in mind the curing time of the Aliphatic Resin I decided to do a fret a day which, bearing in mind I intend to replace about 8 frets, should take just over  a week which is fine as I'm not out playing now for roughly a month. Below are a couple of pics of my "fret-press" which works a treat....



As the clamp  moves up the fretboard I will have all the time in the world to dress the frets up with Swiss files.
I'll report back on this when I've finished.

                  

Monday 5th October -
Played last night at the Parkway Club in Plymouth for our old friends, the Renegades/Medicine Wheel.
It's been a while since I was there, because the last gig I had there, I had to cancel because of a gammy foot.
The number of members is a sad reflection of most clubs these days but the total was increased with the help of Julie, Taylor,her Mum, Dad and brother, and Ernie who is Dad to Julie and Gary, and grand-dad to Taylor and Jack (her brother). One big happy family!
It was my first gig since buying the new guitar effects pedal so I was itching to see how it would sound.
In hindsight, I should have set up the mixer amp to set it up, but thought I was being clever by just plugging it into my PC audio... wrong!
The balance between guitar and midi output was way off and I had to make some quick adjustments to make it sound reasonable, but knew I needed to set it up properly which was a job to do in the not-too-distant future.
My gear spends a lot of time these days stowed away in a cupboard which can cause problems, and on this particular night I did have a couple of "funnies".
Halfway through one song the PA took on a mind of it's own and started howling for no apparent reason, and a while later, when I did "The Fields of Athenry", it got to the flute solo I'd laid down, and the flute came in at least a tone sharp, weird!
Although I hadn't mentioned anything previously to the club members about Taylor, I had a quiet word with Terry and told him about her, and asked if it would be alright if she did a few songs, to which he replied,"Go for it!"
She sang the same songs as she'd sung for the Tamar Valley Westerners and received an equally enthusiastic response, which is what I expected.
Her family are all very proud of her and it's not difficult to understand why.
We'll have to see about some new material, especially for the Westerners.....
One other thing which gave me a chuckle was, the gent who I wrote about recently, who  runs the C&W Club at the Royal Fleet Club once a month, was there, but I noted that he didn't come over to say "hello". He must have got to hear about my write-up about him and decided to remain inconspicuous which was the best thing he could have done.
I'm just waiting to see what write-ups appear in this month's Southern Country!

    

Sunday 4th October -
I logged on to a novel little site called "chordbook.com" which gives any "wouldbe" guitarists the chance to see how to play scales and chords.
It's interactive so you can choose what  scale, or what chords, and then see and hear  them played, which is clever.
The trouble is, as I mentioned in my Tutor, it's another one of those programmes that don't give you the all-important info such as, HOW to build the chords (what notes to use), or, HOW to play a scale (root -tone - tone- semitone .....)
So, although it's a nice little gimmick, there's no "self-learning curve", and anyone using it will never progress beyond playing what the programme shows and, most importantly, they won't have a clue WHY they're playing the notes making up the chords or scales they play.
My apologies for sounding a bit condescending, but I'm afraid there's no easy way out. If you REALLY want to learn to play the guitar, you've got to knuckle down and learn certain basic fundamentals which should become second nature. It's like driving a car, over a period of time you do it without thinking about it.
Maybe I shouldn't have used driving as a comparison because nowadays there seems to be an ever-increasing number of crap drivers round who STILL haven't learnt the basics!

  

Friday 2nd October  -
Nothing much to report about. Having a little problem with some prat on eBay who was quick enough to take my money but has been dragging his heels when it comes to sending the item. Thankfully it was nothing important so a visit to Paypal will sort it, and now, as they say, here's something completely different!
Chris and I buy our eggs from a local veg shop and they are good. A few weeks back I bought a dozen and every single one was a double yolker - impressive!
This morning Chris went to get some to start making Christmas cake and called to me to have a look. She cracked some into a bowl and out of the six, two were big single yolkers, three were double yolkers, and, wait for it .... one was a TRIPLE yolker! Here's a pic for the unbelievers....


The expression on that poor chickens face getting that out must have been a sight to see!

Friday 25th September - Trials & Tribulations!
Recently my PC has been acting up and, after trying several Windows repairs, I bit the bullet, saved everything I could think of elsewhere, and re-installed XP.
Thankfully, with my friend Scott's assistance, everything went smoothly and he left me with the monumental task of putting all the programmes etc back in.
To add insult to injury, a new guitar effects unit that I was waiting on, turned up that day and I couldn't stop to even look at it, though I was sorely tempted!
Two days later (yesterday), I'd just about finished loading all I wanted on the computer, so I took time to examine my new toy.
It was all Chris James' fault because he showed me his new unit when they came down on the 12th September and, when I heard it, I was very impressed.
The only thing was it had no foot pedal but Chris said there was a similar unit which incorporated one so I did a search and found it.
It's a Digitech RP90 and it's a cracking unit. It took me a while, some swearing and a couple of phone calls to suss out how to set it up but now I've cracked it and can't wait to try it on a gig (which is Sunday week at the Parkway in Plymouth).

    

Sunday 20th September -
Ten out of ten to Anne of Southern Country magazine.
I had a prompt  reply to my email in which she stated that it had been forwarded to the Editor requesting him to incorporate it into the Letters page of the November issue, which is where any report from the club would appear. Hopefully it will help set the record straight!

Thought for the day....
Another item on  BBC News 24 about the animal farms closing down made me wonder how people my age are still around.
As a kid I worked on a farm in close contact with cows, chickens etc with no problems.
The trouble now is, kids haven't got an immune system any more because of all the Whitehall crap about cleanliness. Definitely OTT!

Friday 18th September -
My one and only long-haul gig  for the year, (if you can call Plymouth to Cheltenham a long haul.)
Chris and I drove up to Ray and Linda's place (the club organisers) which is a beautiful house set on a big estate outside Cheltenham.
It has six bedrooms and is massive and sits on their 30 acres of land, real olde worlde!
Although we've been up there a few times I was a little uncertain as to the route so I printed out Google directions to be on the safe side, but used my HTC mobile phone which has TomTom built in. I must admit, it knocked spots off my old navigator and took us to their  Post Code without going wrong once. I was very impressed. That, coupled with the Snooper, assured us of an uneventful journey, with the Snooper warning me about all sorts of devious speed traps to which there were no visible warning signs. Definitely  good investment!
We had a bite to  eat with Ray and Linda then headed off to Notgrove, the little village where the club is held.
It was nice to see all the familiar faces and I was kept busy all night playing all their requests, some of which I  hadn't played in a long long time.
Obviously there were a few fluffed words and bum notes, but I conveniently put it all down to Senile Dementure, and as Ray so aptly put it, "At least it shows it's a live show!"
They're a great bunch not slow in showing their appreciation, and the evening literally flew by as is the way when you're having fun, then it was back to Ray and Linda's for a cuppa and off to bed. This morning we were up reasonably early as we were going our separate ways. Us coming back to Plymouth, and Ray and Linda driving up to Derby for a weekend at the Country Music Awards. We'll probably be doing it all again next year because it's not so much a gig, more a couple of "awaydays" with good friends.

With regard to the article below concerning the attitude of the organiser of the C&W club held every month at the Royal Fleet Club in Plymouth, I have sent an email to the Southern Country monthly magazine stating the true facts of the evening along with a copy of my write-up. It'll be interesting to see if I get an acknowledgement or my letter ever gets published.

    

Wednesday 16th September -
I have just learned that the pillock who runs the C&W club monthly at the Royal Fleet Club in Plymouth telephoned the agent who arranged for Chris James to play there and complained about his performance. I could say that words fail me, but they don't!
Chris plays clubs all over the country and, although obviously some gigs are better than others, the gig at the Royal Fleet Club has got to go down as the worst by far.
He did his utmost to please the organiser, and I can say with conviction that, if it had been me booked to play there, I would have packed up my gear and walked out, telling the guy what he could do with his club.
Having turned down offers to play there in the past, I know now I was right to do so, and if any of my musician friends on the circuit get to read this, my advice is, if you get offered a gig there, make the necessary excuses but decline.
Say you've got to attend a funeral or something because it would be a bloody sight livelier than playing there!
To give everyone an idea as to how two-faced the organiser is, I was standing beside Chris when the guy was saying to him that he wanted him back again around Christmas!
The problem I foresee for Chris is that this guy could send in a bad write-up to some magazine like Southern Country and, as everyone in the game knows, one bad report can cancel out a load of good ones. A little unfair but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

       

Time to relax after a hectic couple of days.
I had received a text message from Dawn (Chris Jame's wife)(our adopted children) saying that, having played at the Exe Ranch CMC on the Friday night, they were coming on down to Plymouth on the Saturday as Chris was playing at the Royal Fleet Club that evening.
I had also had a phone call from Ramrod to say he was playing for the Tamar Valley Westerners on the Sunday.
I had also arranged for Taylor, my promising protege, to come around Saturday morning for more guitar tuition, and she was still there when Chris and Dawn arrived.
My Chris then dropped Taylor home and then we relaxed and had a bite to eat before setting off for the Royal Fleet Club.
Despite the fact that I'm not known for my diplomacy, I will endeavour at this point, to be as tactful as I can.
The gent who runs this club had asked me on a couple of occasions if I would play at his venue and I had politely declined because I didn't really want the work.
The warning bells started ringing when Chris was asked TWICE whilst doing his set-up sound-check to turn down, NOT a good omen.
This was followed during the first break by further criticism regarding the mixture of material he was playing and he was told that the crowd, all 24 of them, liked the old songs!
In my humble opinion Chris played an excellent range of Country Music, albeit some more recent than others, but ALL Country.
Over the years I've played a lot of gigs like that one, but they were usually on the Social Club scene not the Country circuit.
He played the last set to about a dozen people and was probably thinking long the same lines as I was, "Let's just go home and have a cuppa."
They stayed with us that night, and we sat and put the world to rights until 3am!
Sunday afternoon we all went for a drive to a couple of the local places of interest, one of which was Kit Hill, the highest point in our area, which gives a great panoramic view to all points of the compass, and then on to Morwhellam Quay, which is a National Trust venue featuring the exporting of copper and other minerals by boat down the River Tamar bound for Cardiff. Very ole worlde! The icing on that bit of cake was Vintage Car Rally being held there that day.
After a lovely afternoon, we drove home, had a lovely roast dinner, then all trooped off to the Tamar Valley Westerners for the evening to support Ramrod.
He knew Chris and I would probably be there, but the look on his face when he saw Chris and Dawn there as well was a picture!
Obviously he was delighted to see them and we had a great time which was compounded by the fact that it was Lawrence's 60th birthday celebration and Lin had put on one of her famous buffets, including a fabulous fresh cream birthday cake.


The makers of Nicorette might be a little peeved with Ramrod because he uses one of their little plastic cases to carry his rollies in, doubtfully what they had in mind!


Meanwhile all the girls had a good ol' chinwag - left to right ....
Pat, Joy, Chris, Dawn and Di (Ramrod's good lady)

and while the girls yapped, so did Ramrod, Chris and I ....


As Chris and Dawn were staying with us overnight again, I thought it would nice for Di and Ramrod to come back for a well-earned cuppa before heading home to Clevedon, and so it was that the six of us sat around and had a good chat. Having had a late night the night before we decided not to have  repeat performance, plus the fact that Ramrod and Di had a couple of hours driving to do, but the best of plans can fall to bits, and we eventually settled down for, what was left of the night, at 3.30am.
Never mind, it was a brilliant couple of days!

                     

Friday 20th September -
Trust Foxy to come up with something out of the ordinary, get a load of this....

For those who might be interested, I have now put together the necessary templates to produce the GUITAR TUTOR in an A5 size book.

A recent phone call from Foxy put a smile on my face. It would seem that the organisers and patrons of certain Country Music festivals are up in arms regarding things that have been published in the Crazy Cowboy monthly magazine published by Mr Ken Dyche. Feelings are running high and the gentleman's popularity rating is sinking beneath the waves rapidly with rumours flying around that he will be banned from attending some festivals. As far as I'm concerned he's been a submariner for years!

On the home front, I've often commented as to the convenience offered regarding the location of my accomodation. A local corner shop open all hours, nearby superstores, and Plymouth City Centre and Plymouth Hoe within a comfortable walking distance.
Now, according to a report in the local newspaper, I see there's also a brothel which has just been raided!


        

Monday 7th Sept -
Relaxing after a busy night last night. I was playing for the Tamar Valley Westerners and had a great night.
I had suggested to Taylor, the young  lady who I've taken under my wing, that she, and the rest of the family, might like to  come along and see how I work on-stage, and, after the fiasco last Sunday when she sang at the Seymour, prove the point that Equalisation is all-important.
I asked her if she'd like to come onstage and sing some of her songs and she jumped at the chance.
None of the club members knew anything about it and, after doing an opening song for the second set, I introduced Taylor to them and she sang five songs.
You're probably aware of the saying "chalk & cheese", well that was the difference between her previous performance and this one.
The backing and her vocals were both crystal clear and the levels were spot-on, it couldn't have  worked out better.

She did herself, and the rest of us proud and the club members loved her.
Obviously there are still little things which need working on, like mic technique, but she's a very quick learner and will soon have that off to a fine art!
There was one little incident later in my second set which, thankfully, didn't happen whilst Taylor was singing.
Not long ago I got a new laptop and decided to take it along and try it out in place of my old Sony.
For some strange reason the screen kept going to sleep and, although I had it plugged into mains supply, it started indicating that the battery life was running out until finally it died on me. Luckily I had the old Sony with me and it happened on the last song of the second set so there weren't any problems as I changed laptops during the second break and was ready to resume with time to spare with no more problems.
The last set flew by and it was time to pack everything away and head home for a nice cuppa.
Obviously the incident with the new laptop was bugging me, so today I fired it up and checked the screensaver and power options.
I HAD disabled the windows screensaver but, unbeknown by me, Acer (the makers), had installed their own screensaver software.
They had also installed their own Power Options software which over-rides the Windows one, and this was the problem.
I un-installed ALL the Acer rubbish and, hey presto, an icon popped up on the taskbar showing I was plugged into the mains!
I went into the Power Options and up came the XP version which gives you alternatives for either battery or mains, ideal.
Why these manufacturers feel the need to install a load of crap is beyond me. Must be an inferiority complex!
Anyway, the bottom line is, having left said laptop on, with the programme I use onstage running for a considerable time, the screen hasn't gone blank, it hasn't gone to sleep, and is behaving as it should. So the next time I take it on a gig it should be fine but I'll STILL take the old one just in case............????

           

Paddy and Mick go to London to donate sperm. It was a disaster! Paddy missed the tube and Mick came on the bus!!

A Muslim was sitting next to Paddy on a plane. Paddy ordered a whiskey. The stewardess asked the Muslim if he'd like a drink. He replied in disgust, 'I'd rather be raped by a dozen whores than let liquor touch my lips!'  Paddy handed his drink back and said: 'Me too, I didn't know we had a choice!'

Paddy calls EasyJet to book a flight. The operator asks: 'How many people are flying with you?'

Paddy replies: 'I don't know! It's your f***ing plane!!'

 Paddy and Murphy are working on a building site. Paddy says to Murphy, 'I'm gonna have the day off, I'm gonna pretend I'm mad!'

He climbs up the rafters , hangs upside down and shouts: 'I'M A LIGHTBULB! I'M A LIGHTBULB!'

Murphy watches in amazement! The Foreman shouts: 'Paddy you're mad, go home' So he leaves the site.

Murphy starts packing his kit up to leave as well. 'Where the hell are you going?' asks the Foreman.

'I can't work in the friggin dark!' says Murphy.

Two Irish couples decided to swap partners for the night.

After 3 hours of amazing sex Paddy says 'I wonder how the girls are getting on'

Paddy takes his new wife to bed on their wedding night. She undresses and lies on the bed spread-eagled and says

'You know what I want don't you?'  'Yeah,' says Paddy. 'The whole friggin bed by the looks of it!'

Paddy the electrician got sacked from the US prison service for not servicing the electric chair.

He said in his professional opinion it was a death trap!

Paddy and his wife are lying in bed and the neighbour's dog is barking like mad in the garden.

Paddy says 'To hell with this!' and storms off. He comes back upstairs five minutes later and his wife asks, 'What did you do?'

Paddy replies, 'I've put the dog in our garden, lets see how they like it!'

Paddy is said to be shocked at finding out all his cows have Bluetongue. 'Bejeysus!' he said, 'I didn't even know they had mobile phones!'

Mick and Paddy are reading head stones at a nearby cemetery. Mick says 'Crikey! There's a bloke here who was 152!'

Paddy says 'What's his name?'  Mick replies 'Miles from London!’

Wednesday  2nd September-
I'm not sure which worries me the most. The fact that the Government say that there was no hidden agenda behind the release of the Lockerbie bomber, or the fact that they expect us to believe it. I'm inclined toward the latter, because these same politicians appear to have no qualms about sending British Servicemen into battle in a place where the mortality rate is increasing literally daily. It's like Vietnam all over again and proves only one thing - Life is cheap.
How about this? If the politicians are that keen to sort out Afghanistan, let's send them over there and bring the troops home!

 

Sunday 30th August -
Years ago, as a young guitarist struggling to learn to play the more complicated chords used in Jazz etc, I was always afraid people listening might notice any bum notes I played and I'll never forget these words of wisdom uttered by the band leader who said, "Don't worry about it, half the audience are tone deaf, and the other half are stone deaf!"
That saying has stuck in my mind, and you'd be amazed how true it is, as a trip to one of the local pubs today showed.
Taylor, who I talked about recently, was singing there during the afternoon raising money for Charity, and Chris and I went along to see her.
It turned out she doing alternating spots with a 3-piece band, and had been invited to use their PA. This would have been fine, but unfortunately it seemed that none of the band members knew anything about Sound Equalisation, and, inevitably, the sound coming out of the speakers was pretty dismal, and certainly not portraying what she is capable of.
My suspicions were confirmed when the group took over and I rolled a cigarette which was my excuse to beat a hasty retreat outside.
I'm afraid I have to admit,  I'm against murder, especially where music's concerned.
Hopefully, as a result of this unfortunate incident, in future, Taylor will thank others who offer the use of their equipment, but decline and use her own. It's the only sure way of not having a repeat performance, and ensure that she can produce a sound which reflects her abilities.

       

Wednesday 26th August -
I've just had an  email from Julie entitled "Tighten your what???" with accompanying picture and caption.....


Helluva name for a vessel full of seamen!

and there's another good'un on the JOKES page


Friday 21st August -
Although I applaud the Scottish Minister's humane reasoning for sanctioning the release of the Lockerbie bomber who was responsible for the deaths of 270 people, I have severe doubts that it was done for those reasons. Being the cynical sod that I am, I'm more inclined to think it was money & power related.
The fanatical welcome the bomber received on his home arrival is further cause for concern because, knowing human nature, I can't help getting the feeling that a large proportion of his fellow countrymen are probably thinking "Brits are softies, let's up the ante!"
So let's just hope and pray that things don't start getting frantic because there's no turning back now, the political prats have made the bed, but we've got to lay on it!

and, on a lighter note......
Our good friends Scott & Michelle have gone on holiday to Cuba and I heard a snippet on the News that there's a hurricane brewing. Fingers crossed!

   

Sunday 9th August -
Down to the Tamar Valley Westerners again because my ol' mate Bobby's playing this time.



It was a great evening with one of the best turn-outs number-wise that they've had for  a long time.
I don't know if it's because the  audience are more listeners than dancers but Bobby went down the same road as Jim did last week, and I do every time I'm there, by playing a real mixture of songs with a lot of oldies chucked in for good measure and it went down well.
As always when you're enjoying something, the time just shot by and it was time to go, so Bobby finished off with his usual number "Myfanwy", a lovely Welsh ballad that he sings in Welsh which has always been a firm favourite of everyone wherever he goes.
Then it was break down and pack the gear and back to my place for a well-earned cuppa and a bite to eat before he and Anthea drove back down to their caravan down at Fursdown Farm near Liskeard where they're staying for a few more days before heading back to Wales. Let's hope the fine weather keeps up!

   

Thursday 23rd July - A great story about David and Goliath......
You might have caught the news snippet about Canadian  musician Dave Carroll who was flying to Nebraska  to do a gig with his band.
While they waiting for take-off another passenger looked out the window and saw the baggage handlers THROWING guitar cases around!
On landing, Dave checked  his $3500 Taylor guitar and found it was broken, so he reported the incident to the airline staff who showed complete indifference to the damage.
TWELVE months later, he was no closer to obtaining any sort of compensation for the damage, so he came up with a very ingenious plan.
He wrote a song entitled "United Breaks Guitars", recorded it, and put it on YouTube.
The result of this was fantastic. The song had thousands of hits, the airline suffered heavy losses financially, to the point where they FINALLY admitted liability and offered to pay Dave compensation, which he refused much to their embarrassment.
The song is great, extremely catchy, and the lyrics say it all, and that's not the end of the matter because, it seems, Dave is bringing out a sequel regarding the battle he had with the airline staff naming names which will probably produce a lot of red faces.
If anyone who wants to hear the song just do a Google (or whatever) search for "United Breaks Guitars" on Youtube.
All I can say is, good for you Dave, you're a man after my own heart. Power to the  People!

I've noticed, from time to time, that people are visiting my site looking for Midifile downloads of different songs.
I thought I'd set the record straight by explaining a few things.
Firstly, I don't use Midifiles as such. I create the backings as Midifiles, but I convert and store them on my laptop as Work Files, which is basically like a mirror  image of the Midifiles. I do it this way because, whereas a Midifile takes time to load, a Work File is instantaneous. Just find the song, hit the space bar and you're off and running.
Secondly, although I could offer my original Midifiles, they wouldn't sound as good as they do when I play them because I don't use General Midi format.
I invested a considerable amount of money in buying the JV1010 sound module I use, and more on the special sound card I  installed into it which gives me loads of dedicated sample sounds of Country and Western instruments such as Steel, Banjo, Fiddle etc, so the instruments used in General Midi would never have the same impact.
It's not that I don't want to share my work, more that it just wouldn't sound that good.
One day I might get around to recording all my tracks in MP3 format but I'm getting a bit old for mountain climbing!

  

Monday 20th July - The continuing story on eBay.......
I've been logging on to eBay regularly to check on the lowlife selling the FREEWARE software and, surprise surprise, he's STILL  trading, which means that, either the staff at eBay haven't got around to him yet, or they know about him and couldn't give a toss. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt as to which, but I've put Plan B into operation.
I've put a listing on eBay under video software entitled ADVANCED VIDEO EDITOR which will run for the next 7 days.
The listing is VERY similar in appearance to the offending one but with a few home truths in it.
It states that the programme is freeware, and about 30mb in size, which makes putting it on a DVD about as stupid as p********g into the wind.
If,  by some quirk of Fate, somebody actually places the 99p bid, I'll supply them with what they've paid for at half the postage matey is charging, but that's not really the objective.
All I want to do is make as many people as possible realise what's going on and avoid this seller like the plague.
I've noticed that this is not the only thing he's selling, there's other software as well, and my bet is they're freeware downloads as well, you just have to know where to look!

On another subject, my brother Dave sent me  a cracking joke which he thought would make a good addition to the JOKES page.

The Sale of Goods Act

The rights of customers: goods

If you sell your customers goods that don't conform to contract - that aren't as described, are unfit for their purpose or of unsatisfactory quality - you are legally obliged to resolve the problem if they seek redress.

The Sale of Goods Act states that if customers want to reject faulty goods, they have to do so within a "reasonable time". A legal definition of 'reasonable' is not given though - it varies from case to case and could be just a few weeks from the date of purchase.

If a customer rejects faulty goods within this 'reasonable' period, they're entitled to ask for their money back. All customers can claim compensation at any time if they choose. If you sell to consumers - not other traders - they can ask for a repair or a replacement immediately (instead of asking for a refund) at any time until six years after purchase.

If you're dealing with a consumer, any repair or replacement you arrange must not cause them too much inconvenience. You may have to pay for other costs such as transportation. However, if a replacement is impossible and the goods cannot be repaired economically, or vice versa, then you can offer a full or partial refund.

In law you have a responsibility to your customer for up to six years from the date of purchase (in Scotland, five years from discovery of the problem). During this period, you are legally obliged to deal with any claim of breach of contract.

If you don't believe the above, look  it up but don't try to understand the phrasing of the legal jargon, as usual it's designed to confuse everybody!

Quite a while ago I  purchased a DVD player which had a USB slot which made it capable of playing video. I bought it because I was rapidly running out of shelf space for my substantial collection of films etc, mostly courtesy of the wonderful world of bittorrents! At the time it was a great buy at Lidl's costing a mere £33, albeit I'd never heard of the makers and the machine wouldn't accept anything over 1gig in size. Sadly it gave up the ghost a while back and I started looking for a good substitute. I found the ideal thing made by Western Digital who are one of the leading manufacturers of Hard Drives. It's called a TV HD Media Player and you can hook it up to any size external hard drive and watch videos, play music, or look at photos (including slideshows) in just about  every format going, it's fantastic. So now, no more worries over shelf space.

Sunday 24th May - A couple of telephone calls, one from  Foxy, and one from Gwyndaf (ex Closing Time).
The call from Foxy was to report on the Oswestry Festival at it's new location in the Criftin's Village  Hall, Ellesmere, where everything was going well, and it was a great weekend. It's always better if you expect the worst and everything turns out well. Far better than when you looking forward to a good weekend and everything goes to ratshit!

The second call, from Gwyndaf who retired from the music scene not long ago, made me feel that there was a glimmer of hope for Live Music because it's sadly been on the decline for several years. He told me that, in Trefriw, where he lives in Wales, someone has started organising an Open Night for Live Musicians, where you can go along and join in, and the reponse has been phenomenal with would-be musicians coming out of the woodwork! He'd gone along there with his old partner from Closing Time, Len, and they did a spot to get the ball rolling so to speak, but Gwyndaf said he was very impressed with  some of the talent that had come along to participate. Obviously it wasn't just Country Music that was represented, it was a wide spectrum of styles which was great because it shows that there are still a lot of people out there who want to play live, even if they have to do it for nothing!Obviously, if they're any good, and want to do it for a living, the would-be's will have to sit down and have a serious think about how to go about  it because money's still pretty scarce out there and paying for a band is something that got phased out with the advent of Kareoke etc.  It has always been a bona contention with me that a lot of good musicians went hungry through lack of work while somebody with a half-tidy voice and some backing tracks (prepared by someone else) got all the work they wanted. There are a few who create their own backing, which is the way it ought to be, but FEW is the operative word in  an era where commerciallly-made backing tracks can be picked up for a song. I know the Music Business has always been "Dog EAT Dog" but, come on, let's show a little respect for those that deserve it. I just hope that the "Live Music" trend does catch on.

While I'm on the subject of backing tracks, here's a clip of the song I wrote after our Nashville trip in 2009, "Heading  Home  Again", one of four songs on, what I'm calling , my EPCD. The last line of the verse is the one I hope won't upset our American friends, see what you think.....

Thursday 14th May - Is it just me, am I over-cynical regarding politicians and their lack of honesty and morals? I've been watching some of the news clips regarding this latest scandal to hit the headlines over MP's expenses claims where they've been interviewing some of the culprits and getting the reactions of members of the public. All I can say is it's  both hilarious and very disturbing because, on the one hand you've got a load of bent  politicians who are only apologising because they got caught, and on the other members of the public saying how wrong it is and that the MPs ought to be ashamed of themselves. From what I've seen and heard, some of them ought to be doing time as we speak! It's the old old story, one law for them and another for the rest of us, and that, unfortunately, does not cover just politicians, it involves an awful lot of people. The saying goes "it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know" and that folks, is the sad fact of life, ask any Freemason, they're experts. And, on a lighter note:

There's a few new additions to the JOKES page thanks to my good mate Bobby Jones...... and this one, from Ramrod, which is very topical at present:


 

Dear Sir

I have heard every excuse in the book, been apologized to profusely, been promised the earth, and even been informed that they don’t know what the fault is with the attitude that no one really wants to know, so why don’t I just go away stop pestering them over something so miniscule and come back when I’ve got a REAL fault.

My response to them (and you, if you are of  like mind) is, it is an integral part of the service you advertise, and, as such, should be readily available to ALL PAYING CUSTOMERS WHO WANT TO MAKE USE OF IT.

Your company are, in reality, breaking the law, as you are advertising something which isn’t available, and I strongly suggest that someone in the organization does something positive about it before I feel  the need to start contacting the Office of Fair Trading and any other organization better suited to make the case for me.

Richard Branson has already lost a few million recently, the last thing he needs is bad publicity  as the result of a workforce with a “couldn’t care less” attitude who seem to forget that without people like myself, PAYING CUSTOMERS, they wouldn’t even have a job.

Yours sincerely

I have contacted your Claims Dept twice with regard to this matter and have been glibly informed that the item was replaced and the fact that my socalled “obsolete software” won’t run is classed as “consequential loss”.