Cork School Of Music

Construction is going well, all the structural work seems to be done, just rendering and internal finishings to do now. Still wondering if they will name the new bike shed after John Moore....
 

Where is middle C?

Here is another picture from the weekend. Its not the best quality (cameraphone) but you can make out this piano made of transparent perspex. It was locked when we were there so I am not sure what it sounds like, but I am pretty sure it was invented so that aging piano teachers have 1 less place to hide their mid-lesson booze.

Note: I refrained from using any Philip Glass jokes here..... 

TRANSFORMERS: More than meets the eye...

Usually I'm not a bench fan, but we had to get this one. Its for our gin & tonic veranda at the front of the house. A regular looking bench......

....but if you pull up the mid-section it transforms into table!

The Keg-Fridge: part 1

Hi Guys

Here is that fridge I was telling you about. I am going to rig it up to dispense beer on tap as shown here. I am going to use one half as a regular fridge and the other half as the keg storage with the tap mounted externally on the door with a drip tray. I am going to have one beer on tap for the time being and after a few months I may install a nice creamy stout (different gas and tap).

So hopefully, all going well with the construction etc, I will be able to sit in my bar drinking chilled pints of homebrew in the 30 degree heat after work. Sure beats queing up for half an hour for a pint in Kehoes after a weeks toil in dublin!

More pictures of the fridge re-fit as it happens.

To be continued...... 

Dear Customer

Check out this sign on my regular sushi bar, Mr Samurai was close due to short of stuff......... Twas hilarious at the time...... 

Lunch on the Swan

We had lunch on the Swan river the other day. You can see the buiding I work in tucked away between those 3 big ones on the right. It was amazing to be so close to the city yet not be in traffic or surrounded by noise. We were on Tresna's boat. Tres is the one who has been giving us loads of gigs since we arrived here. Her and her partner Mark have a lovely boat which they use from time to time.

Finn Harper Morris

Here he is, the man of the moment, Janes nephew and Adams son, Finn Morris. Around 8 weeks old I think and looking good.

Here is 2 pictures from a wedding we did at the weekend. most of the weddings here are outdoors, which makes tuning a real pain in this heat. Thankfully we generally only play 4-5 tunes at a wedding, so weighing up if its actually worthwhile tuning in the first place is debatable. There are quite a few venues like this around Perth.
 

Homebrew is back in action

Hello Guys

Well its been a long time since I had to brew any beer, there was a mad rush of brewing during june/july which kept me going till now, and I have been really busy of late to spare any time to this, my favorite hobby. Well, something new is on the horizon, a KEGERATOR. Basically it means I can have all my brew on tap. No longer will I have to spend evenings bottling by beers. In this picture you can see two kegs on the go. I followed 2 recepies I used for my best brews to date. They should be ready some time mid november, just in time for when my kegs arrive. Woohoo!!!! 

Happy Birthday I-Pod

The Ipod turned 5 today. There is a good review over at engadget about it. 

Pachelbels Greatest Hit

Since the late 1600's, pachelbels cannon has been a hit. Whatever the occasion and wherever the event, it was, and is still, a popular piece of contemporary music. Even today its a tune that most people know and can hum (I'm referring to brides here) even if they dont know the name of it. This single piece of music has stood out in my life since as the first piece I played whilst busking on winthrope street in the early 90's and the first piece I played at my first wedding, which has since propelled me into an amateur (mercenary) musical career.

This week I have beaten my personal best for the amount of gigs per week: from monday - sunday I have 13 gigs (29 hours not including rehersals and a 9-5 day job). I will be playing pachelbels canon at 6 different venues this weekend. If I had a penny for every time.......

Jazz at the Quarry

We went to a Jazz gig on sunday evening to the Quarry Amphitheatre. Its an old quarry converted into a really nice concert venue. The quarry overlooks the city (about 10km away) and you can see all the city lights and skyline in the background when the sun sets.

The deal is that folk arrive about an hour before the show, have wine and crackers and kick back and enjoy the show.


This is the view after the gig with everyone gone. You can just about make out the city lights in the backgroun (cameraphone, apologies for quality)

How many viola players does it take to change a lightbulb.....

Here it is, the end to all viola jokes. My good buddy Owen Kelly tipped me off to this one. Anyone thinking of getting be a christmas present, this pretty much tops the list. http://www.luisandclark.com/viola.php 

Parking Sign of the Month

A confusing parking sign from somewhere on Barrack St. apparently. I got this from the Peoples Republic Of Cork website. It is a good read on a Monday morning 

More for the scrapbook

Here we are again in a local newspaper being advertised for another race day over here. 

The Poster #2

Remember that poster I made? Here it is in action on location in Kerry with the groom to be adjusting my bowtie. 

My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine....ehhh.....Eight Planets?

A mnemonic is a sequence of words to help us remember stuff, generally a rhyme or spoken in verse. Now that Pluto is no longer a planet, well it is sort of, its a dwarf planet and Ceres and Eris have been upgraded from "large" asteroids to dwarf planet's. The new provisional solar system mnemonic is My Very Extreme Mother Just Slurped Up Noodles. Other suggestions are welcome.......

Intercontinental Conference Call.....

Hello Readers

On the 5th of November 2006 at 2pm GMT (9pm Perth time) Fionn and I will be engaging in an international HOUR OF POWER. Most of you will know what this entails. The only difference is that we will be on opposite ends of the planet!

Through the combined use of Skype, Beer and in the tradition of a decade of superseeding all known manners of enjoying the art of drinking in good company via means of pubcrawls and the like, we are going to embark on this new venture. At exactly 2pm GMT the first bell will sound and the hour begins.

Everyone is welcome to join in the conference call as an observer OR competitor. My Skype ID is violacharlie and if you fancy taking part in the worlds first intercontinental CSMAU session then by all means tune in. (note to skype users, please use a headset or earphones, not your computer speakers, as the feedback and echo will be really annoying and hard to cope with after about 30 mins of boozefueled shenannigannery)

This competition will fall under the Royal and Ancient rules of the Hour of Power and appropriate awards and certificates will be issued to successfull finalists in this event. 

A Blast From The Past

Here is Adam again at the race day, looking more like a charachter from the Godfather film, capice? 

Hats Hats Hats

A day at the races is all about the hats. Here is Jane and Adam modelling their latest purchases.

....and of course Guinness's. Race day is all about hats and scoops of Guinness 

Day At The Races

Here is the stage we were playing on, we were not allowed to play when the horses were anywhere near us as we were not allowed to spook them. As a result we played about 12 songs over a period of 5 hours. Fantastic day out!

Here is the course. 6 Big races during the day, with entertainment after each race. The entertainment was us and a troupe of irish dancers.

Pretty cushy gig, our biggest break was 2 hours long, so we had plenty of time to sample the local Guinness... 

Gig School 101

Well I did it, I forked out and bought a gig stand. Its pretty usefull and makes you look WAAAAAAY more professional.....