Weekly Update

It was over 40 degrees on monday, normally not too bad, but that was also the day of Janes end of year recital. Quite a scorcher in the auditorium!

Here is Jane and her accompanist rehearsing before the gig. Sh eplayed fantastically and got a high distinction from the panel.

And here we all are having a party afterwards, look at that sky just after sunset!

And finally, as a quick update, Christmas has begun over here.

Gig-cam

For those of you who were there, you'll recognise this as a scene from new years eve 2006/07 when Finbarr, Peadar and me did a gig in a tiny bar in Durrys, west cork. Peads and i were sitting on a seat/shelf by the window and in a moment of inspiration i closed the curtins so all you could see was our hands, me playing the fiddle and Peadar playing the fiddle case. This local bucko thought it was the greatest thing ever! Thanks for the photo sis.

Herr Fionn ist ein Deutch

Yes, we had a friend of ours, a vet from cork, visit the other day and told us that fionn as not a flat coat retriever as we previously thought but that he was a german guard dog called a Hovawart or hovie for short, and is probably crossed with a labrador.

Here is one i found online, rmarkable resemblance. Apparrantly they are exellent guard dogs and have been around since the 13th century.

Here is a group of them in all their shapes and colours

And just so she doesnt feel left out, heres one of reillys nose.

Mutt-report

Its been a while since I blogged the dogs. Here is the stairway down to a really secluded dog beach we found a while back, it is only 20 mins from the house and is overlooked by a fantastic cafe/resteraunt. The guys are getting really good at taking the entire staircase at full speed now.

And here they are again, Fionn and Reilly enjoying a good sit.

This weekends gigs

We did a few odd ones this weekend, one gig we did, we had to arrive about an hour early on account to avoid the traffic from the guy that was playing next door, Mr Justin Timberlake. Here is Jane and Jennika enjoying a pre gig hot-dog.

And this one, wait till i tellls ya. The client, booked us to play at a joint 30th fancy dress party for him and his girlfriend, and half way through the party, his buddy announces that they are getting married. And they did, much to the amusement of everyone but the brides parents. We were playing in the garage which openes out onto a marquee covered patio area. Really odd gig but at least now we can say we are a garage band.

More of Finns Adventures

Here is Finn decending into the unknown depths of the dogs water bowl


And here he is in the brewshop the other day, playing with the wine corks

House-cam

Some pictures from around the house:

This mirror is located right in front of the front door so it is the last thing we see before we leave the house, for those of you who have seen zoolander, then you will know how reassuring it is to gaze upon such a reflection as you face the day ahead, safe in the knowledge that you are really really ridiculously good looking.

This is Finn Morris's shelf of fun. Finn arrived on earth about 14 months ago and is a happy go lucky fun loving dude who could teach us all a thing or two about how to run full speeed into the side of a table and make it look like you meant it. We have gradually accumulated a selection of toys for when he visits so we felt it was time for him to have his own shelf (currently laden with toys and his favourite books) here in our house. Also usefull when he reaches college years and needs somewhere to crash.

For our next section, over to you Charlie, our reporter in the field: Well, as you know I am a keen homebrewer, so on this months menu is "Aris", with a fada over the i but i cant find it coz im just back from a gig and its 2am and im slightly tipsy. When i name my beers it us usually in reference to something that happened that day, or a particularly wierd gig i did recently or attributes to the ingredients, so all my names usually come from events BEFORE the beer is ready, so this time i decided to make amends, and actually taste it before I drank it. So, picture the scene, I sat down in my bar, glass of un-named stout in one hand, selection of fancy coloured markers in the other, and had a taste. 'hmmmmmmm', i thought to myself "cant quite nail this one", another sip, "hmmmm hmmmmmmm, interesting taste, another sip "pretty good, nice texture, light bitterness, medium carbonation", another sip, then the glass was empty, so i topped it up again and immediatly called it ARIS which for our international readers is celtic/irish/gaeilge for 'again'.

The other beer, has a picture of a rocket on it, yes i used the same "taste it then name it" methodology, and i believe NASA left a message on the machine yesterday asking of I can leave some left over to fuel their next apollo mission to the moon.

And last picture from this exciting episode of HOUSE-CAM is the "whats on top of charlies bar fridge". So in no particular order, as its now 2:17am and i am 17 mins more tipsy that I was earlier (rocket, say no more) , we can see my CD player, with flat panel speakers and sub, a box of matches, a torch, a selection of pens and stationary tools, one of my pocket-PC's loaded with 2 gigs worth of tunes, a glass of that rocket stuff and of course my stolen 'brrrrriillllllliant' guinness bar mat.


Well there you go, another incredibly interesting episode of HOUSE-CAM.

Tune in next week for more raaaaaaaaandom adventures in my house.

Sunday....

It all started with a freebie. We did a freebie gig a few months back for the perth cinema society, really old school stuff. And as a result we are now members of the society, which means we get to go the the films for free, there is only about 8 showings a year, all old school stuff, they have a talk, then show a few pre 50's news clips (really cheesy stuff) and then the film. Yesterdays one was the Marx Brothers Go West, not their best but still an absolute classic. The cinema society is all about preservine the tradition of cinema and presenting all their events as it would have been 50 years ago before TV,DVD and contemporary cinema. Above is a picture of an guy playing the Wurlitzer organ before the flick, in a truly impressive display, morphing all manner of tunes together, in what would have been the interval music in days gone by. Incredible stuff.

Then, off to a gig. Here i played a few tunes with a pianist, one of which being the theme from the godfather, looped 3 times for the signing of the register, the 2nd time incorporating a "jazz odyssey", ( I have learned that jazz is just a series of mistakes without the 'oops)

Then back to the gaff for a bite and a few beers before the wedding gig that night. This is the bell in my bar, I always wanted to have a bell somewhere in the house, i dont tend to use this one much though.

And of course, what day is complete without a play with the hounds. Here is Fionn and Reilly in anticipation of their dinner.

Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)

Yes, this perth place just gets better and better. I have been (tentatively) booked to play in a 60 minute comedic oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. It was written by former Python Eric Idle and collaborator John Du Prez. It had its world premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto on June 1, 2007. info on the perth gig is here.

The musical style jumps around, and Idle described it as "baroque 'n' roll". It is a pastiche, reflecting pop, Welsh hymns, country and western, doo-wop, hip hop, Broadway, Greek chorus, and Bob Dylan (in his mumbling, electric guitar and harmonica phase, solo-ed by Idle). "Hail to the Shoe" is sung to the tune of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah oratorio. The final song is the sing-along Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life. Ill have to practice my whistling!

Finns Adventures

We had a great night the other night, Finn and co. called round for an evening of banter and shenanigans. Here is Finn playing IN the dogs water bowl

And here he is all cleaned up and preparing to dine

More of his adventures can be found here http://www.finnmorris.blogspot.com/

Guess what we found

Yup, its a pub and its on our street. For those of you who have been here, if you go out the front of the house and turn right, cross walter road and walk for about 2 mins up the other side of the strand and you get to this watering hole

Its got a bottle shop (off licence for the folk back home), a small supermarket and a hairdresser, what more does a guy need.

Here is Jane and the hounds enjoying a mid-walk beer

And as if that wasnt enough, there is a chipper right next door too. Woohooo

Bangkok here i come

Well, as close as I can anyway. The rumors are rife here that miss Saigon is coming to Perth for a few months early next year and it looks like yours truly may be the jammy wee irish viola player that gets the gig. 88 shows, which will be nearly as many times as I have tuned my viola since I started playing. Its early days yet, but we should know in a few weeks. It took about a year to get on the 'list' that all fixers in town have but it seems to be working, i have also been booked for the new years eve proms with the Perth Pops Orchestra and a possible small run of The Phantom of the Opera also. Being a viola player has never been so much fun! Also, i dont know if I told any of you readers back home yet, but Jane, Adam and I did our first 'black velvet band' wedding last week, we MC'd the event and even did a bit of DJ-ing too. hahahaahahahhaa. This music business is great craic.

Regulars at the bar

Here is one of the many guys at JB O Reillys (our regular wednesday gig) who likes to join in for a song or two. This is Vince, great guy, pops his head in the door every few weeks and sings a few of his own tunes, great guy.

More amazing ozzie stuff

Instant cheese in a can. Cheezam! Brilliant