Its for you, its the president....

Well, there i was, at a gig, no different to any other, except for the fact that i was metal-detected by a guy with a selection of guns on his person and sniffer-dogged as i entered the venue. Then as I was tuning the trusty ol viola, this guy came up behind me and asked me what we would be playing today. The usual response ensued "oh mainly light classical music and some baroooeeeqqq....eeehhhhhhh.....", i garbled to Kevin Rudd, prime minister of Oz. Then i played twinkle twinkle for his son and they were both went away well chuffed.

Here is a shot as I was leaving, note all the suits by the doors, and below, no meeting of the cabinet is complete without a handfull of protesters.

Day out with the Finn man

Finn came over today to hang out with his favourite Aunt and Uncle. He is just after getting into watching movies so I introduced him to the 120 inch home-cinema set-up. He watched a few episodes of bosco, a bit of spongebob squarepants and when Jane put on monsters inc he sat like this, un-moving, for ages.

So there we were, wandering around the boat harbout when all of a sudden Finn bumped into his old pal Thomas the Tank Engine. Much joviality ensued.

And them off for a bit of kangaroo spotting. Its hard to tell from this shot but that guy next to the tree was massive. About as tall as me when standing up straight.

Shots from about the house

Cockroaches. Harmeless but really annoying and scary at the best of times. I dont mind them too much, but Jane really hates them. Every now and then i get home from a gig to find a book in the middle of the floor, usually a hastely procured encyclopedia dropped from a height onto said pest, with this sign on it. Hilarious.

Here are the first 3 tomatos from our plant, we had them in a sandwich yesterday. I thought it was going to be a regular tomato plant with massive ones, but we have accidentally grown a cherry-tomato plant. Quite a way to go until I am puree-ing my own bolegnese, but its a start...

Miss Saigon Viola part analysis

I usually dont go through parts for shows, but after i heard that a few players are pulling out because the music is too tricky i decided to have a quick perusal of the 'ol viola part, which is a pile of music larger than my entire pile of string quartet gig folders

Here is my only solo, (well, the only one i could find. the previous player helpfully jotted down a few notes) microscopically more epic than my solo last year.

I think this is my fanciest page. About an hour and a half into the show i get to perform a loud 6 bar rest, followed by a keychange into C for another 6 bar rest, then a few lines later a two bar solo on a down-bow, muted, gently mezzo-forte B, my third favourite note after G and C. I anticipate that the first rehersal will shed more light onto the rumors that this is a really hard show, we'll wait and see.

Outdoor cooling

Here is a solo gig of Adams i was at the other day. That mist is sprayed on the punters every 5 mins to keep them cool. Bizarre!!!

Situation Vacant....

Do you want to get paid to hang out in the sun for 3 months?
Do you like free beer?
Do you play the viola/fiddle/whistle/flute/mandolin/guitar/lute/jazz fusion bassoon/harmonica/bolivian nose flute?
Do you want to play 6-10 gigs a week in the most remote city on the planet?
Do you REALLY like free beer?
Do you have naurally green curly hair?
Do you have trouble getting past the first free beer line?

If so, then have I got a deal for you!!!!!

Basically, on account of this Miss Saigon gig, i have to dep out all my other work, which i just worked out is about 7k's worth of giggery (classical and folk) between late feb - mid april. So if any of you guys in Ireland want to come over here and gig away for a few months in 30 degree utopian bliss, then get on the next plane! I am accepting auditions from anybody who plays a melodic instrument and can riff, lick, hook, tag (generally provide a a harmonic framework) and vamp like Tom Leherer on speed. I am an equal opportunity employer and will put you up in a nice green tent (thank you Niamh McCauliffe's brother) and supply you with infinite beer and BBQ roo. I think the tickets for this time of year are about 800 yoyos and the visa costs about 50 bucks.

Applications to charliecharlie at gmail.com (substitute at for @, web-bugs etc yada yada yada)

What are you waiting for?

follow that cab

Heres Finn and Oliver having a run around the garden the other night

personalised plates

If captain Picard had a car.....

if all the other plates are sold out.........

Random snaps

Here are the two beers that are on tap at the moment, a pilsner and a nice robust belgian ale called 'the count'. We had a pretty heavy night last night with Matt and Jennika, another Jayno birthday celebration, we kept inventing new cocktails and trying different drinks all night, we used up all our glasses!!!! thats two dishwasher loads of just glasswear, we have had parties here with 80+ people and not use that many glasses. A nre strand record. Anyhoo, this morning i think I was still drunk, definatly my brain was a bit scattered and i had some teaching and a few jobs to do, just when things were getting a bit too much for me I turned on the radio in the car and what came on only tchaik 5. Hangover cured instantly, my majestic bass singalong could be heard for miles around, fantastic.

We ended up doing a gig with a friend of ours who works mainly in sydney, Sally, and her car of the day from tonys in fremantle. Classic.

It has finally arrived, the viola part of miss saigon. Tis a whopper, lots of new notes/sounds in this one, i may even have to tune! The previous viola player has helpfully tagged the pages where i need to put the earplugs in.

babycam

we all went out for a meal on teh night of janes birthday and the kids came too. Here is Oliver, who has featured these parts before, having an ice cream

And here is the Finn man, who wanted a go off my camera and below he is getting tucked into a nice curry.

Janes Birthday

Yup twas janes birthday the other day, and for the first time ever we had no fancy dress party, we had a 2 day long casual celebration with a few small feasts and shenanigans. One highlight of the day was the indiana teahouse which is a great resteraunt right on the beach in cottesloe (think foxrock/rochestown rd and on the coast) And since Jane got her new phone she has been taking loadsa pictures. Here is one of me reading the news after lunch

and heres me standing. Epic photography.

This is how close we were to the beach, we were upstairs.

And here is the enterance. Great place, lovely food and amazing view

mutt-cam jan 2008

Heres a great one of Fionn patrolling the beach, he gets really hot relly fast on account of being a big black hairy dog so he likes to find patches of shade around the place

Here are the lads on their new bed, which they ate after a week, which brings their bed-count up to 4 i think. We got this beanbag from Jane and Laurie, an elderly couple who come to all our parties, they are great fun.

Here is two more of the lads at the beach, check out their ears, when they get wet their hair goes all crimped and 80's looking.

Through the grapevine...

We went out for a meal the other night, an indian, and parked down a sidestreet right next to this overhanging grape vine.

So we picked a few vines and had them with crackers, wine and cheese later on when we got home. Ah Australia.....

New things on The Strand

We have a few new items on show at "The Strand" manor this week. First of all being our new gazeebo and new outdoor furniture. The gazeebo is hexagonal (best shape in the world, followed closely by a circle, then octagon) with a soft cover roof and loaded with 300 fairy lights and of course no gazeebo is complete without a selection of passionfruit creepers growing up the columns. The furniture is all recycled wood, jarrah to be exact, which is a local hardwood. Most of the table used to be railway sleepers. Its like having a new room in the house. We have had brealfast out there since we got it 2 days ago and had a meal and a party in it last night, tis great.

Second new think off the rank is a punching bag. Great for exercise and intimidating guests who you want to get rid of by mid-conversation going and giving the bag a bit of curry, then returning with "im sorry, could you say that again"? with a smile.

Thirdly is our tomato plant. This plant gre all of its own accord. It was a seed i dropped and forgot about when i was planting the REAL tomato plant (which is now dead) this has LOADS of tomato's on it, im looking forward to making my first bolegnese sauce with them

Here is another look at one of the passionfruits growing up the leg of the gazeebo. They should be prudicing fruit within about 6 months apparrantly. So we dont have to walk too far to get desert.......

Sorry Goose, but it's time to buzz a tower.

Yup, i am going up in the air. Jane got me a flight in a fighter plane for my birthday. Their website is here and some videos are here. Cant wait. Its on the 3rd of feb, more photos to follow.......