When worlds collide

Last weekend I managed to get away from GV (the oil & gas platform) earlier than expected, so I went to the Guildford Banjo Jamboree. One amazing highlight was Noriko Tadano on the Shamisen (the instrument I didn't see when I was in Japan). They called it a "traditional Japanese 3 string fretless Banjo".

Here's a sample of her playing:



Other Highlights :
Greg Deering from the Deering Banjo Co in the US talks at length about banjos and the construction and adjustment of them:


Street band with guy playing the saw.


All in all, a pretty good weekend, with lots of banjos (and other instruments) being played in the concert hall and in the street.

Sony Reader

While I was in Japan I ordered a Sony Reader from the US (they don't have them in Japan or anywhere else except for the US, Canada and just recently the UK) and it arrived today. And it's great.

Just a couple of problems (more annoyances really):

• It doesn't strip line breaks from text files, so things can look a little screwed up sometimes. I had to write a little exe file that strips them out. This adds an extra step to the upload process but it looks ok now.
• It came with a program called "ebook library" which is supposed to manage ebooks and upload them to the reader, in an itunes sort of way. Problem is: it's a bit buggy. Strips out and ignores any meta data from the text files and thinks that all word files are still open. So it will copy text files over but leaves out the Author details. Found an XML file on the reader where this information is kept, and have to edit that after uploading with file manager.

Anyway this device is great for anyone with a short attention span. You can read 5 books at once (time multiplexed in 10 minute bites) this seems such a natural thing to do, I bet that once these things become popular enough someone will come up with a special word for it.

A Week in London

Tues

• Met Tim at the gallery
• Monmouth coffee
• Dinner at the wet fishCafe in west Hampstead
• Back to Tim's place

Wed

• British museum
• Tate
• Last.fm (Tim's work) and takeaway Vietnamese
• Coffee

Thu

• Bike tour
• Lots of walking
• The best fish & chips you've ever tasted in your life
• Coffee again
• Jazz cafe

Fri

• Hampstead heath, cheese & bagels
• Saw "Timon of Athens" at the Globe.
• Pizza

Sat

• McBreakfast
• Coffee & lunch at Neil's salad bar
• Covent garden & the Punch & Judy pub
• Theatre
• Hellboy

Sun

• Got up late & made breakfast
• Hyde park speakers corner
  
• Science museum
• Polish restaurant
• Wall-E
  

Lemon - A life

July 2005


On a cold and damp July day, the lemon tree is planted















It grows. Friends come to watch.



















April 2007


The first lemon appears.















July 2008

A moonlit night. That first lemon is now quite big. It has several siblings.














Its fate is sealed.
















The much anticipated ceremonial gin & tonic in whose shadow the lemon has lived.

Incredibow

Bought a new bow from the Incredibow company in Mountain View, Arkansas.


It's curved in the opposite direction to a normal bow. It has synthetic hair. It is very light, and has no screw on the frog so it's always at full tension. Almost as interesting was the packaging: It came in a pvc pipe with tissue paper and gaffa tape at the ends. Was wrapped in a plastic bag and a sheet of black satin tied with gold string. Along with the bow came a red plastic rose (if you look closely you can see the plastic dew drops too)


It's very different to use. The jury is still out as to whether it's better or not than a more conventional bow, but early impressions are good.

Amazing Breakthrough

Wow what a brainwave. I've finally figured out what to do with those annoying little stickers they put on fruit (especially apples). You know - you don't want to eat them, but if you peel them off they get stuck to your fingers and the only way to get them off is to stick them to something else. A couple of dozen of these on the fridge can look quite unsightly. The answer? Simply stick them on the plastic bag that the bread comes in. In a day or two the bread will be eaten and it'll be time to throw the bag out, along with the offending stickers! Another battle won in the war between me and stuff.

Violas for sale

Location: Melbourne Australia

John Van Wirdum Viola - 1987
with bow, shoulder rest, and case


Dimensions
total length: 405 mm (15.95")
nut to bridge: 376 mm (14.80")
width: 240 mm (9.45")


Excellent tone quality

$4,500 ono








_________________________________


Collector's Item Viola
with bow, shoulder rest, and case


Early Australian
William Johnson - 1908
Domain Street, South Yarra, Victoria

Dimensions
total length: 415 mm (16.34")
nut to bridge: 315 mm (12.40")
width: 235 mm (9.25")

If you're interested you can contact me at: psell@mail.com