14th November: Music, music and not more music.

I thought I'd take the time to talk about music. Music takes up most of, if not all, of my free time. I do practice - for both piano and organ - every day, anywhere up to 3 hours for the both of them. I accompany various groups around my local area, including a drama company during their annual pantomine and various choirs. My sundays are normally spent at church, singing or playing the organ. Saturdays are normally quieter, meaning that I actually get free time on saturdays.

So with all of this music going on, it's not really all that surprising that I should want to take a little time and space to talk about it. Afterall, this is about whatever comes into my head and not about anything in particular. The strange thing about me taking the time to talk about it is in fact that the vast majority of what I play is entirely different to what I'm about to talk about.

I'm not used to playing anything after the 18th century or so. Classical music, Baroque music and the occasional venture into Romantic music. There's a few accompanying things where I'll play something else, and I also play a little jazz piano as part of a jazz band. However, I'm talking about modern music.

That little period where all genres of music suddenly exploded and mixed together and came together in weird and wonderful ways.

One example of this is the brilliant music of Piazzolla. His music, although apparently well-known, was a secret to me until my piano lesson today when I swapped from a piece of Litzt - the romantic period - to something written about 50 years later. Piazolla's music doesn't really fit into any genre. He took jazz, tango and classical influences and shoved them into a blender and came out with something different to all 3.

Prehaps one of his more famous pieces is the Libertango. As far as I can see this means the 'life tango', although as I don't speak argentinian or french or anything more than rudimentary german then there's a possibility that I'm wrong. It sort of explodes time and time again with little outbreaks of amazingly easy-sounding and amazingly hard music. I just need to find a double bassist, an accordanist, a violinist and then I'm all set for something to play at the concert thingy that will almost definitely happen at Catmose, as every school has one.

If anyone wishes to volunteer themselves (people that know me only) and have a great desire to suddenly learn how to play the accordion or double bass please say so. I don't know any accordanists that actually can play it properly and similarly for double bassists. Music is also a problem, as I have no idea where to find it or how to find it. I'll manage somehow though, if I can find the interest.

Bit of advice for anyone that wants to learn how to play music: Don't get too good.

Too good means that you are the best available in your school/college/area and that you are thought to be willing to do things. I can't count on my fingers the amount of times when I've been roped in to do something with less than 24 hours notice, and it's about double that for less than 48 hours notice. Average notice I get for being told I've got to play somewhere is about a week, with the more organised people of the world (ie... not music departments) warning me anywhere up to 6 months in advance.

The best organised has to be the pantomine people, who just tell me that I'll be getting the music via the grapevine and that I'm expected on the first week of October, with music learnt, to start accompanying them and yelling at them when they get it wrong and laughing at them for falling over and the rest of the stuff that pantomine brings.

That includes, of course, the kids. It's probably really derogatory to talk about them as the word 'kid', as I'm fairly sure that they aren't goats. Fairly sure. Not definite. Anyway, they're smaller than me, younger than me and therefore kids. Honest! And it includes the typical favourite game of girls.

Anyone remember that from the 8th September?

Girls favourite game. 'She Fancies You' game. That one. A brief reminder for those that have forgotten.

Group of girls, one of them taps boy on shoulder. Tells boy that girl across the circle wishes to go out with/kiss/have sex with/insert other profanity with them. Boy ignores. Girl across the circle taps boy on shoulder and says same thing about other girl. Girls get into argument about who fancies boy. Boy is amused, treats it all as a joke and walks away. Isn't that great?

So, now I've given you a brief reminder (look on the 8th September... first ever entry... for a few more details) lets just put that into context.

I've been doing pantomine for 2 years now. This year is my 3rd year. I just about know most of their names now, although we got a bunch of new kids whose names I can't remember. Lets see... who can I remember (and yes, this is a memory test for myself. I'll get someone to check it next Wednesday.)

In no particular order, other than the order that they come to mind for one reason or another:

Chamarel - whose name is diabolical to spell. I called her midget last year because I couldn't remember her name, ignored her the first year because I didn't know her name and now have to put up with her in history. She thinks that she is fat. She isn't. Typical girl thing thinking that you're fat though. I'm sure. All girls seem to think they are. Stupid people!

Alex - Who got ignored on Wednesday for hitting me over the head with my own script, which she nicked because she couldn't find hers. She missed out on a few sweets because of it. She's also the one whose homework diary is tastefully scribbled on by myself. I can't draw, so the back of it is covered in very bad, not very funny, pictures. Isn't life great?

Ruth - who is in the school choir and who turned up late for rehearsal today. Very bad of her. She should turn up on time so that I don't have to give her evils and a bad mention in my blog. She doesn't have a main part, but she gets to be the ghost who scares everyone and who runs around on stage dressed in a white cloth. The costume designers have lots of imagination when it comes to designing a ghost costume. Seriously though.. what else can a ghost costume be but a white sheet? Ghosts are basically white sheets that float around...

Will - Who I can't forget simply because of the Will and Hannah thing. If you know me, ask me. If you don't just take it for granted that Will ticks the checkboxes for the German breeding plans, as does Hannah. Then apply the standard teenage logic and mindset and come out with the good answer. Will is very bad as well. He steals my sweets, and is the reason why I no longer offer sweets to those that don't have a main part. That is.. if you want a sweet, get a main part and THEN ask me. Or simply make sure you're offstage when everyone else is onstage and that you're standing looking hopeful. And that you're not out the front in plain view.

Telling everyone that you got a sweet is a surefire way of making sure that you never get another sweet again. I'm earning enough money to pay for my addiction, but I can't earn enough to buy sweets for everyone else as well!

There's a few others. It's awful! I can remember 4 of the kids' names. The adults are slightly easier. There's a flautist as well. Hatty maybe? I don't know. It's awful. I'm not even sure that I got Ruth's name correct.

If you haven't guessed, I have a really bad memory for names. I know when I should know someone, but I'm very good at not mentioning any names at all during a conversation. I can go through big long massive conversations with just about anyone without knowing their name. I'm getting better at not making silly mistakes like saying the wrong thing to the wrong person as well. I'm currently running on the line of the thought that I'm not to venture an opinion on anything unless specifically asked to do so. It saves a lot of hassle.

I'm also currently running on the line of action of failing the line of thought that I'm not to venture an opinion on anyting unless specifically asked to do so to save hassle. I fail on lots of things. Comprehension included.


If there's one thing that irritates me most of all (apart from the other things that also irritate me most of all) it's when people turn up later than I do. I'm generally not too bad at keeping time. I'll be about on time for just about everything. Sometimes I'll be a few minutes late, or I'll schedule two consecutive things at places 10 minutes apart, but apart from these small teething problems my time management skills are quite good.

However, I am of the opinion that if you're not going to be there for the vast majority of something you should just excuse yourself from the whole and spend that little minority of time you would have spent doing something doing something else. Learning how to effectively manage time is a good one. Of course, my personal organisation is rubbish.

I'm brilliant at being about punctual - excepting in the cases of rinigng people up, where I can be anywhere up to 2 weeks late - but I'm about the worst person I know for personal organisation. It comes from being able to do things. Or thinking that something is easy.

If I thought that everything was hard, and found most of life more difficult than I do, I'm sure that my go-easy-and-relax mindset would never have existed.

More on this tommorrow. Sleep is needed.

Have Jack round tommorrow, and I'm working in the morning. Busy Day.

And no Haribos left :(

Finished off the last pack last night for a midnight snack whilst writing this.....