Rod Thompson

I've added to the delivery instructions - "Avoid the Coffs Harbour Area - ship via Perth". But - the Customs stung me for five and a zac!! (Actually nearly $500). At least it is on the road (or air) again!!!

Don't worry, the digital is all charged up & ready to go!! She is now in Sydney, having been stuck in Taiwan for 24 hours waiting for aircraft repairs (two flights cancelled). Not impatient . . . not impatient . . . not impatient . . .

Sorry - but no possible chance!! It is now in Taiwan, delayed by a flight cancallation

Santa Clause is coming!! I feel like a kid watching the Air Force tracking Santa on Christmas eve. I am tracking a 31b Suttner on UPS. It is currently in Koeln, on the way to East Brisbane.

Lindsay Pollock plays the cucumber I think. I know for certain he plays the carrot. He also plays the music stand, and gaffer tape.

Now if we want to be REALLY scary. Check out this link for the "Virtual Air Guitar". Surely some of the electronic whizz kids can invent the "Virtual Air Concertina" (a concertina entirely composed of air - not just inside the bellows). This would enable us to play the concertina into our own headphones while riding the bus, without needing a concertina. Imaginary bellows over the left knee (no need to worry about bellows wear), Right foot tapping, Concertina player's expression of concentration, ... If this doesn't clear the whole bus of other passengers, nothing will!

One thing - editing on computer is far - far easier than on a rtr tape recorder.

G'day Mate

Spare a thought for the bombarde players - imagine trying to get one through airport security - "It's alright - its only a bombarde".

So who gets most confused - an melodianist with an Anglodeon, or a concertinist with a Franglo??

I am hoping for a Christmas present from Jurgen Suttner-Clause.

Anyone had any success with concertina and mouth-organ at the same time? I had a notable failure - the two actions were too similar. I found it impossible to separate the blow/suck from the pull/push, and nearly exploded. The other problem was working out which instrument was playing the wrong note - but most often it was both.

Look on the bright side - you will never be short of female feline admirers when you play

In fact, the article is well worth reading.

Having a bit of time on my hands, I did a google on "world famous" and "concertina player", and came up with this interesting article. http://www.ksanti.net/free-reed/essays/psostory.html The concertina connection was the paragraph "The illiterate self-taught village concertina player can provide just as much joy to his audience at village weddings and dances as can the world-renowned virtuoso at prestigious symphony concerts". Hmmm - from an accordianist!! (only posted in the spirit of "stirring the possum") .

Sorry - off topic, but I can't stop laughing at your signature line.

OK so explain this - an anglo is just a spit-free mouth organ, but wrong notes on an anglo sound much wronger than do wrong notes on a mouth organ. In fact, by definition, a blues harp cannot produce wrong notes.

Thanks for your reply. This is just what I wanted to know - I probably will take this path. I have attached a photo of the bellows, apart from the corner wear, two of the diamond-shaped leather bits have completely disintegrated.

I am considering replacing the bellows on my 30 button Lachenal - has anyone any advice on the advisability of using this kit? My only real worry is that the bellows website says "This kit is aimed at instruments where the cost of a new set of bellows would normally be uneconomical.", on the other hand, they seem to be good quality bellows. The instrument - while "only a Lach" is quite a good one, and has a very sweet tone, so I don't want to harm it in any way. Any advice / experiences?

Putting this together with a few other threads - I have come to the conclusion that the typical concertina player of a hundred and something years ago was a sea-faring woman with a monkey on her shoulder.

The tune was "The Springtime it Brings on the Shearing" - because we were doing a production of "Reedy River" at the time. I was playing the mouth organ in the play, but the director (Maria - my wife) decided that a concertina would be more appropriate - so we decided to buy one second hand. After months of searching ("we used to have lots of them"), we finally found one - and then, I had to learn to play the thing. I finally learned to play The Springtime it Brings on the Shearing a couple of months after the play finished!

I must admit that - given the co-incidence of names, I thought that this was a joke. (It is a co-incidence since we didn't actually discover them), but it is fair dinkum! I fiound a website with pictures here. Thank you - I will update the site with the official name.

What's wrong with the title - "Beef with Classical Music"? Sounds great - perhaps a bottle of red wine to go with it?

Sounds like a great idea - I can just see the news - "Scientists puzzled by mass migration of penguins to the North Pole". The deckhouse of the Europa is the perfect location for a session - just like a pub, but no smoke. - - Unless the weather gets up - at force 9, instruments that take up both hands are not advisable! Thanks for the kind words all!

Our photos from out trip to Antarctica are at last on the web. http://www.home.gil.com.au/~rodnmaria/antarctica.html A bit off-topic, but there is a concertina connection here and here, and here (on the wall of the College of Arts about halfway down the page) (There is aldo a melodian on the theatre mural on the same page), and here. Unfortunately, we have no photos or recordings of the wonderful Bandonian playing (Tango of course) in Buenos Aires. There are still a few broken links and typos I am working on, but I hope you like what is there.