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Rod Thompson

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Posts posted by Rod Thompson

  1. Oh dear, latest news headlines: "Mail truck hijacked near Coffs Harbour by beardrd Pom armed with jewellers' screwdriver and needle file".

     

    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!!!

  2. PPS. I'm sure we'd all love to see a picture of you and your new squeeze.

     

    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 . . .

  3. Now if we want to be REALLY scary. Check out this link for the "Virtual Air Guitar". :blink:

     

    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! :ph34r:

  4. ... you could try a mouth organ in a harness.

     

    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. :blink:

     

    The other problem was working out which instrument was playing the wrong note - but most often it was both.

  5. 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") ;) .

  6. 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?

  7. 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!

  8. The unknown jelly things are Salpa thompsonii (what ever they actually are!)

     

    I asked at work (British Antarctic Survey)

     

    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.

  9. ASI (Antarctic Squeeze-In), anyone?

     

    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! :D

  10. 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.

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