Peter Laban

It can vary wildly though, depending on the mode of transport offered. Some items I ordered from China during february and march did take five months, apparently shipped to Europe in a sea container and then posted inEuropean countries (one parcel was eventually posted in Schiedam in the Netherlands, of all places). On the other hand, I ordered two apple picking devices last Sunday week after finding the one I had had deteriorated to a state of near uselessness. I ordered two, as they were only €6 with free postage. I didn't hold out hopes and thought they'd be great for next year's apple harvest but they were stuck on a plane, with accurate tracking provided, and they entered the Irish postal system yesterday. Waiting for them to arrive today. Which is a faster delivery from China than Ebay's Global shipping programme can manage (at an extortionate cost) from England.

That man played the concertina for 87 years! He was always in good form when I saw him, irrepressable always. He had a small stroke on Sunday, walked to the ambulance under his own steam, or so I was told. End of an era in one way but from his grandfather and father to his children and grandchildren , there is a wonderful continuity of music and concertinaplaying too. More tributes on Clare FM : https://www.clare.fm/featured-2/tributes-paid-across-clare-legendary-concertina-player-chris-droney/ Journal of Music : https://journalofmusic.com/news/rip-concertina-player-chris-droney Clare Herald : http://clareherald.com/2020/09/legendary-concertina-player-chris-droney-passes-away-19244/

More sad news, Chris Droney has died unexpectedly on Wednesday. What a loss. Deathnotice: https://rip.ie/death-notice/chris-droney-bell-harbour-clare/433193 Deathnotice at Clare FM, with funeral arrangements : https://www.clare.fm/obituaries/chris-droney-bell-harbour/

Some time ago I had a parcel coming from the US (to Ireland). It took all of two weeks to get out of California and after another two weeks scans completely ended, in Denver, It arrived, eventually, nine weeks after posting (it went with USPS). Things have gone a bit chaotic with the pandemic, between shipping restrictions, the way people work and the huge volume of online buying going on. At this end couriers are completely overworked (I am waiting on a parcel at the minute) resulting in delays, poor information and a degree of frustration on all sides. That said, I received a package from China rewcently that had taken just over five months so you're not doing to bad yet.

Celluloid is extremely dangerous as a fire hazard. It is l known for being highly flammable. That why old film archives are kept in bunkers. This really shouldn't have been a surprise.

I can only comment on what you publish online and that's just what you did. f you don't want to be seen, just a soundclip is an option. I did pick up Tom Maguires Fancy from that first clip so it's not all doom and gloom.

Here's another one, not as rushed as the first one. But why people film themselves headless and wearing their PJs is beyond me:

I just saw the news when checking the obits at Clare fm. Very sorry to hear. One of the last of the old style players from that corner of the county. I hadn't seen him for a while, between the lockdown and everything else but he was always ready for a chat or to play a tune, if he had the concertina handy. Here's the deathnotice on Clare FM : https://www.clare.fm/obituaries/gerald-haugh-lissycasey/

Living in an old house in the West of Ireland, dealing with mould seems to be part of life. If it occurs on the wooden ends it is most likely growing in places where you touched it, feeding on the oil left by your skin. . Keeping hands clean and giving the surfaces a wipe (with a microfibre cloth) will go some way preventing growth. Leather will always be more susceptible to mould growth in humid climates, best to find the least humid and well ventilated location available to you to store the instrument.

A lot of stuff seems to have sold out at Custy's during the lockdown. It may be they are just not buying in much or perhaps people don't come in as often to drop in copies. Give me a shout if you can't find it. Have you heard An Trí is a Rian? I don't suppose that's still available but while Claire Keville recorded with them on that CD, Dympna slotted into that setting with John Weir and Eithne Ní Dhonaile very nicely on occasion.

It was available from Custy's until a few weeks ago. Probably worth asking them, if you haven't already. They will know if the family still has copies left and will be able to get copies if there are any. As it happens, I was in Lissycasey a few hours ago, walked up to the cascades. Had the car parked outside the cemetary and doffed my virtual hat in memory of.

There are many ways to play a tune 'right' and there are also a lot of ways to get it wrong. And a few people on your list would have been happy to express an, often very strong, opinion if you didn't get it right. Just to be clear, 'different' is not necessarily wrong but playing a very different version over another one would be frowned upon so you need your wits about you and be able to adapt to different approaches on the fly. But it's nonsense to say there's no right or wrong and suggest it's a free for all. It really depends on the type and purpose of a session. It really is a grave misconception any beginner, or anybody at all can walk into a session and join uninvited where musicians sit down to play music, especially if you don't know the group. It's best to suss out the situation, have a chat with the musicians and see what the story is. Anyone derailing the flow of music will probably spoil the night for most musicians, unless there's a specific teaching element to the gathering or the joining beginner is known to the group and is invited to play a few tunes for mentoring and social purposes.

With the Willie week cancelled for this year, the school's committee an the Irish Traditional Music Archive have created a virtual Willie . All week highlights of past events have been running, fiddle, flute/whistle, harp, pipes, accordion, harmonica, singing and dancing recitals were al featured so far. Today, Friday, is the concertina's turn. Premiering at eight local time and archived after that, concertina highlights from recitals past: The coming week events from the 2019 Willie will be streamed, on the days and times they were originally held. Concertina recital again on Friday. See the full programme for the 'virtual Willie' : https://bit.ly/2Arvyez see also the page at ITMA : https://www.itma.ie/latest/news/itma-and-scoil-samhraidh-willie-clancy-2020

Probably a matter of geography. Steve's link worked for me. Jackie showed me the concertina, twenty years ago and said it came from Paul Davies. Jackie joined myself and Kitty Hayes on occasion, when we played. He'd bring a C box of use a concertina, if there was one at hand. Some of you will be familiar with the story of him playing the concertina and someone coming up saying 'Jackie, Jackie, I didn't know you could play the concertina'. 'Ofcourse I can' he shot back 'Anyone can play the concertina'.

I am waiting for a package that was posted in California late April, it took several days to get to a sorting centre in Los Angeles, stayed there for two weeks, was scanned out of there and two days later was scanned as departing Denver on May 14. Nothing was heard of it since. I suppose it's sitting somewhere in a warehouse, waiting for a flight to Ireland. Another package was scanned as leaving France last week, so far without arriving anywhere yet. And things from China, always slow, may remain in limbo for ever. The postal system is suffering from lack of flights and probably a vast increase in online shopping. Some stuff gets through alright though.

The Guardian/Observer had some on the transmission within choirs today : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/17/did-singing-together-spread-coronavirus-to-four-choirs

Yes. And Davey Spillane too.

By chance I stumbled into Kate Bush's Rocket man':

Worth taking a peek: Slí na mBeaglaoich the blurb: Lovely music in it.

Best wishes to her.

Chris just keeps on going, doesn't he? Like a Bellharbour energizer easter bunny.