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Smoking The Musicians Curse


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Phew Morgana, leave the instruments wrapped in newspaper for a week :o

 

I can't go without playing that long......they are played the next day stinky or not :lol:

 

Concertinas at least are played further away from your face than a fiddle is though, but when those bellows get squeezed it wafts up the old nose anyway. Pooh :wacko:

 

I reckon the smokers on this site are keeping quiet.....I wonder why :ph34r:

 

Sharron

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I'm not a smoker but I don't think a smoking ban is particularly enforcible. In recent years pubs in England and Wales have generally become a lot less smokey. I just spent the weekend in LLangollen (as of the town where "Sweet Jenny Jones" is from) and in several pubs and resturants I can't remember the smoke being a problem. In fact I can't remember any smokers inside.

 

I think smokers are more considerate than they used to be, and there seem to be less of them. Having a ban seems like a "Nanny State" intervention to me.

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Yes Jim .......*fresh air*

 

If anyone wants to smoke.....that is fine by me as long as it only involves *them* inhaling the smoke.

Some of the things I have been hearing are a little silly....If you are driving a car and that is not your own and is classed as a place of work.....you cannot smoke in it.......even if you are the only person ever to be in it and all alone.

 

A friend of mine was stopped in Ireland and was smoking in her car.......okay for her as it was her own car and was only used for private purposes. But an owner truck driver cannot smoke in his cab even though it is his vehicle as it is classed as a place of work.

 

Things do go a little/lot crazy when laws are passed.

 

I only want to have clean air to breathe and to have a choice of not being around smoke. I do sympathise with smokers who must feel persecuted.

 

One of our session members smoke and it kept blowing my way.....so after all the huffing and puffing of me blowing the smoke away he got the message and we had a few joking words about it.

 

I said that he also would object if I kept *breaking wind* and he had to breathe in my foul odour....yet that wouldn't kill him.......err well :P enough said.

 

 

Sharron

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Jim I can understand your earlier posting regarding this subject and it`s link to concertinas.

I gave this posting a lot of thought before submitting it.One of the things about Concertina .net is that the discussions are not political or religious two subjects which are interesting subjects to talk about,but not at all related to concertinas ,unless perhaps in respect to religious music.They are also subjects which can also get so heated that good friends can become enemies and we are all friends on this site.My concern was that it was political statement I was making, but on the other hand when we all go out playing in public we are all being submitted to an environment which could be damaging to our health.

I was just going to say that this would be the last political statement,I shall make on this site,but stopping sessions in pubs(unless licenced) is just around the corner and I may have a lot to say about that subject.

Al

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My concern was that it was political statement I was making,...

Considering the passion I've seen on both sides of this argument in the past, I'd be inclined to class it as more "religious" than poliical. B)

 

I was just going to say that this would be the last political statement,I shall make on this site,but stopping sessions in pubs(unless licenced) is just around the corner and I may have a lot to say about that subject.

Indeed!

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Whilst some smokers are irresponsible, it is unfair to generalize that all smokers are irresponsible.

I think that's the key issue.

 

I don't really mind if someone chooses to smoke (though maybe if he/she was a chain-smoker, I'd wish they didn't).

 

For me, the problem is not just smokey rooms from cigarettes...it's always 'something.' Pollen in the air, gravel dust, etc...

 

Though this past winter season wasn't as bad, where I live, many people burn wood in stoves and there's one road that I can hardly even drive down without coughing and getting a sore throat that'll hang on for a while, when everyone is 'smoking!'

 

However, I have found two things that REALLY are great:

 

Clear Voice spray, for the voice/throat. You can order it online from http://www.detour23.com/clearvoice/ -- or, you may find it at a music store. This stuff has been a real help for me.

 

The other thing is the new Ginger Altoids. They're great on a sore throat!

 

The voice spray is so much more practical to use than cough drops, if you need a lot of help for your throat.

 

Also...there are very nice natural/ayurvedic nasal sprays (I got tired of spraying the voice spray up my nose).

 

Eye drops, too...

 

;)

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I must admit I've been wondering if there are any smokers here on C.net who are suffering silently through this "discussion".

Yes they're are. Mostly likely they've learnt from experience that it's better to remain silent.

 

No, you are not going to pull that one! Smug comments like that easily make enemies! The real issue here is that *every* owner of a pub/bar/restaurant is being forced to do what bureaucrats decide by some blanket regulation - no choices allowed. This is a very slippery slope, and as Al has pointed out - we lose the ability to have pub sessions in the UK if some local government jobsworth chooses to enforce current regulations to the letter. What next? Only Alcohol-free drinks - didn't the USA try that once before? Only vegetarian food? Only piped music? etc...

 

Whatever happened to live and let live? Why should I not be able to play, smoke and drink with others of similar mind in one pub/bar, while you play smoke free in another?

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I must admit I've been wondering if there are any smokers here on C.net who are suffering silently through this "discussion".
Yes there are. Mostly likely they've learnt from experience that it's better to remain silent.
No, you are not going to pull that one! Smug comments like that easily make enemies!

Smug? :huh: Struck me as more like "resigned".

I guess the interpretation depends on whether you assume Morgana to be a smoker or non-smoker, i.e., whether she includes herself in "they".

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Well Wes if you had your way.......which at the moment you do......then the smoke free sessions would be better attended than the smokers sessions. I know that in our session of about 10 players on average.......only 2 smoke.

 

The reason I get uptight is that smokers want to be able to smoke......fine by me.....but not at the expense of my health and comfort.

 

Sharron........who obviously doesn't smoke ;)

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No, you are not going to pull that one! Smug comments like that easily make enemies!

 

Well it seems that whatever I say I make enemies anyway.

 

Jim wrote: "Struck me as more like "resigned".

 

Thanks Jim for not looking for offence where none was intended. Yes I am a smoker. No, I do not throw my butts out of car windows, I do not smoke around children. I always smoke outdoors unless I am in my own home. Basically I try to be as considerate as I can towards non-smokers, and try very hard not to encroach on their space.

 

But that's obviously irrelevant. I'm a smoker so therefore I am branded first as someone who litters the highways, and now as smug. So maybe that's just a clue as why smokers might be keeping quiet.

 

In self defense only,

Morgana

 

 

(Edited for clarity and spelling errors)

Edited by Morgana
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Hi Morgana,

 

You've never struck me as smug.

 

Al and Wes,

 

I don't understand the pub regulations. Do you mean there is some ruling that might mean you could not play music or have sessions in pubs?

 

Helen

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I don't understand the pub regulations. Do you mean there is some ruling that might mean you could not play music or have sessions in pubs?

Not without paying a fine... though they call it a "licence fee".

No such licence required for crowds watching football on TV.

I'd better stop now, or this could become a long rant.

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Oh too funny. I came onto this thread and saw two ads about smoking. Should have taken better note (no pun intended). Rushed back and they had already changed. Anyway the ad on the right was for stopping smoking. Can't remember what the ad on the left was.

 

Well Ken, since you guys aren't controlling the placement of the ads, this is a bit spooky. Or just plain fun.

 

Sorry to hear about the problems with fines etc for playing music.

 

Helen

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Oh too funny. I came onto this thread and saw two ads about smoking. Should have taken better note (no pun intended). Rushed back and they had already changed. Anyway the ad on the right was for stopping smoking. Can't remember what the ad on the left was.

You seeing ads in the discussion board threads?!? (Other than the ads above and below from sponsors such as Edgley and Tedrow?)

 

I read this board every day, usually at least 2X, and I've yet to see such an ad.

 

My computer time is split between Windows and Mac machines, so that suggests it's not due to using a niche browser (Safari on a Mac).

 

Maybe I'm in the wrong zip code? :rolleyes:

 

Genuinely puzzled ...

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From what I can understand of the situation regarding music in pubs, is that a new ruling is trying to be introduced by the Labour Goverment ,to say that music cannot be played in a pub by a number of musicians unless the pub has a music licence.I have not read this proposal but it restricts the number of people that could play in pubs without them having a licence I think to two.This would mean that even Morris dancers could not use a band or more than two players.Our pub The George forms part of the tour of old London pubs and many visitors coming to England come in to enjoy our music.The pub would not normaly require a music licence ,the last thing they want to introduce would be an amplified rock band,which is what this licence stupidity is all about.The cost of the licence would be such that the landlord would not bother and our session would be dead.

Of course the jobsworth authorities jumped on this at the Broadstairs Folk Festival and spoilt everybodys fun.

If anyone knows the exact wording of this proposed bill I would be grateful for the information so I can have a go at my local MP and I hope you will join me and have a go at yours.

Al

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The proposal is on the net somewhere, I know because I signed a petition last year, but I have no idea where. :(

 

The ruling is so stupid to the point of if two *unplugged* musicians caused someone to start singing along with them......BANG!!!

 

Just no room to maneouver with this particular law that I can see, plus I have read of landlords already being given warnings.

 

I am not sure but I somehow thought that it was already in force.

 

I am lucky where I live as the pubs I play in have the license anyway.

 

I think the only way around it, is if it is classed as a private party and no member of the public can have access to it. I know this is what happened in our newest place we play in as he was still waiting for the license stuff to go through.....fire brigade visit, etc.....so we were *put* behind closed doors and the *doors* shut and people told to not come in where we were playing, which they did keep coming in. So it's a difficult one as the musicians get off scott free and the landlord pays the penalty. Or so I have been lead to understand :unsure:

 

 

Sharron

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