Self Portrait 2005

A Trio of Haiku

The thick morning fog
Hides the day yet to come
White wrapping paper


The ruffled raven
Implores the west wind to stop
For he cannot fly


Two moons in the sky
Each a mirror for the other
Cloud splits the full moon

Serendipity

Isn't she gorgeous? Cuddly, tactile, voracious, bouncy, suspicious, jumpy, hirsute and loud. But gorgeous.

Lucy Belle

Isn't she beautiful? Muscular, rigid, greying, insanely ball mad, hyper needy, frightened of storms and fireworks, smiley, farty and indefatigable. But beautiful.

Photo that I recently took

I was making dinner and cut into a lovely fresh capsicum to reveal the beautifully striking cross section that my cut produced. I was so struck with it that I took this photo.

How cunning is my dog you ask

Well, one of my dogs is on anti-inflammatories at the moment, one a day, and I had some trouble yesterday when she decided that she did not want it. I had given her a treat before hand and showed her that I had more if she was good. I tried to shove it down her throat when shechewed it and spat out two largish pieces amounting to about half the dose. I tired to give her these but she growled at me.

Now I am keen to make sure that my dog knows who is boss but you do not stick your fingers in the mouth of a dog that growls at you when you try to. So I figured I would hide it in food. So I go to the fridge and grab some camembert cheese as it is the only thing I have that she will want that I can push the tablet fragments into. I slice off a thin piece and fold it in half with the tablet fragments inside and give it to her (and some for the other dog so she doesn't get jealous). Well she chews it up and is obviously struggling to get her mouth around the sticky cheese (most of her food is dry and crunchy).

But she is enjoying it and I think that I have succeeded when you guessed it she smacks her lips and spits out a piece of tablet. I feel disappointed but figure that the other piece is gone so I managed in total to get three quarters of a dose. And that is when the other shoe dropped or more specifically after a second's mouth movement the other piece dropped to the floor. By this stage they were too mushy to do anything with and I gave up.

Happily this morning I got the dose in her no problem.

Why my Bass Guitar is a Bad Boy Yardie

After some consideration as to what my Bass guitar's name might be (BB King's guitars were all Lucille) along comes an incident that has made it clear.

It came to me like a bolt to the head.

I had been up late playing my bass when I decided to call it a night. I put the bass down shut off the light in that room and in the semi dark I reached for the bass only to have the E-string tuning peg hit me over my right eye. Obviously it is a bad boy yardie trying to kill me in the dark, it was only the fact that I had a firm grip on the neck of the guitar at the time that I survived. But I have a black eye now.

So in keeping with the fact that BonsaiGirl suggested that bass guitars have boy's names it is now Lincoln.

This also has the benefit of giving it some bluesy credibility as in the American automobile.

The future is written

The future (and indeed the past)
Is written
In the pattern of coloured scales
Adorning the skin of the world serpent
(Who has no beginning and no end).
It lies under the skin of the past that is shed when the present
Happens

Thus the future becomes the moment
And past
in turn
is lost
to obscurity

Bass Lesson No. 2

Well, my second bass lesson went well but the music theory has me a little worried as it is not easy to wrap my scientist's brain around (why is it not decimalised?). But I am not overly stressed about that. I now have the Peter Gunn theme to practice and what I have discovered in praticing since this lesson is that unless you get the tempo fast enough it doesn't sound anything like the theme, even if you do get the notes right. It is somewhat frustrating. Still I am patient and persistant. Plus I am finding learning the bass to be a lot of fun so it never seems like work.

I was at a birthday party on the weekend for a guy I know in a band and I realised that he knows a lot of musos. Half the people I met asked me either what instrument I played or what band I was in. I was even invited to join a band (that only has one member at this point) in spite of the fact that I have had only 2 lessons (apparently that's enough).

My actual goal is to be in a band in 12 months and performing within 2 years. I can and will do this. Watch me.

Haiku Two

Exceptions exist
Everything casts shadows
All but for the sun

Hunter S. Thompson - Kingdom of Fear

I have just finished reading Hunter S. Thompson's latest and final book "Kingdom of Fear" which according to him " I like this book and I especially like the title. Only a fool or a whore would call it anything else."

Obviously the good doctor was neither.

It is one of his more fun books and seems to ramble on but if you are a fan it is gold. Some of my favourite lines from it are:

"At the top of the mountain we are all snow leopards."

"The work of the Devil is never fully revealed until after midnight."

"Once you get a feeling for handling nitroglycerine fuses, you never lose it."

and he has titles for chapters like:

God might forgive you but I won't
What Marijuana?
Jesus Hated Bald Pussy
Song of the Sausage Creature
Fear and Loathing at the Taco Stand


All in all he was definitely a one off.

R.I.P good Doctor

Bass lesson No 1

Well, finally the people at the music school got back to me about arranging a lesson time and date. So I had my first lesson on Monday arvo with Brad who is pretty cool. He has the point of view that you should learn to read music and do the theory instead of just learning to play tablature and learning hand shapes. What little I have read about what various musos think seems to hold that this is the only way to go if you intend to be better than only average. And no matter how long it takes I don't just want to end up an average player.

So the lesson went well, we had to start with the very basics ie Bass clef, minums etc. He tried my bass and said that he was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the sound for a Chinese made Fender. At the time I was somewhat chuffed but now in hindsight I realise that was something of a backhanded compliment.

But anyway I was feeling good about it when we moved on to examining my knobs (yes I have more than one) on the body of the bass. I was just fiddling with one when it fell off in my hand. Now I don't need to tell you how embarrassing it is to be sitting in a small room, with a man you just met, and you have your knob in your hand.

I told this story to my girlfriend Alicia and she expressed surprise that my Mother had not warned me about these dangers.

Still the lesson went well and I left with the instructions that I was to practice on the bass every day for at least 10 minutes and preferrably 20. I promised that I would. So that night I did 20 minutes and today I did 20 in the morning and 40 this evening. I was pleasantly surprised that I seem to not be totally unco at it. There is hope.

I'll try to do another hour tomorrow.

Haiku

I have been writing a few Haiku lately, partly because I like a well written one and partly to see if I could come close to anything good. Anyway here is one I wrote last night while a walking the dogs.


The night sky is dark
The clouds glow from within
Bashful is the moon