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