One : I have a laptop as well, but that doesn't need a mouse mat...

I need three mice. Preferably clarinet themed

i have 6 rats, but they get annoyed when i put their tails in my computer sockets

It's as confused as this smilie is:

If I had 6 rats, I'd have to name them after clarinet players.

Obsessed? Me? Never...

lol they have a flute one too





lol, when i get some more they were all gonna be named after composers or book charactors

Can you make an orchestra of them?

I think that's called how NOT to play the flute.

lol

best i can do is a duet,

Wonder why the flautist is blinking, and the clarinettist isn't?...

Maybe the clarinet's not so blinkin' difficult to play?!

you could be right its got no keys anyway, i bet theres not even music on the stand

That's fab the flautist looks so uncomfortable though!

Perhaps she has her music upside-down, so has done the same with her flute in the hope of being in synch'?

The way their legs are moving, I think they're playing the Can-Can

Or rather Can't-Can't!

(Speaking of the Can-Can, where's Tin-tin?)

I love them, even if they are wrong!

They remind me of a jigsaw puzzle we have at home of an orchestra. It's meant to be a cartoony comical puzzle so has some funny parts in it, but I went through it the one time and looked for all of the mistakes and found that every single instrument was being played the wrong way round or upside down except the french horn. Which provoked a comment from my brother (a horn player) 'Well of course they're playing it right, horn players are the best!' I was most annoyed to find that the clarinettists were playing their clarinets upside down, so with the reeds on the top!

Is that the Gerard Hoffnung jigsaw ? He was a tuba player I think so I hope they are playing correctly. There's another one in that jigsaw series which is good for learning musical terms. Various cartoons of conductors with the tempo marking underneath eg Furioso, amoroso etc

I have an apron depicting those!

Barry now has more posts per day than me!

He's crept up on you there, Sol!

I don't have much to say, these days, that's all! (I just spend the extra time on the piano )

Fair enough by the sounds of some of your recent posts, you've been getting rather impressively good, it must be paying off!

Apart from my friends thinking that I'm dead because I rarely go out drinking with them any more, it's all good! Hum, I'm making progress, and actually tackling stuff I've always wanted to play which is nice, but I know that I'm still at the bottom of the hill as far as learning goes..

hey, everyone has to start somewhere, and when you think about how much further from the beginning you are from a lot of people, it's shockingly good! I know that in real terms my playing is useless, but I'm lucky enough to get the chance to have a go at learning, which is more than alot of people try out

Aye, I seem to be quite lucky in that I'm picking things up at a reasonable pace, although I'm hitting the point where my fingers/brain won't coordinate quickly enough to do what's written! I'm terrified of the next 2 pieces I'm going to be doing after hearing Brendel playing them but know they will be good for developing technique. Keep plugging away, eh!



Hum, I'm sure you're not "useless"! It seems to be part and parcel of learning you know, this constant self-doubt and tumultous highs and lows of confidence. Some days I feel very confident, other days I feel like I can't play to save my life and should just give up!

Not that you've been avidly checking every day Sol

I'm sure people appreciate a small respite from my incessant rambling

I meant checking our respective posting rates

Only every 3 or so days, actually!

I know my overall post count is a bit on the high side...

A MASSIVE bumble bee just flew through into my lounge...... Should I get it out or leave it to find it's own way???

Open the window, and turn off any lights. It will fly ou to the sunlight.

I caught it on a duster and helped it out

That was brave! Well done. (but I would be worried about getting stung. My OH has had anaphalactic ( sorry cant spell it) shock after being stung so I am wary)

I actually quite like bees - but I didn't fancy getting stung. It was making a lot of noise and was in the way of my duster so I let it crawl on, then carried it through carefully and out the door.

Bees generally aren't aggressive like wasps are. I don't get freaked out if one lands on me Hurting them in any way should be avoided at all costs considering the fact that they play such an important role in the ecosystem

Tumble dryers work better if you remember to switch them on after loading them

I did that with cooking pasta last night...not with a tumble dryer, obviously, but I boiled the kettle, put the pasta in the pan, put it on the ring, came back to stir it every couple of minutes...I couldn't for thelife of me understand why it wasn't boiling!

Not quite as bad as the tumble dryer. If you'd waited long enough (several hours) then the pasta would have cooked

I'll take your word for that, kerioboe-I don't think my parents'd be best pleased!

Guylian 'Opus' chocolates are all named after composers - and are very tasty!
'A divine chocolate symphony'

Do you think someone should inform them that there is increasing opinion regarding Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, to which they presumably refer, that the piece was not only not by Bach, but neither for the organ!

Of course they might be referring to the other Toccata & Fugue in D minor (the 'Dorian', BWV 538), the Toccata &Fugue in F major, BWV 540 or that in E major (alternatively in C, BWV 566) - yet somehow I doubt it!

I listened to a programme broadcast earlier today, on tape-recordings that Ernie Wise had amassed of many of Morcambe & Wise's performances on TV and Radio.

I was struck by how comforting it always is when hearing their work, borne in the experience of having grown up with them, mainly on TV, in the 70s.

Eric Morecambe has merely to utter one syllable and I find I have a smile, if not a laugh; and it's on radio, so I can't even see him! This is a common experience for pretty much everyone who ever saw one of their programmes. Eric was so universally loved (and Ernie's contribution rarely acknowledged to the same degree).

I'm not sure that any comedian will ever again be held in such longstanding affection.

This was passed on as a helpful tip from older teachers when I first started teaching. In France there are termly meetings of all the teachers of each class. These can sometimes go on until 8.00 pm (or even later) and was before most people had microwaves and "ready meals." One day I said something about the fact that I could never be bothered to cook when I got home really late and they told me to put pasta in boiling water and leave it and it would be cooked when I got home. Then all you have to do is to heat it up in a sauce. It does work but I'm not sure what the minimum cooking time with this method is (it might, in fact, be more like ten or twelve hours since French schools start at 8.00 am and I used to do it before I left in the morning)

General election = only evening teaching for me tomorrow...

I love the feeling when you've done loads of work at an instrument, and your hands ache from playing so much but you know you've achieved lots

Where on earth do you find that stuff????

I could solve my perennial Xmas present problem on my next trip home!

I want to play my flute.

It's when I see comments like this that I'm grateful I have an instrument I can use headphones on. I think it'd drive me barmy if I couldn't play late at night!

I'm sure you'll make up for it today? I suppose the neighbours going on holiday must be something that's looked forward to by string, brass and woodwind players!

I have 4 housemates who also have to be taken into consideration. My room is in earshot of all the other rooms in the house, so it's hard to do proper practice when they're around and I don't get the house to myself very often.