Just as long as it wasnāt the one-eyed piccolo Phil! 
1 Like
Bit of culture follows.
Beethoven wrote Moonlight Sonata for a young woman he really fancied.
If you know the piece, the final movement is incredibly difficult to the point of bloody hard.
Young woman delightfully plays her way through movements 1 and 2; on starting the final movement, throws an absolute wobbler at Beethoven, storms off and he never gets his leg over!
2 Likes
This guy was due at the Concorde when the first lockdown hit. Iāve seen him there quite a few times, heās brilliant, keep an eye out for him on their programme when they restart. Itāll be on a Wednesday night.
Thatās him solo, but he usually plays the Concorde with his trio.
1 Like
And I can play it at half speed ,full speed or quarter speedā¦ or slowerā¦depending on where I am in the score
I can mangle chords with the best of themā¦
Piece of trivia, whenever you mention Yamaha pianos, (or any Yamaha instruments for that matter,) people often say āeh? They make motorbikes, donāt they?ā
However, next time you see a Yamaha bike, look carefully at the logo on it. That round decal with the snowflake-looking thing on it represents three crossed tuning forks. Thatās because they started as musical instrument makers long before they diversified into bikes.
6 Likes
Thats not a Garden, that looks like an Estate! 
Wonderful. What i love is not just incredible technique, but you can see how he becomes lost in the musicā¦
3 Likes
Another piece of trivia.
I have a Yamaha great bass recorder, beautiful to look at and to play.
For scale, this instrument is as tall as my wife (although she is a bit of a flour grader).
2 Likes
Back in the day, my favourite Prog-rock band to play The Concorde at The Bassett were Renaissance. Just everything about them but particularly John Hawken on upright joannaā¦
1 Like
At the Bassett?? Fucking hell, I knew you were old butā¦ 
The wife hears about restaurants opening on 29th May and says meh.
āMeh? MEH?ā I reply- āitās a disaster! Itās 4 days late for us!ā
4 days? What you on about? Itās irrelevant.
Umā¦
Hunā¦
It means I cant take you out for dinner on our Anniversary
2 Likes
Same here. I bought a yamaha to learn some boogie woogie. Sadly, i could only get so far before realising i was never going to be anywhere near Jools Holland or Albert Ammons. I can hold a tune but could never dedicate the time to practice to be useful.
There is this young german geezer called Luca Sestak who is absolutely mint - worth checking out on youtube.
Good stuff! Thereās a fella called Brendan Kavanagh who does the same thing for boogie woogie, dressed up a labourer or delivery driver and starts belting out some tunes around London. I also like am Italian guy called Danilo Cristaldi who does the same thing. Great stuff, all on youtube. Great stuff.
2 Likes
Henri Herbert is ace. Apparently he used to practice with weights on his hands to get the strength and stamina. Super stuff.
1 Like
Bought my eldest son a Yamaha guitar.
He went off to Uni, I flew over few days later in Biz class on BA with a guitar on my back. Damn that was the coolest Iāve ever looked on a flight.
1 Like
I am having a DAY!
10am appointment at Immigration.
Driving into town idiot in Mercedes cuts me up and speeds away to be pulled over by the speed trap that would have done me!
Immigration office
Same attractive lady as last time on the Special Needs (ie Brits only) desk.
We rock up Mrs P_F about to do the talking and lady says Hi Philā¦ (I get a stare from Mrs P_F)
My file is open on her desk. My EU integrated ID card is on the file.
Hand over the old paperwork, rescan fingerprints, one signature a lovely smile and done.
2 minutes. Seriously?
We head to the Mall to the Tabak. They have exactly 5 packs of my tobacco (tanks are allowed to open but dont have one in the village)
Mrs P_F checks Lotto tickets Ā£4.80 & 40p wins.
Obv we bought new one for this weekend
We walk past Carrefour to see a prom on boxes of face masks (which weve been looking for for weeks.
We head home to Lidl. My favourite beer is 33% off 37p a can.
They have RIB ROAST JOINTS and Tomahawk Pork Chops! Seriously?
Mrs P_F reminds me I have to do the 1st mega lawn cut this afternoon.
Just as we pull up outside the house. It starts to pour with rain.
Meanwhile. A small ancient silver Hapanese car is backing out the drive. Who dat?
Walk indoors, sister in law hands me a was of cash Ā£35 & a bus ticket.
It was my tax rebate!
Some random guy drives round the village handing out cash tax rebates!
Bonkers.
5 Likes
Any recommendations for lottery numbers, Phil? 
2 Likes