Having just lost my entire post one second before publishing it, I have come to the conclusion that the ACER Notebook is a pile of S***!!!!!!!! Never again will I use this underpowered junk and aim to replace it at the first available opportunity! It is driving me crazy! Ii am not sure I have the will to reformat this entire post, so please excuse me if it is a bit lackluster this week!
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| Trujillo Ballet School |
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| Nutcracker! |
The twelve days of Christmas have come and gone ...... tonight in the main
square with teh arrival of the Three Kings the "festival of lights"
will be duly switched off, the tree dismantled and the square will return to
being a haven of "picture book perfect" calm. Though there is now one
significant change, as can be seen already by the increased litter in the
street Ronald McDonald has opend his eponymous eatery right on the corner of the square. This is not good news for the small hamburger
joints who now have to cope with international competition. My mate Nick, is of course a McD fan, in
fact worked for them for a few months in the USA, so I made (paid?) the ultimate sacrifice and
indulged in the unchanging quarterpounder, on opening day ..... why is it that
McD burgers repeat on me for about four hours afterwards ..... hence paying a price beyond mere money. Where's the Rennies?
I had a splendid Christmas meal at the home of Maestro Alvarez, the food
duly served at midnight consisted of Turkey, stuffing, apple sauce, mashed
sweet potatoes and vegetables all very yummy.
The early hours of Christmas day were then spent listening to and
exploring the compositions of my host. I
returned home a round 4:30 and like the rest of the population slept most of
the morning and having enjoyed a long walk returned to my room for my al fresco
meal of cheese, pate, rolls and a bottle of red wine. Sanity returned on the 26th as everybody was
back to work, and I got stuck into the preparations for my "summer"
courses. |
| My unorthodox christmas lunch! |
I somehow got caught up in the frenzy of Christmas, on Christmas Eve I went
last minute present shopping, except that a 7pm on Christmas Eve EVERYBODY, is
out shopping (having been paid at the last possible moment before Christmas)
.... I reflected on this as I queued for 45 minutes to pay for an intem in one
store! I also reflected on how unbelievable
this will sound to those who know me well ....... what ever happened to
Christmas, bah humbug?
Worse, I was to repeat the experience New Years Eve but this time in the
supermarket as Nick and I shopped for another al fresco meal, to celebrate the
new year! Unsuprizingly I don't plan to
repeat the experience next December (I do plan to still here in Trujillo!)
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| Similar to the one I am about to get my fingers on! |
The saga of the Harpsichord continues - it
seemingly being impossible for a simple decision to be made - even when
the outcome leads to win/win for all concerned.
I get the harpsichord and return it to playing condition (clean it, tune
it), some students get to learn this instrument, the orchestra and the
conservatoire can then use it for concerts, and the department of culture (the
owners) look good, furthering the aims of practical music making. So, after 5 weeks there is a possibility the
instrument will see the light of day - after countless years locked in a
cupboard - on Monday! Professor Carlos,
will now be able to sleep and not dread my next enquiry about the instrument! (I only hope that we can find a tuning key
and that the delapidation due to neglect is not greater than I think!) Anyways, I have been practicing Scarlatti
like crazy .......
And talking of practicing, my new year resolution has been to continue to only
play (on the piano) technical studies for then next 3 months ( I started this
regime in November) - after nearly two months of Czerny (School of
Velocity, Left Hand and Passage of the Thumb) and the more tuneful Stephen Heller, I am
happy to report that I am noticing a distinct improvement in my technical
abilities and my old fingers are taking on a new lease of life, in fact I think
I am playing better now than I ever have!
This is just as well as I have set myself a fairly punishing schedule of
concerts and recitals (as accompanist) over the next 6 months. Loving it!
I so wish I practiced as much when I was younger ...... but hey, every dog has his day, maybe my playing days are just beginning!
I so wish I practiced as much when I was younger ...... but hey, every dog has his day, maybe my playing days are just beginning!
Having purchased the printer, (sans sponsor), I am now able to indulge in a
printing frenzy and in supplying my now many eager students with
"treasure" in the form of new pieces to play and new works to
explore. I have the printer hooked up to
an amazing continuous ink system, so no paying for expensive cartridges, just
topping up the reservoir bottles with ink every few thousand pages! I daily thank Sir What's-his-name for
inventing the internet and in the huge libraries that exist to print music
- I am particularly thankful to the New
York Public Library who seem to have digitised most of their music stock, most
of which (that which is out of copyright) being freely available as a .pdf without
even having to join the library!
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| Peruano Pavo ...... mmmmmmmm! |
I don't charge my students, yesterday a student insisted on buying me lunch
S5 (£1.25) which seemed like a reasonable solution ..... he would not be able
to afford anything like the S.30 per hour I might be able to command if I were
so inclined, especially as his lesson is 2 hours!
Some 2000 people were dancing in the square ..... Viva Trujillo!
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| A nice little mover! |
That's all folks!
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