Music!

I was um'ing and ar'ing about whether to post because it is late and I'd do well to get to sleep whilst I'm tired. I seem to be through my little insomnia phase, I think it may have been nerve related on account of Claire flying back to Houston, and knowing how much she dislikes flying I was praying everything would work out. It did, she's safely back, and I discovered that watching someone fly away from you at six hundred miles an hour is both interesting and incredibly upsetting. Still, no pain, no gain!

My principle subject for this Blog will be music.

Firstly to deliver a long overdue update on my quest to command a violin.
It's going rather well! I had my first lesson of the new year yesterday and was pleased to discover that despite a short break over the festive period I was able to settle back in quickly. I think the break may actually have helped.
I'm now learning and playing tunes at a fairly decent rate and the days of strained and awkward finger and bow action are long behind me. It's funny to think back to how difficult and unnatural holding a bow felt at first, when contrasted with the effortless hold I now have; holding a pencil is the closest approximation I can make.

I would love to make another video, but aside from it being late I have another problem: I am now without a violin. My teacher has been kindly lending me one for the last year - would you believe it, it's exactly a year in ten days - but the time has come for me to relinquish it to a new student. Which is good because I'm probably long overdue getting a nicer one for myself.

Searching on eBay I was delighted to find this piece of engineering (I'm not sure how long that link will persist):


Whilst I am tempted, I think I should go for something a little more traditional for my first one. Also I don't think my house mates could ever forgive me :)

Also in the world-of-music I rediscovered a band today.
Whilst listening to a friend's Last.fm radio on my iPhone (still can't enough of it) I heard an artist which reminded me of the long lost artist in question. After struggling to remember the name of this artist for most of the day I took a punt of looking at the new band's similar artists; sure enough there they were! Hooray for statistics!

And the artists in question are called Fischerspooner, and I sat grinning ear to ear as I watched, for the first time in a long while, this beautiful video. Very satisfying.

It also brought upon an epiphany: Since losing my mohican I have been at quite a loss as for a stylistic direction, but it is clear to me now. This is the Dave of 2011:

So, I just need to grow my hair, re-bleach, and acquire a garish out fit and some white face paint. Easy. Of course, once I'm looking this fresh I'll be needing an attractive and interesting new girlfriend. Since we're on the subject of violins I'll take Emily Autumn please:
Cheers!