Best posts made by barliman2001

@ButchA said in SEASON'S GREETINGS:

I made my "toxic rum balls" if anyone wants one! LOL...

Edit:
<disclaimer>
I am not responsible for any DUI's or anything like that. Do not drive, do not operate machinery, after you have a few of these!!!
</disclaimer>

That sounds like the Scotsmans Breakfast. It consists of one large steak, a Border Collie and a bottle of whiskey.

The Collie gets the steak.

@ljeanmtz The main danger is retinal ablation which can lead to blindness. Apart from busting a blood vessel - which is a dangerous sign in itself! - retinal ablation is a condition where the seeing part of the eye - the retina - loses contact with the eye background, often rupturing inn the process. First warning signs are blurry vision in that eye and swarms of black dots. When the damage is already done, the eyeball usually slowly fills with blood, creating a sensation that your vision is through a red filter - until it goes black. It is a condition that needs immediate surgical help, or the eye will go black permanently.
I had "bloody vision" happen to me during an orchestra holiday in Sicily; I was diagnosed almost immediately in the local hospital and sent to Palermo for treatment - which I politely declined when I saw the nurses chasing a few street cats out of the operating theatre... I was medevacced to Munich and was operated upon within two days; but the damage was already done. Since then, I have only had the use of one eye.
So, don't hesitate to see a specialist NOW!

Mushroom omelette can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience...

There's life in the auld dog yet!

@Kehaulani said in WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME AN EXPERT?:

@Rapier232 said in WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME AN EXPERT?:

@Bertie

Well, for what it’s worth, I was a National Police Firearms Instructor for 20 years. I taught people with absolutely no experience whatsoever from basic level all the way to very advanced close protection and hostage rescue teams. I found some people, including me, were absolute naturals at all shooting disciplines. Others found the skills difficult and some found them impossible and failed to reach the necessary standards required. So I’d disagree, natural talent/ability does exist, and those with it will out perform those without.

That's funny. I recalled that, as an enlisted man who had never held a firearm in my life, I scored an A.F. Rifle Marksmanship Medal the first time out and, years later, after never having ever shot a handgun, I also earned a Side-Arm Marksmanship Medal. Likewise in your experience, while I was shooting there were others that just sucked at firearms no matter how hard and how often they tried.

I can only second that, as a qualified Shooting Instructor in sports. I've trained many a beginner, starting them off on small-bore pistol. Most of them became decent, if not remarkable, shooters. Safe to bring them on the range after a couple of months or so. A few became top shooters within weeks. I took a team of four of these rookies to our regional championships. First competition for every one of the four. And we took the cup by a wide margin. Second came a team of grizzled veterans who had been doing this sort of thing for decades.
And then there was one exceptional guy who took to shooting within half an hour. Never had any connection to firearms before. He had learned all the safety rules before (as every one has to have before they are first let loose on the range with a "hot" gun) and scored bull's eyes on the first go, with both eyes open. Later, we discovered that he was a natural two-handed shooter as well - able to hit two targets yards apart, with a gun in each hand, at the same time. In civilian life, he was a karate instructor and organist at the local church.

When we discovered about his ability with firearms, he founded a security business and now owns twenty-nine armoured vans for bank cash transfers, has 90+ employees and has been tasked with add-on Personal Protection duties for state visits. Proudest moment of his life was when the Secret Service approached him for assistance during President Obama's visit to Germany...

@georgeb You are very welcome. Currently, there is not much on youtube; but amazon has several of her recordings.

A woman surprises her friend as she is emptying out the ashes of her late husband down the toilet... "I suppose you're entitled to an explanation," says the widow. "He always wanted to be buried at sea - so now he can start making his way there!"

@ssmith1226 Well, you know where to reach me if you need some contacts. Or just tell me whereabouts you are going. Or just contact Nick Jones of Coronation Brass - he knows all the Welsh bands.

@administrator
Whoa!
You should try a different approach - mine.
Got my Courtois flugelhorn as a factory surplus - free.
Inherited

• my B&H Sovereign trombone
• my Selmer G picc

found my Garreis trombone in an ntique shop for a hundred quid
found my latest cornet (Besson Bb/A) in a pawn shop, for less than $100...

Got this nice and wonderfully decorated Conn International off e-bay at € 47...

and was given this nice Arnold & Sons pocket trumpet - the ideal hospital trumpet! free, in exchange for a review...

and finally exchanged a badly dented and patched UMI Benge 7 for this Olds Recording...

@SSmith1226 said in A little humour:

A man lay sprawled across three entire seats in a theatre. When the usher came by and noticed this, he whispered to the man: “Sorry, sir, but you’re only allowed one seat.” The man groaned but didn’t budge. The usher became impatient.
“Sir,” the usher said. “If you don’t get up from there I’m going to have to call the manager.”
Again, the man just groaned, which infuriated the usher who turned and marched briskly back up the aisle in search of his manager. A few moments later, both the usher and the manager returned and stood over the man. Together the two of them tried repeatedly to move him, but with no success. Finally, they summoned the police.
The cop surveyed the situation briefly then asked: “All right buddy, what’s your name?”
“ Sam,” the man moaned.
“Where ya from, Sam?” the cop asked.
And with pain in his voice, Sam replied: “The balcony.”

The Bavarian poet Ludwig Thoma did not like the Opera very much, but he was always invited to premiere performances and simply HAD to go. Usually, he went to sleep during the overture, and woke up in time for the final applause. One day, he overslept the applause and was finally wakened by an usher saying, "Excuse me, sir, but you are only allowed to sleep in the Opera house as long as the performance lasts..."

As this topic is slowly getting off the rails, and there have not been any inputs regarding rules for some time, I am locking this topic.

@ssmith1226 Steve, there is an easy solution. In Scotland and Wales, there are brass bands aplenty. Just bring a cornet - not a pocket trumpet (they are not much smaller than a shepherd' crook cornet) - and ask whether you may sit in at rehearsals of the local bunch of roughs. If you need addresses for that, just give me your itinerary and I can have a play with my contacts there. Much better than sitting in your room annoying Barbara...

@Dr-GO Needs to be a slide instrument... but if you've once mastered the slide positions on a normal trombone, it's easy (relative distances as regards mouthpiece/bell rim remain roughly the same). It's tougher on the tenor trombone due to the vastly different mouthpiece size. But even that can be mastered with enough incentive: Some years ago I inherited a trombone from a dear departed friend... thirteen years after his passing, his daughter called me and told me they had opened up her father's music room for the first time, and found hand-written labels who was to inherit what... and his pride and joy went to me (B&H Sovereign big bell trombone)... and of course I was in honour bound to learn. First piece I played was Amazing Grace at his graveside... been using it for a number of gigs since.

A husband and wife are looking at Niagara Falls. After a while, she says: "Would you jump in to save me if I fell in?" - "If I say yes, would you jump?"

Coolerdave - whom some of you may remember from TM days - has found the light and is now where he belongs: in this community of trumpet lovers.
Welcome, Dave!

@Dr-GO Over here in Austria, Easter services tend to be a) Catholic and b) orchestral masses. For this coming Easter Sunday, I'm booked into St. Peter's in Vienna for Schubert Mass No. 3 in Bb, St. Mary Magdalene for Mozart Organ Solo, and for Easter Monday it's Otto Nicolai Mass in D, with Caspar Ett's Haec Dies" thrown in for good measure (which is for trumpet in Ab!!)

@ssmith1226 If the Mendini gets stolen or lost, you can always give me a quick call and I'll arrange for my Arnold & Sons pocket trumpet to reach you within two or three days (I got it for free or rather for writing a review of it for a music magazine here in Austria)

"Garbage Air Flight 321 to Rome Tower, declaring emergency. We've lost #1 engine." - "Rome Tower to Garbage 321, do you have an engine left?" - "Affirmative" - "Then there is no problem."
...
"Garbage 321 to Rome Tower, declaring EMERGENCY!! We've lost engine #2 as well" -
"Rome Tower to Garbage 321, do you have an engine left?" - "Negative" -
"In that case, repeat after me, Our Father, Who art in Heaven..."