Best posts made by barliman2001

@Dr-GO That one is on the brink... hovering over the abyss of being banned by a moderator...

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

@administrator If you want it, and have the money, go for it. Nothing as deplorable as a missed chance. As a German saying has it, "The opportune has long hair up in front to grab, but bald is from behind."

@Kehaulani-0 Exactly. And as Bitburg is a small town attached to a biiig brewery, the brewery picks up most of the cost...

@Tobylou8 It was a very bad joke bordering on the unpalatable. Deleted with reason.

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!"

@Kehaulani

We were incredibly lucky... "Jungle Village" near Vienna used to be "recreational area" where land owners were only allowed to put up bathing huts on their properties - nothing to live in permanently, just shelters for holidays. When my wife got hold of the property by guaranteed long lease, that ban was still in place, so we paid around €15k as main payment and have a guaranteed lease to pay of €800 per year. We intended to use the property more or less for one or two storage huts. But out of the blue, the local authorities decided that they needed space for permanent housing, and where better than in an area where all the infrastucture was already in place? So they lifted the ban, and within weeks of getting hold of that 99-year lease, we were allowed to build a permanent home there...

@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...

@sessionaire I believe strongly in energetic work and Ortho-Bionomy. This kind of gentle massage has proved itself time and time again, the latest incidence being my recent eye trouble. I had a total ablation of the retina, resulting in 100% blindness in my right eye. When diagnosed, several doctors told me the retina was not only lifted off, but in shreds, and that even extensive restoration surgery would only result in that eye being able to distinguish light and dark. I had the surgery done - two operations, one of 4 hours, the other of 6 hours duration, both very painful, because you cannot do them under full anesthesia - and when I had left hospital, my wife (a fully qualified ortho-bionomy therapist beside being an opera singer www.reginaschoerg.art) began a set of treatments. Only yesterday, I saw my ophthalmologist again, and the exam showed that the ablated and torn retina is now whole again and fitting in its proper place, resulting in a sight power of 40%, and rising. The ophthalmologist was flabbergasted - "I know of no case of such a thing happening" and has asked me to allow a group of students to see me. So now I am the wonder of the age, due to a relatively new treatment. Why not try it yourself?

@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..."

@dale-proctor said in The Trumpets of Ancient Rome:

Very interesting! Those brought to mind this video of Egyptian trumpets being played. Authentic, slightly haunting sound - nothing like those old Hollywood movies.

You always have to bear in mind that the sound of the Egyptian instrument is the sound of an actual ancient piece, whereas all the others are more or less exact modern copies (as far as I know, these reproductions took no notice of the exact metallurgy of the originals, but just followed the shape).

@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.

About a year ago, I suffered a catastrophic retinal ablation during an orchestra rehearsal and had to have eye surgery, resulting in several operations and permanent damage to my right eye. Recently, I've found out that several of my trumpet friends have had similar experiences, and I've talked to my ophthalmic surgeon. He is one of the best ophthalmic surgeons world-wide, and a come-back trumpet player. He found that there might be a necessity to look at the combination of trumpet-induced enhanced eye pressure and eye damage, and that there has been no relevant research so far. He is quite interested in this problem now and would like to get in contact with trumpet players who have experienced similar problems. Anyone interested is asked to kindly provide some kind of address or contact so that they can be included in the research programme. This means ANY TRUMPET PLAYER with eye problems that were not there before taking up the instrument. I can assure you that this surgeon - Professor Thomas Neuhann MD, an ophthalmic surgeon in the seventh generation - and his team will explore all the information with utmost care to privacy and will in most cases be able to either eliminate or alleviate existing conditions.

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?"

@georgeb The earlier ones are very, very special...

@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...

@mike-ansberry Actually, glaucoma is excessive pressure in the eyes, and it can be treated with special eye drops.

"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..."

Welcome to TB, Leonardo! The trumpet on the pics has some rather intriguing features - a pinky hook reminding me of early Selmers, but of some Markneukirchen instruments as well, and the octagonal valve caps bring to mind some Buescher instruments as well as the Art Déco instruments of Arigra and the like.
It certainly is neither of these.
You might look up the brand name in www.horn-u-copia.net.
But it is my opinion (fwiw) that it is some sort of stencil instrument and possibly somewhere in the intermediate class - if you are lucky.

@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)