Posts made by barliman2001

@kehaulani Welcome to the Club of the Eye-Operated. Hope your surgeries weren't as painful as mine...

A tenor wanted to test the veracity of opera arias... so one night, he stood in the courtyard of his apartment complex and blasted out "Nessun Dorma". And it was true - no one did sleep!

@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?

I can only laud Dutch hospitals... they have discarded the Central Kitchen idea and have installed a working kitchen, manned 24/7, for every ward... when I was down in a small-town hospital last year with severe septicaemia, the nurses on my ward found out that it was my birthday that day, so they persuaded the ward chef to prepare a special dinner for me... roast chicken fillets with a nice rich gravy, roast potatoes and vegetable skewers, with a crisp salad... and as a dessert, all the staff - eight people! - escorted an enormous ice cream creation with fresh fruit, and sang Happy Birthday for me... they really made me feel at home there. Thank you.
By comparison, the English hospital I fled from the week before served cold porridge for every breakfast, followed fifteen minutes later by cold tea and, another fifteen minutes later, some cold burnt toast...

@administrator
A) It is nothing like a didgeridoo - which, in fact, is just a wooden tube hollowed out by termites, without a proper mouthpiece (the end of the tube is rounded off for comfort)
b) Technically, it is a cornet (because of the conical shape of the bore).
And, to finish off, it is a Tibetan temple trumpet, the use of which is now prohibited due to Chinese rule in Tibet. Any such trumpets seized are sold off to collectors in the West...

@tjcombo Why should it?

Mike, all the best for a speedy recovery!

I've just traded in my Olds Studio for a Recording. When I got the Studio about four years ago, it was a true closet queen, still in the original cellophane wrapping... I liked it very much, being an unusually responsive horn; but when I happened upon a 1954 Recording, that one blew me away. The Studio now is with VOTRUBA in Vienna, to be seen here: https://www.votruba-musik.at/musikinstrumente/gebrauchte-instrumente/trompeten-fluegelhoerner
99.5% original lacquer, all valves like new, no dings or dents. Original case, original Olds #3 mouthpiece, original paperwork including factory check card.

Two trumpet players, in a nicely lit-up state, talking about their fears...
Player 1: "I've got that constant fear of death."
Player 2: "Don't we all; what's so special about yours?"
Player 1: "That my wife, after I'm gone, will sell all the trumpets for the price I told her I paid..."

@dale-proctor Niiiice... and don't worry about the lacquer... that's something Bach have never mastered...

@ssmith1226
A young electrician dies suddenly and ends up at the Pearly Gates before St. Peter. He is somewhat annoyed and vents his anger: "To die at 35 is no joke, you old Saint!" - "35? By the number of hours you had yourself paid for you're 98!"

@bigdub Good on you to give away musical ability that way. A few months back, I donated three instruments and a heap of mouthpieces to a school in Bulgaria in a disadvantaged district... only last week, they sent me pics and videos of their founding a band at the school and their first performance at the End of School Year ceremony... with an official thank you document and an icon blessed by their local Orthodox priest... I can't tell you the joy I had from that. May you be similarly blessed.

@dr-go Interestingly enough, I somehow cannot connect with modern or new horns. I've played two Monettes, several Schilkes, tons of Bach and B&S, a couple of Yammies, three Yammies, two Inderbinens; at one time, I owned a full set of Stomvi Elites (Bb, C, Eb/D, Picc); I had Gerd Dowids of Munich build me a custom Bb, and I once had two brand-new Votrubas. ut all of these have gone on. What I kept, is in my list below...

Ok, had a longish - four and a half hours - Big Band rehearsal (www.bbmf.de) yesterday evening. Had the Recording with me for the first time.
What an experience! A horn that can sing almost like a flugel, whisper, and strip paint at the slightest provocation in that direction. Just what I wanted... only one horn has ever done that to me, and that was another Balanced model - a 1950s Courtois. But that one is in such bad shape, with silver plating almost completely gone, huge areas of red rot and the brass worn paper-thin in patches that Votruba did not want to try a restoration for fear of the horn crumbling in their hands... the Recording, being almost 70 years old now, is good for another 70.

@tjcombo Two English gentlemen are sitting beside a river, fishing. Suddenly, one rod twitches, and the relevant gentleman pulls a beautiful mermaid from the waters. He regards her for a long time, then throws her back into the river.
Some time later, his companion asks, "Why?"
The answer? "How?"

@tjveloce Just looked at yours. Nice, but mine is an even better bargain. Rose brass, and no wear signs whatsoever on the valves... comes from a collector who rarely played it... he preferred his Keilwerth Tone King (don't know why!). Previous owner now down with dementia, and his carers had to sell the collection to pay for the care home. The whole collection went to Votruba's who did a full service on every horn, but somehow did not recognize the Recording for what it was (Olds horns being very rare occurrences in Austria). I told them what kind of a gem they were selling - after I had paid their price and got the horn in my hands... btw, I did not pay their asking price of 1100 Euros, but exchanged an UMI Benge 7 for it...

@tjveloce Too late, my friend... Already got one...

@ssmith1226 We cut short the holiday by 12 hours... I admit... and it was her who needed to be back at a rehearsal...

FINALLY... after more or less seven years of searching, I found one. A 1954 Olds Recording, in superb state; Votruba of Vienna, being rotary specialists, did not even know the collectability of this horn and let it go for a mere 800 Euros... with 99% original lacquer, no red rot, clean, nicely popping valves... a large bore with a rose brass bell... it went onto their website on a Friday afternoon, and I cut short a holiday in Italy to be in their shop on Saturday morning... happy!
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yes, will post pics!

Selling my stepson's Benge 7 which he hasn't played for six years (I have, but it just isn't my horn). See https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/533895751132122/?media_id=0&ref=share_attachment