Stop Press.

 Peter (aka The Curmudgeon, The Happy Curmudgeon, etc.) has a new guy he is fighting with at tennis. So long Mike and, as they say, welcome Roger.

Roger comes to tennis, listens to crazy music, and then drinks beer. Peter prefers vino over Roger's last choice.

Please let me make it clear - Roger and Peter are not good friends.

"I went to tennis this morning but left early after an altercation with an idiot who occasionally turns up (not Mike). This guy Roger is a bit bi-polar I think. He sits in his car for half an hour before coming in, blasting awful music out in a peaceful bay setting. When he came in to the tennis courts he was drinking from a quart bottle of beer. A couple of members remonstrated but he ignored them so I gave him a couple of barrels (not beer kegs).We had a slanging match where I told him how inappropriate he was being. Unfortunately the two tennis club committee leaders there wimped out and wouldn't support me so I, like Robert with his rugby ball back in the Botanical Gardens in the 1960s, took my tennis racket and went home. Sheesh!" said Peter.

Tennis, up near the Whangarei Heads, sounds like a very volatile game! I doubt that they thank God after each match.

At least, when he's at tennis, he is not falling down banks while looking for golf balls. For an old guy like Peter it does sound like a safer option.

Wafers for lunch after tennis. 

My post, but not really the last one.

 

I'm in there somewhere.

Oh, there I am.

There were an awful lot of people there, but out of shot.

I did my best job this year, thanks to some thoughtful practice.

As usual, they praised God near the end of the ceremony, and for many things. I just thought of Zeus.

Don't forget that he swallowed one of his wives whole. A very clever god was Zeus.

I hope god (whoever he is) does something to stop wars soon.

When I got home, I played a special Last Post for Shelley's dad. 

'Schoie'. Captain Scholefield - My son
bears his name and I'm proud of that.

Last Post.

 No, this won't be the last time I am posting. The title refers to the fact that I have already played The Last Post twice this morning.

That's not me, but I played the same tune.

One more to go - the big one, where people march past and a guy goes on and on about God.

"Thank God for all the wars."

I don't know why God gets a mention. See how I used a capital G. That shows I'm talking about the 'real' god and probably not Zeus. 

This year my practice paid off. Two performances and I didn't crack any notes! I did a lot of work on pitching and breathing. I think I'll keep practising the trumpet throughout the year. It's kind of fun.

* * *

Hey, I got a comment from 'Rob' on my last post! He told me that 'transgender' is a big word and that Tent Horn isn't a fan of it.

"RBB used a big word 'transgender', so I looked it up: 'A person whose gender identity is different from what they were assigned at birth'.
Evidently some children in the USA are believing that they are trans-species, and that they are really cats and dogs! (Tent Horn podcast)." said Rob in his comment.

I took the liberty of adding a couple of spaces to Rob's comment. Proofreading IS important. Oh, and I corrected the spelling on Tent's name.

I actually have two close relatives who are transgender. Two people who I love very much. It seems to me that they are being what they need to be. One of them is in her late fifties, no kid. Tent can go suck his own horn for all I care. I had a boss who was transgender, and I can tell you that he is much happier as a man. 

* * *

It's now 7.12am and my two female flat mates are asleep, so music practice is not possible. I guess I'll just write on. Peter won't be up yet.

Peter in bed.

Peter's last post was written under the name of The Happy Curmudgeon.

However, he starts writing, "Hello readers.
I thought that a post from the Happy Curmudgeon is in order after that rather dire one from The Darker Curmudgeon yesterday.
I'm happy today - how are you all going?"

Is that The Curmudgeon or The Curmudgeon talking? I honestly don't know.

Anyway, then he (whoever he is) gets onto food.

"It's a smoked salmon and cream cheese pizza with red onion, capers and Feta. I'll further experiment tonight but think I've got the recipe right. I promised to make it for The Old Girl when she gets home in a few weeks time."

Is The Happy Curmudgeon in a relationship with 'The Old Girl' too? Well, the bad grammar (a few weeks time - should be 'a few weeks' time') suggests that The Curmudgeon (aka Peter) is still writing.

Anyway, it is probably the most boring post you could read. Maybe The Happy Curmudgeon is happy for his boss to take the 'credit' for this one? 

* * *

Well, that's just about it from me. 

Though I still have time to fill in.

Maybe I'll read a bit of Italian.

Ciao tutti.

Jesus Christ!

 

Is this Jesus coming back? He's gone for the 2000 years ago look, except for the shoes.

The shoes!

How do we know he's the real Jesus?

Was there a real Jesus?

I wonder if he's wearing modern underpants?

Actually, the long hair and the skirt thing makes him look like he might be transgender.

He might have returned with a strong message for Catholics.

Good on him, if that's the case.

Maybe he's wearing underpants more like this?

If that's the case, good on you Jesus!

Ciao tutti.

One small achievement, one huge step for mankind!

I won the bronze!

 

It appears that I'm the third most prolific blogger in our little community, where most blogs have a readership of 2. I have been told that I can't get plenary indulgences for this.                                      

"The magisterium of the Church decides on plenary indulgences." says Rob. I have no clue what the magisterium is. Hang on, I'll look it up on Google.

The magisterium of the Catholic Church is the church's authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the word of God, "Whether it is in written form or in the form of Tradition". (I made some grammatical corrections to this quote)

I used to be a Catholic once. I remember that I used to recite, as an older child, "I love Jesus and I hate the Devil." This was induced by fear, and the Catholic church had taught me fear well.

I was at a wedding, last Saturday, and the ceremony was hosted by a guy from the Knox Church.

He told us, "This is a marriage of three people."

What he evidently meant was that Jesus (or God) was in the marriage too. This caused a bit of confusion for some of us who were there and not members of the Knox Church.  

I played some background music on my violin. I imagined Rob going around tables and playing the music that people liked.

"I will now play Paganini."

The wedding was in Martinborough, where they have the brandy that's made in the wire wrapper, and we made it to our B&B, only to find that it was shit. There were three of us, but I'd only paid $240. So, I drove to Greytown (no refund) and forked out another $400 for two motel rooms. An expensive night. 

I don't think that I'd necessarily call playing at a wedding fun. I had to set up a mic (and other gear) for the ceremony and, if you're playing, you can get stopped at any moment. Fortunately, there was no Neil Diamond this time.

Yesterday I drove our third motel person around greater Wellington (no Peter, it was not a sightseeing tour) for five hours. I got home just after 7pm and was wacked. Still, I won the bronze medal.

That bronze medal is the closest thing I'll get to a plenary indulgence. Anyway, a plenary indulgence sounds like a bribe.

Ciao tutti.

A great old joke.

 I wonder if Peter is cleaning a shed again today? 

I'm off to a wedding tomorrow. In Martinborough. I'm playing background music on my violin. The guy getting married is the same guy who replaced me with Neil Diamond (recorded music) when I was playing backgrounds a little while back. I guess it could be a short gig. 

Is playing background music similar to cleaning a shed? 

God would know the answer to that.

Do you get plenary indulgences if you're a Catholic and you clean a shed? Maybe it has to be a shed on church property.

Humble Catholics would probably clean atheists' sheds. Okay, there'd probably be a plenary indulgence or two thrown in for the humble guy.

Boar Ring.

 

The blogs have been a bit boring lately. Let's face it, cleaning a shed is just not that interesting.

Metaphysics is never going to compete with what cleaners get up to on the job.

Also, I've noticed that Tent Horn has been taken off the watch list.

Maybe that means the end of big words?

Yep, this blogging community is not the place to come if you're looking to read something interesting.

I guess that's why Ruby is important.

Hey, if you watch carefully, you might just catch a glimpse of me in the background.*

So, come on Peter and Robert, let's make a bit more effort to entertain (like Ruby does).

Maybe you both need some blogging lessons?

Ciao tutti.

* A bonus!