Guitar Emporium

A boxing term - when things are looking bad and the boxer stuck on the ropes just can't get away from the pounding he or she is taking. There is still a huge amount of activity but it just doesn't seem to make anything any better. Its very hard to watch. This tune feels like -  alot of activity but... Support the show

I STILL listen endlessly to radio 4 - Broadcasting House with its presenter Paddy O'Connell is a highlight in the listening calendar for me each Sunday morning.  Support the show

One of the sports events I enjoy watching on TV is the London Marathon - particularly the charity side of it. This year two of the Dads of the Southport children so brutally killed at a Taylor Swift dance event ran - very brave - and in memory of their irreplaceable daughters.  Support the show

Antonio Lauro was a great Venezuelan guitarist/composer whose waltzes are a wonderful part of the guitars repertoire. I composed a piece in a latin style called Lost Children to which I 've added two short sections of Lauro's Venezuelan Waltz no.2. Lauro switches 6/8/ time for 3/4 in alternate bars and my tune is really in 8/8 so there are some nice, if perhaps a little confusing, variat...

The impending trade war seems to bring out the usual phlegmatic practicality from the China set up - They look as though they couldn't give a hoot . Bring it on Trumpy.  The theme in this one is from the China Crisis album Flaunt the Imperfections  - see what I did there? ... pathetic Support the show

Joaquim Malats piece Serenata Espanola is the starting point for this tune. I want to record, as part of this "archive", a selection of Spanish 19th century pieces - Malats, Albeniz, Granados and then some of the Catalan Folk tunes arranged by Miguel Llobet . I've been trying to "bring the Serenata Espanola back" to some semblance of a decent performance . I'll keep y...

This phrase means at an early stage - so I'm told. In the spring/summer this is the best time of day - after the dawn chorus and before anyone is up - lovely  Support the show

The M5 on a Friday afternoon in the summer - looking forward to it  Support the show

A reluctance to push forward with an idea an opportunity or a project- apparently. Support the show

Apparently the expression "On the QT" means "On the quiet" I thought it was much more sinister than that.. Support the show

As we approach the celebration of 80 years since Victory in Europe on May 8th 1945 ( VE Day) at the end of the Second World War - the passage of time is really quite stark. Looking at the old news reel and you realise it was a very different world in every sense. Support the show

Rhyming couplets - if you get yourself locked in to the rhyme it can be a pretty horrible experience - as the song shows. Support the show

The facility to withstand most financial hits - nice position to be in. Support the show

Or how to put a spanner in the works. I am guilty of tunnel vision and forgetting to look at the broader picture. So often that polite comment has brought me to my senses. Support the show

Ideas, patterns, links, themes - they all stack up in the memory . This has a few. Support the show

If in doubt with any IT issue, the last but sometimes successful attempt at a solution io almost anything. Support the show

These are happening less and less in my working life - which is probably quite healthy. Late night is after 10pm if you're lucky and it'll take me two or three days to recover !   Support the show

I think my generation has much to learn from todays young people - and if we listened to them a little bit more it would help. This weeks preachy bit. Support the show

I'm ancient but its taken me quite sometime to realise there are occasions ( many occasions ) when I need to backdown from a particular viewpoint. Its taken me rather too long to accept... Support the show

Just coming up to a year ago when I moved job from a firm who were either going to go bust or be taken over to ( hopefully ) a more stable place. The company were taken over in the end - a little too close for comfort. Support the show

The Mary alluded to in the traditional English nursery rhyme is meant to be Mary Tudor, or Bloody Mary, who was the daughter of King Henry VIII. Queen Mary was a staunch Catholic and the garden referred to is an allusion to graveyards which were increasing in size with those who dared to continue to adhere to the Protestant faith - Protestant martyrs. This is a nonsense song - I've got no ide...

This should have gone up on Easter Sunday. I am not a religious person but the festivities still have a resonance - early days of education in a Church of England school leave a mark - not a bad one, but a strong one.  Support the show

A year ago I was trying to move my work and I was asking for the balance of my leave. I was up to date and the "owner" of the company I was working for( who made the most of his power in a very small company ) wouldn't allow me to take time off. I had never come across that before but I had heard that he withheld final salary payments when it suited him - so I just went along with i...

Junk and more junk ... the Easter weekend will see us try to reduce some of ours. One of our boys worked for a house clearance chap once - he ended up bringing home even more of the stuff.  It should be " We need the Space, man..." Support the show

The prospect of Alzheimers/ dementia and other debilitating brain related ends to a persons life are more evident than ever now. The actor Peter Sallis summed it up beautifully -  " You know - I'm losing my mind ... But don't worry I won't miss it "  Whilst there seem to be pockets of lucidity throughout the process - its sometimes more distressing for those close to the v...