Guitar Emporium

The first part of the title of todays piece is obvious - come on - everyones talking about a ceasefire in the Israel / Hamas conflict - so what's happening ? As I was putting the guitar parts together my middle son (  he lives in Italy ) was messaging about this beautiful owl who had come in to his workshop and allowed him or herself to be stroked - just amazing. Everything went out the windo...

I've heard this used a lot - particularly by one of my son's - I thought it was a fairly unpleasant expression - but its quite a succinct way of saying " accept a bad situation" . You can't fight everything all of the time . Support the show

I have alot of time for the anti war protesters - the fundamental point is if it stopped tomorrow lives would be saved, at least in the short term.  Support the show

One of my 96 year old Mums most telling comments about the "younger" generation ( thats everyone less than 96) is how everyone disregards or ( worse) just patronises the old timers. She expresses the view that she really doesn't care - and yet she still makes the comment. Support the show

I was going do a tune along the lines of 1 for sorrow , 2 for joy, 3 for a girl 4 for a boy...but I didn't... Magpies - see a lot of them early in the morning when driving. They seem to have a thing about getting to the roadkill at the side of the road first thing. Also they are notorious for picking up stuff. This piece is a bit like that - bits picked up from here and there,, Support the sh...

Do you know that feeing when someone "over criticises" something. We can all take a bit of constructive criticism but character assassination is a bit harder to take - anything better to say ? Support the show

In the UK in bid to educate bad drivers there is an alternative to getting a fine for speeding - you can go on a driver awareness course. I have more speeding fines than I care to admit to ... but I recently went on ones of these courses - it scared the living daylights out of me ( presumably the intention) .  Today marks 2 years of the podcast . Thanks for listening . Support the show

I don't know if I'm the only one who believes we have limits - I certainly have many limitations - I'll spare you the list  Support the show

The saying is " Champagne Tastes, Beer Income"... I know lots of people like this ... For clarity in the UK - CCJ's - County Court Judgements ; IVA - Insolvency Voluntary Agreement ( I think) - this tune is closer to home than I am prepared to admit.. I nicked the great Frank Zappa's silly low vocal style for a bit of this - that's about the only thing of his I can get any...

I heard an IT person ( of my era) talking about" rebooting" - its seems like a very old phrase now - but I was delighted I understood what he was talking about. As we get older don't forget to reboot every so often. Support the show

The title of an album made by Bob Dylan after he had taken a 7 year break from recording. His is quoted around about the time the album was made as saying something along the lines of " .. there's only so many songs one person can write - maybe its someone else's turn now.." The actual quote is "there was a time when the songs would come three or four at the same time, but...

..may break my bones, but names will never hurt me - or so it goes . But actually the name calling is the most poisonous thing of all , particularly when its done behind the victims back and done anonymously. Support the show

One of the most enjoyable musical periods of my working life was the two years in Madrid working at a school. Five years ago today a memorial service celebrating the life of the wife of the founder of the school was held. The very musical staff and pupil choir was hastily assembled and produced a lovely version of this hymn - I'm sorry I didn't record it. Here is the guitar and double ba...

Most of us like to have a plan - but when you look  back at plans they never work out in the way that you expect. Why have a plan -?  Support the show

I hope so... Support the show

3 boys brought up in a remote rural village  - they've retained a love of the country but not the narrow minded bigotry that sometimes goes with it.  Support the show

Not meant to be as creepy as it has come out. It refers to the late night walk with the dog to settle everything down before getting to bed. Support the show

This is becoming a bit of a ritual - I was brought up in a Church of England junior school and the habits tend to stay with you. Instead of going to church on a Sunday I now go to the Dump. Thats not a comment just an observation. Its weird does anyone actually do anything with all that rubbish.?  Support the show

Playing a musical instrument can involve lots of preparations and rituals before you start. The little tune / exercise that starts this piece is one of mine. For a few years now - not all of the time - but after I tune the guitar I play that little tune as a stretch/ warm up , only once and then off I go .  Support the show

This ties in with yesterdays piece Marathon Man. The link is I was watching bits of the London Marathon and then reading some stuff about the nazi Eichmann and how he got out of Europe. I then remembered the film Marathon Man with Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman - parallels with the Eichmann case ( there weren't any really) - but a significant number of people must have kept very quiet to...

The London Marathon is traditionally run towards the end of April ( I'm on a bit of a delay here) and it is one sporting challenge I would love to have tried - but didn't. It never fails to amaze me the great stories of participants and how they've got to run and the causes they are raising money for. Support the show

The witching hour, 3-4 am . I've been here before - this time  - 3.40 am is a time I have been waking up quite consistently  at - for a number of years. It sometimes goes away for a bit - but its back again at the moment. Its not a very positive time. The drum ticks away like the second hand of a clock throughout the tune... Support the show

I had an inspirational English teacher. He loved Wordsworth. He described travelling up to the Lakedistrict and sitting on rocks where he imagined the great man had once sat. Brilliant. He taught the war poets really well and I've always enjoyed ( bit bizarre ) reading Wilfred Owen, Robert Graves, Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon. This is a hotch pitch of anti war thoughts. Support the sho...

Indecision - a wonderful thing, or maybe it isn't  Support the show

Kirsty MacColl's 1989 album " Kite " is the starting point for this tune ( I almost strayed into the 1990's there for a moment !). The song 15 minutes recalls and I suppose ridicules, the (apparently wrongly) attributed "famous for 15 minutes" Andy Warhol comment . The scathing lyrics are made all that more powerful  by being sung with Kirsty MacColls gentle, beautifu...