Mr Gryper's Blog

Don't go there!! He's a cranky old fart. Don't look at his blog or leave comments, it only encourages him.

Fiddling Granny Goes Crazy

Well, after months of shopping around and doing research, I've ordered a new bow for my fiddle. I'm very excited, but the reason it took so long is it's not a traditional bow. Here's a picture of a traditional bow, notice the nice dark coloured part that curves upwards at either end, the part that's usually made of wood, and now there are some made with synthetics?




Now here's the one I've ordered, okay, this is several, but I've just ordered one. See the second one down? Looks kind of like a rainbow? It's called Aurorabowrealis - funky coloured, eh?I figure, if I'm going synthetic, it might as well not look like a wood and horsehair bow. Notice the different shape?











Unlike the traditional ones, no horses tails were clipped for the manufacture of this one. It's synthetic horse hair, that is supposed to sound as good as the horse hair. The rest of it is carbon fibre and synthetic stuff, uneffected by our central heating and humidity changes. The whole darned thing is unconditionally guaranteed for three years. With traditional bows, you have to loosen the hair when you're not using it to prevent it from stretching. Not this one. It won't loosen, it's permanently set and ready to play. It's getting rave reviews despite the untraditional materials and appearance. And it's unbelievably inexpensive as bows go.

Mine is being made and will ship from the USA on Friday. I'm so excited now. I'll keep you posted.

Never Stop Learning

Okay, so they say one of the best things for you as you age, is to learn new stuff. Being conscientious about that sort of thing, I'm doing Sudoku, sawing away on my fiddle, picking my banjo and tooting my flute to ward off Alzheimers. So far, so good, however, it never hurts to make a detour into unknown territory.

A while back, as I was leaving the local Stedman's store, there was a flyer on the community bulletin board that caught my eye. A bellydancing class - being offered right here in boonieville. "Hey" I said to myself, with visions of yours truly in Barbara Eden's costume from I Dream of Jeannie, "how hard can it be?!"

Not to hoard all the fun, I checked with some of the local yahoos/party animals in our social circle -- seems they have the same visions as I (although they may argue that part). So now there are seven of us .... a bevy of beauties with soon to be amazing abs, learning something new on the 25th. I'll keep you posted on the outcome regarding the abs ... and the costume.

All's been quiet on the blog front

Okay, so why haven't I put up any new posts lately? I have been busy with "stuff". I feel as if I've had no time to read post and put new posts on my blog. I stopped and thought about it ... hmmm .... what have I been doing?

Well, I've put in a bunch of time on my fiddle, my flute and my banjo. We were doggy sitting Sammie, and that was taking up some extra time. I've been doing experiments with herbs in soap ... lots of experiments, lots of batches of soap. I've made a feeble attempt at hosuework some days.

I dunno .... I have no pearls of wisdom to share ... that's frightening. I think I'll go and play my fiddle and think up something wise.