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Thanks Hank!
We’re doing alright. More frustrated than worried. And trying to be patient while the UK and the US get vaxxed and we wait. 🙂Went to Florida once. I was 8. Had a great time. 🙂
When all this passes we’ll have a SCGC gathering here.
Daniel
Ahh Tad, We just went into a modified lockdown. Paris to Calais corridor is affected (and I live in it). R number is above 1, people getting sick, etc. Parisians with second homes in the country are exiting the city in droves! As good as the French government was at the beginning of the pandemic, they have been wishy washy for the last several months. You guys are definitely better off in Cali right now.
Claudine and I made tentative plans to go to New York to visit my mom this summer. That’s looking unlikely now.
We are having trouble getting vaccines here. And the French government just decided the AstraZeneca vaccine was not good for people who are older than 55. –and I just turned 56!
My parents-in-law got vaccinated, but I’m too old. Go figure.
Ahh, but I am plugging in to play. It’s good to hear some amplification!
Daniel
Thank you!
[Bizarrely, I keep trying to reply, but I cannot see them. Trying a different browser.]
Watching LoTR this evening. Played guitar today too!
Daniel
Thanks very much!
Enjoying The Lord of the Rings Trilogy this evening. Played guitar for a few hours today. 🙂
Daniel
On a 24.5″ scale, C is about as low as you van get without resorting to Mike Hedges types of string gauges. 🙂
Fun tidbit of info about open G: “Ohhhhhh. THAT’s why Macawber* only has 5 strings.” The low D gets in the way as often as not.
Though I’m having a lot of fun with “Wayfaring Stranger” playing the Dm like this: 020233. Fattest fretted Dm chord I’ve ever heard.
*for those who don’t follow this stuff: Macawber is one of Keith Richards’ Telecasters.
🙂
Daniel
Hi guys,
I was asked by the local paper to do something for a Christmas music series they are doing. We did this, and I figured I could share it with you too. 🙂
No snow here in northern France at all. 🙁 (We moved here in 2018) It topped out at about 50F today. I’m hoping we’ll get snow in the new year.
There could be some in Les Vosges mountains or in the Jura mountains. But those places are about 4 hours away by car.
I did hear that my friends in Cambridgeshire got a dusting. You’d be amazed how freaked out the Brits get when it snows. 😉Happy Holidays!
Daniel
Ok. So I’m playing electric guitar. But it’s a guitar!
It’s just much easier to balance things for a live mike when they’re electric. 🙂
A Bit of Magic is a song I wrote about three years ago (available everywhere).
Merry Christmas,
Daniel
I suppose my philosophy with ordering custom instruments from luthiers is that I get one shot. So I’ve got one guitar, a Hank Mauel 000-12, and a mandolin, a Gary Vessel F5/2 (ask if you want an explanation there).
I can’t really afford much these days and very happy with what I have. (Though I am still itching for a solid body electric octave mandolin.)
Daniel
We’ll be happy to have you and Darie, Matt.
The train to and from Paris is about 2 hours, and the station in Laon is visible from our house. (It’s about a 10 minute drive because we live on the back side of the station and have to go around the rail yard to get there.)Buckets of history here from early middle ages to World War 2. Lots of lovely little villages to explore, forests to walk in, etc. Though not much in the way of high culture. Paris is like a giant cultural vacuum cleaner. All the best art goes there.
Daniel
Claudine’s school was closed for 4 days while EVERYone got tested. Seventeen of the school’s students tested positive. So the local health authority descended on them with cotton swabs and PPE.
C is in the clear, thank goodness. But the school has been re-opened by the Prefecture (county government) against the health authority’s advice. <eyeroll>
Since I first wrote, the transmission rate (R) went up to 1.3. It is now down to .58 locally and .56 nationally. The ‘confinement’ that started just after we got back from Les Vosges worked.
Saturday, they loosened things up.
We can go 20km away from home now to exercise, instead of 1km. And there’s no 1hr time limit.
Non-essential shops are now open, though bars and restaurants remain closed. (Me & the kids are getting haircuts on Friday.)
Masks are still obligatory out of the house, and we wear ours in the house when my mother-in-law comes to drop things off and stay for a 15min visit.With the advent of several different reportedly effective vaccines, I have hope that things will progress to a point where we can do live music again in the not too distant future.
In the meantime, we do our work and prepare for Christmas. The kids are really good at playing together, so that makes things easier than other have it.
Gisèle has pretty good pitch recognition despite our piano being a bit out of tune. 🙂 And Rémy shows a distinct interest in dance.
I’m picking up instruments a bit more than recently, but they’re electric. I’m playing my Fender FM-988, my JBovier EMC-5, and my Tele. I’ve set up my POD 2.o and used the Phones Out with the Tape In of our little stereo. I need to be a little careful about the speakers, but it works a treat. The chorus effect in particular sounds immense and beautiful in stereo. When I start gigging again, I’ll use the l and r outputs to go stereo. (I hate chorus in mono, it just makes everything sound out of tune.)
Stay well,
DanielI’d like to recommend:
<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Clapton’s Guitar</span> by Allen St. John
It’s about Wayne Henderson and the construction of a guitar that EC ordered.and
<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Guitar in America, Victorian Era to Jazz Age</span> by Jeff Noonan
It’s a scholarly book, but not too long and well worth your time and effort.Daniel
I’m 10 hours ahead of you guys. So that’s a little early for me on a weekend. 😉
But I’ll do my best to show up.I had my SCGC out for about 30 minutes yesterday. It was like talking to an old friend.
I played through Dan Fogelburg’s Morning Sky, Long Black Veil in Bb and G, and Whiskey Before Breakfast in D.Hope you’re all well!
Daniel
The kids are off school for a couple weeks (mid term holiday) and we are taking a long weekend in Les Vosges mountains to NOT think about ‘things’.
We’ve been hiking, geochaching, eating, playing board games. Kids watched some TV, and C and I read a bit more than usual. We’ve also been drinking good wine. 😉
I’m re-reading Christopher Ward’s 1956 military history of the Revolutionary War, The War of the Revolution. It’s simple, clear, and well-written. It’s fascinating. In some ways that are difficult to express, it’s reassuring too.
Back at it on Tuesday. Kids back in school the following Monday.
Here’s hoping we all have some good news in the near future.
Daniel
Matt,
The classified ads on Mandolin Cafe are exceptionally good. Lots of high dollar stuff, and they are free.
Sometimes people add 2% to the asking price and donate that back to the cafe.Hope you and Beth are well!
Daniel
