Kids Row.

Evening Strumpets,

This morning whilst I was in the bathroom, the kids were playing hide and seek. It was Hal`s turn to hide, and I heard him come scampering along the landing to hide in the adjacent room. He didn`t know I was in the bathroom, and whilst he was in there I could hear him laughing to himself with the excitement of the game.

It`s these moments that I think I`ll truly remember as being a Parent. The obvious moments such as first words, first steps etc. will always remain, but it`s the unexpected things which I truly cherish.

Things like Harry sat on my lap absentmindedly scratching his head. Grace sat in her princess tent "playing" her Uke and singing along, not knowing I was stood watching her. The pair of them tucking into pizza and popcorn whilst we watch our "Saturday night film".

It`s at times like this I think, what does the future hold for them? What can I do to assist in their happiness and learning? I know I`m not the first parent to have these thoughts. The truth is, it`s a crap shoot. Better parents than we have had the most awful experiences as also worse parents have had their dreams come true.

All I know is that so far, so good. They are the two loveliest creatures which ever strolled the planet. It is true that they make me want to laugh and then want to shout in frustration. On one hand wish to hug them then equally wish to break their little legs. And all this is made worthwhile by the hope that one day, they`ll see their kids singing to themselves whilst playing arts and crafts and have the exact same thoughts.

Here`s another vid from last weeks practice. A new song to this website from The Alice Charmers. Andy wrote the music and had the chorus worked out words wise, i just threw some more words at the rest of it and looked at what stuck.



And here`s an audio of a song which I wrote in just over ten minutes. sometimes that`s what happens. Remarkably i wrote the words first and the chords and tune turned up a bit later. It`s a first recording and definitely not a finished piece, but I like it.



Till the next one learn something new,

Mark.

Return to Blogsville

Morning Strumpets,

So, over the last couple of weeks, in an amazingly (even for me) rhubarb turn of events, not only was Blogger playing silly buggers not allowing me to post, my computer received a virus, making it out of play for a couple of days, and then lo and behold the Sony Bloggie I purchased in order to place HD vids on here turns out to be nuthin` but a muffin. It was only allowing vids of 1 min 24 sec`s length to be posted to YT or Facebook. For example:



Which to say is rather annoying is like saying The Grand Canyon is a ditch. However due to a late night call to my Facebook buddies following spending most of the night trying to figure it out, I`m rather chuffed to say that we now have the return of posts to this blog including vids which are completed!

Massive thanks to Paul Mowbray, Neil Duddy for their advice and (as it turned out) answers, and a special mention to Paddy and Andy Brown for their invaluable, and intended, humorous efforts ("try turning it on and then off again" and "try hitting it with a hammer" respectively).

So without further a do, here`s a first attempt with the four piece at an old work in progress. Hope you like.



Till the next one learn something new.

Mark.

More stuff from last Thursday.

Evening strumpets,

Here`s a couple more songs from the other nights rehearsal, featuring a headless me on guitar. Nicely there`s no swearing on these ones.

John Henry.




Foggy Mountain Breakdown.



Still a bit rusty, but the first time we`d played these together with Mr Dent, so a good benchmark from where to work hopefully.

Till the next one learn something new,

Mark.

In and Outtakes

Afternoon Strumpets.

(CAUTION STRONG AND POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE AND PERCUSSION IN THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS)

I`ve pondered and hummed and hawed about putting these vids on, purely because in the second one there is some strong language. They were recorded whilst we were trying to get the percussion sorted on "By the Fire". They are by no means "Troggs" like, but there are a couple of naughty words, so please if you are offended by swearing don`t play them.

I`ve posted them because I have laughed so much whilst watching them, and I believe they incorporate the good nature and enjoyment of being in a band.

Hope you like them. Incidentally, I`ll post the final version tomorrow. As with most things, we went back to the original instruments line up.

MORE COWBELL!!



"Lollipop sticks in the park gates"



Till the next one, learn something new.

Mark.

Alright foursome.

Afternoon Strumpets,

The Charmers met up last night to have a practice and we were joined by Mr Mark Dent. Mark, Carl and I have been playing together for as long as I can remember, and I know of no person who has a better natural inbuilt metronome. He`d played with us once in February 2010, but due to family and other commitments (he likes football) it can be tricky to pin him down for regular practice.

I think he adds a dimension the The Alice Charmers which moves us up a gear. Hopefully you`ll be hearing and seeing a lot more of him on the old blog.

Here`s the first song we did, I`m messing about with some new licks on the old drum on a stick, and my banjo is slightly out of tune, but it`s not too bad.



More stuff from last night on the way soon.

Till the next one learn something new,

Mark.