Video from the Depot

I've put up a few videos from Saturday's gig at the Last Bus Depot near New Pitsligo.  It's a little "band in a tin box" sounding, but hopefully it's good enough to tap your toes to and remember a good night - or wish you had been there and spur you on to join us at the next one!

The Oxbow Lake Band: Banff Castle 06/05/2012

We played recently at Banff Castle as part of their Beltane Bash.  Have some video from it:

Freedom of speech?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-17858257

This news item made me think, along with the other stuff, like people being pulled up for clearly jokey threats to blow up airports about how our freedom of speech is being eroded.  Now it's not nice to wish harm on people, and advocating that someone be shot is a bit harsh.  But surely all it requires is a time out, a calm down, and an apology?  Who is actually going to shoot someone on the vague urgings of a tweet?  Would a bomber say "I'm going to blow up an airport" before they go and do it?  Preposterous.

Perhaps I should be arrested too.  I have a confession to make.  

The year was 1994, it was summer and the World Cup was in full swing.  Beer was consumed and football was watched.  The USA were playing the fancied Columbia in the first round.  I vaguely remember it being an exciting match and I can still remember the feeling of utter disbelief when the unfortunate Andrés Escobar scored an own goal a striker would have been proud of in his attempt to cut out a USA cross.

I remember this moment like it was yesterday.  A friend and I stood up simultaneously, pointed at the telly and in unison proclaimed "THAT BLOKE SHOULD BE SHOT!"

Anyone with a passing interest in international football probably knows what happened next.  For those of you who haven't figured out where I'm going with this see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Escobar - basically he went home and a week later he was shot dead outside a nightclub.

What I did is exactly the same as what has been happening in all this draconian smacking down of off-the-cuff remarks on social networking on the Internet. You had better come down and arrest me, for I have been a very naughty boy.  Even worse, the "harm" that I wished on someone actually came true.  Clearly that makes me prime suspect.

Or maybe some sense could be seen.  It's very simple - either you arrest and charge all the 4000+ people who repeated Paul Chambers' chilling threat on Robin Hood Airport, or you let him off.  He made an off-the-cuff remark for which he has apologised.  Case closed.

Oh, and sorry Andrés, I never actually wanted you to be actually shot, like with a real gun.

Moffat bass bash, videos emerge

I had a great time at the Moffat bass bash last weekend.  This was the fifth one I have attended and they keep getting better and better.

This year was probably the best one yet - a structured, organised "bassyokey" where we pick songs in advance then go up and take our turns with the house band.  A nerve-wracking experience, considering the audience was made up almost exclusively of bass players - most of whom have been playing for many more years than me.  It would be like a driving examiner conducting a driving test in a people carrier full of driving examiners.

Anyway, I chose to play the theme from the TV series "True Blood" - if you don't know it it's a song called "Bad Things" originally by Jace Everett.  I did OK, a couple of bloops but I held it together.  Due to nervousness I lapsed back into bad left hand habits (excessive movement, "any finger will do as long as you get there on time" sort of mentality) which irritated me because I've been trying to get that out of my system.

Anyway, have a video:

There was a vast collection of basses on show as ever.  I took a sweep of the room where most of them were:

I had a great time, already looking forward to the next one!

My first YouTube upload :)

Yes, I realise that YouTube has been around for several years now but last night I put up my first video - of course it's of me making a goon of myself on stage with the band.

Jayne was on camcorder duty, thanks darling!