Photo a day 2012 (49/366) - you're not from round here, are you?

Photo taken on Palmerston Road, Aberdeen.  A hat missing its hombre resting in the shade.

Photo a day 2012 (48/366) - anti-hunger

Photo taken at Darcy's, Princes Square, Glasgow.  A generously proportioned antipasti.

Photo a day 2012 (47/366) - the last thing you see before a fatal cat attack

Photo taken in my kitchen.  The boy must be hungry - attempting to use rock climbing techniques to scale the kitchen worktops.

Photo a day 2012 (46/366) - 1981 Gibson Victory Artist

Photo taken in my bedroom.  I know I've featured this bass before on these pages, but just look at it!  It's probably the prettiest bass I own.  I'm so glad I was able to rescue it.

Photo a day 2012 (45/366) - Shedio, Mk II

Photo taken from the top of the outside stairs.  Following on from my picture showing the water damage in the shedio, here is the first attempt to make it watertight - a layer of felt along the ridge.

Photo a day 2012 (44/366) - colourful tea

Photo taken in Union Square.  I just liked the look of this tea and the swirly patterns of the mesh bag.

Photo a day 2012 (43/366) - mmm, pie

Photo taken in my living room.  Mmm, pie.  No, I didn't make it - pie provided by M&S ;)

Photo a day 2012 (42/366) - a taste of capitalism

Photo taken at Starbucks, Union Square, Aberdeen.  A cup of coffee that I didn't have to make myself.  That is its raison d'être.

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!

Photo a day 2012 (41/366) - ignoramus

Photo taken on Abbey Road, Aberdeen.  This is pig-ignorant parking at its best.  To the immediate left of the shot the road narrows significantly, so it's a stupid place to park anyway but blocking two people's doorways? It shouldn't really need to be spelled out but I've enlarged the relevant information that this motorist ignored.  Of course, if the owner of the car is also the owner of both these doorways then I retract the second point.

It was there all of yesterday and it's still here this morning.  Out of  interest, how long should you leave it before reporting it abandoned to the police?

Photo a day 2012 (40/366) - sprung a leak :(

Photo taken in the shedio.  Heavy rain last night and today we have this.  Oh dear.  Builder is coming to look at it tomorrow, I hope.

Photo a day 2012 (39/366) - guess the substance 2

Photo taken in my kitchen.  OK, same drill as previous pic - what is it?

Photo a day 2012 (38/366) - guess the substance 1

Photo taken in my kitchen.  I've been running low on stuff to photograph so I thought I'd play a wee game.  What is this?

Photo a day 2012 (37/366) - king of the castle

Photo taken in the dining room/storage area for junk.  Chico assessing his descent from the top of a vertically stored divan.

Photo a day 2012 (36/366) - bass bash!

Photo taken in the Old Well Theatre, Moffat.  Some of the basses belonging to me and my friend Rich.

Photo a day 2012 (35/366) - snowy road trip

Photo taken in the vicinity of Dundee.  On the way down to Moffat, the weather took a turn for the worst.  For 5 minutes.  Thank you, Scottish weather!

Photo a day 2012 (34/366) - boxed and bagged up

Photo taken in my bedroom.  Road trip to Moffat tomorrow for the fifth bass bash!  Getting pretty excited about it.  If it wasn't for the fact that all my shirts are still hanging up it kinda looks like I'm being kicked out of the house :)

Photo a day 2012 (33/366) - rescue mission

Photo taken at work.  This didn't look good at the start, but I was able to see the files via USB and so it's a case of lifting them off there as quickly as possible before the thing crumbles completely.

Photo a day 2012 (32/366) - practice makes perfect

Photo taken in my bedroom.  This is a Tascam MP-BT1 bass trainer.  For me it's an indispensable tool for learning songs as it can slow songs without altering the pitch, and can also change the pitch without changing the tempo.  It can EQ out the bass to a degree for playing along, and it can boost the bass so you can hear it above the rest of the music.  I use it for all my silent practice.

Photo a day 2012 (31/366) - h is for...

Photo taken in my car.  This is the only logo I want to see on any car of mine.  Until I win the lottery, that is ;)