Recent Happenings

30 May 2001

Bilbo the Bass Man heads back to Wellington after staying at my house the past few days. He was in town to play with Deb Gillanders at the Bunker last Monday evening. It was nice to have some intellectually stimulating company while Trude is away.

27 May 2001

After what seems like a couple of years of frustrated attempts, I finally made it out to Martha Louise's lovely home overlooking the Kiapara harbor. We had a relaxing afternoon looking for, and finding, some common musical ground.

26 May 2001

Attended the house warming party at Katy Horwood's new house. The hit of the party was the compulsory cup of "tea": a hot cup of wildberry tea topped up with a splash of Stone's Ginger Wine. This inspiring concoction makes winter not just bearable but enjoyable. Of course the good company and music helps as well.

23 May 2001

Trude flies out of Auckland to spend some time with her family in Dallas.

19 May 2001

Trude and I enjoyed the Bach Musica performance at St. Mathews in Auckland with Michael McKeown and Ardeth Lobet. After a steaming Japanese noodle-bar dinner on the waterfront we all ventured over to The Bunker for the Margarette Roadknight concert which was a very pleasurable way to finish off the weekend.

16 May 2001

Family Ties

Can you guess which two people in this photo are related? After seven years of living on a boat and not being able to persuade a single family member to come for a visit, we thought we would buy a house to see if that would help. It does!!! So what if Zack is here on a business trip, he is still the first family member to visit since we got the house.

12 May 2001

Micheal and Trude Finally Find Raglan

After a couple of years of doing no better than good intentions, we finally actually got ourselves to Raglan for the farewell party for Dennis. It was a fun filled weekend with a couple meals at the Tongue&Groove, shopping for shoes, and jamming at Dennis' place. A few photo's of the weekend can be found here.

5 May 2001

Micheal Young is the new DFMC Tiddly Wink Champion!

The Devonport Folk Music Club hosted the 30th annual Tiddly Wink Championship on Saturday evening at the Bunker. The competition was fierce and the pressure was intense. After finishing runner-up in 1999 and being eliminated in the first round in 2000 I was determined to bring the Cup back to Devonport this year. Ken Lee, the defending champion from the Titirangi Folk Club, was equally determined to retain the Cup for Titirangi. The most politically challenging moment came when I met Trude in the semi-final round. It was with some reservation that I Tiddelied the last Wink to move on to the finals.

Needless to say, the pressure was on for the final and the adrenal glands were straining. It was more nerve-wracking than a musical performance. Somehow I managed to keep the pressure under control and a steady hand prevailed in the end. I think all the hours spent playing flat pick guitar and mandolin gave me the edge.

Handing over the Cup:
(Click image for larger photo: 59k)