We were just about to leave for the Future Pilot AKA rehearsal at A-side Studios last night when I got a skype message from Catherine M asking where the rehearsal was and if anyone was allergic to squash-related foodstuffs.  The upshot of all of this was that she came along with a sackbut, a pumpkin pie and some icecream.  She's not going to be here for the gig on Friday but the plan is that I will phone her up in Switzerland from the stage, and she can play sackbut down the phone which I will hold up to the harmonium mic.  This is the sort of thing Sushil thrives on I think.

traditional Glasgow diet of roll and crisps, 
and Alison's red shoes (that the angels want to wear)

alternative Glasgow diet of newly baked pumpkin pie and ice cream

It was my first attempt at using laptop in a live situation and to my surprise it seemed to work quite well, making a nice contrast with the harmonium, melodica, and mobile phone held up to the mic. I didn't have any suitable speech recorded on my phone to replace Damo Suzuki's improvisations on the recorded version of Festival of Lights, so I just rang up the Orange answering service instead. As we are playing at a mental health festival, the plaintive instruction at one point 'for help dial zero' was quite poignant. 

my play corner

I started the day today with a visit to Bradford's bakery before dropping in on Greg for breakfast. Is calling a cake a 'Jap Fancy' racist?  

Another moral dilemma: in the latest They Might Be Giants podcast they've included a rather brilliant cover version from the early 90s of Hello Hello by Gary Glitter. Presumably detailed news of his recent history is not that current in Brooklyn. By telling you this and how much I enjoyed it, am I potentially contributing to 1) his bank account, or 2) his justification of an indefensible lifestyle? Neither of which I would be very happy about.

If you're in London on Saturday, go to this! If you're interested in harmoniums of course. I'm sorry I can't go.

Thanks to Tim Hamilton in Cambridge, MA who sent me some adverts from 1894 for one of these, which comes with a 'support et grande branche pour l'adaptation au piano', allowing the player to play piano and what is essentially a melodica simultaneously, without precariously balancing the melodica in their lap like I have to. As it says, 'le même artiste peut jouer l'instrument de la main droite en s'accompagnant de la main gauche', or in my case do the funky chords with the right hand and the bassline with the left.