Man the world has truly gone where, posts will edited. Can you prosecute a pacifist for terror crimedls. A quote from MontyP springs to mind but I am sure you’ve been a good boy.
Keeping fingers crossed for you on this one.
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That is beyond Crazy Brian …
well … if you ask them maybe you can soon make your own Mugshot then you will have a … Cellfie 
Greetings
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Well said Brian, as always. Have a good one on this bright sun filled day. 
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Well, I would like to go on a rant, but I understand that it is neither necessary nor desirable, so I’ll just keep it this way 
Hey, I still have this one lying around if you want to smuggle in a guitar if … how and what I leave to your own imagination
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That looks… uncomfortable! 
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Chris mentioned he felt the action was a bit too high on his mandolin and asked if I knew a luthier… 
Me: “Why would you bother paying someone for a simple task?”
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Was that before or after the fix?
That nut looks like it’s made off Mozzarella and got to close to the sun.
Poor little mandolin…
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All’s well that ends well 
The £3.99 replacement nut was a tad low, requiring not one- but two cardboard shims to clear the first fret. I decided against glueing it in, for ease of altering.
I also sanded down the bottom of the saddle, lowering it to just avoid fret buzz.
The things you do for love 
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I really enjoy my practice sessions with Richard when our calendars coordinate.
We decided to hit ‘record’ again yesterday morning
Unfortunately, my guitar playing and forum participation is likely to take a nose-dive till the end of summer.
I’m off to London for the w/e and then joining my wife for a ‘walk around Wales’. 
She’s taking a three-month sabbatical and a two-person tent. I’ll set off with her on Monday but have no idea how long I’ll walk or how often I’ll go back and join her on it.
No instrument for me apart from a windup radio and maybe a bit of solfege…
I presume I’ll still be checking in on the forum when I get the chance, but much less posting.
I’ll miss it.
Be good while I’m gone 
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Great stuff guys, you’re both clearly having a lot of fun. Two great songs for a duet and terrific that you found each other living in close proximity. Well done on both the guitar play and the vocals.
3 months walking around Wales with a tent! Wow that’s quite an undertaking Brian. I wish you and your wife good luck and good feet (and some good weather!). Your family certainly like difficult ways to travel. Didn’t your daughter cycle to Berlin recently?
Surely you must take a small light travel guitar with you on this adventure Brian. You’ll have lots of nights in campsites or perhaps wild camping. Think how amazing it would be to play and sing under the stars or sitting beside babbling brooks. 
I hope you’ll start a travel log for this adventure and keep us all posted as to your progress.
Bon voyage my friend. 
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Have fun on your travels!
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Hope Geraldine enjoys the sabbatical and makes the most of Welsh hiking (fond memories of Snowdonia and the Beacons many many years ago). And enjoy the time you have together, as and when you can !
But given your “recent” run ins with the CPS your jaunt did make me think of The Jompson Brothers . . . . could just be a coincidence ?
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@sairfingers @C_McG & @TheMadman_tobyjenner
Slaps to my cerebellum for not having responded to your now months old comments.
Much appreciated 
I’ve addressed most of your remarks in the blurb below
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This summer feels a bit like the end of an era (or beginning of a new one?)
Ger’s walk around Wales was a success. I joined her for the first week, walking from our door down to Wales and then the first part of Offa’s Dyke (border between England and Wales). She continued by herself, largely wild camping, lugging her food and water with her, with the occasional campsite or bnb to recharge batteries (physical and metaphorical). Various members of our family joined her intermittently, and she made it all the way down south, across west to Pembrokeshire and back up to Bangor on the north coast. She’s back to work these last two weeks but three instead of five days a week. Having carried everything she needed on her back for a couple of months means she now feels we have far too much ‘stuff’ and is on a ‘decluttering’ spree . Many trips to the dump and charity shops later, I am carefully hiding all my guitar/music paraphernalia, lest it comes into the firing line!
I’m still teaching English to the asylum seekers on Thursdays and driving them to the mosque for Friday prayers. One poor chap from Morocco became homeless after having his claim rejected, so moved in with us for a month, pending a new claim. It’s a tough life.
I have no idea what became of my court case for terrorism. I was supposed to have a preliminary hearing (that I wasn’t to attend) last Thursday, but when I checked the court website, I couldn’t find my name. Are they seriously going to ignore me?!? We’ll see.
I think most of us will probably be found guilty and receive a small fine or community service. My current thinking is that I’ll refuse to play ball and let them lock me up if they want. I only know three people who have been in prison- my grandad who was imprisoned twice during the German occupation in Denmark, a school friend in Switzerland who refused to do military service, and my friend Chris’ son for non-violent environmental protest. I’m sure it would be an ‘interesting’ experience!
Here’s a song I wrote somewhat related to that. (This was going to be my song challenge entry before I wrote Worms)
Lyrics
The doorbell rings no one’s there
There’s a package on my step
My mobile pings
It’s the Amazon ap
Proof of Prime delivery
Beirut, Tehran and Gaza
Shame my smart TV
Collateral craters; No regrets
Proof of crime’s delivery
We all need proof to believe
Proof of delivery
Delivery, delivery
Oh Lord, deliver me
Temperature’s risin’, waterline too
The blind keeps out the heat
Legal immigrants- hot on their heels,
free ICE delivery
We all need proof to believe
Proof of delivery
Delivery, delivery
Oh Lord, deliver me
In my heart, It’s cold, It’s Colditz
I’m tired and old, I’m told if
I’m guilty this time, just pay your petty fine
But I think I’d prefer to do time
I see the rising tide
I hear the sirens scream
I smell the stench of Sulphur
I taste the acid stream.
I feel helpless… I feel helpless
But the swelling of the belly of my lover says
Hope is not done yet
Labour pain, a small price to pay
For the promise of delivery
We all need hope to believe
Hope in delivery
Delivery, delivery
Oh Lord deliver me
From all evil
I’ve been enjoying my Wed morning sessions with @Richtrfc when our timetables allow (He has a busier social life than me!), and we even managed to make it to another West Kirby open mic to play a couple of songs together. Yay!
This week my in-laws arrive from Dublin and we’ll drive down to Normandy for a week in a castle (11 of us). I hope the weather stays nice.
The weekend after that it’s back over to Ireland for a piano recital of the sonata my cousin composed for my Mum. Yay again!
I’ve also booked Futureyard in Birkenhead for a Jim White gig next May. His promoter got in touch asking if I’d like to host him again and organise a gig. Would I what?!?
On the strength of that, I also emailed Johnny Dowd’s sister/manager asking if he’d like me to do the same. I’m waiting to hear back from their promoter now.
A couple of folks have mentioned my change in avatar/profile pic. I had changed it just for fun, but am now thinking that is just going to make it less likely that folk I know (and love) are more likely to scroll on by, so I changed it back this morning to the old ‘silent protest’ symbol I designed. I think it takes a couple of days to revert.
On the sadder front, I’m losing my trusty six-string-slinger Chris this autumn. He’s been offered the post of vice-dean in China (near Shanghai), and he and Eithne are emigrating in October. I’ll miss our Sunday lunches, squash games, and music.
That’s kind of where I’m up to at the moment. I may well go a bit quiet again while away, but am still fully on board with continuing to bother everyone with my over-sharing when I get back, hopefully with stories of more lovely JG-forumites making the pilgrimage to my door
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Great to hear from you Brian and I’m pleased Geraldine’s adventure went well.
Your de-clutter story made me smile. We’re just back from 3 weeks caravanning in France and have the same thoughts (as we do every year!) After spending time living in an area the size of our kitchen we again have an entire house to live in (and clean and keep tidy).
We did a similar journey with the caravan. We drove to Cairnryan then ferry to Belfast then drove to Dublin then overnight ferry to Cherbourg. A bit convoluted but it only involves driving for just over 3 hours and you’re in France. 3 hours driving south from my house would get me as far as the Lake District!
As for the weather, we sweltered in 40 degrees for our first week, then it cooled a bit to 30ish. Fortunately we weren’t near any of the horrific forest fires and since coming home it’s rained here every day!
Glad to hear your role as an impresario is continuing to flourish and that you’ll continue to keep us posted on events - hopefully from your house and not from a cell!
To be honest I’ve not been contributing much to the Community recently. The ‘old guard’ seem to have gone underground at the moment. Even the Dutch chap has been pretty quiet.
I haven’t listened to your latest offering yet but will do soon and report back with my incisive critique.
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Cheers Gordon
I’ve always experienced a summer slow-down, but you’re right in as much as a fair proportion of the ‘old crew’ have become much less active. It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s still a lot of ‘lurking’ going on. Old habits die hard, and I’m sure many still check in to see what’s going on.
“HI EVERYONE!”
I misread this
as Dutch cap, thinking I haven’t heard that term in a long while…
I shall wait with bated breath for a (p)early review of my latest oeuvre 
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I’m so happy when someone actually listens to me… Again, that photo is amazing and fun and definitely in the context of this forum , but it’s a dark little dot for me and it gets lost among all the other dark little dots… now you really stand out again with something much more original (says a man with a guitar as his avatar) …now i can find you a way easier
Pfff, as you’ve noticed, I fell a bit behind on reading… April ???, the 2nd song was a good one to listen to…
Your own song was lovely (I just don’t like the sound of that party horn)… otherwise, a great vibe…
What a good story to read… and it answered a lot of questions.
That’s answered actually all i what wanted to ask you , if the trip was already over …what she experienced etc… look ( hopefully you have) for a safe in the dungeons under your house for your unnecessary (yes yes, even you ) guitar stuff
but with less than a few minutes on the computer the past weeks (until I started catching up from the bottom, which I’ve now stopped, and just quickly visited a few people)
Well ,this makes me a little sad ,
You’ve talked about him more than anyone else in our ‘weekend’ conversations… now you can only hope for a quick war with… noooo, you just have a nice new place to go to now and the visits when he comes to your home just last a bit longer for a little compensation of lost time …
Sounds like a weak copy after all 
I would like to type a lot more, but I’m holding myself back … Can you imagine?? 
because I still have some things to type here and there, and I’m giving myself limited time behind the computer…
Well Gordon @sairfingers , a lot has changed, more than usual videos are made by people with no or only fake interest in others and still get a lot of positive comments (that’s my biggest annoyance as it gives a lot of busy )… and then there are the repeats of so many exact same things (jokes copy-paste ,topics, and some other things that wouldn’t be nice if I say them 
)… I was once ready to welcome the 250 thousandth community member (+246,000 it was) … Brian posted not too long ago that there were about 160,000 members … now we’re around 70,000 … of course, a lot of beginners who were learning during corona drop out, but still??.. But we’ll definitely keep running/talking to each other …It will be good … and going to bed with 31.9 degrees in the bedroom really took a toll here… I have a strange proverb that’s just the truth… about “sweat your ass off”… okay, just the skin then…
and other additional problems … It’s definitely affecting my mood now, we had a third heat wave F#@#$ , though today is lovely 
Hey …this is way to long 
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Hehe, that’s ok… It’s my thread
I hadn’t noticed the continuing number drop in ‘members’
Shall we put it down to my reduced engagement?
Either way, there’s never been more than a couple of dozen regular posters, and most of our non-artificial-intelligences allow us to scan through the cascading topic list quickly, picking out interesting topics or familiar, well-loved avatars
Despite spending much time on music-related activity, I have noticed my actual guitar learning/practicing time has dwindled to a trickle like continental rivers this summer…
and I am once again thinking: Will I put in the effort to try to improve again?
Ah, it’s good to be back (even if I’m off again next week)
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Of course, boy
Yes, definitely, but the downside is that even a small shift can change things significantly… when another… JK… once said something about not liking that, you rightly wrote that it will always be like that ( and that’s kind of how it should be)… a new ‘equilibrium’ you said back then…
But at the moment it’s a lot that is changed here , and especially for me now that I have been able to play for 3 weeks since February… it went well for a while, but now another 5 days ‘break’ not knowing for how long
I’m going to do my best, but I feel so guilty if I miss certain people who are always so nice to me, and I see I’ve missed some while scrolling quickly… 
well, a learning process for that crazy head of mine…
Let’s flip a coin…with double heads, and you get to choose
Luckily, this is way too busy again…whoosh whoosh 
I just read it… really awesome that this is happening… I wish you an insanely huge amount of fun 
Roger out 
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