The Native Iowan

We have lovely small, pink bud roses in the back yard. Connie planted them. They remind me of my Grandmother, Nana. She always smelled of roses.

I was just out, caught a heady whiff, and thought of Nana… and her piano.

What a monster piece of furniture that piano was. I helped my  Father move it from Dubuque to Indee. It was a bear of a job, both ways. I was youngish, maybe 13 and Dad, being Dad, did not have a lot of helpers and though I was still a kid I was big enough to work. I recall the moving of the piano as a stressful exercise.

The piano comes to mind in that we’re just deciding that buying a piano may not be wise.

The story continues…

We’ve just set up part of the front area as our music/ game room.

What do we see here?

Mendozza’s drum kit,

Angelo’s Fender 6 string electric on the shelf,

Gracie’s Taylor acoustic down front

My 1/1 fiddle against it,

Mendozza’s 1/4 fiddle with Angelo’s 1/2 fiddle in the cases on the shelf,

My 1922 Martin mandolin almost in the pict to the right… the old mandolin is a story unto it’s self…

There is also Uncle Teddy’s big, old Sigma-Martin Dreadnought that’s in the shop getting it’s neck straightened.

Oh yea, the ukulele is in the case by the drums.

So, I guess it makes sense that we discussed buying a piano…

We are getting into the music and having a lot of fun doing so.

Mendozza has been a drummer since young but he confidently picks up most instruments and makes pleasing noises.

Angelo wanted a guitar for Cmas and Santa brought him more than a guitar. Santa brought him a Fender.

Grace has been playing Uncle Teddy’s ax but misses her smaller Tekenene Paul confiscated. I think Qalo has the nice little Hohner.

So we decided to look for a smaller guitar. Do you ever have enough guitars?

In the process of shopping for the Taylor I decided to throw a good mandolin on the shopping list in order to bring the price down. Why a mandolin, you may ask… it’s simple, the mandolin and the violin are cousins. They are tuned the same and are basically played the same.

This is the boys second year of violin lessons.  We went shopping a few weeks ago for good fiddles. We rented last year and the machines we got were nasty. Though they both did real well in the lessons they did it despite the instruments. The better the machine the easier to use. So we took the boys to a crazy German luthier I found and had them “fitted” for their instruments. Mendozza being small has a 1/4 size, Angelo has a 1/2.

As we were doing this I took it into my head to buy a 3rd machine thinking a) I will do the lessons/ at home practice with the boys, and b) as they grow we will need a full size machine eventually. So I brought the price down by mixing the pot, and everyone is happy.

A side note… the boys had their lessons today and we have new music to learn tonight. I do look forward to it.

So… ahhh, ummm, yes, indeed, this is about a piano…

So Gracie declares she really wanted a piano. We know a keyboard takes up almost the same space as a modern electric piano. And an electric piano is not much smaller than a decent upright. I checked on line and found hundreds of quality uprights for sale for a fraction of what a new one would cost. Looks like pianos are like boats… the first guy to buy it gets hosed. The second guy to buy it gets a bargain.

Gracie and I finally decided we’re probably good without the piano, for the time being.

And it takes me back to smelling the pink bud roses, and thinking of Nana and wondering what ever happened to her piano.

Life is good

And I mean that in the very essence of a southern YEEE HAWWW!!!!!

Just picked up a 1922 CF Martin mandolin…

I paid way too much but am way, way happy that I found this in the Land of Oz… the land where buying a quality mandolin is almost impossible. This one was in the store where I found it because,as they say, it’s an “ugly duckling”. And compared to the polished and new chinese shoe box models that sell for half or quarter the price, it is. But boy do it sound sweet.

The boys are watching Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. With their violins (fiddles), the collection of guitars we have around, and now the “Ug Duck”, we have a YEE HAWW band in the making…

Yeee Hawww…

We’ll be busking sooner than Mendozza thinks. Maybe we call our band the Sol-Hounds?

Just smiling here in regards to how much fun life can be.

The short version: The boys are doing violin at school. I want them to “learn music” so we’ve gone this route. Despite that fact we have drums, guitars, and ukes around. I see the formal lessons as a way to learn the language of music.

Last year we hired nasty, cheap instruments from the school. They did well, got good grades and enjoyed it for the most part.

This year we went to a violin-guy and bought decent, very good, machines. I was a bit flabbergasted over the price, and, the fact that Mendozza needs a 1/2 size, Angelo needed a 3/4 size and we bought a 1/1 size because we’ll need it later on and, big smile, so I can learn with the boys.

So I was a bit grumpy over the price tag but the boys really enjoy the exquisite instruments they have that sound oh so nice, and, importantly, their teacher commented how good their machines were. Made both very proud.

Last night I got my first official lesson. I can now very competently play “Mary’s little Lamb” as a trio with the boys.

Mendozza figures we’re about ready to go busking at the mall.

And I feel like a star…

Husband prime suspect in PNG sorcery killing

Death toll rises to 10

URGENT relief supplies are on the way to the earthquake and tsunami stricken island of Santa Cruz last night as the confirmed death toll stands at 10.

Patrol boat Lata and MV Anavon were loaded with food, water and tents and are due to arrive at Temotu provincial capital Lata today.

Sipuru Rove of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) said an assessment team was also on board the patrol boat.

The team comprised of doctors and officials from the ministries of agriculture, education and representatives from other non-government organisations.

“The assessment team is expected to spend two weeks in Temotu,” Mr Rove said.

He called on the public, groups and companies to come forward with whatever help they can give to support the victims of this latest disaster.

Meanwhile, reports from Temotu say people are still scared of going back to their homes because there’s nothing left, so they are residing in temporary shelters on higher ground.

Wednesday’s tsunami, triggered by a powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake, generated 1.5-metre waves that damaged or destroyed several coastal communities and flooded Lata airstrip.

As they scrambled to reach smashed villages, disaster relief agencies warned the death toll was likely to rise.

Aid agency World Vision, which also dispatch relief supplies to Temotu yesterday, said some houses in the town of Venga were shifted 10 metres by the surge of water and 95 per cent of homes in Nela village were washed away.

“I’m currently walking through one community and I’m knee-deep in water,” World Vision emergency coordinator Jeremiah Tabua said.

“I can see a number of houses that have been swept away by the surge,” he told AAP.

Mr Rove said the national government had asked the Royal Australian Air Force to send a plane to survey damage to the island.

“We’re hoping for it to happen some time today, if possible,” he said.

Mr Rove said an estimated 3,000 people were homeless, with many villagers fleeing the coast for higher ground and taking shelter in makeshift camps in the rugged hills.

Red Cross disaster manager Cameron Vudi said reconnaissance flights were made over the island yesterday to assess the scale of the damage but initial reports indicated at least 460 homes had been destroyed.

He said the death toll was likely to rise as reports came in from isolated communities.

“We’re expecting changes. There are signs that there might be increases in the number of casualties,” he said.

“There are still reports coming in. Most of the reports are confined to areas that are accessible by road but there are a lot more communities that have been damaged.”

The US Geological Survey said the powerful quake struck beneath the sea about 76 kilometres west of the provincial capital Lata, on the large island of Nende, at a depth of 28.7 kilometres.

It was followed by dozens of strong aftershocks of up to 7.0 magnitude and the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre put several island nations on alert for two-and-a-half hours before declaring the threat had passed.

In 2007 a tsunami following an 8.0-magnitude earthquake killed at least 52 people in in Western and Choiseul provinces and left thousands homeless.

The quake lifted the island of Ranogga and pushed out its shoreline by dozens of metres.

The Solomons are part of the “Ring of Fire”, a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific that is subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

In December 2004, a 9.3-magnitude quake off Indonesia triggered a catastrophic tsunami that killed 226,000 people around the Indian Ocean.

Six dead, others missing

Back in QLD. 2 days of long-haul trucking to get home.

Did right on 5000k.

What a great and wonderous land this place is…

IMG_0439

Had the fun and enriching experience of meeting family from my Mother’s, Father’s people.

97 yr old Thomas was a gas. When Gracie asked him how old he was he smiled huge and said “21”.

Thomas’ father was my grandfather, Andrew Angelos’, brother.

So Thomas and my mother, Helen, are cousins:

I found out a lot about the Angelos family I had never known. It was a great time.

So long lost family all found and life is good…

Sad day for media freedom

Yep, in classic island fashion…

Local media warned

PM Lilo’s lawyer has warned the media not to publish the PM’s personal life.

PM’s lawyer tells news outlets not to publish allegations

A LAWYER acting for Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo yesterday warned all media outlets not to publish allegations of Mr Lilo’s extra-marital affairs.Nuatali Tongarutu issued the warning after a member of the Forum Solomon Islands International (FSII) posted the allegations on the group’s facebook page, which had attracted numerous comments from members.

In the post, it was alleged Mr Lilo paid $5,000 compensation to relatives of a woman he reportedly had an affair with.

This was after relatives of the Malaitan woman wrote a letter to the prime minister last November demanding $150,000 compensation.

Mr Lilo allegedly paid only $5,000 of the amount demanded.

Mrs Tongarutu wrote to FSII’s chief executive officer Ben Afuga hours after the post appeared on the facebook page and demanded its removal.

She said the content of the post was baseless and the allegation bears no element of truth.

“Whoever is responsible in pulling this stunt has a political agenda to publically ridicule the prime minister,” Mrs Tongarutu said.

“There is no evidence to substantiate the article which you have allowed to be posted in your facebook and has already received several comments in response.

“By allowing the article to be posted in your facebook, you are allowing the public to entertain personal grudges against individuals which may have adverse consequences.

“By entertaining the article, you are likely to personally face criminal prosecution on charges of libel as well as being sued for defamation of character.

“I therefore seek your cooperation by immediately pulling out the article from your facebook.”

Mrs Tongarutu copied the letter to all media outlets, warning them “not to publish a baseless and false article in their newspapers otherwise I hold instructions to commence legal proceedings for defamation”.

By last night, FSII has not removed the post from its facebook page.

Instead, Mr Afuga said the FSII management has resolved to refer the matter to the Leadership Code Commission for investigation.

He added his group will be making a position statement on the matter, soon.

The controversy emerged as Prime Minister Lilo left for his home village in Western Province yesterday for a brief holiday.

He stopped over in Munda and boarded a high-speed outboard motor canoe to Rendova island where he’s visiting relatives.

This afternoon, he’ll travel to his home village on Kolombangara island.

 

And that name is…

evil has a name

3 high impact butt flops and both cheeks well bruised. My hip ain’t happy and my neck hurts. Who had the bright idea to invite evil into the house?

And who thought it was wise to leave the safety of the garage and the level floor? Had a good flop in the garage but it was still all fun. So fun Angelo convinced me to go down to the road.

Mendozza said we should stay in the garage. For 7 he is pretty smart. But I listened to Angelo and rolled out of the safe, safe garage and into the wilds of the real world. Now our driveway is on a 45 degree slope. It’s amazing how much speed you can gain rolling on skates down my drive way. Between the car and the truck and from zero to 60 before I could think of anything else but, “damn this is fast”.

I’ll admit I thought it was an idea worth merit when I reached out and snagged the tailgate of the truck. My left arm went taught, I felt my legs do a cartoon style woopde-do, bullwhip out and back. I went down hard on my arse, half under the truck.

Call me dumb but I got up and with sound advice from Angelo, “stay on the grass”, I found myself racing across the street heading for the curb. My high-speed pirouette must have looked impressive but not as impressive as the crash.

In good fashion I went down on both hands but only managed to place my right knee before my hip impacted. You are supposed to fall hands first, then elbows, then knees. We’re well protected at those points. The boys were showing me how you are suppose fall in a sliding fashion using your armour to protect and slide across the concrete. The hands, elbows and knees are very well protected. But the hip ain’t.

That spill left me across the road. I figgered I could at least get back to my yard.

Buttt nooooooo. The 3rd arse-slam happened in the middle of the street. Before I stood up I had the skates off.

And…

Evil has a new name…