And Ryokan promptly froze his ass off on the next cold night.
C’mon Jim, tell the WHOLE story 
Loren
If Ryokan had simply turned his back to the thief and bent over as the thief departed he could indeed have given the thief a full moon.
!!!
OK, the whole story:
Yes, Ryokan froze his ass off;
also he suffered from carbuncles and a
host of other ailments. Awful poverty. He drank lots of saki whenever he had the opportunity. He was lonely and on his
alms rounds often joined children in
their games. Sainthood is a condition
one wouldn’t wish on one’s worst enemy,
maybe.
Happy ending: When
he was about 70 Ryokan met a
Buddhist nun in her 20s. They
fell in love almost immediately.
When he died she
dedicated herself to preserving
his poetry–he is one of
Japan’s best loved poets.
Here is a poem about the moon,
(noun not verb), by
a Japanese nun who become enlightened
when the bottom of the bucket
she was carrying fell out.
'This way and that I tried to
patch and save the old pail,
Till one night,
bringing water from the well,
The bottom fell out.
No water in the pail.
No moon in the water!’
I suppose Ben Franklin would have
offered her duck tape.
[ This Message was edited by: jim stone on 2002-07-19 10:38 ]
I think my last few posts were a bit
pompous. Apologies. Ben Franklin was
a great man, of course.
Soooo . . .
the moral of the story is:
If you pay too much for a pennywhistle and a thief breaks into your hut, you can give him your robe and the bottom your bucket, but DON’T dis Ben Franklin just because he was a happy bachelor!
Did I get that right?
Vinny
On 2002-07-17 16:40, Loren wrote:
On 2002-07-17 15:20, Gary wrote:
“Why do they use an > (Insert name of expensive whistle here) > when a Feadog would work as well?” → Gary
Don’t get out to sessions much do ya Gary? Try it with a Feadog sometime… :lol:Loren
Yeah, never mind all those whistlers I’ve seen in the pubs on my various trips to Ireland playing Feadogs, Waltons and Generations, right? If we’re going to carry on the Irish spirit here in America, we have to have Burkes and O’Riordans.
Hmm, I seem to recall hearing Peter and Azalin saying there were more Susatos than anything else being played at the sessions these days…
I can’t even hear my generation, or anything like, it at a session, so I honestly can’t imagine how people can get by using them. Perhaps if we’re talking small sessions, or miked sessions…but when you’ve got 3 guitars, a couple of flutes, 3-4 fiddles, a bodhran and several (louder than generation type) whistles going, I just can’t see it.
Of course I simply can’t play if I can’t hear myself, so perhaps this isn’t a problem for most other players, don’t know…
Loren
Spot on, Vinny!
On 2002-07-19 21:19, Loren wrote:
I can’t even hear my generation, or anything like, it at a session, so I honestly can’t imagine how people can get by using them.
There are sessions and sessions. Three guitars are not uncommon at sessions in my town but a session where a Generation is perfectly audible is not an impossibility.
To give two examples: At East Durham last year I was at a session that went for quite a long time with only about 8 or 10 musicians (including Mary Bergin and Joe & Antoinette McKenna!). There were two pipers, a couple of fiddlers, a harp, maybe a bodhran. I wasn’t in the least bit worried about my Generation not being heard, and although Mary was on the other side of the circle from me I could hear her Sindt very well.
The year before at a festival I was at a lovely outdoor session at dusk by a lake with a piper, two or three flutes, a fiddle and a (tastefully played) guitar, and two whistles, again a Generation and a Sindt. The balance was perfect. A Susato, Overton or Reyburn (that’s for you Loren) in either of these circumstances would have been a disaster.
There’s also the annoying fact that when you can’t hear yourself in a big session you can be heard clear as a bell in the toilet or outside. A serious warning. Have you tried the broad-brimmed hat trick Loren?
The broad brimmed had trick? Hever heard of it, but let me guess: The wide brim helps reflect sound back to the person wearing it so they can hear their own whistle better?
I have no doubt that others can hear the generation, Feadog, Sindt or whatever else, however it’s like you say: At the sessions around here, I can’t hear myself - and when I can’t hear myself, THAT’S a disaster! You see I play even worse than usual when I can’t hear myself , and since the Generation type and Sindts CAN be heard, what happens is that everyone can hear a really crappy bunch of whistle playing from me. The other option is that I whip out my Silkstone (my hard blowing Overton is too loud and the 1st octave on my Abell isn’t loud enough), then I’m the loudest whistle in the bunch…well actually no, then I’m on equal footing with the Copeland, and I probably end up being a tad louder than the other musicians would prefer, but at least I’m playing “Well”, because I can hear myself. The other option is to just sit out, which I do plenty anyway.
Either way is less than ideal, so I’m switching to flute as quickly as possible: Easier to hear myself, and the flute, even at higher volumes, blends in better with everyone else.
Problem solved, no more whistle playing.
Besides, easy to have too may whistle players going at once - this happend at our last session there were times when we had 5 whistles going at once - too much high pitched noise for me!!! More motivation for me to keep working at the flute…
Loren
In all seriousness: It’s quite possible I have some hearing loss and that’s my problem.
Loren