Hi Guys,well’we went to see Mike McGoldrick last night at the Hammersmith Irish Club in London and the place was heaving.Mike really turned on the magic and seemed the most relaxed that I’ve ever seen him.He was playing with Johnjoe Kelly (Bodhran),Ed Boyd(guitar) and Andy Millence (fiddle).He played alot of his first Cd “Morning Rory” and some of the new Cd “At First Light”.It was electrifying ,he had the audiance spellbound staying mostly on flute and whistle.I had 1/2an hour with him in the pub before the gig and he was saying that he’s really going back to basics in his playing and really enjoying playing the tune nice and steady,he said that you get more out of the music when you can hear the tune at a medium tempo and I must say that I totally agree with him.It’s great to play fast to impress but you can feel under pressure to achive supersonic speed ,so take a note from the boss and enjoy the tune at a playable speed and don’t put yourself under pressure.
I ,of coarse videoed the who gig and will be putting some of it up on the kerrywhistles site next week.(www.kerrywhistles.com)
After a week of feeling less than good ,last night put the lead back in the ol’ pencil and I really feel to get back to playing ,so I’ll sign off now and get down to some practice.
May the great spirit flow to the fingertips.
All the best
Phil.
Just back from the hospital,and there has been a small miracle,my mother was able to write her own name and that of my sister and myself and after, she smiled as if pleased at the achievement.This is only a small step but maybe this could be the start of some kind of quality for her.
Sorry to bore you with this but we’re quite excited.
Phil.
Phil,
Very good news about your Mum (and no you don’t have to think you are boring us!) This message board is much like an extended family. As people get more comfortable and familiar with each other, they share concerns, hopes, worries, anger, joy and all the other human emotions.(even whistle envy!)
Sometimes as in every family there are some squabbles (as in the post about free whistles, lost cats and drunken Quebecois)but hey, everyone continues to communicate via the message board (If topics or members bothered them too much, they would just not continue to participate…but they are all still here, and often kiss & make-up I think its great. Good luck with your repetitive strain injuries, and all the best to your mother for a speedy recovery.
Sue
I read read this post, followed it back to the first, and am truly saddened to hear the bad news about your mother.
The one thing I can tell you (even though I don’t know much of the story . . . although I imagine she suffered some sort of brain trauma) is although a doctor can come in and give an assessment, no one can really predict the outcome. And although she may have suffered a major setback, phyical and cognitive therepy can reverse the effects of BT. Her own determination plays a large role in this . . . so yes, cheer over her writing a name or remembering a past event.
I had the misfortune of starting out my adult life with a brain trauma. From what my mother told me, the doctors at the first hostipal were less than encoraging about a recovery, but the therepists from my second hospital were very positive. It was a long, hard road . . . but I can tell you that most of the people I met in those hospitals made remarkable recoveries, thanks to excellant therepists and the amazing abilities of the human brain.
Please keep up posted on her recovery.