My first set of drumsticks.

These Samba drumming classes that I have recently been attending (I was going to say "dabbling in", but it's much more serious than dabbling) require one to intermittently use a pair of drum sticks. I can testify that I have gripped a pair of drumsticks as often as a set of divining rods. They look innocent enough - basically, a pair of sticks - but I can't use them effectively; nor can any of the other novices.

So, for £5, I bought a pair today, to practise with. Apparently, the back of a chair (any chair) is a good surface to patter upon.

The left hand stick should be held underhand and the right hand stick, overhand. This asymmetry is to accommodate the slant in the snare drum which was traditionally held around the waist whilst marching.

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Golden Teacher:

Read an excellent review of the Golden Teacher performance I saw last week at Oran Mor.

"Glasgow's Golden Teacher haven't been given enough time to showcase their wares in this support slot. Each slab of their Afro-futurist house, filtered through a smoky dub aesthetic, finds its mark, but ends all too quickly. Their compelling mix of Grace Jones-like, echoing vocals, hypnotic, pulsing percussion and bubbling synth bass evokes a dubbed-out Factory Floor – and begs to be witnessed without constraints. They could have played for ten hours and the crowd would have loved it." The Skinny 

Hear, hear.

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Currently listening to:

J D Twitch

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Lenten abstinences:

Apparently, according to the Catholic Church, you can break your abstinences on a Sunday during Lent. For two reasons: 1) Sundays are Feast days, regardless, and 2) Lent is 46 days in length and the abstinences should last for 40 days to mirror Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness, thus allowing one to break the Fast for the intervening Sundays.

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Tonight's dinner:

Trout plus ratatouille