Dunaber Music

Overheard: France

April 3, 2013 on 5:50 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, News, Overheard | 2 Comments

I’m not an eavesdropper – seriously – but it’s amazing how often I happen (yes, “happen”) to overhear remarkable words; that is, words worthy of remark. I know you’re the same.
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Kilts on a Plane

February 7, 2013 on 1:53 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Random Thoughts | Comments Off

Travel brings out the best and the worst in people. When you fly charter it’s usually the later. Endlessly winding cattle queues and travel industry regulations that have “FUN SUCKING” stamped in red on the cover of every volume help see to that. Still, despite baggage scales calibrated in micro-grams and pay-per-use WCs, oddly memorable occurrences can happen when flying – even charter.
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The Artist’s Bagpipe

November 26, 2012 on 6:49 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Photographs, Random Thoughts, Stories | Comments Off

I don’t know if it’s due to its many appendages (all projecting from its grand inflated centre) or if it’s just plain unobservant carelessness but it seems to me the bagpipe in the context of art is much maligned.
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A Halloween Tumshie

October 31, 2012 on 2:08 pm by Michael Grey | In Delightful Data of the Day, Humour | Comments Off

I’m often asked, believe it or not, what the words are that kick off the “Sergeant Malkie Bow’s Consternation” tracks from my Shambolica! and Unqualified Favourites recordings. For the record, the words are, “Mikie, it’s Malkie, you’re a big tumshie…”.
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1950s Tenor Drummer

February 4, 2012 on 5:31 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Pipe Bands, Random Thoughts | Comments Off

Here’s a neat whisky advert from the 1950s: a tenor drummer in full flight – both flourishing and sounding the drum, too.
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Friday Funny

January 13, 2012 on 6:21 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Random Thoughts | Comments Off

One of the funniest books I own is a little volume called “Bride of Dark and Stormy”. It’s a collection of the best entries to the Bulwer-Lytton literary competition. Unlike once-funny TV shows like, say, M*A*S*H, this slim volume has never become dated and has always made me laugh.
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The Secret to Finding Good Reeds?

January 2, 2012 on 8:00 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, News, Pipe Bands, Random Thoughts, Solo Piping, Tips | Comments Off

Many of us have always wondered. The truth is out:
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When in Rome …

August 21, 2011 on 5:01 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Photographs, Random Thoughts | 2 Comments

I’ve had to pretty much watch what I eat my whole life. Fries and gravy, pasta and anything and pints stick to me like chrome on a trailer hitch. Maybe you can relate. The buckles on a kilt, or your pants (trousers) don’t lie. It’s probably the way of things for most people, I suppose. Anyway, I generally, sort of, mostly, do my good-intentioned best to keep things right.
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Get Your Bag On

August 4, 2011 on 7:01 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Pipe Bands, Random Thoughts, Whinges | Comments Off

No surprise that I’m about to say I believe it’s a special (different, out-of-the-ordinary, etc) kind of person who’s attracted to playing the Great Highland Bagpipe. Loud, brash, hard to keep quiet and sometimes offensive – and I’m talking the instrument and not (necessarily) the player here – it seems to me shy folk are not generally attracted to playing bagpipes. Yes, exceptions to every rule but I say the bagpipe world is full the eff up with “type A” personalities (drummers included, here, too, but they’re another story).
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When the Heat’s On

July 17, 2011 on 6:39 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Pipe Bands, Random Thoughts | Comments Off

For anyone who has to regularly play their bagpipes in a place that’s hot, well, you may already know this secret.
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