Staggering on

He was the head of the Bank of Canada before he headed across the pond, I don't know how well he did things here. He won the party leadership by a huge landslide last night (86% and next closest was 8%) and seemed to to do well in his acceptance speech and the Liberals are happy, certainly a lot happier than many of them were with Trudeau in the last two or three years so it will be an interesting election. No statements yet as to whether he will try to win a seat in parliament or work from outside for a while.

Ontario is applying a tariff to the electricity we sell to the USA and the premier has said that if necessary he is prepared to stop electricity sales to the USA entirely.

And right in the middle of all this our Canadian Prime Minister will be stepping down in the next few days and the recently elected (yesterday) new leader of the Liberal Party (Mark Carney, you may recognize that name from his years in the UK) will become the new PM and will be calling an election. Parliament has been prorogued for some time and at this point the new leader doesn't have a seat in Parliament, it will be an interesting few weeks. Now it seems the Conservatives under a leader some call "mini Trump" may have a lot harder time in the election than they thought just a few days ago. We live in interesting and scary times.🙄🇨🇦

Breaking news: Things just changed again, details are still unclear but some tariffs are now changed to an April deadline. Our federal government is studying the documents before commenting and same for provincial governments. This is really bizarre. 🙄 Edit: Of course this may change at any time.

Tariffs for Canada and Mexico start today, stock markets reacted yesterday after the announcement. It will be an interesting and stressful week for Canadians as our federal and provincial governments and businesses react to a 25% tariff.😟🇨🇦

As the March 4 tariff deadline approaches Trump has once again started to waffle on which tariffs will be applied and when, now saying some may be applied in April. Typical move to keep the whole situation off balance and the politicians and industries here are trying to figure out what to do, the tariff deadline has already been changed once. 🙄

I finally pushed a bit at our seven piece swing band rehearsal last night. One of our members is a music teacher and we can use the music room in her school for rehearsals for free but we almost always leave things where they are in the room to avoid moving the drums. Lately that has had me (DB with my own amp) and the keys at the front of the room and the drummer about 30 feet away at the back of the room with the horns set up between us. It is a terrible way to set up and means that the rhythm section can't hear each other but last night I strongly suggested ( not normal for me) that we should make the effort to move things and it made a huge difference. We have been gigging for about 8 years together and this was the best rehearsal in a long time, when we gig we set up like this so it makes sense to rehearse that way. Glad I raised the issue and so was our guest vocalist who really liked that she could hear the band the way it would sound on a gig. I used to dread these rehearsals but I'm looking forward to next week and will make sure we will set up the same way. 😊

In Canada on February 28 there is a plan to boycott all US owned stores and online services and that includes Costco, Walmart and Home Depot. This of course is in reaction to the tariffs that are coming. When I started reading about this I discovered that a group called The People's Union USA has organized a boycott or economic shut down in the USA on the 28th, the first of many planned attempts to get the American population to wake up and protest some of the economic issues that are or will be hurting them. This includes major retailers and online services such as Amazon, it will be interesting to see what happens. The idea is to not buy anything on the day of the protests. I live in a very rural area but will be in a city with a Walmart and Best Buy and Home Depot on the 28th and I will check the parking lots at these stores, I wonder how many Canadians will actually take part in the boycott. Many stores of all types have been displaying made in Canada products more prominently lately and I know a number of people who look for this when they shop, we live in interesting and scary times.

Definite no for me. I have never been in that exact situation but I went to a few rehearsals of a jazz quintet where the very good keys player played a bass line that left no place for me and when I said this to him he changed it a bit but not much so I told the band they didn't need a bass player and walked.

You are right, the basis of the war would be economics not politics and I think it is a real possibility when the general population gets hit with serious money problems as well as social problems due to lack of funding for major things like education and medical care.😟

I sometimes practice DB by 'air bowing' and while the left hand fingering exercise helps, the real improvement is the right hand where I can practice up and down bowing as I read the music and also string choice and string crossings, it really helps me a lot and all I need is the music.

Living in the future! That 2034 Dacia must be quite a car.😀

That would have been the case in the past perhaps but it is a very different world now with a mad man running loose and many people in his country condoning his actions or ignoring things and carrying on the "mom and apple pie and Friday night high school sports" life that many of them have enjoyed for decades. Very scary.

Yeah, let's move that up about 85 years. He's planning to get Canada first, things are tense here these days with the new tariffs announced yesterday. Can you say "loose cannon"? Very scary. For the last few weeks a number of groups here have started "Buy Canadian" campaigns, not sure how much good it will do but at least it feels good to NOT buy products from the USA. Many Canadians who spend the winter in the southern part of the USA are rethinking their plans, partly due to the tariffs and politics and made more serious by a very weak Canadian dollar compared to the American dollar. 😟

I have two DB's and a Yamaha SLB 200 and although I rarely play it at home I often use it for rehearsals and gigs where space is limited and also for informal jams with friends. It's easy to haul around and I have a small combo amp to use with it or at a gig I go into the PA. I have used it for rehearsals and gigs with jazz bands and also a bluegrass band, EUB's are being used by more bluegrass/roots bands over here although DB is what I use for most gigs. I would have to admit that it stays in its case at home most of the time, I much prefer to practice on DB but is a useful instrument to have and on some gigs where I am playing DB I will take the Yamaha as a backup just in case I have a problem with the DB, they are rather fragile beasts. I guess the only downside is that if you get an EUB it may lead you into the crazy world of upright basses and soon you will lusting after "the real thing" and you might go to a BC DB bash like I did in 2018 and end up with two DB's and bows and all the fun stuff that having a DB leads to. My lesson is this afternoon so it's time to practice, on a DB of course.😊 Edit: Another issue is cost, the Yamaha is more than twice the price of my laminate DB's.🙄

Laminated is the way to go I think. I have a '70's Czech laminated bass that is loud acoustically with Spiros and amplifies well too and has been played inside and out in all kinds of weather with no problems. Some bluegrass bassists play carved basses but they are more fragile and more sensitive to heat and humidity. On this side of the Atlantic old Kays and other US made ply basses are the most common for bluegrass/roots music. Set up and strings are important especially if you plan to play some slap and as usual with anything DB related there are many opinions on what is best and you will have to find what works for your bass and your style of playing. Good luck, upright will change your life...in a good way.😊

My teacher uses one on his lovely carved bass and once it has been adjusted and in the right position with the right pressure it sounds great. He also used it on another carved bass with good results. He tried my Acoustic Image Coda amp and it sounded amazing but also sounded good through my Traynor SB112 and that combo was used in a concert. I think it is like a lot of pickups, some work better on certain basses than others and most piezo pickups need adjusting to get the best sound. The Band probably sounds best with a carved or hybrid bass.

I built this a few years ago and still use it. I forged the metal part but you could use other metal pieces or more wood to make the receiver for the neck. It is a snug fit with foam rubber for the neck and a velcro strap to hold the neck in place. I also used a piece of wood and steel on the floor to guide the end pin so it is always the right distance from the wall and the bass has a slight lean to the wall. Finally I put a small cushion on the wall the keep the bass from moving once it is standing in place and then cover the whole thing with an old sheet to keep dust off. I have used it with two different basses with no problems. Not sure how it would stand up to a toddler or a cat but it works for me.

I believe there is some question as to whether Kolstein's is still in business. they have had some serious financial issues and the New York store is closed and empty. There was/is another branch in Florida I think run by the person who bought the business a couple(?) of years ago. Lots of stories on TB and questions re availability of their basses, strings and rosin. Lots of rumours, not sure where to get the truth about all this.

Looks like a lot of fun, I'd love a gig like that.😊👏

Especially if he is working on your double bass. 🙄

Good for you, you will be amazed at how much you don't know and if you're like me you will learn things that will improve all your playing. After about 65 years of playing guitar, banjo, EB, EUB and finally double bass I started weekly lessons 2 1/2 years ago at age 75. I am still struggling with the bow but I'm getting better and have been playing concerts with my teacher's youth orchestra where most of the kids are too small for bass and cello. If you are lucky you might get into a string group, I have played many types of music but being in an orchestra or string ensemble is a totally different experience...go for it and good luck.😊

Seven piece swing/jazz band gig yesterday afternoon for a 90th birthday party for a very lively 90 year old lady. Probably 50 in attendance, they drifted in and out and most were of a certain age (three were 90 or older) and a few danced and they all seemed to enjoy our music, mostly big band charts from the lady's birth in 1935 into the '60's. The band has existed for about 8 years and for the first time we used two subs (deps in your part of the world), one to replace the trombonist who was ill and the other to fill in for the drummer who had family commitments. Both are outstanding musicians and excellent readers who sight read the 40 or so songs we played with no problems, and some of the charts are quite challenging. It was a fun gig, basically a wallpaper music gig but we had applause after every song and went home happy with our performance. Unfortunately they had cleared away the buffet of sandwiches and finger food before we finished but at least coffee was available for the ride home. Usual Shen SB100 into our Bose PA with a Schatten Design mini preamp that only has a volume control but is really handy on a gig like this, wireless (NUX C-5RC) into the preamp and EQ on the Bose and great sound. A bit crowded on an 8x12 riser, I was on the riser behind the big music stand on the right, no room for the Hercules bass stand so it stayed on the floor between sets.

I use Tunable on my iphone, my teacher recommended it.

Ex Mrs Staggering On (we're good friends) treated me to a new pot of Pop's rosin, I've been complaining about the dried out stuff I was using and she was listening and remembered! I am a lucky guy and now I have some fresh rosin to start the new year, it may even improve my playing...or not.🙄