happy st. Patricks day

happy saint patrick's day everybody!!!

here's some lovely irish music to get you in the mood!!!



the story of St. Patrick

Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Ramona - british  family. His father and grandfather were deacons  in the Christian church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise  the Irish from their native  polytheism . Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the Shamrock  to explain the Christian doctrine of the trinity  to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism , he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the  Irish church.

874 see stomp preform COMPLETE!!

874. see STOMP! preform COMPLETE

where do i begin
STOMP! is every percussionists dream, and if your not a percussionist or drummer you'll wanna be after seeing STOMP!

STOMP! is a percussion group with a difference, they only use household and everyday objects such as brooms, trash bins, tin cans, pretty much the kind of stuff your parents told you not to tap but your nan actively encouraged you to play as a toddler!

i for one , being a drummer, have wanted to see this for a very long time now, i don't want this to sound too much like a review but it was awesome, they combined amazing rhythms with a carefully planned out plot so that each section ran almost like a story, then they injected just the right amount of humour and audience participation to keep everyone fully engaged. everyone in the theatre from small kids right through to OAP's seemed to be enjoying it, and for me and i suspect a few other drum types it was heaven, finally something that encourages you to not sit still and tap along and groove a rhythm with them!

if you haven't seen it yet, it's fully recommended!!! if i had to give it marks out of 10 i would give it a strong 20+ it's that good! but you have to see it live.
but here is a little taster of the kind of thing to expect

go book your tickets soon

happy new year and welcome 2012

so here it is another new year!

for many of us the next week will comprise of making a resolution which we vow to keep only to break within the next week, not me not this year you see i'm not giving anything up! it's pointless i know i will not stick to it, simply because if i haven't committed to it before january 1st what are the odds i'm going to commit to it after?
however i would like to get very excited about some developments for 2012 that are on the horizon and i see no reason why they won't happen you see i have already committed to them happening!
I don't want to give too much away however paris, we have our routes and bicycles so watch out we're coming to get you!
and i have a graphics tablet on reserve and some storyboards already drawn so 'create a comic book' is also one to look out for, as well as learn Spanish, learn piano, learn guitar, learn ukulele. (i'm only at a beginers stage with them but i am slowly progressing so it's progress never the less.

so with all the excitements of 2012 looming i would like to reflect the last year, personally i have grown not just as a musician, but also as a person, i have learnt to let go of unimportant things, learnt to be more in the moment and most importantly i have learnt not to give up!

this year saw me accomplish more list items as well as start a merchandise shop! this year i started training for our paris cycle, made balloon animals, started learning guitar,piano,ukulele, spanish and how to juggle. i carved jack-o-lanterns, taught a group of kids, interviewed children, played drums in-front of 8,000 people (possibly the highlight of my year) and survived nearly a full semester at university so in reflection this has been a great year! i am truly thankful for it, 2012 will be a much better one i can just feel it plus i know it will be as last summer i made 1000 origami cranes and they are a symbol of peace and prosperity so it defiantly going to be good.

just a few words of inspiration for 2012

if opportunity doesn't knock build a door

men do less than they ought unless they do all that they can

determined what shall and can be done and we shall find the way

you miss 100% of the shots you don't take

live each day as if it had just begun

every nobel work is at first impossible

storms make oaks take roots

the only way of finding the limits of the possible is to go beyond them and make them impossible

if you don not hope you will not find what is beyond your hopes

fortune favours the brave

he who dares wins

man's best successes come after disappointments