July 13, 2004

• It's a long way to the top.
• Sorry, messed up some of the links.
• My hubby's best friend is in the local Caledonian pipe band (I think he's a pipe corporal, or some such thing) and I always love hearing them play. Alternately, after a few drinks he's quite happy to bring out the bagpipes and play a few songs for everyone. Mind you, my adopted father's family was Scottish and I gew up listening to all that as well as being required to learn Highland dancing. Best I don't go there, though.
• Insert bagpipe joke here.
• Well, they're used to great effect on the last track of Del Rey's Darkness and Distance...
• ...cool? Pipe music is timeless. Been thirty years since I played the pipes, but I have my old chanter... because ye never know.
• What an amazing collection, Torluath! Every Tuesday after work there was a guy who practiced his bagpipes in the park across from my apartment. I would open my windows to hear him play while cooking dinner. Perhaps his family didn't want him playing anywhere near the house. Which was fine with me, since I got to enjoy it.
• Mais oui, la cornemuse!
• I've also seen bagpipe players in parks, and once saw a man practicing alongside a highway. I guess it's a common problem. Which is odd; I can imagine any number of non-essential neighborhood noises (loud parties, revving engines, tune-playing car horns) that people accept as perfectly fine, but bagpipe playing is verboten. Or maybe the players themselves prefer the solitude/quiet. I've no idea. Myself, I have no trace of Scottish background and still like bagpipe music. I think my dad warped me as a child with the I-think-it's-classic "Amazing Grace" recording, the name of which I've now forgotten, unfortunately. I'll have to check out the links tonight, thanks!