As if I needed an excuse to go to the pub.

Note to all prospective organisers of small town Christmas Carol events:

If you feel the need to display a manger with live animals in it, make sure the fence is high enough that the goat cannot escape. Or forget about having a goat in the first place. Even better, forget the manger.

It is summer. Storms do not give warning in the morning that they will be approaching rapidly in the evening. Electricity and water mix extremely well, I've heard. Maybe a marquee of some description next year?

If you are going to bus an entire brass band from a town an hour's drive away and then cancel the second the band arrives, making them turn back the way they came, perhaps it would be good to suggest that the entire band travel together in order to avoid any jealousy issues. The two of us who got there by our own means had a brilliant time at the pub on the way home.

Guitar Party Tricks

For those of you who can't watch the YouTube (sorry Dive) here's brief idea: Harmonics being played with the nose and tongue, and five people playing one guitar all at once. Worth a watch!

Also worth checking out on YouTube is Andy McKee. The pieces I've seen him do involve two hand tapping on an acoustic guitar, as well as incorporating a tapped drum beat. It's amazing to think about the melody and rhythm parts interlocking and have both represented so well.

I was intrigued by Andy McKee's style and decided that since I've never really freed up my right arm enough to tap the body of the guitar while I'm playing, I might as well have a go and learn now. It can only be good for me! So I was mucking around yesterday with the idea while a student was about to arrive. He walked in to me bashing out a basic rock beat on the guitar body with my right hand and tapping out Smoke on the Water with my left. Raised eyebrows.

Comet sighted

I missed Halley's Comet back in the 80s. I had my family telling me where to look [above the clothesline, a little to the left] and stuffed if I could see it. I was young and the binoculars were crap, but the rest of the family saw it.

So tonight I'm sitting on the back patio with a guitar and a beer, just playing and chilling out a bit. For a bit of background this area is pretty open and has an awesome night sky. I look over at the horizon and think what the hell is that??? Comet McNaught was really bright, with a huge tail that if you hold your hand up it stretches for the length of it. Amazing.

Ahh, redeemed. The first in the family to spot this one! Apparently it's the brightest comet in 40 years, but still.

I didn't actually take this photo - it's by a member of the North Casino bushwalk group (Casino is about a half hour from where I'm staying) and was posted on an Ice In Space forum.

Local Man Decapitated

I go away from town and this happens!

Mark Hutchinson, 82, who served against the Japanese with the 2/12 Field Regiment in Borneo and New Guinea, was discovered on Saturday afternoon by his cousin.
As family and friends sought to come to terms with the murder, police confirmed that Mr Hutchinson's head was lying beside his body and that they would pursue several lines of inquiry, including his past.

Divers were yesterday searching a creek near Mr Hutchinson's home for the weapon used in his slaying. Detectives from Strike Force Penfold want to speak to anyone who was at the northern end of Markham Street, Armidale, or nearby parkland, between 5.30pm on Thursday and 2pm on Saturday.

The rest is here (even though all the other papers seem to have said that he was found by his nephew, rather than his cousin) but they really don't seem to know much yet. I used to live a few blocks away from there. It's not that big a town, anyway. Scary stuff.

How can someone do that?