Carlisle

There's funding from somewhere for strange training sessions and courses, and once the funding has been secured, the organisers need participants. I'm on the mailing list, and if it sounds interesting, I go along. This time there's the carrot of a £100 bursary at the end of it too.

It's a thing run by one David Parrish, and based on his book, T-Shirts and Suits, aimed at creative people (the T-shirts) who run businesses, things that are generally run with more efficiency by entrepreneurs (the suits). There are pencils, stripy pencil sharpeners, folders of info, and little piles of coloured origami paper on the desks. I say to the guy next to me, "Oh - are we going to be doing some origami?" but he just shrugs as though it's a silly question.

(Interestingly enough I win a small bottle of sparkling wine later on for making an origami fortune teller.)

There are several women in the group, and only one man - well, two if you count Andy Mackay, the organiser. We spend a pleasant day getting to know one another and thinking about how to run our businesses better. There are 4 more sessions to go. I think I might end up with some useful knowledge so it's well worth the effort.

At lunch time I dash (we've only half an hour) from the Viaduct across the street (no proper crossing place!) and up the pedestrian precinct to the post office, in order to despatch the Partnership Tax Return by Special Delivery. That's it - the last one is gone. Hurrah!

Carlisle's full of interesting buskers. I make the mistake of not photographing them on the way to the post office, and at least 2 of them had sloped off by the time I was on my return journey, meaning I missed the opportunity to capture for posterity the brass quartet playing Handel's Water Music and the double bass/flute duo. I did, however, manage to capture the Eastern European guys with their glorious moustaches playing folk tunes from - where? Bulgaria maybe? - on sax and accordion. As soon as they saw me approach with my camera they started to pose for me. Wish I'd had time to chat to them - I'd like to know where they were from.

When I returned after class finished, and visted Holland and Barratt, I asked one of the staff about the buskers. She groaned, saying, "They've been there since 12 o'clock and they've been playing the same song the whole time. We're sick of it!" I guess the poor lass was tone deaf, as I heard at least 10 different tunes in the time I was there, and there was lots of variety.

I also managed to capture photos of a trumpeter and another rather foreign-looking fellow playing another accordion. Had he been a bit closer to home I'd have been tempted to invite him to come and learn some morris tunes or join our ceilidh band.

The Tragically Hip
Have you heard of these guys? Unless you've been in Canada you probably haven't. They are, apparently, Canada's most popular band, and having listened to a some of the free downloads on their website, I have to admit they're rather good. What other musical gems are lurking in the Canadian wilds, I wonder? There's also Great Big Sea who are a sort of Canadian Runrig, complete with swaying thousands in big stadiums. How come these bands never get heard anywhere else?