Izdihar - Magic Kingdom Escapology

Yes, really, this is what you can find - I guess you could say we were a little out of the town centre round here. In these parts, a pen full of camels is as commonplace as a field of cows in Devon. Interesting creatures, even if they do pong a bit. The majority are rather timid until they've had a good sniff round you, then once one has sussed you out, you get an audience, right up until the point where you move too quickly for their liking, then they're off. Rather fun animals though, I like them...

To be honest, it's more of an outpatient thing, so nothing series. A little brush up with some wet & dry for its fret ends, a tweak on the truss-rod to take some of the relief out of the neck, a mild fettling of the bridge saddles to allow the strings to sit closer to the fretboard camber, some new strings and a final check up.

The first two are already done and already I can tell that there's an improvement in the way it's playing, though now, the strings may be a fraction too low over the 12th fret, and taking a little more out of the outer saddles would only exacerbate the problem. This is good as I'd got almost no where to go with the bridge adjustment were they still too high.

I love the way this one came together, it looks like it could stun a charging rhino at a hundred paces, mucho kudos to Warmoth who made all the (wooden) components that went into it. I've put some feelers out about taking part in something for next years' Salwa Rocks - no idea whether that will come off, but I can promise that 'Braveheart' will most definitely be putting in some live air time should anything happen.

This is she, perched in the back of the Durango - ain't she purty?

Actually, a much better image of this one is long overdue - time to get the camera out I think.

it's the only explanation I can think of as to why it started playing Ronan Keating's "Love is a Rollercoaster" this evening...

It's not every day you get to give your better half a public declaration of devotion, but that's what I managed this evening. We're over in Bahrain as a bit of a treat for our 9th wedding anniversary (yesterday) and staying once more at the Diplomat up in the DQ area of Manama. As is our won't, we were down in the Fiddlers' Green where The Boxtones are playing once more (must find out when they leave). They were asked to come up with something suitable for an "old married couple" and chose Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours". Nice choice I thought.

So far, we've always enjoyed them as they really do seem to enjoy what they're doing and are far from mechanical in their performances. This evenings' stand out performances were a song we've never heard before (last one on first set) and a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Freebird' on which Gary pulled off an absolutely blazing guitar solo. I've no idea how much longer they'll be here in Bahrain, but I'm hoping this won't be the last time we'll see them.

Now how do I get them into Riyadh for Salwa Rocks?

Back to Hong Kong, near Causeway Bay and Happy Valley