Tuesday, March 4, 2003 3:57 pm

Dr. Finbar Potters Around in Your Garden


Good Day List-Leaveners,

This week we tell you about what didn't happen last week, what did in 
fact happen, and we broach a number of extraneous issues.

EXTRANEOUS ISSUE #1: DR. FINBAR LITE

It's lovely of you all remain on our list. However, as you are our 
patrons and our playing future is in your hands, we want to make sure 
we're pleasing you as best we can. In case you want to improve your 
signal to noise ratio, we're offering a new option for subscribers to 
our list. We'd like to offer a second version of the mailing list. 
This version will feature only information about when we're playing; 
there will be no gratuitous commentary, competitions and the like. If 
you so desire, you need only to respond to this email with the 
phrase "Dr. Finbar Lite" in the body of your email and you will be 
removed from the verbose version of the list and placed on the withered 
and emaciated alternative.

LAST WEEK

The Mildura gig was inopportunely postponed by our hosts. Our Mildura 
Friend, Luby, called on Thursday to inform us that there were problems. 
Luby, and his friend who runs the cafe/pub, also run fruit blocks. 
It's now picking season, and some unseasonal rains meant that they had 
to rush to get the grapes off the vine so that you guys can all enjoy a 
good vintage in a few years time. This meant that they had no time to 
prepare for the Dr. Finbar Trio and our various requirements (real 
French Champagne, spas, groupies, hotwater bottles, and so on).

However, this is merely a postponement, not a cancellation. The Dr. 
Finbar Trio will subdue Mildura in due course.

THIS WEEK

For reasons beyond our control, we've been unable to practise since our 
evening at the Old Colonial Inn. It looks like we'll be unable to 
practise this week as well. So we're bound to get rusty again. We 
haven't discussed whether we'll do an open mike night this week, but 
unless you hear from us again, assume the worst (or best, depending on 
your proclivities).

Yet, we have not been entirely idle. We're using this lacuna to finish 
off some songs, some of which will hopefully be played by the DFT. 
Consequently, in the coming weeks we will be adding a few songs to our 
online MP3 collection. This week's edition is linked below:

http://www.geocities.com/friskylichen/HandOff.mp3

EXTRANEOUS ISSUE #2: THE DR. FINBAR COMPETITION Mk. III

It has come to our attention that the winner of our competition has not 
contacted us to collect his prize of 285 sugar packets and an 
autographed Dr. Finbar manuscript.

First of all, we know who you are. Second, you obviously don't quite 
understand how useful it would be to possess 285 sugar packets (screw 
the manuscript - we know we can't convince you on that one). Consider 
this. 285 sugar packets equals nearly all the sugar you'll need for a 
whole year of breakfast cereal consumption; and you could easily 
stretch it out to a year if you have toast a couple of times a week 
instead. Or if that doesn't take your fancy, imagine how classy it 
would be to offer guests a guaranteed standard teaspoon-measure of 
sugar with their teas and coffees. Imagine how cherished they would 
feel. The unopened packet is your pledge that you haven't tampered 
with your sugar in an ethically unsound manner.

Do reconsider. The sugar packets are beginning to resent being housed 
in their current location.

EXTRANEOUS ISSUE # 3: BAND IN A BOX

We have recently acquired a computer program(me) that, among other 
things, promises to write songs! It generates a chord chart, an 
arrangement, and a vocal line at the press of a button. It even 
generates a title for your song! We've looked at what it can do. Even 
though it has a predilection for tricky jazz chords that would put even 
us to shame, we're thinking of utilising it's services. We might let 
it write one song for us. We'll supply the lyrics, of course; we 
couldn't quite trust it to look after that aspect of songwriting for us 
just yet. Not a bad gimmick, playing a song written by a computer... 
Only one, though... we promise only one...

PETE'S MUM (DEFINITELY NOT AN EXTRANEOUS ISSUE)

Pete's mum is in the country, and was kind enough to come and see us 
play at the Old Colonial. Being Pete's mum, she has a lot of 
explaining to do, but she's acquitted herself well so far, and did 
manage to come up with a semi-plausible explanation. It's rumoured 
that she even took some home-videos of our performance at the Old 
Colonial. Pete has taken out some extra insurance on his house, 
because you just don't know what those bootleggers would do if they got 
wind of this fact...

HOLD THE PRESSES!

Pete says:

\beginquote

I forgot to mention that the landlord of the Colonial (Noel?) would be
willing to give us a Saturday slot every month. How about that? A
residency!!!

From what I gather, the agreement would only hold whilst the pub was 
full, whilst we were playing. So we might get a couple of months out of 
it :)

\endquote


Have a pleasant afternoon,

The Dr. Finbar Trio