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My middle granddaughter is a go-getter. She wants to do everything and do everything well - if not best. This applies to her grandmother's weaving hobby, shooting their new BB rifle, certainly playing her French horn (she's a 7th grader, and played non-watered-down versions of pieces such as "American in Paris", "American Salute", a Dvorak symphony, etc., last summer with an orchestra at Interlochen Arts Camp), cooking, gymnastics, certainly academics - as she's a couple years ahead in mathematics... you name it.

She wants to play trumpet in the school jazz band, so her parents asked me to look in the attic to find her a trumpet. I didn't have to go up there; a university tossed some instruments my way that had been left behind by students - at least they didn't belong to the school, and they've been sitting around on top of lockers for years. One of them was a entry-level/missing-a-few-parts (had 'em here) Bach trumpet, which is basically a souped-up Bundy. Additionally I added a #1 slide thumb saddle to it. I remembered to take care of this request just before they arrived here on their boomerang trip back home after visiting the other grandparents, and managed to find locate, clean, repair, fix up a case, and round up accessories for that instrument - all in about an hour, just before they arrived back here. Since she was going to play in the jazz band, I played Al Hirt's old hit song "Java" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqwIpH6phJs ) for her on it - and then played his recording from my phone of him actually performing it. I told her that it is in a fairly low key for trumpet, and - even though it does have a high note in it (second time through the bridge: which is quite high, but playable by perhaps third year students, so she would probably be able to play it in two or three months). They got home last night and her mother sent me a picture whereby the granddaughter had made a beeline for her father's music studio as soon as they arrived home, had pulled up a lead sheet to "Java" off the internet, and was already working on it.

Ah, youth!

...so it's NYE...Happy not-2023 y'all !

Here's her Dad's wassail recipe...
Even with the bare-shelves/they-plan-to-starve-us/supply-chain thingie, I'm pretty sure that (before y'all's parties tonight) you can round up all of these ingredients.

Nice she is so enthusiastic.

Happy New Year, All!

We have two daughters. I thought adolescence was hard for us boys, but had no idea what the girls go through until my daughters did; it's fraught.
Sounds like her folks (with great extended family support) have her on a really good track. Well done, gramps.
(My youngest is a trumpeter - music has been a great anchor through the public school turbulence.)

S-I-L “Don’t Hate”

tokuno wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 12:53 pm We have two daughters. I thought adolescence was hard for us boys, but had no idea what the girls go through until my daughters did; it's fraught.
Sounds like her folks (with great extended family support) have her on a really good track. Well done, gramps.
(My youngest is a trumpeter - music has been a great anchor through the public school turbulence.)

From what I hear from my granddaughters, girls are mean...just like in the movie.

When first messing with it (here: at blokeplace) she had to remember to mash (not only the 1st but also the) 3rd valve for "D".

Also, she was producing a "a bit too pretty" (French-horn-like...duh) sound on the thing.

bloke wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 2:25 pm
From what I hear from my granddaughters, girls are mean...just like in the movie.

From what I’ve observed over the decades girls are a whole variety and range of things, add on top of that that whatever they are now will quite likely be a little different later. Girls might be sugar and spice and all things nice but at times they certainly are horrid to each other - and sometimes to the boys too if we get in the way. However, in contrast, their close friends can receive life long support and empathy.

Things are quite different today (yes? no?), but - when I went to school, the male bullies were typically sons of alcoholics - whose alcoholic parents regularly beat them at home, whereas female bullies were typically the less-gifted-intellectually females who attempted to encourage more-gifted-intellectually females (via mocking and insults, etc.) to not excel (ex: "You shouldn't sign up to take Russian/calculus/AP biology/etc.; that's too hard, and all the nerds are in those classes" etc.) The overwhelming majority (at my epically overcrowded school of 3600 students, two cafeterias, and many teachers who had to move around the campus in order to find rooms in which to teach throughout the school day) of students at my school weren't bullies, the few male bullies typically had one or two "yes men" and the female bullies tended to run in small packs.

What I've seen of female bullying is social rejection. Male bullying tends to be physical rejection.

and it takes a very smart young lady to realize that being accepted by those people is worse than being rejected by them.
I can't remember what this granddaughter referred to those girls as, but it had to do something with the brand of clothes that they all wear, and she means it as derogatory.

Mary Ann wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:17 pm What I've seen of female bullying is social rejection. Male bullying tends to be physical rejection.

In in my high school, the football coach himself was a bully and the football players followed his lead. They were a horrible team and he was a horrible coach. We referred to them as"the angry losers"...and - just in case we encountered some of them in the restroom, and they got crazy - we carried folding linoleum cutters. We never had to use them, and what's funny is that none of us knew that the other of us were carrying them until close to graduation time.

Mary Ann wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:17 pm What I've seen of female bullying is social rejection. Male bullying tends to be physical rejection.

Indeed, Mary Ann, and in my opinion very lasting and hurtful.

(Real) example from out of the blue one day:
"We don't want you eating lunch with us any more"

Numerous other examples, too.

Yes, these Bundy/Bach student instruments play well. IMO used they are one of the best student horn values out there. You may remembrer you supplied a valve button for my son's cornet. And like you did, I had a local tech make a 1st valve slide with a saddle so he could have that as his hand grew. Thanks again. Um, one smaill detail in the picture: please encourage her to put her left index finger below the bell and around the valve block for better security in holding the trumpet and better working of the 3rd valve slide as her hand grows.

Um, one smaill detail in the picture: please encourage her to put her left index finger below the bell and around the valve block for better security in holding the trumpet and better working of the 3rd valve slide as her hand grows.

Normally, I spend some time with kids when I sell their parents trumpets. I show them how to hold the instrument and also tell them that almost none of their little friends are going to be holding them the proper way. I also even show them that their left wrist doesn't need to be bent backwards, because the valve casings do not need to be 90° to the ground. I show them all sorts of things. That having been said, her Dad has some pretty knowledgeable colleagues, and I figure that - if this becomes a fairly serious secondary instrument - one of them will probably drop by the house and give her a bunch of pointers.

bloke wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 10:16 am Things are quite different today (yes? no?), but - when I went to school, the male bullies were typically sons of alcoholics - whose alcoholic parents regularly beat them at home, whereas female bullies were typically the less-gifted-intellectually females who attempted to encourage more-gifted-intellectually females (via mocking and insults, etc.) to not excel (ex: "You shouldn't sign up to take Russian/calculus/AP biology/etc.; that's too hard, and all the nerds are in those classes" etc.) The overwhelming majority (at my epically overcrowded school of 3600 students, two cafeterias, and many teachers who had to move around the campus in order to find rooms in which to teach throughout the school day) of students at my school weren't bullies, the few male bullies typically had one or two "yes men" and the female bullies tended to run in small packs.

There is a similar dichotomy among Black kids. Some kids are discouraged by their peer group from even excelling in "normal" classes because it would be "acting White". Of course, there are Black kids on the other end whose parents have told them early on that they "were going to college and graduate and get a good job and live in a nice house" and both parent and child acted accordingly.