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Hiya gang…and welcome … A momentous occasion happened in my family last week.
It was my daughter Hannah’s third birthday! We had a party, of course; it was outdoors in the playground near our house. We were worried about the weather because rain had been threatening and we didn’t have a contingency plan - other than to offer towels. (I can’t believe that we’ve had rain in Bahrain even into April). But it was I think, in fact, the hottest day of the year so far.
My lovely wife, Wendy, sent Hannah and me out first thing in the morning so that she could finish getting everything ready. Our instructions were to get some ice to keep the drinks cool, some buns for the hot dogs and to pick up Hannah’s special birthday cake.
Guess what kind of cake she wanted? Have you seen the big purple smiley dinosaur, which goes by the name of Barney? Yep, Barney is Hannah’s favourite cuddly toy; in fact she says that he is her ‘baby’ and takes him everywhere. So we had a Barney cake especially made. (The chaps at European Bakery did a really great job).
Hannah and I met so many people whilst out that morning (and, of course, my biggest downfall is that I like to chat) and we arrived back at the house nearly two hours later. Most of the guests had arrived by then, the birthday girl was still in her pyjamas (because yes, that’s how I took her out - but I had at least brushed her hair a bit). So poor Wendy had been at home by herself trying to entertain everyone, and all the drinks were as hot as the morning!
Yes, she gave me some pretty bad looks!
Anyway, a great morning was had with lots of splashy, sandy fun. Later I helped Hannah open all her presents. Yay! I was a little disappointed though as she didn’t get any shirts in my size; I have a real weakness for shirts! But what a lot of great stuff!
This week I was also privileged to play golf in a charity event raising money for the Bahrain Mobility International Society. Thanks going out to my playing partner Ian (sorry that I didn’t wake up till the 5th hole) and also the magnificent Wales’ duo. Also, thanks to Louise and all the gang at Riffa Views for such a well organised event.
For this week’s interview I went down to ‘Room 2 Rock’ and met up with some up-and-coming musicians; Miguel Cardeso-Yarwood, Jack Ashbery and Tom Ashbery. I started off talking to Bob…oops, I mean Miguel; who’s 15-years-old and plays the drums. He’s been playing for about five years but only properly for about a year since joining up with Manny Cordero at Room 2 Rock - his teacher. His favourite drummer is Travis Barker who’s in “Plus 44”. Miguel also played in a drum ensemble in Muscat. He also likes Pink Floyd and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.
Next up talking to me was Jack, who’s also 15. He’s been playing the rhythm guitar for three years. I asked him if he came from a musical family and he said his grandad was on ‘Top of the Pops’ in the 60s with a band called ‘Johnny Devlin and the Detours’ (Stan our editor at the GulfWeekly is a big fan!) The single reached the Top 40 of the UK charts.
Jack and Miguel are trying to get a band together but they need a bassist. So, if there’s anyone reading this and would like to join up with them drop me an email and I will forward on the details.
Talking to Manny he said that he teaches lots of kids music and there are lots who want to be drummers and lead guitarists, but not many wanting to play bass. Jack says Eric Clapton is his favourite guitarist but he also likes some techno music. Last, but not least, I talked to Tom, aged 12 , the younger brother of Jack, who’s another drummer playing for about two years. He likes Joey Jordon the drummer with Slipknot (Ian, his dad, likes Cozy Powell! Who?) but Tom also likes some rap.
Then we started talking about hair! The guys said you “need long hair to rock! But at school there are some policies about it not being too long and not spiky”. Did I mention the boys all go to St Chris? Oops, I’m going to get told off by the teachers now!
So the guys did a quick jam session with the amazing Manny on guitar and they sounded great. In fact I was so impressed that I will get a recording of them and put it on my radio show. I had a great chat to the guys, was impressed by the store, so get on down to Room 2 Rock for all your musical needs.
Till next week, keep on rockin’,
Krazy Kevin
