Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"One of the advantages of being a captain is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it." -- Captain James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner) on the television series Star Trek, episode "Dagger of the Mind"

Bonus Trek-related quote today: "Kirk. Spoke. Like. That. ... Because he was training his speech-recognition software." -- quoted by aliza250, 2006-08-26, after she heard it at Worldcon

The timing sucketh.

I've got old strings on both guitars I was planning to play this weekend in Ligonier (more on that soon, by the way), old enough that new strings would make things sound better. So the plan was to get some glue into the cracked brace inside the 6-string, put new strings on the 12-string, play the 12-string at rehearsal tonight, and put new strings on the 6-string tomorrow after the glue has cured, which should give the strings a little more than 24 hours to "settle in" before way perform Friday night (and again Saturday (and again on Saturday night)).

It turns out the nut on my 12-string had cracked right under one of the strings, and the two pieces were being held in place only by the tension of the other strings. So now the plan is to epoxy that (because given how long it took to carve a new nut for the 6-string recently, a: I'm not looking forward to doing the same for the 12-string, and b: there's no way I'd have it done by Friday night, especially if I spend a big chunk of the middle of Friday driving).

Which means I have no playable guitar for rehearsal tonight. If I were home (I'm at anniemal's at the moment) I'd take my hollow-body archtop electric 12-string to rehearsal, or possibly string up the classical and make do strumming that for one evening. Instead I'm asking a bandmate to bring an extra guitar tonight, and feeling extra stressed about being ready for Friday.

Whee.

I'm heading back in the direction of Pennsic already, but not going quite as far this time: The Homespun Ceilidh Band is performing this weekend at the 48th Ligonier Highland Games, in Idlewild Park just outside of Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

We're performing at the Scottish Dinner on Friday night, 8 September at the Mountain View Inn, then at the games themselves at Idlewild Park during the day on Saturday, 9 September (gates open at 9:00, music runs 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM; I have no idea what time(s) during that span we'll be performing but if I find out before I hit the road on Friday, I'll post the information here), and finally at the ceilidh at the Mountain View Inn in Greensburg, PA, on Saturday night.

Admission to the Games is $15 (seniors $12, children age 5-12 $5). It's a major event, impressive and fun. And this year there's the bonus of suspense: come watch and see whether the repairs to my guitars hold up for the whole weekend!