Form is temporary...

So, here it is, the first cricket post on my blog.

Any Twitter followers of mine will have noticed that recently I tweeted regarding the press that England captain Alistair Cook was getting. I wrote that Cook was a class act and that, we as a nation, should be telling him how good he is (he is England's leading century maker of all time, after all), not shooting him down all the time. You don't score 25 hundreds and play in over 100 tests at the age of 29 if you're not a classy player.

After a well-publicised lean run, Cook scored 95 yesterday.

Then there is Ian Bell. There has long been a debate over Ian Bell's test credentials - he only scores easy runs, never scores 'tough' runs. People forget that he won the 2013 Ashes for England pretty much on his own last summer with three classy centuries. He was the only batter who stood up to be counted. But sadly there are many people with short memories, and this was long forgotten.

Today Bell - who when he is on top form, is the classiest stroke player in world cricket - stroked the most sublime 167 you could wish to see.

As they say, form is temporary, class - something both Bell and Cook have in abundance - is permanent.

Compostion Complete!

You'll recall one of my challenges this summer is to write a piece of music every week. The plan was that I would start that next week, however, whilst looking at the picture below, I started getting an idea.

 

 

The above picture was taken in Ibiza, by myself, back in 2011. That said, in three weeks time I shall be in Menorca with my other half. The idea of a piece revolving around a Menorcan Sunset started to take shape and before you know it, there is a piece written. It needs a few little details added here and there but, on the whole, it is done.

 

A Menorcan Sunset will be published by my own label, Chris Thompson Music, and is a cornet solo with beginner brass ensemble accompaniment.

 

I love it when I get on a role!



Summer Challenges

Today has seen the 'school's out' sign go up for me for the next five weeks or so. Therefore I've decided to set myself a few little challenges to keep me going and stop me 'wasting' my holidays. Progress will be reported on my blog as and when it happens (hopefully there will be frequent updates then!)

Challenge 1: Compose one new piece of music per week.
The best way to improve compositional skills are simply to keep writing. Therefore that's what I shall be doing. One beginner ensemble level of music per week, with the aim of them being performed by my band, as well as be put up for sale on my website (see more of this on challenge 2).

Challenge 2: Create a website to enable me to sell music.Using wix.com or similar, I will be creating a website for Chris Thompson Music, my own self-publishing company. I'll be looking into designing a simple logo as well. I've designed a few sites in my time, so using a template I'm sure this shouldn't take too long.

Challenge 3: Write a book.I have long wished to write a book. Therefore, I am challenging myself to do exactly that over the summer hols. As of yet, the only real idea I have is that it will be about cricket however, as to whether it will be a story book aimed at children, or a more itinerant look at the game for adults, I'm unsure. I'll spend the rest of this week planning a few ideas before trying to crack on with it in the near future.

And that's it!

Second Season Syndrome/The Difficult Second Album

So, I guess writing my own blog carries some implied conceit that my life is worth reading about. Whilst debating what to post, I decided to avoid the difficult second ‘album’ by giving you more of an idea of what makes me the person I am. So, in no particular order, here goes.

Let’s start with the basics. If you’ve not worked out my name yet then I’ll just give you a nudge in the direction of the blog title. I’m based in South Cheshire and have recently left my 20’s behind.

I currently have two jobs. I work at a primary school in Cheshire as a Teaching Assistant. I’m just approaching the end of my fifth year in my current school, a post I really enjoy. I also have a self-employed job, teaching brass instruments to children. I only teach a handful of pupils, but it’s more than enough and it’s nice to be able to pass on my own experience to players of the future.

Away from the professional side of me, I’ve got a range of hobbies really. I’m a season ticket holder at Crewe Alexandra (all condolences are very warmly received) whilst I also have a more than passing interest in the fortunes of Everton too. I’ve been following Crewe since 1991 (April Fool’s Day 1991, to be precise), which has been the most bountiful time in the club’s history really. Whilst at college and university I held a job at the club in the ticket office, a very enjoyable little student job that had several perks such as free season tickets and meeting players and the manager (then a rather reputable chap named Dario Gradi).

I’m a keen follower of cricket as well. My team is Derbyshire (again, I don’t half like to pick the winners!) and I always enjoy a trip to the 3aaa County Ground in sunny Derbardos whenever possible. Recently I became a member of the English Cricket Board Association of Cricket Officials (ECB ACO) and enrolled on the Level 1 scorers course, which I’m looking forward to completing over the coming months.

You can throw a bit more music into the mix, aside from the brass teaching, too. I’m a trombonist (currently enjoying early playing retirement) by trade, whilst the last ten years have seen me move into conducting. I have spent the last 9 years conducting the Lions Beginner Band, an extremely pleasurable and rewarding role. During this time I’ve also written plenty of music for the band, some of which I’ve had published by companies. Over the summer months I hope to be able to announce the launch of my own publishing name, enabling people to buy pieces for beginner groups.

In addition to writing music, I like to write. That’s the point of this blog. I want to write, write and write some more. I will be posting about a writing challenge that I intend to take up during the summer holidays – whether it is doable I don’t know, but we’ll see.

So, that’s me really. You’ll probably see a bit of all of the above over the course of my blogs. I hope you enjoy them.

What's in a blog?

Hi one and all, and welcome to this, my blog.

Some of you will be aware that I'm not exactly new to this blogging malarkey. I've tried and failed to keep a few differing blogs going over the past few years. They've been about a range of things, football, cricket and music to name just three. Perhaps that why they failed - I tried to be too niche and didn't embrace the diversity of things I like and enjoy.

So this blog will be different. I can't tell you exactly what I'm going to blog about because I don't rightly know. However, I'm sure there will be a bit of music. There will be a bit of football. A bit of Cricket. Maybe a bit about writing - this blog is a tool to aid my passion for writing, as one day I'd like to write a book (which you'll find out about in a later post). There might be some stuff about the day job (education) too... I just don't know.

Therefore, I advise you to strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. The most exciting part about it all is that I don't know where it will take any of us either!