NEW YEAR'S AGAIN

So we bid fond farewell to 2001 - to the horrors of 9/11, to a marriage, to friends lost and found, hoping that the new year will bring peace and prosperity to all - or at least SOME of us!

After our Annual Sojourn to LaLaLand (Santa Babawawa), we return home safe and somewhat sane (?), with our new Cuillinnwagen, a spiffy Lincoln Green Honda Odyssey, shown below. Stopped off and saw Paul Dunn on the return trip, dropped off some Pirate patches and a banner for their band - hehehe. Looks like I might even sit in with them this spring - who knows?

Anyway, the new ride is amazing - see what happens when you don't buy a new car for twelve years - with all the bells and whistles, including satellite navigation. Now I CAN'T get lost....

You can see the colour difference in the mammoth ivory - the bottom mounts came from Alaska; the upper ones on the left came from Russia. The gold looks kinda spiffy, too....again, many thanks to Tim Balda of Ivoryworks and Drew and Stephen Sharp, who did the turning.

I'll be playing them at the Golden Bough concert for Burns Night at All Saints Episcopal Church in San Leandro on January 19th....

OK, so the Mystery Woman gets unmasked as Tracy Osbourn, a VERY lovely young lady now living in Nottingham, but originally from Dundee. We'll be seeing more of her in the near future, as she will be modelling our Naughty Tee Shirt collection. We also hope to get her across the pond very soon! You can see a LOT more of her at Miss Tracy Osbourn Scottish Model , including some rather patriotic shots.

And for more fun and games: just received the latest WUSPBA rag, in which are published the proposed amendments to the bylaws. Black Part has proposed 28 legitimate amendments to clarify confusing and ambiguous language in the originals. In response (or shall we say in retaliation) the Executive Committee has proposed an amendment requiring all future amendments to be first passed by the local Branch Executive Committee. This would a) effectively delay any amendment for a year, as branch AGMs take place AFTER the Sept. 1st cutoff date; and b) additionally restrict access to the membership of ANY proposed amendment. In effect, the Executive Committe is trying to alter the 'government' of WUSPBA from a 'federal' to a 'confederate' system, which, as we all should know, DOES NOT WORK!

ALSO, vote NO on Proposal 4, which would 'require' a minimum one hour tuning time for a band before its allotted start time. This would DELAY contests, as bands could say "...my drummer/piper/whatever is not here yet and we haven't had our hour of tuning...." A start time is a start time. This amendment has the potential to cause MORE confusion and disorder during band competitions. Won't this require additional stewards to babysit each band? What if a band tunes for only 59 minutes or less? What if they go OVER the allotted time? Would they be disqualified as well? Imagine this sort of rule applied in Glasgow, or Cowal, or any Canadian competition. Ridiculous. VOTE NO ON PROPOSAL 4!

Seems I am not the only one up to "Skullduggary"! Earlier this year I submitted 28 separate proposed changes to the WUSPBA bylaws and contest rules. this was done after the challenge was thrown at my feet literally to change the WUSPBA from within. That's what I, in all good faith did attempt to do by submitting the 28 changes. WUSPBA has NOT acted in good faith regarding these proposed changes. To make it easier to reject each, and all of them, they lumped the changes into two proposals. By doing so, only two discussions, and two votes may be held at the AGM on issues that are vital to each and every band member, solo member, and games sponsor member. Among the issues requiring discussion and acceptance are individual voting rights, and the elimination of bands having more than one vote, (bands these days are now incorporated which makes them SINGLE entities under the laws of the land). Therefore the one Man: One Vote rule of law contained within the US Constitiution and the Consitiution of the State of Nevada MUST be followed.

The unfortunate fact though is that the proposals will NOT be voted upon by a MAJORITY of the WUSPBA membership. In fact, less than 4 % of the solo members will be at the AGM, and less than 50 % of the member bands will be at the AGM. SO A MINORITY AGAIN WILL MAKE CRITICAL DECISIONS AS TO HOW THE LEADERSHIP OF THE WUSPBA CONTINUES TO MANIPULATE PIPING AND DRUMMING AND THE CONDUCT OF CONTESTS. Carefully read the 28 proposed changes I submitted . You will find that they are designed to put the "power" of the WUSPBA where it truly belongs: with the majority of the membership - and to make the leadership of the WUSPBA responsible to the membership, and not to themselves.

Some may disagree with my position, but think this over for a few moments: how many band, contest sponsors, and solo members attend the Branch meetings? When was the last time YOU received a notice of a Branch Meeting? I can tell you this: I have been in the Southern Branch now going on 6 years and I have NEVER EVER been sent a notice of a meeting of the Southern Branch.

If I had, I most certainly would have been at any such meetings, as, if you can't already tell, I am very passionate about stating my opinions about the current WUSPBA state of affairs. Yes, there is much Skullduggary afoot, but this time it is not BLACK PART that's to blame. The WUSPBA has far exceeded all of my exploits in its most recent actions.