Many years ago a friend turned me on to the Agathodaimon font, a dingbat typeface with each letter corresponding to a medieval alchemy symbol. I was drawn to the ancient symbols, especially the one corresponding to the letter S.
I liked it so much that not long after that I …
I’ve been a casual golfer for a long time. It started almost thirty years ago, though the exact date is hard to pin down. I remember buying a set of Ping knock-offs at the local Golf Discount and an Odyssey Rossie II putter that I still use. …
Task specific dystonia or focal dystonia is a condition so feared among performing artists that it is rarely spoken of. That is because it has been a career ender for many accomplished musicians. It is a neurological problem that is only dimly understood but is most commonly triggered …
It’s been over two years since I posted anything on these pages, but as we’re clawing our collective way out of a pandemic, it’s a good time dust off my blog. This entry is about reconnecting with an old friend who moved back home town to St. Louis after decades …
If you’ve read my 2013 post on this subject, Cold Sesame Noodles Revisited, or my even earlier post from 2009, you know that I’ve spent over 40 years trying to recreate the cold sesame noodles from Empire Szechuan Gourmet in New York. After reading my earlier posts, another passionate …
I recently bought two Steve Weiss triangle clips to replace the hardware store pony clips I’ve been using forever. The clip has both promise and problems. For one, as almost all of the reviews on the Weiss web site point out, the monfilament line that holds the triangle is too …
I’ve owned a pair of Ludwig Dresdens for many years and like them very much. They have some real advantages as gigging drums: suspended, copper kettles, robust bowls, a clutch pedal and a fine tuner, though it’s on the far side of the drum away from the player. Another nice …
I’ve released three tracks of my composition “Hart of the Wud” for four marimbas and percussion ensemble as a free EP on Bandcamp. I decided to up load a partial album since recording and mixing is a long, slow process. Eventually there will be six movements in total.
The …
My Ludwig Dresden timpani came without tuning gauges, but it hasn’t been a problem. I’ve been using string timpani gauges, or as I like to call them, GravityGauges®, for many years. These are simple tools that let you avoid expensive and often inaccurate mechanical gauges, drilling holes in your drums …
In the painting area of the basement lies my latest drum stick portrait. It’s called “?uestlove” because these are the Vic Firth ?uestlove sticks, as seen being used by their designer, ?uestlove with the Roots on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” They’re very paintegenic. Also, they’re nice sticks.…
The latest drum stick portrait depicts my beloved Pro-Mark Cool Rods. They’re like Hot Rods after a diet. I use them on my hybrid drum kit, often holding one in my left hand while playing cajon with my right. They have a lighter attack than a traditional stick which works …
After almost twenty years of golf hacking, I recently bought my first new set of irons. I have owned a couple of used sets, including some Ping ISI’s that I never really warmed up to. The lie angles were too upright and the shafts were too stiff; they just didn’t …
I’ve been a FreedomPop fan for a while. I have a wireless hotspot ($3.99 per month) an HTC EVO android phone ($85 for the phone and $0 monthly fees) and as of this week, the holy grail: I got my used iPhone 4s on their new BYOD plan ($20 activation …
After much procrastination I finally got around to installing a new vanity top in my 1953 bathroom. While pulling out the old top the worst happened: I broke a sea foam tile. I assumed I would be able to replace the tile fairly easily since seafoam was a common color …
I’ve been waiting several months for my Freedom Phone and after a lengthy period of back order limbo it finally arrived. It’s a reconditioned HTC Evo 4g Android phone that I bought for $84. “Hold on!” I hear you blurt, “I thought you said it was free.” True enough–the phone …
I have a couple of students who have played this famous cello piece and one of them asked if I had it in treble clef, as opposed to the original which is in bass clef. I thought it would be an easy thing to find but it turns out it …
Pei Mei Noodles
As I discussed at some length in my original post on the subject, I’ve been obsessed with cold sesame noodles for over thirty years since first encountering them at Empire Szechuan Gourmet in New York, circa 1979. I am always on the lookout for new recipes in …
Gon Bops, 2013, acrylic on paper
Here’s my impressionistical painting of a Gon Bops conga. I will lump it in with the Drumstick paintings, though there are, obviously, no sticks in sight.
I’ve been slowly rebuilding the Basement studio after tearing out walls in May. It takes a while when every skill has to be learned and then applied. The hardest part was attaching new furring strips to the walls. Compared to that, wrangling the wall board into place wasn’t too …
My newish band, the WirePilots, have been playing a lot of gigs around St. Louis. Click on over to their official site to read all about it. I play my Korg Wavedrum along with two cajons (one as a kick drum) a bunch of cymbals and a compact conga. …
