Wii Video Feature. Gameworld Network.

OK, if you're not excited about the Nintendo Wii, you need to get excited.If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should probably head over to Nintendo.com and do some research. You can also click on the link below to see a lot of video filmed at E3 that show both the games and how the controller works. Check out Metroid, Tennis and Mario, and don't forget to check out the music demos. The orchestra and drumming games don't look like a lot of fun over the long term, but they do demonstrate the sensitivity of the controller system.

Enjoy the videos and then get in line behind me for your very own Wii.

Wii Video Feature. Gameworld Network.

Net Neutrality

If you've seen those misleading commercials with the roadsigns on television, and you don't know why they are misleading, watch this ad. It's not as slick or dramatic, and the voice over isn't as frightening, but it does at least explain why "net neutrality" is important.

Extroverted like me. By Seth Stevenson

Slate.com has an interesting article on shyness/social anxiety and Paxil.

Extroverted like me. By Seth Stevenson

Bonnaroo (and Elvis Costello)

The Bonnaroo Music Festival is right next door in Tennessee, and here I sit in Arkansas. The good news is that you can see a lot of it online at bonnaroo.com. The quality of the stream is really quite good. I saw Ben Folds and Oysterhead (with Stewart Copeland) yesterday and I just finished watching Elvis Costello with Allen Toussaint. It was incredible. I really liked their version of "That's How You Got Killed Last Time".

There's still time to get in on the action. Go to the website and follow the links to the live broadcasts. Sadly, the performances by Radiohead and Sonic Youth will not be online. After it's over they will also have an archive of some of the performances.

By the way, mp3.com is currrently streaming the new Costello/Toussaint album. It's worth the time to check it out. If you miss the streams, just go pick it up.

Sorry to hear about your blindness

A drug company has the ability to keep people from going blind very inexpensively. To them, that's a problem.

Not my usual type of post, but it's good to be reminded that this sort of thing goes on all the time. That's the problem.


Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Drugs firm blocks cheap blindness cure:

"Prof Rosenfeld said the real issue was drug company profits. 'This truly is a wonder drug,' he said. 'This shows both how good they [the drug companies] are and on the flip side, how greedy they are.' He would like to see governments fund clinical trials of drugs such as Avastin in the public interest."



Drug companies. They say they are a business and they have to make a profit. Agreed. But, they are a different kind of business than most.

For example...

Let's change one letter and talk about a drum company.

When you buy a drumset, the difference between a mid-priced set and a high-end set can be thousands of dollars. It doesn't cost that much more to make the high priced set, and many of the parts are the same. Depending on the player, the lower priced set might even sound better. It is about "price point" and creating an image for the product. In the end, you are probably paying too much for that high-end set. That's fine if you want to do that. But, the drum company doesn't stop you from buying the cheap set, and if you can't afford the expensive set...you won't go blind!

Unethical conduct can't be excused because of a "need" for more profit.

Another record crash

A somewhat depressing piece of news. Thanks to more affordable recording equipment and software, as well as the internet, recording industry support isn't as necessary as it once was. Still, a little respect would be nice.
Another record crash

Gyorgy Ligeti, Central-European Composer of Bleakness and Humor, Dies at 83 - New York Times

Gyorgy Ligeti, Central-European Composer of Bleakness and Humor, Dies at 83 - New York Times: "Gyorgy Ligeti, the Central European composer whose music was among the most innovative of the last half of the 20th century — sometimes eerie, sometimes humorous usually fantastical and always polished — died yesterday in Vienna. He was 83.


His family confirmed his death but declined to divulge the cause, saying only that he had been ill for several years.

Mr. Ligeti produced much of his pioneering music against the backdrop of a Europe in turmoil. Born into a Hungarian-Jewish family, he survived the Holocaust but lost his father and brother in it. With the war's end he felt Soviet repression and fled when liberal revolution was smashed. "

Happy Birthday Shelly

Today is Shelly Manne's birthday. The link below takes you to DrummerWorld.com. Lots of pics. Scroll to the bottom and go to page 2 for a bio.

Drummerworld: Shelly Manne

Sting and his lute

I can't say I'm not worried about this, but it just might work. It seems that Sting has decided to release an album of songs by the English lutenist/composer John Dowland. I'm a big Sting fan, and while I'm not expecting any historically acccurate performance practice, it will certainly be worth a listen. We'll know for sure when it's released in October. Now all we need is Paul O'Dette Plays The Police.

Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts news | Gift of a lute makes Sting party like it's 1599

Mozart mp3s at theguardian.co.uk

Back up for air again. Still trying to buy a house, but the office is almost back up and running with a new paint job, furniture, and audio visual equipment.

Check out the link below. The Guardian is offering (probably for a limitied time) free downloads of some of Mozart's most popular works. Get them while you can.


Guardian Unlimited Arts | | Arts commercial mostly mozart barbican

Parksie's Wedding and Atlanta Visit

OK. We've been trying to buy a new house and do a total revamp in my office. Both tasks have almost been accomplished, but in order not to jinx them I'll wait to post photos after they have been completed.

Also, in the middle of all that, I'm on the road. Liana and I headed down to the Parksie wedding in Tallahassee. I got to see a lot of great friends there. John (of course) and also Andy Harnsberger, Payton MacDonald, Eric Hollenbeck and many others.

Here's a pic of me with John and Eva















Here's a pic of me and Liana at the reception


















Then we headed up to Atlanta to see the folks. Monday was taken up with a trip to the Ikea store here in the ATL and a visit to the grandparents house. the Ikea trip turned into a big family affair with me, Liana, my mom, Liana's mom and Liana's sister. In case you are wondering, we did indeed pick up some hip, affordable and easy to assemble furniture. Then Tuesday we headed out to see my dad. Yesterday and today has been spent at my friend Myron's house close to downtown. Here we are in his backyard.
















I also had to visit to the Apple Store at Lenox Square for some Powerbook tech support. Here's a pic of me with a real live Mac Genius.



















And...
here's me and Liana in the back yard.

















Tomorrrow..........X-MEN!!!!!

The Year in Review

It has been about a year since I started this blog...and it seems like it has been almost that long since my last post. Sorry about that, busy times! I think that tomorrow will bring an update that will explain the delay in updates here on the blog.

School is over for the semester. It was a great year at UCA. We had So Percussion in to perform Reich's Drumming with the percussion ensemble. John Beck, John Parks, Nathaniel Bartlett and Mark Ford also were on campus for concerts, clinics and masterclasses. I saw some great concerts this year at UCA, including James Brown. He was amazing and I'm so glad I had the chance to see him.

I had two grad students graduate this year. Both got excellent assistantships and will be part of two of the best percussion programs in the country. One is heading to the University of Oklahoma and the other is off to Florida State University. Two new grads and a lot of great transfer students and freshman will be coming in to UCA next fall. It's shaping up to be a great year.

Look for a big update soon (with pics).

Karel Husa at UCA

Last week the composer Karel Husa stopped by UCA for a three day residency. The percussion quartet played Three Dance Sketches on a chamber music concert. It is a powerful piece, and quite difficult. We were lucky enough to have a chance to rehearse the piece with Husa. He is an amazing man, and working with him really helped to bring the piece to life for all of us. Below are a few pics of the rehearsals.

Mark Ford at UCA

Last week we had Mark Ford in as a guest clinician at UCA. He worked with the percussion quartet and presented a clinic/performance for me and my students. He also performed his new piece (which I think is called Kingdom Lore Fanfare). He did a wonderful job coaching the quartet and my students got a lot out of his clinic. A few pics are below.

Idaho Day of Percussion

The weekend after the ECU Day of Percussion, I once again hit the road. This time it was the Idaho Day of Percussion. James Harrison, the president of Idaho PAS, did an incredible job of hosting the event. The attendance was just short of 200 people and the clinicians were all great. Special thanks to my friend Thom Hasenpflug who came in from Idaho State University to play Vertical River with me. Here's a pic of everyone. I may have more pics soon. Thanks to David Garibaldi for forwarding this one to me.



left to right: Blake Tyson - Marimba and Percussion, David Garibaldi - Drum Set, James Harrison - Host and Drum Set, Ben Pursley - Djembe, Michael Huestis - Marching percussion, Thom Hasenpflug - Special Guest Vibraphonist!

ECU Day of Percussion

The weekend after the UCA Percussion Festival, I headed out to Oklahoma for the East Central University Day of Percussion. A good time was had by all. I especially enjoyed Gregg Bissonette's Stewart Copeland Medley. There may be more pics of the events soon, but for now, here's a shot of the clinicians that day.



















left to right...the Bravura Percussion Trio, Gregg Bissonette, me, John Kizilarmut, and Ben Finley (the host).

UCA Percussion Festival - Day 4

After a long absence from post I am happy to present photos from Day 4 of the UCA Percussion Festival. It was all about John Parks and his incredible orchestral skills

First he talked about the tambourine



































Then he diagrammed the different sound possibilities of cymbal crashes















and crashed some cymbals















...and then showed us how to catch a fly ball to center field with a pair of Zildjian 18" Orchestral cymbals



More soon....

UCA Percussion Festival - Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of the UCA Percussion Festival. Here's a quick run down of the highlights. Click the photos to enlarge them.

First up was Nathaniel Bartlett with a clinic on the behind the scenes magic of marimba and computer generated sounds
















Then John Parks showed us who was boss when it comes to playing the snare drum
















After that, John Beck presented a great clinic covering timpani and cymbal playing

















Then we did some In the Pocket

















and a timpani concerto

















We also did Stained Glass, Rhythmitis, Vertical River, Bicksa and the Suite for Drumset and Percussion Ensemble by Dave Mancini. That last one featured Dr. John Parks on the drumset. Yes, it was amazing!


Then off to the lobby to sign some autographs
































After a nice dinner at the Oak Street Bistro, the clinicians headed back to my place to just hang out for a while.

















But that wasn't all. There was a top secret Day 4 of the festival for UCA students only. Newly declassified pictures coming soon...

UCA Percussion Festival - Day 2

After a late night on Thursday, we started day 2 of the festival with an early morning rehearsal of Bicksa by Thom Hasenpflug.
click pics to enlarge
Later, we rehearsed the Concerto for Timpani and Percussion Ensemble with John Beck, and then had a quick rehearsal of Rhythmitis (see below).


Nathaniel Bartlett arrived and began the long set up for that evening's recital. Then we headed upstairs or a historical presentation by JB.


Nate Bartlett put on an incredible concert that night. No photos of that. Don't worry, you'll see him in Saturday's pics.

Speaking of Saturday, here's a sneak peek. John, Nate, me and JB rehearsing In the Pocket on Saturday morning before the big event started up.

and...John and I were able to squeeze in a quick 10 minute rehearsal of Vertical River.


COMING SOON....pics from Saturday's Extravaganza!

Drumming at UCA

OK. A lot to cover since the last real post, and many pictues to share from the UCA Percussion Festival, the ECU Day of Percussion and the Idaho Day of Percussion. To avoid overload, I'll limit today's post to the first event of the UCA Percussion Festival....DRUMMING!
click on the pics to make them bigger

















The students at UCA spent 3 days rehearsing with So Percussion to prepare for the performance.


















So decided to open the concert with Music for Pieces of Wood. They asked John Beck, who was already in town for the festival, to be "the rock". This is a shot of the rehearsal.


















Here's a group shot of everyone that performed in Drumming (plus me and John Beck, but minus the vocalists, who mysteriously vanished before the photo was taken).


















I really like this picture I took at dinner after the performance. From left to right...Doug, unidentified order taker, Christy, Adam, Neal, Liana (and Jason's arm).