Update: Eppelsheim custom Bass Sax to low A

Posted on November 11, 2007 by Gandalfe

BellEngrFront

Benedikt sends me regular updates about the sax and the custom work. This is the latest picture of the bell which is at least ten inches longer to accommodate the extra pad and key works and length required to create a low A. The engraving turned out rather nice and is of Venus. I have a friend, Vanessa, coming to audition for the Inspektor Gadget quartet. I’ve never heard her play before so Suzy and I will run her through some charts. Since her horn is a Mills Music in Redmond being tweaked by my favorite tech, Steve Nelson, Vanessa will have to borrow one of our saxes.

Posted in Saxophone | 3 Comments

The Ophicleide

Posted on November 9, 2007 by Gandalfe

There is a discussion going on the Sax on the Web forum about unique and rare instruments and the Ophicleide came up again. I have not checked this instrument out in the past but the Ophicleide.com does a very nice job of not only showing you pictures of the instrument but provides sound bites too.

ophicleide-CD-jacket-rear-800x735

Enjoy.

Posted in Music | 4 Comments

New cartoonist…

Posted on November 8, 2007 by Gandalfe

Lovin’ this new cartoonist from the blog Office Offline…

OfficeOfflineCartoon

Posted in Humor | 2 Comments

25 Tools for the Independent Musician

Posted on November 8, 2007 by Gandalfe

A friend forwarded this that I’ll have to take a look at this weekend. It looks promising. :o)

musicians

Think the music industry is dying, and that it’s time to go independent? Or have you always favored smaller, independent record companies over huge bureaucratic institutions? Don’t worry, even if you don’t have dozens of spin doctors working for you, you can still promote your indie band online. We’ve got 25+ tools to help you do just that.

Read more…

Posted in Music | 1 Comment

Zipskinny

Posted on November 7, 2007 by Gandalfe

My good friend Carole points to zipskinny.com. For a guy like me who luvs statistics and buys the Statistical Abstract of the United States every five years or so, it is so interesting. What’s your zip?

zipskinny

Posted in Technology | 5 Comments

The Strich Man – Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Posted on November 7, 2007 by Gandalfe
Posted in Jazz | Leave a comment

Gandalfe Plays with facebook

Posted on November 5, 2007 by Gandalfe

I’ve been playing with the social software known as facebook.com. And I’ve decided I have a lot of friends here in the Windows Live Spaces world that I wish were on facebook. I learn so much about my friends there, but a lot of my best friends aren’t here. BYW I felt the same way about MySpace.com.

facebook

There is at least one down side, that once people get to know you they might not want to be associated with you anymore. But that winnowing process could be helpful in the long run.  :o) 

Posted in Technology | 2 Comments

Bill Clinton comes for a visit.

Posted on November 3, 2007 by Gandalfe

Friday I got to listen to Bill Clinton talk about how charity has changed in world with the advent of Online giving and such programs as Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus’ micro-loan. Bill’s conversation with us was fascinating and very similar to talking to a history professor. There was standing room only and a number of overflow rooms and other online access venues were available. As I looked around the room I saw the great diversity based not only on race and culture, but also age and gender. As Bill did on the Daily Show last week, he mentioned his book Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World.

BillClintonFrom the AP News: "Former President Bill Clinton with Microsoft Corporation CEO Steve Ballmer, left, answers questions from the press after a Clinton speech to a thousand Microsoft employees at the company’s Conference Center in Redmond, Wash., on Friday November 2, 2007. Clinton and Ballmer announced that the Microsoft Giving campaign raised 72 million dollars for charity. (AP Photo/Marcus R. Donner)"

I hadn’t seen Steve Ballmer so close in a long time–since we played basketball on the same court. Steve has dropped some serious poundage and really looks healthy and well. Steve was justifiably proud that Microsoft employees broke the company record for the amount of money generated to over 25,000 charities during the Giving Campaign which ended last month.

Now here’s the Daily Show video for those of you who missed it.

Enjoy.

Posted in Politics | 4 Comments

We are smarter than me

Posted on November 1, 2007 by Gandalfe

WeAreSmartThanMe A friend of mine heard an interview about this organization http://www.wearesmarter.org/ on the radio this morning.

Link to interview http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15817758.

He sez, "One thing in particular that caught my attention:

They were working to have a community write a book. They said that they went through 5-6 different processes trying to control the style of writing. All of them failed.

The only way they were able to move forward was to give up trying to control things like style. They had to give up the thought that they owned the content (including the writing style) and accept that ownership of the content was transferred to the community."

I haven’t read their book yet – but this looks like an interesting read.

Posted in Books | 5 Comments

Tap, tap, tap…

Posted on October 31, 2007 by Gandalfe

fullmoon

Two men were walking home after a Halloween party and decided to take a shortcut through the cemetery just for laughs. Right in the middle of the cemetery, they were startled by a tap-tap-tapping noise coming from the misty shadows. Trembling with fear, they found an old man with a hammer and chisel, chipping away at one of the headstones.

‘Holy cow, Mister,’ one of them said, after catching his breath, ‘You scared us half to death! We thought you were a ghost! What are you doing working here so late at night?’

‘Those fools!’ the old man grumbled. ‘They misspelled my name!’

So what will you be wearing tonight; a scary or fun outfit?

                     Pumpkin header

Posted in Humor | 2 Comments