A drummer that doesn't over play

My brother e-mailed me this clip. I thought about doing this myself years ago when I drove a tractor in a filbert orchard. These guys did it better than I would. It is actually listenable.

As promised. . . I saw the Police!

I thought that ticket prices would be prohibitive but I bought a ticket of Craig's list for $30. Elvis Costello opened. It was a good time and I am glad that I got to go. Here is a cell phone video from the show. There is a little bit of the new percussion intro to "wrapped around my finger". It was pretty cool.

A blast from the past

I remember seeing this and thinking "this is all that is right with Rock and Roll." I felt like Conan at the end.

The Pre-War Marine Band

Some harmonica folks wanted to see the other side of this so I am posting it.

This is obsession

http://www.astromech.net/

The Star of the County Down

I really like this song. There is nothing special about this arrangement but I really like the singers voice. It is also a little bizarre that it is from Serbia.

MMMM. . .Bacon

http://www.baconsalt.com/
They seem to be serious folks.

Interesting

Pre-War Marine Band Harmonica

I have wanted Pre-War Marine Band for some time. I recently obtained one that is basically the same construction as the current model. It does have the back edges bent in and it sounds great. Thin I stumbled on this one on E-bay. It is from at least the 20's. Note the "mouse ears" where the nails are found. The harp is in pretty decent shape and is quite playable. It sounds really good. I don't know if it is the tuning, construction or just nostalgia but I like these much better than the current models.

I've never heard of this guy

They don't do it like they used to.

Great Site for Decent MP3s

I was poking about on the Gibson Guitar web site. I found this link.
There is quite a variety and they are free. The "Gibson Recomends" tab also has some reviews that have some good free MP3s as well. Wilco, Neko Case, Otis Taylor, Mavis Staples and some other cool folks.

My Vintage Harmonicas

Here is a old Hohner Old Standby that I recently purchased. I got a set of four in E, A, G, and D. They are all in relatively good shape. These sound wonderful. I was going to keep them as collectibles but they sound to good, so they may end up replacing some of my new harps. Click on the picture to see more pictures of these as well as my Hohner Up To Date and Magnus Plastic Diatonic.

Hazmat Modine

Muddy Water's Harmonica Player

Great Song

Usually these big super group things are a little flat but this is pretty cool. I actually heard this song last week in a Goodwill. I just remembered it. Here it is.

What do you want to read?

OK. After just publishing a post on a Sharpie pen, I have come to the realization that this blog is pretty shallow. Is there anything that you want my position on, or should I just go on talking about harmonicas show some more clips of Bulgarian Bagpipers?

Most Useful Computer Tool

After sorting through about 200 un-labeled CD-Rs, I have decided that everyone who owns a computer should have one of these. I don't know how many copies of SUSE Linux I had (none of them actually worked by the way). I am thinking about putting a pen holder on the side of my computer so I will never be without one. I hear they come in colors now.

Sgt. Peppers

Tomorrow Sgt. Peppers is 40 years old. I was listening to NPR talk about the album. They were discussing the mono mix being much superior to the stereo. I also read this in a guitar magazine. The magazine liked this because it was more guitar heavy. I went home and pulled out my vinyl copy that I bought for 99 cents at Goodwill. I noticed that the previous owner had written 1967 on the cover. Hmm. I did a Google on the the album number MAS 2653. Turns out I have the rare Mono version and the first American pressing. Mint condition that is a $300 record. My copy is not quite that good but it is still pretty cool to have such a rare record. The mix is different. Lovely Rita is quite a bit better. I need to listen to it more carefully to find all the differences. The funny thing is I bought the record for the cover art. I plan to clean up the record and burn it to disk. Very cool.

Fear vs. Trust in the Classroom

I have been reading this book called "Teaching With Your Hair on Fire". I have not got very far but the first chapter has been wonderful. The author insists that the majority of classrooms in the US are based on a system of fear. The child behaves and does assignments purely out of fear of punishment. The teacher is obeyed because they are feared. In fact, he says that teachers even think they are doing a good job when they are feared. They are often proud of the fear they strike into their students' hearts. The rub is that they really do have the child's best interest at heart. Teachers think that this is the way to reach children. This is partly the way I have thought students can be reached as well. I have been struggling in my student teaching with this issue. It was a breath of fresh air to see that this is not how a class should be run. That is good because I make a terrible tyrant. Instead, the class is built on trust. The teacher must earn trust by showing that they care. This is the part that I am not good at explaining. I think that if you want to know more you should look at this NPR link on the author.