A toy I just discovered make art out of the word clouds. In their words:

"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends."

Do you think these words that I use repeatedly offer a window to my soul? Well it is just a snapshot based on my last five entries to the blog. I pointed it at my blog URL and got this piece of art:

In case I don't see you before tonight, happy New Year to all my friends and readers. May the coming year be filled with the joy of discovery, the thrill of experimentation, and the comfort family and friends.

A friend of mine from back in the day has crafted this rather good "airing of grievances". Normally I don't read this stuff, but Josh has done such a good job that I am recommending it as a good read to my friends and family. Even though he includes my company on the list, I still want to share this.

Now if I could figure out how he got his twitter stream on his blog. Coolness.

Suzy and I have just returned from breakfast with the parental units. Mom and Dad were in good spirits as we exit the last 12 daze of being locked in our houses because of the historic snow and road closures. Our favorite waitresses were at the Village Square Cafe and we were for a long time one of two tables occupied so we got a lot of attention. My coffee cup was never empty.  :o)

When we got home I continued my administrations on a Rogue Mandolin that I bought myself for Christmas. The $49 mandolin got me thinking about the purchase and then I saw the Rogue online. As I have a Rogue bass guitar, I felt I knew the quality of the manufacturer and thus the instrument. I talked to my brother the Luther about tuning the instrument. The various web sites were not clear enough.

So he sent me a rather nice article about buying cheap mandolins and what to look for. I did all the tests and so far I have no uneven or loose fret wires, warped neckage, etc. This was as I expected with a Rogue instrument. I tuned it slowly over two days, but I'm thinking about replacing the strings with some better ones.

My favorite tuning site for any string instrument is GetTuned.com. One of the more common things for a rookie to do is to tune a stringed instrument too tightly thus almost ensuring damage to the neck if not by breaking strings. I started tuning to the piano and then decided I needed a little more of an idea where the range of the G-D-A-E was to be. I don't expect to progress too far with this instrument as I spend so much time with my woodwinds, but even then, it is a beautiful wall-mounted piece of art. And Suzy is making me a wall hanger so that I can display the instrument.

We are *supposed* to be putting the sound proofing in the music studio. We've four boxes of the stuff that we bought when music 123 cut the price in half in October. Surely we'll get around to it this weekend.  ;o)

Stardate -315987.72: (Yes Martha, there is a converter.) The Rogue electronics don't work. One of the knobs is funky and on three different Amp setups with three different cords nothing, nadda... I'm returning it and trading up to an Epiphone MM-30E acoustical/electrical mando. I've very disappointed and will have to wait up to two weeks for the replacement. But they have thrown in a shipping upgrade. Still... disappointing to say the least.

Read more at Salon...

I've been meaning to reply in kind to Lisa's recent post about her redone office. I've snapped some quick photos and will walk you around the space. This office and the master bedroom are two of the reasons we bought this house. Suzy has a craft space down the hall complete with two sewing machines, an embroider machine, a dedicated washer and dryer, two surgers and machines I don't even know about for all the sewing and crafting she does.

The first shot doesn't to the view justice. Through the window is what you call a territorial view with lots of trees but you can see Lake Sammamish when it's not snowing like it is today. Instead of two monitors, like I have at work, I have one wide screen that came with Suzy's new computer. It didn't fit in her roll-top desk so I inherited it much to my delight. The desk runs the length of the windows or about 12 feet long. The TV aka game video is to the left and the monitor is to the right of the main window. I don't want to impact upon that view. We paid enough for it and by golly I'm gonna enjoy it.

My music stands are to my right and there are over twelve instrument and two music stands for my practicing. As you turn right you see the bookcases and cabinets that Suzy made me. They go from the floor to the ceiling and many of the shelves have not been touched in years. Sigh, yes another project.

Okay continuing to the right there's the fireplace, more of Suzy's bookshelves and the French door exit to the hallway. Then there's the Thomas Catalina organ that is in mint condition. Mom and Dad bought for $15 from an estate sale. The bookshelves you see as you continue to turn to your right used to be in the living room of our old house in Kent. The two chairs have been reupholstered by Suzy and were donated by her parents. The white platform under one of the chairs is the Wii Fit unit. The chess set is often used by my grandson and I to play chess. The drumset is used with the Rockband 2 game on xBox and the printer is over a collection of CDs.

My dad had a library like this in the Presbyterian manse we used to live in. So I learned a lot from his space there and the many offices I've had since. The computer is in the desk and out of sight. The big printer is one of two that we used to copy music for the various bands we have. We keep the originals in the music room filing cabinets.

This is were I spend most of my time, in my office with the music going, cruising the Internet. Often times our kids or the grandkids are next to me playing a video game. And if I'm here too long one of the dawglies or my wife Suzy will come get me.

So my driveway is shoveled just in time for the next snowfall. Here are the pictures of the record accumulations:

We've not experienced this much snow here in Seattle in our 20+ years of living here. Coming from Minnesota, Suzy and I are used to this, but not in recent history. No one else here shovels their driveways. Indeed, by this Friday we expect the snow to be nothing but a memory.

My parents and daughter's families have been house bound. Suzy drives to work each night and we have gone out everyday except today for lunch. After I drove Suzy to work one night she decided that she was fine driving. She did not appreciate being stuck behind the snow plows going around 10 mph's all the way home this morning though.

We are told to expect snow again tomorrow night and the night after that. Then the rains are supposed to come and wash all the snow away. We'll see. But these snow are nothing compared to the snows we had in Minnesota growing up. I remember the time in the late 70's when a snow drift was higher than my two story house...

We have been enjoying, can I say that, enjoying more snow and ice this year than any prior year going back to 1990. If you didn't know it, Seattlites don't do snow. And so many of them try to, no matter how bad the weather is. Here is one of the more popular videos that demonstrates that very clearly.

We have been very careful to stay away from these situations in the two times we've gone out in three days. But the dawgs luv the snow and ice, asking repeatedly to go out and play. Remember these two dawgs are essentially indoor doglies who watch TV with us and sleep in our bedroom. So on one of the trips out I grabbed my camera to get some evidence, I mean pictures.

     ~our festive door~                                   ~the new milk box~                                    ~the commons~

   ~neighbors sledding~                                         ~trailer blocks street off~                          ~Suzy and Shelby look on~

I have the whole week off this coming week. Suzy and I are spending it trying to get some new music down for upcoming practices and lessons. Even if our lessons are canceled we're still having fun. Be well.

We woke up this morning to thunder snow. Lighting was flashing while the snow came down. We've three inches of the white stuff much to our puppy's delight. Here are some shots of the situation.

So there you have it, a very rare occurrence at our house, I am working from home. All my meetings were canceled. The news was so full of stories of people getting stuck, driving the wrong way on highways, and just stopping in the middle of the road that I finally turned it off. It is really a bad situation because most of these people rarely, if ever, drive in snow.

So I'm posting to the company blog, making my way through emails, and listening to Brad Benefield's Xmas 06 "Acoustical Christmas" CD. Tasty stuff. Amelia the puppy just wandered over and flopped on the floor next to my feet. She has been sneaking on the end of our bed every night. When we are awake we chase her away but when we are asleep she gets away with it.

My next blog will be about how I set up my office. Lisa moved her office from downstairs to the loft and it made a huge difference space and view wise. My IM is buzzing with coworker's pings. It's hard to concentrate with all the stuff going on.

Be well. Enjoy those friends and family. Tis the season and all.

I'm just luvin' this vid with the ultimate snow dawg. It just makes me laugh but no, I'm not anxious to get the snow in the northwest that they are predicting. So turn up your volume and click on the picture below for the whole experience. BTW, I luv the Harry Connick, Jr. music in the background. That guy sure has a great set of pipes.

Many of my coworkers have hunkered (is that a word?) down for the impending storm. Two inches of snow and cold weather really creates a traffic catastrophe around these parts.

Be well.

Comment by Doug Ramsey on Paul Desmond: "We were in an elevator in the Portland Hilton, waiting for the doors to close when the car jerked and dropped slightly, and a bell sounded. "What was that?" a startled woman asked. "E-flat," Paul Desmond and I said simultaneously."

I'm reading "Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond" by Doug Ramsey. I've been making my way through it for a year or so. There is so much to learn and the book is a good read with keepers in every chapter.

It's around 9:15 PM and Suzy is asleep already so I can't play my sax. Well I could, but I know it would wake her. The puppy is nosing around the bari sax again. Guess I should see why she's so interested in it.

I was walking down the hall at work today and I walked by a fellow. I realized that I didn't even note if I knew him because I was thinking about other stuff. Suzy would have checked a person even if she's deep in thought. Is it that way with all men? Are we so focused on what we are doing that we tend to miss a lot that's happening at the same time. What kind of person can track all that's happening like that? And is it a sign of high intelligence to be so aware of your surroundings?

Doug Ramsey wrote that Desmond on seeing Barbara Jones' oil painting of four cats stalking a mouse said, "Ah, the perfect album cover for when I record with the Modern Jazz Quartet." Ramsey pointed out that the mouse was mechanical and Desmond responded, "In that case, Cannonball will have to make the record."

So some of my blog posse were asking for holiday pictures, beyond the Christmas pigs pictures so I thought I'd include a festive picture of myself.

Yes, I really look like that; just ask anyone. The only hard part was finding a hat big enough to fit my head.  :o)

Oh! You meant of Christmas in the Northwest. How embarrassed am I. How does this one look I just took on the way home from filming mom's Christmas concert.

Suzy and I had our last concert last night at Crossroads Bellevue with the Pacific Cascade Big Band. I've been mixing and matching cuts from various videos (thanks Josie) and I think we have something usable.

This band was created in June of this year and there was some question as to whether we'd be good enough to play this our first gig ever. As a matter of fact, there was great concern. But we did it and with only members of the band, no ringers.

The audience was great too, cheering us on. They were a savvy group, clapping after solos and giving us such a good feeling of confidence.

The first video is of a song called Basie Straight Ahead arranged by Sammy Nestico. When we started practicing this one of the subs from a name big band on the Eastside suggested that this chart was a little too challenging for this band. Look how far we've come.

And here's a montage "Book This Band" video.  :o)

Not bad for a bunch o' rookies, eh? Way to go band geeks.

Guys, think you have the Holidays figured out? Watch and learn.

Think I'm kidding? Brought to you by J.C. Penney.

One of the channels I listen to is provided by a really nice bloke from England with the handle CrazyDaisyDo, aka Matthew Stone. In this video he plays with Brubeck and Desmond's "Take Five" but then has some really nice advice at the end.

Here he is again with the Tenor and Soprano sax that he's adding to his arsenal. Tasty stuff this "It could happen you" chart. Maybe I can get Gary to do it with me for the Dissonance?

I've a gig with the Pacific Cascade Big Band at 3 PM this afternoon. Will I see you there? Be well Peeps.

Jan Bultmann took some pictures of downtown Seattle last week and I'm just luvin' them. I thought I'd share my favs. First is the world famous Farmer's Market. The labyrinth that is associated with this venue is full of weird and interesting shops.

And of course the decorative pigs is not to be missed:

Maybe Suzy and I need to wander down to the Pike Street Market this weekend. Although they are predicting snow which in Seattle is catamount to a natural disaster! Be well.

Usually there is no chance to have a 'do over' either.

Moving on...

Suzy and I had a very exciting day yesterday first attending the Seattle Symphony Holiday Pops lead by Marvin Hamlisch and then moving briskly to the Woodinville Community Band holiday concert gig at the Seattle Center House.

Getting the near 100 pound bass sax (with case) and about 50 pounds of stands, music, gear, and instruments into the venue was not fun. The free parking pass put us six blocks away. So we figured we'd pony up for parking closer. When we got there the Good Fortune Gods smiled upon us when someone leaving gave us their all-day pass as they were leaving! That saved $15.

When we got to the building there was no handicap entrance without walking another two blocks so I started lifting the bass sax up about 20 stairs when some more bandies showed up and helped me. Ah, I was really feeling fortunate.

The band played to a packed venue. There wasn't a free seat anywhere and people were standing where they could find space. For highlights, we did the comedic thang:

And the crazy thang:

Note the bari sax man who refused to wear the clown nose. He now sports the moniker of section curmudgeon. :o)

The rest of the band recordings are at Gandalfe's Channel on YouTube. Enjoy.

Or how I blew the morning on my day off...

Suzy and I downed the PDF converter for Microsoft products. We send marked up copies of music all the time and so this was long overdue. Thanks Gary for this:

But there is a Microsoft add-in for Office 2007 which saves files to PDFs.  See http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F1FC413C-6D89-4F15-991B-63B07BA5F2E5&displaylang=en or http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4D951911-3E7E-4AE6-B059-A2E79ED87041&displaylang=en

I tweaked the set list for the Pacific Cascade Big Band's concert at Crossroads in Bellevue next Saturday. We've been tweaking it for weeks and this is our first concert since we created this band last June.

Set One

111 - Kansas City
X1 - Merry Little Christmas
29 - Moten Swing
160 - Bein' Green
38 - String of Pearls
233 - Nearness of You (vocal)
158 - 88 Basie Street
62 – Take Five
26 - Lady is a Tramp (vocal)
28 - Moonlight Serenade
61 – Summertime
13 - Fever (vocal)
X19 - Santa Baby (vocal)

Set Two

163 - Hayburner
105 - Groovin' Hard
178 - Corcovado
179 - Satin Doll
223 - Do Nothing (vocal)
124 - Little Brown Jug
X3 - Charlie Brown Christmas
203 - Fly me to the Moon (vocal)
153 - Pennsylvania 65000
222 - Makin' Whoopie
159 - Basie Straight Ahead
144 - Two o'clock Jump
X-18 - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (vocal)
144 - Two o'clock Jump

I set up my sister's Classbook.com site with pictures. She has been using the site for years without updating her profile. All the batteries are in the chargers for the WCB concert tomorrow. I've lessons with a new instructor, Jay Easton, this afternoon. And I haven't practices my solos for tomorrow's concert yet. Whew! I think I'll take Suzy out for lunch.

It's not as if I don't have enough instruments or would play this a lot...

I was on the Woodwind Forum and Pete, evil Pete I might add points to the most interesting offering on the Music-Oldtimer.com site. It's a silver Linton full-metal Contra Alto Clarinet from the 1980s. Here's the site description, "Contraalto Clarinet made by Linton Elkhart Ind. U.S.A., range to low Eb, full metal body, Saxophone Fingering, nice big fat sound, very good condition!"

OMG, saxophone fingering. Here I've been spending time on and off again to learn the insufferable clarinet fingerings and I could have gone this way? Now if I could find a soprano, alto, and bass clarinet with saxophone fingerings too.  ;o)

This site btw, is very well done, using the state of the art Web site presentation and tool set. That is until you get to the ordering form. What, no https facility for my information. No credit card or Paypal accepted.

And the conversion rate is not automatically updated so where they show a price of € 2.950 being $4,140 today, it is actually $3746.50 as the dollar has become more valuable due to recent ravages of economies overseas. Still all in all, this is a very nice site and one that us musicians afflicted with GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) can drool over for a long time.