"Bloggers are not a homogenous group, but they are an educated and affluent one: three out of four U.S. bloggers are college graduates, and 42% have attended graduate school. They skew male, and more than half have a household income over $75,000." - State of the Blogosphere/2008

Would it surprise you that bloggers tend to be better educated and more articulate than your average Joe or Josephine? As my blog posse knows, I luv tables, charts, and data. And Technorati provides them in spades. As a fellow who owns more than one copy of the Statistical Abstract of the United States, I'm eatin' this stuff up.

There is a lot to look at here for those who are interested and I will highlight one more statistic in this post. Based on the growth of bloggers, and in this chart measuring links to a blog, you can afford to be very picky about who you add to your friend list.  ;o)

Enjoy.

During a discussion amongst friends recently where I said,

I am absolutely floored at the prices I’m hearing for these instruments in this thread. I can’t fathom spending upwards of $2K on anything but a pristine vintage instrument. I tend to quote average prices worldwide vice the best price that has been paid. I suspect that for every Conn Naked Lady sold for those high prices there are 20 or more that go for less than $500!

The stories I hear about buying Conn “Naked Ladies” all tend to quote *much* lower prices. Maybe these folks are exaggerating their finds or maybe the people selling the instruments are hyping them. Who knows. But many fine instruments go to dealers who tend to only buy at really low prices.

Tony, wasn’t your Conn NL in very nice condition? Does Annamarie’s compare based on the pics you have of her instrument? That said, I’d hold on to a fine playing Conn NL. It’s value will only continue to rise and playing it, if you’re into vintage instruments is where the real value is.

I came across this assessment on the value of vintage saxophones in 2008. I thought it was very close to being right on. (Tip of the hat to Tony.)

"I hear ya, this sounds like a topic for a blog. Of the 120 plus horns I have sold on Ebay the market really hasn’t moved much in this price range.  The two horns that’s have really taken off are the early engraved Mark VII’s (240XXX range) and the early Eastlake Super 20’s which are now approaching the $3K range. The others and I think Matt Stoecker would agree would fall into the following categories:

· Selmer Mark VII’s  - $2,000+

· Yamaha YAS 875 Customs - $1,900

· Buffet Super Dynactions - $1,600+

· Keilwerth Tone King etc - $1,600+

· Conn 6M’s $1,600+

· SML Standard and Gold Medal Horns - $1,500+

· B&S Guardala’s - $1,400+

· King Zephyr $1,400+

· Martin “The Martin Alto’s” $1,200+

· Conn “Chu Berry” $1,100

· B&S “Blue Label” - $900

As for the Conn, this one just listed for a Buy it Now of $4K now that’s a horn!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gold-Plated-Conn-Full-Naked-Lady-Transitional-Alto-Sax_W0QQitemZ330275268698QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330275268698&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Just a comment, a year from now all bets are off as to the value or your vintage sax then.

"An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own jokes." - Scott Fitzgerald

I thought I was the only one with bad comma karma. But Craig Wilson of USA Today writes in "The Final Word: Good punctuation brings periods of happiness", that he too has agonized about the placement of commas or the lack thereof. It's one of the thangs my dad says to me about my writing. But I notice he doesn't correct them or give me specific suggestions.

"E-mail has not helped any, mainly because it's often communication through sentence fragments. Dashes and ellipses galore. Maybe that's why I use lots of exclamation points in my e-mail. It's not that my sentence fragments are exciting. I'm just trying to make them so. Like this!"

Exclamation points are really funny in most cases. I must remember to use them less!  ;o)

At Church Again

Making science fascinating to an audience beyond the lab is not always easy.

But the winners of the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge pull it off in impressive style. Breathtaking photographs and graphics reveal intricate details of our world - from the 3D path made by a rapidly-spinning string, to the tiny, barbed suckers of a half-metre-long squid. The awards are sponsored jointly by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Visualizing the Bible, awarded an Honorable Mention in Illustration, depicts all 1189 chapters of the Bible as a bar graph with the length of each bar proportional to the number of verses in the chapter. Above this, arcs represent 63,779 cross references between chapters; different colours denote varying distances between connected chapters. Created by Chris Harrison of Carnegie Mellon University and Christoph Römhild of North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church.

I just couldn't resist.

From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/2899916712/

Can you find the picture I posted here? I luv this campaign.  :o)

Truer than life?

Or how I spent my weekend...

I waited a long time to get into a class of the Motorcycle Safety Course sponsored by the MSF. There were about 24 of us in the course the first day and I was surprised that about 3/4th of the class were new riders with about 50% of them waiting to purchase a bike until after they passed the motorcycle licensing test.

The first day was very rainy and I was glad I had my own helmet with a full-face shield. With a combination of that helmet, my motorcycle coat, and some waterproof pants, I didn't get wet or cold. The worst part of the whole experience was both the highways to the course and the classrooms sessions were closed to two lanes for repairs. That meant a 10 minute trip became and 45 minute trip.

The hardest event was doing a figure eight inside of a 20 X 40 foot square box painted on the asphalt. I got to try it a number of times but only successfully completed it during the actual test. Wahoo! I'd say a third of the class failed but have the opportunity to retake for free within the next 90 days. I'm not sure what they failed for, the written or the driver skills test.

So I am the proud graduate of the MSF motorcycle safety course and test and wear the MSF sticker with pride on my ride. I immediately called my grandson Nicky to let him know I passed. Then we talked about his new Jr. High Jazz Band.  :o)

See ya on the roads. 

could they get away with this ad.  :o)

A tip of the hat to Eolake (in England, I think).

Well, they strike a chord with me that is. Quirky, poignant, and fast, the new set of Microsoft ads make me happier to be a part of this company yet again. I thrive as we play with new and interesting technologies. But I live to hear the stories of how we help bring education and passion to third-world countries, computers to the blind, and participate in various other charitable activities.

It was painful to watch the Apple ads. Although very well done, the ads seem to characterize people who don't use Apple computers as stodgy, error prone, and problematic. In the eyes of those who created the ads, couldn't the world see how clunky, old-school, and unpopular the PCs are? Why did Apple feel it necessary to attack me, a PC user? I think Apple computers are cool too, I just happen to choose the best machine for the job that I do.

Oh by the way, it is important to me that PCs are much cheaper too. At one time in the recent past I could buy 2.2 computers for the price of one Apple computer. If I buy cheaper but affective computers,  I can buy more saxophones don't cha know.  ;o)

Have you seen the new "I'm a PC" videos?

"I'm a PC and I sell fish."  :o)

Or the lack of the need for special voicing work!

Steve Nelson just finished my Leblanc Paris BBb contrabass clarinet and I eagerly sped home in the JaAGmobile. I have a Walter Grabner hand-crafted CX-BBCN made from a Zinner blank. I'm also using a Legere 2.5 reed. I can play this instrument in the first sitting from a whisper quiet low Eb, to high notes that actually sound beautiful!

There is an evenness and security I never thought possible, with a rich mellow tone - even when "letting it rip" and rattling the walls. Articulation is also a breeze, crisp, clean and consistent. I can't wait to hear my friend Gerg play it; he's the real clarinet player.

How Steve was able to fix this instrument I'll never know. It came from a school and probably wasn't played very much. But there were pad problems, leaks, and bent key works galore. Now it is a joy to hold and play. Maybe we'll find a way to feature it in the Winterfest concert.

As I have said before, I can't imagine ever getting a lower clarinet, yes they exist or for that matter saxophone than the ones I have now. They are a royal pain to transport and take care of during a gig. No one realizes how fragile they are because their behemoth size belies the ease in which one can get out of sync or damaged. But I've said that before and have been wrong.  :o)

There are a number of video recordings on YouTube.com if you search using the string "contrabass clarinet".

Yes, that just us playing around the changes trying to find redemption...

Nice party Neil and Allie. You know some nice people.  :o)

Do these guys exist or survive very long?  ;o)

Turns out this cartoonist is a very interesting person too. "Lennie Peterson studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He graduated in 1979, toured playing and teaching music and returned to Boston in 1984 to become an assistant professor at Berklee College. Around this time he created the autobiographical comic 'The Big Picture'. In 1995 he took a leave of absence to devote himself to playing the trombone and self-syndicating his comic strip. In 1999 it was picked up by 75 national newspapers. Being autobiographical, the strip shows a lot of Lennie Peterson (whose appearance changes over the years) himself, and deals a lot with cats, girlfriends and comics in general."

A tip of the hat to David Valdez at the Casa Valdez Studio blog.

Flat out the best band I've ever played with.

This was a pickup band put together for a one week run. We were celebrating Microsoft's participation in the United Way of King County's Day of Caring. So here are excerpts from Mulligan and Zoot Sim's "The Red Door", "Makin' Whoopie (but we can't see the fabulous singer), Basie's "Hayburner", and Gershwin's "Summertime".

The band:

Vocalist: Sharon Adams

Sax 1 - Gordon Brown
Sax 2 - Scott Dart
Sax 3 - Suzy Glass
Sax 4 - Jim Glass
Sax 5 - Greg Cagle

Bone 1 - Jeremy Pritchett
Bone 2 - Andy Young
Bone 3 - Matt Stoecker
Bass Bone - Bryce Ferguson

Trumpet 1 - Gary Anderson
Trumpet 2 - Doug Hodges
Trumpet 3 - Jim Bradbury
Trumpet 4 - Thomas (TQ) Quinn

Piano - Frank Vanris
Bass - Brad Benefield
Drums - Tim Coffey

My only regret is that we have to wait another year to put this band back together.  :o)

Suzy and I were rather bored one night and took a look at HBO's "True Blood" which really didn't have that much appeal to us... we thought. Forbes take was interesting is here, HBO Craves True Blood.

But the suspense and masterful building of sexual tension that vampire stories always seem to include really made it a compelling albeit not too mentally demanding experience. And HBO has included two short accompanying shorts that talk about vampires in their origination and current pseudo vampire communities.

I was not able to suspend disbelief, but then I rarely find a movie or series that does that for me. (The Sixth Sense is an example of a movie that totally sucked, yes a pun, me in.) I did however enjoy the play between the soon to be, I expect beautiful victim and the main character who is way too handsome if you ask me.

Here's the full description of the show, "In the not-too-distant future, vampires have come out of the coffin. Thanks to the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood, vampires no longer need humans for their fix and can walk freely, if not yet comfortably, among their living counterparts – though they can still come out only at night.

Meanwhile, in the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps, Sookie Stackhouse works as a waitress at the down-home bar Merlotte’s. Though outwardly normal, she has unusual qualities of her own: Sookie can read minds, which complicates her world in endless ways. But Sookie’s life becomes a lot more interesting when Merlotte’s gets its first vampire patron – the 173-year-old Bill Compton – and the two outsiders are immediately drawn to each other.

Mixing romance, suspense, mystery and humor, the new HBO series TRUE BLOOD kicks off its 12-episode first season SUNDAY, SEPT. 7 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT). Starring Anna Paquin (the “X-Men” films; Academy Award®-winner for “The Piano”) as Sookie and Stephen Moyer (“The Starter Wife,” “88 Minutes”) as Bill, the series is created and executive produced by Alan Ball (creator of the Emmy®-winning HBO series “Six Feet Under”), who also wrote the first three episodes and directs two episodes of the show, which is based on the popular Sookie Stackhouse novels of Charlaine Harris."

Care to join me in the latest incarnation of "Dark Shadows"? It should probably be noted that there is graphical content in here certainly not suitable for children and maybe some adults.  :o)

A perfect storm of excuses.

First there was the concert band cancellation. It happens. But still there was big band practice. Then the sub drummer canceled at 4 PM when practice starts at 6:15 PM. So we were missing the pianist, drummer, lead alto sax, 2d tenor. I thought, no biggie. We'll get the director to work with the trumpet 'cuz they need *a Lot of help*. But I don't think his heart was in it.

We have the MJB gigs tomorrow and already two saxes have begged off which was kinda lame. So Suzy is stepping in to cover 2d alto sax. And the spontaneous jazz jam is pretty much being blown off by the rhythm section. Did I ever mention it is really hard to find musicians who would rather play than eat? So I was thinking about all the excuses that an event coordinator hears. Trust me, I hear a lot.

I have asked everyone to make sure they provide a sub if they can't make it. But 98% of the band members couldn't be bothered. The principal chair musicians do a decent job but even then not all of them. So I'm thinking (where's my crystal ball) that in the future when there are more good musicians than seats I'll consider passion for the band as a criteria. What good is a player if they blow off half the practices and many of the gigs.

One of the things I could do is close down the shakiest band and put the energy towards starting a sax quartet again. There are fewer people to deal with and coordination is easier. But I really pushed for this new band so I'll be damned if I don't give it a year to grow. But the musicians who majorly suck, don't work on their music, make the same mistakes over and over, and don't show up enough will have to go. Those people want to play but are not willing to invest the time and effort to improve. And listening to them play the hard parts over and over again because they didn't take the time earlier in the week... Well, that gets old. AND it chases away any really decent musician.

Building a band isn't easy. Getting subs for people over and over is not fun. Not being able to gig because a whole section sucks, that should be unacceptable. It will be interesting to see how this musical soap opera works out in "As the drum turns...".

Someone who owns *her* own alto clarinet.

The band director wants Suzy to play E-flat (aka Eb) alto clarinet for the Christmas concert. So we pulled it out and wow, it plays. It is a Leblanc Paris alto clarinet with a Walter Grabner mouthpiece. It even has a silver Vandoren one-screw lig, ain't we fancy now.

There are some voicing issues but with time Suzy should be the loudest alto clarinet the director has ever heard. Most band directors won't use alto clarinets unless there are two of them because they tend to be really soft voiced instruments. But they can add an interesting dynamic to the clarinet soli section and they are interesting to the uninitiated viewer.

What's an alto clarinet? Well, I'm glad you asked grasshopper. It is the voicing between the soprano and the bass clarinet. You will see them in some concert bands but for the most part they are played in clarinet choirs. They have even been used in some jazz music by jazz phenoms like Joe Lovino.

Here's your picture. It may be the only time you ever see this very rare of instruments that can be fun to play. For a sound track try the Dancing on Water CD.

Never lose sight of your good fortune.

give|time|money|hope