Hubbub

In the early 80s I bought my first real bike, a Miyata 210. For its time, the 210 was considered a well built touring bike featuring a triple butted chrome-moly frame, 18 speeds, and down tube shifters. At 28 pounds stock plus additional mass from a heavy “U” lock and other accessories it was no lightweight.

Throughout my teens, I rode that Miyata all over town using it both for transportation and just something to do in nice weather. For my first couple years in college the bike was my only means of private transportation. Read the rest…

Computers, like all other electronic devices, have finite life spans. What begins as a powerful, bleeding edge, technological wonder eventually outlives its usefulness. In just a few years, new applications come along that require more memory, more storage, faster processors, better quality media cards…. The computer becomes antiquated.

But the machine still works and you just can’t bear to throw away something that works. Read the rest…

In the world of musical instruments and accessories, someone always is laying claim to a breakthrough that will revolutionize clarinet playing as we know it. Every aspect of the instrument is fair game: mouthpieces, ligatures, barrels, bells, thumbrests, key work, pads, reeds… The list is endless. Years ago as a serious music student, I experimented as time and budget allowed. Occasionally there were noticable benefits. But they usually came with a price and ultimately I decided my time was best spent practicing and playing rather than trying equipment.

Thus it was with a great deal of skepticism that I decided to try out the conspicuous brown bells that were popping up everywhere. A friend (and a fine clarinet player) had invited me to drive with him to Backun Musical Services in Vancouver, BC. Read the rest…