Crisis? What Crisis?

Last Saturday (10/7/2009), at about 5pm, I realized that my boiler had stopped working and my heat and hot water were no longer functional. A timely October cold front swept in and forecasted temperatures were in the teens. After "remote diagnostics" (service tech on the phone with me on my hands and knees, neck deep inside a boiler) were complete, it was determined that the blower motor had seized.  Being Saturday evening, it was virtually impossible to get a replacement until Monday. Bummer.

So we got a couple space heaters and sweatshirts and hunkered down. We also went and hung out in the restaurant for awhile. The first night was the worst, but the absence of hot water the second night was really a bummer. No showers. No shave. One cold-water hair wash. I know there are many people in worse conditions but don't many of us take for granted that there will be heat at night and hot water in the morning? 

So Monday morning comes and I'm up at 7am calling for service. Apparently there were quite a few HVAC issues over the weekend, because every company I called was booked solid.

Fortunately Brad, the original service tech who helped me on the phone, shows up on Monday around noon, removes the motor and promises we'll have heat that evening. With that to go on, we waited until the afternoon sun dipped. He finally returned just before twilight, and true to his word, shortly after the boiler was kickin' steam and the faucets were burnin'. It's epic. High fives. Oh yeah... shower, sweet shower.

So what's the story? Here's what I uncovered...

I found that like most crappy things that happen to you, if you look hard enough you can find the silver linings. We were uncomfortable for a couple days, but it made me realize that the things we take for granted are the ones we miss the most.

I also got a crash-course in boilers. Cool pictures too. I still can't tell you how they work, but I'm not afraid of them anymore.

I made a great contact with a guy who seems to know a lot about a lot of things that I don't. Brad was really dedicated to getting it fixed for us and went out of his way to do so. Good people rule!

And I determined that radiant heaters don't work worth a shit in a really cold room. The kind with the fan kicking dry heat from two feet away are the best for that. Now you know.
Peace.

Are You a Doer or a Teacher?

There is a saying that "People who can't do, teach". Haha. Where in the world did that ever come from?

It is attributed to George Bernard Shaw in 1903, who wrote "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches" in the play Man and Superman. In context, it was a sarcastic remark about society from a fictional Jack Tanner, and not Shaw's personal belief (he was a teacher also.)

It turns out that the quote has been misinterpreted for decades and often used without context as a insult to teachers.  It implies that it's better to be doer, when in fact teaching requires an even deeper mastery than doing.

I would vote to restructure the quote to simply say "Some people can't teach!". I think anyone can "do" something and attain a certain level of expertise, but not everyone can "teach" someone else how to do it. This implies that doing and teaching are really just different skill sets. The doing skillset is wide and varied, but the core teaching skill set breaks down fairly simply to me.

Of course, the obvious requirements are:

• to be knowledgeable in the first place and
• have patience and be encouraging (which some of my teachers didn't necessarily have or do!).

But I think the core drivers of the best teachers are:

• the willingness to share something you have a passion for, and
• to enjoy watching that passion transfer into another human being.

If you have that trait, skill, mindset - whatever you want to call it - you will be called to be a teacher (and may very well also be great at it).

One of the coolest things about being a guitar teacher is that I can watch a person who came in holding the guitar upside-down and backwards turn into an amazing guitar player in a few years time. It doesn't matter the age, gender, race or upbringing. I've watched 12 year-olds end up amazing players by high school. Guys in their 30's and 40's who never got past the basics enlightened by the ease of learning the fretboard. Kids as young as 5 to 55, working through the physical mechanics required to play "Ode to Joy". They are all like a big vase of sunflower buds... all will flower in their own way, and some will just be magnificent.

Some might argue that teaching guitar is "vocational" and not strictly "educational" and I agree to a point, but who cares? There is something much larger that happens in an environment where information is being shared, processed, understood and built upon. Sometimes it's just fucking magical. The reward is the connection. The 10-4, good buddy. The "aha" moment. 

If you are one of those people who think you can't teach, take heart. It's not "God-given" or "God-taketh-away". You can develop a willingness to share your passion if you try. Once you experience the magic of watching it transfer into someone else, you'll be hooked. You likely will also find that you can't do it without patience and encouragement, so you'll work on those aspects too. Not all the buds will flower right away, but some will just blow you away.

Peace.

Live Looping!

So most musicians are familiar with, or at least have heard of "looping" - but it's a rarity when a casual listener understands the concept or has heard the term. I am an avid "live looper" and really enjoy demonstrating the technique to listeners, however sometimes I am accused of "playing along with tracks" or "using backing tracks". I just want to explain a little bit about "live looping" and debunk the myths that have surfaced.

"Live Looping" is the process of playing sections of music while simultaneously recording it and then having them repeat over and over (loop). It is then possible to play a second part along with the loop, that overlays on top of the first loop (known as "overdubbing"). Multiple tracks can be overdubbed to form a huge band sound from a single performer. It is possible to loop multiple instruments as well, such as rhythm guitar, bass, rhythms, lead guitar and vocals. There are numerous "looping pedals" available, however I use the BOSS RC-2 (with external footswitch).


Most, if not all, of the looping pedals allow the user to save the loops that are created. They can then be "recalled" at any given time and replayed. Some players save the loops and reuse them, or create loops of "full songs" with the intent of playing along with. THIS IS WHERE "LIVE" LOOPING STOPS!!! There is nothing "live" about recalling tracks previously recorded (even if the performer actually performed them) and playing and/or singing along with these tracks.

I enjoy creating ALL of my loops live, in the moment, and on the spot. There is a risk involved that something can go wrong at any time - and I've seen it - from loss of power (and loop) to broken buttons that wouldn't stop, accidentally hitting the stop (or start) button, or accidentally starting the loop from the previous song. But that's what's fun about it. Pre-recorded loops require you to play the song the same way every time. That's how it's recorded, so that's how it has to be played. True "live looping" doesn't have an arrangement. It's up to the performer to take it wherever they want. It's a little bit of life on the edge.

There are guys out there using pre-recorded tracks - and some of them are pretty good. They just aren't "live looping". In my eyes, that's the difference.

peace...

Oscar thoughts...

This little piece was inspired by an email from a friend who thought the Oscars were well done this year. Oddly enough, I actually watched them this year - something that hasn't happened in a number of years. I still have plenty of faith in the human race... but thankfully I don't look to celebrities to guide me. I was less impressed than my friend... how about you? Here are some of my random thoughts, the morning after...

• It was tremendously boring listening to sound, post-production and communication engineers bumble or race through thank yous (it should be implied that everyone thanks the fucking academy, their mums and dads, and godbuddahallahjesuscriminy).
  
  
• Or to see award-winning actors reading incantations (see definition #5 here) from a teleprompter to the nominees as if they were heart-felt and personal.
  
  
• To see marginal comedic actors (Jack Black, Jennifer Anniston) read bad jokes to each other.
  
  
• What was up with Sarah Jessica Parkers boob job?
  
  
• The usually beautiful Jessica Beil looked like she was wearing my moms living room curtains from 1974.
  
  
• The makeup artists obviously had a surplus of dark eye shadow. Everyone looked like a vampire.
  
  
• I didn't watch Beyonce, but was told that it wasn't all that "once in a lifetime" (in fact some think she was lip-syncing!).
  
  
• Kate Winslet's acceptance speech was about as interesting as listening to a 2nd grader babble about the Jonas Brothers.
  
  
• The Rudy Gulliano look-alike (Slumdog Millionairre director?) was overly animated and merited way more camera time than i cared to see... why couldn't they keep showing Sarah's boobs?? At least they were good for a laugh!
  
  
• Ben Stiller was funny if you knew what he was poking fun at (I didn't see the Joaquin Phoenix interview, so he just seemed weird to me).
  

The brightest moments were -

• Heath Ledgers dad... (his mom and sister should've just smiled)
  
  
• It was nice to see Jerry Lewis honored
  
  
• Steve Martin and Tina Fey were almost funny
  
  
• The industry's ethnic makeup is widening, showing that Indians, Asians and African-Americans are also capable of producing high-quality work.
  

I am amazed that there are so many good/ great actors and actresses out there that only the same 3 or 4 constantly get these awards. Are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie that great - or are they just eye-candy and attraction purveyors?  

Would anyone would watch if the same people on the covers of "Star" and "National Enquirer" weren't on the show? I just don't think I care about it anymore.