Update Update

[UDELBR]

I remember an old l.p. which included a tuba quartet arrangement of that signature Bird tune.

Yep; Tubby's Revenge, by the New York Tuba Quartet. Tony Price loaned me his arrangement, I wrote a bunch of extra choruses, and multitracked the new arrangement.

The performance on the l.p., though, wasn't nearly as clean as yours.

It's amazingly easy to be 'tight' when 'playing with yourself' (I know, I know...) . One tends to phrase exactly the same, without even trying. It's pretty gratifying.

[Tubajug]

Farewell, ice storm...

Is that your backyard bloke? Nice!

[bort]

I've heard that Joe buries his gold hoard on that island in the middle.

[bort]

Ah... so you hide the carbs on your island then?

Congrats Joe! Is it helping your tuba playing too?

[Chuck Jackson]

Hit 62 here today. About time. Watched a geyser in a front yard down the street as I was getting home today. Someone was testing their sprinkler system and it seems that one of his main valves cracked during the freeze. I have a stock of brass main valves as most of the ones sold around here are made of very heavy PVC. Just takes 5 nights in the 20's to see why sometimes it is better to spend more on metal than plastic. While it didn't rival the Bellagio Fountains,it was pretty impressive. No Handel was hurt during the show. That's about as useless an update as I can come up with.

Chuck"meh"Jackson

[Ken Herrick]

So, Chuck, are you still practicing Mahler 1 in all keys???
Never did hear how that went ten or so years ago.

[Dan Schultz]

With 'Windjammers' getting ready to play a concert of circus music at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota in about three hours. It's well above seventy degrees here. You HAVE been updated.

[scottw]

With 'Windjammers' getting ready to play a concert of circus music at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota in about three hours. It's well above seventy degrees here. You HAVE been updated.

Please do me a favor: Look for a bald-headed euphonium player named Bob and tell him Scott West said "Hi". That will really confuse him, that I have such a long reach! lol

[Chuck Jackson]

So, Chuck, are you still practicing Mahler 1 in all keys???
Never did hear how that went ten or so years ago.

Wow, a blast from the past. This was during a particularly bad run of my Focal Dystonia. I had never played the piece and crashed on it in a couple of rehearsals. I did, indeed, play it every key and range I could find. The solution for me was to play it up and octave 10 times in a row (on an F mind you). When I picked up the horn to play it on the dress rehearsal and final concert, I set that embouchure and did, what I thought, was a good job. Oddly enough when I was working at KCNV the Great John Clare programmed that recording on a Sunday morning as a sort of "hometown hero's" airing. I was nicely surprised at the result. Has it been played better, absolutely. It was a small victory for me. They mean more than the winning an epic battle it seems.

I have chronicled my descent into the hell of FD here a while back. Besides the physical realities of not being able to do with my body what my mind was singing, the psychological toll was far, FAR worse. It is a horrific experience when you pick up a horn that was NEVER a problem to play and not knowing if what was going to come out would be a sound or a disaster.

I can honestly say I was never the best tuba player on the planet, not even close, but I loved the instrument and did my best to make sure I respected all the music I was honored to be allowed to play. The tuba was my life, but FD brought this one salient thought into sharp focus: we are NOT what we do, we do because of who we are. Many years of reflection on that one thought have made me a better person, IMHO. I believe I have found my true calling in the education of young people. Whether it conducting a top notch Youth orchestra, setting up a beginning cello player, or fixing the embouchure of a freshman clarinet player, being able to pass along the passion and respect for music is a blessing I never saw coming. As music saved me when I was a teenager, I try to help students realize that it may save them from a life of mediocrity.

Sorry for the long post. I guess you have been updated. Thanks for memory jog Ken.

Chuck"blessed "Jackson

[Dan Schultz]

With 'Windjammers' getting ready to play a concert of circus music at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota in about three hours. It's well above seventy degrees here. You HAVE been updated.

Please do me a favor: Look for a bald-headed euphonium player named Bob and tell him Scott West said "Hi". That will really confuse him, that I have such a long reach! lol

There are about a dozen euphonium players who are bald! I'll check name tags for a 'Bob' at tomorrows concert. I see a Bob Tomasi from 'The Villages' is here.

[scottw]

With 'Windjammers' getting ready to play a concert of circus music at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota in about three hours. It's well above seventy degrees here. You HAVE been updated.

Please do me a favor: Look for a bald-headed euphonium player named Bob and tell him Scott West said "Hi". That will really confuse him, that I have such a long reach! lol

There are about a dozen euphonium players who are bald! I'll check name tags for a 'Bob' at tomorrows concert. I see a Bob Tomasi from 'The Villages' is here.[/q

Bob Hitman is his name and he is likely cracking bad jokes. This would pay him back if you can pull it off! Tell him I am checking up on him. Bob is the euph closest to the window, 3rd row.

[TubaRay]

Heard a supposed expert on the "News" this morning.

They used "ya know" dozens of times in the segment in which they were featured.

Like, I don't know, ya know, it just didn't, like, ya know, sound too, ya know, professional, ya know?

I've always wondered what I'm supposed to do if I DON'T know. Ya know?

[tbn.al]

Basement project update. The walls are up. New electric circuit added. Wallplug boxes installed and the wire is strung. Time to put up sheetrock. O joy!

[scottw]

Basement project update. The walls are up. New electric circuit added. Wallplug boxes installed and the wire is strung. Time to put up sheetrock. O joy!

Did you firestop? Very important and I am told insurance companies can use the lack to avoid paying fire insurance claim. I believe you are in that industry? If so, would you confirm this?

[tbn.al]

If construction is according to local building codes an insurance company cannot refuse a claim. Fire stops are not required in our residential code, according to a contractor friend, unless you are attemping to qualify the structure for fire resistive status.

[scottw]

If construction is according to local building codes an insurance company cannot refuse a claim. Fire stops are not required in our residential code, according to a contractor friend, unless you are attemping to qualify the structure for fire resistive status.

Wow! That is surprising. Very few areas have less than the national codes with regard to fire protection. But, if not required, it is always a good idea and cheap, too, at the framing stage--this is your home, after all.JMHO

[Dan Schultz]

If construction is according to local building codes an insurance company cannot refuse a claim. Fire stops are not required in our residential code.....

I had to Google 'fire stop'. This is an interesting topic. I've added on to this house three times since 1975 and have done extensive remodeling on the original structure. I've always used double top plates and what I call 'cripples' in the walls without even knowing those features are considered 'fire stops'. An 'old-timer' advised me to do this when I first bought the home but didn't explain why. I just assumed it was to make finishing of the ceiling/sidewall joint easier and to promote better stability in the sidewalls.

I thought a 'fire stop' was that ugly projection that extends above the roof on multiple-family structures.

[scottw]

If construction is according to local building codes an insurance company cannot refuse a claim. Fire stops are not required in our residential code.....

I had to Google 'fire stop'. This is an interesting topic. I've added on to this house three times since 1975 and have done extensive remodeling on the original structure. I've always used double top plates and what I call 'cripples' in the walls without even knowing those features are considered 'fire stops'. An 'old-timer' advised me to do this when I first bought the home but didn't explain why. I just assumed it was to make finishing of the ceiling/sidewall joint easier and to promote better stability in the sidewalls.


I thought a 'fire stop' was that ugly projection that extends above the roof on multiple-family structures.

That's one kind that is probably universally used--if your neighbor has a fire, all the others in the row will too. Of course, if the roof catches fire from flying ash---------!
Some of the old houses I usually work on had what was called "balloon framing", which was where the studs started on the foundation and continued --one piece--through the first floor, through the second floor and terminated at the attic floor. Most of the time these were completely uninterrupted by any blocking--can you say 75 chimneys for fire! That, not "dry wood", is why Victorian houses went up like matchwood whenever there was a fire. It gets in these stud bays and just chimneys up the whole structure.

[tbn.al]

I may have obliterated the obvious in my initial post. My outside walls have crips and fire resistant insulation. The inside walls are where it is not necessary according to our code. I am just putting up sheetrock, mostly inside walls, and finishing it. The basement was built according to 1996 code.

[scottw]

I may have obliterated the obvious in my initial post. My outside walls have crips and fire resistant insulation. The inside walls are where it is not necessary according to our code. I am just putting up sheetrock, mostly inside walls, and finishing it. The basement was built according to 1996 code.

The problem area is at the top of the new studwall. A fire that starts behind the new wall can travel unimpeded up the back of the studs and burn the floor above or get into the ceiling [especially with a suspended ceiling common in basements] and continue throughout the house. The top of the wall must be [again, under most codes] properly firestopped to prevent this occurring. This may be a layer of 5/8 fire-rated drywall or a batt of "rotten-cotton" fire-rated insulation, depending upon the direction of the joists above. And of course, every penetration must be sealed with a red fire-rated caulk or other such measure. No one said it would be easy! [In case you wonder, I used to be a basement specialist a few years ago, when people actually HAD money to improve their home.]