Session Drummer | Studio Drummer | Touring and Worship Drummer for Hire | Dale Baker | Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, NC

Collaboration not Competition

Beautiful piece by Margaret Wheatley over at Inward/Outward.  Excerpt:

"One of the biggest flaws in our approach to life is the belief that competition creates strong and healthy systems. Television screens are filled with images of animals locking horns in battle or ripping apart their prey. It is true that in any living system there are predators and prey, death and destruction. But competition among individuals and species is not the dominant way life works. It is always cooperation that increases over time in a living system. Life becomes stronger and more capable through systems of collaboration and partnering, not through competition."

She speaks to the condition and state that we as a world are finding ourselves in these days.  One of the students at the school I work at wrote this beautiful "story" and I had to photocopy it and save it for myself, because I think it rings so true (the student is age 5-6):

"How can the world be a better place then us."

Profound huh? 

More info about Margaret Wheatley and her books, lectures, podcasts and such can be found at Margaret Wheatley.com.

Best Arts: Elaine Stritch

My wife came across this You Tube page, with all of these great performances.  One of which was Elaine Stritch.  I'd never heard of her, but last Carole was watching a bunch of her videos and I joined in and was truly amazed and drawn in by the sheer artistry and beauty of someone at the height of their craft.

This is the video she had me watch:

And then we watched this tribute to Steven Sondheim:

I just love this song, and how true it seems...beautiful lyrics and great delivery.  The documentary above is fascinating to watch, not only for her performance but for the performance of the studio orchestra.  I've got to get a pair of those finger cymbals...they sound amazing.  Somewhere between a triangle and the larger Indian/Hindu/ Balinese Finger Cymbals I currently own.  Plus, the rhythm and rhyme of the lyrics and how they fit with the arrangement.  Pure brilliance!

Next up on our viewing list last night was this Emmy Acceptance speech, what a firecracker she is!  I love her!

Marathon: Pics from the big day!

I received a link from Doug Brumley with the pictures he took of me and my family in Nashville last weekend.  It's hard to believe that I ran 26.2 miles a week ago.  It's hard to believe that I ran 26 miles period.

Well, I downloaded Doug's pics so that I'd have a copy and then I found some other pics online that I downloaded and converted from TIFF to JPG, and though the quality isn't that great, it's good enough and way better than paying the crazy $80 or so I would have to get a CD of the same images.  Anyway, I think Doug's pics are way better than the ones I had to convert.

So here is the link to my Flickr Set.  Enjoy! (and not to worry...I'm not wearing any of that really short running apparel).

Tomorrow will be my first day back on the trail.  I've heard that it's painful.  Oh joy.  Next up:  Kansas City!

Good news for Songwriters!

Via Wired, I found out about a ruling that will allow ASCAP to collect royalties due to it's publishers (and therefore the songwriters covered under those publishing agreements) from a few of the big Internet companies.  And furthermore, ASCAP has set up a petition of sorts that they are referring to as "A Bill of Rights." 

Geesh.  I can't help but wish that all musicians had the same sort of protection and heft and vested interest to guarantee payment for their creative work. I'm glad that songwriters have a group of folks/lobbyists/lawmakers/etc to protect them so that they can continue doing what they do best.  I just wish that there was someone in my camp that was doing the same for me. 

In my idealistic world, I think it'd be wonderful if all musicians (not just songwriters) were guaranteed a copyright royalty (or something along those lines) for their performances.  You know, spread the love ($$$) around. For this to be done, the definition of authorship would probably have to be altered or changed, but to me the whole thing regarding music authorship (especially in a band setting) is a bit arbitrary and just seems a matter of semantics.  But then again, I might just be a bitter old musician, who should have smelled the coffee earlier and become a songwriter, or a good neighbor.  In spite of my self-deprecation though, I still would like to believe my view has merit.

"If you're a music fan, the worst thing in the world that could happen is if great songwriters stop writing music because they can't make a living," said David Israelite, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers' Association, which is pushing for a higher royalty rate.

Here's my thought:  if somehow the money that gets set aside to pay songwriters and publishers was also divided up to pay the musicians that perform those songs, songwriters and publishers may not get AS rich as they currently are able to, but that the larger music community would benefit by being able to support more truly great musicians.   

What if you wrote a great song, and no one was talented enough to perform it?  I wish that someone like David Israelite was passionate about the musicians (the guys and girls in the trenches) that perform, interpret and bring great songs to life.  I know that the Musicians Union (bonus points if you spot the typo - geesh - on their home page! Punctuation, people!) is supposed to be the organization that does this, but compared to the power of the copyright/ songwriters lobby, it seems they come up with a little less power when it's all said and done.  I think it's because as a songwriter, there are laws that protect you.  With a Union, it's ultimately the strength of the Union that is protecting you. 

And as I write these words, I think about all the other creative professionals involved in getting that great song documented, such as the engineers that don't seem to have as many people lobbying for them as the songwriters do.

I'll end on this quote from Don Henley (taken from this 7 year old article and though the article maybe a bit out of context, I think the quote still works):

"...adding that the United States is the only country "in the free world" that doesn't have performance rights in addition to publishing rights. "If you're just a singer and not a writer, you don't make anything when they play your song on the radio," he said, adding, "This is about economic justice across the board."

Note to all you songwriters out there:  you may want to audit your publisher to make sure you get your fair share of the multi-million dollar payout!

Full article at Wired

My site is Wonky

Yep, it's been this way since I left for Nashville last week.  Bummer I know.  All that really cool stuff, that you can't see right now.  But content is king, right?  So at least you have that, right?  Well, whatever the reason, my site is just not looking so hot right now.  I apologize to all 5 of you visiting my site.  I'm sure that at least one of you won't be returning as you click away from my site, muttering something to the effect of "damn amateur web designer!"

You know, all I did was put in a little ad from eBay in a discrete location, and change the size of my page layout, so that my sidebar could accommodate my FeedJit Widget.  Next thing I know...BAM! No CSS.  Urgg...Blurg...or whatever Tina Fey is saying these days.

Here's what TypePad told me, via their Support Team (which is excellent btw, seriously!).

   Thanks for checking that for us. It looks like there is a
   misconfiguration with your account. Our engineers are
   working to fix this as quickly as possible. We greatly
   appreciate your patience.

I figured that something was happening on their end...but I'm under an NDA so I can't talk about it right now.

Well, I'll see you soon I'm sure!  Keep an eye out for my CSS if you happen to see it...

I am a Marathon Runner.

I've joined the club.  Yesterday I finished my first marathon.  It was wonderful.  I can't remember the last time I felt that happy.  Well, actually my wedding day felt as wonderful.  And the birth of my kids was an awesome moment too.  It was pure joy running yesterday.  The weather was wonderful.  It was cool, with a slight breeze just when you needed one, the music on the course was awesome, the cheer squads were encouraging and the hills weren't as bad as the ones I had seen and imagined we'd be climbing. 

Highlights included a cheer squad of "ducklings" tucked away on the back side of the MetroCenter with signs that said, "Quack if you are having a good time."  Running alongside the river behind the MetroCenter was absolutely beautiful.  Visiting Starbucks at the top of the hill between mile 17 and 18 was a highlight for sure.  I bought an a Tall "Watered Down" Iced Coffee, that was half coffee and half water.  Washed my face and used the bathroom and then hopped back out onto the course to finish.

More highlights:

1. Slower pace (and not worrying about my time) = More fun
2. Cellphone support was crucial.  I carried a cellphone with me so that I could stay in touch with the folks I was going to see at the various mile markers.  Their support kept me going and distracted so that I could keep plugging away.
3. Listening to the bands and hearing the wonderful musicians.
4. All the volunteers and support people along the way.
5. I think I saw John Bingham ("The Penguin") a standing a few feet before the finish line...I wish I would've asked if that was him.  He's one of the reasons that I enjoy running as much as I do.  His book "The Courage to Start" was one that I read when I began running about 2 years ago.  It's a wonderful and encouraging book for anyone thinking about taking up running.

Here is what I ate and drank:

• One orange flavored gatorade at 5:30am
• 1 Espresso Love Gu @ 7:05am
• 1 Sport Bean Lemon-Lime flavor @ 7:20 right before I stepped over the start line.
• 5 additional Espresso Love GU's
• 3 additional lemon-lime Sport Beans
• 2 Power Gel Carbo Stuff Level 2 (not sure the official name) that was handed out on the course.
• 3 salt packets around mile 19
• Accelerade and Water @ the various water stations located on the course
• Recovery Drink (that I carried with me) that I drank immediately after crossing the finish line.
• Oh, and the small iced coffee that I drank between mile 17 and 18.  I think that may become a tradition for me.

People I talked with on the phone:

• Gary and Amy (left a message)
• Christa
• Toby
• Doug
• John and Heather
• Carole and my kids

People I saw along the course:

• Carole and my kids, at Tiffany's house (thanks Tiffany!) and then again, right before the finish.
• Tiffany
• Doug (once over near Leland street and again at the finish...he took some pics of me)
• John, Heather and Judy over by the First Nazerene Church (mile 20 support was essential!)
• Christa and her kids around mile 11
• Toby.  Toby was awesome because after running the half-marathon, he came back and met me at mile 22-23 and ran the rest of the race with me.  We had a good conversation and I was encouraged by him as we came the final miles together.

I had also asked a few friends to pray for me, or to keep me in their thoughts and I want to believe that their thoughts and prayers kept me going just as much as my family and friends on the course did.

Ultimately, my time was a lot slower than I imagined it was going to be, but I was able to finish strong, and I felt like I ran the second half of the race faster than I did the first half - which was a goal of mine.  I kept my heart rate where I wanted it to be (thanks to my Suunto Watch) and didn't get sick.  My body feels tired and a little sore/ tight, but I feel like my body worked like it was supposed to.  All in all, a great first marathon.   

So that's it, the end of my Marathon wrap up.  Next up, I hope to cross train in the next few weeks until I'm ready to attempt the KC marathon in the Fall.  I've heard the Red Guitar will be playing at that race, and it'd be fun to see them in person.  (plus, I'll get a chance to see my sister and a few other friends in KC as well...).

Today, we drive back to NC and dive back into work and LIFE tomorrow morning!

Marathon: Today is the day

It's 5:13am and I'm waiting for my brother in law to swing by to pick me up. It's raining.  Ugh.  Hopefully it will let up and not be so wet for the entire race.  We'll get to the race site at 5:30 or so, take the shuttle to the start line, grab some food (maybe) and a quick pre-race massage (maybe) at the race "village," and then go find our places in the starting corral. Though the race starts at 7:00, they release the corrals every 2-3 minutes, so I'll probably being stepping across the starting line at 7:30-ish.  And if the songs floating through my head right now are any indication, I'll probably be humming to "Beauty Will Save the World, by Red Guitar most of the morning...which is a wonderful song to run to.  (Lot's better than, say the theme to "Bob the Builder.")

Marathon Update: Yes, it's still 26.2 miles of running.

The family and I drove to Nashville late last night, arriving around 2:00 in the morning.  I unloaded the car and promptly unpacked all my running stuff (clothes, GU, Beans, Water Bottles) and set everything out so I'd be ready come Saturday morning.  I had bought a couple of gallons of spring water at the Bean Pot in Crossville and so filled up all my water bottles with that and put them in the fridge.  One less thing to think about today.

Next, I was all set to log on with my wonderful Mac Book only to find out that there is no no longer Wi-Fi where we are staying!  However, there is a PC, which is fairly clunky to use and a little slow, but at least I have something I can use!  And as I was checking my email last night, I noticed that somehow my site isn't rendering properly...it's just text for now...so I'm not sure if that's an IE bug or if when I was changing a small thing the other night on my site, I "broke" something, and now it's looking all wonky...However...it looked fine the other night after I had made my changes, but of course I was using FireFox, and not IE...so who knows.  When I get done here, I'll be filing a help ticket to get to the bottom of it...(update:  ope..no need...when I published this post, the site popped up immedietely...I think the problem lies in this computer...I think the security settings in IE are messing with things...) Update:  Nope it was a technical problem with the blog company.

Today we're off to the Running Expo to pickup our packet and browse all the cool things they have to look at.  I think the Expo is in the same convention center where they are holding GMA Week, so who knows, I may run into some old friends while I'm down there.  Next up, I need to load our cell phone up with all the phone numbers of the folks I hope to see while we are in town...some of whom I'll be looking for on the race course on Saturday.  I'm hoping we can eat lunch at Bread N' Company while we are in town, I think there is a location real close to the start line, so I may try to grab some of their Cinnamon Toast sticks while I'm waiting form my corral to move forward to the start line.

At some point we'll hit the grocery store to purchase stuff to pack a lunch for my family who will be trying to see me at various points along the race course.

We also have family to see and meet up with...so we'll be doing some of that today, and I hope we are able to also see our list of friends too...and on top of all this, I need to make sure I'm getting as much rest...so I may find that I'm trying to do too much...One more thing I hope to do is to grab some of the boxes I have stored here, which include old demos, videos of my Sixpence and pre-Sixpence years, and basically just fun old stuff that I hope to scan or encode and toss up onto my Flickr and You Tube sites.

I'm excited for this...it's going to be fun, and challenging and I'm sure it'll be real hard towards the end.  I'm looking forward to running with Toby, and starting with Chris and hopefully seeing my friends along the race course, and getting plenty of time to zone out and relax and enjoy the peacefulness that comes with running for longer than an hour.  Someone was telling me yesterday that they don't like running as an exercise option because it was so BORING...well that's precisely what I like about it...because somewhere after about an hour of running, it ceases to be a labor and begins to feel more like meditation and calm relaxation.  Hard to believe huh?  It's a very peaceful sport and non-competitive/ non-confrontational, which I've found to be perfect for me at this point in my life.

Brain Bran

The folks at Corbis have this thing you can subscribe to for free (via RSS) called Brain Bran.   

"Keep your creative mind healthy with the NEW AND IMPROVED BrainBran site by Corbis – a growing resource for creative strategies. Subscribe to the daily RSS feed of brainstorming techniques, create your own or register with Corbis for your free, limited edition deck of BrainBran cards!"

The cool thing is that if you sign up on their site, they will send you a limited edition of Brain Bran cards, which is probably the closest thing I'll get to getting one of those creative decks from Brian Eno.

But wait, that's not all at Corbis!  I just found these cool pinhole cameras! 

Man Room Must Have

The room I use for my studio (aka "The Dorm Room") used to be a full-fledged "man-room," prior to our buying the house.  In it's former life, this was the room in the house that had the giganto screened TV, and a Gun Locker, and even a few animals on the walls, thanks to the fine art of Taxidermy.

I'm not the kind of guy who would enjoy his own "Man-Room," though someday I hope I can fully outfit my studio with some killer gear, just not the kind that requires gun powder.  I love cardboard designs, and when I saw this being offered over at Veer, I immediately thought of my old cardboard lounging chair that I used to love (we had to get rid of it in one of our moves...how I miss that chair!).  And then I thought to look elsewhere on the net, and found this site.  Here the selection improves somewhat over what Veer has, and you can get a Rhino bust, or a Moose head, or even a larger version of the one they are selling at Veer. 

I'm still not sure how to design my studio, but since I've got a nice fireplace that is just begging for something to be hung on it, I may have to purchase a "Bucky" as an ode to my studio's former life.

Virtual Marathon

For all you arm chair runners out there, you can watch a video of the race I'll be running on Saturday.  Go here, and scroll down the page a bit (after the site loads), and you can see a Google Map fly over of the course.  Remember, drink plenty of fluids...

Oh, and who knows Ellen might have something on her show...a live feed possibly?  Don't count on it...

Amplified Cardboard Tube - David Cossin

My friend Rachel went to see a concert performance of the Bang on a Can All-Stars last week, and she sent me a link to their website, sorta.  Looking through the site, I decided to click on the link for David Cossin and through another couple of clicks, found that he is the guy I heard on NPR about a year or so ago.  He was fascinating to listen to on the radio...I think he was getting ready to do a performance with the Dallas Symphony and the NPR host recorded the sound check or something like that. 

Anyway, this A.C.T. sounds like it could be an Asian Flute, or something you'd hear in a Peter Gabriel recording, or maybe something at a Blue Man Group show.  I'm fascinated by the sounds he gets, and would love to make my own version of this thing.  Here is the description of the instrument on his website:

"A.C.T. Amplified Cardboard Tube- This recording of an improvisation was recorded at WNYC radio for John Schaefer’s New Sounds program on September 4th 2002. Through amplifying this found instrument using control feedback I can create a singing drum. I can accompany myself with a real time looping sampler (Echoplex) that records instantaneously what I play."

And then there is a link to the audio as well.  Fun stuff.

Pure Inspiration

I receive daily emails from inward/outward every day (except Sunday) and though I rarely read them when they arrive, I'm archiving them in my Gmail account so that when I need some inspiration or something to meditate on or just am looking for something to get my creative juices flowing, I can just pull up my archive of these emails.  From the website:

"inward/outward is an ongoing, online conversation sponsored by Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC."

I love the variety of quotes and sources they pull from.  For instance, there is this quote from Abraham Heschel that was up on their site recently:

"Creation, we are taught, is not an act that happened once upon a time, once and forever. The act of bringing the world into existence is a continuous process. God called the world into being, and that call goes on. There is this present moment because God is present. Every instant is an act of creation. A moment is not a terminal but a flash, a signal of Beginning."

Source: The Sabbath

Or this other one I thought was pretty cool, attributed to M. Basil Pennington:

"Unfortunately, in seeing ourselves as we truly are, not all that we see is beautiful and attractive. This is undoubtedly part of the reason we flee silence. We do not want to be confronted with our hypocrisy, our phoniness. We see how false and fragile is the false self we project. We have to go through this painful experience to come to our true self.

It is a harrowing journey, a death to self—the false self—and no one wants to die. But it is the only path to life, to freedom, to peace, to true love. And it begins with silence. We cannot give ourselves in love if we do not know and possess ourselves. This is the great value of silence. It is the pathway to all we truly want."

There is an About Page that gives you more information about inward/outward and the churches that are affiliated with their project.  I've found the emails encouraging and something to look forward to each day and when I get time, I like to start my day by reading their emails and collecting my thoughts.  You can sign up for their daily emails and this is what they have to say about that:

"Our Monday-Saturday email message service offers words of encouragement and challenge from a broad assortment of authors. It’s a collection of thoughts and ideas that speak in some way of living a more authentic and joyfully connected life rooted in the rhythms of the inward/outward journey.

The service is free, and you can cancel at any time."

 

Update on my run

Alright...I had my coke before the run, and I seemed to do okay. I might try it on race day. I'm concerned about getting enough calories on the race course, and front loading my run with 140 calories of sugar and caffeine might be the way to do it. Plus, those GU packets and Sport Beans get old fast and I'll be eating a bunch of that stuff in the 4 plus hours that it will take me to complete my race. However, Able, I might just drink a Guiness after my run. I'm looking forward to the post run burger and (beer?). I'm still nervous about the race though. Today during my run, my right hip was sort of acting up and my left knee was talking to me. But I've heard that this is just pre-race jitters. Phantom pains...we'll see what happens next weekend. With my new watch I can see my heart rate, but am not as aware of my time...so today's run was enjoyable for the fact that I just took it easy and kept my HR under 145 for the majority of it. My goal for the race next weekend is to split the race up into thirds, run 8 miles...walk and eat, maybe chat to some friends via cell phone...then run 8 more miles...walk and eat, maybe stretch and then slog it out for the last 8 -10 miles. I'm hoping that getting my nutrition right (i.e. lots of GU and Beans and Water) will get me through the race without feeling sick at the finish. Plus, I'll be carrying my recovery drink so I can slam it as soon as I cross the finish.

Well...it's off for another evening of carbo loading fun. I hope I can make it through this week without gaining as much as I did last year. (I think my total tally of pounds gained last year was 7).

One week to go:

Today is my last "long run" before next week's big race. I just mapped out an 8 mile route near my neighborhood. I'm avoiding Duke Forest because I'm paranoid of getting injured - twisting a foot, etc. I'm going to try a thing I heard about from my training emails I've been getting: drinking a coke before my run. The thought of a carbonated bevarage before running is too much for me, so I opened the bottle last night to create a "flat" coke. Hopefully it'll taste like syrupy goodness. We'll see how it goes. Drinking a coke before a run seems a little unconventional but if Hal Higdon says he does it (I think that is who is writing these email training tips), than it's good enough for me!

This week will be one of carbo-loading goodness, and hopefully I won't gain back too much of the weigh I've lost in the last 2-3 months. Now if I can keep from catching a cold again, I think I'll be in good shape for the race...