Boy, I’m getting behind in this whole Oregon chronicle, aren’t I? A quick qualifier for this review: when I opened the draft, lo and behold… no notes. I thought I’d written down notes for this review but there were none to be found. So, let’s see how my memory serves. If my memory can’t justify a criticism, I’ll be sure to leave it out. Mo’s is a pretty popular food attraction in Oregon. So popular, in … Read More
The wife and I decided to splurge for our wedding anniversary dinner. We wanted to dress up. We wanted a nice, elegant evening with great food. We went to Ella and got exactly what we wanted. First, the food. The FOOD. When I go to a restaurant, I want good food. Sure, I expect great service, but if the food is great, it just might overshadow poor service. I have said on numerous occasions to my … Read More
It was our wedding anniversary yesterday and the wife and I decided that Chicago Fire in Folsom, CA would be a great place to go. We ate there on our wedding night (after the wedding and reception, of course) and it’s close to the outlets where we’d be able to do some clothes shopping. Unfortunately, Chicago Fire was closed for lunch. We remembered an upstairs eatery along the same street and thought we’d check it out. … Read More
For those of you that frequent my web-bursts via this site or Twitter, you know that I postponed drawing full-sized pages of Payday in order to try doing thumbnail layouts. And you know that I have said on more than one occasion that I really, really, really didn’t like doing them. In case you haven’t heard that before, here it is: I hated doing thumbnail layouts. It’s not that they weren’t productive, overall. My last, full, … Read More
I’ve been teaching quite a few younger students lately. Anyone with experience teaching younger drum students has run into the problem of mashing the sticks into the pad or drum. It’s a natural problem for young students; it’s natural for someone to pick up drum sticks for the first time and then bang and mash the sticks into the surface because, for all they know, drumming is just about hitting stuff. Even older, more experienced drummers … Read More
Though very late, I’m continuing with my food reviews from our trip summer trip to Oregon. I feel it’s important that I do so, because our next food outing was Pietro’s Pizza. I first visited Pietro’s when my wife and I were in Salem, OR for my now brother-in-law’s wedding, about four years ago as of this writing. I had incredibly fond memories of this pizza: the chewy crust with the cornmeal on the bottom, the … Read More
So here I am, still freelancing for Demand Studios, except that lately, I’m finding less articles that I can research and write quickly to justify the pay per article. I generally try not to work more than three hours when writing two articles. At $15 per article, that works about to about $10 per hour, provided I actually work no more than three hours. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of stuff that prevents me from continually finding … Read More
I’m watching a rerun of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and All-American Rejects is the musical guest. After watching them for a bit, I have a short message for them: Dear All-American Rejects, Don’t look like this and play shitty, wimpy pop-rock “music”. Please stop. You’re terrible. Sincerely, Phillip
As Obi Wan Kenobi told Luke in Return of the Jedi, “You’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” An educated drummer will probably know what is meant when a drum teacher says, “Let the bounce do the work,” or, “Let the rebound do the work.” I know I do. However, as much as I hate to say “never”, I’m pretty sure that I … Read More
I’ve been away for a bit. I’m sorry. I hope that doesn’t mean you won’t do me a favor. Not a huge favor, just a small one, okay? Play four counts of 16th notes with an accent on each downbeat, starting on the right hand. Done? Cool. Now, play the exact same thing but use a paradiddle sticking. Start on the same hand. Finished? Thanks. I owe ya. Now answer this: did the two patterns feel … Read More
I haven’t posted anything new for a while, to this blog or to my drum blog. I’ve been a busy guy, not that that’s an excuse, but it is a reason. And, as I had forseen, I simply took on too many projects to be timely successful at any one of them. As of yesterday, I finished my first week as a freelance writer, approved to write for Demand Studios, a content provider for places like … Read More
Our second restaurant stop in Oregon was in Eugene. We stopped there to visit a friend that had just relocated. Out to lunch we went, heading past the University of Oregon to the 5th Street Market. Upstairs, there is a pleasant, roomy eating area, much like a ritzy food court, where several different eateries are located: Greek (Café Glendi), an Italian (Noli Italian Café), Middle-Eastern (Casablanca), and fish ‘n’ chips (Go Fish), There is also the … Read More
During the last week of July, my wife and I set out to Oregon with her sister and brother-in-law. The plan was to hit Ashland and stay in a motel, drive up to the Rogue Valley State Park to camp out, trek up to Eugene to visit a friend, make our way to Salem to visit my wife and sister-in-law’s brother, head out to the Beachside State Park to camp again, then drive on home. Whew. … Read More
I just downloaded the WordPress app for the iPhone. It’s a neat idea, if not a little ridiculous; does anyone really need to blog that often? I thought that’s what Twitter was for. Ah well. Setting up is easy. The one thing I don’t like, which goes for several apps (such as Twitterific for iPhone) is that it saves your password. Since the iPhone is pretty much a computer for our pocket, I’d much rather treat … Read More
Emphasis on “unscripted”. I just got finished pre-dialoguing (is that a real word?) the first 19 pages of Payday. I’m going to wait to ink everything until I’m finished with the book, because I know the way I’m drawing it is slowly evolving with each page. Therefore, by waiting to ink until the end, I should be able to give everything a unified look. One thing I’m finding is that doing an unscripted book, working from … Read More
Pencils for page 18: I like this page if for any other reason than the storytelling. I know there are no words written out yet (except in scribble), but the juxtaposition of the characters and the pedestrian traffic light makes for good implication in that particular scene, I think. One thing I re-realized while drawing today is that I need to re-adopt the practice of getting the pencils completed just enough to be inked. The pencils … Read More
It’s been a while. I’ve been meaning to post this page for about 2 weeks or so, now, and I forgot all about it. So here it is, page 15: I like it. In other news, I JUST finished page 17. How sad. It was an easy page to do but I got stuck on a panel, not knowing what to draw. It happens with an unscripted comic, I guess. I do prefer scripted, but I’m … Read More
I’ve tried writing something about this topic 4 or 5 times by now. It’s a tricky subject and one I think about a lot. After all, the goal is to pass on knowledge and wisdom to the students, right? As an added bonus, teaching helps one to understand and perform his or her craft better. I’m constantly analyzing my craft(s) and the ways I can convey concepts to my students. I want them to understand what … Read More
A little Op/Ed piece, since I just had a drum corps weekend and witnessed quite a few things, both good and bad. This particular piece of writing is going to touch on the rising trend of electronics in drum corps and, for that matter, indoor percussion ensembles. First, let me get this off my chest in an impolite manner: I hate electronic instruments in drum corps and indoor percussion. *ahem* Before anyone says that I’m just … Read More
I got out of the car about 7:30 last night and heard someone playing his drum set. Oh… we live in a condo, by the way. It didn’t bother my wife and me because we live on the other end of the building so we didn’t really hear it unless we were actually listening for it, but I do remember feeling very sorry and angry for their upstairs neighbor (so I guess it did bother me). … Read More
