Reading: The New Yorker
Music: Velvet Crush
TV/Movie: Thank You For Smoking commentary track
Link o' the Day: Internet Review of Science Fiction

As an echo to yesterday's topic, commentaries...

If you have the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" on DVD, check out the commentary track on that and note the solid two minutes of silence as the director, producers, and voice actors all shut up and forget they're supposed to be talking because they are so wrapped up in what's happening on the screen. I don't know... I found it amusing.

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I dropped by the Tuesday night session, ready to play. It was a pretty good night. There were a lot of advanced players sitting in last night, trading tunes, so I didn't get to play quite as much as last week, but I got some time in. When a large number of advanced players sit in, the overall playing speed tends to increase. Last night there were some tunes that I know cold, but were being played at a blazing tempo--to the point where I simply couldn't keep up. I need to practice more. A lot more. I wound up concentrating on hitting the main melody notes, and skipped a lot of passing notes and flourishes, that way I could get through the sets without being four notes behind everyone else.

Four bodhran players sitting in, with my drum as the fifth. One nice thing about this session, tho, is that usually the bodhran players who show up don't fight over who gets to play. Everyone gets a turn. It may not matter much to those who don't appreciate the fine sound of the bodhran, but I like seeing a lot of players if for no other reason than I get to see other styles, and pick up some new techniques.

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Still working on some complicated color projects. It's a nice change, I guess, but it can get tedious at times. It does stretch my creative problem-solving muscles, though. I don't do enough high-end color work, so any practice is good practice. I need to work on some cover designs soon, so I figure this is a bit of prep.

Some writing projects need some attention, too. I wonder if I could start lobbying for a 36-hour day. Hmmm.

Okay, short entry today. Back to work.

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Today's link goes to the Internet Review of Science Fiction which came back a couple of months ago after a short hiatus. It's still a great site for thoughtful reading on all manners of topics pertaining to SF literature. Also a good site for reviews--particularly short fiction reviews.

Cheers!

--John