DClog

Unreal Life

My life as a musician and a competitive cyclist seem to be completely opposite universes. A bike racing bud once told me I should get a real job so that I wouldn't have to work late nights and weekends. Recently a friend from the musician's universe asked, "How do you coach someone to ride a bike and is bike racing a real sport?"

If being a musician is not a real job and competitive cycling is not a real sport, then most of my life must be unreal.

Poplar

In full bloom.

Local Color

I spent the last three days and two nights in Macon Georgia, playing at the 79th FFA State convention with Mack. Boy, am I tired.

Big clock with bells every hour.

It was prom night in Macon

Trio In The Sky

The trio performed for a corporate reception at the top of the Atlanta Hilton, Nikolai's Roof in the Point of View Lounge.

Dan, Mack and Joe

Looking toward the North from the "Point of View".

Empty Nest

In just about two days the baby birds went from wobbly short flights around the backyard to soaring high in the trees and now the nest is mostly empty.

Rooftop Pavilion

Once again the duo performed for a corporate reception at the rooftop pavilion on top of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce building which features panoramic views of Centennial Olympic Park and the downtown Atlanta skyline.

The weather was perfect.

Backyard Baby Birds

A gutter under a section of awning get used for building a nest almost every year. I can see the nest from the living room window, it's less than ten inches from the window. Currently the nest is home to four baby birds.

About ten feet below the nest Django plays in the back yard.

Brief Results MTB Race @ Heritage

I arrived at the race feeling a little under the weather. Speaking of weather, it was WINDY, cold and wet. I started good and held the lead for two of the three laps, legs were OK and I mostly stayed within my handling skills comfort zone, but I had to ease off the gas on the last lap and finished in third place finish.

I finished without any bloodshed (I did witness a few mishaps), improved my handling skills and had some fun in the process. I'm OK with all that.

You can check out some photos of the event at www.mestaphotos.com.

www.mestaphotos.com

Chordal Lyricism and Synergy

It seems that guitarist in particular and some keyboardists too, play good solos and improvised lines but when it comes to playing accompaniment chords or being part of the rhythm section they look at that as a chore or just some boring task between solos. I'm not saying these musicians are lazy or self-centered, they probably have just not yet discovered the joy of chordal lyricism or dynamic rhythmic structure with respect to the soloist.

An uninspired approach to chords and accompaniment usually results in disconnected chordal voicing and unrelated rhythmic punctuations or worse yet, a steady stream of mindless rote fingerings, while possibly harmonically correct, are completely oblivious to the soloist expressions. The uninspired or disruptive accompanist can completely undermine a soloist's best efforts meanwhile the average listener assumes that the soloist is not all that good. In this case, no accompaniment is preferable.

Musicians who honestly enjoy the art of accompaniment know the rewards of being part of a great ensemble. A really good group has synergy: the interaction of two or more agents or forces [musicians] so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. Listen for it.

Racing Results

A good reason to race is because competitors can bring out the best in each other. Great competition produces great efforts and placings do not necessarily represent that because results do not tell the story. Good sportsmen respect one another and honor each other with their best efforts regardless of placings.

Sunday Saddle Time

Torn between racing the "Georgia Pavé" at Perry-Roubaix or practicing mountain bike skills at Oconee Heritage Park, I debated until the last second.

Either a two-hour drive to Perry GA and race a strong 35+ field without any teammates on a 75-mile road course which included two substantial climbs and several miles of torturous, to some, dirt roads each of the six laps. Sounds tempting... *or* a 50-minute drive to Farmington GA, about 15 miles south of Athens, to work on MTB skills.

Race or practice? Let's do a little math.

1. Perry-Roubaix race entry fees; $50 ($35+$15 transponder fee) plus $15 for gas. Awards only 3-deep with first place getting $55. Sorry, but the promoter is doing the sport a major disservice and seriously gouging the racers!

2. Mountain bike at Oconee Heritage Park; free, plus about $3 for gas.

Coincidentally, I met up with some of the Addictive Cycles MTB team at the trail head; Bill, Bobby, Willie, Rich and we did several laps regrouping every now and then. Bobby was feeling frisky and has some skills so I did my best to stay on his wheel and follow his lines. The result was I had to push to another level to stay with him on the descents and turns. Pedaling is not a problem for me but driving a mountain bike faster through the trees is a work in progress.