Boys vs. Girls May 28, 2006
Posted by Dale in Kids, Life.3 comments
Metaphorically speaking, I tried keeping my daughter out of pink clothes and my son out of blue. Yet there she sits in her fancy dress playing with her dolls, and there he goes driving his trucks across the floor, bike helmet attached permanently to his head. I used to think it was only social conditioning that caused boys and girls to have different interests, conditioning that takes root the minute they are wrapped in a pink or blue blanket after birth, and which is reinforced daily from that point on. Of course this is definitely a factor, but I am also starting to realize that boys and girls are just made differently. However, I can see that my attempts at an egalitarian approach to child rearing have produced results: My daughter loves to put on work gloves and help me outdoors, and my son is not adverse to wearing nail polish and playing with Barbies. While this perhaps demonstrates a reversal of roles, it is their approach to these activities that reveals their biological differences: She, while hauling brush, will flit about, singing of princesses and fairies, while he will use a Barbie to rescue his dinosaur who has fallen into a crater on the moon. Vive la Difference!
In Celebration of Friends May 21, 2006
Posted by Dale in Life.2 comments
I’ve been thinking a lot about friends the past few days, and about how much I appreciate them. And since we celebrated Mother’s Day so recently, I got to thinking that there should be a Friendship Day so we can all celebrate our friends. Guess what? There is: International Friendship Day, every year on the 1st Sunday in August. I never knew. So am I any more likely to send a card to my friends on August 6 this year, now that I know about this special date? Well, not likely – I probably wouldn’t even remember my own birthday, except my family won’t let me forget. But it’s good to know that Friendship Day does exist. And if you don’t mind, I think I’ll celebrate it today, just because I really feel like it.
I am no Xeno-phobe May 8, 2006
Posted by Dale in Trombone.5 comments
The Yamaha Xeno, that is. Today I went to Musicstop in Halifax to try out a couple of trombones that one of my students was interested in. They had a Xeno with a yellow brass bell, and a Bach 42GO (gold brass bell, open wrap). My brother-in-law Bob Nicholson, who plays 2nd trombone with Symphony Nova Scotia came too, and we compared those horns with our own (mine, a Shires; Bob's, an older Bach 42GO). All horns played great, with the new Bach 42GO being our least favourite. Here's what was interesting: Bob and I did a blind test, where we each played the 4 trombones in random order while the other listened (without looking). Afterwards, we tried to guess which horn was which. Both of us mistook Bob's Bach for the Yamaha. What is most interesting about this is that Yamaha trombones in general have not had a great reputation among orchestral players; there was always something about the sound that wasn't quite right, something really hard to describe, but distinctly "Yamaha". The fact that both of us mistook it for a Bach I think indicates that Yamaha has successfully achieved their goal of making an orchestral horn that competes with the best out there. It is an awesome instrument that has a consistent (and gorgeous) sound throughout all registers, plays soft beautifully and holds together well for loud playing. It is a very responsive horn, freeblowing, with easy articulations, great slide and a smooth, fast, open-sounding valve. We were very impressed. Both Bob and I had tried Alain Trudel's Xeno when he was here conducting SNS in January. It has the gold brass bell, and is an excellent instrument of course, but after today I have to say I prefer the yellow brass bell, if only because the high register seemed easier. In general, I am not a fan of yellow brass bells, preferring the richness of sound characteristic of gold brass, so it is with considerable surprise that I find myself REALLY liking this yellow Xeno. Yamaha, congratulations!
Welcome to my back door May 3, 2006
Posted by Dale in Life on PEI.2 comments
One of the things I love about living on PEI is the way people come to your back door if they drop by. Yesterday, we had the census person stop in, and of course she came to the back. It's just a little thing, but I think it says a lot about what life is like here. I would not be as happy living in a place where going into someone else's backyard would be considered trespassing.
It's always a special event for us to get anyone back here, as we live deep in the woods, almost a kilometre back from the road. The census woman had been tipped off by a neighbor that we existed; ordinarily they just follow the power lines, but since we are off-the-grid, she may never have found us on her own.
We have had a couple of exciting visits in the past. The Jehovah's Witnessess (on more than one occasion – now that's tenacity!), and believe it or not, a Maritime Electric guy trying to read our meter, and being incredibly perplexed about not being able to find one. He very kindly offered us that day's newspaper (which he probably hadn't even read yet), as he probably figured we might be curious about what is happening in the world! 
