Last night I had a dream. I dreamed that there was a mouse in our house, and when I discovered it, in my dream, I caught it by the quickest, most resourceful method I could come up with in the spur of the moment – with my bare hand. It was a wiggly little thing, this mouse in my dream, but I managed to hang onto it without either of us getting hurt. Knowing that the mouse would need to be released a considerable distance from the house so it wouldn’t find its way back in, I proceeded to make my way into the woods, intending to go as far as I could, right to the very end of our property. The mouse in my dream was actually rather cute, and with every step I took through the woods, I found myself falling more and more in love with the little creature. It was, then, a tearful moment when I finally said goodbye to my new little friend as I sent it on its way.

The dream was not a surprise. You see, we’ve had an actual mouse in our house the last couple of days – maybe longer, but I just saw it for the first time a couple of days ago, a little brown streak out of the corner of my eye, disappearing under the couch, never to be seen again. I set a trap, a nice little humane trap designed to keep the mouse alive for release back into the wild.
Sure enough, when I awoke this morning the trap door was closed, so I prepared to live out my dream by taking the trap outside. But that’s where the similarities ended – my real mouse (probably a vole, actually) was dead; in fact, rigor mortis had already set in. Perhaps due to my dream (or the fact that I am such a softie), I realized that I was upset by the little creature’s demise. It really was a little cutie!

Today marks the first day of International Trombone Week 2009, and I intend to celebrate! I am going to attempt to write a post a day here on my blog, and I even have a performance planned with the UPEI Trombone Quartet.

It is fitting that I should be performing in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with the PEISO this afternoon. This particular work is generally regarded as the first Symphony (the genre, not the orchestra) to use trombones, albeit with one relatively obscure exception. After this, it would become common to have three trombones in the orchestra, and for this we are truly grateful to Beethoven for his influential and extraordinary vision. The score calls for alto, tenor and bass trombones – but not until the last movement. The first note for the alto trombone is a high C, and it is agonizing to sit quietly on stage for three movements waiting for your big moment – it would be really nice if the conductor would stop the piece for a few minutes to let you warm up for it! Later there is a high F (two if you take the repeat!), and a high E near the end. This is the only piece in all the standard orchestral repertoire that asks the first trombonist to play these notes. One might assume that there must have been an amazing trombonist at Beethoven’s disposal for him to have written these notes; on the other hand, maybe old Ludwig just had no idea what he was doing. By all accounts, the first performance of the work was an absolute disaster, although we don’t know how the trombonists may or may not have contributed to this. What is clear is that neither Beethoven nor anyone else would ever write such high notes for the trombone again, perhaps implying that a lesson had been learned!

I do enjoy playing the alto trombone, and look forward to this afternoon’s challenge. And I can’t think of a better way to kick off International Trombone Week!

Considering my recent obsession with dark chocolate and my fondness of peanut butter, it’s only natural that I should want to eat them together. With Reese’s as my model, I’ve been making my own chocolate peanut butter cups, and it goes like this:

Using a double boiler (to avoid scorching), melt some nice dark chocolate. Into a little candy cup, spoon just enough chocolate to cover the bottom of the cup. Let the chocolate cool down and solidify (faster if you put it in the fridge). While you are waiting, mix some peanut butter with a bit of honey. I use natural peanut butter (100% peanuts), and the honey helps stiffen it so it is easier to control when adding it to the cup. When the chocolate base has set, spoon in a small ball of the peanut butter mixture and press down to spread it into a disc shape, keeping it slightly away from the side of the cup. Then pour in some more melted chocolate so it surrounds and covers the peanut butter. Let cool. Presto, delicious peanut butter cups, guaranteed to please!

A word of caution: don’t be too disappointed if people refuse to believe that you made these all by yourself!

I was recently tagged here in the 7 Things thing, and coincidentally tagged by my wife on facebook with the 25 Things thing there. So here I am, killing two birds with one stone, and ending my blogging hiatus with my list of 25 things you don’t really need to know about me.

1. My middle name is Burpee. That’s right, Burpee. Sad but true. What were my parents thinking?! Actually, I like it. It’s distinctive. Some of my best friends call me Burpee. Without laughing, even. (Burpee was also my maternal grandfather’s middle name, and that’s what everyone called him – except for my grandmother; she couldn’t stand it).

2. I love the trombone. I could listen to trombone music all day, every day. And I love performing. I wish I had more time to practice, though.

3. I love my family more than anything (even the trombone!). They bring out the best and the worst in me, and that can only be caused by people for whom I am truly passionate. When Sandy and I met it was love at first sight, but it would be another year before we finally started dating. That was in 1987 – we’ve been together for over half of our lives!

4. Being a dad is the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but you know what? I think I might actually be good at it! I just wish I didn’t have to work – it bugs me when I miss out on happenings at home.

5. I am fiercely loyal. I still can’t bring myself to get rid of my ‘92 Dodge Colt, even though absolutely nothing on it works anymore. Man, what a great car that was! OK, let’s add “sentimental” to the list, too. Dare I mention that high school graduation T-shirt from 1986?

6. I am a night owl. My best work (including this list, lol) is done after everyone has gone to bed. It’s inertia, really. Awake – just want to stay up. In bed – Zzzzzz.

7. I can fix anything. I’m not afraid to take anything apart, and when I put it back together I feel confident that the leftover parts must not have been all that important anyway. I will likely be a handyman when I grow up.

8. I have two university degrees: a Bachelor of Music degree from UPEI (1991) and a Master of Music in trombone performance from Northwestern University in Chicago (1992). Believe it or not, they’ve actually come in handy a couple of times.

9. I have been nearly vegan for 17 years. I say “nearly” because I have been eating a few eggs in the last couple of years. I don’t really know why either – they’re disgusting.

10. I have a high metabolism and can eat and eat and eat. I have put a few all-you-can-eat restaurants out of business over the years. A long time ago I lost a bunch of weight and ended up really skinny. Some people assume that I lost the weight because I became vegetarian, but it actually happened before that, due to “Starving Student Syndrome” that year in Chicago. I have been gradually able to put the weight back on after some sporadic periods of lifting weights, and am finally back to my teenage high of 165 lbs. I am kind of sensitive about people calling me skinny. I think a double standard exists whereby people seem to think it’s OK to tease people about being skinny when they wouldn’t tease somebody about being fat.

11. I have recently come to the inevitable conclusion that I have celiac disease. If you’re wondering how I could possibly survive as a nearly-vegan who can’t eat wheat, let me say that for every food I’ve given up I’ve found lots more to replace it. The result is that my diet includes a much wider variety of foods than it ever would have if I was still a meat-and-potatoes man.

12. My first big job was playing in the Band of the Ceremonial Guard on Parliament Hill in the summer of 1988. Marching on the Hill in 30 degree heat, wearing a wool tunic and a bearskin hat – we earned our money. We also had to undergo basic military training – I threw a real live hand grenade and learned how to operate a rifle and a submachine gun. These skills have come in very handy in my career as a trombonist.

13. Farthest I’ve travelled: Japan, 2000 – a three-week tour playing in the orchestra for Opera Atelier’s production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”. What an amazing experience that was.

14. I am a patient man, but two things drive me crazy: slow drivers, and Windows computers.

15. I love building things out of Lego and K’nex. Bailey and I will play with that stuff together for hours. Hey Bailey – Bailey? Where’d you go?

16. I am such a perfectionist, I can’t even send an email to myself without proofreading and correcting spelling mistakes, grammar and punctuation. Like, chill out, man.

17. I am really quite boring. I can’t believe you’re still reading this.

18. I love a good action flick. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be that good. I’ll watch anything. Except Keanu – that guy makes me sick.

19. When I am older, I want to play the role of Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables, The Musical. I already know all the lines!

20. My favourite smell in the whole wide world is almond extract. Time stands still when I get a whiff of that stuff.

21. When I think about winning the lottery, my first thought is about how many composers I would commission to write trombone pieces. Oh man, I can’t wait to play all those new works. What? You have to buy a ticket?!

22. I am an earth muffin. We live off-the-grid in the middle of the woods, buy local as much as possible, shop second-hand and generally try really hard to be green. There is lots more I could do to be greener – every day I try a little bit harder. Someday I hope to be able to look my grandkids in the eye and honestly say I did my best to keep this planet liveable for them.

23. One of my biggest regrets is quitting piano. As a kid, I would start lessons every fall and then quit after a few weeks. Perhaps if I had been taking lessons from someone other than my mother I might have stuck with it; who knows? I know it’s never too late, but I don’t even have the time now for everything I’m already doing. A retirement project, perhaps…

24. I value my friends highly. If you’ve read this far, you must be a good one. Thanks! By the way, if you haven’t heard from me in a couple of years, it’s not that I don’t love you; I think about you all the time. It’s just that:

25. I am a procrastinator. How did I ever get around to finishing this list?

When we built our off-the-grid house in 2000, our power system consisted primarily of 8 photovoltaic solar panels. Since then, we have been keen on adding a wind turbine to complement the solar, but just haven’t made that step yet. My father-in-law recently pointed out a small ad in the newspaper about a new Canadian-made wind turbine, so I checked out their website and was very excited by what I saw.

The Windterra ECO1200 is a 1000-watt wind turbine which, as you can see in the photo below, spins on a vertical axis rather than the traditional horizontal axis which you would be used to seeing. The advantage of the vertical axis system is that the turbine is omni-directional, meaning it will work no matter what direction the wind is coming from. The traditional wind turbines need to face into the wind in order to work. Other advantages of the Windterra turbine include: 1) it works better in turbulent air, 2) it is more effective at lower wind speeds (operates as low as 11 km/h), increasing its efficiency and output, 3) it can be mounted on the roof, eliminating the need for a costly tower, and making it easier to install and service.

Windterra’s online price of $6050.00 includes includes the turbine, controller/inverter, and mounting system – pretty well everything you need to get started.

Unfortunately for us, the Windterra ECO1200 is designed for grid-tied systems, and will not work with our inverter. I am truly disappointed about this, because it seems like such a great product. However, for those of you who are on the utility grid and have been considering the possibility of making some of your own power, this product may be your answer. Meanwhile, I’ll keep looking for the right turbine for us.

Dear Tailgater:

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed me here on the road right in front of you. I know I’m driving a car much smaller than yours, but I do have my lights on, so surely you see me? Speaking of lights, do you have your hi-beams on, or is it just that you’re so @*&#ing close?! Oh sorry, am I holding you up? I guess I’m only doing the speed limit; that must really suck for you. What the…?! Oh man, I wouldn’t do that if I were you! Passing on a double solid line on this stretch of road? Don’t you know the cops are always sitting at the bottom of this hill? Geez, you must be doing 120! Oh, I see, you’re from Ontario… Listen man, you should trust the native drivers – we actually know what we’re d… Oh shit, see those flashing lights? Yeah, that’s a cop car – we’ve got those here too – uh, I think it’s a little too late to slam on your brakes. Yep, you’re busted. Bummer. Then again, with an SUV that size, you’re probably not too worried about a li’l ol’ ticket – a drop in the bucket compared to how much it must cost you to run that thing, eh? Hopefully they won’t take off too many points though. Hey, my turn to pass you! See you later! Maybe you’ll catch up again a little further down the road – then again, I might be home by the time you’re done here. Say Hi to Officer Bob for me!

Sincerely,
Damn Island Driver

When the Royal Tandoor opened in Charlottetown last summer I was VERY excited. Finally, an Indian buffet in PEI. I went twice a week, between Anne shows on double days. Over the winter I only ended up going a few times, and the last few were rather disappointing. Reasons included:
1) food not heated up enough – I don’t know whether it had just come out of the fridge, or whether the food warmers just weren’t turned up high enough.
2) food sometimes dried out – hard crunchy rice, and food with a dried out layer on top – not very appetizing.
3) food not up to its former quality – flavours were off somehow – I occasionally didn’t go back for seconds – that says a lot!
4) fewer vegan options – sometimes I would only be able to have one of the vegetarian dishes because most of them were cream based or contained cheese.

So, after avoiding the place for a while, I finally gave it another chance today, and I am happy to report that things seem to be back to normal. They have a new chef, and the food was fresh, very tasty, heated properly, and I was able to eat all 4 vegetarian dishes. Only further visits will tell for sure, but I am optimistic that the Royal Tandoor has returned to its former glory.

I must also mention that the buffet is now available only at lunch time ($8.99), and supper is now a la carte.

The orchestra started rehearsals for the Charlottetown Festival last Thursday, and we were thrown straight into the fire – a gruelling 7 rehearsals in 3 days. And just so things wouldn’t get stale, we had our first show on Monday. Just like that we are in full swing. Aside from the weekly paycheque, the greatest thing about starting up a new summer season in the orchestra pit is that I can finally get some reading done! Which means, dear reader, that you will finally see some action in my “Currently reading” sidebar. Along with getting to a few books that have been on the back burner for a while, I will be catching up on all the magazines that came through the door over the winter.

Now before you start imagining that I must have very little to play in the shows, let me assure you that I earn my pay. Anne of Green Gables-The Musical is full of notes (some of them quite challenging!), but we do get breaks while they yak about stuff on stage, and during my 17 years playing in Anne, I have honed my peripheral awareness skills to the point where I can drop my book in my lap, pick up the trombone and start playing, all in a heartbeat and right on cue. And while Anne is rich in music, it is also rich in dialogue, leaving me with enough breaks to actually be able to tackle some fairly substantial reading. Two summers ago I managed to read The Hobbit and the complete Lord of the Rings trilogy, and still had time for some Far Side collections! Stay tuned here to see what’s on my Pit Reading List this summer.

And since we’re on the topic of the Charlottetown Festival – If the audiences’ reactions the last two nights are any indication, it seems that British Invasion! is going to be a huge hit this summer. The sets and costumes are amazing, the tunes are great, the cast is fantastic – I think it is even better than Canada Rocks! If you enjoyed that, then you are in for a treat with British Invasion! Mick Jagger’s antics alone are worth the price of admission. Then again, how would I know? I’m too busy reading in the pit!

It is almost a perfect day today – sunny but not too hot, with a nice breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Almost perfect, except that the pleasant chirping of birds is being punctuated by the sound of fake gunshots created by some stupid machine placed by a local farmer in his field to scare away the crows or raccoons or something. How stupid does he think they are?

So much for peace and tranquility in our woodland refuge.

Farmer Featherbrain started using his “gunshot machine” a few years ago, and some of the neighbours registered complaints about it. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done – although it is extremely annoying, it does not exceed the decibel level allowed by noise bylaws. So, all we can do is put up with it and curse him under our breath. I suppose we should be grateful that he’s not starting it up at 5:00 AM anymore. After a couple of mornings of that, one of our neighbours would go over and shut it off, but when Mr. Muggins found out, he put up “No Trespassing” signs, and threatened to shoot the guy if he caught him on his land. Nice. He eventually listened to reason – well, sort of – and compromised by holding off until 7:00.

One of Herr Brain’s latest projects is to cut down all the trees surrounding his fields. I guess he figures if the crows have no place to perch, they won’t come around. Hmm, is it possible he hasn’t figured out that THEY CAN FLY…

Killing trees generates quite a pile of brush which our resident genius disposes of by setting on fire. Because they are green, the burning brush piles generate great plumes of smoke, polluting the air for miles downwind and adding to the sensory overload. And of course, our neighbourhood numskull doesn’t worry too much about acquiring burning permits, or the attendant bans of such on dry days.

One interesting fact that has arisen from all of this is the discovery that he has had corn in the same field for 3 or 4 years straight, which is a blatant contravention of PEI’s Agricultural Crop Rotation Act. As a result of this discovery, Farmer Featherbrain was fined – some consolation for the neighbourhood perhaps, although I honestly doubt the consequences amounted to more than a slap on the wrist.

How do you talk sense into someone like this? Hmm, I wonder what he would think of me practicing the trombone across from his house…

A couple of months ago, CBC Radio 2 made some changes which resulted in the cancellation of its evening classical music programmes, including my favourite: Two New Hours with Larry Lake. Two New Hours was the only radio programme to exclusively feature contemporary classical music, and its cancellation has ramifications for all of Canada’s composers and musicians, not to mention the audiences who relied on this particular programme as the only one of its kind to present the music of our living composers, as interpreted by Canada’s best, most creative musicians. It allowed us to travel all across the country from the comfort of our own homes, to hear great concerts such as those from the Winnipeg New Music Festival, and to feel connected with the new music community. It was one-of-a-kind, and now it’s gone – there is no alternative.

Critics (myself included) are condemning the changes as a “dumbing down” of CBC’s programming, that it unnecessarily duplicates other radio stations’ programming and leaves a big hole in fulfilling its mandate “to provide rich, original content that reflects the diversity of Canada.” Some lively discussions about the issue can be found here and here, as well as this letter to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage by composer Paul Steenhuisen.

A petition to restore CBC Radio Two has been initiated to try and convince those in power to undo these changes and reinstate “the type of intelligent, provocative and informative programming that has long been a hallmark of Radio 2.” Feel free to sign this petition if you have any interest in the issue. And be assured, this is NOT one of those silly chain emails that goes around; it is a legitimate petition.

Here’s hoping I get my CBC back.