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| SUNDAY
December 27, 1998
Back From Santa Barbara My wife, our two boys, my ten year old niece and I finally pulled into the driveway of our home at 10:22pm tonight... back from spending the Christmas holiday in Santa Barbara. My niece will be coming along with us to Disney World for the New Year's celebration, take in the sights and attractions there, and to see me play drums with the band. Yes, Big Time Operator will finally be performing the long awaited New Year's Celebration in Disney World!  I had been sleeping-in over in Santa Barbara, which meant I was getting to bed very late... in the wee hours of the morning, as a result of getting myself addicted to one of the Sony Playstation games I had gotten for my two boys! Funny... we all became addicted to playing this new CD-ROM game called, "Crash Bandicoot - Warped!", and thus, after everyone had gone to bed I would sneak back into the living room and play the game. Of course, I'd pay the price by waking up at 11 or 12 noon! And now I don't have a need to play the game because I had finally finished the entire thing, finally getting to the one BIG duel against the 'arch villain', Dr. Neo Cortex. Christmas in Santa Barbara My family and I spent a total of four days in SB: Christmas Eve (Thursday), Christmas Day (Friday), and the weekend at my sister-in-law's house. She's my wife's eldest sister amongst three sisters (my wife being the middle sister). The temperature stayed in the low 30's, so it was quite cold for my experience (although I heard it was also quite cold in San Diego too). This is usually not normal for me, and so I end up having to really "bundle" up at night. I ended up sleeping in a sleeping bag just to stay warm enough. My wife and her elder sister are very close, so the journey to the north is usually one of great anticipation and excitement. Between the two families, I'd say we are extremely close and get along very well compared to other family situations. I've been in other situations where blood relatives just don't get along, no matter how polite and dignified one tries to be. It was nice to just lounge around and not do much, although it's not a good thing to be idle and eat all the delicious Christmas dinner and desserts! I was able to walk around the neighborhood and get some fresh air. I also took in some golf with my brother-in-law. It was just a trip to the local driving range. I've never played golf before, and after trying for the first time, I have a lot more respect for people who are really into it. There IS a lot of technique that needs to be mastered before one can seriously get into the "swing" of things. It's not like miniature golf, in which I thought "real" golf was similar to, but now I know there's no comparison. And I'm thinking now that I just might take up the game and learn "for reals". I thought about how my other niece, my sister-in-law's oldest daughter ( out of the two ) is going to be sixteen next month. She already has a steady boyfriend, is always out socialing with friends, and is involved in doing water polo (she's quite good), and is more mature than when I last saw her. It kind of makes me feel that much older, but then again, I DO feel very young for my age. I was reading about Buddy Rich in the book Drummin' Men. There was mention that Buddy never REALLY practiced, that he was truly born with his rhythmical brilliance and that drumming just came naturally to him. He never learned to read music, and there were several instances where a chart was placed in front of him and he'd fool everyone into thinking he was reading. In fact, he had such a gifted ear for music and such an outstanding memory, that he'd usually get it perfect the first or second time. I guess I felt I could understand the need to purposely NOT practice. Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett stresses that he needs time away from his instrument in order to keep things fresh and maintain a certain level of enthusiasm for playing the instrument. I can see that, and I can also see that the ability to express oneself on a musical instrument depends on the individual player's emotional ability to express oneself through the instrument. I guess the bottom line is: that you have to have "something" to say, or else you really "don't" have the facility to express oneself to the highest degree of musical expression. It reminds me of what Buddy Rich said in his Drumming Legend video, that the ones who could express themselves and "emote" through their instruments were in fact the better players. As the last few days remain before the New Year's Eve show in Disney World, I'm thinking about what it takes to be a really great, accomplished artist, and a truly effective entertainer on one's instrument. I think about the need to tie into the past, that there is a definite lineage a drummer must understand in order to perform well, and stay true to the drumming tradition. And I take my hat off to the greats of the past that have inspired me to try and be the best I can be: Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Dave Tough, all the greats of the past that I must pay my respects to and try to follow in their footsteps the best that I can... home 
Today's Music:
Young MC - Stone Cold Rhymin' Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert Weather Report - Heavy Weather Fourplay - Greatest Hits Yellowjackets - Four Corners Chick Webb - An Introduction To... Current Readings:
Randy McNally Atlas |
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