When I talk to landlords across thecountryU.S., I’m always shocked at how many prohibit pets.What these real estate investors don’t realize is pets areactuallygreat for business!
Not that I've actually acquired fitness, mind you, but I do come in contact occasionally with others who have. I did however recently lower the stem of the Renovo by one (1) centimeter, which is a sign that I'm slightly fitter--or at least stupider--than I was a few months ago. And while I may not be seeing any results out on the bike, I do have two (2) columns in the "Most Popular" section of Outside's site:
It didn't even cost me that much either.
Alas, I have no idea how Outside's Facebook readership will react to this most recent piece, nor have I been paying attention to that sort of thing recently, since I'm trying to regulate my intake of Internet commentary about how cyclists deserve to die. Still, in 2018 it's impossible to avoid indignant strangers altogether. Consider this tweet I recently tweeted:
As you can see, this utterly non-controversial tweet was total pandering on my part, because the Internet loves nothing more than pictures of cats in wacky situations. Yet incredibly, someone managed to politicize it--and invoke helmets, which even I couldn't pull off:
I think US people are the only people that do not dish wash by hand. Even having a dish washing machine sounds peculiar to a citizen of any other country This and not having a universal health care system It is the american equivalent of Australia helmet law...
Firstly, I've washed many a dish in my life, and you can tell because of my soft hands:
Secondly, the apartment came with a dishwasher. So should I not use it because it is a sign of American decadence? How many smugness points do I have to deduct because I have one? (I bet even David Byrne has a dishwasher.) I suppose this person would have it that I should merely use it as a drying rack for my scrupulously hand-washed dishes, or else supplement my income by renting it out as a bedroom on Airbnb. But no! I've earned this indulgent appliance thanks to decades of half-assed work, and I refuse to be shamed by Lucas Jerzy Portela's Armpit of Justice:
Just for that I'm going to fire it up now and use it to wash a single fork that's already clean, and if the cat happens to die because I didn't notice her in there this time may it lie heavy on Lucas Jerzy Portela's conscience.
TyreWiz is the first-of-its-kind tire pressure sensor for riders of mountain bikes and road bikes. Lightweight, durable, and powered by a long-lasting user-replaceable coin cell battery, TyreWiz monitors air pressure in real-time and relays the data to a cycling computer or a smartphone. The TyreWiz app uses that data to deliver personalized recommendations and pressure alerts. For the first time, riders have access to highly accurate real-time tire pressure data to make decisions that can affect rolling resistance, traction, tire wear, and rider comfort.
By far the best thing about the Quarq Tyrewiz is that it will give the rest of us a visible means of identifying people who have completely lost their minds. Presumably some sort of sphincter adapter will become available eventually so the sorts of people who would use this sort of thing can carefully monitor how uptight they are.
Then again, I do have a dishwasher, so I guess I shouldn't talk.
This week my guest writer is Irish composer and music examiner, John McLachlan. A prolific composer, John has written for many genres, including a substantial collection of pedagogical piano works, some of which have been selected for inclusion in the syllabus of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. I asked him about his music and his compositional process. Over to John…
I began writing pedagogical piano pieces some decades back when I was very busy teaching piano and trying to finish a PhD in musicology, as well as juggling piano practice. This didn’t leave much time to write big serious pieces, and so when students were absent I would quickly scribble a simple piece, with the original idea of bringing the harmonic practice into the modern era. The PhD was on Boulez, Xenakis et al, and my serious music is fairly complex. I was concerned about what young musicians learn and whether it sufficiently stretches their understanding of more modern adventures in harmonic and rhythmic practice.
I showed a few scratchily handwritten scores to Deirdre Doyle, who was then head of keyboard at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, where I was studying, and she said: “Let’s see more of those”.
Things evolved from there. I got positive feedback from other wonderful piano teachers at the RIAM such as Ray Keary, and I changed the focus from being a fiercely revamped post-war version of Bartok to being within the parameters of specific piano grades: I learned to dial down (but not discard entirely) the challenging harmony, rhythm and structure of the pieces.
I was also very much aware as a teacher how the material for beginners varies from nice and clever pieces to dry-as-dust exercises thinly disguised as ‘fun pieces’. But when you try to write music for absolute beginners you soon see how hard it is: it is a great exercise and a big challenge for any composer to stick within a few bars and a couple of five-finger positions, yet come up with something that sounds in any way inspiring! However, models such as Kabalevsky, Grieg and Schumann often show how good pieces can be constructed from a starting point of technical ease, focused in one useful technical area, and with a bit of imagination can really be appealing to play while staying within the technical level set out at the start.
I was also struck by how few early pieces would appeal to late or adult beginners, and how very anodyne they can be, compared, for example, to stories and poetry written for children, which can be ghoulish or bloodthirsty! This is why sometimes my pieces have titles such as ‘the Guillotine’, ‘Caves’ and ‘Night Prowler’. I have a piece called ‘Chop Chop’ which has been selected for Preliminary grade a number of times, the piece was going to be one of those with words written under the tune: “Willy built a guillotine, Tried it out on sister Jean, Said Mother as she got the mop, “These messy games have got to stop!”. But I shrank back from including the words on the score in the end, as I had not asked for the author’s permission, and I figured there was no way the RIAM would use it in that format anyway. But I don’t want to give the idea that my music is all on the dark side! I also found inspiration from sun-soaked travels in Greece with ‘Evening at the Harbour’ and ‘The Meltemi’ (this is a wind that cools the fierce summer heat on Crete). ‘Wheelies’ is about childhood joy in messing about on a bicycle.
Initially, I gathered all the pieces together into a volume that I titled “From the Strings of a Rainbow” (inspired by a poem from St-John Perse), offering a collection of pieces from elementary level to advanced. Then some time later I pared back the difficulty with a volume I called “Fifteen Easy Miniatures”. Just this year I reassembled the various pieces, including many written after those volumes, into three new volumes: ‘First Flights: ’14 playful pieces for piano beginners; ‘Further Flights; 15 easy repertoire pieces from grades 1 to 5, and Lighter and Darker: 5 repertoire pieces above grade 5’. There are a number of pieces from the early volumes that I have discarded. The pieces are all available individually and/or gathered together in these volumes.
How do I go about writing such pieces? There are almost as many answers as there are individual pieces, but I will try to answer this. In the case of two of the African Melodies I was inspired by the technical control of the travelling five-finger hand positions seen in many of Kabalevsky’s “24 Pieces for Children”, and also by the general mood of some music by Kevin Volans, the South African/Irish composer who was teaching me at the time. The pieces use only pentatonic scales, a further limitation. “Hop, Skip and Tumble” also relates in that way to Kabalevsky’s models.
Other simpler pieces in one position sometimes use artificial or non-western scales such as the Hungarian minor or the hirajoshi pentatonic to give the ears something fresh (examples: “A Little Japanese Tune” and “The Guillotine”). Archaeopteryx on the other hand is a very advanced essay on what can arise from the octatonic scale, which starts with superimposed hand positions, the kind of positioning seen in Debussy’s Mouvement (and countless other pieces). It is in strict Sonata form and the development sees some breakdown of the octatonic structure.
I hope that all doesn’t make it sound boring or technocratic, the truth is, I always compose in the classic “flow state”. Structures such as scale or formal plans merely help the enjoyable aesthetic craziness to fit more easily together and that speeds up the writing process immensely. I often tried to achieve some unusual forms or phrase structures, but to slip them in a way that is not obvious to the ear. But there are also pieces that are more straightforward, with blues or jazz influences. “Ice-Dance” is just a jazz improvisation on quartal chords (chords built up from fourths rather than the usual thirds).
In “An Raibh Tú ag an gCarraig?” the top line is a very old Irish tune which I noticed was in a hexatonic scale (as in the first 6 notes of major), where the other 6 notes of the 12 make a mirror set of the same scale a tritone away. I immediately decided to use those notes in the left hand to compose a free left hand accompaniment or counter-melody. I soften the dissonance by choosing only consonant combinations between the hands. I was very happy with that, and in fact this way of ordering the 12 pitches crept into parts of a 12-minute piece I wrote for organ and later for orchestra called “Here be Dragons”. So it is evident that writing all the simple pieces did have an effect on my more serious art music output, where I devised for a while a cross between simplicity and complexity which proved very fruitful between 2001 and 2011 or thereabouts.
All composing can lead to other composing so the best advice for composers is to keep writing as often as possible, as only then can issues and solutions flow from one piece to the next in your output. Also listening to and playing great music is vital, and figuring out how it works (by thinking and analysing)—all this is how piece X leads to piece Y.
Pieces selected for inclusion in the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s examination syllabus: Little Reverie, Tranquillity, African Melody I, African Melody II, Night Prowler, The Curious Cat, Chop Chop!, Melody for K, Ice-Dance, and Hop, Skip and Tumble.
You can purchase John’s music by clicking here, and can hear selected piano pieces by clicking on the links below:
My Publications:
For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my two-book piano course, Play it again: PIANO (Schott). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, 49 progressive pieces from approximately Grade 1 – 8 level are featured, with at least two pages of practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.
You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.
Ep. 63 – Limiting Beliefs, Attracting Relationships & The Power of Pleasure – Salona Carlisle
As a self-realization coach, transformational guide, and feminine embodiment facilitator, Salona guides women on the journey into radical self-love and back to their essential wholeness. Through her body-centered approach, Salona empowers her clients in releasing the limiting beliefs and unconscious patterns that keep us stuck and under-realized, so they can liberate their fullest potential, while doing their soul’s sacred work in the world. Her mission is to empower women around the world in discovering their innermost beauty, divine purpose, and personal joy in life so that they can embody their unique brilliance, while flourishing in living radiant, enriched lives.
We Talk About:
The power and importance of pleasure
How Salona got into the work she’s doing now
We dive deep into the topic of limiting beliefs
What are they
How do we identify them
How to retrain ourselves to not believe them
Salona’s biggest key for attracting relationships, romantic or friendships
Many thanks to all those who took part in my weekend competition. The prize is a copy of a new volume written by pianist, composer, examiner, and writer, Mark Tanner; Mindfulness in Music: Notes on Finding Life’s Rhythm, published by Leaping Hare Press.
I have two copies to giveaway, and the winners are…
SIMON BURGESS and MUSICATMONKTON
CONGRATULATIONS! Please send your address via the contact page on this blog and your book will be on its way.
For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my two-book piano course, Play it again: PIANO (Schott). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, 49 progressive pieces from approximately Grade 1 – 8 level are featured, with at least two pages of practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.
You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.
Alas, clearly I left Californy too early, because I missed the Sea Otter, which is where all the cool bikey media people go. Consequently I've been forced to catch up on the latest bike tech via the Internet like the rest of you plebians, though I've already given up because reading this made my brain hurt:
Most hubs that use magnets to actuate the pawls use repelling magnets that push the pawls against the ratchet ring. Project 321, however, flips the magnets around so they’re instead pulled outward. It may seem like the exact same thing, but unlike the linear rate of conventional steel springs, magnets have a sharply digressive spring curve, meaning the effects are very strong when the parts are close together, but fall off quickly with increasing distance. As a result, the pawls supposedly hold tight when they’re up against the ratchet ring, but there’s little force pushing them outward when coasting, so they run very quietly and with minimal drag. As a bonus, the pawls don’t go flying when you remove the freehub body during regular maintenance, either.
After reading the above I am left speechless, floating adrift in a sea of "duh" with only with this stale meme as my life preserver:
I can't believe that all these years I hadn't considered the digressive spring curve of my hub pawls, and now that I know just how remiss I've been I'm losing sleep over all the performance I've squandered.
Speaking of squandered performance, once again I took part in a bicycle cycling race this past weekend, and I'm pleased to report I passed:
The race couldn't have played out more perfectly for a pass/fail racer. See, when you're racing only to finish what you want is for a group to get away early and then stay clear, which means the rest of the pack eventually falls victim to a sense of resignation and rides at a steady pace until the race is over. Conversely, your worst nightmare is that the entire race is a series of attacks and counterattacks, a breakaway or split never establishes itself, and you're subjected to constant painful surges resulting in pesky gaps that require closing. Fortunately it was the former scenario that applied to this particular velocipedal contest, and so I remained present in it (if not relevant to it) for the duration.
And if you're wondering why I bother to race bikes when I spend the whole time hoping that nobody actually races, all I can say to you is that you just don't get it, do you?
Yes, that's right, it's Stale Meme Monday here on BSNYC!
Stale Meme Monday is brought to you by Project 321, makers of the awesome magnetic hub pawl system that boasts the most sharply digressive spring curve in the industry. Remember: there is nothing more important than freehub engagement, and races have been won and lost due to the milliseconds of engagement lag you'll find in inferior hubs. Anyway, my prediction is that Project 321 will remain the industry leader in freehub engagement until another company comes up with some sort of Predictive Engagement System by which the hub actually engages before you even start pedaling again.
So in other words, a fixed gear.
In any case, moving back to the race, the most dramatic moment for me was during the very last lap when a rider ordered me to the back of the pack. After I got over my initial shock that I wasn't already at the very back I asked, "Why?," to which he replied that I was in the wrong field. Of course I realize that at this point in my life everything about my cycling wardrobe and physical shape screams "Race Clinic Participant," but the fact remains that I was indeed in the right field. I assured him as much, but still he puzzled over my presence, and he only relented somewhere around Engineers' Gate.
Of course even if I had snuck into the wrong field the fact was that all the places were well up the road by that point, and if on the last lap of a race you're riding easy enough to engage in conversations about which field people belong in then the race is effectively over anyway so the presence of any rogue hangers-on is largely irrelevant. Nevertheless, perhaps next time instead of gentle reassurance I'll scream DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM and then unfurl this picture of me addressing an adoring crowd:
That's exactly what I was wearing during the race, by the way, which could have led in part to the misunderstanding.
Actually it's probably a good thing I didn't go to Sea Otter, because I can only imagine how often I'd have to justify my presence among all those "real" cycling journalists.
My guest on today's podcast episode goes by the name E.B. Farmer. I discovered him this past year when I was searching for land investing conversations on Reddit, and in the process, I learned about a book he wrote called
It’s time for a weekend competition. This one features Mark Tanner’s new book, Mindfulness in Music: Notes on Finding Life’s Rhythm (pictured to the left). If you’ve been reading this blog over the past week, you’ll have read Mark’s own post about this publication, which provides a useful background (to read it, click here).
Published by Leaping Hare Press, this volume will be of interest to anyone who feels the need to reflect on the inner rhythms of their life, and perhaps find a different approach to hearing and digesting music. Chapters focus on the following subjects; Music as Meditation, The Rhythm of Life, Sound & Sensuality, The Language of Music, Parallel Universes, and the The Art of Possibility.
Beautifully presented, the book contains interesting quotes from various artists, writers, philosophers, and musicians, and I particularly like the suggested mindfulness exercises which are peppered throughout. These offer food for thought, and allow our minds to put Mark’s many theories and ideas into practice. A thought-provoking read!
I have two copies to giveaway this weekend, so, as always, please leave your comment in the comment box at the end of this blog post, and I will announce the winners on Monday evening (British time). Good luck!
You can purchase Mindfulness in Music: Notes on Finding Life’s Rhythm, here.
My Publications:
For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my two-book piano course, Play it again: PIANO (Schott). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, 49 progressive pieces from approximately Grade 1 – 8 level are featured, with at least two pages of practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.
You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.
The following branded content post is brought to you by Skyhour. Once I learned about this new business and app, I thought it was a brilliant idea. And a giveaway for you, my lovely readers, to enjoy? Even better.
Imagine you have a friend who loves to travel, and they have a special occasion coming up: a milestone birthday, a wedding, a college graduation.
You want to give the gift of travel — but how? There’s luggage, but that still doesn’t reduce the cost of a trip. There’s booking a hotel stay, but booking a whole trip for someone else is a bit presumptuous. There are airline gift certificates, but those might not provide the best deal for your friend.
I’ve recently learned about a company with a very creative solution to this problem: Skyhour. With Skyhour you can purchase flights in the form of one-hour flying increments that can be redeemed on more than 350 domestic and international airlines!
Basically, it’s like the Venmo of air travel. You purchase and send with a click.
Even better is that you can use it like a registry. You can actually get a gift that you want for your birthday or a holiday instead of something well-intentioned that you’ll never use or wear. I loved the idea of Skyhour from the minute I heard about it.
The Best Occasions to Ask for Skyhours
I can think of lots of opportunities when giving skyhours would be a great option for a gift.
Honeymoon: So many newly married couples have been living together for awhile already that they don’t need another set of bowls. Enough skyhours could pay for the bulk of a honeymoon somewhere far away — or a shorter getaway within the country.
Graduation: Whether you know someone heading out on a gap year after college or looking to take a special trip after completing her Ph.D, Skyhour is a fantastic way to let the new graduate take the lead in booking the trip of her dreams.
Family Reunion: If you have a family member who might not be able to afford a flight to a family reunion, or perhaps to meet a newborn grandchild or niece or nephew, have several family members each chip in an hour as a gift. Six skyhours are enough to get someone from Florida to New England and back, for example.
Milestone Birthday: Recently I had a few friends turn 40 who have chosen not to marry or have kids — and thus have missed out on lots of gifts that their peers received (not unlike that Sex and the City episode where Carrie, after buying a friend nearly a dozen baby/wedding gifts over the years, has a pair of her Manolo Blahniks stolen from that friend’s house and decides to register for a new pair). Why not have several friends chip in skyhours in lieu of traditional gifts for the trip of a lifetime?
How to Buy Skyhours
Step One: Decide how many skyhours to give to your loved one. You choose the number of hours in flight. The cost is $60 per hour.
Step Two: Give your skyhours to your loved one. You can give them through the app, via SMS, or by email.
Step Three: Watch your loved one book their trip through the Skyhour App and enjoy the trip of a lifetime — made possible by you.
Giveaway for AK Readers: Get Skyhours!
Skyhour is giving away 10 skyhours to an Adventurous Kate reader! Here’s how you can win:
Step One: Follow @adventurouskate and @skyhour on Instagram.
Step Three: On the @adventurouskate Instagram post about Skyhour, comment about what your dream destination is and the number of Skyhours you’ll need to get there. Example: “I live in New York and my dream destination is Mexico City! I need 1o Skyhours to get there and back!”
The Prize: 10 Skyhours to use toward your trip, which have a value of $600.
This contest is open to residents age 18 and up of the United States — specifically the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Limited to one entry per Instagram and Skyhour account. See the full terms and conditions here.
Would you register for Skyhour for a special occasion? Or give Skyhours to a loved one? Share away!
I'm going to tell you all about L'Eroica California in painstaking detail:
Just not now.
I will say though that I've given a lot to cycling over the years. Selflessly I've blogged for eleven (11) years, written four (4) books, and banged out countless articles in various periodicals, asking nothing in return except for money and adulation. So why the hell is it that I'm still riding in the cold and rain instead of living somewhere like this permanently? Let's see that picture again:
I'm not just coming to this realization now, either. I've had many opportunities over the years to head out west and ask myself why the hell I live where I do:
Even in Los Angeles, which is supposed to be a smoggy automotive hell, you can ride to this in like five minutes:
Well at least you can ride to it in like five minutes from the cool neighborhoods, which is where I stay when I visit.
Anyway, as great as it is to come home and be greeted ebulliently at the front door by my seventeen (17) children, I can't help resenting the fact that I have to go back to riding all bundled up--in late April no less! Indeed, this very morning as I rode around Central Park in the spitting rain, my California sunburn still itchy beneath my multiple layers of Lycra, I pondered my lot, pulled over, and shouted at the nascent buds, "HURRY THE FUCK UP ALREADY!"
Of course the spring will arrive in earnest eventually, and as always it will be glorious, especially after such a long winter. When it does, I'll tell myself that there's no other place on earth I'd rather live. Then it will turn hot as balls, followed by like two and a half sublime weeks in autumn, and the whole cycle will begin anew, netting me like six or seven weeks of ideal riding weather annually.
On top of all that, ironically in middle age I've grown mildly allergic to all the local staples that have sustained me since childhood, namely: pizza, bagels, and hero sandwiches. Indeed, probably the fact that I ate nothing but pizza, bagels, and hero sandwiches for like 40 years broke something inside of me and I have nobody to blame but myself. Meanwhile, out there the staple is tacos, which are not only right in line with my current dietary requirements, but also delicious.
Alas, I'll most likely never leave New York, not only because my wife has an awesome job here, but also because I'm awesome at not having a real job here:
Plus, I could never give up my apartment, which is not only legally habitable according to city and state law but also has a full-time doorman!
Sorry, did I say full-time doorman? I meant full-time door:
A lot of people in New York have to make do with door share, and that's no way to live.
Hey, I've even got exposed brick. Granted, it's in a pile in the living room, but I'm confident that one day the contractor will come back and finish the job.
After all, I paid him in full before he even got started, so why wouldn't he return?
Moving on, as you know I've been enjoying a bit of a Fredly Renaissance lately, part of which involves swallowing what's left of my dignity and supplicating myself to Strava, and recently I see they've added some new feature called "relative effort:"
I stood there for an embarrassingly long time wondering what the number "28" meant and what exactly it was relative to until I realized that it's all just an eye-catching graphic telling me that I suck. Indeed, the whole app is just a You Suck-ometer that helps you visualize your suckitude in the form of numbers, colors, and tiny gold cup icons that mean nothing, all of which I new already anyway.
So obviously I use it all the time now.
(I also assume "managing your effort" is a nice way of saying "riding really slowly.)
Finally, I checked, and yes, people are still making fixie videos:
This is truly a daredevil feat--not the riding briskly in a straight line part, but the willingly placing yourself anywhere in the vicinity of Times Square, bike or no bike, part.
*["Thinking cyclists" obviously excludes mountain bikers and most roadies.]
On one hand we've got nifty bikes, and on the other we've got assholes in pickup trucks, so clearly there's a lot to contemplate--which I invite you to do as I binge on in-flight entertainment and tiny bottles of liquor.
Ep. 62 – The Power of Being Resourceful, Embracing Opportunity and Change & Creating Joy and Energy in an Intense Career with Christine Skari
This week I’m chatting with a friend, Christine Skari who I’ve been connected with for years through the food blogging community. I’ve loved watching Christine’s path unfold as she has created an incredible wedding photography business.
I especially wanted to talk to Christine because I knew she would have some amazing insights into creative work and being resourceful as well as being open to your path changing. I love where this conversation went!
About Christine:
Christine is a self-made food blogger and wedding photographer who enjoys cuddling her two sweet kittens, drinking coffee like it’s going out of style, and staying in pajamas for as long as possible.
We Talk About:
How Christine discovered photography and taught herself in college
What it was like to go into a career that had nothing to do with your degree
Transitions – how she adapted from college to working for herself full-time
Why talent doesn’t just happen overnight
the importance of just starting and the power of momentum
Being resourceful and teaching yourself new skills
Fighting overwhelm in busy seasons of life
Handling a busy schedule with joy
What it’s like to be a young woman owning a business
Fighting imposter syndrome
The importance of attracting and repelling with your energy
Owning your worth
The balance of when to accept free work versus charging