A couple of years ago my wife and I became involved with a national nonprofit organization called Rebuilding Together. This is a volunteer organization that rebuilds and revitalizes the homes of the low-income, disabled and elderly. It’s been a rewarding and meaningful experience for us to work with them, and seeing the impact of our annual project weekend is inspiring.
Last year we were voted onto the board of directors of our local affiliate, and we have been more directly involved with the management of our strategy. I am working on a new web site for our group and will be attempting to provide an extensible framework that can be used on a national basis.
Last night we got a nice dusting of snow in Seattle and I stepped outside to take some pictures. The picture shown in this post was taken around midnight last night, using just the ambient light. It is a three second exposure with minor color correction. I’m really enjoying my new camera and the lovely pictures it takes.
In December 2006 I began to rehearse with a new band called the preons. The band has been around for a few years and has released some music on CD. It’s a bit of a new experience for me since I’m playing bass in this setting. The music is an interesting mix of pop, rock, jazz and earnest folkiness. My first objective was to learn the existing material, so I transcribed the bass parts as recorded by the band’s former bassist. I consider it my responsibility to perform these parts very closely to the recorded versions.
We also started right in on some new material, which is coming along nicely. The band has an interesting collective musical sense that often manifests itself in unexpected chord substitutions and harmonic structure. One of my bandmates, Brad Nelson, is a friend from work who also has a degree in music. I’ve been impressed with his trumpet and keyboard playing, and it’s a lot of fun to play together.
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Music,
My Bands
