HEllo Ardith,   
      
   On Wed 2039-Jun-15 23:52, Ardith Hinton (1:153/716) wrote to Richard Webb:   
      
   RW>  I don't get exposed to enough new and different living   
   RW>  out here in the sticks, sorta miss it at times.   
      
      
   AH>           I can relate.  Years ago a friend of ours lived on a   
   AH> cattle ranch in the interior of BC.  The grass-fed steak she served   
   AH> us was as smooth as butter ... I've never eaten so much at one   
   AH> sitting before or since.  Her neighbour on the other side of a   
   AH> common wall was apparently addicted to C/W music, however, and we   
   AH> very soon tired of hearing identical bass lines repeated again &   
   AH> again. We also found when we visited the area a bit later that in at   
   AH> least one of the local eateries a Caesar salad = a lettuce & tomato   
   AH> salad with Caesar dressing. As an ex-waitress I realize how far this   
   AH> notion has deviated from the original concept.  What you gain on the   
   AH> swings you may lose on the roundabouts....  :-)    
      
     Can relate to both points.  Kathy's daughter   
   listens to nothing but that ersatz new country, no swing, no waltz, rarely a   
   shuffle, all a straight rock common time   
   signature >  .   
      
      
      
   RW>  None of my neighbors are music listeners really it seems,   
   RW>  not like the city where just in the course of walking up   
   RW>  the road you were exposed to a lot of it.   
      
      
   AH>           Yeah.  The upside for me is hearing live music from the   
   AH> window of an apartment or from buskers on the street.  The downside   
   AH> is the people who leave their car radios blaring away while they run   
   AH> errands somewhere else... (sigh).    
      
   YEs there is that, but I got spoiled by NEw ORleans I guess, the buskers on   
   the corners downtown, the variety of   
   different forms of music one might hear just walking up the   
   street.  tHe church a block from us when we lived center   
   city and managed the apartment complexes had a full blown   
   praise band, and they did their services earlier than the   
   church I attended, which meant that during their services   
   I'd end up doing the SUnday morning constitutional dog walk   
   about the time they really got into it.  I really enjoyed   
   listening to their rhythm section, quite good, and I told   
   their pastor that on a couple of occasions.  I'd end up   
   standing on that corner a lot waiting for my dog to do her   
   morning stuff so I could stoop and scoop while enjoying the   
   praise band.  ONe hot bass player and a very good drummer!   
      
   RW>  SEems the lady who lives up the hill from us has a son   
   RW>  who's started to take up the drums, and he seems to   
   RW>  practice a lot in his garage.  IN fact, it was that   
   RW>  which made me remember the joke "when does the drumming   
   RW>  stop" I think I posted in this echo .   
      
      
   AH>           If he wants to practice where he can get serious about   
   AH> whatever he's not yet able to do very well... with no concerns about   
   AH> who may be listening... I'd suggest distancing himself one way or   
   AH> another from the rest of the family. In some cases, however,   
   AH> would-be musicians are banished to the garage for good reason.  When   
   AH> we heard a drummer practising in a nearby apartment a few months ago   
   AH> we sent him/her a message... via another tenant in the same   
   AH> building... to the effect that our community band needs more   
   AH> drummers.  OTOH, during the year I was studying choral conducting &   
   AH> practising three instruments in addition to the clarinet the   
   AH> neighbours on both sides of us moved out.  I'm quite sure you   
   AH> wouldn't want to hear me attempt to sing *or* to play the violin...   
   AH> [chuckle].    
      
     I keep telling Kathy she shouldn't sing, she   
   couldn't carry a tune in a tank truck to be honest, but   
   she's always singing to the dog.  dOg thinks it sounds good   
   I guess.   
      
   sInce I wrote that message I talked to the young man a   
   couple of times, and suggested he spend a little more time   
   working on basics, and use a metronome, just to get   
   consistency.  HE practices a lot of the flashy stuff, fancy   
   rolls etc. but wasn't practicing the basics.  I also   
   suggested if not the metronome, get some headphones and his   
   favorite music and drum along.  IN fact, one of the reasons   
   we ended up conversing was his mom suggested he talk to me   
   .   
      
      
   Regards,   
              Richard   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:116/901)