Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, September 12, 2014

Dear family, friends, and gentle readers,

Friday has arrived and so has your picture of the day...

I promise you, I did not just repost the picture from Wednesday, Sept. 10. The last three days have been on a repeat cycle.

Summer in Los Angeles (for those of you reading who are not from here) is really mid-July through early October--and by "Summer" I mean it feels hot to us natives. I know  Filipinas who feel that Los Angeles is a cold climate and they fancy sweaters as a part of their everyday wear (90 is rather moderate for them).

I don't know what your plans are for the weekend, but I'll be playing cornet in a little "oompah" band for an Oktoberfest event somewhere here in So Cal. The music is not hard, but it's relentless (Oktoberfest music is dance music after all) and your mouth becomes numb after playing three of those long-winded pieces in a row.

An array of mouthpiece depths

Wind players in dance bands have to develop mouths of iron. Thank God for "cheater" mouthpieces--shallow cup pieces that make it easier to hit higher notes (which require more effort) but they trade off generally giving you a less pleasing, thin, distorted sound. Better to be strong than to rely on such "crutches"..., but some of us are getting old and creaky and need help. But, nobody else wanted to do the job.

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Pops