Green-Wood

make your own doorknob signs!

courtesy of Mister Rich Fulcher

christmas card

i got a christmas card in the mail today. it said, "may this christmas be your happiest yet."



it was a very sweet card, but i wouldn't place any bets.

calavera

Winston

i'm dogsitting Matthew Fass' pup Winston. This is Winston:

the tapan is done!

I finally finished repairs on the ol' tapan drum. I think I did a good enough job to make any Macedonian proud.

This is the shell. It's from Skopje.

It was a long process with a steep learning curve, but it was worth it.

I decided to make the heads myself, which involves getting a goatskin first.

This is a goatskin cut into a circle and a wooden hoop.

I also had two calfskins already mounted on hoops from a previous repair job. I decided to use
one of the calfskins for the beater side of the drum. They're just too heavy to use on the switch side, which needs to be a thin head so you get a crisp, snappy sound that slowly deteriorates the upper frequency range of your bandmates' hearing.

So to free up one of the hoops, I had to soak one of the calfskins until it was pliable, then removed it from the hoop.

Once the calfskin was removed, the hoop was ready to use, so I soaked the thinner, more appropriate, less smelly goatskin in the tub.

After it was thoroughly wet and pliable, I wrapped it around the wooden hoop. Then I used woodworking clamps to stretch the skin over the shell of the drum. This is essential for making sure the heads fit the drum the right way and that they're eventually able to be tuned.

At first I had five clamps. This was too few for a 20" drum. As the skin started drying, I could see the hoop getting pulled up off of the shell by the contracting skin. Basically, the hoop was starting to warp. It would have worked fine, but I wanted to make this the best I could, so I started the whole project over. I bought three more clamps (for a total of eight), re-soaked the skin, then did the clamping process again.

This is the insufficient five clamp set-up. This was proven to be a waste of time.

It worked much better the second time...

Yes! The eight clamp set-up. Success.

Then you have to wait as the skin dries. I'm told that you should wait a couple days at least, but this goatskin was so thin it only took overnight. I started to lace the drum together with twine, but realized that the calfskin head I wanted to use for the beater side wasn't fitting on the shell right. So, I filled up the bathtub once again, soaked the calfskin, then did the whole clamping process again.

This is a calfskin on a hoop, soaking in a bathtub.

Once that head was dry, I knew both drumheads were form-fitted and ready to be laced up. The lacing took awhile but once it was done, I knew I had my drum back in fighting shape! I opted for green nylon seine twine. I believe it's size 18, tested to withstand a weight of 155 lbs. Next time I am getting once size higher. The twine will hold, but it would be nice if it were just a little thicker for ease of manipulation.




Bonus points for people that know what the badge says!

Day 49 update....

Just a small addendum made by Greg:

"...the 49 days is not so much from this world to the next. It's more a matter of how long consciousness after death is in transition before rebirth into this world – 49 days being the estimated time it takes for the spirit to be reborn again into a new life. That said, it could be a symbolic number for two reasons. First, as you mentioned in your blog, it could be a ritual device to care for one's emotions. Or, if rebirth is the case, it could be a ritual device simply to mark return when this passage to one's new life actually has many time frames. Some in the Buddhist tradition feel rebirth takes 3 days, 21 days, 49 days or 100 days after death, and in some even feel it's 7 years. After all, everyone taking exactly 49 days seems like a math that might be a little too exact for life!"

Day 49

Here I go. I'm writing this.
November 21st was the 49th day after Sandra's death. We held a memorial service at the Brooklyn Zen Center. Day 49 is a significant day in the Buddhist tradition because it's believed that it takes 49 days of transition time from this world to the next. It's a period of time needed for the consciousness to find a new channel, vessel, or place to go.
Some people have told me it's simply because it's going to take around 49 days for the reality of death to start to sink in. Either way, it's a big marker so the memorial service was very timely.

Greg, the priest residing over the ceremony, talked about our intentions for the service and that to grieve a loss and simultaneously celebrate a life we need an open heart - a heart that is more often then not broken open in a most painful way. Honestly, after hearing that, I was a bit overcome and didn't hear what he said next. I tuned back in as he was talking about the mystery of death which is the mystery of life, and how we just don't know what happens after death but we bring the intention to help Sandra's transition nonetheless. He referred to Sandra as a pioneer, one who has fearlessly taken this journey before us, who knows by how many years, months, or days.

In the spirit of helping clear all obstacles from Sandra's path of transition, we offered incense at an alter with Sandra's picture and some of her ashes while the rest of the sangha (congregation) chanted.

Then Greg talked directly to Sandra (which is also another part of the tradition). As you could imagine, this was very moving and powerful. He talked about being deeply touched by Sandra's presence even though he met her only once. After Sandra was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, she wanted to meet with Greg to see if the Zen tradition could offer her a perspective on the whole life/death/cancer thing that might help her deal with the upcoming onslaught of treatments. However, Greg was so struck by her attitude of acceptance and inner peace that he said that he left the meeting that day as the one who learned something about life. I think he can imagine those of us who were lucky enough to spend years with Sandra, let alone one lunch!

I was invited to speak, but it would have been useless. I was too choked up by the beginning of Greg's talk, never mind by the end of it. Besides, I talk directly to Sandra every day. Most importantly, I talked with her while she was alive and healthy, and there was nothing left unsaid between us. Anything I would have told her, she knows already. Anything she would have told me, I know already. My gratitude for that gift alone is far beyond words.

I'd like to thank, with as much heart and sincerity as I can muster, Greg for his openness which is apparent by his selfless sharing of his time, words, and compassion. I'd also like to thank the sangha at the Brooklyn Zen Center for their amazing love and support. It consistently overwhelms me.

life..

..is so incredibly weird right now. I feel like i'm in another dimension, in some sort of weird dream.
Everything is just wrong, but everything is as it should be.
It's hard to reconcile some things like that.

Sandra Holguin

1966 - 2009

night vigil

i am at a cancer center. it's just 2am.

every patient on this floor is a woman with a gynecological cancer.

my heart goes out to every person here - the staff, the patients, the friends and family.

we're all in the same boat, together.

almost forgot....

...you can follow my tweets on twitter...
www.twitter.com/ejfry

somebody dropped my baby on its head

So, up at Balkan Camp (yes, there is a music camp for Balkan music, and yes, it is geeky) in the Catskills an unfortunate accident occurred that I won't get into the details of. Suffice to say, my tapan drum ended up in a condition unplayable.

I just removed the drum heads, and took a few pictures of the melancholy scene.
It should be fairly easy to fix, and hopefully inexpensive.

Stoop Sale Bliss

It's summer, which means it's stoop sale season in Park Slope.
Here's are the records I got the other day...for FREE!






Did I mention they were free?

We got a record player!

So I've been listening to stuff like this:

True story:

I was playing a gig in Brooklyn the other week. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the gig until our break in between sets when I noticed one of my drum heroes was in the crowd, hanging out. (I won't mention names, but trust me, he's a heavyweight in the NYC jazz world.)

Immediately I went from Mister Relaxed Happy Funtime Drummer to Mister Freaked Out Nervous Don't-Fuck-Up Now Drummer.

As we began the next set, I looked around the room and didn't see the drum hero around, so I began to relax a bit. Verily, the band rocked the next set.

After the gig ended, the band was just hanging out together, chatting, shooting the shit. Drum hero was there after all, and came up to me and said, "Hey EJ!"
"Hey _____!"
"Still playing the drums I see."
"Trying to!" (Or some other such sheepish response.)
"You sound great, man."

Still floating along on that one!

need a fix!

Do I have my head up my ass, or is there not any post-rock in NYC?
Do I have to move to Chicago? Do I have to wait for Tortoise to roll through town again?
I only know a handful of bands here doing (what I loathe to call for lack of a better term) post-rock. It seems like everyone's doing a) '80s synth pop revival crap or b) Strokes clones or c) overly ambitious chamber pop collectives a la Sufjan Stevens or Arcade Fire.
I want NYC's answer to GY!BE. Anybody know any NYC bands like that out there???

bad blogger

I've been so bad about updating the ol' blog. Well, in my defense, there's been so much going on that blogging has been the last thing on my mind. In the spirit of keeping things moving along, I thought I'd do a little post and maybe a link to something cool.
So here ya go.

Shameless self promotion, yeah!

bang a gong

I sold a crappy old bass drum to Matthias the other week. As he was checking out the drum's many flaws in the downstairs studio, he noticed a massive metal disc, very gong-like in nature but obviously not meant for the purposes of hitting. It looks more like Paul Bunyan's ashtray.

However, as percussionists, we both enthusiastically decided that we must hit this thing.
It didn't resonate like a gong, but it had some interesting overtones and deep, subtle bass tones happening. After Matthias left, I decided to get my field recorder, an assorted batch of mallets, sticks, and other striking implements, and record this giant brass disc being hit.

Conclusion: it sounds really cool.

I have to figure out how to post some mp3s on my blog...when I do, I will upload some of the sounds I got...

more tattoo fun...

yes, in the classic "chinese font" it says "go fuck yourself." Ah, New York. So surly and yet so creative! (Photo covertly taken by yours truly.)

Green Screen!

LOOKEE! it's a Peanut Butter Wolf video mix.

http://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2009/05/green-screen

Tortoise - Prepare Your Coffin

Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing

1. Listen to the birds.
That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. Your guitar is not really a guitar Your guitar is a divining rod.
Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of a bush
Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush dosen't shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. Walk with the devil
Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. If you're guilty of thinking, you're out
If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. Never point your guitar at anyone
Your instrument has more clout than lightning. Just hit a big chord then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. Always carry a church key
That's your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He's one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song "I Need a Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty-making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he's doing it.

8. Don't wipe the sweat off your instrument
You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. Keep your guitar in a dark place
When you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it.

10. You gotta have a hood for your engine
Keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house, the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow.

the importance of sound...

Recently I've been thinking about the importance of sound. Not just music, mind you, but the very sensation of sound. It's all vibration, after all.

I started thinking about this when I went to Italy.
I got the chance to do sound for a play in Milan last year. The play had been rehearsing for weeks and was more or less up on its feet. Then I got to rehearsals and when I added the simplest sounds to play, it changed the attitude of the whole cast. They were acting differently, they were more invested in their characters. It really made me think about how important sound is.
They asked me to write some music for the opening of the play, some of the transitions, and themes for some of the characters. This really changed the whole vibe of the play. After that I started thinking about my favorite films and how crucial a role the sound and music play in them.
It actually renewed my respect and admiration for sound. It made me listen to sounds differently; with newer, fresher ears. It reminded me that despite the thousands of different sounds we hear every day (including sounds that we unconsciously block out and aren't even aware of) sound is nothing to ever be complacent about. I don't believe in magic, but for me, sound comes pretty damn close.

ZINES

When I was in Portland, I noticed a lot of zines.
You see, zines are what people used to call blogs.
They were way more interactive, way more creative.
There's something about the tactile sensation of holding something as opposed to staring at a screen, too.
That's why I think there's going to be a backlash from mp3s and all the other digital media.
People are going to want to hold a record cover. They're going to want the sensation of putting a cassette into a deck...some colorful, 12" x 12" artwork. Some real analog sound and visuals, too. Mark my words!

Anyway, gotta go and do a little research about getting a new external hard drive...

Been awhile y'all...

Yeah, yeah, I know...I'm a bad blogger. Inconsistent at best. But here I am, back in the saddle, ready to hip you to the latest.

So much going on, where do I start? Start from the last blog and catch up to now? Or start with now and work my way back? Eh, I'll start with now...

So, I'm finally watching The Sopranos. I've never seen this show before (despite all the acclaim and popularity) and I have to say, it's pretty good. It didn't grab me quite the way LOST did. I usually don't follow TV series, but I have a sad addiction to LOST. What the hell is that damn smoke monster??? Who is that creepy Richard guy? Is Jin really dead?? Will Kate's tank tops be getting any smaller????

I hung out with Harel the other day, and as a gift, he gave me a ney. Apparently, it's going to take me about six months to even get a note out of it. I'll keep practicing. Harel, Ben Holmes and I are going to record tomorrow. Can't wait.













A boy and his ney.


I have a Slow To Wake gig coming up, it's starting to annoy me, actually. Two key members of the band can't make the gig, and I have to decide if I am going to get subs or just cancel. It sucks, I have been working a lot on new music, and I want to play some of it!
I've been starting to score some stuff, you can check out some original music here and here.
More to come soon.












Empirical proof that I've been working on music!


I don't want to sound like a broken record, but if you haven't checked out thru-you.com yet, do it now. NOW! Also, I found out Harel is buddies with Kutiman. Who knew? I guess it makes sense, Israel is pretty small as far as countries go.

Sometimes I go to this site, it's always good for a laugh.

I've been hanging out at the Brooklyn Zen Center, because I get down like that. I do doan work, which basically means I am sort of the Zen eqiuvelent of an altar boy. I get to ring bells, light incense, all that fun stuff. I am a crazy party animal.


With all the trouble with the economy, who has money for new music?
But for those of us who's need for music is nothing less than the need for life-sustaining manna from the heavens and not mere entertainment, you find new music one way or another. You can always check out free podcasts, free radio, etc.
Sometimes, however, you want that album everyone's been talking about, or the one that nobody's discovered yet. You will even do "illegal" things to get the music you need. You need the proverbial dealer to get your fix.

I can't disclose anything, but I found such a source. Lots of albums, all free. Let the music flow mi gente, let the music flow.


However, this slew of new music at my fingertips and flooding my hard drive is not all fantastic.
Some of it has been life-changing (looking your way, Black Moth Super Rainbow!), some of it has made me nauseous.








The aforementioned Black Moth Super Rainbow


Don't want to sound like a hater, but come on...Vampire Weekend? What's the big deal? They don't suck. They sound ok. They sound competent (unlike Clap Your Hands Say Yeah...they are fucking wretched), they sound like they've listed to a couple African pop CDs and became infatuated with it. But that's it. Definitely nothing to get in a frenzy about. In fact, it's so middle-of-the-road, I probably won't be listening to their music ever again. They don't sound like they really got inside African music (like a certain Paul Simon did), in fact they sound like they're just ripping off an aesthetic. (It's what people in the hip hop world call "biting.") Well, they are definitely biting African pop's steez. I already ranted about it in another blog here.

"What are some good bands from NYC to check out, then, EJ?" you ask. My bands and my friends' bands, of course!
I'm psyched about a band I'm in called Monastics. Check out my favorite song of ours here!
We have a gig coming up soon, April 21st at Lit Lounge in NYC.

Other than that, just eagerly waiting for Spring to spring. Come on already!

Your colonoscopy: what to expect

Visiting hospitals is not fun. If you've ever been to one, you know what I'm talking about. If you've ever had to stay in one, you definitely know what I'm talking about. They aren't really a place to get better, a place to heal. Sure, it's the place to go to get your surgeries and procedures done, but it's not anywhere you want to hang out.

That's why when you're at the hospital, it's essential to find something positive any way you can. That's what made me so happy the first time I encountered this:














You're welcome.

JUST RELEASED!

Happy New Year!

過年好!

At last, some intelligence.

Zen

Stop using the word forthwith. I beseech you. You don't know what it means.

California Dreamin'

Haven't written in a while. Sorry. Wow, it's been busy.
Rather than bitch and moan about the frigid temperatures here in NYC, I'd like to reminisce about the lovely times in California.

I was all over that damn state. Orange County, LA, Bay Area, San Francisco, Tahoe, then up to Portland. (That's in Oregon.)

Out of all the great times I had, my favorite evening was in Oakland. Sandra, our friend Shane, and I went to dinner at a place in Chinatown. I can't tell you the name of the place. I'm not stingy and trying to hoard the delicious chinese food all to myself; it really doesn't have a name.

Anyway, this place is infamous for its Dry Braised String Beans...they are good enough to kill for. Luckily, you can just order them. Well, this was an enchanted evening because they cooked up the best batch of these beans I've ever had.

When we arrived, it was on the early side for dinner, so not too many people were around, just the family that owns the restaurant. So as our food came out, their food came out around the same time. They offered us their food so we could try it out, free of charge. We had some lovely clams cooked in wine. Very tasty. Later we got to try a fresh hot chinese doughnut. Delish.
In between offerings, they would teach us Mandarin. Han hao!

I kept eating, eating, and eating. Sometimes I can pack away so much that it scares me a little bit; I wonder if I might have a serious metabolism disorder or something, and this was one of these nights. Everything was tasting so good, the atmosphere was so perfect, that I just wanted to keep eating that dinner all night. Call me gluttonous if you must; you've never had those string beans so don't judge!

The other dinner that has a chance of beating that one was the dinner we had up in Portland with Aaron and Ayumi, collectively known as APAK.
Ayumi made a Japanese stew kind of thing called "nabe." It was incredibly delicious, and the company and atmosphere was another perfect score.

But now, I'm in NYC. It's 20 degrees out.

Space Mountain Face

so, I mentioned in an earlier post that my first time on Space Mountain at Disneyland wasn't exactly a breeze for me, and that there was a photo out there that documented this fact.
Well....enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! May it be a healthy, happy one with love, compassion, peace, and good music. Did I mention health??

I didn't do much. I stayed in with my mom; we did a Buddhist tradition of writing down things from the past year that you want to get rid of, then throw them in a fire.

I had a lot of paper to throw in there. Last year was yucky.

But the fire was nice and warm.