Coffee Klatch

Well, I finally did it. I broke down and went to the dentist. I haven’t actually been to the dentist since I lived in Bloomington, which was in 1994! Can you believe it? THIRTEEN YEARS!

And after 13 years I had a bit of tartar buildup, but nothing too extreme, and, best of all, NO CAVITIES!!

That ROCKS! I got full mouth x-rays (which involved about a dozen or so different shots) and they said my teeth look “strong and healthy.” They DID recommend, of course, that I keep up a regular regimen of professional dental cleaning rather than waiting another ten years to go back.

Oh, and part of the reason I finally went, besides having good coverage with Delta Dental, was that I had a spot by a back molar where the gums were really sore. I just started a few days ago, but was getting worse rather than better. In the process of cleaning, they found a popcorn hull that my flossing had missed. Within minutes it was already starting to feel better. Now I’ve just got the general gum soreness from getting a thorough teeth-cleaning for the first time in years.

Almost exactly one year ago I blogged about shaving my head. I’d actually been doing it for a couple of months before that, but didn’t blog about it right away. Recently I received a comment on one of the posts I’ve made in the last year about this topic. The commenter recommended the HeadBlade above all other razors, including the MachIII and Fusion razors. I, too, have preferred the MachIII and have used that almost exclusively for the last year.

I decided to give the HeadBlade a try after visiting their website and looking around a bit. Last week I received my very own HeadBlade and, after a few days of getting used to it, I have to agree that it’s the best. And also that it’s RADICALLY DIFFERENT from other blades! Here are some of differences:

• It’s built totally different, kinda like a snowmobile with a hook on top for your middle finger. The front end has its own suspension and pivots well.
• You use long, smooth strokes instead of multiple short strokes.
• You don’t apply ANY pressure.
• The blades LEAD the razor, rather than follow, so it’s like you’re pushing it rather than pulling it.

If you’re one of those fortunate, handsome guys that has opted to shave his head for whatever reason, I encourage you to try the HeadBlade. It’s a bit cheaper than standard blades, takes Atra blade refills (although I recommend you get the triple-blade kits directly from HeadBlade online), and gets your head smoother more quickly and easily. Although it takes 2-3 uses to adjust to the different way of shaving, the results are great.

They also sell various other headcare products, like some excellent moisturizing lotion (both in original High Gloss and new Matte) and an oil-free HeadShade sunscreen.

Oh, and according to their website, you can buy HeadBlades not only online, but at Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, WalMart, Meijer, and other places.

And if you’re curious or have some questions about HeadBlade, they’ve got some great HeadBlade 101 videos! (about using the HeadBlade and also about shaving your head in general–GREAT stuff!)

Yes, the Coffee Klatch blog is in the process of being uploaded and imported to this new site. Hopefully it won’t be long before it has the exact same look and feel and archives as the old one. Stay tuned and please come back to check.

Well, the first partial week of classes is over and I think I got just about everything caught up. We had three days of classes this week, which meant three days of partially staffing the Reference Desk. We’ll begin our evening desk hours Sunday night. Much of my week was scrambling to make tons of last-minute changes on the library website. Just an extra page here, a few links there… nothing ginormous (yes, that’s officially a word now–gotta love neologisms!) but the cumulative effect was that much of my free time was spent on website changes. That and getting everything ready at the Reference Desk for things like tracking our reference transactions (various types of interactions with people at the desk) and keeping statistics on which books in the Reference collection are getting used (we scan the barcodes in the books and reshelve them ourselves, so I had to get the interface ready for entering that data).

So things are going to start settling into a regular Fall routine this next week. Preliminary stuff is out of the way, we begin evening Ref. Desk hours next week, and we’ve got students using the library again. It’s always nice to have them back and see the library busy and being used!

On a personal note, my three boys all finished their first full week of school now. Things have started settling down for them, too, which is nice. They’re all at new schools and in regular public schools for the first time. Before this, it was either Christian schools or charter schools (which functioned almost like a poor man’s Christian school). Alaric’s in 8th grade now, Blaise is in 5th, and Camber is in 1st, and they’re all riding the bus to school. “The only thing that is constant is change.”

This is the week that classes begin here at Butler University. Classes start Wednesday as do our hours for staffing the Reference Desk in the library. So things are pretty busy with all the preparation tasks and scheduling and making sure everything’s ready. Making last-minute changes to web pages, getting procedures in place for things like Blackboard usage or Reference statistics, and communicating necessary things to the faculty are just some of these last-minute tasks that have me hopping this week.

A few weeks into the Fall semester and things will settle down into a somewhat regular routine, which will be nice.

What a week! Thursday was spent touching up spots as necessary and then running through the concert in the afternoon. We had a little time to rest after dinner before call time at 7:10. Despite mistakes that were being made even during that final run-through, the concert went VERY well! What a performance of quality music. The final piece, “epilogue,” was written and conducted by Don Allured, who founded the Bay View Week of Handbells and is commonly seen as the father of modern handbell music. “epilogue” really sounded like his swan song. It was very emotional and ended reverently and quietly with chimes playing the chorus of “God Be With You Until We Meet Again.” At one point during a rehearsal he said that for all he knows it could be the last time he conducts a group at Bay View. Everyone has a tremendous amount of respect and love for Don and it was an honor to play the world premiere of “epilogue” with him conducting.

Here’s the full list of our concert songs:

Gather Us In, by Philip L. Roberts
Thorncrown Chapel Portrait, by Sondra K. Tucker
Exodus Dance, by Derek K. Hakes
Contemplation on Ubi Caritas, by Catherine McMichael
Introduction and Allegro, by Donald E. Allured
Barcarolle, by Margaret R. Tucker
Colonel Bogey March, by Martha Lynn Thompson (yes, we whistled)
Lift High the Cross, by Cathy Moklebust
Celebration, by Fred Gramann
The Journey, by Arnold B. Sherman
God of Grace and God of Glory, by Martha Lynn Thompson
Psalm Nine, by Carl Wiltse
epilogue, by Donald E. Allured
The Lord Bless You and Keep You, by Peter C. Lutkin (sung a capella by all the ringers)

“Celebration” was written “in honor of Donald Allured and Carl Wiltse, in celebration of the 30th Bay View Week of Handbells, August 2007″ and “epilogue” was “commissioned by the Allured Composition Award Committee for the Bay View Week of Handbells 2007.” Both songs were world premieres and were written especially for this concert.

All in all, it was a WONDERFUL concert and I ordered a CD and DVD of it. There were five cameras filming the entire concert, so they can cut to different angles as they like while producing the video. Pretty cool!

Friday morning we had breakfast at the Bay View Inn (where we had the dinner Monday night) and we watched the video of the concert. It was a great show and was great to see most of the people that morning to say goodbye, etc. Then a 7.5-hour drive home just in time to get caught in rush hour traffic in Indianapolis.
Now I’m tired but fulfilled. It was a great week and I’m glad to have made it through without back, shoulder, arm, wrist, or hand problems. Sure there were aches and tiredness and some pains, but nothing serious, which is often a concern when ringing the really low bass bells. This was a great experience and I’ll be seriously considering going again next year. Maybe I can get more of my fellow members of the Circle City Ringers to go next year, too. The opportunity to work on and perfect great music, ring in an 8-octave mass ensemble, meet lots of other ringers and directors from around the world, and rub elbows with big name people from the handbell world is totally worth it!

It’s hard to believe that it’s already Wednesday night and tomorrow’s our concert. Yesterday was full of rehearsing: three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon, and one and a half in the evening–pretty intense! Today was another three hours in the morning and only about two in the afternoon. We have the evening off.

Before I came, I was concerned about endurance, since the handbells I’m ringing are about 8 pounds each. That’s a LONG time to continue moving that much metal around. If you don’t believe me, think of it this way. A regular hammer is about 2 pounds–3 if it’s a “heavy duty” hammer. Now take three hammers, hold one by the end of the handle and hang the other two off the end. Hold it all out in front of you and move it around in circles, up and down, etc. You can also try it with a gallon of milk or water on the end. See if you can keep it like that out in front of you for just 5 minutes. It’s HARD! But that’s what ringing bass handbells is like. All that weight is out in front of the handle you’re holding and you have to swing them out and up with a LOT of energy to get a good fortissimo. And I haven’t rung bells that heavy in over two years. With 6 hours on Monday, 7.5 hours on Tuesday, 5 hours today, and 5 or 6 hours tomorrow (plus the concert), that’s over 24 hours of “workout” in 3.5 days, and good reason to be concerned about endurance.

So far, it’s been pretty good. Using “healthy ringing” techniques and tricks that bass bell ringers know and share (e.g., using balance and angles to minimize the stress on your forearms), I’m here at the end of the third day feeling pretty okay.

There’s one gal (yes, girls ring bass also) that has to carry a bronze C-1 bell in for the processional that starts off the concert. That sucker is 2.5 octaves below the bottom line on the bass clef staff and it weighs about 25 pounds. Since it’s a processional, we repeat the first 16 measures until everyone’s on stage and in their places. She has to ring it in that first part 15 out of the 16 measures, and then repeat it about FOUR TIMES until we’re all in place and continuing on with the song. Dang!! Most people use aluminum bells when they go below C3, which is one of the notes I’m ringing, but we have one set of bronze to go with our aluminum ones. Those puppies are BIG and HEAVY!

Yesterday for lunch, the “Pit Bells” (those of us on the floor of the auditorium in the “orchestra pit”) went out to eat together, all wearing our “Pit Bells” shirts which have a logo of a bulldog head with a handbell in its mouth or sticking out its ear or something. The only way to get these shirts is to ring in the low bass at Bay View and you have to pre-order before the Week of Handbells gets underway. Quite the exclusive club!

This afternoon we actually did a run-thru, going through the entire concert and only stopping to fix things along the way. I guess it’s usually not done until Thursday, so maybe that says something good about our music-making this year.

For those who hadn’t had enough ringing, there was a Reading Session during the free time this afternoon. I sat and listened for the first half or so, and then someone had to leave, so I stepped in and rang at the bottom. It was the G3-A3-B3 bells (bottom of the bass clef), but since I’d been ringing lower and heavier bells, they felt really light. At the end, we got to play through “Rondo Azzurro,” a piece I wrote for the Circle City Ringers a couple years ago. Got some great feedback and people seemed to like it even though it was syncopated throughout, fast, difficult, and using some WICKED accidentals. It prompted me to do an evil laugh and rub my hands together.
Tomorrow we’ll work on trouble spots in the morning and run through the concert again in the afternoon. After the 8:00 concert, we strike the whole stage, pack up the bells, fold up the tables, etc., etc. We’ve got a reception afterwards and Friday morning at breakfast we’ll get to watch a video of the concert before we head home. Pretty cool!

And with the evening off, I’m going to bed early. Nine hours of sleep sounds AWFUL good about now!

The first day is finished and it was great! We got to Bay View about 11:15, so there was time to acclimated, etc., before rehearsal started at 12:00. It went until 4:30, which is LONG for a handbell rehearsal. Especially when you’re ringing low bass.
Dinner was at a local restaurant and was excellent. We all had been preassigned tables to sit at, for enforced mingling, and we even had our names at our seats. The food and conversation were excellent and there was a special presentation of a commissioned art work (2 paintings, actually) that were given to Don Allured and Carl Wiltse in honor of this 30th anniversary of the Bay View Week of Handbells and all their work and dedication over the years.

Then we had another hour and a half rehearsal in the evening, ending with a little ice cream social, where we got to mingle and talk more.

Bed was welcome and late.
Now it’s off to a full day of rehearsals–3 hours this morning, 3 hours this afternoon, and 1.5 hours this evening. Whew!!

Well, I’m on my way to Bay View. It’s a little town just east of Petoskey, Michigan, and is also the shorthand name for the Bay View Week of Handbells. Each summer there is a Music Festival in Bayview and this week of handbells ends with a concert Thursday night that’s part of the Music Festival. We get there Monday morning and rehearse and rehearse and rehearse and have fun throughout, leading up to the concert Thursday night. If I remember correctly, we’ve got about 28 hours of rehearsal between Monday noon and Thursday afternoon. That’s a LOT of rehearsing! Especially since everyone got their music and assignments during the summer and is expected to arrive on Monday ready to play their parts AT TEMPO on all of the 13 songs! No pressure!

Two of us from the Circle City Ringers are going to Bay View this year. Thanks to my good friends Dave and Juli Baldwin in Grand Rapids (Dave’s starting his own business brewing and selling mead, called Michigan Meadery, and his Orange Spice Mead won BEST IN SHOW in this year’s International Mead Festival), we were able to divide our 7.5/8-hour trip into two segments, staying at their house Sunday night (and sampling some “wares,” including a rare BUBBLY mead that was almost like champagne). Now it’s early Monday morning and we’ve got about 3 hours left to drive, planning to arrive between 10:30 am and noon.

It’ll be a long week–especially since I’m ringing some heavy bass bells for all those hours–but it’ll be worth it and lots of fun. Especially with all the networking and meeting people that will go on outside of rehearsal times. Things like an ice cream social and Bass Bell Luncheon. The final concert will have five sets of handbells, all 6 to 8 octaves, and should be quite impressive. I think I’ll be able to get a CD or DVD of the concert. That would be great.

I really can’t understand cable companies. They give you a nice discount to sign up and then if you decide to stick with them, they raise your rates. I mean, it would make sense to me that if you continued with them longer, they should REWARD your loyalty by giving you perks or lower rates or something. So why do they charge you MORE for staying with them?

I signed up for Comcast’s “Triple Play” last year, which gave me cable for $33, high-speed internet access for $33, and digital voice phone service for $33 a month. Of course, there’s always hidden fees like modem rental, $10/month extra for DIGITAL cable, cable box rental, etc. Plus taxes on the phone service, but that’s going to happen regardless of your phone service.

So this year I found out that after this startup deal was finished my rates were going to go up by almost $50 a month. I called them this last week to find out how much prices were going up and to compare my options. I also looked at all the other options I have for Cable/Satellite TV, I found out that DISH Network had the best prices overall. $29.99/month for the Top 100 package. DirecTV was over $40 for a similar package. Comcast’s basic digital cable was going from $43 to $69 a month. Basic analog cable is $54 a month and I could get it down to $37 if I dropped all the “interesting” channels like History Channel, Disney, Nickelodeon, etc.

Once I called Comcast today to cancel my cable service (since I just got DISH Network installed), they offered to give me a discount and stay basically at the current rate if I kept all 3 services. While I saw that as a decent option, I’d already signed up with DISH. My internet access is going from the original $33/month to $43/month. Phone service is going from $33 to $45, but I need to keep it because otherwise the internet service will go up to $57/month. Plus $3/month for the cable modem rental. And then they surprise me with an extra $18 charge for them to “downgrade” my cable, meaning come out and pick up the receiver and disconnect the cable TV service.

And all because I can’t get DSL at this house. Otherwise I’d use Earthlink for DSL, DISH for satellite TV, and something non-AT&T for phone. But apparently we’re in a pocket where DSL just doesn’t reach, so if I want high-speed internet access (and I assuredly do), I have to use a cable modem.

BTW, DISH has some discounts now that basically give me HD service for free. At least for $10 months. But I can downgrade if I need to when it comes to it. Unless I get so addicted to HDTV that I’m willing to pay a little more for it. So now I pay about the same as I used to, but I have DISH network with HDTV and local channels in HD right through my satellite box.