Woodstick 2008
Published: Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:31:51 GMT
Last weekend was Woodstick 2008. This is the annual event where drummers gather to raise money (this year for hearing regeneration research, naturally) and jam together. In 2006 we set a world record of 533 playing simultaneously. That record remains hard to beat. This year we simulcast the event over the Internet to several other cities around North America who played with us. We had 315 drummers at the local event hosted by the Donn Bennett Drum Studio. Here's what it looked like:  
I was also pleased to add another awesome drummer to the long list of drummers I've met through the cool events at Donn's shop. This year, it was Pearl Jam's Matt Cameron. I helped out at the event (with the Internet broadcast) and prior to the event happened to see Matt hanging out outside the gym where we were setting up. I got a chance to thank him for the amazing live shows I've seen (thanks Mike!) and we talked about the spectacle that is several hundred drummers all playing in the same room. He's was a very approachable rock-star, and it was very cool to meet him. 
There are more photo's on Donn's site here. 
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My Local Drum Shop
Published: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:16:43 GMT
My local drum shop is pretty special. I've gone so far as to compare it to the shops I've been to in New York, LA, and Chicago. I have also been known to tell people that if I could have moved anywhere in the country because of the quality of the local drum shop, Bellevue, WA would have been pretty much at the top. This coming weekend, the Donn Bennett Drum Studio will host Woodstick 2008: an attempt to raise some money for a few good causes while trying to break the world record for the largest number of drummers playing drumsets simultaneously. Although this event started here with Donn's shop in 2003, this year the event is being done at 9 locations around the country. The PR for this year's event is in full swing, and there was a segment on our local Evening Magazine program with some cool video of Donn and his shop - for those of you who have only ever heard me talk about it, here's a virtual tour: http://www.king5.com/video/eveningmagazine-index.html?nvid=297672 It's good being a drummer in this town...
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Amazing Fall color
Published: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:13:53 GMT
I've lived in Seattle since 1995. I've also been fortunate enough to see fall color in New England, the mid-west, and in Pennsylvania where I grew up. I don't think I've ever seen it like this... For the last week I've been pretty much in awe of the color we have in Seattle this fall. The classic Seattle fall is a blast of color, followed by rain and wind that knocks the leaves to the ground and makes a slippery mess. This fall has been fairly dry, with cool nights, and a very nice gradual change in color in our foliage. And with no wind storm (yet) the leaves have stayed on the tree and put on quite a show. Here are a couple shots from near my office:  
Our backyard has had a pretty good show too. I even got the dog to pose for me :-)   
 
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Breakfast of Champions
Published: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:31:10 GMT
I found myself at Pike Place Market for breakfast last week and have found what is, without a doubt, my new favorite Seattle breakfast. Sorry Top Pot, you'll continue to make a fine afternoon snack, but for a real breakfast, I have a new love. Behold the wonders of Pike Place Market:  
On the left is a pastrami, egg & cheese breakfast sandwich from the I Love New York Deli (near the news stand). The rumor is that the pastrami is flown in from New York. Not sure if it's true, but it is definitely delicious. The kaiser roll was very soft, and each bite was a beautiful, warm, and melty. There's a small area with a couple places to sit right next to the deli, and you can see I got to look out the window at the morning bustle while I ate. On the right, I found a good latte in the market at a little place called Local Color. I'm not about to switch my allegiance to Cafe Ladro, which is my absolute favorite coffee around. That said, since I was in the market, had a fresh monster cookie, and was looking for a place to enjoy it with a slow read of the latest Seattle Weekly, Local Color fit the bill. They have a lot of local art hanging on the walls, and a couple of garage doors that open their entire store front to the market. I got exactly what I needed: good coffee, the best cookie in Seattle, a nice chance to read the Weekly, and again, a chance to watch the morning market activity. Mornings like this make me wonder why we don't live in a condo closer to the market...
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