new semester... new things...

Our new semester at ASU begins in a little over 10 hours... geez... seems like yesterday I was sitting in juries - now we get to do it all over again. Oh well, nothing like more school. It's been a great break though.

Mary and I headed out to Missouri to visit her family for Christmas, then we went over to Indiana to visit my family for the new year. It was really nice seeing everyone over the holiday spending some time away from the euphonium... yes, everyone needs a break now-and-then.

We got back to Tempe a week ago and caught up on everything that we needed to. This semester is going to be great, there is a lot happening. First, Mary and I are planning a new addition to our family... no, not a child - better. We're getting a puppy. We thought we'd start small before we decide to bring any children into the mix. I'm kind of a "softy" as Mary puts it, so she'll have to put the iron fist to the dog because I'll just cave when it comes to discipline. Mary says that I'll have to keep my wits about me when it comes time to "say no" to the dog, because she doesn't want to be the one that the dog "hates" all the time.

Something interesting the other day. I was browsing a few Apple-geek websites, and I saw an add for Just For Fun on it from Amazon. I know that your cookies determine the adds that you see, but I had to take a picture of it. Here's a screen shot:


I know it's dorky, but that disc is like a child. I talked with Steven Mead the other day, and he speaks of his discs in the same manner. If people knew how much work those take, they would definitely think twice about doing it before they began... ;)

On the CD front Potenza Music is about to release the Droste remastered disc, which has been in the works for WAY too long. I've had the thing forever it seems like - and the artwork has been done as well. With getting Just For Brass off the ground in late-07, it kinda took the back burner as well. You can preorder or check out the content on the disc by clicking here.

Stepping Stones for Tuba, vol.1 from Scott Watson will be arriving in probably late-Feb if I had to put my finger on it. We're rolling on the artwork, but it's still a little early to set a release date. I just received the pre-edit from Brent Philips who is doing Stepping Stones for Trombone, vol.1 and it's incredible! It has about 8 standard trombone solos plus a live recording of him playing Blue Bells with "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band. Pretty cool - - - the Marine Band on a Potenza Music recording...

Anyway, I hope that everyone had a great holiday, and I am doing my best to update my blog more regularly. I know that people read it, and I'm sorry for those that think I need to "get on the stick" about the blog. I'm a bit busy, but I'm trying... have a great day everyone!