@Robrtx said in Happy Birthday Bix !!!!:

116 years young........

At the risk of going way off topic, we adopted a rescue dog (white German Shepherd) back in October. The shelter names didn't fit, and I wanted a short and distinct name so he'd know when I'm talking to him. Plus, he's "really cool" so we named him Bix. And we needed a birth date to license him, so we picked March 10th.

Not only does he not mind my playing, he seems to love it (must have a tin ear and no real taste in music). He lies next to me when I'm playing, and even pesters me if I haven't started practicing at the normal time.

@Newell-Post said in RIP Trumpet "Master":

...flugelgirl too. Need more ladies. Too much testosterone on trumpet sites sometimes....

Flugelgirl has joined us. Welcome!! Please join the Qualified Repair Techs group as well.

This message is from a Marine Corps Colonel in Afghanistan. I think he'd be ok with Whitney and Gaga's renditions. Fingers crossed for the Super Bowl.

"So with all the kindness I can muster, I give this one piece of advice to the next pop star who is asked to sing the national anthem at a sporting event: save the vocal gymnastics and the physical gyrations for your concerts.

Just sing this song the way you were taught to sing it in kindergarten - straight up, no styling "Sing it with the constant awareness that there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines watching you from bases and outposts all over the world. Don't make them cringe with your self-centered ego gratification.

Sing it as if you are standing before a row of 96-year-old WWII vets wearing their Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and flag pins on their cardigans and you want them to be proud of you for honoring them and the country they love - not because you want them to think you are a superstar musician. They could see that from your costume, makeup and your entourage.

Sing 'The Star Spangled Banner' with the courtesy and humility that tells the audience that it is about America, not you.

And please not everything needs to be spunked up! We’re getting a little weary of that.

Francis Scott Key does not need any help."

@Kehaulani said in What Is Your Favorite Version of the National Anthem?:

As an aside, many of the interpretations I hear at major sporting events make me want to puke.

Like this version?

@tjcombo

From Wikipedia: In 1955 Gleason gambled on making it (The Honeymooners) a separate series entirely. These are the "Classic 39" episodes, which finished 19th in the ratings for their only season. They were filmed with a new DuMont process, Electronicam; like kinescopes, it preserved a live performance on film but with higher quality, comparable to a motion picture. That turned out to be Gleason's most prescient move. A decade later, he aired the half-hour Honeymooners in syndicated reruns that began to build a loyal and growing audience, making the show a television icon.

Frame from the end of this episode.

“Some days you get up and put the horn to your chops and it sounds pretty good and you win. Some days you try and nothing works and the horn wins. This goes on and on and then you die and the horn wins.” — Dizzy Gillespie

@dupac said in Why not another thread about bigger horns ?:

I know a lot of people on this board also play alto/tenor horn, euphonium, and so on...
So do I (Yamaha alto):

Guilty as charged. Wessex BR140 Baritone. I'm even worse on it than on the small horns, but it's a lot of fun.

@trumpetlearner

And the LEAST common method is probably the one I use on my Connstellation. Two zip/cable ties added to adjacent pipes so that the "knobs" hit. It doesn't interfere with playing, and rotating one tie to move the knob enables slide removal for cleaning or draining.

@jamiejazz

I suspect we'll be hearing from Dr Go on this topic.

Hmmm... now that I think of it, "Dr Go" fits the topic in a way.

1903 Connqueror.

Hal kills Dave in simulation:

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-artificial-intelligence-drone/

I disagree, Trumpetb.

If a computer does exactly what it was told to do in the code despite the fact that it isn't what the programmer wanted, that does not constitute a case of the computer acting outside of its programming. It's a case of erroneous programming.

@administrator said in Bots are getting scary:

There are a lot pitfalls with AI, but mostly, there are just a lot of unknowns. It's new territory. "Artificial Intelligence" is not actually intelligence. It's just programming. The thing I have learned about computers, being a programmer myself, is that they do EXACTLY what you tell them to do. The problem is knowing what you are actually telling them to do, that's where bugs come from. It is extremely hard to account for every possible variable that could arise, and program behavior becomes wildly unpredictable when unaccounted-for variables are thrown into the mix. This is partly why I'm not looking forward to "self-driving" cars.

Yes, they do EXACTY what you tell them to do and NOT what you WANT them to do. I remember doing the batch runs for our college computer back in the early 70s. The freshman math majors always asked why their program wouldn't run. I always asked "what did you expect it to do, based on your code.? Let's pretend you're the computer."

It's obviously immensely more complicated with modern apps and AI, but pretending to be the computer is still a good approach. And then assume that anything that could possibly go wrong probably will, and allowing for it.

Nerves of Steel - Woman stops 3.5metre croc with .22 pistol.

Absolutely amazing and deeply moving story of an Aussie woman's bravery with a tiny .22 calibre pistol yet.
They are like a mosquito bite to a big croc.
A Darwin woman, Beverly Thompson, 38, has stopped a crocodile attack using a small .22 calibre Ruger pistol.
This is a story of self-control and marksmanship by a brave, cool-headed woman with a small pistol against a fierce predator.
Here's her story in her own words:
"While walking along the edge of a lake near my house in the Zuccoli Village Estate near Darwin discussing a property settlement with my soon-to-be ex-husband, and other divorce issues, we were surprised by a huge 3.5metre crocodile which suddenly emerged from the murky water. It began charging us with its large jaws wide open. She must have been protecting her nest because she was extremely aggressive. If I had not had my little Ruger .22 calibre pistol with me, I wouldn't be here today!" said Beverly.
“Just one shot to my estranged husband's kneecap was all it took. The croc got him easily, and I was able to escape by just walking away at a brisk pace. The amount I saved in lawyer's fees was really incredible, and his life insurance was also a big bonus!”

@kehaulani
If you view it on YouTube, you'll see it.

(Click on the word YouTube at the bottom right of the window).

The comments are pretty entertaining, too.

@dbtrumpet

Thanks, Dave, for posting this warmup routine. I've found it very valuable in several ways. It took me a few tries to figure out how to play it, and more to play it reasonably well. It's a nice little workout--even a routine you can run through when there's no real practice time.

Being a rank amateur, I should probably pick a horn and a mouthpiece and stick with it, but I love cycling through the horns in my signature. It used to take me a while to make the switch, but this exercise works as a "reset" for me. Even going to the baritone is easier.

I also owe you thanks for a post you made quite a while ago over on the oTHer site. You quoted a discussion about using a 3x5 card to determine your dominant lip. That led me to discover that I'm weird (in yet another way) in that my bottom lip is dominant. I can play a reasonable tone with a business card over my top lip, but the only thing I can get out with the bottom lip covered is a pedal tone.

What did I learn from that?

1. I believe I'm an upstream player with low MP placement. Moving the mouthpiece down a bit more allowed me to disable the double buzz I was getting at low C -- where my upper lip wanted to join in.

2. I'd always believed the accepted science that the top lip was dominant, so you should punish the lower lip when pressure was required. Doing that cut off my top range, making high C impossible other than early in the session.

3. The lower MP placement cleared up the tubbiness on low G and F#.

Using a bit of pressure on the top lip (in lieu of the bottom) helps with high range. Too bad my dog starts to whine when I get above high C. Otherwise, I could practice up there.

When asked for his opinion on the new US Space Force Anthem, USAF Chief of Staff General C. Q. Brown's response was “I’m sure it will grow on us.”

He was being far too kind, IMHO.

@tjcombo said in Musician Jokes:

Mother to young son "what do you want to do when you grow up?

Son - "I want to be a trumpet player mummy".

Mother - "I'm sorry darling, you can't do both"

It seems that a lot of trumpet player jokes are interchangeable with fighter pilot jokes.

@dr-go said in Old Photo:

Here is one of me in 1976 with my Rock Band:

That is NOT what a rock band looked like in 1976. I guess you're just playing on the name?