Wednesday, October 29

Post 1301, Day 302 of 2014
- 1,398 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

My first instrument was the guitar. My parents enrolled me in a group class with a rented guitar shortly before my tenth birthday. The guitar was terrible and played badly. I complained and the teachers got angry. My next teacher, for about six months, was Marlene Feingold.

I played guitar for eight years, with side-trips to alto sax (High School band), bassoon (High School orchestra), and bass (needed by bands). Sax was a flirtation, and bassoon was imposed by my parents.

The problem with all these instrument side trips was that I didn't know what to do with the participating instruments. The reasons for this were that I didn't understand, in general, and despite participating in bands and orchestra, how musical instruments worked together, or how to put their unique voices in service to the music. I also didn't care for the material I was learning on them. On guitar, I played folk, pop, rock - but it was really nothing to me but a vocal accompaniment. I didn't have much feel for guitar, despite my enthusiasm.

Sax and bassoon weren't good for me because, besides the reasons above, I liked to sing (that's an emotional, not a qualitative statement).
And I was no good at bass in those days. I had no feel, no understanding of the bass's role in the music I liked.

My enlightenment and epiphany on bass came from my High School best friend Thom Jones taking me to see the Motown Review, with the Motown Orchestra, at the Apollo theater. There were a few elements that made this an ah-ha moment for me.

First, and most importantly, this was the first time I had ever seen any Motown live, and the music I heard became, from that date on, really important to me.

Almost as important: Unlike typical Apollo shows, the orchestra was not in the pit, they were onstage on risers, creating a big-band-jazz look behind the various singing groups.

And, finally, the band was led by the bass player.

And that's when the power of the bass, the beauty of the bass, the function of the bass, the idea of the bass, and the way it could move people, hit me. It hit me hard.

I dropped the sax and bassoon almost immediately. I still played guitar, but only as a singer, and I never sang while playing bass.

In a few years, it was all about bass.

Food and Diet Section

2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:          208.0 lbs

Previous Weight:         210.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:       - 2.2 lbs

Diet Comment

First loss since before the weekend. Good! Next weekend coming up... 

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
At Ling-Ling's Chinese Buffet and Grill:

Brussels sprouts, kimchee, and, from the "Mongolian Grill", my go-to dish: pork and chicken with cabbage, onions, mushrooms, green peppers and broccoli. A Quest bar for dessert.

Dinner
Celery with mayonnaise and Quest bars.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  0 oz.   Water: 88+ oz. Two shots of Jameson's.

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