okay, i'll "bite" (haha): what is your favorite pastry?

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
love this story! i can picture it so well.

Aha, found the poem:


PRELUDE TO WINTER

The moth under the eaves
with wings like
the bark of a tree, lies
symmetrically still --

And love is a curious
soft-winged thing
unmoving under the eaves
when the leaves fall.

Hmmm, I can see how she was smitten.

there is one member of WTF whose life I'd like to live and it is your's, Joe.

i want to live where you live, do what you do and have one of those NY outdoor woks, and drink those fancy teas, i'd like to bike often.

(not that my life is not fun and fulfilling).

Would you like to describe a typical day.. how many hours do you play.. what do you eat, when do you awake.. what do you listen to, read, watch????

Continuing to take these in order (I'm such a rule-follower):

How did the interest in tea begin?

* * * * *

The tea scene was grim in the 1960s. Somehow I got into it anyway. In my home town of Buffalo, there was only one shop downtown that had exotic teas (and by "exotic" I mean tins of Twinings!) Along with the tiny jars of spices and the cans of chocolate-covered ants (see, we're talking real gourmet here.)

So I tried various tea in little tins, the Twinings varieties, the Wagner varieties. I settled on oolong as a favorite (then only the fairly well-roasted ones were available, and only from Taiwan).

San Francisco in the 1970s offered a broader range, though I was converted to coffee there by an adult piano student who *just happened* to own, with his male partner, a prominent coffee-roasting concern in the city. So, I "learned" good coffee (still have an old English iron hand-grinder from those days). Tea played second-fiddle for a few years after I discovered how good real coffee is.

As food in America improved in the 1980s and 1990s, so did the availability of good tea. I found Ten Ren, a huge tea outlet in NY's Chinatown, where I discovered the lightly-oxidized oolongs (though I no longer think much of the place). Then through the internet, met up with fellow tea-hounds in NYC. We corresponded, eventually met up, and continue to exchange news of our latest scores. We shre samples. We meet at people's apartments. And we have a private e-mail group where we compare notes. And we have first-name access to some pretty awesome tea growers and sources.

But to tell you the truth, the other guys are so far beyond me now. I don't have the inclination to read 2 dozen tea blogs a day, or purchase Chinese magazines on pu-erh tea (full-color loose tea porn!) I just do the best I can, and even so, I think I do pretty well.

Tea, like music, can consume a lifetime. It leaves coffee far behind; there's so much variety, even if you don't count BLACK tea. Always something new to explore!

You've mentioned cycling. How long have you been riding? What are you riding now? What's been your longest (time/distance) ride to date? Tell us about some of your favorite rides (pictures optional).

* * * * *

Oh, man. All these questions about major areas of my life! I think I need to write a memoir!

Though I biked as a youngster/teen, I really got into it during the bike boom of the early 1970s in San Francisco. My wife's (then girlfriend's) mother bought us both matching Raleigh Grand Prix road bicycles! These bikes with drop handlebars were a new thing for us, but we took to them immediately (still our preference). The Grand Prix was a low-end bike back then, but we rode the heck out of them.

In San Francisco, one of my major commutes was from the bay side where we lived (Potrero Hill) to the ocean side (where I taught at the SF Conservatory, Sunset district). Over the famous SF hills, not thinking anything of it, with only 2 chainrings and the fairly high gearing of those days. Oh, to be 22 again!

I continued to ride everywhere I've lived since then. It's in the blood, and it makes me happy. I've had a couple of accidents (my fault, actually) but that hasn't deterred me. Here in NYC I try to ride year-round because the winters are pretty mild...although this past winter I got lazy.

I enjoy riding as much when I'm just doing errands or puttering to the beach, or doing a 40-mile day ride in New Jersey. In this I differ from the folks in the local bike club. I've been a member since about 1980, but in recent years the members are the type always devoted to being the fastest and having the latest equipment, etc. The group wasn't always that way. I just don't care about that stuff.

From about 1985 to 2000 I rode a used steel Raleigh Super Course (one or two steps above the Grand Prix). Then in 2000 I splurged and got a custom Rivendell. A traditional steel bike, but a fine one with artistic touches and a subtle beauty. Not a racer; it's meant for all-around riding. It's my nice bike. I bought a beater (ca. 1980 Univega) for winter riding last year.

Longest ride to date? Maybe 60 miles in one day. I don't aspire to doing a century (100). For many, of course, that's the holy grail.

One of the best rides was a tour we took of the region skirting the border of New York State and Pennsylvania, in the 1980s. Few people realize how remote that area is. The Endless Mountains area of PA is just gorgeous, with vast expanses of hills spreading toward the horizon. (Don't tell anyone; they'll spoil it!) Wellsboro is a lovely little town lit by gaslight.

The ride that sticks in my memory the most is a grand tour of northern New England around 1976, just my wife and myself. We took the first week with an organized group in Vermont, then worked out our own route through New Hampshire and Maine with some help from a youth hostels handbook (though we stayed in N.E.inns). Three weeks of hard but blissful riding. Glorious. And we were in the best shape of our lives!

And we did it all on those modest Raleigh Grand Prix's!

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:
Should I keep answering these in order received?

"Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received."

quote:

Originally posted by LJC:
Hey Joe, how did the rug under the piano work out?

After all that talk, I haven't done it yet!

quote:

Originally posted by Jeffrey:
How did you pick your piano?

How did I pick my piano? I should write a book!

My old Weber from 1917 -- a really good old USA piano, but I beat the heck out of it. Probably needed a whole new action, and to tell the truth, a rebuild. That made me consider getting something else.

I was going to look exclusively at S&S, but a pianist I know in Berkeley has a rebuilt 9'4" Mason & Hamlin from the 19-oughts. I visited her, played it, and thought I couldn't imagine a piano better than that!

So I resolved to start looking at M&H too. I was on a budget and had to get a rebuilt. I wasn't going to get a 9 footer, but someone informed me about this one on eBay. It was from 1928, and had been rebuilt by Camilleri in 1985. Went to see it...action was terribly heavy, and it had no "sound" except in the bass -- hammers too soft. But the inspecting tech said it should be fine. Other techs were also enthusiastic about it, even sight unseen. So I bought it, had action work done, and also opted to get the case refinished.

I wish I'd known more about piano hammers when I bought it. I sent it off to have that work done, and they livened up the hammers considerably, but by use of lacquer. Now, five years later, they are strident and unpleasant, and techs can't do anything with voicing. If I'd known better, I would have left them soft and played them in.

Prior to finding the Mason, I'd looked at pianos on and off for about 8 years, while still nursing the Weber along. Limitation was always price. Only one other piano really sang to me, an early-20th-century Steinway B that had been lovingly rebuilt by AC Pianocraft. But alas, between my first (alone) and second (with technician) inspections, the owner had raised the asking price from $20K to $28K! Bummer!

quote:

Oh, man. All these questions about major areas of my life! I think I need to write a memoir! Big Grin

That's the idea.

A couple pictures.



Joe and his duo partner, Sarah

I'll dig a couple more out in a bit . . .

Good idea KK!

I have a couple of pics...

Joe on right with Dan on left at Dan's Piano Party on LI last year.



Joe purusing at same party.

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
love this story! i can picture it so well.

Aha, found the poem:


PRELUDE TO WINTER

The moth under the eaves
with wings like
the bark of a tree, lies
symmetrically still --

And love is a curious
soft-winged thing
unmoving under the eaves
when the leaves fall.

:swoon: I can see why Mrs. RP paid attention.

[Edit: Ha ha kathyk--great minds....]

Those are cool M&H leather jackets!!

OK, my question-- who are your favorite composers to listen to? to play? (assuming they are different)

And to make it interesting, you have to include at least some from pre-1900ish.

RP,
Thanks for all the info.

For those that don't love bicycles, a Rivendell is a well respected, semi-custon classy bike for those that love bikes to ride and not to race.

Rp,
It is time to ride a century. Pick one of the supported rides and enjoy.

Previous questions have covered what I wanted to know, except

Have you got a picture of yourself from the Woodstock era? That might be a hoot.

Actually, CHAS, the Rivendell was a full custom in 2000. It's true, recently the bulk of their output has been bikes built to their specs overseas, but there's always been a top level custom model made in the USA, and that's what I got.

I was asked for specific measurements, weight, intended use, etc., and the frame came with a drawing noting what tubing and dimension were used for each specific tube on the frame.

Glad I got it when I did, too. Probably couldn't afford one now!

quote:

Originally posted by Jeffrey:
How has the NYC music scene changed over the last 20 years?

I can only speak to my little niche, not the NYC music scene as a whole.

Following what composers have been doing, it was in the minimalist phase when I arrived here. Sometime after that, the downtown new music scene, for younger composers, evolved around a lot of rock/noise/punk influence. And if not overtly rock-referential, there is sort of an aggressive, in-your-face attitude about it. That has spread to the way music is marketed and advertised too, and I think it is just sort of ugly.

I haven't come to terms with it yet. I think the elements of rock are rather simple. A serious composer could work with those elements, but would have to be pretty brilliant to make a great end product. I need music that keeps ME interested -- I need to hear an intellectual component -- and a lot of it out there right now just doesn't, I guess. Maybe I'm in a musical midlife crisis.

On the performing scene, I see younger performers coming along who do what I do and they are busier than I am. So there are anxieties even in my line of work!