Notes_Norton

Blues For Alice - Charlie Parker

When in Vienna the highlights for me were Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concert Seeing/hearing Dvorak's opera Rusalka I'm not usually a church attender, but they had an orchestra, pipe organ and full chorus - the priest did some entertaining in the German language while the musicians were on break Oh, and the food was very good. The people were pleasant and the public transportation was good and efficient. I don't care where Beethoven lived, but I really like his symphonies #3, #4 and #7 plus a lot of his shorter works. Notes ♫

Sounds like you need to give up your day job I've been making a living doing music and nothing but music for most of my life. There would have been more money in my pocket if I had pursued the electronics career I was also trained for, but two short-lived day jobs doing that cured me of ever wanting to be normal. On the other hand, I've made enough money to pay off the mortgage, keep the refrigerator full, buy new cars but drive them until they are undependable, and taken nice vacations every year as close as the US and as far as Australia and China. I'm not the richest cat in the neighborhood, but I have more than I need. Yes it takes an unusual person to make a living playing music. But I don't know any of us who regret becoming a career musician. Those who weren't right for this life have long dropped out, taken a day job, and perhaps became a weekend warrior. I don't suppose anyone will put a bronze plaque on my house saying "Notes Norton Lived Here" after I'm gone, but I'm sure those plaques mean nothing to Beethoven or Liszt. When you're gone, you're gone and whether they remember my name or not isn't as important as my enjoying my time on this side of the sod. Insights and incites by Notes ♫

"White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane repeated lyrics... "Go ask Alice"

Golden Lady - Stevie Wonder

Fully Groan

I've been gigging for a living ever since I got out of school. Gigging is great, except for: A**-hole Club Managers A**-hole Agents A**-hole other musicians There have probably been a number of times when I've been in group #3 But when playing live in front of an appreciative audience, it's all worth it. Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Jealous Bone - Patty Loveless

We gigged for a Halloween Costume party at a gated upper-middle class community last night. Defying our governor's executive order, only fully vaccinated people were invited. We had a great time. We've played this group a couple of times per year pre-COVID and it was good to see and play with old friends again. When we pulled up to unload our gear, we saw this sign:

Get a new bass player. I learned when I was young, never hire someone who drinks on the gig. Life is too short to deal with that. Notes ♫

This is really interesting, well done, and the guy can sing...

I did Apple for a number of years. They are even more aggressive in their "upgrade or perish" policy than Windows, it's a lot more expensive, and the OS isn't really all that different. I let my software decide which OS I use. The StyleMaker app in Band-in-a-Box Windows has more features than its Apple app. It lets me write better aftermarket BiaB styles. Since that is part of my musical income, it requires me to have a Windows PC. For years the styles weren't 100% compatible (they are now) so I needed to also have a Mac. The Mac required expensive updates. They went from Motorola chips to IBM chips to Intel, then changed to a version of Unix, and on and on and on. Each change rendered my existing software apps obsolete, and so they also needed expensive updates -- that is, if they were still in business. If I had some software that I need to make a living with that worked better on Apple, I'd still keep up with Apple's upgrade or perish policy, but since I don't, I'll live with Microsoft's upgrade or perish policy. Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Like Young - Buddy Greco

Every time either MS or Apple needs a stock boost, it's "Upgrade Or Perish". I plan on sticking with Win10 for now. I'm in no rush to be a virtual beta tester for Win 11. Let them get the bugs out first, and if I see a clear advantage to upgrading, I will, if not, I'll wait until Win10 is about to expire. I still have an XP computer that works fine, and as long as I don't connect to the Internet, it does what I want it to do. Notes ♫

We Are The Champions - Queen

A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 7 in C major, Leningrad (1941) - London Philharmonic / Valery Gergiev

Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics

Eight Miles High -The Byrds

Straight, No Chaser - Thelonious Monk When I was gigging in a jazz band in the 1980s, we played this one often.

Empty Spaces - Pink Floyd