Journal Entries
Coffee Maker
Posted Jan 2, 2001
I just got a Gaggia coffee maker for Christmas! This is a pump-operated espresso maker which also makes good cups of (weaker) plain black coffee. The coffee is just fantastic! The pressure of the pump manages to extract all the flavour from the coffee without heating the coffee to boiling point, so the bitter oils are left behind.
There is a steam attachment for frothing milk, but it seems to be tricky to use and I haven't bothered with it: for making cappucinos, I use a "swizzle stick".
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Latest reply: Jan 2, 2001
First Edited Guide Entry
Posted Dec 4, 2000
My "Music of Mahler" entry has been edited and made part of the Official Guide. It was presented on Friday, so it was on the front page for the whole weekend. The is the first entry I've had published that was all my own work. I previously had a paragraph published in "How to Survive Extreme Weather".
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Latest reply: Dec 4, 2000
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Posted Nov 27, 2000
On Saturday, I saw a wonderful production of the opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" by Shostakovich. This was put on by Opera Ireland in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. There was a huge orchestra, so big that they had to occupy two of the boxes as well as the orchestra pit. The orchestra was very heavy in the brass section, with about 10 trumpets. The opera itself is a great old tale of love, sex, betrayal and murder, with the main character making love to one and killing three people on stage by the end of the show.
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Latest reply: Nov 27, 2000
New Guide Entry
Posted Sep 29, 2000
I've just added the first draft of my "How to play the recorder" guide. It will need a bit of tidying up, particularly making the fingering charts readable, before it is ready to become and Edited Entry.
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Latest reply: Sep 29, 2000
My first journal entry
Posted Sep 29, 2000
This is my first journal entry. It's mainly here to get rid of the awful message that was in this space before.
I just heard about a new musical instrument. For me, this is a major event. This one looks easy enough to play and doesn't cost much. It is the Xaphoon. There's only one person who makes them and only one place you can get them, in Maui, Hawaii. It looks like a bamboo flute but sounds like a saxophone. As far as I can see, this is actually a bamboo clarinet, similar to the chalumeau from which the clarinet is supposed to have been developed, but it certainly does sound like a saxophone.
I think my next project will be to build something like this, using an old clarinet mouthpiece and some wavin pipe.
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Latest reply: Sep 29, 2000
Gnomon - time to move on
Researcher U151503
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