The Box

March 25, 2018
Unfinished, but functional! My basement studio construction project over the past two years has been a journey and I have learned a lot about building and soundproofing while fulfilling my dream of having a working sound-space in my home. I have always had a place to play music everywhere I've lived, but never a separate and dedicated room for the endeavor; today I sit inside it with great satisfaction! Finishing work remains (making a punch list for myself), but it has already become a musical laboratory. I can descend anytime my other obligations allow and let the jams flow! It…

I Ski

March 20, 2018
It's been 69 days since my last entry here, which is slow news for me. It's been a hunker-down few months with work, and we are currently spinning into our fourth Nor'easter of the month, so SKIING! I spent a weekend exploring Sterling back-country around Stowe, touring into and sleeping at the classic Burling Camp and enjoying beautiful lines on the surrounding mountains. I scored an incredible day at Plattekill after 45" fell over 48 hours and skied Stowe with my favorite ski partner (and no kids!) after five feet in the past week. Eleven days on skis so far…

Old Year/New Year

January 10, 2018
It's been a fantastic month for the author. I threw myself a "surprise" 40th birthday party and played music and shared videos with some of the most important people in the world to me. It was the best birthday I've ever celebrated and I am truly excited about my forties! I feel like it will be a great decade for me and I look forward to looking back on it at 50! We celebrated Christmas in Warwick, cutting down a 30 foot tree to serve as our centerpiece, then attended the annual Land Gang party in Westfield. I skied with…

Supergood Reality: 40

November 27, 2017
      I have temporarily set up musical apparatus in the under-construction basement studio in preparation for showtime on December 15!

Thanksgiving 2017

November 27, 2017
The greatest of all holidays for me, with a focus on food and family, providing an impetus to feast in finest company. We congregated in Cumberland, Maine with the entire Taylor Clan, from Mimi and Papa to the littlest Lucy and enjoyed a modern traditional spread from a James Beard award winner and his stellar chef de cuisine, who crafted some insanely tasty deserts! The cousins are entering perfect social play ages, creative, joyful and exuberant, while the grownups relax and wax nostalgic. It is truly one of my greatest pleasures to spend time with my family, and when the…

Basement Studio

October 25, 2017
  Ever since Miles moved into the room formerly known as my music room, I have been pushing forward on a plan to build a soundproof studio in the basement. It has taken me about 18 months of very slow progress to construct a floor and walls and I am currently in the drywall phase. With great thanks to Land Bandmates Seth and Erik, I transported 24 sheets of 5/8" drywall (probably 2000 lbs) to my front porch (full sheets won't fit down the basement stairs), where it has been cut and attached to the wood and metal staggered stud…

Elimination

October 15, 2017
  I watched in grim horror as the US Men's National Soccer Team booted away their invitation to the World Cup in 2018, losing 2-1 to the Trinidad & Tobago Soca Warriors (with a great team name, representing the proud music of the islands) while Panama and Honduras took care of their own business in the CONACAF Hexagonal Qualifier, scoring late goals to climb ahead of the US into the quadrennial tournament. I may spend more time devoted to my hometown Boston teams (and watching the Red Sox bounced out of the playoffs by the Astros was another stinger this…

Reform

October 13, 2017
  I hate to hate, but there is really no other word that describes my absolute wretched disgust for our president. Every action he takes is expressly counter to my deepest and most cherished morals and values; his entire agenda is based on destruction, division, chaos and fear. He is a domestic shame and an international terror and it is completely incomprehensible to me that he could be an elected leader or that anyone would support his presidency. It is simply indefensible. Unfortunately, there is very little I can do to improve this situation externally, other than write about it…

Cassini

September 22, 2017
Space jams.         The Cassini spacecraft is one of mankind's greatest achievements. Any projectile that reaches beyond our atmosphere excites me in a way that no other earthly conquest can move me. The information retrieved from this traveler is completely unbelievable to me - I literally have no way to personally corroborate it. The photos and videos might as well be digitally designed because it exists only in the farthest realms of visualization. And Saturn is only one of the planets in our solar system, which is one of billions in the universe. A hexagonal hurricane on…

England and Scotland

August 29, 2017
We just returned from an incredible Buckland family trip to the U.K., first visiting G and Grand in Dorset, followed by a two-day overland voyage through London, Glasgow and The Highlands to The Isle of Raasay, a remote island of The Inner Hebrides with ferry access from Isle of Skye. The  beauty escalated throughout the journey with stunning vistas in every direction; endless open fields, lochs and mountains jutting out of the Sea. And at the furthest reaches of pavement on Raasay, we settled into Arnish cottage, supplied electrically by Wind and Sun, and made it our base for exploring…