Wes Phillips

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Ouch!

TrumpBloopers is a compendium of trumpet disasters. The threat of moments like this is what made my friend Larry's performance togs such a sweat stained mess that his wife wouldn't even touch them to throw them out.

Paleography

One of the treats of my Thanksgiving was an up-close-and-personal analysis of my 14th century musical manuscript by Metropolitan Museum fellow Eric Weaver. I was reasonably sure of its date, based on the staff structure and mensuration, but Eric taught me an immense amount about parchment, calligraphy, illumination, monastic culture, and medieval guilds in the 30 minutes or so that he discussed my musical fragment. In short, he took an object I see above my hi-fi every day and made an epoch come alive—conversationally and off-the-cuff.

Panamania

As much as I loved the zen of sourdough maintenance and loved the resulting loaves, I gave up my weekly baking sessions because of the "tyranny of the dough." Honest to God, it was like having another pet—worse, in some ways. Huck and Bagheera are cute enough that we can get cat-sitters when we travel. Ever tried to get anybody to feed your sourdough starter?

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