Wild At Heart
I had a real busy week but I thought I would touch on a few highlights. My running joke among the people I work with was getting free food almost everywhere I went, whether it was a Bob Marley documentary screening, an art gallery opening, a Super Bowl party or a lecture series.
One of the best things, which didn’t involve food, was a drum clinic by legendary drummer Carmine Appice who is best known for his work with Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice. He is known for his showmanship, stick tosses and twirls. He is considered one of the most accomplished showmen in rock and was the first rock drummer to organize drum clinics held at college campuses, theatres, and drum stores. He was here at the House Of Guitars and put on a great informational show.
He also has a new line of cymbals coming out which he was also promoting. Istanbul Mehmet Cynbals is introducing the new Carmine Appice "Realistic Rock" cymbals which he was demonstrating. You can see them in the pictures but also notice in the above picture the design of his sticks. The thick base of the stick has a nub which he primarily uses to get that hard driving sound. He also grips the sticks in the middle which gives him greater force and control when he twirls the sticks while playing. He has a unique style that is exciting to watch up close. You can check out more info about the cymbals and what he is up to at his website http://www.carmineappice.net/ so check it out.
During the show he offered many tips about drumming and talking about his idols like Buddy Rich. He was one of the first drummers to put cymbals about the drum but warns younger drummers to keep them low because after years of playing, the risk of injury, esp rotator cuffs, gets common. He suffered the surgery just recently and was still in some pain but tells drummers if you do hurt your shoulder, to please make sure you do your complete therapy or you risk not getting your strength back to play properly.
I also took in a lecture by Sebastian Seung (which did involve free food) who is a professor of Computational Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was talking about his new book concerning the Connectome which I will not try to explain but feel free to read up on but it has to do with how to relate the functions of neurons to their connections. He talked about a site where people can go and help the scientists map the connectome using a wonderful virtual program but I misplaced the name of the website. Bonus points for anyone that can find it. Hate making things to easy for my readers.
The last big thing I did was take in the Strong Museum of Play which was originally the Strong Museum. The original concept was to house the collections of Margaret Strong. She was mainly known for collecting dolls, which she did worldwide until she became too well known and hired other people to do it for her. The upstairs level was her doll collection on one half and a collection of glass and furniture on the other. The main floor was a walking model of an old time street with vintage drug stores and other stops of the turn of the century. The whole concept has been revamped in recent years focusing more on play and less on her collections which have been partially sold or placed in storage. While I miss a lot of the classic stuff, it is a great place to take children. Walking in you pass an old time diner and merry-go-round. There is then the aquarium and a new area focused on games as seen in the next 2 pictures.
The next areas are dedicated to Sesame Street, a small train kids can ride, a working grocery store where children can shop and work check out counters and an area for kids to act on a stage or learn how to sail a ship.
The back area has a Bernstein Bears room, a butterfly house, along with a place to learn about fairy tales and superheroes. The fun is seeing things like the giant in the picture which you can move via levers or places where kids can dress up and solve mysteries among other things. The areas are full of tons of children's books and displays of old time books and toys dating as far back as the 1800's.
The upstairs has fewer original dolls but has evolved to include tons of games and toys up to modern times. It houses the National Toy Museum and it's inductees like Candyland, the stick, Tonka Trucks, frisbees, cardboard boxes, Barbie dolls and other items that have helped evolve the way kids play.
They have also added a history of video and arcade games including the very first with the arcade game Spacewar! up to recent times. If you enjoy video games, this is a wonderful place to see rare and classic game consoles and the like. It brings back a lot of memories and allows you to play classic games like Joust, Asteroids, Tron, etc.
This is a highly recommended place for families and it is open late most days which makes it a great value. I have never been in a museum that is as engaging for young kids while still having things that engage the parents as well. If you ever get out this way, it is definately the one museum to see in the area.
Hope you have a good week and here are some concert ideas for the week:
Wednesday (2/8) – Girlyman @ the Ark
Thursday (2/9) – Motorhead and Lacuna Coil @ Palace Of Auburn Hills
Friday (2/10) – Foxy Shazam @ St Andrews Hall, Duende! and Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor @ Magic Stick Lounge, Atlanta Rhythm Section @ Monroe County Community College (Monroe)
Saturday (2/11) – 60 Section Crush @ Campus Martius Park, the Spinners @ Masonic Temple Theatre
Sunday (2/12) – Annie and Rod Capps @ the Ark