Boom Boom Chak

Think for a second. Can you name one thing you really love to do and could happily do it everyday--but have not really done much of it in your life? It has to be something exciting yet meditative, challenging, yet easy to learn and totally fulfilling on a psycho-emotional level? It's also something that has ruined lives as well as created them. Now, do you have that thing in mind? Or, possibly more than one thing?

For me, this describes the way i feel about the drums. Those who know me understand my drum thing. When i see a drum set, am near a drum set, or am playing around with my electronic drum set--it's always an exciting thing. Perhaps i was born with the excitement of drums in my blood. Maybe my birth peeps were rhythmically inclined. Or maybe i was a drummer in a past life. Whatever the drum thing is, i have it. It's an extremely meditative and wonderful thing.

My first drum "lesson" was in Nishi-Aizu, Japan. My teacher was the drummer of the town band, "Paradox." By day Sato-san delivered chocolate milk and peach juice to places like the town offices and the board of education. I went to his studio a few times a week. i learned a basic beat and played that to his keyboard rendition of every Beatles song you can think of.

i had my first proper drum lesson last night. i could go on and on about it. One hour felt like about ten minutes. My teacher has a studio in the building that houses Moulton Studios and Club Seen magazine at Polk and Sutter. This drum lesson was like visiting a remote tropical island. Absolutely heavenly, but impossible to live there. Ahmed convinced me that i could fly into the island pretty regularly and that it didn't have to be a once a year fantasy vacation hour. So now, with regular lessons i might be able to add a few more new beats to my "boom boom chak tiss boom boom chak..."

Pennylane Productions is bracing for some Jupiter in Scorpio action. Apparently, i have from now until November 2006 to be consumed with inspiration.