When I was a kid, I enjoyed tapping on tables in the style of a Tabla player. The sounds were fun. My mom used to say that I should learn the instrument. I never did. I think that was for the best since I don’t seem to have any talent in playing a musical instrument.

Even in those young days I had heard of the music of Ustad Zakir Hussain. Zakir is regarded as the foremost player of the Tabla in the world. He has achieved unparalleled recognition and mastery with the Tabla and is a household name in India. Last night, Liz and I went to the Schnitz for a concert by Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion. It is an annual event hosted by Kalakendra. The group does a tour each year and the musicians change regularly. It was such beautiful and wide ranging music from a dozen different instruments of various Indian Classical schools. I was enthralled by the solo and group performances, especially the Tabla, the Sarangi and the Sitar.

Afterwards, we got to meet and chat with Zakir. He had such a jovial and warm demeanor. This was my first time at the event and I hope to go again.

Telecasts 5 - Only A pawn In Their Game - Bob Dylan

He complained that customers paid the cheaper price all day without saying a word.

— Drivers flood station for 35 cent gas - Yahoo! News

This Daring Fireball story reminded me of the recent story on Marketplace about penny hoarders. Some hoarders stand to make a lot on their investment.http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/march#tue-25-owen

You can’t have art without resistance in the materials.

— William Morris (via A Brief Message: No Resistance Is Futile) - I’ve known this intuitively as I added constraints to my photography. Current constraints: 50mm prime lens, B&W film, rangefinder camera.

When the man kicked it, I thought of “robot cruelty”. We’re so screwed! (via SvN)

The last time I bought a gaming console was in November, 2001. It was an Xbox. For the last six years, I’ve used it exclusively as a DVD player.

I bought a Nintendo Wii today. They are still in short supply. The local Fred Meyer does a raffle when they get some stock. Last night they got twelve units. The raffle was scheduled for 6:45am today, fifteen minutes before opening time. I was first in line. Eleven people showed up. Everyone got a Wii.

I also got Super Mario Galaxy and played it a bit today. It is so much fun.

If you like playing games, you should get a Wii.

JPMorgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns represents roughly 1 percent of what the investment bank was worth just 16 days ago.

— JPMorgan to buy Bear for $2 a share - Yahoo! News

Steve Novick is running a really cool campaign for U.S. Senate here in Oreon and it’s great that Liz is part of it. They just released a campaign beer called “Left Hook Lager”. Liz made the label for that and wrote about it here. You can buy some for yourself. Also, check out this beer themed ad they came out with earlier this year.

On the subject of voting in general, I get the impression that people are so casual about counting the votes. It’s great to see The Onion impart its inimitable style to the issue. Attacks on voting machines can range from the sophisticated to the cleverly simple. Check out Black Box Voting for more info.

Oh, and here’s another yummy smoothie recipe: Some Blueberries, some raspberries (little more than the blueberries), one banana, vanilla extract (to taste), two glasses of rice milk. Blend. Serves two. It’s really nice. In fact I’m going to make it right now.