On The Fly

In this episode - Return to Vinyl . . . Can you name the tune from the introduction? Stick with me, and we will reveal it at the end of this podcast. You may have missed it - Saturday, April 22, 2023, was Record Store Day. It was news to me. By chance, to get a new cartridge for my turntable, I made a trip to our local store (Standards) in Vista, CA. The store was crawling with customers. What's going on? So I had to look it up. Record Store Day started on April 19, 2008, and was founded by Chris Brown, a record store employee in Baltimore, Maryland, and Eric Levin, the owner of Criminal Records in Atlanta, Georgia. The purpose of Record Store Day is to celebrate and promote independent record stores and the unique culture they foster. It has since grown into an international event, with hundreds of record stores participating worldwide. In 2022, 41 million vinyl units were sold compared to 33 million CDs, highlighting a "remarkable resurgence" of the physical music form...

In this episode, Third Years A Charm . . . Welcome to  Episode 207  of  On the Fly.  You may not believe this, but we went live on the Anchor platform ( Spotify for Podcasters ) three years ago today! Lately, people ask, "So, how many listeners do you have?" "Honestly, I'm not sure; I don't pay attention to the numbers." "Why not?" Well,  On the Fly  is a creative adventure. I'm committed to developing my artistic ability, imaginative writing, music education, and digital editing skills. When this all started, I challenged myself; I said,  "Self, what do you think? Can you merge the skills you've developed and deliver an entertaining weekly program? And offer educational content for an audience?" You see, creativity is about developing a habit of taking what seems - at the time - to be a wild idea and experimenting with ways to deliver a story through the medium of on-demand audio. We've dabbled with video, but as you may reca...

In this episode, My First Piano . . . In the introduction, you heard my first piano lesson playing the melody Ode to Joy by Beethoven. Now, I'll admit I love challenging myself and learning new things. In January of this year (2023), I approached Lori and said, "This may sound a little crazy, but I want to learn to play the piano; what do you think?" A little skeptical, her first comment was, "Where would we put a piano in our house?" "I'm thinking of a digital keyboard." "Well, you're not gonna move mine into your studio; if you're going   to learn to play the piano, we need to get you one for your office that will hook up to your recording equipment." What a sensible, loving, and supportive wife. So after a bit of research, going to a piano store, and trying out different pianos, I decided on a Casio CDP-S360, an electric keyboard. Why this one, you ask? Well, one of the things I discovered is it's better to learn on a fu...

In this episode, I Just Want Coffee . . . Do you have a favorite author? Let me introduce you to one of mine; you may know him from the book  A Walk in the Woods , which was made into a movie in 2015 with Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, and Emma Thompson – his name is Bill Bryson. Bryson is an American-born author, journalist, and travel writer known for his humorous and engaging prose style. He has written many best-selling books on various topics, including travel, science, language, and history. Bill Bryson was born in 1951 and grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended Drake University in Des Moines but dropped out before graduating. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he moved to England in 1973, where he met his wife and began his writing career. Now, when I need a hearty laugh, I listen to Bill Bryson narrate his books via audiobooks by audible. It's a great way to start your day smiling while working around the house, cleaning the garage, or bicycling. While poking around for somethi...

In this special Easter episode, the Jelly Bean . . . Today many youngsters and the young at heart will scour their yards for Easter eggs and Jellybeans left by the Easter Bunny. Have you ever wondered just what it takes to make a jelly bean? An interesting fact from one of my morning newsfeeds, the Interesting Facts Newsletter , described by industry giant Jelly Belly explains. The process begins by heating a sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, and water mixture, known as a slurry, and adding fruit purée, juice concentrate, and other ingredients for flavoring. From there, the mixture is squirted into cornstarch-coated molding trays and left to solidify into the chewy jellybean centers. The following day, the bean centers are sent through a steam bath and a sugar shower to keep them from sticking. They are then loaded into a spinning machine for a process known as "panning," in which sugar and syrup are manually applied over two hours to build each bean's candied shell. Follow...

In this episode, Twinkle Little Star . . .   Did you recognize the melody in the introduction? The audio was one of twelve variations for piano of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, composed by Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western classical music. Born on January 27th, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria, he was a child prodigy who began composing at five and performed before royalty by age six. Mozart's musical genius was apparent from a young age; he composed over 600 works in his short life, which ended at just 35. His compositions include operas, symphonies, chamber music, and piano sonatas, and he is known for his mastery of various musical forms. Why Mozart, you ask? I refer to a recent discussion with an eight-year-old we introduced you to in a previous podcast, Sierra. You see, Sierra is a rather clever young lady. A Lego enthusiast plays chess and sends the best thank you letters (snail mail) ,  AND  we di...