reedplayernc blog

Praying Mantis, originally uploaded by NCReedplayer.

This is one scary-looking insect. LOL Praying mantises are very beneficial. They eat lots of the little insects that like to feed on your plants. When I was a kid, I would search for praying mantis egg cases along the creek running through our yard to put in my mother's greenhouse. Then when the eggs hatched, there'd be hundreds of little mantises to eat all the harmful bugs. They sure do look odd though. :-) Original huge pic is available by clicking on the pic above.

Lola in the Desert, originally uploaded by NCReedplayer.

Here's Lola in action! Well, actually she is just sitting along the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada. Slackwrdave and I stopped briefly to take in the view. Pics from Burning Man will be uploaded shortly. :-)

New Blåkläder Kilt, originally uploaded by NCReedplayer.

This is my latest kilt purchase. It just arrived today. When I first saw this kilt, I though how perfect it would be at Burning Man. It's a "high visibility" kilt made by Blåkläder, which is the European equivalent of Dickies here in the states (both produce quality workwear). This was obviously geared toward the Scottish road/construction crews. Apparently it was also discovered by the young rave crowd in Britain.

Anyway, I decided to get this kilt for our upcoming trip to Burning Man. One of the many fun aspects of Burning Man is the way people dress up (or not at all). The wackier the outfit the better. I've got several "outfits" planned incorporating this kilt. LOL

The kilt appears to be well made. The pleats are a little different from the traditional and contemporary kilts I have already. There are LOTS of pockets on this one. It's hard to tell in the pic, but the gray stripes are silver reflective material. And it is really much brighter in person. The camera just doesn't do it justice. LOL

T-shirt by Dickies.

See you at Burning Man!
Brian

Native American Flute -- 4/14/09, originally uploaded by NCreedplayer.

Recently, I've taken a greater interest in folk/ethnic woodwind instruments. Slackwrdave got me this native American flute for my birthday last week. It's been fun experimenting with it this week and getting the fingerings down.

Usually, native American flutes are made from various kinds of wood. This particular models happens to be made out of plastic. It's made by a very reputable NAF maker and is based on his cedar models. I had read many good reviews on this flute, and now that I've played it, I'm very impressed with the sound. Not only does it sound really good, but it's a lot less delicate than a wood model would be. I'll try to get some sound clips up soon.

Happy Fasnacht Day! -- 2/24/09, originally uploaded by NCreedplayer.

Happy Fasnacht Day! Fasnacht Day is a huge tradition in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Traditionally, the day before Ash Wednesday, you would empty your pantry of lard, sugar, fat and butter, which were forbidden during Lent. And what better way to do that than to make fasnachts (donuts). Since I'm in NC now, I can't really get a traditional PA Dutch fasnacht, so we got these donuts from Starbucks. They were mighty tasty.