Piping to Your Own Drummer (Is That Even Possible?)

One of the activities we did at the Scottish Highland games was to see a guy who taught us about the history of the bagpipe, stories about Scotland, and about his opportunities for piping in Hollywood. Doesn't he look stereotypical?

His name is John McLean Allan. He offers lessons if you want to learn how to play. If you are not in L.A., he can teach you via Skype (no, I do not know his rates).

John has played with various performers such as Korn, The Chieftains, Michael Flattley, Charlotte Church, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and The Tonight Show Band. He has also appeared or played in numerous movies, TV shows and stage comedies including Oscar-winning Best Picture Million Dollar Baby, Battleship, Austin Powers 2, Primary Colors, The Tonight Show, The West Wing, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Providence, and How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, among many others. [copied from his website]

He is a funny dude, but I guess you cannot smile when filling the bladder of a bagpipe.

Let's have a quick primer on bagpipes. The sticky-up things are called drones. There is one bass drone and two tenor drones. Of course, there is a bag (you might have guessed that by the name of the instrument). Finally, there is a blow stick (used to fill the bladder inside the bag) and the chanter (the thing the piper uses to play the notes). All day, I tried to catch the view of them playing on the chanter. Here was my attempt with Mr. Allan.

Would you like your car to watch for speed limit signs and actually limit your top speed to the displayed number? Well, Ford has a car being released in Europe that does just that. I think I can make do with cruise control, thank you.

Time for today's lame attempt at humor.

Is X-humation a word? I guess it is now that they are bringing back the X-Files for a 6-episode run. Will you watch it? Did you see the movie they made a few years ago. I will admit that I did not, but I might check out this series since it only involves the six shows.

When you end your workout, are you glowing a little bit — or are you drenched in sweat? If you really want to lose body fat fast (as in: just in time for swimsuit season), it needs to be the latter, says Los Angeles–based group fitness instructor and celebrity trainer Lacey Stone. She designed a special workout set to help you, and only Yahoo has it. After glancing at it, I think even the first exercise is more than I want to deal with. Go take a look and decide for yourself. After all, it is your body. Remember, though, that your body shape is due to your genes.

I am not seeing anything else that I want to share. Some days, there's a plethora of material, and some days, it's a dearth. Good words, right? Well, I hope tomorrow gives me lots to talk about. Have a Wonderful Wednesday.