The Difficulty of Junking an Old Piano

It's not like you can just haul it out to the curb on garbage day.  Getting rid of a piano properly can be an ordeal. From The Ottawa Citizen:

Roger Mallette wields a wickedly happy grin and a hammer as he stands in the Wellington Street basement of Lauzon Music, where he’s worked for the past 44 years.

In front of him is a Sherlock-Manning apartment-size upright piano, built in 1955 in Clinton, Ont., about an hour’s drive north of London and home to the last factory in Canada to manufacture pianos. Many of the piano’s keys are chipped, while the notes of its lower register are dead, the action rough and uneven. Most seriously, the piano’s pin block, which holds the tuning pins in place, is cracked; this piano cannot hold its tune. It’s difficult to imagine that the piano wasn’t loved at some point in its life, but it was not well-maintained. It is, says store owner Ken Lauzon, “a dog”, and Mallette is about to put this dog out of its misery.

Continue reading.

The Story of Ringo's Ludwig Drum Head on The Ed Sullivan Show

The first set of drums I ever had were just like the ones Ringo played on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. At first, I thought my black/grey oyster finish Ludwigs were collector's items--but then it twigged on me that they were actually pretty common.  After that TV appearance, everyone wanted a kit like Ringo's--and Ludwig cranked them out by the thousands.

The drum head logo was a different matter.  Read the story about how that came about at Drummer Talk.

Hey, Tommy Lee! Look at This Guy!

If Tommy Lee thinks he's bleeding edge with his spinning drum kit, he hasn't seen this dude who has a drum set that flies.

(Via Gadling)

Cool Cover of Walking Dead Theme

Sonya Belosouva is obviously a fan of the AMC series.  This her homage to zombies.  (Via Mashable)

This Is Apparently a Real Boombox

I don't think it's an April Fool's joke. Or is it?

Built onto a steel chassis that rolls on four 10"-diam. pneumatic tires over any terrain, including sand and snow, it is pulled along and steered with an integrated wagon handle. Providing over 2,000 watts of sonorous symphony with eight PA-quality Piezo horn tweeters, two "6x9" mid-range speakers, and a 12" dual-voice coil subwoofer with dedicated crossover, it plays music from any Bluetooth-enabled smartphone or MP3 player from up to 30' away.

(Via Hammacher Schlemmer)