n this page I present some samples of my non-academic interests. While most of the page consists of links to sites I have enjoyed, there is some content available if you look carefully!

  Music

I have enjoyed playing saxophone for years—in fact, since 5th grade! My current horn is a vintage Martin alto sax, made in 1955 and bearing the designation, "The Martin Alto." I found it at Charles Fail Music in Marietta, and have really enjoyed playing it. There are several other good vintage sax dealers on the web, including World Wide Sax, CyberSax and Saxquest.

Over the years I have played in many jazz and rock bands. I currently play with local singer and guitarist Joey Stuckey. In college I was, strange to tell, the lead singer and sax player for a punk band named Ice-9. You may listen to recordings of some of them if you like (they are in MP3 format). As part of a workshop in digital narratives I attended on December 14-15 of 2004, I made a brief film about this experience.

• "Georgia On My Mind" performed by the Mercer Jazz Combo at Macon's Grand Opera House, and featuring Joey Stuckey on vocals and me on bari sax.
• "Rock and Roll 24/7" performed by Joey Stuckey and his band. I am the sax player on this song.
• "Midnight Hour," "Respectable" and "Mystery Dance" performed by Ice-9 in its final concert, at Davidson College in 1983. I am the lead singer and sax player.
• Most recently, I played saxophone (and acted) in the Mercer Back Door Theatre production of Andrew Silver's original play, The Disciples. This play, based on events in Mercer's history, presents a 1939 heresy trial on campus, led by several students—including John Birch—against five professors. In the scene below, available from YouTube, I play sax in a Jazz Club scene.
  

 

  Macs

From my first Mac SE (bought in 1990) to my current PowerMac G5 (2004) I have preferred to use Macintosh computers. The following links have proved helpful and informative over the years.

• Apple Computer
• MacSurfer's Headline News gathers and lists Mac- and computer-related news stories from other sites, and updates its list throughout the day.
• DealMac gathers the best prices and specials on hardware and software—there is also a DealMac Forum which is a usually reliable source of tips and advice.
• MacOSXHints is a more geek-oriented tips site, but you can find information here that is hard to find anywhere else.

 

  Films

While there are many excellent film sites on the web, there are only a few that I use regularly (usually when my wife and I are trying to figure out "where did we see that actor before?" when we are watching a movie).

• The Internet Movie Database is a tremendously handy archive of films, actors, directors, etc. It is intensely cross listed.
• A handy site to visit before picking a film to watch is Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles movie reviews from critics across the country. The site tallies the good and bad reviews for each film, and deems the movie "fresh" or "rotten" based on the total.
• For DVD rentals, I use and recommend Netflix for its large catalog and lack of late fees.

 

  Food

My favorite first site to check for recipes and food ideas is Epicurious. It is easy to use, attractively laid out, and has an exceptionally comprehensive and searchable archive of recipes from Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines. (The recipes include comments and critiques from people who have tried the recipes, which is often very helpful.)

This page updated 27 November, 2007

This page leads to my hobbies, interests and obsessions.

I have found that these interests greatly enhance my life, and I take the liberty of sharing them with you. De gustibus non est disputandum, of course.