29 years of Professor World Band!

Happy New Year to one and all! 

 2012 was an interesting and busy year for Ramblin' Dan and the Professor World Band. I've been playing quite a bit in Harvard Square and the Public Gardens. I always make sure to tweet my whereabouts(Twitter @ ProfWorldBand ) and I have several followers that have found me that way and come to join the show.

 I really love playing in the Public Gardens. The squirrels there have been getting in on the act as well. Once during break, one of them came up and started playing my tambourine with his little paw. I wish I had my camera with me! And twice now a squirrel has come up after the show and put a walnut in my tip bucket!!! I swear that this is really true and I have witnesses as well. 

 My new portable machine that I built for my trip to Hawaii kept getting bigger and bigger as I slowly added more and more things to it. It started out weighing 20 pounds two years ago but a few months ago it weighed almost 40 pounds. It was no longer really portable and I was starting to worry about my knee joints. After dancing around with it on my back for hours my muscles were often sore and I was pretty tired out.

 I decided to build a new light weight model. While cleaning out the basement I found an old pair of cross country skis. They were light weight and strong; the perfect thing to use to make the frame for my new machine. I used a five gallon plastic bucket for the bass drum which is also very light. I was able to build a functioning one man band that weighed only 8 pounds! I added a few more things to make it more interesting and for now I'm calling a halt to further expansion. The current version weighs only 14 pounds though and so compared to my last machine it feels very light. I can play longer and not worry so much about my knee joints! It's not quite as big looking as the old machine but it has many of the same features and even a few new ones that I've added. People seem to like it just as much and it will be improved on the more I play with it.

 I've also built a new smaller version of the Peace Wave Generator that I use to carry it and I'm contemplating a trip somewhere warm this winter to see if I can fly with it without incurring too many overweight and oversize fees from the airline.

 If all goes well I may start planning an even longer and more difficult journey for the Professor World Band. Last November I turned 59 which means Professor World turned 29. For my 60'th and Professor World's 30'th year I would like to do a really special trip . I've got a few ideas but I want to check them out further before I talk about them here.

 I'm hoping to make more use of this website and other social media in the coming year as well. I plan to try and keep this updated a bit more frequently. Please keep sending me your photos and links so that I can embed them in my website. They are much appreciated. Heres a link that a BU graduate student in photography sent to me recently. http://billieweiss.wordpress.com/tag/ramblin-dan-photos/ I'll get some new video up as soon as possible of my new machine.