Some enhancements to the site
Finally I feel more or less finished with the transition to the new photo gallery. The entire site should now be MUCH faster then it has been before. That is an improvement for sure. The photo gallery link is to be found as usual on the top of the page - above the title image - but clicking on the pictures in the posts will not work anymore. So remember that link on top to reach the photos. I added some captions and descriptions to most of the photos and made the slideshow experience somewhat better, I even added some sound effects!
I hope you enjoy my improvements - please feel free to report in and tell me how it works!
Downtime issue resolved
So, Some of you might have noticed a couple of hours downtime today. I managed to delete the contents of the database that runs this website. Great work Henrik 
. My lovely ISP managed to retrieve a backup made this early morning which contained everything. So after restoring that backup we are up and running again. Wonderful! Thanks Peter at Scorpiondata - a web hotel that give you loads of webspace, loads of nice support and a great hosting experience. I totally recommend them (btw, if you create an account there, which is very cheap, make sure to mention my customer number 790 to give me a free 6 months hosting. Thanks!
Give me advise!
Since both you guys an myself are getting more than tired of the speed issues of my site, I have been trying out hundreds of solutions to improve this issue. I have found a solution that will include switching photo album application. The one I have been trying out is working differently and will hopefully improve the speeds. It will for sure bring a much smoother photo viewing experience. Have a look on my testing page and let me know pros/cons and I’ll update the entire gallery if you are all happy. Thanks!
The new Flash Photo Gallery beta!
Web site recommendation for camera flash stuff
I am sitting in my room for a parcel to arrive with my recently purchased camera gear. Great! Mainly what is coming is some camera maintenance, extra battery, lens hood for my 24mm lens, boy it needs that - and a Manfrotto tripod-head combination! Finally some legs for the camera that are truly profesional. My tip is to not waste some 50 euros on some halfly working tripod. They only make you and your photos dissapointed.
In conjunction with this new stuff, I’d like to direct those of you interested to a beautiful blog on the net that treats the usage of flash, lighting and do-it-yourself lighting. It is called Strobist and does a great job of showing you how to get more in control of your photos using lighting and strobes/flashes. Lots of cool, cheap ideas how to improve your existing gear too.
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By the way remember, you can always get in contact with me via the comments on the bottom of every post or use the contact_me form.
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Trombone exam passed!
Yesterday I had the yearly exam at the conservatory. I prepared three pieces to play; ‘Cherokee’, ‘I love you’ - two standards and ‘Time’ by Steve Allen I found on Bob McChesney’s latest CD.
I was lucky to play with three friends of mine. Great players of which two graduated school two days ago! Pieter de Graaf on piano, Hugo Dirkson on bass and Jasper van Hulten, our Young Sinatras drummer. I think we played great and I passed the exam scoring a nice 8.5. Feels good, time for some relaing and thinking of following year!
Coming up is the North Sea Jazz Festival the 14th-16th of July. My mother is coming to visit, and we have booked tickets for all three days. I am really happy she’s coming down! We are playing with the school bigband the 14th which I really look forward to, then it is off for hundreds of new cool concerts! Convenient with the Rotterdam location this year for sure!
Fusion at the Dizzy Jazz Cafe
Together with my friend Harm, I went to the Dizzy Jazz Cafe around the corner from my house to check the tuesday concert out. It happend to be the most over-the-top happening fusion music this year for sure. Featuring the amazing bass player Gary Willis and trumpeter Gerard Presencer, the dutchmen Rob van Bavel on piano and Sebastiaan Cornelissen totally rocked the house. Gary Willis, known from numerous records and bands, played fantastic as on the records I have with Tribal Tech. Gerard on trumpet showed to be the most incredible improviser. Mind-boggling! The camera was in my hands, and I used the evening to try some difficult indoor shooting. Lots of noise (both concerning the sound and the photos) asks for a different approach, especially since I didn't bring my flash unit. Difficulties to focus forced me to use the manual focus on the camera, hence the blurryness…
Tip-of-the-Day!
Just need to share a nice little tip with you who use bucket mutes for trombone/trumpet… I talk about the ' New Stone Lined' white/red bucket mutes from Humes & Berg. The felt used on the metal holders for the bell are made badly and falls off pretty fast. If you want to save your bell some dents and rips, go to your scale model car/hobby store and get yourself some 20cm of gasoline hose for scale model ethanol cars. This hose is made out of silicone and fits prefectly onto the metal holders on the mutes. It takes some minutes to pull them into position, but makes wonderful silent operation for basically 1 euro cost! It will save your bell, and hopefully some embarrasments on stage, flopping around with a noisy mute… 
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This is the place where you can read about where I am and what I currently am doing. My calendar is on the left.
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