Last Weekend of Summer

 I’m just getting back from my last trip to Boston this past Labor day weekend. Labor day itself was a washout but we really needed the rain. Its been a hot and very dry summer.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty nice days, a bit on the hot side perhaps at times but the fan that I added to the Peace Wave Generator helps keep me cool.

I also added some blinking LED lights and a rotating motor on the antenna to help better distribute the Peace Waves. The world needs it more than ever these days.

In any case it’s been overall a good and encouraging summer for me. It’s good to be out there once again doing my thing and making people smile. People have been kind and appreciative and it’s clear they are happy to see me back once again.

I intend to go on playing in the Boston Public Gardens most good weather weekends straight through fall and hopefully through the Christmas season and New Year if it’s not too cold. Admittedly that’s a pretty big if.

I also plan to start work once again on a new more portable version of the Professor World Band however it remains to be seen if I will be playing in the Boston T this winter. I’m hoping that Covid will soon no longer pose a serious threat and I’ll feel comfortable playing in a more contained environment. Lets see what the futuristic brings. Whatever the case I hope to go on playing and generating Peace Waves as long as I am physically capable!

Back in the Saddle Again!

 After a prolonged absence due to the pandemic I am happy to be able to finally announce that the Professor World Band is once again performing in the Boston Public Gardens on weekends when the weather is amenable. Actually I’ve been back out there for the past couple of months now so I must apologise for taking so long to get around to updating my blog! 

I have to say that it feels really good to be doing my thing once again after such a long break. And the response has been wonderful so far. I guess many people are thrilled to see live music and entertainment out on the streets once again. 

But I also have a brand new show

and a completely new sound that I’ve been working on and practicing for many hours most every day for the past year or so. All that work and effort seems to finally paying off. One of the things that has kept me going for so long is that the Professor World Band is constantly evolving and hopefully improving steadily over the years. 

I’m still taking precautions because the pandemic isn’t over yet. I probably won’t play indoors in the Boston T this winter and I no longer put instruments out for the kids to join the band. That’s one aspect of the show that I really miss.  But they can still clap their hands and dance around and that they often do.

Last sunny Sunday in the Public Gardens two toddlers started moving and grooving to the beat and then a couple of kids joined in and then a bunch more and before you know it the whole audience was dancing to the sounds of the Professor World Band. That’s the kind of spontaneous joy that makes me feel that my job is important and worthwhile.

So once again, a big thank you to all the folks who’ve enjoyed my show and felt moved to put a little something in my tip bucket to keep the Professor World Band going and the peace wave generator spinning for 38 years as of next Wednesday, which also happens to be my 68’th Birthday! The first performance of the Professor World Band was on my 30th birthday in my hometown of New Haven Connecticut. We’ve been generating peace waves ever since and the world needs them more than ever now. See y’all next weekend in the  Boston Public Gardens!

Looking forward to a better new year in 2021

Wow, what a crazy, mixed up, spooky year it’s been. I’ve been very lucky thus far. None of my close friends and family have been seriously ill with Covid and I’ve been very healthy as well. I have been spending my time at home practicing, writing and learning songs and working on my new music machine. I’m not abandoning my old machine but it is refreshing to have an alternative as well. Perhaps the new contraption is not yet as spectacular but it’s still developing. Once I get the opportunity to test it out in public more thoroughly I’m confident it will improve rapidly. That’s another reason to look forward to the coming season. Hopefully by then, with more and more people getting vaccinated, there will be an end to this crisis that we are in. The world needs Peace Waves more than ever now.https://www.facebook.com/100026352192473/posts/687208695500864/?d=n

My first social distancing gig

https://www.facebook.com/614823869/posts/10157249478643870/?d=n

And Suddenly the Whole World Changed....

I am still at a loss for words about the Covid19 virus. It will hurt a lot of people and cause untold suffering; an invisible enemy that physically isolates us from one another when comfort and working together is required.
Alas, at a difficult time, when so many are hurting and afraid, I have reluctantly decided to temporarily halt my street performances with the Professor World Band, hopefully not for too long.  Our best defense against the virus seems to be social distancing and frequent hand washing and decontamination of exposed surfaces.
If everyone cooperates we can flatten the curve and keep our health infrastructure from collapsing.
Eventually it will pass but it's too early to say how soon. In the meantime I will work on perfecting the Professor World Band and maybe writing some new songs and perhaps posting them online.
I will sorely miss the street performing.Aside from being my only source of income it also keeps me happy and physically fit. I put my heart and soul into it and I've been doing mostly that for over forty years now.  I'm hoping that it wont be too long before I am out there once again playing music on the corner. When this is winding down, people are really going to be needing something to make them smile. Wether that's in a month or more than a year from now, the Professor World Band will be ready. A big part of my job is giving hope to people. This will eventually pass and we will hopefully be stronger and wiser for it. Perhaps people will wake up and start taking better care of the Earth?
Peace Waves,
Ramblin' Dan

Halloween is coming!

Halloween is just around the corner and the Professor World Band is ready. To celebrate the occasion a senior member of both SAW, Skeletons Against War and PFWP, Pumpkins for World Peace are joining the band for the run up to the holiday. it's a pretty scary world out there and we need to generate all the Peace Waves we possibly can.

I'm sorry to say that due to some technical difficulties that this blog went down for a while and when it came back up it seems that a couple of my latest updates seem to have been irrevocably lost in cyberspace. So it goes.

It's been a pretty good year so far though for the Professor World Band with several new additions and upgrades. I will continue on playing weekends in the Boston Public Gardens until it gets too cold for my audience to stand and watch. Hopefully there will be a few more warm weekends before Christmas and the New Year. After that I will carry on playing and singing in the Boston T with Digger the Dancing Dog and the mini Peace Wave Generator.

It may be getting cold outside but over the winter the Professor World Band is still ready to go and available for parties and festivals.

Back from Mexico!

Actually , I’ve been back a couple of weeks now. Perhaps I should have stayed a bit longer. There is still plenty of snow here in Western Massachusetts.
Mexico was an absolute gas. I flew to Cancun to have some dental work done at less than half the cost that it would have been here. The clinic did an excellent job and since everything is so inexpensive there I more then saved the cost of the trip while tanking up on sunshine while I was there. I managed to find a room in the center of town for only $250 for the whole 16 days of my stay. It wasn’t a luxury suite but it was plenty fine for me. And the food was delicious and so affordable.
While I was there I also did some busking. I brought Digger my dancing doggie and a whole pack of smaller hounds with me. We entertained people in the nearby Palapas park and Mercado 28; both places I had played at with my Hang drum when I visited ten years ago. I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of the market people recognized and remembered me from back then! Here’s a photo of Digger and I playing at the beach on Isle Mujeres. In the photo below taken in Mercado 28 I am playing with my band.

It’s been pretty cold and snowy since I got back so I haven’t been out busking much. It is still February after all. In the meantime I’ve been working on a new show which shall soon be ready for it’s first trial run. More on that I hope in my next update.