Friends

That Little Piece of Whang (traditional ode)

When I was studying Data Processing at Portland Community College, I became great friends with an instructor, Tom Thornhill. We were always making up stories about “Letha and the Great Dane” and often added other PCC employees to the story.  Tom is the funniest man I know. He recited this humorous poem more than a […]

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Music St. Francis

Song of St. Francis

I had the privilege of writing and playing music for St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon in the ’70s and the ’80s. On October 4th, 2015, Feast of St. Francis, the current “folk group” was joined by musicians and singers from the folk group who had performed at the church’s 100th Anniversary, […]

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Music

Turkey Loaf

Turkey Loaf is a jazz-rock instrumental written by Dan Schilling and is part of the Sunflower Omega project. See the post on $21 Phone Bill for more information about Sunflower. Written in the mid ’70s, this was recorded live in Robin Dalton’s basement on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Credits: Engineer- Dick MacLeod Composer- Dan Schilling […]

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Music

Children, Lovers and Dreamers

This song was written by John Dalrymple and recorded live as part of the Sunflower Omega project. See the post on $21 Phone Bill for more information on Sunflower. Credits: Written in the mid ’70s. This is the original Sunflower version, recorded in Robin Dalton’s basement on a reel-to-reel tape recorder.Engineer- Dick MacLeodComposer- John DalrymplePublisher: […]

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Music

The Heartbreak of Psoriasis

The title has no significance to the music, just a ridiculous name to a fun instrumental tune, written by John Dalrymple and developed by Sunflower as part of the Sunflower Omega project. For more information about Sunflower, see the post on $21 Phone Bill. Credits: Written in the mid ’70s, this was recorded in Robin […]

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Music

No Doubt About It

This song was written by John Dalrymple and recorded live as part of the Sunflower Omega project. See the post on $21 Phone Bill for more information on Sunflower. Written in the mid ’70s, this was recorded live in Robin Dalton’s basement on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Credits: Engineer- Dick MacLeod Composer- John Dalrymple Publisher: […]

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Music

$21 Phone Bill

This is a song written by my  long-time friends John Dalrymple, and Dan Schilling. We went to high school together. After they had done their time in the military and returned home we put together a Jazz-Rock band called Sunflower. Dan played a cut-down M3, JD played electric piano and Arp Omni synthesizer, John Ryan […]

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Dimensions Teachers

Master David Cheng

I first heard of David Cheng about 1974 from my first Tai Chi teacher, Vaunda Carter.  David had been her teacher.  When Vaunda moved out of town several years later,  I took classes from Huang Wen Chi, a former head instructor at a martial arts college in China.  When Professor Huang moved to Seattle, another […]

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Music St. Francis

Go Francis

I had the privilege of writing and playing music for St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon in the 1970s and 80s. “Go Francis” was written in 1981 by Keith Chapman for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the church. It’s a great example of Keith’s ability to tell stories in song. […]

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Music

March of the Dwarves

In college I took a Harmony class which included composing a tune on the piano. The March of the Dwarves was my contribution. Later, when I was working on The Rock and Roll Wedding project, I thought about scoring The March of the Dwarves for a marching band as part of the finale.  Carl Smith, the leader […]

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