A friend who read my recent piece on climbing Mt. Mansfield was confused over one of the sentences at the end, which seemed to indicate that my wife had had our dog put to sleep.  Not so -- it was the lady who gave us the cookies whose dog had been put to sleep, and the cookies were his last meal.  Max, my dog -- he's partly pictured with me on the contributors' page of nt.com -- is just fine, although he just can't hold down turkey skin.  We learn this every Thanksgiving, and promptly forget.

Pedro Pereira, who has contributed a number of articles to naturaltraveler.com over the years (most recently about Vermont in issue No. 11), is also a highly accomplished singer/songwriter. And while we might be accused of being somewhat biased about a fellow contributor and good friend, the unbiased third party opinions are universally positive for his debut CD, "Last Man on the Planet." For the latest rave review, visit the following:

http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/reviews/pedropereira_lastman/

You can hear selections of Pedro's music at: myspace.com/pedromusic

and/or order copies of the CD at: cdbaby.com/cd/pedropereira

Labels: Music

If a Pimentel guitar weren't so beautiful to look at, you might be so caught up in ogling that you didn't take a strum. Once you have run your fingers across the strings, you realize you have beheld not only beauty but substance. How you get there is the subject of my article "Scouring the Landscape for a Musical Match," in Issue 16 of naturaltraveler.com. Tone becomes an obsession when you play a musical instrument and even if you think you have found your musical match, the quest for tone becomes an end in itself. A Pimental is definitely a significant step in that quest. Read on at:

http://naturaltraveler.com/article.php?issue=2007/11/16&article=pimental_guitar

To hear a bit of what it sounds like visit: http://myspace.com/stuckinthesixties and choose the track: "Where Are You Now?"

Labels: Albuquerque, guitar, New Mexico, Pimentel

In this week's edition of naturaltraveler.com, is my article on a tour of the Martin Guitar factory in Nazareth, PA. I encourage anyone even remotely interested in the construction of fine instruments to take this tour. There is a wonderful music festival nearby each summer making for a nice combo vacation. You can watch some of the world's best guitarists perform then see how their instruments were made.

Labels: guitar, martin, pennsylvania