ZRoundtable's Lifestyle & Family Blog

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Good & Fun Geography Quiz

Some useful and good info to know - from a Geography Quiz:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0208/Think-you-know-the-US-Take-our-geography-quiz/Lakes?nav=636187-csm_article-bottomRelated

Friday, March 1, 2013

Pernambuco and Carbon Fiber Bows

Carbon fiber bows have been making good headway in the design and manufacture of carbon fiber bows for musical instruments. Here's a good article:

For over 250 years, pernambuco wood – harvested from the Pau-brasil tree in Brazil – has been the only material found suitable for constructing bows for string instruments. The springiness, strength, and workability of pernambuco wood is unmatched by any other species of tree.

Carbon fiber is a synthetic material that is both lightweight and super-strong. It consists offibers, thinner than human hair, which can be woven and molded into a permanent shape. Significant advances have been made in the science of carbon fiber over the past several decades. More and more bows (and instruments!) are being made from this material that meet or exceed some of their wooden counterparts.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Ouch: $20,000 Bow broken during travel

Famous German cello soloist Alban Gerhardt claims that his cello bow, valued at $20,000, was damaged by TSA inspectors at Washington's Dulles Airport on Feb. 6.

The bow, which Gerhardt places in a travel case along with the instrument, arrived in Chicago snapped in half and possibly damaged beyond repair.

“My bow must have moved out of its cover, and instead of putting it back in, they just slammed the case shut and broke the bow that way over the bridge,” Gerhardt told Strad Magazine.

Gerhardt was on a trip from Berlin to Madison, Wisconsin, where he was scheduled to perform with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

After checking the instrument in Berlin, Gerhardt rechecked it in Washington D.C. as he passed through customs. It was okay at that time, but he discovered the damage upon arriving at Chicago's O'Hare airport, along with an inspection notice from the TSA.