Resolutions

I like making New Year’s resolutions. We can all get better, and, as I learned from Winton Marsalis via a Starbuck’s cup, “The humble improve.” Good thought. (But why can’t Starbuck’s make better coffee?)

I joked the other day to a piping friend that my resolution is to exercise less. But really it’s to telephone more and e-mail less. Done.

Resolutions are a bit like wishes, and my wishes for the piping and drumming world are resolute:

• That bands stop opening and finishing their medleys with hornpipes or reels. Just for one year. See what happens.
  

• That the World Championships’ artists who make the CDs and DVDs and whatever other products possible get a share of the proceeds. Maybe even just enough to buy one kilt or pay one airfare. Not too much to ask, is it?
  

• That no dads, uncles, aunts, father-in-laws, etc. judge immediate family members in any contest no matter what the size or importance of the event. Even the impression of nepotism makes a joke of your decisions.
  

• That no more great pipers and drummers leave us before their time.

Those are a few of my wishes for the piping and drumming world. What are yours?