www.mattwilsonjazz.com

I’m extremely excited to announce the launch of a new website that I’ve been working on for jazz drummer, Matt Wilson! Matt is an educator/drummer/composer & band leader and a winner of several Downbeat and Jazz Journalists Assn. awards.

Over the past month or so I’ve been working along side my good friend, fellow sax player and web programmer/designer Greg to design this site. I first saw Matt perform live with his group Arts and Crafts in 2007 at the IAJE conference in New York and was blown away, so when Greg approached me about working on his website, it was a total no brainer. Matt’s a great guy and an incredible musician, so if you ever have the chance to hear him perform, be sure and check it out.
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Last week, I was working out in Oakland, CA and, outside of a couple of trips to Seattle when I was younger, it was my first time to the west coast. The majority of my time was spent on an island city called Alameda which is right next to Oakland and across the bay from San Francisco. The weather was absolutely perfect while I was there and I met some amazing people during my trip.

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The Barack Obama Campaign has a series of art prints for sale under the name Artists for Obama. The series is comprised of images inspired by the message of the Obama campaign and they’ve had some high powered artists on board already. All money spent on the prints go towards the Obama campaign, so it’s a great way to help support his bid for the presidency!
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I think one of the nicest things about biking to work is having the chance to stop and notice things along the way. The fresh air is nice and the exercise is great, but mostly, I think it’s cool not have a pane of glass between you and the rest of the world. It’s nice to be able to stop if you see something and enjoy it without having to park, get out of the car, etc. So, perhaps against my better judgment, I took a camera along on my ride today and shot some of the things that I see on my way to the office!
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OK, so it’s Bike to Work week, so I thought I’d show the “gear” that helps me get to and fro on a daily basis.

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This week (May 12-16, 2008) is Bike to Work Week here in Kansas. I’ve been biking to work nearly every day for the past 2 years and so it’s always fun to have a week where I see other people head off to work under their own pedal power. I’ll try to do a couple of posts this week related to bicycle commuting and some tricks I’ve found to be helpful. Whether for environmental reasons, health reasons, or just for fun, biking is a great way to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors, so head out to the garage and pump up those tires this week and give it a shot. For those if you who commute a long distance, you can still make a difference by replacing any car trip with a bike ride.

Here are a few links to help get you started…

• If you’re paying nearly $4/gallon for gas, here is some food for thought!
• Sheldon Brown - everything you want to know about bikes online!
• Great tips on commuting from Paul Dorn
• www.commutebybike.com
• Map My Ride - check here to find a route

For a tune up, visit:

• Sunflower Bike Shop - Lawrence, KS
• CycleWorks - Lawrence, KS
• ACME Bicycle Company - Downtown Kansas City

Also, if you have some tips to share, drop a comment below! I’m always looking for new things to try on my way to the office.

Pok Chi Lau is a photographer and teacher from Lawrence, KS who has made Chinese migration and the emergence of China a focal point of his work over the past 40 years. Pok Chi was my photography teacher in college and had an enormous influence on me and my work in terms of how I approached image making as well as how I looked at different cultures through the lens of a camera. He still remains a strong influence of mine as well as a friend and so I was very excited to learn that he has a new book of his work out called Flow China!

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