Praise, not fair, posting a whole post with no misspellings at all. How am I supposed to sharpen my claws?

Helen, it's the "harmless" part that I might not define quite the same way you do. I didn't mean harmless to the cats, but harmless to the mouse. This reminds me of the wonderful line from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, when "our heroes" are suddenly confronted with the Ravenous Bug-Bladder Beast of Traal (actually an identical copy thereof but let's not quibble). Arthur says, "Is it safe?" and Ford says, "Oh yes, it's perfectly safe. It's we who are in trouble!"

Good points all about the difference between slowing down adn speeding up (which is what I was chiefly addressing) and learning to do complicated rhythms.

May I suggest you get a pair of drumsticks, a practice pad (heavy piece of rubber to drum on) and a copy of the book, "Stick Control"? Then with your metronome work through the exercises at varying speeds. It starts really easy (R-L-R-L) and eventually gets very complicated. I gained a little ability to keep complicated rhythms (much of what little ability I have, anyway) by this method.

Great thread!

O..O Alex
=o= Riggle