Concert No. 1

Well, my first concert of the season was today. The Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra played today at 3:00. The concert went fairly well. There were a few mistakes in the cello section, one was mine, the other the section leader’s. They were both actually semi-humorous. First off, we played a multi-movement piece. After the first movement, we were supposed to wait until Mrs. Hastings (the conductor) put her hands down before turning the page. I completely forgot about that and looked really stupid. My mistake, however, wasn’t as obvious as my section leader’s. When Mrs. Hastings returned to the stage after our first piece of the second half of the concert he stood up. Generally speaking that is done when the director comes on stage…at the beginning of the concert, not the middle. EVERYONE in the symphony (director included), with the exception of one other person who stood, was obviously trying to not laugh out loud. It was fairly amusing.  Well, I have a composition to complete for Mrs. Hastings’ Theory class tomorrow. Good night.

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Sports…namely football and…football?

I was watching the Alabama/Florida State game today and the announcer tried to compare a ball bouncing off a player’s head to an own goal scored in the US/Brazil Women’s World Cup semi-final. I thought that this was an absurd comparison. I am sure that they looked the same (even though I don’t have cable and couldn’t see the USA/Brazil game…stupid monopolies!) but to compare an on-side kick recovery to a goal is just silly. Comparing football and football is just crazy. One sport, generally, is a game of set plays where the coaches control what happens on the almost completely. The other is a sport where the action is almost unstopped, more so than basketball. In REAL football, plays are created on the fly by the players, using their own instincts and intellect. Sure, there are set plays off of corner kicks, throw-ins, and a few open field plays but those are, in reality, few and far between. Football is truly a game of finesse. Now, just  because I have said that football is a game of finesse does not mean that football (soccer for the uninitiated) is a sport for weaklings. If you feel this way, watch any competitive team, say the Brazillian men’s team or Germany’s team or if you want to watch a non-national team, any team in the champions league. After watching one of those games (and don’t EVEN THINK about complaining about how low scoring it is, enjoy the action on-field) I would like to talk to you again and see if you can say to me, without any reservation that football, REAL football, is a weak person’s game.  In my mind, although I like American football, real football players are stronger, faster, and smarter than American football players and no comparison should be made between the two. Along the same vein are my thoughts on hockey; but that is another blog post for later on in the season.

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WOW!!!

So the Pitt State choir is planning a trip to Germany this winter. To raise money, we are having a number of fund-raising events. Today we held a garage sale/bake sale. My contribution was a few things my mom brought to be sold and about 6 dozen no bake cookies. ALL the cookies we made were sold. That is crazy!  Well after all was said and done, we made ~$635.  For a garage sale that is just nuts. Well, there was something else that I wanted to comment on last night, but I can’t remember what it was now, maybe I will update again later today.

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Singing and Cast of Characters

I sang today in my vocal studio. It was pretty good, I messed up a few times though. Oh well…Also I went around and took pictures today of people that I deal with on a regular basis. Below are the pictures and a short description of the person.

First off, ME

Then, me singing today (now yesterday)

My Roommates:

Richard-the deaf one Bryan Billy

Others:

Mary Joe-Richard’s Sis Linda-Department Secretary Dr. Fuchs Department Chair Seth- Graduate Assistant

Jeremy Johnson-Student Government President Maralyn (I think that is how it is spelled)- I am singing a trio with her and Mary Joe for Opera

Finally, some goofiness before Voice Studio:

I ALMOST FORGOT!!!!!!!!!!!

I have also taken (or am taking) pictures of places that I frequent that will soon be placed on this page. The idea is that you can get an idea of what my life is like without seeing me or where I live.

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Two things…

First, I will be updating tonight with a “Cast of Characters” so you can see who I am dealing with on a daily basis and a “settings” feature that will show where I am.  Secondly, the issue that I brought up last night was dealing with creating a cultural understanding class required for graduation. I proposed that it be modeled after the music department’s recital hour class.  In that class you have to attend a minimum number of concerts in a semester. My plan was to have students attend “X” number of cultural events in a semester running the gamut from lectures to concerts to sporting events. A member of the cabinet who is a senior strongly opposed this idea on the grounds that she shouldn’t be forced to go to events that she didn’t want to go to. Oh well…more research is needed.

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Annoying Night

Well, I have returned from the concert and the  Student Government Cabinet meeting. The concert went great, without a hitch.  The cabinet meeting however was…interesting. I presented an idea that seemed to rub a few people (almost everyone) the wrong way. A very interesting discussion followed in which I found myself having to dig in and defend my position. It ended up a stalemate. Oh well. I have been taking pictures to put on the blog, so expect pictures tomorrow. I am dead tired and will turn in as soon as this entry is complete. Good Night.

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Hi!

Well, I finally decided that I would enjoy keeping a blog. I plan on kind of keeping this like a journal. Expect a lot about music and school and not so much about my life (it’s boring). So, without further adieu, on with the show!

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Bored

Yeah, so I am in my Introduction to Psychology Class. This is a good class with a great professor but I spend more time surfing the web than I do actually typing notes. I am learning a whole lot about psychology while doing random stuff on the internet, GREAT!  So, I had my picture taken yesterday for the school newspaper. I think they’re doing an article on the Homecoming candidates or something. So…I got a haircut. I will attempt to post a picture soon with how I look, my apartment, roommates, etc. Yeah, so rambling on, there is a choir concert (kind of) tonight. The Chorale (small select group) will be singing for an admissions thing. It is to entice people to come to Pittsburg State. yea!  The best part is that we get fed; I guess I really will sing for my supper.

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