I haven't posted pics of teh kitteh in a while, so here's some. There is an informal photo contest on one of the forums I frequent, and this month's theme was "circles." I thought I'd try my hand at it with teh kitteh, as he was being cooperative and jumping on or sitting next to circular objects. First photo is the actual entry, and the rest are the ones that I considered.



( Moar pics under cut )

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In other news, the WDCH Youth Orchestra Festival was great. Well, the parts of it I saw, anyway. I was only there for the first two (Pasadena and CSUN), and I must say, CSUN's performance blew me away. I enjoyed their rendition of Dvorak's  Slavonic Dances #2 and 3 and Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana, but what got me was their really, really moving rendition of the Infernal Dance and Finale from Stravinsky's Firebird that brought the audience to a standing ovation. *fans self* Their Bernstein Overture to Candide was a bit dirty--quite understandable, as it's a hard piece--and I would've loved to compare their performance of it to Claremont's rendition, but...no. Teh bf and I had errands to run at the central library that took waaaay too long, so we missed Olympia and Claremont. Oh well. I see the folks at Claremont all the time anyway, but I would've loved to see Olympia in concert.

I was gonna post a Weekend Opera report on Das Rheingold, but I am waaaaaay too busy, what with finals coming up and all. I shall post it after finals!!

To the socially challenged people out there: If you want to make friends, buy a cool bike and lug it around town. Seriously, it works.

I took my new Kent Ultralite to school today, and I got a lot of friendly comments about how neat it was, how odd it looked, and how cool that it could fold. Two Metro Rail drivers talked to me about other people they saw with folding bikes, other bikers smiled and nodded, and the general populace was curious about it. I got stares rolling down Hollywood and Sunset, and a distinguished old gentleman actually joked about giving him the bike in exchange for him giving me directions. It really is a great icebreaker when someone comes up to you and asks "where did you get that?" or "what is that odd contraption?"

Having all those friendly people approach me almost, *almost*, makes me feel better for killing myself trying to study and move stuff and do chores.

Lugging the bike around everywhere isn't bad either, as I can roll it easily if I keep the seat post up. I think I can bring it to class with me, with the probable exception of Wednesdays, where I'll be in a small conference room on the 6th floor of a building. I will get a bike lock just in case I want to leave my tangled mess of parts somewhere, but I think the convenience of zipping around campus and between transit stations is worth having my bike stick by my side at all times.

My legs hurt though, as I'm not used to biking anymore. Oh well. Here's to incredibly toned legs after a couple of weeks.

Ok, back to torturing myself. *cracks open psych books*


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Baby, I found Rom's sonata! Will transcribe if I have time, or I'll give it to you if you wanna do the transcribing in your free time.

Wait, we have no free time. We know whose fault that is--Stuyvesaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant!!

To those who haven't watched The Caveman's Valentine, DO SO NOW!! Especially you, tomatoerin, as it has the most accurate portrayal of schizophrenia I've ever seen in a movie. Besides, Samuel L. Jackson as a schizophrenic, genius musician troglodyte is amusing.

"I'm not homeless. I live in a cave." ~Romulus Ledbetter

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Legendary cellist, conductor, and humanitarian Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich died last Friday, April 27, and was buried in Moscow earlier today. He was 80. Cellists, string players, and everybody whose lives he touched from all over the world are mourning at the loss of this great man.

"Slava," as he was known by his colleagues, was an amazing. He created wonderful music that touched your soul even when you were just watching him on TV or listening to him on the radio. I remember hearing his rendition of the Bach solo suites for cello and being moved by the sheer mastery he had of the instrument. He inspired the creation of great music, such as the Prokofiev and Shostakovitch cello concertos, which challenges musicians and amazes listeners. He created wonderful music himself as the conductor and musical director of the Washington National Symphony Orchestra. He mentored the next generation of great musicians--not just cellists. Best of all, he fought for human rights and the rights of artists in Soviet Russia, even to the point of his having to go in exile.

Bye Slava...you will be missed by everyone. Luckily, we have your music, your videos, and your wonderful legacy to keep us going.

Yay, new instruments to add to the menagerie!!!!

I finally got my electric violin!! It came in the mail today, and here it is:



OOOOOH



AAAAAAH



SHINY!!!

It's a Stagg violin, which isn't awesome, but at least isn't disgusting. The onboard preamp matches the piezo pickup, which is more than I can say for the other violins at this price level. I need to run it through effects to make it sound good, as on it's own it sounds...blah. Piezo quack sucks ass. However, if you ignore the sound (and the piece of crap bow it came with), the Stagg is...sexy. And shiny too! The shiny blue color is awesome. I therefore dub her The Shiny Sexy Thing (TSST).

I still love my wifey though. I threw away her ugly strings and replaced them with Sensicores, and oh boy, did that make a big difference. Even Pig says he loves the tone on Screechy now. She still needs a tune-up, but at least when I play her the sound doesn't make me want to chuck her out the window.

I also got a Boss GT-3 from ebay:


(not actual photo, as the Boss is at Pig's house)

The LCD on it is broken, but for the price ($51), it's ok. I can edit the patches from my laptop anyway. I haven't tried it with TSST yet, but I bet it's gonna be extremely fun.

Now I shall go do my Sociology take home exam, before I get further distracted by my shiny new toys.

Well, since I've been bawling all day, I should try to be happy tonight so...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present my Musical Instrument Menagerie!

( Much fanfare and pictures )

Yep...that's all of them. I hope to add an electric violin to the menagerie soon (must pester parents to buy for birthday :P).

I've been bawling my eyes out the whole day. Then laughing. Then smiling. Then crying again. My sister says I look like a panda. Gahds...I feel stupid, my eyes hurt, and I look like a non-cute panda. But considering what happened last night and today, I think I deserve to be a total mess right now.

Remember that scene in the woodlands with X-3? God. Last night topped that by (10^100)! times, and more. I mean, that time with X-3 was pretty emotional and intense, but those feelings pale in comparison to this. I've realized this before, but last night just confirmed how paltry my feelings toward X-3 were. I suppose at one time I really did love him, but it was the kind of love that fades and is eventually remembered in a dim gray light.

This time, with Pig, it's not like that. Or at least, I hope it's not. My inner cynic (term borrowed from farewell_mask) tells me you can never really know when it comes to love and relationships, but still... that intense emotional, mental, physical, and even spiritual (yes, spiritual!) connection I have with him is unlike any I've ever had. There aren't really any words in any language--at least among the ones I know--that can describe it. It feels right. He's the one for me. That's all I have to know for now, because if I overanalyze what we share I'll probably end up ruining it.

Remember Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love? Intimacy we have, though it's still new and growing. Passion, yes, yes--most definitely, YES. Commitment...well, not yet. But I want to have that too. I'm just waiting for him to ask, that's all.

It would've been a happy ending, but this is real life, and happy endings don't exist. Happy endings are all but new beginnings, right? This new beginning is bittersweet, tinged with memories of the past. Today I finally I let go of X-3, which is a sad thing, considering all the special moments we shared. Over half a year's worth of memories...maybe someday I can look back at them fondly and without hurting, but for now I can look forward to creating even more wonderful memories with Pig.

( For 3(^@^)3 (that's a pig, in case you were wondering XD) )

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In other, more amusing news, I bought a pianica for myself as an early birthday present. Yes, Nodame Cantabile had something to do with it, but I also missed the one I had in Japan, and I wanted to bring back some of the happy childhood memories I had with it. It arrived today by mail today, and it's...



Well, I wouldn't call it gorgeous, though that's the first term that springs to mind. Gorgeous would be this:


(Someday I will buy this. SOMEDAY would be when I have $3900++ to spare.)

The pianica is...cute? Cuddly? Adorable?

I suppose I'll call my pianica Mongoose, after Nodame. Welcome to my musical instrument menagerie!!

Clickety for a sound sample, which I recorded on my new pc mic.

Now all I need to complete the menagerie would be a better violin, and a meisel spitfire electric violin. *Looks pointedly at calendar, then at friends*

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In basketball news...

OMG, I GOT TO SEE STEVE NASH AND AMARE STOUDEMIRE. LIVE. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. They were tiny though, as we had the "nosebleed seats". Still. I got to see them in action. WOOOOOOOOOO.

I watched the Suns-Clippers game at the Staples Center with Pig last night. But the game wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. I thought the Clippers would put up more of a fight, but nooooooo. The Suns were running circles around them, and Diaw didn't even play. Nash didn't play for half the game either. 115-90? Seriously. That's pathetic. You can excuse that kind of score when the star players are gone, like in the case of that Suns-Supersonics game where Diaw and Nash were both out.

It's a good thing the evening had a better ending.

Announcement:

If you don't know about Nodame Cantabile, FIND OUT NOW!!! It's in manga, j-dorama, and anime form already, and all three forms are absolutely adorable. GO WATCH/READ IT NOW!!!! I don't know if there are scanlations up for the manga, but it's being published in the US by Del Rey, so it should be at your local bookstores. Heck, every time I go to Barnes & Noble, I spend a couple of minutes reading the latest volume. Uploads of the anime and j-dorama are at http://www.crunchyroll.com. I think it's on Youtube too, but crunchyroll is so much better.

Now go. Watch. Read. Watch. And don't come back here until you have.

Today...no, er, yesterday our music lit teacher made us listen to Arnold Schönberg. Schönberg. The creator of atonality. Schönberg. Inventor of the 12 tone system of composing. Schönberg. The idiot who destroyed music. Schönberg. Satan banging on the piano. Not satisfied with that, she made us watch a musicologist talk about Schönberg. Eeeew. As if listening to his music wasn't bad enough.

While the musicologist was droning on about Satan at the piano, Mr. X and I were having this "he says, she says" thing going on about Schönberg:

Musicologist (on the screen): Schönberg is a very important composer...Schönberg said "my invention will ensure the superiority of German music for the next 100 years"...we should all learn about him and his important contributions to the field...yada yada, blah blah (something to that effect)

He says: we learn about Schönberg for the same reason we learn about the devil in Sunday school: to learn what NOT to do.
She says: yes. Schönberg should have stayed in Germany during the Holocaust, don't you agree?
He says: I concur! Wagner should have included him in his anti-semitic music essay. Schönberg deserves to be there more than Mendelssohn, but unfortunately Schönberg was after Wagner's time.

Musicologist: plays a "Sarabande" of Schönberg's

She says: That's gonna give me nightmares. Eeeeugh.
He says: when you go home, play some real music. Play Mendelssohn's violin concerto.
She says: No, I'll play Bach's Sarabande so I'll remember what a real Sarabande sounds like.

Musicologist: (about the Sarabande) this piece is so full of emotion...yada yada, blah blah (something to that effect)

He says: if that's Schönberg's idea of emotion, I wouldn't want to date the guy.
She says: *rofl*

Musicologist: Schönberg's music was traditional at first, but evolved as he grew older...yada yada, blah blah (something to that effect)

She says: more like de-volved
He says: *rofl*

Musicologist: Schönberg believed he had a special mission in life to change the way the world listened to music...yada yada, blah blah (something to that effect)

He says: Schönberg is insane!!
She says: hmm...now that I think of it, believing you have a special mission in life is a symptom of schizophrenia...
He says: that confirms it then. He was insane.

Musicologist plays one of Schönberg's "evolved" piano pieces. Piece ends in a major seventh in the right hand and a tritone on the left

Both say: AAAAAAH!! NOOO!!! MY POOR EARS!!

To hear why we hate Schönberg so much, listen to this. Also, if you can find a recording of it, listen to Schönberg's "Survivor of Warsaw." It's a sort of narrative about a concentration camp. Basically, the Jews are beaten up by the Germans and are about to be brought into the gas chamber when they start to sing a hymn. Our "he says, she says" on this piece went something like this:

She says: (narrator talks about Jews getting beaten up) Моя воже!! That's terrible!
He says: what, the story or the music?
She says: both!!
He says: (as the Jews start singing the hymn) The Jews wouldn't sing like that! It would actually give the Germans reason to kill them!!
She says: nothing. She shaking so hard trying to laugh silently as to not disturb the other classmates who are actually listening and trying to appreciate Schönberg's music.

Well, at least we're done with Schönberg for the semester. No more Dori-speaking-whale-like singing.

Oh wait...now that Schönberg is done, we have to study about the composers influenced by him.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Excuse me while I puke...