Not so good at guessing

I knew it was a bad sign when Matt Dillon got such huge applause when Jon Stewart mentioned him at the beginning. I got a bad feeling, but kind of just filed it away...and then look what happened. Anyways, here's how I did (I'm sure nobody did well since basically everybody missed best picture). 16/24=66%=not a good year for me... Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain Original Screenplay: Crash Animated: Wallace and Gromit Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha Cinematography: Brokeback Mountain Costumes: Memoirs of a Geisha Directing: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain Documentary: March of the Penguins Doc Short: God Sleeps in Rawanda Film Editing: Crash Foreign Language Film: Paradise Now Makeup: Chronicles of Narnia Music (Score): Brokeback Mountian Music (Song): Transamerica (Travlin' Thru) Live Action Short: Ausreisser Anim Short: The Mooon and the Son Sound Editing: King Kong Sound Mixing: Walk the Line Visual Effects: King Kong

Shame on you Academy

When watching Crash I felt as though somebody was beating me over the heard with a large hammer labled "Racism." I think it is fairly certain that this will go down as one of the worst years in Oscar History. First of all, there was a lack of stellar films (there was one that was stellar, and one that was very good). The entire thing was horrendously predictable (not that you can tell from my predictions) and the mother of them all...Crash won best picture. Can somebody wake me up and tell me that it is still Sunday morning and the Oscars haven't happened yet? While Crash does have its merits (for instance, the car rescue scene and Thandie Newman's performance) it does not have enough of them to merit a win for best picture. I truly do not understand how people actually liked this movie. It really was torture for me to watch it. The writing was horrible (and it won best screenplay?) parading around a bunch of racist people does not make an intelligent movie. Show us something original, show us a story that touches people. Brokeback Mountain: possibly the biggest snub in Oscar History. Not only was it a compact and smart film; it featured some of the best performances of the year (Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway...oh wait, that's every character in the movie) it was beautifully shot and accompanied by a spectacular score (which was justly rewarded). After a night where the Academy continually kept celebrating how smart and progressive they are, wouldn't it have only made sense to award a smart and progressive film like Brokeback Mountain? A film that puts two men in the place of a usual hetero relationship to prove the point that their love is the same as any other? Yes, the love story of Brokeback Mountain is no different than what other movies have done time and time again, but it made it fresh and new and exciting. And thank you to the conservative media that made this happen. Brokeback was fine until you came around and made up this non-existent face-off between it and Crash. Brokeback was the most celebrated film of the year. Brokeback was the most talked about film of the year. Brokeback was the most subtle film of the year. But you couldn't deal with the gay people, so you gave a huge boost to the audience pleaser that was Crash and ruined it for everybody. Shame on you Academy...shame shame shame... [end rant]

My Best Guess

Here are my Oscar guesses...haven't keep up nearly as well as I should have, so we'll see. (although I must say that I have done well in past years...) Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams (have a strange feeling bout this one) Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain Original Screenplay: Crash Animated: Wallace and Gromit Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha Cinematography: Brokeback Mountain Costumes: Memoirs of a Geisha Directing: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain Documentary: March of the Penguins Doc Short: God Sleeps in Rawanda Film Editing: Crash Foreign Language Film: Paradise Now Makeup: Chronicles of Narnia Music (Score): Brokeback Mountian Music (Song): Transamerica (Travlin' Thru) Check back later to see how I did...and to see my personal corrections to who they actually pick...

One Hot Umbrella

Everyone who played in Mary Counts recital last night got one of these. It is a very nice gift. She also sounded amazing (as always). And I know she is glad to be done. Thank you Mary, for the umbrella, and your music, and your friendship!

Bad Blogger

How come my rating on the TTLB Ecosystem is always going up and making me happy, then suddenly without warning it goes down to almost nothing. More people are reading my blog than ever and my rating sucks. Can anyone give me a clue as to what is going on? Maybe I'm just a boring blogger that doesn't know how to write? Tags:blog, ttlb, boring

Pre-Oscar

While I must admit that I have not been nearly involved with Oscar this year as I have been in recent years, it is still a requirement to watch the big show. Wasn't my favorite year in the movies, but there were definitely some good ones (and great ones!). Here are my five favorite scenes of the year: 5. The Corpse Bride: Piano Solo/Duet... **In my opinion one of the most overrated movies of the year. Just a hollow remake of the fantastic Nightmare Before Christmas. However, the two scenes involving the piano were strangely touching. And how can you not love a scene involving a four-hand piano duet between a living man and his corpse bride? 4. Happy Endings: Ending sequence... **(recapping where everybody is...cut to Maggie Gylenhall randomly singing in a night club) A really interesting movie that really deserved a lot more than it got. Great performances all around...and how can you resist an unexpected ending like that? And Maggie can really sing too.3. King Kong: Anne and Kong meet each other in the streets of Manhattan... **Complete with that signature larger than life Peter Jackson cinematogrophy, the image of Naomi Watts in the street has been burned into my mind. Throw in a slow paced very long shot of the woman and ape staring at each other and you have me sold.2. Capote: "What is the name of your book?" **The culmination of the movie and all of our questions answered. Many tears were spilled (by the actors in the movie I mean.)1. Brokeback Mountain: Final phone conversation... **The scene that has stayed with me. The long close-up/reaction shot while Anne Hathaway breaks the news to Ennis. Her's is one of my favorite performances this year because of this scene (too bad her part was too small to get recognition). Listen for the tiny inward gasps as she hears things she really doesn't want to.

Invites

I want to make invitations for my recital on March 26th...I found these, and while they are really fun, they are a bit expensive. Anybody have any suggestions?

New Communication Wave

In case you haven't heard...wallchatting is the new IM. I just finished a lengthy wallchat with the brilliant and profound Andy Nogal on facebook. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, wallchat is carrying on an im-like conversation through a facebook wall. Thats right...its almost the same as IM, except that anyone can read it and you can breeze through the archives left over on a facebook profile. Topics range from Cher to, well, I guess we didn't really discuss anything except for the fact that we were wallchatting. See facebook profile for evidence. To really impress your friends change your profile picture while wallchatting...or to throw them for a loop send a text message at the same time. And its so lamb. Tags:wallchat, facebook

So Lamb...

If you are confused as to what the term LAMB means...here is a good definition: Tags:lamb, gwen stefani, scarf

I Just Realized...

...that I have a recital in Kilbourn Hall really soon. I'm only going to have one or two more lessons before this recital. I will also have a rehearsal every night the week of this recital for a different recital. I haven't finished learning one of the pieces for my recital...and it is the biggest/longest piece on the program. I haven't rehearsed with Tatiana for a long time on anything. One of the pieces that I will be performing is not completed yet. I have to learn two very difficult pieces for the other recital I am playing in. And CCE has to learn the Penderecki Quartet that we will perform two days later on yet a third recital. And I thought things would be getting a bit easier after spring break. I was wrong. Tags:busy

What gives?

How come nobody has ever left me a testimonial on Friendster? Tags:friendster

The Orchid Thief

Thought I should mention that I finally finished reading The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. Most of you probably know this as the book that inspired the movie Adaptation. The movie is radically different from the book (being a VERY loose adaptation). I have to admit that I love both of them in their own way. I love the way that Susan Orlean writes...it is all at once informal and profound. She'll go from being extremely funny about something (such as alligators crossing a parking lot) and then suddenly start talking about her inner most desires. The book is at first about John Laroche, a man charged with stealing precious/endangered orchids out of a swamp...but it delves into the history of Florida, orchid hunting around the world, and the Seminole Indian tribe. We learn how all of these things fit together and the book ends up eventually being about obsession and unfulfilled desire. Really amazing. You have probably read the quotes I have posted here and though that they weren't very interesting. READ THE BOOK. You will not be sorry. It really is one of my favorites ever. I need to read more of her books...right now. But first its on to Truman Capote and In Cold Blood. Tags:susan orlean, the orchid thief, book, author

Desperate

Can I stay with anyone in NYC from March 6-9?!?!?!!? All of my regulars have abandoned me. Please help. Tags:new york city, hotel, help

Music

Juilliard received a rare gift today: tons of scores and manuscripts that people have never really seen or studied before. Apparently there is so much that they are building a new room to house all of it. Read more here. Tags:juilliard, music

Return

It is easy to convey lots of information in the form of a list. So here goes: 1. Houston weather is amazing. I spent yesterday wandering Rice village in a t-shirt and shorts. So there. 2. Audition went pretty well. Bach has been better, Dvorak has been better. But overall, it was pretty solid, I guess. Ligeti went really well...not really sure how that happened. Norman Fischer thinks that I should start with Ligeti instead of Bach...which is the opposite of what everyone here told me...we'll see. 3. The Galleria is a really really big mall in Houston, and they have a Versace, Gucci, and Louis Viutton (with men's clothes) there. Its pretty crazy. 4. Indian food in Rice Village is good. 5. We found a small fountain of a pig spitting water and were moved to take a picture with it. A nice lady came by and took one for us, afterwards posing the question, "was that too much pig for you?" 6. Margaritas in Rice Village are good. 7. Diagnostic tests in Rice Classrooms are not good, especially when you have to name countries and dates of tons and tons of pre-Barouqe composers. 8. I want to go back to Houston weather. 9. Can't really think of anything else. Tags:rice university, norman fischer, galleria, audition, houston

Strong Enough

Tomorrow I leave for Houston to audition at Rice University. I am excited about the warm weather as you can see below. I just finished watching Junebug...I was a bit disappointed. The movie isn't bad, but maybe there was just too much hype and I was expecting more than there was. Amy Adams is great, very deserving of an Oscar Nom (although she is much more than supporting since she is present in almost every scene in the movie). Whatever. Wish me luck at Rice! And you'll notice that you can now keep track of my audition progress at the left under the Big Five section! Tags:amy adams, junebug, rice university

Weekend Forecast

HOUSTON, TX: Sunday: High of 67...mostly sunny Monday: High of 76...mostly sunny Tuesday: High of 75...sunny Pack accordingly... Tags:houston, sun

Quote:

"I wanted a Fakahatchee ghost orchid, in full bloom, maybe attached to a gnarled piece of custard apple tree, and I wanted its roots to spread as broad as my hand and each root to be only as wide as a toothpick. I wanted the bloom to be snow-white, white as sugar, white as lather, white as teeth. I knew its shape by heart, the peaked face with the droopy mustache of petals, the albino toad with its springy legs. It would not be the biggest or the showiest or the rarest or the finest flower here, except to me, because I wanted it." -Susan Orlean, The Orchid Thief Tags:susan orlean, orchid thief, book

Web Update

I just discovered that I was linked to at Deceptively Simple, the blog of Mark Geelhoed, a music journalist in Chicago. He discovered my 'professional' webpage that I hadn't touched in ages, so I just updated it accordingly! Check it out here. Looking at it now, I looks a little drab and run down...perhaps I can convince the always amazing Paul Miller to make a webpage for me sometime in the future (which I would of course pay him for!!) Tags:mark geelhoed, update, chicago, david gerstein

Classical Music is Stupid

Lets just say that when I walked into a bar tonight to meet Carrie and friends they were playing Rich Girl and I almost died. Classical music is annoying...turns out 8 Lines is actually going to be super-exciting. Its really not one of my favorite Reich pieces; I actually don't like it very much at all, which is kind of surprising since some of Reich's pieces are some of my most favorite pieces (and anyone say Tehillim). But now after two rehearsals, I am starting to become obsessed with it. Should be fun. I am really glad that I will most likely not be playing in Philharmonia again. I was reunited with one person today who I would rather not have to have been reunited with. That is enough for cryptic posts. Tags:steve reich, gwen stefani, rich girl

Lamb This Week

While this may be a blatant rip-off of a similar weekly blog entry at another blog, here is a recap of important things that happened this week (at least to me). And its also an excuse to push this new supercool expression. 1. Louis Andriessen: After two concerts at Eastman featuring his music and music inspired by his composition, you can't help but love him. And I hear that he is super nice (even though I didn't get to play his music and thus didn't get to meet him...sad day). 2. Bang on a Can: You can't help but love the minimalist pop pieces inspired by the above mentioned composer. Check out works by Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, and David Lang. 3. Brad Lubman: He was able to throw together both Rite of Spring and Andriessen's La Passione in only two weeks, and both sounded really good (not that I was playing in either of them...oh wait, I was.) Its no wonder they say, "All Hail Brad Lubman" (and he has even been known to read this blog from time to time...so I'm not sucking up to him or anything...) 4. Sasha Cohen/Irina Slutskaya/Shizuka Arakawa: The leading ladies of figure skating. Lots of hype for a Russian sweep that didn't happen, lots of hype for an American upset that didn't happen. Japan silently sneaks in and takes gold. 5. Geeta Abad and Boston: Don't you love it when you meet up with an old friend you haven't seen for a long time and really have an amazing time in a really amazing city? Thought so. NOT-Lamb? New England Conservatory and Paul Katz. Grungy and nasty school combined with a VERY tacky encounter makes for a not good experience. Tags:lamb, andriessen, Bang on a Can, Brad Lubman, figure skating,Boston, Paul Katz

{Insert Japanese National Anthem}

In a surprise win Shizuka Arakawa won the gold in the Ladies Free Skate tonight. While her program wasn't thrilling, it was the only flawless one, and it put her FAR ahead of the other competitors. I should be happy that Sasha Cohen came in second, but lets be honest, she deserved nothing. Maybe her skating is fluid and artistic (in my opinion the most artistic of those who skated tonight) but tonight was not a shining performance. She fell too much and too hard. Too bad for Slutskaya, she was robbed of the silver. But whatever the result, it made for an exciting night of skating...see you in four years! Tags:slutskaya, sasha cohen, arakawa, skating, olympics

Attention

I would like to bring your attention to an amazing photoblog:Ferocious Cheese. I first discovered this blog via ModFab where everybody was drooling over this photo. Turns out the photographer is the brother of an old cello friend that I played in youth orchestra with! Small world I guess. His links are now contained in the sidebar under Life Conscious. Check it out...you'll love it. Tags:photo, blog, ferocious cheese

TMC is Official

I finally got my letter from Tanglewood, so I can forget any fears of being accidentally told I was accepted. I was kind of half expecting to get a call from them saying, "Sorry, we meant to call David Gerskin, you weren't actually accepted, sorry for the confusion." But all will be official once I send in the official acceptance letter (along with $200 of course). I have been spending a lot of time looking at the line-up of concerts which will be very exciting. Me and Heather are already salivating about "Film Night At Tanglewood" featuring John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, James Earl Jones, and Star Wars. I can see us flipping out already. It was almost too much to deal with when I called Heather last year and she was sitting backstage while John Williams conducted Star Wars with the Pops. Omg. Also very excited about the concert staging of Elektra which will feature tons of huge name singers and James Levine as conductor. I want to know what chamber music I will be playing. Guess I'll have to wait for a while before I find that out. I heard that me and Heather are playing Brahms Double with the BSO. Well, maybe not. Tags: TMC, Levine, summer, Elektra

More Auditions

Upcoming: Audition at Rice University. Upcoming even sooner: Practice. Thank you. Tags:rice university, audition, practice

Tags

I found a way to add tags to my blog posts. Do you like it? Tags:tags, blog
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Concert and Lisa

Concerts: Rite of Spring was a huge success. I'm so happy that I was able to play in it and it was soooo fun. It was probably my last concert with Philharmonia, so that was kind of sad, and it was also my last concert on the Eastman Theatre stage (whatever that means). At least it was good and it was one of my favorite pieces...good way to go out! Andriessen's La Passione is an interesting piece. I seem to be the only person who didn't really like it...there were some very good sections, but over all it didn't do it for me. The singer was VERY interesting though...she was very passionate about the music (or at least appeared to be to the audience!). Of course it was well played...especially the very high and exposed oboe duet! Movies: Watched Happy Endings. This movie deserved much better than it got from me. I watched it bit by bit over the span of two weeks. Perhaps over the summer I will give it a proper viewing. I would have never even known about this movie had it not been for Nathaniel. I can't believe that Lisa Kudrow didn't get any notice for this role. I think it may have been my favorite performance of the year (passing Felicity in Transamerica). She was able to completely make us forget about a character that she played for ten years (on Friends) and become completely new...and give a fully realized and thoughtful performance. That is a pretty huge feat. Go her. And see the movie, its really good. Tags:rite of spring, philharmonia, lisa kudrow, andriessen
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Three Words

I Heart Sasha. She skated best, she got the best scores. Good luck in the long program. As for the real world: CCE recorded the Ply tonight at Christ Church. Editing was used as well as a conductor (which helped but we didn't need for many portions of the piece). We played the third movement and were like, "Ha! See? We can actually play as a string quartet!" Rite Of Spring tomorrow night: Eastman Theatre. Brad Lubman conducts. Louis Andriessen is guest composer. DONT MISS IT. Tags:sasha cohen, cce, plylar, brad lubman
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Sucks For You

I think that the Musica Nova concert tonight was one of my all time favorite concerts here at Eastman (up there with the likes of the CCE Brahms concert and the Ossia concert with Ligeti and Strauss). For all of you who missed it, sucks for you. You missed tons of loud amplified minimal Bang On A Can pop-fest fun. It had to be one of the largest crowds I have seen at a Musica Nova concert. Tons of fun was had by all...wish we could do it again! I think that the Wolfe went better than it ever had before, and I definitely broke roughly 17 trillion bow hairs. And Dave and Elinor were both there, that was nice of them to come! Tomorrow is a long and busy day and I'm really scared of it. By 10pm we will most likely have finished recording to Ply...but that is a long time from now. NEC audition was acceptable, not good, but acceptable. Kind of seemed like a waste of time, especially since I don't really have any interest in going there...but who knows. We'll see what happens.

CONCERT INFO

MUSICA NOVA: ALL AMPLIFIED 8PM KILBOURN HALL Michael Gordon: Weather 1 Julia Wolfe: Lick (performed by yours truly) David Lang: Cheating, Lying Stealing Andriessen: Worker's Union (with Louis in the audience himself!)

Audition Journal: Boston

I officially got sick of writing entries in the form of a time-list, so here is a normal one. Boston is fun. It is fun to visit with Heather Wittels and I will be seeing her this summer at Tanglewood! Yay! Her parents are sooo nice (I have my own room here with this amazing inflatable sofa-bed...so comfortable). Tomorrow I need to seriously find a gift for them. Highlight of the trip so far: seeing Geeta!! We had tons of fun tonight remembering old Ravinia stories (mainly about how she basically killed Cam) and just being goofy in general. She has a super cute apartment with an amazing location and is living it up to the fullest in Boston! Me and Sunny went out for a beer to the Boston Conservatory hangout: Woody's. I wish Eastman had a nice little bar really close to the school that we could all hang out at...we have to walk all the way to the Toad for a nice place to sit and chat. Hmmm... I checked in with the other Heather (Braun) and it sounds like things went well for her at her auditions! Too bad we didn't meet up, but I'm sure we will be seeing tons of each other in the future (especially in the next few days recording the Ply...omg=so scared). Wish me luck on my audition tomorrow...I'm not terrible nervous or anything, so that probably guarantees that I will be beyond horrendous at 4:12. Me and sunny plan on going to H+M afterwards!

Audition Journal: Day Two Cont...

4:30am. David arrives at Rochester airport after driving through scary windy snow-blown highways. Rochester airport is waaaaay too crowded for a Saturday morning at 4:30am. 6:00am. David's plane leaves Rochester. 7:30am. David arrives at JFK. The terminal appears to be a marketplace in a third world country. David quickly boards his next plane. 8:00am. David watches curling on the plane. 9:15am. Heather's mom picks up David at the airport. This is very nice of her. 10:00am. David chats with Heather W, takes a nap and a shower. 12:00pm. David practices and will meet Sunny and Geeta later.

Audition Journal: Day 2

11:40pm. (approx) David realizes as he is getting into bed that he has no money for the cab. He gets dressed, walks to the ATM, finds that the door is locked, then proceeds to Matthew's. For some reason he thinks its a good idea to walk down a back street and an alley to get back to his apartment, but luckily he doesn't run into any trouble. 3:00am. David's alarms start to go off. He reluctantly wakes up. 4:30am. David calls a cab and is off to the airport.

Audition Journal: Day 1

5:00pm. (approx) Philharmonia finishes rehearsing Rite of Spring. David Picks up dry cleaning. 8:00pm. Lauren Radnofsky gives an amazing recital featuring solo cello + electronics. "Very Badly Performed" receives great reviews. Brad Lubman's piece is a success. Brian Sanders loves the distortion in Michael Gordon's "Industry." 9:30pm. (approx) David Sara and Kimberly are bored by ice dancers skating to the same music over and over again. 10:59pm. David realizes that his cello is still in his locker at school. He also realizes that the school closes at 11pm. He then realizes that the school does open until after his flight leaves tomorrow morning. David then sprints to school to get his cello while people are still leaving. 11:20pm. (approx) David attempts to go to sleep and dreads waking up at 3:30am for his flight to Boston.

Sad Day

Johnny Weir walked away with no medal...but to make it even sadder, he didn't deserve one. He wimped out on lots of his jumps and was pretty boring overall...Pleshenko was technically REALLY good, but his routine was only jumps and arm movements WITH NOTHING ELSE AT ALL...stunning by boring. It was VERY obvious he was going to win...he scored an amazingly high score, nobody else had a chance. I guess I'll just wait for Johnny's big win at the next winter Olympics in four years...it's in Vancouver, so I'll be able to meet him in person. Audition coming this weekend in Boston! Should be fun and exciting. I don't really want to go to school there, but I am anyway because of PEER PRESSURE...all the cool people are doing it. Its so lamb. Even the Harajuku Girls. Can I have these?

OMG!

Anna Reguero is writing for New Music Box...a new music blog that I should be reading much more than I already do! Check it out here.

Netflix=not good right now

Is it a bad sign when Netflix sends me a movie that is somewhere around 23 in my queue because everything in front of it is not available for some reason? And Java's has Toasted Almond today and its amazing. Men's figure skating returns tonight...I hope Johnny wins.

Concerts

Next week there are lots of very very interesting concerts happening at Eastman! You may have heard that the composer, Louis Andriessen, will be visiting the school. There are two concerts featuring his pieces. First: MONDAY AT 8PM KILBOURN HALL...an all amplified concert featuring Lick by Julia Wolfe, Weather 1 by Michael Gordon, Worker's Union by Andriessen, and cheating, lying, stealing by David Lang. I'm just playing in the Wolfe, but its really fun and loud so you should come. Everything is conducted by Brad Lubman. Second: WEDNESDAY AT 8PM EASTMAN THEATRE...a large piece by Andriessen called La Passione as well as Rite of Spring by Stravinksy...should be really fun...Brad Conducts again. for more info go here...I expect you ALL to be there...no excuses...at all...

New Stuff

You may have noticed a few changes around here...I added all sorts of cute little buttons in the sidebar, which means nothing to most of you...and I'm probably getting waaaaay ahead of myself, since not very many people even read this blog! But if you use a news read (or whatever they are called) you can now easily add my feed to your reader! And what about the new picture frame thing...good or bad? I'm thinking its time to change the picture on top...maybe something a little more OhMyTrill...anyone want to help?

That is so Lamb

The results are in: most of the male figure skaters suck...but Johnny Weir is my new favorite. He is placed second after the short program, and was by far the best of the people I saw (which is minus Pleshenko, he skated before I could start watching). I really hope that he pulls out an amazing program and wins...and he has a blog (which hasn't really been updated) but nonetheless, you should read it. And Hedwig and the Angry Inch is one of his favorite movies...nuff said. Kimberly Sarah and I and waaaay too much fun watching tonight. We have to do it again soon.

Sweeney

Alison gave me a recording of the new Sweeney Todd currently on Broadway. Sweeney Todd is easily my favorite musical and I have grown to love the recording with the NY Phil and Patti Lupone/George Hearn. Patti Lupone sticks around for the new production where characters double as the orchestra...a newish trend (I think). At first these strange reductions (which are mostly piano) seemed empty, but after hearing more of it, it does kind of work. The show has been re-imagined as a continuous piece that just flows from beginning to end. While the singing and playing is at a MUCH higher level on the NY Phil recording, I really want to see this show. I have only heard raves about it...maybe I should look into next time I'm in NYC...

Large News

I got a call from the Tanglewood Music Center yesterday and it turns out that I was accepted for this summer!!! That means that I will be parading around Lennox, MA with the likes of Heather Braun, Norman Fischer, and of course Yo-Yo Ma...well, I think he comes for like 1 one day or something. And to top it off, they are playing almost exclusively contemporary music (because of the James Levine influence) so that will be very exciting!I can't wait!

Indestructible Knee of Zhang

The Russians may have won, but the stand out superstars of the evening in pairs skating were definitely Zhang and Zhang. The fall was spectacular, and when she was practically carried off the ice we thought it was over...but she got a second wind and they did the program again...and she nailed all of the jumps and throws and the pair now has a silver medal. It was kind of shocking. Talk about Olympic Drama. Looks like Chinese dominance in pairs skating is starting to creep in...the Russians got gold, but China took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. And with a performance like Zhang and Zhang gave, they deserve it. And snowboarding is boring...but its fun to pretend to know what you are talking about and critique random details.

Word Cloud

Apparently this is a T-shirt realization of my blog. Found this via StinkyLulu. Thanks. Try it for your site!

Westerns and Pairs

I think that I am finally learning how to watch Western movies. As most of you know, I really disliked the first few that we watched (Hell's Hinges and Stagecoach) and started to warm up a tiny bit with Red River...but {gulp} I actually liked Winchester '73?!?!?!? How could this be? Let's just say that I am currently writing my midterm (which focuses on one scene that you must analyze) and I'm actually enjoying writing it. It surprises me too. But more importantly, I need to finish it this morning so that I can watch the pairs figure skating tonight without feeling guilty. Check out this to see clips of Sarah Hughes winning the gold as well as revisiting the Pairs Scandal from last year. Now I need to go to the library to see a clip from Red River...

New Blog

Announcing Alma and Me...a new blog written by the one and only: My Mom!!! She plans on updating everyday, so be sure to check in and see what she has to say! The link to her blog will be living in the sidebar at the left under Life Conscious.

One Question:

How can the Ying Quartet program such a good piece (by Tod Machover) and then follow it up with such a huge steaming pile of shit (by Patrick Zimmerli). I wanted to hurt myself during the performance...the piece was that bad...more later.

Pairs...

Is there something wrong with you if you huddle on a couch with two other people and hold your breath to see if Inoue and Baldwin land their throw triple axel? And this is post number 201 since I moved to blogger! Thats a lot of blogging! And in case you weren't watching...they did it!

Kari Traa is like, "shit..."

1) Free hot doughnuts from Krispy Kreme are always worthwhile. 2) This shit is bananas. 3) Its always a joy watching certain events with Heather (such as Moonstruck and Pairs Figure skating). 4) The Olympic coverage is not wonderful...women's moguls were exciting...luge was fun...pairs was good as always...but ever single competitor in men's really really long speed skating? What were they thinking? 5) CCE rehearsed at Java's. 6) The woman from last night was nowhere to be found in the Olympic coverage today. 7) CD exchange with Kimberly...aquired more Madonna...she got something else. 8) B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Ouch.

So I was just walking back to my apartment from school and I was talking on the phone and I slipped and fell on my back. It was kind of embarrassing...and I told my mom on the phone and she was like, "so?" and just kept talking. I hope that nobody saw me...but I'm sure they probably did.

Love the Ladies

Watching the Olympic opening ceremonies was an interesting event. Its a huge super production, but it really makes no sense at all...but whatever. Did anyone else notice the woman at the very end commenting to Bob Costas in a very low voice how much she loved all the women? Um, I really shouldn't go there...but...no...{cough}...Les...{cough}... Did I mention that pairs skating starts tomorrow?

Audition #1 Complete

My audition was sooo intense. They heard the entire Bach prelude, most of the first movement of Ligeti, the entire second movement of Ligeti as well as the first page of the Dvorak. I think I actually played fine...Ligeti was not very good, but was much better than it has been before, so I'm on the right track! My aural skills interview was hilarious. You try sight singing and playing piano etc when you haven't done any of it for trillions of years...I asked the person if I should just leave at one point and she said that I should really keep going...so there must be some really bad applicants out there. And I can't believe I forgot to say that Sara's recital was completely amazing. She looked gorgeous and sounded gorgeous too! Yay Sara!!

Audition insanity

There are really no practice rooms at all. Not a single one. Heather kicked somebody out of one and then gave it to another auditonee even though her audition is in less than an hour. But she did manage to find one somehow. I have to go to a mysterious meeting for a "graduate award" that I'm kind of scared of...it may or may not be an aural skills test...that would be interesting. Send me good vibes at 2:15!

Eastman Audition

Tomorrow is the first day of many. Me and Heather will meet at 8:45 and proceed to Kilbourn Hall with all the other auditonees, it will be kind of fun. I think tomorrow is supposed to be a rather large audition day, so that will be interesting. It turns out that my auditions are kind of in order of importance...Eastman first, which is perfect: great way to try out all of my audition rep and get instant feedback from people I know. NEC is next...I really don't want to go there. Then Rice, which I have kind of lost interest in, but once really loved. Then the big one: Juilliard. I have a month to build up to it...I hope it goes well. I'm kind of nervous for it already. Then Mannes at the very end...a nice little wind down to the insanity. But whatever...tomorrow is the first of many...wish me (and Heather) good luck!

Not cool enough...

Over at ModFab there is a race going on to pick the next big thing...the FabSix...I just submitted my votes (some of my favorite bloggers have been nominated). You will not find any mention of me however, since I didn't even submit my name. Since I am only involved in pop-culture from time to time I didn't think it would be necessary to enter my name in the pool...but perhaps they would want the opinion of a hip music trendsetter? How about the student of a grammy winner? A New York wannabe? Ok...I haven't even seen Project Runway before, who am I kidding? Did I mention that my cello teacher is a grammy winner? But seriously, you should check out some of the links in my sidebar, cause they are fun to read from time to time.

Grammy

Congratulations to the Ying Quartet who won the Grammy for best cross-over album today! Now I can say that I study with a Grammy winner! They were all in LA for the ceremony and me and Kimberly looked for them on TV, but they were most likely sitting way in the back. They were one of the many awards announced in the afternoon...the only mention of them was a little message that scrolled across on the bottom of the screen informing people about 'other winners.' Rite of Spring went much better today...Brad mentioned something about a version of the final section of the piece (switching from 2/16 to 3/16 etc...) all written out in 4...so why not rewrite a Mozart symphony in 5/8??? Hilarious... First audition is coming soon... Good luck to Sara on her recital tomorrow!! I'm sure she will astound and amaze everyone with her super violin skills!

Netflix

Does anybody know anything about Blockbuster.com??? I'm thinking about switching...Netflix has not been so good to me lately: movies are taking longer and longer to show up and most of the movies that I want to see are on "Long Wait" or "short wait" and never seem to get sent, then when they do, they take forever...Blockbuster seems to have the same selection, plus you get 4 free rentals a month from a blockbuster store...Seems like a pretty good deal to me since its the same price as netflix...what do you think?

Twin Peaks!

Brian Wins!! I still have to decide what his prize is...

{Insert new tradition here}

Ice cream is good. Practice is going ok...wish I could play with less tension...could I be trying too hard to get rid of it and by doing so causing even more tension? I need to free myself! Ack! Rite of Spring returns tomorrow...I really need to pay a visit to the admissions office to discuss a few items such as the fact that they are missing a recommendation and my transcripts. And I want to see if I can make my audition so its not during Phil since I will be missing one of the Saturday rehearsals and I'd rather not have to miss another. Let audition mayhem begin!

Name that tune!

e-----d-f-e-d-c- e-----d-f-e-d-c-b---a---g---f---a-flat.......

[C]........................[a]........................[F]................[d].......................... Name the piece and win a prize!

Counting

Rite of Spring=so fun! Rehearsal went better than I expected it to...need to work on my part soooo much! I think that Birtwistle basically taught me how to count!

An entire Bach suite?

I really want to practice right now, however; not one single room in all of the Eastman School is open...there are several reasons for this great urge: #1...I have my first audition (here at Eastman) on Friday. #2...I think that I need to learn an entire Bach Suite for the NEC audition in 2 weeks...is this true??? Ack!!! NEC auditionees please let me know! #3...Today is the first rehearsal of Rite of Spring and I really should know what I'm doing since I'm sitting in front...think I'm going to drag that out for Kathy... #4...I have a lesson with Kathy...right now... #5...gone

Lower Your Voice

Kimberly and I left the Superbowl Party early and ended up getting a private showing of Transamerica at the little. The entire theatre was pretty abandoned...when we came in they had to tell the guy what movie so he could go up and get it ready. Main thing to love about this movie: Felicity Huffman...I will admit that I am a bit biased (since she is actually Lynette from Desperate Housewives) but she is so fun and quirky and lovable in this movie...Definitely my pick of the Best Actress noms...I know some see Reese as the chance to break the deglam trend, but Felicity's performance does actually warrant a win (sometimes deglam perfs are actually good: Charlize in Monster...sometimes deglam perfs are really bad Swank in Million Dollar Baby). I understand the need to end awarding actresses for dressing down, but can't we just end the streak next year? It would be so nice to let Felicity have her Oscar, its probably her one and only chance. The movie wasn't my favorite thing ever...ended up being a bit draggy in a few places, but all in all it is VERY fun and VERY entertaining and Felicity is a joy...still can't stop laughing about the one dollar bail "I can't possibly afford that..."

A List

1. Martinis at Lola are fun. 2. NYC is a lot more exciting than The Cha. 3. I have finally bought all of my audition plane tickets. 4. I fly to Boston very early in the morning. 5. Yuck. 6. Tanglewood audition went well, but not amazing. 7. The Ply quartet is hard. 8. My first audition is this Friday here at Eastman. 9. I though m Dvorak was really bad at the TMC audition, but N Fischer said it was good. 10. They asked for Beethoven 4. 11. They also asked for Audition Masterpiece. 12. Johanna (Kimberly's friend) is very fun. 13. Cher's daughter works at a diner on Monroe. 14. I have music ADD. 15. I shocked the TMC audition people with a loud Bartok pizz. 16. Look at the new Flickr pictures (above). 17. Rite of Spring starts on Monday! 18. Dawn has a cute apartment with lots of dogs/people and a cat. 19. I Heart NYC. 20. Capote is a really really good movie...although some people wouldn't like to use terms like amazing or impressive.

I'm a musician too

Youth Orchestra of the Americas audition went MUCH better than I expected...tension was MUCH better at the audition than when I practiced. All the excerpts were acceptable and definietly NOT perfect so we will see how it turns out. I didn't do the application and the woman handed me one and was like "you can turn it in later today." Much to my surprise there was an ESSAY...ugh...just dashed that one off in about 5 minutes...oops... And I totally offended the lady...at the end of the audition I commented that I had never done an audition only for a camera before...her response: "I'm a musician too!" Its time for NYC! Wish me luck at Tanglewood!

Torture...

I think that I need to officially declare this a very bad year for movies. Aside from the genius that is Brokeback Mountain, I can't think of one movie that has really made a huge impact on me. And not only are there a lack of non-impact films, there is a plethora of trash. #1: Munich...a jolly romp around Europe featuring Israelis trying to take revenge on some terrorists. #2: Crash...I'd rather stab myself in the eyes with a spoon over and over again than watch this movie. Watching Crash was a painful experience...I had my doubts before watching it...I saw 20 mins of it yesterday and was not impressed...I just finished it off. I have to say, that at the end, when the music started up I literally had to hold my right hand down, because if I hadn't, I would have been slapping myself in the face...it was really that bad. Focusing on race relations the movie features several groups of people all having their own racist issues and troubles...their stories cross paths in various ways usually coming together at a "crash moment." The movie doesn't really seem to know where its going and ends up not really going anywhere, it is content just to acknowledge that racism is a problem and doesn't really do anything but that. The cast is huge and full of movie stars (many of which seem to be trying to rescue their careers) and none of them give a real stand-out performance...but how could they? The writing is so terrible that none of them really had anything to work with...STAY AWAY FROM CRASH...IT IS A HUGE WASTE OF YOUR TIME... In other news: I have my first audition of the season tomorrow for Youth Orchestra of the Americas...I am not expecting much from it since I have to play Mendelssohn Scherzo (easily my worst excerpt) but if nothing else, it will be good audition prep for Tanglewood on Friday...Tomorrow also marks my first New York trip of the semester...and I'll be staying with Dawn! Wish me luck in all my auditions in the next two days...and good luck to Paul on his recital...and good luck to Sunny on her Phil Concert! I'm missing so much while I'm gone!! But no worries...I'll be here for the party on Friday night when I get back!!

Frustrated

Sometimes I wonder why I even try...

SotU

This is 'interesting'. Don't like some of the comments at the end...barf.

Post 2-0-4-6

Saw 2046 yesterday...very interesting movie, can't say that I loved. I do love its predecesor: In the Mood for Love...2046 is slightly more daring and experimental and in general tries to do more...I think director Wong Kar Wei would have been better off sticking with his minimalist style. 2046 takes one of the leads from ITMFL and follows his life post "break-up"...he has become a womanizer living in a hotel (room 2047)...he constantly tries to replace his lost love, but nothing seems to work out...he writes his many flings into a story series he is writing for a newspaper...they appear as androids that the main character falls in love with. Sometimes the movie becomes the story, so it is part sci-fi, which was a bit strange to me. To movie is very beautiful to look at...the cinematographer has a way of framing shots so that what you may think is important is either off the camera or blocked by something and you realize that it wasn't that important after all...why need to see somebody's mouth when they are talking? 2046 is a great effort, but pails in comparison to ITMFL, a movie which it has to be compared to...I need to check out more of these movies though...so artistic and imaginative...

Drool

I need to stop drooling over the MacBook Pro (see several entries down)...I keep finding myself looking at the page and wishing I had one...maybe I should start saving up so I can get one over the summer? Wait...maybe after auditions stop consuming every single dollar I have... Graduation present?...hint hint... not that I'm asking or anything... but maybe I am...

Senioritis

So I just had my first major case of senioritis: I have had plenty of time to do the reading for film and to write the response paper...but I just can't make myself do it, and I just gave up. Maybe I can take the excuse that I have two summer auditions this week and was too busy...hmmm...at least you get to drop one so it doesn't matter that I didn't do this paper...but its pretty stupid on my part... Oscar nominations were announced this morning...I have made changes to my netflix queue to insure that the correct movies will be watched in time for the big show. Yay for tons of Brokeback Nominations including picture, actor, supporting actor, and supporting actress (although Jake G is really one of the leads, but whatever)...Boo to noms for Munich...it showed up as best picture and director, but then doesn't follow up with any other nominations...how can a film be good enough to get a pic nom, but then have nothing to show for itself in the other categories? I guess they just love Spielberg too much... I really dislike Tuesdays (and Monday nights for that matter)...

Eat some cake

Happy Birthday to my one and only mother!!!! Today she turns a double digit number, and we'll just leave it at that. As part of the birthday celebration I will be helping her start her very own blog...look for it coming soon!! Happy birthday ma!!!!!

Please?

Now that it is apparent that my computer will be out of commission very very soon I have set my sights on this.Who wants to buy it for me?

Sunday Afternoon Library Blogging: Match Point

First things first: Match Point=not good. I know I talked to a lot of you who raved about it...but me? I didn't like it. I liked it for a while...very calm but brooding, the whole opening monologue thing...but I kind of started to lose it the first time Scarlett Johanson entered the scene. She happens to be one of my favorites (based largely on one movie, namely Lost in Translation) but the poor girl has nothing to work with in this movie. At first she is this super seductive woman (for no apparent reason) she flirts heavily with everyone, and they fall for here, even though she is engaged (which of course poses many problems, mainly the basis for the movie), and then, about half-way through the film, she just gets whinny and annoying. If she gets nominated for Supporting Actress I will be a bit mad, she doesn't deserve it. The story was good enough with plenty of twists and turns (lots that surprised me) but I was expected it to go to a more interesting place than where it went...I don't know where, but what it did was fairly obvious and contrived, and I kind of got sick of it after a while. The story is based on Crime and Punsichment, but still, didn't work for me...Maybe Woody should stick to his comedies? The whole thing just seemed a bit ridiculous to me...I really did want to like it, but after that first scene with Scarlett (which is about 10 mins into the movie) I wasn't really taking it seriously anymore...the dialogue was too forced too soon and it only set up disappointment for the rest of the film. What happened? This could have been a really great movie...oh well... Hope Scarlett comes through next time... This has to be the slowest I have ever seen the library...I have been sitting here since 1:00 and only one person has come to the reserve desk to get one book...where is everybody? I'm gonna be sitting here for another 3 hours...maybe I will get some reading done? There are big happenings coming soon in the "my mom" department...a big day is arriving!

Winter Ball

Winter ball was a success...Me and Kimberly found something to wear at the mall at the last second...you can see hers below and mine above. Sara had an amazing dress (and we won't discuss where she got it). The three of us arrived ontime, but due to orchestra and a certain someone who is known to take longer, the others arrived much later...but all was good since they set up another table and we were all able to sit together. Food was good, fun was good...and we all actually danced! And Carrie requested Material Girl...which we had to run up from the bar to dance to...me and Carrie had a dancing moment when we attempted to swing dance and neither of us had any idea what we were doing (well I didn't at least!) but we must have been ok since Brian seemed to think it was good...Some people came over afterwards and had a few drinks...all in all a successful evening! I had no idea that the Inn on Broadway was about one block away from school...who would have known that it was even there? Just played in studio and it wasn't half bad...although it wasn't amazing either...I think it was the first time I got through the entire Ligeti with no stopping at all! Yay! And Bach was surprisingly loose and relaxed. Hope I can keep the trend up! CCE returns tonight!

Preview

Quote:

"In fact, every county [in Florida] has an official Nuisance Alligator Rustler who is on call to remove excess or inappropriate reptiles. On my last trip to the Fakahatchee I stopped at a gas station, and as I was squeegeeing the bugs off my windshield, four baby alligators scooted from one trench to another, about six inches away from my feet. At that particular moment I was wearing sandals. About one second later I changed into regular shoes." -Susan Orlean "The Orchid Thief"

Lots o' Movies

The Squid and the Whale is a very good movie...especially the acting...the little kid was a bit freaky. Kind of echoes of Royal Tennenbaums (minus the joyful randomness)...you should really see this movie...guess the stand-out is Jeff Daniels, but it really is the group of four that makes the movie. Very understated in a "here it is" fashion. I must admit that so far I am not taken with the genre of Westerns...after viewing Hell's Hinges and Stagecoach I am not very excited to see any more...perhaps they will get better? First rehearsal of CCE went very well!!! We managed to play through the whole first movement of the Plylar (keep in mind that it is about 40 seconds...but it is a very difficult 40 seconds). Yay!

Quote:

"An Illinois orchid breeder named a new Phalaenopsis hybrid after Shinichi Suzuki, the Japanese violinist who developed a method for teaching music to tiny children." -Susan Orlean "The Orchid Thief"

Happy Australia Day

Have a Tim-Tam...

I just had my first courtesy of Leila! They are very tasty!! And you can bite off opposite corners and suck coffee through them!

Busy

I need to go over to school and practice...but first I will waste time on a blog entry. And I don't really have anything to say...first rehearsal of Lick went very well I though, I'm not used to playing with the people in the group, but it works really well...its also very difficult to not really be able to hear anything that I'm playing...and my fingertips are pretty beat already from the Bartok pizz...but that always happens. Dinner with Dave was an entertaining affair...went to Golden Dynasty, which is a very good Chinese restaurant! Enjoyed chatting about his friendship with some surprising people and how they turned down a chance to play at a rock concert thing for over 90,000 people and instead play with an amateur Chinese chorus...whatever... Laura said that I can't stay with her in NYC...so if anybody is willing to host me March 6-9 please let me know!!! And check out photos from the past few days now on Flickr. PS(ophia)> My favorite is Hung Up (boring I know)...but I also have a special place in my heart for Future Lovers...and I Love New York...and Jump...and I should stop there.

zzz

Too tired...long day ahead of me...want to sleep...

Soon to be Desperate

Brian and I are slowly getting to the point where we are going to have to wait an entire week between each episode of Desperate Housewives. This is not good news. I am far too accustomed to watching an entire season of a TV series in the span of 1-2 weeks...and now thanks to iTunes I can purchase episodes of shows that are not even on DVD yet...needless to say, I am not looking forward to waiting an eternity between episodes...I will just have to suffer... And I am starting to have mixed feelings about Bree...she was once hilarious, but her recent actions have started to bug me...we'll see where that goes... Matthew's with selected individuals who shall remain nameless was an interesting affair...and we'll leave it like that to protect the innocent.

Sweat

Madonna+O-Zone+Cher+Queer as Folk Soundtrack+Aphex Twin=good work out Just watch the pounds roll off...

One Question:

How did Judi Dench win best supporting actress for Shakespeare in Love?

Sunday Afternoon Library Blogging: Mall Walk

Let's start with this: a few days ago when me and Kimberly were a little bit tipsy (after the Dvorak competition) we asked each other to the winter ball. A few days later, we confirmed this with no alcohol in our systems and decided to actually go for real. This poses one major problem: we need to buy something to wear since everybody needs to look fabulous. That predicament lead us to go to the mall early this morning...assuming that the stores opened at 10...we got in the car at 9:30. However, upon arriving at the mall, we discovered that the stores don't open until 11...which left us all alone with the mall-walkers. I don't really know what drives people to mall walk...after all, you need to drive to the mall so you can mall walk...why not just take a walk in your neighborhood? We definitely stuck out in the crowd, since for a large amount of time we sat down on a little fountain ledge and had Starbucks...some of the people there were just previewing the stores before they opened...but then there was the breed of hard-core mall walkers, dressed up in their Adidas work-out clothes, counting the laps around the mall. So we tried to blend in with them, and miserably failed, and eventually went shopping when the stores opened. Went to Abercrombie and Fitch for the first time ever...and Kimberly bought a shirt that had her name on it (like almost everything in the store does). She decided to pass over the shirt that only said Fitch since it was a men's XL...We will need to go back to the mall sometime this week since none of us bought anything for the Winter Ball...any suggestions? PS>Java's has toasted almond today.

see below

Lazy Day

What?

Today I received the special audition piece that Tanglewood sends to everyone playing an audition exactly two weeks prior to the audition. I was expecting it to be some sort of crazy contemporary thing, since Tanglewood is almost all new music this summer. Turns out it is a contemporary thing, but its just three lines of noteheads and at the bottom it says you can play any rhythm dynamic or articulation. So I'm not really sure what they are going for with this. Whatever... Don't know if I mentioned this before...I will be playing "Lick" by Julia Wolfe in Musica Nova first rotation. It will be the first time that I get to play amplified!! Sounds exciting to me!! My computer is also having a semi-disaster. There is basically no free room on it...so I am working on transferring all of my music to CD's to free up some space. I need a new computer so badly...agh!

My name is...

Anastasia Beaverhausen lives!

OOC Semester

Had the first official meeting of The Cape Cod Experiment last night...things are going to be really crazy this semester. Luckily we seem to have 9:30-11:30 free on most Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it wasn't so hard to find rehearsal times as before...for those new music people out there our rep is very exciting this semester: 1) David Plylar: String Quartet (9 crazy movements featuring such techniques as left hand only, colored blobs to indicate bow pressure, a harmonic movement, a toneless movement, and a gliss movement) 2) Penderecki: String Quartet No. 2 (lots o' noise) 3) Crumb: Black Angels (electric string quartet, gongs, 32 tuned crystal glasses, and random phrases shouted in German and Vietnamese) And you are all required to attend each and every concert.

Loud Alarm

I was practicing in the annex and then the fire alarm went off. The hallway was really really loud...as you all know...like so loud you could go deaf. I should go back and practice more, but I have to work at 3:00, so it isn't really worth it. And I was actually practicing well...

W+G

Will&Grace with Lauren and Kimberly=hilarious

Not so bad afterall?

I guess my playing wasn't completely terrible at the competition on Monday. Dave told me that they considered four cellists to be "in the finals" and I was one of them! I'm glad that some of my preparation (or something) showed through the mess! Next Project: Summer Festival Auditions and perfecting audition rep while finishing up recital rep and starting Beethoven Triple and learning Plylar's quartet...should be interesting!!!

Look to L.A.

Rock stars, star architects, Finnish diffidence and intellectual experimentation: Can other cities learn from this strange amalgam? Maybe other cities should study our friends in the West...

Brokeback revisited

I'm not really sure what it is about Brokeback Mountain that makes it such an amazing movie. Its really a simple story that is beautifully told. Every tiny nuance is there to make it a spectacular movie. It was interesting to watch it after only one day of Western class...I love how Jack is always wearing a black hat and Ennis is always wearing a white one...is this to imply that Jack is the "bad guy" in some way? I love how the camera always seems to know what to focus on and always manages to do it with such beauty and grandeur. I love how Roberta Maxwell (as Jack's mom) manages to convey so much even though she utters about three lines. I love how Michelle Williams lays low for most of the movie and then suddenly explodes to steal the scene (and the movie!). But most of all I love Anne Hathaway and her final monologue on the phone to Ennis with the small emotional gulps so perfectly executed...the best performance in the movie. See it now...It won the globe...it will win the Oscar...movie of the year.

First day of classes

Thank you for the comments everybody...they did make me feel better...guess I'm not so bent out of shape about it as I previously thought. First day of classes went smoothly. Western Cinema class was not spectacular, but has the potential to be interesting. Unfortunately the professor said work would be heavy for the first half of the semester and then trail off so people have time for juries...however, auditions are all during the first part of the semester and I don't have a jury to worry about...oh well. Rhythm blues and beyond was intriguing although some of the opinions expressed need some thought...I'm all about learning about African music, but it most likely wont be that important to me and my career as a musician. But I guess we will see about that. And I officially got an audition at Juilliard. There may be NYC in my future!

Failure

This of course does not refer to the fact that I didn't win the competition. I had no desire to win the competition. I set the simple goal for myself about two days ago to just be happy with how I played. I had been sounding so good over the past 2-3 days...and I don't mean just on this piece. I mean that I feel like I had really improved my cello playing overall...my tension was at a minimum and I was able to express things that I wanted to. As little as 10 minutes before I played I was feeling really really good about myself. This was HUGE for me. I have not felt good about anything I have played for at least a year...and I felt REALLY good about what I was doing. However...none of this happened when I played tonight. I was tighter than ever...I missed shifts...I played things out of tune...I was un-musical. I wanted to leave about 5 mins into my playing because I was so embarrassed. I had no business being there. I made a fool of myself...which was the one thing I was sure I wouldn't do. I think this was the single most crushing thing that has happened to me. I was so confident going into this competition. I was confident that I would be happy with how I played. But I failed. And there is nothing I can do now. I did what I could...and it wasn't good enough. So what should I do now? After this competition I am less confident than I ever have been. How am I going to get into any grad schools? What the hell am I supposed to do? Everything is telling me that I should just stop now...that I don't have it in me...but I don't want to. {sob}

Good Vibes

Tommorow is the big day. Wish me luck! Things went pretty well today...need to take care of some items tomorrow. Dave said he was proud of me. That was nice of him!

Upcoming Competition

Yesterday was spent practicing and shopping with friends. Food was bought (and consumed) alcohol was bought (but not yet consumed) a tablecloth was bought (and also isn't consumed...which is a good thing). The apartment is clean...I hope it stays this way for at least a week. That would be nice. The good news: I won't make a fool of myself in the competition tomorrow. I played through the whole concerto (not a run-through) and it sounded half-way decent...not a winning product though. It will be interesting to see who wins in the end...there are a lot of people who are well qualified to win this thing...too bad they can't pick different people for different movements (although that would makes sense since the second half of the program is one movement from each symphony that Franz Schmidt composed...whatever). Small get-together at Matt's apartment...was fun. Today: practice...more practice...lesson with Dave

Too Much to Do

I am now back in Rochester, but this list of things to do is so huge I am nervous already. First of all: the Dvorak competition is on Monday...crazy...it doesn't help that I haven't really practiced enough, but as I commented a few days ago, I don't think its really my thing: so I'll try my best and whatever happens, happens. Looming not to far in the distance are grad school auditions: I will be traveling far and wide to Boston, Houston, Rochester, and the amazing NYC for many auditions during the months of February and March. My senior recital is sneaking up too, that happens at the end of March (or possibly mid-February) I also need to learn the Beethoven Triple Concerto which will be performed with the Greece Symphony in April and tons of stuff for Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon's composition recital on the same day as my senior recital...not to mention learning three pretty difficult pieces with CCE and possibly recording for competitions... This is not supposed to be a complaint entry...its more just sorting everything out for myself...sound like it should be a busy and fun semester...and I can't believe its all almost over. We have to have fun this semester ok?!?!? I miss everybody already!