10.03.2010

Short story

He said that even death couldn't stop him, so when his heart gave out, they strapped him to a rocket.  Some people always have to be right.

6.23.2010

Pastiche or Plagiarism?

Terry Kennedy forwarded the Prov staff this link today.  It's about the digital generation and plagiarism.  Read and discuss.

4.28.2010

News

I'm back!  The recital went really well, and there are recordings posted on the sidebar if you wish to listen!

New things:  a comic I've been reading for quite some time:  Gunnerkrigg Court.  This is a wonderfully-drawn comic that has an interesting story, is funny at times, and serious at others.  Check it out!
 A sample page for your viewing pleasure:



I also start student teaching tomorrow.  Wish me luck - it's my first time with junior high kids!

4.14.2010

Recital tomorrow!


Hi all,

My trumpet recital is tomorrow, and I would love to see all of you there!

The recital is at 7:30 PM in Eva Clare Hall (at the U of M Faculty of Music). The program features works by Bernstein, Copland, Ewazen, Anderson, and more!  The program also features Carole Pollard on piano, Meg Specht and Liz LaRue on clarinet, and Derek Fraser and Crystal Schwartz on trumpet.

See you tomorrow!

4.04.2010

A must-see website for the internetically-challenged

For those of you who have wanted to know more about why the internet works, this site is for you:

Know Your Meme

This site is dedicated to showing the inter-world exactly what happened to make those ridiculous internet phenomena (memes) happen.  The episode on Autotune is particularly great.

3.19.2010

Internet Time-Wasters

Over the years, I have played many, many games on the Internet.  Here is a list of my five most-played games, and a little blurb about them.

#1 - Desktop Tower Defense.  This game is a classic tower defense game - bad guys try to get across the map, and you have to stop them by building various towers.  This one is number one for me because you can change the path of the creeps by changing your tower placement.

#2:  Eyezmaze.  I have no idea what this site exactly is, but it has a few puzzle games that are extremely entertaining.  Try to place the objects in the correct order to win.

#3:  Robot Unicorn Attack. Aaron sent this one to me.  Guide a robot unicorn across the land.  Listen to with sound on.


#4:  Dino Run.  This game is similar to Robot Unicorn Attack - guide a dinosaur across the landscape to escape extinction.

#5:  Pandemic 2.  You try to create a disease that will wipe out humanity.  Somewhat morbid, but fun to see how diseases spread across the world.

Only try these if you have spare time!

3.01.2010

Twenty things worth knowing about beer

(click click - warning, some language)

A new site

I discovered a new site a few months ago.  It's quite great.  It's called The Oatmeal.  Some examples of its goodness:

Go here

Or here

Or read this joke:

Q:  What was Beethoven's favourite fruit?

A:  Ba-na-na-naaaaaaaaaa!  (it was his 5th favourite...)

2.25.2010

From Alena

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTCm8tdHkfI

Watch this video if you want to laugh.

Goals

Goals for the next two weeks:

Finish all my projects for Teaching Music in the Senior Years (4 pages of papers, 10 minutes of teaching, and preparation of a resource binder)
Finish all my projects for Aboriginal Ed (45-minute group presentation, site visit, and two 6-7 page papers on the previous two tasks)

Goals for the next month:

FOUR HOURS OF PRACTICE A DAY.  Can I do it?  I think so.  Keep me accountable, please!

Also, I have a recital on April 15th at 7:30 PM in Eva Clare Hall (Faculty of Music Building, University of Manitoba).  Please mark this on your calendars!

2.20.2010

Hockey, the Swiss, and Steinbach

From Ace Burpee's blog (re: the Canadian almost-loss to the Swiss two nights ago):

"Never underestimate anyone from Steinbach".

2.19.2010

Olympics

This just in:  Canada's newest Gold medalist:  Jon Montgomery, of Russell, Manitoba, in the Men's Skeleton.  How great is it that the winner of a sport where you throw yourself headfirst down a hill is from the Prairies?

2.17.2010

Blog updated!

Nothing fancy here, just a new template.  The old one made older posts disappear, and it was time for a change anyways.  What do you think?

1.05.2010

2009: A Year In Review

It's 2010.  How weird is that?  I remember sitting back during the '90's and wondering what life would be like in the next millennium.  I remember the days before the Internet, before the day of the ubiquitous cell-phone, before Facebook and Twitter and Tim Horton's and Starbucks being on every single block of Winnipeg.  But that was so 20th century.  Let's talk about last year.

Looking back, 2009 has been an important year for me in many ways.  Here are a few significant events:

Winter 2009.  I started running at the gym.  It is a very fulfilling endeavour.

Spring 2009 - I had my first ever teaching practicum at John Taylor Collegiate.  What an experience!  This 6-week teaching block reaffirmed my desire to teach, and gave me immense amounts of ideas and material.

Summer 2009 - two things.  I spent July and August at 4 Wing Cold Lake teaching music to Cadets.  This was an important time for me as I got to spend the summer doing work that I love, as well as a time for me to live on my own.  Second, Aaron and Caitlin got married - which was a blast, and it was the first wedding of my close friends.

Fall 2009 - many things (not just because it is more recent and my memory is failing me.  Get off my lawn!).  I worked hard all summer and won a spot in the U of M Symphony Orchestra.  This was important to me as I had set a goal for myself and worked hard to achieve it.  Francesco and Amalia got engaged.  I got baptized in October.  I played in the Concerto Competition.  I made some new friends and got closer with the old.  I survived Swine Flu and lived to talk about it.

Some favourites from last year:

Music (pop/rock).  This year, I discovered Sufjan Stevens and Regina Spektor.  A friend from Cold Lake gave me Stevens' Michigan and I heard Spektor's The Calculation on CBC Radio Two, and immediately went out and bought the album.  Maybe I'm a little late getting to Stevens and Spektor, but I am still really enjoying their music.  I finally listened to Thriller in its entirety, too.

Music (classical).  After a year of 20th Century Music classes, my horizons have expanded significantly.  I rediscovered John Adams this year, played a lot of Eric Ewazen, and, thanks to Orchestra, have been discovering classical orchestral repertoire (something that, for some reason, I didn't really care for until this year).  I played Haydn 101 (The Clock) and Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, and those were fantastic, got to see Tchaikovsky 4 at the WSO, and am playing Schumann 3 (Rhenish).

TV and movies.  I didn't do a lot of TV-watching this year, but I did watch my way through a few seasons of House, which was fantastic.  I stopped after season 3, and didn't continue, but life gets in the way.  Futurama also continues to be a favourite.  I saw the Half-Blood Prince and Avatar in theatres, watched Up on Blu-Ray.  I finally watched Dr. Strangelove, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Godfather, Full Metal Jacket, and Mean Girls.

Games.  I finally got my hands on a copy of Twilight Princess for Gamecube, and have been enjoying it immensely.  I played through Link to the Past again, which was also fantastic.  For board games, I have really been enjoying Apples to Apples and Ticket to Ride.

Relationships.  No "significant others" last year, but I did make new connections and deepen many existing friendships (probably a better choice).  I am especially grateful for my Bible Study Friends (tm) and Ginger, Alyssa, and Elise - you guys host great parties!  And, as always, for the guys, for many nights of crashing in Andrew's basement playing Mario Kart.

Looking ahead.  I have no idea what 2010 will hold for me.  My goals at the moment are to run more, to practice more, and to gain the wisdom to know what is truly important in life.


Here's to 2009, and best wishes for 2010!