just got back from the joynt. won the first game of darts, nearly won the second game (nice job mcginnis!). left by 1:10, which is an accomplishment as my habit is to stay till close. now i should be able to get up early and play trombone at 8am. dropped colin off at home and as i drove away he ran beside my car waving. i laughed.
it's snowing. i'm happy and the ground is white.
my dad came down yesterday and we had dinner. he brought me some mail from home. i got my new check card and i have now been upgraded to a 'wells fargo gold check card.' ahh, the perks of being me. basically it's gold colored and it makes me feel important.
bone dinner is tomorrow night. one cajun fried turkey comin' up!
monday i leave for new york. i can't wait. it's going to be such a great trip. edlund called me last night just to say "hello and i'm glad to hear you're coming." such calls really brighten my day. taking lessons out there is going to be awesome. in addition to that trip i get to go home to duluth for thanksgiving, which i didn't think i was going to be able to do. i'm really looking forward to being with my family, as i have not been home since the summer.
life is good. i'm thankful. g'nite.
james
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005
stuff to read
well, some people write in their blogs everyday. i'm not one of em. i'm a little more sporadic. haven't really figured out what motivates me to write here, but it doesn't matter that much i guess.
anyways. raise your hand if you've ever heard a polka version of "oops i did it again," "toxic," or "eye of the tiger." well, i did this last weekend, and let me tell you, i haven't laughed that hard in a looooong time. i don't remember the name of the band, but while riding to hertel's wedding with joel this last weekend, i had the pleasure to hear such a thing. leave it to joel...
hertel's wedding was fun. i played decently enough on my tenor to not embarass myself in front of all my fellow music majors. i used to think the tenor playing was getting better (and it has...) but it is kind of up and down for me recently. actually, my playing on the whole is up and down. can't figure it out, but it seems as though i've lost a lot of consistency and range in my playing this last week. but, no one wants to hear about that, so on to something eles.
i went to the university orchestra concert today and enjoyed it very much. the strings are getting better every year, and that is so awesome to see. if we had a bigger french horn studio, i think that orchestra could really start to do some big things. the trombone players seemed less than enthustiastic about they're playing on the concert, but i felt like they did fine. i understand that it's hard to accept a performance that is less rewarding than past performances, but the good news is that the general audience loved it, and that's probably the most important thing...reaching an audience with your music. so, no matter how crappy you guys felt about your playing, just remember, you reached a lot of people and that and that deserves a congratulations.
so this week should be a good one. i'm going to buy a turkey tomorrow for friday's dreaded bone dinner so that is is thawed by the time i fry it. yeah, that's right, i'm frying a turkey on friday for the third year in a row. i've got a kitchen now, so i will be cooking and eating healthier food all week, which should lift my spirits quite a lot. i got into the gym tonight and worked out for a little while and will spend this week getting back into that whole routine. practice time will be a priority as i prepare for my trip to nyc the following week. for those who don't know, i'm flying out there to take a few lessons with one of the world's greatest bass trombonists, george flynn. in addition to taking lessons, i get to hear maria schneider's band play all that week. it's going to be great and i'm sure i will have lots of stuff to write here after that trip.
ok, i think i've written enough. someday i'm going to figure out how to organize these thoughts a little better. like when writing a music history paper....
g'nite kids.
anyways. raise your hand if you've ever heard a polka version of "oops i did it again," "toxic," or "eye of the tiger." well, i did this last weekend, and let me tell you, i haven't laughed that hard in a looooong time. i don't remember the name of the band, but while riding to hertel's wedding with joel this last weekend, i had the pleasure to hear such a thing. leave it to joel...
hertel's wedding was fun. i played decently enough on my tenor to not embarass myself in front of all my fellow music majors. i used to think the tenor playing was getting better (and it has...) but it is kind of up and down for me recently. actually, my playing on the whole is up and down. can't figure it out, but it seems as though i've lost a lot of consistency and range in my playing this last week. but, no one wants to hear about that, so on to something eles.
i went to the university orchestra concert today and enjoyed it very much. the strings are getting better every year, and that is so awesome to see. if we had a bigger french horn studio, i think that orchestra could really start to do some big things. the trombone players seemed less than enthustiastic about they're playing on the concert, but i felt like they did fine. i understand that it's hard to accept a performance that is less rewarding than past performances, but the good news is that the general audience loved it, and that's probably the most important thing...reaching an audience with your music. so, no matter how crappy you guys felt about your playing, just remember, you reached a lot of people and that and that deserves a congratulations.
so this week should be a good one. i'm going to buy a turkey tomorrow for friday's dreaded bone dinner so that is is thawed by the time i fry it. yeah, that's right, i'm frying a turkey on friday for the third year in a row. i've got a kitchen now, so i will be cooking and eating healthier food all week, which should lift my spirits quite a lot. i got into the gym tonight and worked out for a little while and will spend this week getting back into that whole routine. practice time will be a priority as i prepare for my trip to nyc the following week. for those who don't know, i'm flying out there to take a few lessons with one of the world's greatest bass trombonists, george flynn. in addition to taking lessons, i get to hear maria schneider's band play all that week. it's going to be great and i'm sure i will have lots of stuff to write here after that trip.
ok, i think i've written enough. someday i'm going to figure out how to organize these thoughts a little better. like when writing a music history paper....
g'nite kids.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
rebounding
well, life seems to be on the rebound...
my trip to michigan was so-so at best. the gigs were moderately rewarding and the traveling really sucked. to sum up the traveling, we left late wednesday night, arrived in byron center (near grand rapids, mi) at about 6am thursday morning. then we began our trip home late sunday night, and arrived in eau claire at about 6am. on the way home, evan managed to give us a tour of east lansing before i got us directions to I-496, and talked to a drug dealer, somewhere in western michigan, just before entering indiana. evan, you're amazing.
anyways, life is slowly improving.
becker, colin, randall, and i "decorated" dr. ostrander's house last night (halloween) while he was gone playing a gig with the MN Opera. ornaments included chalking the driveway with the Ride of the Valkyries in B-flat alto clef, which modulated to A-flat treble clef, which then turned into a jazz lick followed by chord changes only colin and randall could thing of. sharp 1, that's brilliant. other ornaments included hanging a trombone, with a knot that was supposed to resemble a noose, from his basketball hoop. oh yeah, and steve turre called...he needs him to play piano. blaming the freshman by signing their names was a nice touch as well.
i played my tune (cantaloupe island) last night at the stones throw and felt about the best i ever have about my improvising. sad as that may be...because i still have a long ways to go with that. but i'm starting to leave the realm of suck and enter the realm of it-could-be-worse.
i saw branden's sister, katie, there too. that lifted my spirits quite a bit. if she's able to go out, i can't feel too awful myself. it's still hard to cope with though, but time is doing it's thing.
i got two new wycliffe gordon cds in the mail yesterday and i can't stop listening to them. they're sooo good and inspiring me even more to practice my improvising everyday.
chip valley rehearsal didn't totally suck today. the tenor is really starting to feel comfortable and i'm actually enjoying the principal chair. high c's aren't so bad afterall. i still have a lot of improving to do, but i'm getting better every time, which is extremely encouraging.
i think if i could get back up to the gym on a regular basis i would be even happier. i just haven't felt like going lately, and it's bugging me, but i just can't find the motivation to get up there. i think it's the reality of how sore i will be from starting up again that is one hinderance for me. i've started running a little, which feels really good. but, i really do want to get back to the lifting.
i guess that's about it. i love my friends and i'm still thankful for the time i get to spend with them.
g'nite fools.
my trip to michigan was so-so at best. the gigs were moderately rewarding and the traveling really sucked. to sum up the traveling, we left late wednesday night, arrived in byron center (near grand rapids, mi) at about 6am thursday morning. then we began our trip home late sunday night, and arrived in eau claire at about 6am. on the way home, evan managed to give us a tour of east lansing before i got us directions to I-496, and talked to a drug dealer, somewhere in western michigan, just before entering indiana. evan, you're amazing.
anyways, life is slowly improving.
becker, colin, randall, and i "decorated" dr. ostrander's house last night (halloween) while he was gone playing a gig with the MN Opera. ornaments included chalking the driveway with the Ride of the Valkyries in B-flat alto clef, which modulated to A-flat treble clef, which then turned into a jazz lick followed by chord changes only colin and randall could thing of. sharp 1, that's brilliant. other ornaments included hanging a trombone, with a knot that was supposed to resemble a noose, from his basketball hoop. oh yeah, and steve turre called...he needs him to play piano. blaming the freshman by signing their names was a nice touch as well.
i played my tune (cantaloupe island) last night at the stones throw and felt about the best i ever have about my improvising. sad as that may be...because i still have a long ways to go with that. but i'm starting to leave the realm of suck and enter the realm of it-could-be-worse.
i saw branden's sister, katie, there too. that lifted my spirits quite a bit. if she's able to go out, i can't feel too awful myself. it's still hard to cope with though, but time is doing it's thing.
i got two new wycliffe gordon cds in the mail yesterday and i can't stop listening to them. they're sooo good and inspiring me even more to practice my improvising everyday.
chip valley rehearsal didn't totally suck today. the tenor is really starting to feel comfortable and i'm actually enjoying the principal chair. high c's aren't so bad afterall. i still have a lot of improving to do, but i'm getting better every time, which is extremely encouraging.
i think if i could get back up to the gym on a regular basis i would be even happier. i just haven't felt like going lately, and it's bugging me, but i just can't find the motivation to get up there. i think it's the reality of how sore i will be from starting up again that is one hinderance for me. i've started running a little, which feels really good. but, i really do want to get back to the lifting.
i guess that's about it. i love my friends and i'm still thankful for the time i get to spend with them.
g'nite fools.
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