it's 1:42am

g'bye blogger

2008-09-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

now that i've got my website all spiffed up, i'm moving my operation there. thanks for all the good times blogger :)

the url of the new site is http://www.jamesyardley.com

love,
james

20 random facts

2008-06-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

hey yalls. i'm back on land now and it feels good. food on land is much better. i have a few more minutes to kill before i head to the gym and for no particular reason i thought it might be fun to list 20 random facts about myself in the order in which they pop into my head. here goes:

1. i am addicted to ultimate frisbee
2. i ran a half marathon when i was in 8th grade and two full marathons after high school
3. is my favorite number
4. the longest relationship i've been in lasted 4.5 years
5. i won a cross country race my sophomore year of high school
6. i've ridden a greyhound bus for over 24 hours
7. i was born in cedar rapids, ia (which is currently underwater)
8. my family has never owned any other breed of dog other than dalmatian
9. i hate saying no to people
10. i don't like chain "sit down" type restaurants (i.e. tgi fridays, chillis, applebees, etc.)
11. my favorite place to be during a storm is inside a tent
12. i got kicked out of a liquor store two days ago
13. i've never been to a strip club
14. i've never been in a fight
15. i secretly hope this type of list will turn into a trend amongst my blog friends
16. i yell "pi" when i'm at a sporting event and the clock is at 3:14
17. i have small feet (8.5)
18. when i sneeze it's usually just once instead of twice like most people
19. i'm too picky when it comes to the ladies
20. i'm conflicted when i take a shower because i love long showers but hate wasting water

i can't wait for future james to read this and realize how pathetic current james is. okay, time to pump it up.

love,
james

hi

2008-05-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

dear friends,

sorry it's been a while since i've written. i'm actually not that sorry, but i figure it's the polite way to start this post. i'm currently sittin' at the 'city lights coffee shop' just off market street in charleston, sc as i write this. if you've been on facebook you may have noticed i'm out on the waters again. i joined the carnival 'victory' on may 5th and have been cruising to some pretty nice places including st. thomas, st. maarten, grand cayman, cozumel - mexico, ochos rios - jamaica, and my favorite so far, san juan - puerto rico. if you haven't seen the pictures yet, you should check them out, if not to see some cool pictures, to read the wonderful commentary below the pictures.

i've really been enjoying my time on board so far. the musical director is a nice guy and a pretty good musician (albeit not very motivated). the guys in the band have been awesome as well. the guitar player on board is from ashland, wi (not far from duluth) and as it turns out, him and i were actually at the third week of the shell lake jazz camp together during the summer of 2000. the bass player is from milwaukee too. go midwest!

the workload has been pretty great. we play about 3-4 times a week, which leaves a lot of time for me to practice, listen to music, watch movies, and sleep :-) yesterday was a relocation day, which means we traveled from miami to charleston without any passengers on board. it was basically an all day party. we ate, we drank, and we played guitar hero on the massive theatre screen up on lido deck. it was sweeeeeet. the night before i joined a poker tournament that the casino staff was having in which i essentially owned them all. i was the only non-casino person there and i guess the guy that invited me took some heat from his friends for letting me into the game. they were really terrible but when i got to heads up i just made a deal with the other player because i didn't feel like taking all their money and it was 6:45 in the morning. we'll be having another relocation day up to norfolk after this cruise, and i'm hoping it will be just as fun.

i've been trying to keep in touch with people as much as i can, although i could maybe do a better job... i got the full report on colin's trip to eau claire, which really made me wish i could have been there. i'm def gonna miss that place and all the people i met there. a big congrats goes out to all the people that graduated this year. my contract will end in less than two weeks on june 7th, then i'll be back in bloomington for two months to finish up some lessons and give a recital. after that i'll up in minnesota country for a little more than a week before leaving for another ship. hopefully i'll be able to make the rounds and visit some of you in that time. or maybe you'll roadtrip it down to bloomington and visit your favorite old trombone playing friends james and colin. you probably should.

anyways, from what i've seen so far, charleston is a really nice city so i think i'm gonna finish up here and roam around some more. if you happen to read this today, gimme a call and we'll chat. i'll be here till about 8:30 tonight and my phone is fully charged :-)

love,
james

i'm learning, i think...

2008-04-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

so i'm sitting here in the apt writing my last paper ever and i feel like i've just had somewhat of an epiphany. i'm gonna write it down here real quick and come back to it later when i have some time to ponder it a little more.

so here it is:

as musicians we're taught to imitate the sounds we hear. when we first learn to do this, it is my opinion that we imitate the process and when we do so correctly we get the result (a good sound). for example, we see a trombone player take a big breath while standing up straight and we hear a nice big sound, so we stand up straight, breathe deep, and achieve a similar result. somewhere along the way, however, we become obsessed, or maybe even taught, to exactly imitate someone else's sound - spending years trying to sound just like someone else, and failing miserably because the only person we can truly be is ourselves. i wonder what would happen if we were to imitate the process in which someone "arrived" at their sound rather than trying to copy the sound itself. would we arrive at a sound that is beautiful, yet unique to us?

ok, back to paper writing.

love,
james

worth waking up for

2008-03-30T23:22:00.001-07:00

is it odd that i'm 26 years old and will consider any day that i play ultimate frisbee a complete success? should i quit trombone and pursue a career in ultimate? i mean, the money making opportunities gotta be pretty similar right?

i woke up this morning nice and late (about 10a) to the glorious sound of rain and thunder, read some news, listened to some music, then threw my cleats in my backpack and headed out the door to play ultimate. it was still raining and about 40 degrees when i got to the field and there were 4 guys tossing a disc around, waiting for a few others to show up. once we had 6, we set up a field and played 3-on-3 for about an hour and a half. there were puddles everywhere on the field, which only made me smile more, bc i knew i was gonna get totally caked in mud on my very first layout.

one thing that's great about playing on a cool rainy day is the shower afterwards. it feels soooooooooo good. by the looks of the drain, i think i brought about half the field home with me...

anyways, the moral of the story is that ultimate makes me happy. the end.

love,
james

omg

2008-03-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

i just got back from the orchestra concert and all i can say is 'wow.' michel camilo played a concerto he wrote and it totally blew me away (oh yeah, and leanord slatkin conducted)

i haven't been to a concert in a while that has inspired me that much. if you ever have a chance to hear this man play, do whatever it takes to get to that concert. he's absolutely incredible. if you have an album of his and haven't listened to it in a while, dust it off and put it in the cd player.

i hereby declare today 'michel-camilo-kicks-major-ass day'

laters,
james

2nd post?

2008-03-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

it's not often that i post two times in one day, but i came across a video today that i couldn't pass up the opportunity to share. it's so f'n funny. enjoy.

back in the town of b

2008-03-16T12:31:00.001-07:00

been back for a few days but just haven't felt like posting much. i just got back from some really good ultimate and am feeling amazingly refreshed with life in general right now. it's the kind of refreshed that i think i just wanna keep to myself instead of trying to explain it all, so i'm just gonna copy on hayley and post a funny little survey thinger. not sure i've ever done one of these, so i'll consider this a debut.

whats your name spelt backwards?
yeldray retlaw Semaj

What did you do last night?
practiced, played some poker, then drank with my friend trevor

The last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
an ultimate frisbee video

Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?
yup. it was delicious.

Last time you swam in a pool?
i wouldn't call it swimming...but last summer.

What are you wearing?
a thong

How many cars have you owned?
just one, and she's still goin' strong

Type of music you dislike most?
the cheesy stuff you hear as background music in grocery stores

Are you registered to vote?
i think so...better look into that

Do you have cable?
nope

What kind of computer do you use?
the best kind (macbook pro)

Ever made a prank phone call?
is your refrigerator running?

You like anyone right now?
jenna fischer, although, she won't return my calls at the moment

Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?
sky diving and hopefully sometime soon (this summer anyone?)

Furthest place you ever traveled?
london

What's your favorite comic strip?
i used to love garfield.

Do u know all the words to the national anthem?
you betcha

Shower, morning or night?
i'm not usually awake until i take a shower, so mornings

Best movie you've seen in the past month?
semi-pro. will ferrell = funniest man ever

Favorite pizza toppings?
pepperoni, mushrooms, and tomatoes

Chips or popcorn?
triscuits foo.

Have you ever smoked peanut shells?
what the f?

Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?
no, i'm too pretty so they won't let me.

Orange Juice or apple?
i drink a lot of oj, but i really like apple too. so both i guess...

Who were the last people you sat at lunch with?
my parents

favorite chocolate bar?
chocolate was made to be consumed in thin candy shells. f bars.

Who is your longest friend and how long?
gonna have to go with my buddy matt, from home. since 6th grade so like 15 years?

Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?
hmm...have i ever? i must be missing out.

Have you ever won a trophy?
i won a cross country race when i was in 10th grade, but i think i just got a medal for it :(

Favorite arcade game?
teenage mutant ninja turtles. donatello rocks the shit in that game.

Ever ordered from an infomercial?
no, but when i lived with branden up in governors he dared me to call in on one and ask them about the free prayer cloth they were offering. i remember an indian guy answering the phone that had no idea what the hell i was talking about when i asked him if the cloth really worked.

Sprite or 7-UP?
sprite, but i don't drink much pop.

Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?
yup. boogie band = black shoes, red knee high socks, black shorts, red shirt with yellow cord things, sunglasses, and red berets. we looked good.

Last thing you bought at Walgreens?
soap i think

Ever thrown up in public?
yeah. but only once from drinking too much. the rest of the times were from running.

Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?
true love i guess. i've lived this long without monies and have been happy enough.

Do you believe in love at first sight?
i believe in hot girls at first sight, but not love.

SPONGEBOB OR JIMMY NEUTRON?
i barely know who they are so i'm gonna pass.

Did you have long hair as a young kid?
probably a few times.

What message is on your voicemail machine?
none, sadly.

Where would you like to go right now?
i'd really love to go skiing right now, so i'll say telluride, co.

Whats the name of your pet?
gert. she's adorable and i miss her.

What kind of back pack do you have, and what's in it?
duluth pack and cleats, a sweatshirt, and a water bottle.

What do you think about most?
damn this is a good question. i probably think most about whether or not i'm doing what i want with my life and what i can do to be happier.

mashed potatoes and gravy,
james

a sad day

2008-03-05T07:51:00.000-08:00

i received news this morning that a good friend of mine from duluth passed away last weekend (below are two articles i was able to find). i'm writing this as i wait for some laundry and will be leaving as soon as possible to attend his funeral tomorrow in rochester, mn. i don't really have any commitments for the rest of this week, and next week is spring break, so i may spend a couple extra days in rochester, the twin cities, and eau claire before heading back down to bloomington. give me a ring if you wanna hang out.

lovins,
james

Former Duluth resident dies in Rochester

Duluth News Tribune - 03/04/2008
Firefighters in Rochester, Minn., found the body of a former Duluth resident in his home after an explosion and fire destroyed the building early Saturday.

Authorities say Paul Michael Beaulieu, 26, died before the explosion occurred. Rochester Police Captain Brian Winters said an autopsy was done Sunday. While the coroner has not ruled on a cause of death, Winters said there is no indication that a crime was committed.

Winters said Beaulieu lived in the house with his wife, Samantha (formerly Arter), but she was visiting family in the Duluth area when their home exploded.

Firefighters found Beaulieu’s body in the house’s basement, Rochester Fire Marshall Vance Swisher said. There was a natural gas line to the house, but Swisher said the cause of the explosion and fire probably won’t be known for several days.

Beaulieu was born in Duluth on January 3, 1982. He was a 2000 graduate Central High School. He and his wife moved to Rochester three years ago when American Eagle Airlines transferred him to Rochester International Airport.

A memorial service will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes' chapel in Rochester

Man's death ruled a suicide
3/5/2008 8:03:35 AM
(0) Comments

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

The death of a 26-year-old Rochester man whose body was found in a building destroyed by fire last weekend has been ruled a suicide by the Olmsted County deputy coroner.

Paul Michael Beaulieu died about one hour before the house exploded and burned Saturday, said Monica Cole, deputy coroner. The fire and explosion at 822 Sixth St. S.E. was reported at 4:30 a.m. The house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Beaulieu was the only one home at the time.

Cole said the cause of death "appears to be a hanging." She declined to say more.

Fire officials continue their investigation to determine the cause of the explosion and fire. Vance Swisher, Rochester fire marshal, previously said a gas leak was one of several possible causes.

A memorial service for Beaulieu will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Ranfranz & Vine Funeral Homes in Rochester.

my windows are open...

2008-03-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

...because it's 63 degrees outside :-) got the ol' lappy out and i'm enjoying a nice little breeze (that smells of spring) on my back while i blog away.

so last night got outta hand a little bit. keith and courtney, or as josh lee apparently calls her, 'curtney,' were visiting this weekend and after keith's audition, we decided we'd celebrate. celebrations started at nick's english pub with two pitchers of beer, some food, and a drinking game called 'sink the biz.' for those who don't know, sink the biz is played by taking turns pouring beer into a glass that is floating in a bucket, also filled with beer. whoever sinks the glass in the bucket has to drink it (probably 6 oz i'm guessing...) so the object is to pour enough in so that the next person inevitably sinks it. if you're thinking you can just pour a drop in and easily beat this game, you're wrong, because one of the rules is that the pour has to be a steady, non-broken stream. after finishing the game, we had finished off 3+ pitchers between the 3 of us (curtney looked after us) - and it was only 3:30. feeling stuffed from all the food, and a little tipsy, colin and i headed home and took a break from the drinking. at 5 we resumed again when some friends came over to pre-game before going to the new will ferrell movie, 'semi-pro.' we watched volumes 1 and 2 of the best of will ferrell snl dvds while we drank and had a good time. at about 6:30 colin left for the liquor store and came back with 8 mini-bottles of jack daniels for us to bring into the theatre. before the movie had even started i had poured 4 of those bottles into my small diet coke (which i never drink) and sipped down about half of it. i guess it was pretty strong because the girl i sat next to, who was a friend of a friend, told me that jack and diet was her drink of choice, so, being the gentleman that i am, i offered her some. i told her that i'd set the cup in between us and she could help herself, but expression on her face after tasting it told me i was going to be finishing it by myself. more for me :-)

the movie was hilarious, and we were pretty lit, but it was only 9:30ish, so next we went down to the irish lion for more food and drink. somewhere between the theatre and the lion, i'm 100% positive i mooned someone, but for the life of me, i can't remember who. i know i also called a lot of people at this point of the night. if i called you, i'm sorry for being annoying. anyways, i promptly ordered a half yard of beer (hacker pschor weisse - german wheat beer, yummy) and a bowl of coddle and continued on in my drunken ways until we left at close.

the two things i'm most proud of is that i had a really good time, which i haven't done in a while, and i didn't ride in a car with anyone that shouldn't have been driving, opting to walk home at the end of the night.

two things i'm not so proud of are that my friends had to confiscate my phone and remove the battery because i was being so annoying with it and that it's now 2pm and even though i've been awake since 9, i haven't done anything. guess i should take care of that now...

hope everyone is well!

lovins,
james

reporting from life

2008-02-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

disclaimer: the sound clip below may contain trombone and trombone related music. those that are allergic to loud tromboney music are advised not to click the play button.

so that was a recording i played on last monday for a fellow trombone grad student here at IU. it's a piece called "what color is the wind" written by the famous (he is within the trombone world at least...) tommy pederson. it's written for two tenor soloists backed by a trombone choir of 7 (or 8 maybe?). the two soloists are 2nd year masters students. the choir consisted of one doctoral student, one performance diploma student, two under grads, and 3 year 2nd year masters. we played without a conductor - as you may hear in a couple spots ;-) i had a lot of fun performing this piece and thought the recording turned out pretty well, especially considering we used a small digital recorder up in one of the classrooms and only did like 4 takes.

so it's been snowing down here a decent amount this last week and i must say, i'm enjoying it very much. it's a nice change from the brown winter i'm used to down here. i also get a kick out of watching all the little soristitutes bundled up in they're matching north face fleeces and ugg boots braving the elements to get to class. they're so adorable.

i managed to avoid all the sickness that was going around the last two weeks thanks to the makers of airborne and coldeeze cough drops. pretty much the entire school had something and i was lucky to stay healthy. i'm also back into the swing with going to the gym. i'm getting really sick of the normal diet of protein shakes, chicken breasts, eggs, etc so i think i'm gonna try to find some new recipes. if anyone knows of a good high protein meal, please share :-) my tastebuds will thank you. well, not literally...awkward...

this saturday i'll be watching the entire ring cycle from start to finish at pete ellefson's house. he's hitting the play button at 9am and expects it to finish sometime around midnight. there's going to be lots of german food and drink (fancy word for beer) so it should be a good time. i watched a dvd a couple days ago that was a documentary on the solti/vienna recording (i think it was done between 1955-65). it's incredible how huge this work is and what it takes to perform it.

i guess that's about it for this post. colin just farted.

cheese and crackers,
james

i'm going to hardees

2008-02-14T09:20:00.000-08:00

quick update:

things got busy, james didn't update. big surprise. thinking back, i'm not exactly sure what i got so busy with. a bunch of people were leaving for auditions so i did a lot of subbing in different ensembles. also i've been rehearsing a lot with my quartet so, i dunno, i was just busy.

today is valentines day, and as per usual, the only love in my life at the moment is my bass trombone. lucky for me, she's a hottie. colin and i will be dining at the ever so delicious hardees tonight in celebration of our manhood, freedom, singleness, etc. oh, and also in celebration of our hearts, because our hearts are gonna feel some love tonight from the 3000+ calories of thickburger glory we ingest. it's gonna be sweet. the tradition started in eau claire 3 years ago, and is hopefully still going. i remember becker breaking up with rachel over the phone so that he could go with us (we had two rules: no girls, and must be single). don't worry, they got back together 2 hours later.

i had my first lesson with another one of the teachers here yesterday. his name is fabio and yes, he's a good looking man. unlike that douche on tv. he also happens to play trombone on a very high level. he grew up in italy with a musical family and just has this singing quality in his playing that i can't quite explain. the lesson was really good. i've got a lot of great stuff to work on and if i can get a hold of some of what he told me, i think my playing is gonna improve quite a lot in the next month. basically, it involves a lot of mouthpiece buzzing. and a pinwheel. i really want to get to the point where i can just buzz anything on my mouthpiece with ease, good breathing, and sound. cause right now, when i buzz, there's a lot of squeezing that goes on, and i know it transfers over into my playing.

/trombone nerdery

all the busyness has gotten in the way of going to the gym, unfortunately. after today things should be calm for a few weeks, so i'll be back at it either tonight or tomorrow. i've only been off for a week, but i'm sure i've lost a pound or two, just because i haven't been eating as much (i don't have a huge appetite when i'm not lifting).

i guess that's about it for this installment... i'm sure it was just as exciting to read as it was for me to write.

happy hardees day!

love,
james

the big question...

2008-02-01T12:31:00.001-08:00

is james' knee well enough and is he going to play at his ultimate game tonight? i know you've been waiting in suspense all week and are dying to know if i'm gonna play. well, i'm not sure... i went to the gym yesterday and was able to do weighted lunges with no pain in my knee, which makes me think i'm good to go, but i'm still feeling pain when i press on it. walking doesn't hurt, biking doesn't hurt, weighted leg workouts don't hurt, but actually touching it does. does this mean it's just bruised? i really wish i knew what was wrong with my stupid knee... i realllllllllllly want to go play tonight but it's not worth it to mess myself up anymore than i have. and i don't think i have the restraint in me to not play 100% if i do play. i think i'm gonna go, run around the track a bit, and see how it feels. maybe i'll play fewer points too... feel free to leave your professional/medical/motherly advise in the comments.

so tonight i get to play on a recital with the faculty quartet. i'm pretty damn excited. i even get a short little solo cadenza thing to play. it's gonna be fun :-)

also tonight, becker, alaska, and paul are gonna be here. what a sweet day.

love,
james

i hurt my knee :-(

2008-01-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

my ultimate team went up against the best team in the league last night and i f'd up my knee :-( basically, i was defending a guy who was a handler, which means he wasn't running around a lot, making cuts, but instead stayed back and would make most of the throws up the field. anyways, he was walking up the field and a teammate of his had the disc. since my guy wasn't running, i decided i'd watch the guy who had the disc to see if i could anticipate his throw and step in for a block. i had a great look and right as he threw he looked at me - making me hestitate (cause i thought maybe he'd rethink his throw seeing me there) and i awkwardly laid out to block his pass. i missed my block, jumped up, and got back in the play. after the point was over i went to the sidelines to rest. after i was rested i went back out and after a couple seconds of running around, noticed my knee was bothering me. i looked down, and sure enough, it was swollen. i got ice on it right away, and it didn't hurt too bad, but the swelling looked terrible. my teammates saw me there with the ice and asked what happened, cause they hadn't seen anything. all i could tell them was 'i don't know, but i think blah blah blah.' injuries suck. especially knee injuries. makes me rethink having knees at all... (name that quote!)

so after the game i went home, popped 3 advil and went to the bar for a delicious cold drink, hobbling like a true gimp all the while. my friend matt stopped by this morning and lent me a brace which i've worn all day. it prevents me from moving it around too much, which is probably good.

on to other news...

he'll probably be writing about it in his blog soon, but colin has a 46-inch flat screen lcd tv on the way, as well as a blue-ray disc player. he's earned it through his 'job' playing poker. the site we play on offers a rewards program based on how much you play and after many months, he's accumulated enough points. when he was getting close, he really started to put in the time so we could get it by the time becker, justin, paul, and keith get down here so i ended up playing some sessions on his account as well to help out. colin plays higher limits than i do, because his bankroll is larger (for now ;-)) so it was fun to play on his account against a little tougher competition. well, i say 'tougher competition,' but really, there are still quite a few terrible players at his level. anyways, we're getting a sweet tv!

the weight gain stuff has been going well. i weighed myself yesterday after my workout and i'm already up to 152 pounds. that's 9 lbs in two weeks. i know the plateau will begin soon, and every pound will be harder earned from here on out (especially if i'm unable to do some of my leg exercises with my stupid, lame knee) but i'm happy with the progress so far.

well, that's about all i got to report on for now. it's gonna be a busy week, with lots of performances and visitors and excitement so i'm sure i'll have a lot to write about in a week or so. be sure to stay warm up der in the cold eh.

love,
james

the 90s

2008-01-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

so i found this on a forum that i frequent and i couldn't help but laugh as i read down the list. i'm sure a lot of you can identify, and if you can't, well, you missed out...

You're a 90's kid if:

You can finish this [ice ice_ _ _ _ ]

You remember watching:
-Doug
-Ren & Stimpy
-Pinky and the Brain
-AAAAAAAH Real Monsters!
-Rockos modern Life.
-Cow & Chicken

You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE!"

You just cant resist finishing this . . . "Iiiiiiin west philidelphia born and raised . . ."

You remember:
-TGIF
-Step by Step
-Family Matters
-Dinosaurs
-Boy Meets World.

You remember when it was actually worth getting up early
on a Saturday to watch cartoons.

You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.

You remember reading "Goosebumps"

You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school.

You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every sentence . . . not

when everyhting was settled by:
-rock paper scissors or
-bubble gum bubble gum in a dish or
-daddy had a donkey inky binky bonky.

when cops and robbers was a daily activity.

when we played Hide and go seek until our legs grew numb.

when we used to obey our parents

You used to listen to the radio all day long just to record your FAVORITE song of ALL time.

"Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" was both a game and a TV game show.

Captain Planet. He's a Hero.

You knew that Kimberly, the pink ranger, and Tommy, the green ranger, were meant to be together.

You remember when Super Nintendos and Sega Genisis became popular.

You always wanted to send in a tape to America's Funniest Home Videos . . . but never taped anything funny.

You remember watching Home Alone 1, 2 , and 3 . . . and tried to pull the pranks on "intruders"

You remember watching:
-The Magic School Bus
-Wishbone
-Reading Rainbow on PBS.

You remember when Yo-Yos were cool.

You remember those Where's Waldo books.

You remember eating Warheads.

You remember watching:
-the 1st Batman
-Aladdin
-Ninja Turtles
-3 Ninjas movies.

You remember Ring Pops.

You remember drinking Surge, and Tang.

Oh, oh, oh! and JOSTA!!!

If you remember when every thing was "da BOMB!"

When they made the new lunchables so that you could make pizza AND tacos.

You remember boom boxes vs. cd players.

Making those little paper fortune cookie things, and then predicting your life with them.

You played and/or collected "Pogs" :)

You had at least one Tamagotchi, GigaPet, or Nano and brought it everywhere.

. . . Furbies (yes, we hated them THEN, too).

You haven't always had a computer, and it was cool to have the internet.

And Windows 95 was the best.

You watched the original cartoons of Rugrats, Power Rangers, and Ninja Turtles.

Michael Jordan was a king.

YIKES pencils and erasers were the stuff!

All your school supplies were "Lisa Frank" brand.

You remember when the new Beanie Babies and Talking Elmo were always sold out.

You collected those Beanie Babies.

Carebears

Gak was the coolest stuff invented.

Lambchop's song never ended.

The old dollar bills.

Silver dollars, which were cool to have.

You remember a time before the WB.

You collected all the Troll dolls

If you even know what an original walkman is.

You remember wanting to sit on the orange Nickelodeon couch.

You've gotten creeped out by "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

You know the Macarena by heart.

"Talk to the hand" . . . enough said

You always said, "Then why don't you marry it!"

You went to McDonald's to play in the playplace.

You remember playing on merry go rounds at the playground.

Before the MySpace frenzy . . .

Before the Internet & text messaging . . .

Before Sidekicks & iPods . . .

Before MIKE JONES . . .

Before PlayStation2 or X-BOX . . .

Before Spongebob . . .

Back when you put off the 5 hours of homework you had every night.

When light up sneakers were cool.

When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs.

When gas was $0.95 a gallon & Caller ID was a new thing.

When we recorded stuff on VCRs.

When the spice girls were cool.

When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off of our walkman.

When checking out drawing books and that one book about the rainbow fish from the library was THE cool thing to do.

You had slap braclets!

i would probably add zubaz, starter jackets, and the song 'whoop there it is' to the list. can anyone think of anything else?

love,
james

this is fun :-)

2008-01-19T16:56:00.000-08:00

also, i'm up to 146 lbs - and very sore.

love,
james

somethin' new

2008-01-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

as most of you know, i've spent a lot of time trying to gain weight. i've always been a skinny guy and never weighed more than 154 lbs (i'm 5-9). i've always kind of gone in spurts of working out and not working out, mostly when things like time and money get in my way, therefore i've gone from being skinny to being slightly less skinny over the years. one thing i've realized is that a lot of people don't understand what it's like to NOT be able to gain weight. anytime i talk to someone about how i eat and how i workout, they kind of laugh about it and are shocked at how hard it is for me to gain. basically, they think i'm weird. ok, i am weird, but not because i want to gain weight.

there are a lot of skinny people that wish they weighed more, whether they admit to it or not and it's completely normal. being underweight can actually be unhealthy, just like being overweight can be (not that i consider myself to be underweight at the moment). and the positive effects of losing weight for a person are the same for a person who wants to gain. people who've lost weight feel healthier, fit into their clothes better, and just feel more confident in general. it's the same for me.

so what's the point of all this? well, i'm gettin' back on the routine after having taken some time off and i'm going to use this blog to track some of the progress. i know it's probably not going to make for very interesting reading, so i'll still continue writing about all the other random things i chose to write about. however, i'm also going to use this blog to hold myself accountable for my workouts and eating to help keep myself motivated. and if hearing about my workout and diet inspires others, that's cool too.

right now, i weigh 143 lbs. my goal is to reach 160 by the end of the semester. that gives me 106 days or about 15 weeks to gain 17 lbs. so what's my plan to accomplish this?

basically, i'm going to eat everything in sight and workout 3-4 times a week. more specifically, though, i'll be drinking about 3 protein shakes a day and eating 3 real meals a day that are high in protein. i'll need to get about 4000 calories a day to start and increase that as i get bigger. the workout routine consists of heavy lifting and low reps. my workouts shouldn't take longer than an hour, although they may go slightly over towards the end as i add more exercises. i won't bore you with the details of the diet and the workout, but if you're extremely curious, i'll give you the links for both.

the workout
the diet

i've used these programs before and they have worked well for me. i'm not exactly sure how i'm going to use the blog to keep track of my progress, so i'll just play that by ear. at the very least, i'll leave weekly updates about how much i've gained.

well, that's about it for now. wish me luck!

love,
james (all 143 lbs of me)

i know...

2008-01-13T15:04:00.000-08:00

...i'm long overdue for an update.

last time i wrote, i was a on boat out in the ocean, but so much has happened since then, i'll just wrap that up by saying that it was an awesome experience and i'm looking forward to goin' back out.

so i'm back at school now and this semester is lookin' sweeeeet. i didn't have a ton of time (or should i say time when practice space was available) to prepare for auditions while i was out on the ship, and playing tenor the whole time wasn't so good for my bass chops, but despite all that, i managed to get 2nd placement this semester, which i was really happy about. there are many good bass trombone players here and i had never placed better than 3rd placement (or maybe 4th...that first semester is a blur) so this was a much needed confidence boost for me. ordinarily, 2nd placement would put me in the top orchestra in the spring semester because top placement is wind ensemble, but, unfortunately, the guy who got top placement couldn't play in wind ensemble, so that's where i was placed. i'm gonna miss playing in an orchestra, but the section for wind ensemble looks pretty killer. also, i get to play alpine symphony with the top orchestra in april, as it requires two bass trombones. it's sure to be one of the performance highlights of the year for me. i love that piece of music. another performance highlight for me is coming up in february. i got an e-mail from carl today asking me to play in the faculty quartet for the audition eve recital on feb. 1. seriously? i get to play in a quartet with lenthe, ellefson, and fabio (dee's sabbatical replacement)? hot damn! words can't really describe how excited i am for that.

in addition to the performance opportunities, my classes totally rock. i'm taking a history of jazz since bebop class with pat harbison and a duke ellington class with david baker. and ya know what's sweet about the ellington class? it's my last music history class ever - with david baker. i rule. yeah, so those are my only two classes. oh, and i'm taking an orchestral rep class with ellefson that meets on tuesday nights.

on to non school related things...

my ultimate team played a great game on friday night against the #1 team in the league. we held the lead until about the last 10 minutes, when the other team realized they were about to lose and started calling some really cheap stalls (a stall is when you are marking [guarding] and you count to 7 and they haven't passed the disc yet) and fouls. ultimate is played without referees so it's kind of up to the players and observers to work that stuff out. i love the attitude of my team because i think we all realized how awesome we played and it didn't really matter that they beat us. plus, i think it's just gonna make us hungrier for the next game. i can't wait.

well, i think that pretty much gets us caught up. maybe i have more stuff to write but i think i've sufficiently covered the important stuff.

love,
james

an outdated post...

2007-12-26T14:39:00.001-08:00

the days are pretty much runnin' together now. i think it's saturday, but i could be wrong...

i'm sittin at a starbucks in nassau, where i'm using the internet for the first time in like 4 days or something like that? it's weird how quickly i lost track of time and days of the week.

thangs have been pretty good for me. i've met a ton of new and mostly cool people. i've actually done surprisingly well at remembering most of their names too. i'm learning that a ship is really just a small community floating in the ocean and people generally look out for each other.

i got off the boat yesterday in freeport and ventured to a resortish place called port lucaya. i tagged along with the musical director, will, and the sax player from our band, erick. after a somewhat terrifying cab ride that nearly ended in a head on collision, we visited some restaurant that served steak and ale pie bc will is from england and was craving a taste of home. he's a pretty funny guy. while we were waiting for our food he used his watch to shine a ray of light in some guys face who was sitting across the room from us. he did so for a good 15 minutes, laughing the whole time as the guy was trying to figure out where it was coming from. he eats really fast too. him and colin would probably be best buds.

musically things have been okay. we played 3 shows yesterday, the last two of which were clicked and tracked production shows. they were long shows and hung in the upper register for the most part, but i think i hung in there okay. it was kinda sad, though, to hear the other horn parts in the track and realize that these boats used to have much larger bands. i heard some pretty cool bass bone parts... i asked will and he told me they used to hire 3 trumpets, 3 saxes, and 2 bones. now it's one trumpet, one sax, and one bone.

welp, i think that's about it for this post. starbucks is gettin' pretty crowded now and i should probably give up my seat as i've been here for a while. i kinda feel like roamin' around anyways. thanks for readin'.

love,
james

day whatever (4?)

2007-12-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

Day 3

Part 1

Sittin at the Miami aiport in the boarding area for my flight to key west and felt like writin’ a little bit. I have no internet and am typing in word, just incase you’re wondering about the unusual amount of capital letters in this post…

So yesterday went as planned. I basically watched tv, practiced, and played a little poker. I gotta tell ya, football is much more tolerable if you mute the tv and have an instrument in your hand. I don’t mind watching football, but the commentators can be so annoying. I also saw some of the bewitched movie with will ferrel and Nicole kidman. I didn’t even know it existed until last night. Did anyone else see this? It was a total chick flick but I didn’t care because will ferrel is just that amazing. I also saw parts of a lord of the rings movie and walk the line.

Well, the lady at the front desk thing just warned me that “they” are famous for not getting luggage to key west with the passengers… awesome. So I’ll just show up without my tux then? That’ll go over well don’t ya think? I sure hope she’s wrong. I guess I’m a little nervous though because I had to go back out through security to get to this concourse, and it was quite a trek, which means my bags probably have a ways to travel too. F.

Well, I see people coming off the plane I’m supposed to board so I’d better wrap it up. Hopefully I’ll have some more interesting things to write about in the next few days. Not sure when I’ll have internet next so this post may be a little dated by the time I get it posted.

Love,
James

Ps –I’m gonna smack all 5 of these chads sitting next to me if they don’t quit being so chaddy. And if I hear Kenny g destroy another Christmas song in this airport, I’m probably gonna puke.

Part 2

Well, I made it to the boat. The plane I took from Miami to key west was a little bigger than my car with no overhead compartments. There was no door or even a curtain between the cabin and the cockpit, so I could see out the front window from where I was sitting. I wouldn’t be surprised if the pilots were younger than me. I was a pretty fun flight because we over a bunch of swamp looking land, then we flew by the nasa launch pads, then finally over the ocean to the keys. It was a beautiful day too. The key west airport was the smallest thing I’ve ever seen. There was one little carousel for the luggage and like one rental car place. I found a taxi to the boat and enjoyed a nice ride through what my driver told me was ‘old key west.’ It was a pretty cool lookin’ neighborhood.

Getting on the ship was relatively easy. Luckily I had luggage with me and the people in charge could tell I was boarding the ship for the first time and directed me where to go. After some paper work the musical director, Will, came down to meet me and show me around. He plays keyboard and is from England. Seems like a nice guy so far… when he was showing me around the boat all I was thinking was, ‘yeah, I’m definitely gonna get lost a few times before I figure this out..’ and I did. As soon as he showed me back to my room, my roommate took me up to this place where I could get some food. He explained to me that the staff was only allowed to eat in this certain restaurant at certain times and that I should bring my food down to the crew mess hall. I found a slice of pizza and basically walked around with it for a good 10 minutes before I figured out where the hell I was. Yeah, so imagine being a guest on the ship and seeing an employee wandering around with a slice of pizza on a plate, looking completely lost. Not only did I feel like a complete idiot, but I was afraid some high ranking officer or whatever was going to see me and ask me what the hell I was doing. I did manage to find my room and just ate my pizza there instead of in the mess hall, probably breaking yet another rule.

So I hadn’t been on the ship for even an hour until we had our first rehearsal. We have two shows tonight, one at 8:30, one at 10:30 and had a quick run through at 3:45. The guys in the band seem cool from the little time I’ve interacted with them. It was a relief to finally get the horn on my face and realize that I’m going to be just fine on this stuff. I’m actually more worried about getting in trouble from breaking some silly rule than I am about screwing up my parts.

Well, I may end up writing a part 3 after the shows tonight, but right now, I gotta go get some food. Some guys from the band just stopped by my room so I’m gonna go try to sit with them while there’s still room. It get’s pretty busy in the crew mess hall from what I hear.

Laters,
James

Day 4

Sheesh. Where to begin? Guess I’ll start with the shows. Basically, they were a lot of fun. We played for an entertainer named Tia Thompson, a comedian, whose name I forget, and a little schtick the cruise director did. The music was pretty straight forward and my parts didn’t go too high (which I guess is kinda my main concern, bein’ a bass trombone player and all…) we played “I Wish” for the walk on and walk off of the comedian and it totally felt like I was in a late night show band. I didn’t have a part, though, so I had to read off the trumpet player’s music, which was luckily just a C treble clef lead sheet. I’m sure I would have been okay if I had had to transpose, just because that’s a tune I already have in my ear, but it was nice to have that added pressure. The only other difficulty I really had on the gig was seeing the MD (musical director). I sit on the end of the horn section so he’s directly down the line to my left and there’s very little room for me to move to a place where I can see him. I think I only missed one cue last night because I was able to pick up on the fact that he was watching the performers on stage, so if I did the same, I’d probably be right.

In the second show, when the comedian was kinda telling the audience about himself, he mentioned that he did his undergrad at Eau Claire. Every ounce of me wanted to scream ‘gooooo blugolds!’ making a complete ass of myself, but I refrained. I want to be myself and have a good time out here, but there’s so many f’n rules and etiquette and crap that I haven’t yet figured out what’s okay and what’s not, so my default is to just keep my head low and not attract any attention.

Now writing from a starbucks in Nassau…Gosh I hope my roommate was right about the boat leaving at 9pm….

So it looks like I get cell service here? Hmm….hopefully I’m not being charged a million dollars a minute. I best figure this out.

Ok, so after the shows I went to the crew bar to hang for a bit. I didn’t stay long cause I had to get up and be at some safety thing at 9 this morning. Safety thing basically consisted of me finding my way to this room I had been shown once, walking into this smokey office where some officer with a really thick accent of some kind made me watch a video. I now know what to do when drunk people fall overboard, which I guess is good because there are a lot of drunk people from what I’ve seen so far. One thing I hate, though, is not being able to understand all the accents. Hopefully it’ll get better the longer I’m here but it sucks to look so confused all the time and ask people to repeat themselves constantly because I couldn’t understand them.

Well, I this post has become waaaaay too long so I’m gonna stop it here. No idea when I’ll get internet again, but I’ll probably have more to say by the time that happens. Miss you all.

Love,
james

day 1

2007-12-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

hello from jacksonville, fl. yep. i missed the boat. the short version of the story is that i was delayed out of indianapolis and it all went downhill from there, resulting in the boat leaving without yours truly. the good news, however, is that carnival has put me up in a nice hotel and is paying for my meals until they can fly me to key west to meet up with the ship on monday.

so how's the weather down here you ask? well let me show ya...

tornado watch till 'bout 8am is what the tv says. i'm pretty beat, so i'm sure i'll just sleep right through it.

not sure what i'll be doin' tomorrow but it will probably involve tv watchin', practicing with my mute in, and wasting time on the internetz. gonna be a busy day, better get some rest.

g'nite,
james

bon voyage

2007-12-14T14:38:00.001-08:00

welp, in about 12 hours i'll be on an airplane to jacksonville where i'll board the carnival ship 'celebration' for 2 1/2 weeks. i don't have my plane ticket yet, but they assured me it'd show up in my e-mail along with some other transportation details sometime before my 6am flight tomorrow. yeah, so right now i'm sitting in my lonely apartment in bloomington, in, blogging on my computer while some clothes dry and at this time tomorrow i'll be somewhere out in the atlantic, cruising to the bahamas...needless to say, i'm a little anxious, but excited. i've talked to a few people about the whole cruise ship experience before, but i still feel like i have no idea what to expect. if nothing else, it should make for some interesting blog topics right?

today my quartet recorded a christmas cd which we hope to give to our family members as inexpensive christmas gifts. it was a lot of fun but wore out the chops fairly quickly. we had only played some of the music before the session so after rehearsing a piece and then trying to get a couple takes of it, the face was pretty tired. hopefully it'll turn out well and i can post a track here that won't be completely embarrassing.

ok, so i gotta run to target for toothpaste and shampoo, return a movie to blockbuster (so glad the stupid film musical class is over!), put my netflix dvd in the mail, pack my clothes, tidy up the apartment, play my ultimate game at 11, and get 3 hours of sleep. no problem.

oh, and i hope you all have wonderful breaks/holidays with your families. this will be my first christmas without my family, and i'm definitely jealous of all the people that get to be with theirs.

love,
james

some recent awesomeness

2007-12-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

it was a pretty rough week for reasons i don't really feel like talkin' about, but the last two days have been f'n sweet.

last night was my first game of winter league ultimate. for those who don't know, i'm a nut for ultimate frisbee. i've always wanted to play in a league but have never had the time. well, finally my prayer was answered because there's a winter league here that plays at 9pm on friday nights at an indoor sports complex. nothin but parties on friday nights, so i can pretty much go to every game. and ya know what else? there's only one other guy in the music dept that plays and he's not on my team. i love music people, but an hour a week surrounded by nons does a body good. anyways, our first game was last night and i had a blast. the play was pretty competitive, something i'm not used to, but it's sooooooooo much fun. i suffered a minor injury when a guy i was marking pivoted and stomped on my left foot. it seemed fine during the game, but afterwards my big toe was hurtin' pretty bad. we wear cleats cause the field is this turf type surface and mine are really old and probably not protective enough. as long as i'm all good for the next game, i don't really care.

in addition to playing ultimate last night, i got to go rock climbing today. i hadn't been in quite a while, and today i realized again how awesome it is and how i need to go more often. my friend matt, who is an undergrad trombone music ed major who's starting his student teaching next semester, and i went to this indoor place called 'hoosier heights.' it was in this old steel wharehouse type building in the middle of nowhere. they don't heat the place, so it was a bit cold in there, but once you got climbing, it wasn't so bad. i started on a 5.6 (fairly easy) and then climbed a 5.7, 5.8, and a 5.9, all without falling. i basically decided i was gonna keep going up in difficulty until i got to where i couldn't get to the top without falling off the wall. i met my match on a 5.10. i think i fell off about 5 times before getting half way up. it was pretty challenging. my forearms are wicked sore right now too.

i hope you are all enjoying the snow you're receiving as i type this. i'm pretty jealous, i'm not gonna lie. those with digital cameras should probably send me pictures of it, or at least post them on facebook. i miss snow and just northern winters in general. and since i'm not gonna make it home for christmas, i could use some photographic reminders of what it looks like :-)

ok, as always, i hope you all are well.

love,
james

back to it

2007-11-27T09:26:00.000-08:00

thanksgiving recap:

went home to duluth
saw the fam
saw the dog
saw some snow
ate some food
the end.

it was pretty uneventful. i guess the weirdest part about it was that it was relaxing, but i didn't really feel like i needed that. when i think back on the weeks leading up to the break, i really should have needed a break, but i just didn't. instead it now feels like i was gaining momentum in a lot of things, then i had a week off, and now i feel lost. kinda like i forgot about all the things i had been working on and along with it, the motivation to work on them. hopefully it all comes back to me soon.

so i get to leave in about an hour to go get a physical. yay. i guess the cruise ships want to make sure you're healthy before you get on their disease infested ships. i'm kidding. i'm sure they're not disease infested, but the stigma is out there at least. i guess it's like how you can get sick when you fly because there's people from all over in a confined space. my dad told me that i had better get a flu shot before i leave. yeah, cause those are fun...

welp, all this writing (cause i've written so much...) has made me hungry and that leftover pizza in the fridge is calling my name so i'm gonna go shut it up.

love,
james

ps - i really need to quit eating pizza and get back to going to the gym...

lunch anyone?

2007-11-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

i know this is a long shot, but i'm going to be hangin' in the mpls airport for a while on monday afternoon waiting for my dad to pick me up, so if anyone is around and wants to meet up, i'm game. i'm gonna pack as light as i can (hopefully just my horn and one suitcase) so i could possibly try finding the train that takes me to the mall of america. my flight arrives at 12:45 and my dad probably won't get there till 3ish so if you're in town and are hungry, lemmeno. otherwise, i'll probably just sit on my lappy and blog about how i wish i was having lunch with someone.

oh, and if anyone is going to be in duluth or wants to come up to visit, i'll be there till saturday. i probably can't travel too far to see people since i haven't been home since christmas and i'm not going to be home for christmas this year. mom would probably be upset if i left town. so would the dog. anyways, hit me up if ya wanna hang.

love,
james

ps - i guess it could be possible for me to grab a bite on saturday before my flight back to indiana if i got to the cities early enough. my flight is at 7 something so if that's an option for anyone, let me know :-)

whoops

2007-11-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

i think i mentioned in an earlier post that i'd be taking an audition for carnival cruise lines and possibly sailing over my winter break. well, that audition happened today, and i must say, i'm quite embarassed. basically what happened was i played about as well as an 8th grade girl and they offered me a job. colin won't tell you how bad it was because he's a nice guy, but it was bad. they e-mailed me the music an hour before the audition and i practiced it and got some of it sounding okay, but by the time they called, i was a little fatigued and hadn't gotten some of the high stuff worked out. when i was playing i was missing a lot of partials and when that happens, there really isn't much you can do to get the notes and rhythms. i think i'm sailing on the carnival ship 'pride' from dec. 17 - 30 or something like that, which, according to their website, travels from la to the mexican riviera and back.. i don't have a contract or anything but i think that's what he told me. anyways, i've got a hella ton of work to do before i fly out for this thing. i know it's a heavy reading gig and i seriously have to get my act together in order to not be fired. colin told me afterwards that i probably would have played a little better on my bass (and i think he's right), but still, that sh*t was unacceptable.

speakin' of gettin' it together, i really should head off to practiceland. i'm reading some quartets tomorrow morning with ellefson (one of the trombone profs), a doctoral student, and another masters student and i know some of the music is written in tenor clef for me. note: don't write tenor clef for bass trombone players because we don't like it. damn you telemann.

alwighty... hope you all are well and happy.

love,
james

ps - did i really just say colin was a nice guy???

ya know what's annoying?

2007-11-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

so i get up this morning and hop in the shower, only to realize that the new bottle of shampoo i bought was actually a bottle of conditioner disguised as a bottle of shampoo. f.

oh well. happy thursday everyone.

love,
james

ps - colin, i used your shampoo this morning.

gene kelley gets funky

2007-11-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

i posted this vid on facebook, but it's so friggen sweet, it bears repeating on the ol' blog.

oh, and if you haven't seen the original, it's f'n amazing. so go find it.

anyways, i haven't written in a few days so i figured it's time to give the people what they want. let's see, what's new?

this friday colin and i will be going to chicago for a blues/blackhawks game. i'm really looking forward to it. not only do i get to leave b-town for a bit, but i get to road trip it with my favorite boy and see a sweet hockey game. i haven't been to a hockey game probably since high school, which is completely unacceptable. i only wish a decent team were playing, like detroit, but oh well.

also looking ahead, i've got an audition coming up with carnival cruise lines next wednesday. i'm hopin' all goes well because it'd be nice to try something like that. i mean, it 100% blows that i wouldn't get to spend christmas with my family (and my dog :-( ) but i need to make some money, play my horn, and put myself back in a situation out of my comfort zone. wish me luck!

i guess that's about it in the world of james for now. school is going well and if i can just get my butt back to the gym, i will have recovered from my insane week of recitals/concerts.

hope ya enjoyed the vid, and until next time, refrigerators, bunny rabbits, and coffee beans!

love,
james

thewheelsonthebusgoroundandround

2007-11-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

feelin' a lil better today. last night was round one of the concerto competition and i was really happy with my performance. i didn't advance, and i didn't even get 'honorable mention' but i dunno, i guess it doesn't even bother me because of how great it felt to play the way i did. it was for sure the best performance since i've been here and it's not even close. the nerves decided they were gonna stay home and watch 1930s musicals while eating cucumbers and banana bread instead of come to the performance class and mess with my head. for that, i thank them. as for not advancing or even getting the slightest hint of recognition for playing well, i just don't give a damn. i know i played the hell out of that concerto and i had fun doing it and that's really all that matters. can i play it better in the future? sure. but last night i exceeded my own expectations and it feels awesome. so yay.

why else do i feel better today? because its as;ldkfj'n friday! i'm pretty sure friday was the best day ever invented and mr. friday should get honorable mention for thinking it up. i just got back from my only class of the day and the only thing i have to do tonight is play at my teacher's recital. when i got back from class i tried to wake colin up to go to bob evans but he wouldn't budge. colin, you suck. i'm hungry and you need to wake up. it's f'n 11am and my belly wants a delicious bob evans omelette and you are depriving it. congratulations jerk. i hope you're having an awful dream with lots of bears attacking you.

i'm just kidding. but not really.

okay, i guess i'm gonna go make some oatmeal and watch the new episode of the office on my lappy. happy friday everyone.

love,
semaj

if you're gonna spew, spew into this

2007-11-01T12:12:00.001-07:00

warning, this post will probably contain nothing positive.

you know you're having a rough day when it feels like your stupid internet blog is your best friend. i remember back in high school when i had an amazing friend, matt, who i could tell anything to and he always could either cheer me up or at least sympathize in a way that made me feel okay about whatever it was that was bothering me. between him and the girl that i was dating at the time, i was never without someone i could talk to.

things seem quite different now. i definitely feel like i'm all on my own. i know i have friends, and i know a lot of them care about me very much and if i told them i really needed someone to talk to they'd be there for me. i guess it's just those rare people that have a way of making you not ask for someone to talk to that i'm missing right now. like my blog. my blog isn't asking me if i need someone to talk to. somehow, it just knows that today is not james' happiest day ever and it's gonna let me spew all my problems onto it without making me feel bad about spewing.

i mentioned the other day that my horn is no longer doin' it for me. well, my teacher reminded me of that again today during a dress rehearsal we were having for his recital. colin and many others have said it as well that i sound so much better on this other horn was playing. if i wanted to put a positive spin on it, i would say that it's a good thing that i can sound much better by simply playing a different piece of equipment. the negative side, and the more daunting side of this whole problem, is that i seriously have no money for a new horn. new bass trombones are upwards of $5000. if i sold my car and my current horn it would still not cover the cost of a new instrument. so, it's not like i'm helpless right? i just need to find a way to afford this. yeah, but the hard part of this is that everyday i don't have the money for a new horn, i'm playing on my current one, knowing i could sound better on something else. and not only do i know it, but so do the people listening to me. it's hard to play music with those thoughts going through my head and it's hard to get those thoughts out of my head. alsdkfj;asdlkfja;lfkj

yeah, so, i'm pretty realistic about life and i know that music isn't everything, so obviously i'm not going to let that whole thing bring me down everyday on it's own. other things have been eating away at me too.

i really just need to go play frisbee or take a walk or something...

thanks for reading.

love,
james

i think it's a joke...

2007-10-30T10:23:00.001-07:00

so i just got done with my presentation in that film class. the teacher loved it, or so it seemed. and ya know what i did to prepare for it? hardly a thing. i went to bed last night early (12:30, which is early for me) because i was pretty tired having only watched the movie and done nothing else in preparation. so i set my alarm for 5:30 so i could wake up and figure something out. well, i snoozed it until about 7:30 (class was at 9:30), took a shower, sat down at the ol' keyboard, turned the movie on, quickly transcribed the melody of 'honeymoon hotel' from busby berkley's 'footlight parade' and decided i was going to talk about how the song could pretty much serve any kind of spectacle you wanted to put on the screen. it really has no defining melodic or harmonic movement or rhythmic characteristics but serves really well as 'scaffolding' for which pretty much anything can be built on top of. i thought it was a pretty bs point but the prof liked it so that's all that matters. seems like the less effort i put in, the better grade i'll get. fantastic. (i actually think it's sad)

anyways, i really don't have time to be writing right now. i really need to practice my concerto competition piece before my orchestra rehearsal cause immediately after that i'm rehearsing with my pianist. and immediately after that i'm going to a concert, then to a help session for my improv class which gets me to 10:30 and the day is over. tomorrow is no better. neither is thursday. a;lsdfjkals;dkfj

hopefully you all aren't as busy as me this week, cause it's bummin' me out. if you are, then yay, we can commiserate together. have a good week!

love,
james

who are you people?

2007-10-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

remember that time when i was a freshman and i thought i knew everything? like how i thought edwards bass trombones were the best horns out there and absolutely nothing would sound better than them? yeah, well, turns out my horn sucks and it's taken me this long to realize it. basically, the gist of the story is that i sent my horn out for repairs and while it was away, i played one of the school's instruments and found out it was better than mine. i sent mine away because my valves leaked and my slide wasn't so great. while it was gone, i played on the conn 62h that the school owns. at this time, my lessons started going really well and my playing was improving. many people were telling my that they were noticing a huge improvement (and most of them didn't even realize i was playing a different horn). my horn finally came back and i was anxious to figure out if i was actually improving or if the school horn was the reason i was sounding better. to my sadness, it was, in fact, the horn. i guess i should have prefaced this by saying that i'm a firm believer that the instrument doesn't make the musician. i by no means blame my instrument for holding me back or anything stupid like that, but wow, is there a difference between these two instruments. and ya know what really sucks? i have no money to spend on a new trombone. time to save my pennies i guess... if any of you win the lottery and have a soft spot in your heart for the bass trombone, lemmeno.

ok, end trombone talk.

time to tell you about that time strangers came into our apartment...

(so) i got back to the apartment after going to the gym today and i was in the kitchen makin' my protein shake (yummy!) and i noticed a car out in the parking lot that i didn't recognize with two women in it. i say i didn't recognize it bc our parking lot is really small and all the cars look familiar now. anyways, they were looking up at me through the window so i kinda stepped behind the refrigerator as i was not wearing a shirt. why wasn't i wearing a shirt you ask? because i had just gotten done at the gym and i like to take it off and admire how huge my muscles are after working out, obviously. actually, the real reason is because it was a lil warm in the apartment and i was about to take a shower. but i digress. after getting out of view of the window i hear a knock at the door. i have no shirt on and colin is sitting at the table in his boxers (yeah, come visit us sometime...) so i yell, 'be right there,' run to my room, grab a shirt, and open the door to find a lady who seems just a bit younger than my mom standing there. she explains to me that she used to live in this apartment like 15 years ago and was wondering if her and her friend (who was her roommate in this apartment) could come in and see the place. awkward, but, okay, whatevs. so they come in and are lookin around and talkin' about how the carpet was new when they lived here because they did something to the old floor and how there used to be a really bad cockroach problem and yadda yadda. then, they go into my room... at this point, it hits me, what the f is going on? colin is still sitting at the table in his boxers and i'm in the kitchen and there are two middle aged women in my bedroom. then it gets interesting when one of them starts talking about what she did in that bedroom, which then prompts the other to start talking about what (and by what, i mean whom) she did in colin's bedroom. after a few awkward laughs they realize how creepy they are being and leave. congratulations bloomington. just when i thought the weirdness was coming to end you send those people to our door. awesome.

i'm sure colin will tell you all about it from his point of view in his blog.

ok, i'm done now. and what have you learned from all of this? hopefully nothing.

love,
james

thesis? who needs it?

2007-10-26T10:08:00.001-07:00

so i just got done reading the 'model paper' my professor posted for us all to read. definitely no thesis in that opening paragraph. i dunno, i could go on about what i thought of it but what good does that do anyone? probably none. i'm not the quitter type, but i think i'm gonna surrender and do the educational thing and just kiss ass more in this class. i clearly wasted a copious amount of time studying the score in the library, doing research, and thinking about my paper way too much. i have a feeling i also wasted quite a bit of time preparing for my presentation, so i'm done doin' that. for the remainder of the semester, every ounce of effort for this class will come straight out of my ass in the form of bull shit. wait, that'd have to come out of a bull's ass wouldn't it. damn. i lose again.

well, what do you want to hear about now? hmm...

oh, i know, you want to hear all about how much ass i kicked in sight singing today. yeah, i got done singing this thing all by myself and the teacher literally stood up from the piano, threw his arms in the air, and cheered. yeah. i rule. oh, and it wasn't because it was the first time i sang something correctly but because i was the first person in 5 groups he had already heard that morning that sang it right. so go me. does that sound braggy? i hope so, because it's supposed to. i'm the f'n man. actually, if i was the f'n man, i would have passed the entrance exam in the first place. whoops.

ok, i've got a rehearsal in half an hour followed by another rehearsal after that with some super famous conductor fella. his name is herbert blomstedt and i think he conducted san francisco at one time. he's supposed to be amazing so i'm looking forward to it. i love brahms 2 as well so it should be fun as long as the strings don't decide to be bishes.

hope all is well with y'all.

love,
james

a quick one before i go to the gym (that's what she said)

2007-10-24T12:10:00.001-07:00

ok, i just felt like writing something real quick before i scamper off to the gym. my goal for this workout session will be to release some aggression i'm feeling towards one of my professors. basically, i just got back from a 'how are you doing in my class' one on one meeting/session thinger and i'm quite frustrated with the way he interpreted my midterm paper. you see, i'm not a schooly, and typically i don't get upset about grades or anything (i'm actually not upset about the grade he gave me), but the way he's been running the class preceeds my being frustrated today. having spent 3 semesters with dr. peters, i feel like i have a pretty good grasp of how a paper should be written. the way i remember it, you're supposed to make an opening thesis and hint at how you plan on backing this thesis up. then you make your points in a logical order and recap what your original point was. well, apparently they don't do it that way in canada (which is where he's from) because he complained that i just wrote a bunch of paragraphs each with a separate point (which all served to back up my thesis) instead of, i dunno, rambling incessantly? my favorite part of our 'talk' was when he said 'for example, you give a great analysis of the music in your first two pages, but my question for you is, so what?' so what? (he actually wrote 'so what' on my paper) did you read the rest of the paper mr. canadian professor man? did you read my opening thesis? if you did then you'd know so what. as;dlfkjasd;lfkj

he plans on posting a couple of the papers that he thought were really good. i really don't mean to be cocky or anything when i say this, but i really think colin and i are two of the more intelligent people in this class (which i guess isn't saying much) so i really look forward to reading these.

oh yeah, and how do you give a paper that doesn't make a point a B+ anyways? silly canucks!

end rant. begin workout.

love,
james

ps - i really don't hate canadians. just professors who are vague.

helwo blog

2007-10-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

welp, i think i'm gonna start spendin' some time on the blog and less time on the book of faces. seriously though, where did they get the name 'facebook?' i understand that people put pictures of themselves on their profiles and it's common for that picture to focus mostly on your face since it's not that big, but 'facebook?' sounds like it could be the title of some really creepy scary movie where the villain makes a book out of people's faces. or maybe that'd be a comedy? like, you walk into a room and all of a sudden your face turns into a book. i wonder what book my face would turn into... it'd probably turn into a blazhevich or similar etude book. how depressing.

anyways, yeah, facebook is getting old for me. i think i've tried many times to return to more substantial means of communication, such as telephone, e-mails, and actual hand written letters (i know, i know, i still owe you a letter hayley), but i'm gonna try even harder this time. i just think it'd be a lot more interesting to hear how a dude is doing from the actual dude himself. ok, for atleast the rest of this month, i'm not going to login to bookface unless someone has sent me a message of some kind. and if you decide to be a smartass and send me a message just to make me login, i'll probably just ignore you and not give you the pleasure of knowing you got me really really good. on the other hand, if you send me a message by other means, i'll probably think you're really cool and respond letting you know how cool you really are. deal? deal.

guess what. i just realized that i've written two paragraphs already and haven't started a single sentence with the word 'so.' i'm awesome. oh, and pat, i'm fully aware that i don't capitalize. i find it unnecessary and even uncool. if you want to be really cool, you need to rely less on capital letters and more on correct punctuation and sentence structure. you also have to rely on liking things such as turtles and cows, both of which i find to be amazing creatures.

ok, let's recap -

things that suck = spaceface, capital letters, and movies made about said spaceface.
things that rule = phone calls, e-mails, letters, non-capital letters, turtles, & cows.

got it? good.

with much sweetness and love,
james

post scriptum: is there something out there that automatically lets you know when i've updated my blog? i mean, really, i haven't written in this thing in months and i get 3 comments the next day. how's that happen?

a homecoming miracle

2007-10-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

so i've taken a few hiatuses from this blog and every time i come back i say something like 'so it's been a while since i've posted' and then give some stupid update trying to recap everything that's happened since i posted last. well, i'm a graduate student now, so i'm gonna up my standards and write a better 'first post in 9 months' post and just pretend like i never quit writing. you can help by leaving comments that have nothing to do with the fact that i haven't written in this thing in forever. comments like 'glad you're writing again' or 'hey james, it's good to see you back on the blog train' are highly discouraged. in fact, you're gonna get negative points if you do such a thing. you've been warned.

so this weekend is homecoming weekend at IU and let me tell ya, it's been a special one. last night the girl (colin) and i went to this sweet irish pub called 'the irish lion' and drank the beers with some of the cooler undergrad trombone students here. i had two half yards of newcastle, an irish car bomb, and two bowls of coddle. it was amazing. when i got home i ate a cookie and passed out watching the new episode of the office. i hope they go back to making fun of dwight soon instead of making us feel sorry for him.

anyways, after a rehearsal this morning, i'm back at the apartment layin on the couch with all the windows in the apartment open because it was so amazing outside doin' random crap on my laptop when i hear this dude outside yelling. i look out and he's standing just across the street screaming into his cell phone. i quickly alerted colin, who instinctively grabbed his camera. the rest can be seen here.

warning: if profane langauge offends you, or you are in a place that profane langauge shouldn't be heard, don't press the play button. otherwise, enjoy the hilarity.

good stuff huh? i gotta be honest, it's a pretty standard occurrence down here to see people being so awesome at life. i guess maybe i feel sorry for him just a little bit, but c'mon man, if you've got problems, maybe the best place to solve them isn't outside the apartment of colin and james.

as i write about all the excellence down here i can hear cars racing around outside. so many winners.

yeah, so there ya have it. another post to the ol' blog. i'd tell you that i plan to write more often but that would mean admitting that i haven't written in a long time which totally goes against what i talked about earlier.

so tomorrow = 3 rehearsals and a concert. thank you sunday, for being just another busy day in my week. you rule. i do get to play brahms 2 and la gazza ladra though. that'll be fun. guess i should think about gettin' some sleep, though.

thanks for reading.

love,
james

post scriptum: the goal for my next post is to not start any sentence with the word "so." i can do better. i will do better.

read this

2007-04-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

it's long, and i was just about ready to pass out for the night, exhausted by one of my longest mondays ever, but, i couldn't stop reading this article. it's beautiful.

Pearls Before Breakfast
Can one of the nation's greatest musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let's find out.
By Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 8, 2007; Page W10

news release

2007-04-03T06:09:00.000-07:00

i'll be in the cities this weekend for a gig at the Church of the Annunciation Catholic Church in south minneapolis. i have a 7:30p performance on saturday night and a 9a performance sunday morning. i'll be getting in sometime friday night, most likely late, but will have some time saturday before the gig for breakfast, lunch, coffee (cept i'll drink chai or hot chocolate cause coffee is gross) or maybe a drink and a game of darts. shoot an e-mail, call, text, leave a comment, or send up smoke signals if you're intersted in hangin' at all.

love,
james

2007-03-31T14:01:00.001-07:00

why hasn't james written in so long?

2007-03-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

i dunno. just haven't been feelin' it lately i guess.

things have been really good here lately, minus that one day my car was stolen... jk, it was only mistakenly towed. yeah...remember that time i didn't notice that my car was missing for an entire week? pretty scary. apparently the dudes in charge of towing non-permitted cars out of our lot didn't see my permit clearly displayed in my windshield and towed my car 5 miles out of town where it sat for an entire week without my knowing.

wow, i didn't see this post starting out like that...weird. anyways, things have been good here. my bone playing is FINALLY improving and i FINALLY have figured out what Prof. Lenthe has been trying to get me to do all year long. it had been a long time since i had been stuck in a rut like that and the feeling that i am slowly climbing out of it is a huge relief. i'm sure that someday i'll look back and recognize that it was a pivotal point in my playing career because things are coming to me so easily now after wrapping my mind around the one concept he was trying to make me understand and employ. i still have a long ways to go, but the feeling of the tiniest bit of progress is a good one.

so the weather has been amazing these last two weeks. i don't think it has failed to get up to 70 degrees yet. i'm a northerner, and enjoy the cooler weather, but i gotta admit, this is nice too. i didn't know that trees could bloom before the end of march. amazing! with nice weather comes lots of other nice things too....like ultimate frisbee. i've played two games so far and will probably play again tomorrow. it's mostly music students that play, but the cool thing is that we barely talk music at all. there are some good players and we usually talk about frisbee or other random stuff. my ai for my aural theory class plays and after playing last sunday, he decided to kick off class on tuesday morning by excitedly telling everyone how great of an ultimate frisbee player he thought i was and how he thought i schooled everyone. i was laughing pretty hard as half the class probably didn't even know what ultimate frisbee was and the other half didn't care. he's a funny guy.

last night i organized a trip out to the movie theatre to see blades of glory, the new will ferrell movie. there were about 9 of us that went and we had an amazing time. the movie was hilarious. more hilarious, however, were the times that the high school girls sitting behind us would sigh during what was supposed to be a sad part, or would gasp as someone was about to get hurt. colin and i were laughing our asses off as the rest of the theatre was pretty quiet, which only made me laugh more. i was pretty tired from laughing so much once it was all over. if you like will ferrell like i do, you'll love the movie. if you're not a fan, it's probably not worth going to in the theatre.

ok, i think i'm done rambling for a while. i have a recital to go to in an hour and i should get some practice time in. can't promise that i'll write anytime soon, but we'll see.

love,
james

random stuff

2007-02-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

so if you're at all curious about the kind of experiences colin and i are getting down here, i found a podcast from an opera i performed in last semester. the opera was humperdinck's 'hansel and gretel' and the podcast is from act ii. it's pretty easy to download and the quality is really good. here's the link to get you started; http://www.music.indiana.edu/iumusiclive/authorize/podcasts.shtml

if you get a chance to check it out, be sure to post a comment and let me know what you think. i think there are a couple spots where yours truly can be heard in the bone section :-) the singers are really good and the scenery is amazing. i really think you'll enjoy it.

what else to talk about?

colin and i are planning a trip to nyc for spring break (we'll be travelling from mar 9th-14th). if you're free you're welcome to tag along :-) i think we're going to try to check out a couple club dates and maybe a broadway show. if spamalot is still running that's probably what we'll do. whoa...i just had an amazing idea...as soon as i'm done typing this i'm going to see if conan will be taping at all that week. i looked at the ny phil calendar and it looks like they're just doing some crappy pops concert. i'm going to find out what the philadelphia orchestra is playing and see if there is some cheap form of transportation to get down there. you see, the main point of this trip is to get the hell out of dodge and get inspired (atleast that's why i'm doing it...guess i shouldn't speak for colin). ofcourse i'm going to try to spend some time with george flynn while i'm there too if he's in town. i e-mailed john rojak (teacher at julliard and bad ass bass trombone soloist) and it seems as though i've picked the worst week to get a lesson with him, which is a damn shame. i respect that man's playing so much, and he's a good teacher too. there's a shred of hope, though, as he said that 'maybe' he'll be around on the 12th. i'm going to cross my fingers.

another nice thing about this trip will be that i get to see my girlfriend for a couple hours. yes, i know, this is the first time i've made mention, but i assumed a lot of people already knew. but, incase you didn't, her name is katelyn and she's one of the coolest girls i know. only problem is that she's currently dancing on holland america's ms noordam so i basically never get to see her. she'll be in port on the 10th. if you're going to die of curiousity, i think there are a couple pictures of us on facebook. she's pretty :-)

academically things are going very well. so far in my music history class i have two As on my quizzes and a B+ in the books for my first test. i didn't get off to this good of a start by this time last semester so i think this will make the remainder of the semester a little less stressful. i plan on getting an A on my quiz on monday as well. aural theory is going well and i don't think i've gotten anything less than a B on any quiz or test there either.

trombone is going well. my lessons are usually pretty intense, but that's why i'm here so it's a good thing. i just got involved in a trombone trio that i think is going to meet twice a week. if you didn't already know this, chamber playing is one of the greatest things you can do to help your playing as an instrumentalist. i'm excited.

tomorrow i'm playing 2nd trombone on igor stravinsky's mass. it's a really interesting piece written for choir, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 oboes, 1 english horn, and 2 bassoons. it's typical stravinksy with lots of 'crunchy' harmonies with the occasional P5 thrown in here and there. we've had two rehearsals on it and will perform it tomorrow night. i love the way things get rehearsed around here!

well, i'll quit the rambling now. remember to leave some comments if you get to check out the podcast.

love,
james

might wanna make sure your volume isn't up too high...

2007-02-11T18:09:00.000-08:00

that pretty much sums up my thoughts and feelings at the current time. you get negative points if you don't know who/what that is. sorry...

love,
james

awarding some much deserved pointage

2007-01-29T07:31:00.000-08:00

so it's been brought to my attention that i owe you guys some points. so here's the current standing:

josh h. - 7 points
angie h. - 1 point

if i'm missing anyone, tell me which post of mine you earned points on and i'll look it up and update.

and now an opportunity for more points...

i was making breakfast this morning and read on the orange juice bottle that i was drinking "100% pure squeezed orange juice....from concentrate." "what the frick does that mean?" i asked myself. 2 points goes to the person that can tell me what that means. if you don't know, i'll give you 1 point for making a humorous attempt at explaining it.

and, incase neither of those opportunities excite you, i'll give you 1 point if you can tell me which dominant functioning chord has scale degree 4 in the bass. you'll earn one more point if you can tell me which chord it most commonly resolves to. c'mon joe, i know you know this one.

well, that's gonna be it for this post.

love,
james

yeah...i know....

2007-01-24T19:49:00.000-08:00

....it's been too long since i've updated. sorry.

so i'm in the 2nd week of my sophomore year of my masters degree. here's how the semester looks.

monday:
8a late music history review
9a aural theory review
1:30p lesson with Lenthe
6:30p masterclass

tuesday:
8a aural theory drill
2:30p band rehearsal (yep, i said band, i'll explain below)

wednesday:
8a late music history review
9a aural theory review
2:30p band
4p orchestral rep section with colin & Lenthe

thursday:
8a aural theory drill
2:30p band rehearsal

friday:
8a late music history review
9a aural theory review
2:30p band

inbetween all of that is practicing, going to the gym, eating, sleeping, and, oh yeah....studying.

so far i haven't missed a single 8am class, which is more than i can say for last semester. our music history teacher is, to put it nicely, hard to follow at times. she's a very nice lady, but at 8 o'clock in the morning, the 500+ "ums" and "uhhs" i endure distract the learning just a lil bit. i try to spend class making note cards for the upcoming quizzes and tests. it worked for the first one because i got a 30/29. i could have gotten a 31/29 but somehow missed out on a point somewhere in bs-ing of pergolesi's "la serva padrona." (3 points for the person who can remember what that opera is about.)

aural theory is pretty kick awesome, believe it or not. the teacher is really cool and good at what he does. dare i say he's dr. smith good. if you know who dr. smith is you get a point too. i'm actually surprised at how well i can hear things now. i never used to be this good at aural theory but it's coming quite easily now. i'm pretty sure that if i took that entrance exam today i'd pass with flying colors, just based on what i've brushed up on in these two weeks. it's okay that i didn't pass, however, because i'm actually enjoying this class...which is more than i can say for almost everyone else in there.

so i mentioned above that i'm playing in a band. i also mentioned nothing of an orchestra. that's because i completely blew my audition and did not place in an orchestra this semester. that's the bad news. the good news is that i'm so incredibly motivated to practice right now that my face feels like it's going to fall off at the end of everyday. honestly, a fire has been lit under my ass and i almost feel that same motivation i felt when i was a freshman at eau claire. those of you who knew me then know what i'm talking about. i don't think yardlebot (damn i miss sean solberg) will come back in full force, but i'm definitely back to the grind.

ok, so colin is watching family guy in the other room and i'm havin' a hard time concentrating on what i'm writing. i also have an aural theory quiz tomorrow at 8a and should try to get some rest. sorry for the lack of an interesting update. i'll do better next time.

love,
james

good stuff

2007-01-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

so i'm on page 41 of The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success and i must admit, this book is pretty damn sweet. below is an excerpt that has had me thinking all day long. check it out;

"Imagine that five years have passed and your life is now perfect in every respect. Imagine that all your goals have been achieved, all your problems have been solved, and you are living the life of your dreams.
Imagine that your income, bank account, relationships, family life, health, work, and career are ideal in every way. What would they look like? What would you be doing? Who would you be with? Who would you no longer be with? How much would you be earning? What sort of lifestyle and family would you have? What kind of home, car, clothes, and level of physical fitness would you have?
Describe your future vision for yourself in complete detail by writing out everything you could ever imagine wanting to have on your Dream List"

there's a similar excerpt that asks the question "What would you most want to do if you absolutely could not fail?"

well, i think i'm gonna leave it at that for now. i may try to answer some of those questions for myself in the next post, which may be fun to read ;-)

had a great time seein' all you eau clairians the last couple weeks. you guys really are super.

love,
james

breaking news

2006-12-06T21:43:00.001-08:00

colin gilliland has sex with monkeys for money. he's a monkey hooker.

just thought yall should know...

love,
james

do your chains hang low?

2006-12-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

although my education in pop culture is pretty much limited to what i hear playing at the gym, i gotta say, this chains hang low song is pretty friggen amazing. i don't know who does it, and frankly, i don't care, but i definitely almost dropped a large amount of weight on my face when that song came on because i was laughing so hard. anyways...

so, the end is nearing. my freshman year of my masters degree is almost complete. freshman year you ask? yeah... colin and i decided that since we're here for 4 semesters we'll be referring to each semester as a year. next semester we'll be sophomores.

freshman year was good to me overall, with a few exceptions here and there. i definitely didn't drink enough, so that's going on the to do list for next year for sure. i guess i'll also make an attempt at refining my studying skills as well next year. my grades are fine but i think they could be better and i could be less stressed if i didn't procrasitinate so much on my studying. i think that's gonna happen to a certain degree in your 7th year of school (5.5 at eau claire, .5 in eau claire but not technically in school, this being my 7th). there will be no thought of continuing straight into a doctorate degree when i'm done here. right now my thoughts are nyc or cruise ship, neither of which involve music history tests. those thoughts could change though. i've been giving some serious thought to going into the ultimate frisbee profession. i'm really good so i'm sure i could lead my team to a victory in the championship game and secure a nike sponsorship. after signing my deal with nike i'll naturally get my own daytime talk show and start my own line of clothing and wristwatches...yeah...wristwatches will be good, considering i don't wear one... that's it! i'll invent a wristwatch that will be surgically installed into your wrist. it'll have music, internet, cell phone capabilities, and ofcourse it will have the awesome power of lady attracting. the ladies will be all about my new watch. i'm gonna be a bazillamillionaire! that's right, a bazillamillionaire. you do the math.

ok, i think i'm gonna practice now...

peace,
j-bonethuginharmony

alliwannadoishavesomefun

2006-11-29T21:26:00.000-08:00

sewiously. i don't wanna study for any more friggen quizzes or tests. i'd much rather drink. or play trombone. or drink, strip down to my boxers, and run around the sorority (sp?) houses playing bach cello suites. that oughta impress the ladies right? i think so. i'm pretty sure they'd all wanna make out with me after hearing a sexy sarabande played on bass trombone. then i'd be all like, "ladies, ladies, please. one at a time." no....wait, more like "ladies, three at a time." yeah. girls love bach.

speaking of bach and girls...do you guys know about this Voyager Golden Record that was launched into space in 1977? i learned about this in my music history class today and had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing too loudly. so here's the story...

once upon a time some nerds were having a party. well, one of the nerds had a brother who was a pot smokin' hippie and he invited all of his hippie pot smokin' friends over. so they're smokin' pot and watching star trek and they get this idea that they're going to make a record, out of gold (that's so it lasts a bazillion years), and put different recordings on it and launch it into space in the hopes that an alien happens to stumble upon it.

i've just got one question...how is the alien going to play this record if he doesn't friggen have a friggen record player? stupid hippies.

man, i wonder what it would have been like to live in a time when our country was launching gold plated records containing the music of bach into outer space for ET to find 40,000+ years from now. we should probably launch britney spears into outer space for the aliens to play with.

well, i think i've wasted enough of your time. oh, and hayley, if you had a porn name it'd probably be "princess randomness." ps- david bowie is stupid.

i'm going to bed now.

love,
james

dig this

2006-11-21T09:28:00.001-08:00

Your Pimp Name Is...

Master Fly Shagswell

What's Your Pimp Name?

fitting isn't it?

an open letter to my playing

2006-11-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

we've been at this for a good 13 years now. it's time you shape up and start sounding a little more professional. i've had enough of this amateur bullhonkey.

breathing, i don't understand why you think it's okay to not move the air around in a manner that is appropriate to operate the trombone. we've done excersises for years to train you, but you still don't get it. it's easy. really. just friggen inhale in a full relaxed manner and blow it out in the same way. you don't need to get the shoulders or the throat involved in all of this. leave em alone!

what are you laughing at slide technique? you think this is funny? well, i think it's funny that you can't consistently move to and from 5th position accurately. i also think it's funny that when you move from 4th to 1st with 2nd in between, you split the difference and instead of playing a true 2nd position you end up somewhere between 2nd and 3rd. that kind of sound might be acceptable if i was a euphonium player (sorry...) but it's not gonna cut it here. moron.

and tone quality, you're the stupidest of em all. just because i feel like playing in the upper register doesn't mean you can just fly out the window like breathing does. you two are like bonnie and clyde...constantly robbing me of sounding half way decent. well, i've had enough. when i decide to play above a b-flat, i expect you to stick around and do some work. no more clenching and tightening up of the sound. nope, you gotta stay just as pretty and free as the low register.

you all friggen suck and i expect you to friggen get your act together asap.

love,
james

do you know who i am?

2006-11-15T22:11:00.000-08:00

i don't know how to put this, but....i'm kind of a big deal. people know me.

hey, check it out, it's 1:11am. make a wish!

so my last post was kinda fun eh? who needs drugs when you can just deprive yourself of sleep and achieve the same effect? seriously though, those hershey bars are amazing.

today has been a strange day. i stayed up all night studying for my music history quiz because i can no longer afford to get anything less than an A+++++++ on any of the next quizzes or exams. i think it worked out for me on this quiz because i think i got one tiny little thing wrong that will be countered by my answering the extra credit question correctly.

so anyways, i went to bed at 5am, slept for an hour, got up at 6, studied for another hour, then got ready and went to take the quiz at 8. i remember finishing my quiz then the next thing i knew i woke up in my bed. i definitely don't remember walking home or anything...it freaked me out a little. i almost thought that maybe i had dreamt about taking the quiz and that i had slept in or something. luckily that was not the case. colin told me that i was definitely there.

i woke up around noon and got a call from andrew dzuik telling me that ProWinds, the music store here in town, would be calling me for an interview. they did and i interviewed for a job at 4, which they offered to me and i accepted. basically i'll be listing stuff for them on ebay and potentially doing some work with their website. it's a great position for me because i get to work my own hours and do a lot of it from home. money is good and having an employee discount at a great music store will be a nice benefit too. i need a new straight mute real bad.

so after all that nonsense i rehearsed for a buddy's recital at 7, then went and heard the top orchestra here play mahler 6. they sounded amazing. by far the best concert i've heard here so far. the horns were a little weak, but other than that, it was badass. on my way to finding the second tier balcony i wandered into the dance dept. area. i found myself in a hallway with about 20 dancers (they must have been having some kind of audition) lining the walls. they all looked at me like i was from another planet. i certainly felt like i had entered another world (anyone ever wander up to the third floor of the art wing at haas? you'll know what i'm talking about...). as i turned around i over heard two guys talking and one of them said to the other, with quite a lisp, "i know, right?" ahh stereotypes...

i dunno, maybe it doesn't sound like too weird of a day, but with the unusual sleeping, it seemed funky to me.

i have a job? that's weird.

also, i'm sad that i can't make the pilgrimage to eau claire for the bone dinner. i have an opera performance on friday night but it's one of those things that just hasn't sunken in yet....i'm in denial i guess. sad. i mean.....rage.

that's all i got.

love (kill pandas),
james

don't act like you're not impressed

2006-11-12T22:43:00.000-08:00

i just sneezed...it felt pretty amazing too. colin told me once that most normal people, when they sneeze, they sneeze twice. for some reason, i don't. i just sneeze once and that's it. damn. i guess that means i'm not a normal sneezer.

so i got a text message from a friend yesterday asking me if i would like to arm wrestle life. i'm pretty sure i can kick life's ass, so i say "bring it." no really, i've been going to the gym a lot lately and i'm pretty sure life would end up in the hospital with nothing less than a broken leg and a black eye, courtesy of the kick-punch special deluxe, if it tried to start sh*t with me. yeah, i'm a badass...

so anyways, i'm not exactly sure why i'm writing here right now. i'm actually really tired and somewhat delirious, and my bed is literally a foot away. it's telling me that i have class in 6 hours and that i should lie down on it and go to sleep. i wish it'd stop talking to me because it's really startin' to friggen creep me out.

well, you're pwobably lookin' to hear about something relevant so here goes....

i miss eau claire.
i miss my dog.
classes are hard.
bass trombone playing needs a jumpstart currently.
colin is still alive and same as always.
there is a girl in oklahoma city that i have familiar relations with and i miss her too.
i'm still looking for a coffee shop around here even though i don't like coffee.
i recently discovered the hershey chocolate bar that has peanut butter inside.

not much else has relevance at the moment. you may think it's sad, but i'm a simpleton so i'm happy.

i hope you're all happy too.

love,
james

response from dad

2006-10-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

When we went to the Boundary Waters 3 weeks ago, we considered mounting machine guns on our canoes to combat terrorism. What better way to sneak into the US than through the BWCA? We decided not to do that based on portaging the machine guns and ammo.

It has been a topic of news lately here in Duluth. To me, it seems a bit far fetched to reason that this training is necessary. We’d be much more vulnerable to a lake contamination. You can’t sink an ore boat or freighter with a machine gun. Just can’t make a big enough hole if you know what I mean.

I’d be looking for what is getting slid through the senate while this is getting all of the attention. A sportsman cannot use lead shot over a waterway in MN or WI now. It has to be steel shot. They’d be breaking the law by using lead.

I’m pretty sure nobody is going to get shot out of the water in Lake Superior any time soon.

Thanks for staying abreast of the news. It’s what keeps people accountable.

ok, i'll just move on from this topic now. dad pretty much said what i was thinking.

love,
james

Hokay.......

2006-10-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

in an effort to be connected to the world (since we don't have tv) i've been reading my news from the new york times and came across this article. i may not have cared so much if i didn't grow up in duluth. i simply cannot imagine being down on that lakewalk walking my dog while hearing machine gun fire across the water...

i've posted a link to the article below. since i believe you have to register on the site to view it, i'm going to cut and paste as well. my next post will probably be a good ol' fashioned rant about this article. well, it'll probably be more like a mockery, which should be a little more entertaining.

U.S. Firing Plans for Great Lakes Raise Concerns

GRAND HAVEN, Mich., Oct. 10 — Even in autumn, the cold, silent expanse of Lake Michigan defines this town, where pleasure boats glide into harbor, fishermen wait patiently for salmon and tourists peer up at the lighthouse.

But the United States Coast Guard has a new mission for the waters off of these quiet shores. For the first time, Coast Guard officials want to mount machine guns routinely on their cutters and small boats here and around all five of the Great Lakes as part of a program addressing the threats of terrorism after Sept. 11.

And, for the first time in memory, Coast Guard members plan to use a stretch of water at least five miles off this Michigan shore — and 33 other offshore spots near cities like Cleveland; Rochester; Milwaukee; Duluth, Minn.; and Gary, Ind. — as permanent, live fire shooting zones for training on their new 7.62 mm weapons, which can blast as many as 650 rounds a minute and send fire more than 4,000 yards.

The notion is so unusual that it prompted United States diplomats to negotiate with Canadian authorities in order to agree that it would not violate a 189-year-old treaty, signed after the War of 1812, limiting arms on the Great Lakes.

Many here in Grand Haven, a town whose history is so lovingly intertwined with the Coast Guard that it holds an annual festival celebrating the service branch, say they think of Coast Guard members mainly as the rugged sailors who race off to search for and save troubled boaters. But even here, in a town that calls itself “Coast Guard City U.S.A.,” some say the thought of members firing machine guns anywhere near these waters strikes them as dangerous to ordinary boaters, potentially damaging to the Great Lakes’ ecosystem and, frankly, a somewhat surprising place to be bracing for terrorists.

“You know exactly what’s going to happen with this,” said Bob Foster, 58, who said he spends every chance he gets on the waters here. “Some boater is going to inadvertently drive through the live fire zone and get blown out of the water.”

Carole Loftis, the owner of Snug Harbor, a popular restaurant with windows on the water, said that although she certainly carried concerns, like most Americans, about terrorism, drunken boating seemed a more frequent threat around here. “This seems a little like overkill,” Ms. Loftis said of the shooting plans.

Despite complaints from some charter boat captains, environmental groups and city leaders around the Great Lakes, the Coast Guard defended the need to mount M-240B machine guns on its boats and to test fire them two or three times a year in “safety zones,” about 70 square miles each.

“The Coast Guard has looked at an increased terrorist threat since 2001,” Rear Adm. John E. Crowley Jr., commander of the Coast Guard district that oversees the Great Lakes, said in a telephone interview. “I don’t know when or if something might happen on the Great Lakes, but I don’t want to learn the hard way.”

Some members of the Coast Guard assigned to law enforcement duties always carried weapons, but most of those were personal semiautomatic pistols. Since the arrival of the boat-mounted machine guns, the Coast Guard has conducted 24 training sessions on the lakes this year, although it has halted the exercises temporarily after news of the program seeped out last month and, with it, a barrage of objection.

“When I heard, I thought it was something from The Onion newspaper or an Internet hoax,” said Mike Bradley, the mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, which sits beside Lake Huron, where 6 of the 34 live fire zones are planned. “This whole thing was done way below the radar.”

The Coast Guard’s plans for permanent training zones were published in the Federal Register on Aug. 1, along with the promise of a month for public comment, but city leaders and ordinary boaters said that most of them never came across the document and that the authorities failed to provide them with any other notice of live fire plans — a fact that left some saying they felt as though the Coast Guard, now part of the Department of Homeland Security, was trying quietly to slip the whole weapons program past them.

Herb Bergson, the mayor of Duluth, got a telephone call in September from a resident who said she was listening to her marine scanner, heard talk of shooting on Lake Superior and wanted the mayor to explain what was going on.

“I didn’t know what to tell her,” Mr. Bergson said. “I was caught just flat-footed. No one told me, and they should have.”

Coast Guard leaders — who have since announced nine public meetings in Great Lakes cities, starting Monday, and have extended until Nov. 13 the period for people to weigh in on the idea — acknowledge that they initially failed to publicize the weapons training program. “I’ve got no good answer for that,” said Lt. j.g. Ryan Barone, a spokesman.

But the plans themselves, which ultimately would mean machine guns mounted on the vessels of more than 50 Coast Guard units throughout the Great Lakes, were carefully conceived, Lieutenant Barone said. Information about the proposal and scheduled public meetings is at uscgd9safetyzones.com.

All of the proposed firing zones sit at least five nautical miles from shores and from Canadian waters, as well as far from commercial shipping lanes and sensitive marine areas, Lieutenant Barone said. During the training days, when Coast Guard gunners will shoot at floating foam buoys, other boaters will be notified on marine radio frequencies, he said, and every test will include a designated safety observer.

Admiral Crowley said, “I don’t feel there’s a risk to anyone out there.”

Around the Great Lakes, some people said they were supportive of the presence of machine guns and the planned tests. The risks of terrorism, they said, cannot be underestimated — even in small towns, even in the Upper Midwest. And as with extra airport safety measures, they said, the live fire tests may be inconvenient but they are needed.

Several ferry operators in Michigan, who carry cars and passengers across Lake Michigan, said they were satisfied that their customers would be safe. Ken Alvey, president of the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, which represents some 80 marine businesses, said he was comfortable knowing that the Coast Guard members would practice on their new weapons.

“To say we don’t have to worry about our open border with Canada would be foolish,” Mr. Alvey said. “You never know what avenue terrorists will take.”

But others, especially recreational boaters and professional fishing guides, said they were worried. Though most emphasized their support and gratitude to the Coast Guard, they said they did not even listen to their radios much anymore (unless a storm is rolling in) and could miss warnings altogether.

Ron Mihevc, who takes customers fishing out of the harbor at Waukegan, Ill., said he feared that the planned firing zone near Waukegan sits “right in the middle” of a prime fishing spot that draws scores of fishermen. Kelly J. Campise, another Waukegan boat captain, said fishermen already were carrying their clients many miles into Lake Michigan in search of salmon and trout at great fuel expense; going still further away to avoid the firing zones would cost still more, he said.

An 89-page environmental study, commissioned by federal authorities, concluded that rounds left in the lakes from the Coast Guard exercises would cause no harm, but Hugh McDiarmid Jr., a spokesman for the Michigan Environmental Council, said a “fuller environmental risk assessment,” given the lead content of the rounds in particular, was needed.

For years, Coast Guard boats have been armed, and training has been conducted off of the coasts of this country, said Brad J. Kieserman, chief of the operations law group at Coast Guard headquarters.

On the Great Lakes, weapons training by military branches like the Navy has also occurred in years gone by, dating back to World War I and World War II. But in keeping with a treaty known as Rush-Bagot from 1817, Coast Guard vessels on the Great Lakes have historically not included naval armaments.

But in 2003, federal authorities sought an understanding with their Canadian counterparts about Rush-Bagot in preparation for mounting machine guns on cutters so that the Coast Guard could “prevent terrorists or others engaged in criminal activities from crossing the United States-Canadian boundary by water,” according to documents from the exchange between the two countries.

In recent days, though, some Canadian mayors, who said they had not heard of the plans until this fall, have objected vehemently. David Miller, the mayor of Toronto, said he worried about practical, safety aspects of the weapons plan and about the environment, but also about the precedent set for the lakes’ more than 94,000 square miles of water.

“Our treaty had always said that the Great Lakes will not be militarized,” Mr. Miller said. “And in effect, this remilitarizes them in the name of a threat from 9/11.”

my next post should be fun :-)

love,
james

the yardley taylor project (might be a long one)

2006-10-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

well, here it is. i've had a few days to digest (and drink...) my coaching with mr. taylor and now i'm ready to spew my thoughts on it.

first, for those who don't know who dave taylor is, he's one of the world's finest bass trombonists. if you understand the above title at all you can probably skip over this paragraph. others may want to continue reading... so, he lives in new york city and has quite an extensive resume. he's played with everyone from leopold stowkoski (sp?....conducted the american symphony orchestra) to blood, sweat, and tears. he played with duke ellington (not the ghost band...), quincy jones, mel lewis - thad jones band, etc, etc, etc... these days he's mostly known for his career as a solo and chamber musician. most consider his music of choice "contemporary" but he hates that label so i'll try not to use it too much. he's befriended many composers and has over 100 commisioned works. i think he has about 10 albums under his name. he's an eccentric artist in the most stereotypical use of the word and his weapon of choice happens to be the bass trombone. ok, enough background, on to my experience...

so it's wednesday night and almost all of the trombone students (i think about 40...), the 3 professors, and some other, i assume, brass players are gathered in one of the 4th floor large ensemble rehearsal rooms for a masterclass with dave taylor. he starts in typical fashion by introducing himself and blah blah and suddenly begins to play (and sing) this piece of music. i think it was something based on a schubert song...i'll have to go back and listen to my recording. he gets done and talks a little more. then, he looks at me and says "i see you're holding a bass trombone, would you like to come up and play for us now." i was one of 3 students on the docket to play and i kind of expected to be first so i wasn't caught off guard too much. so, i stand up in front of everyone and announce the piece i'm about to play, "variations on palestrina's 'dona nobis pacem'" ok, so, i may have been a little nervous because he immediately called me out for mumbling and asked me to repeat the title of the piece. this time, i spoke up and tried to speak more clearly. to my surprise, i failed, because he asked me again to repeat. now i'm feeling a little awkward but i try again....not happening. after he asks me to repeat the title a 4th time (keep in mind the audience i'm standing in front of) i start to wonder what is happening...what am i pronouncing wrong? finally, he lets me off the hook and is happy with my pronunciation of the title. hokay....time to play trombone now.

now, the good thing is that i'm not as shaken as i would have been a week or so previous. about twice a week since i've gotten here i've had to stand up and play in front of people and the nerves are slowly going away. i tried to get it in my head, real quick before anything negative could enter, that this isn't a big deal, i'll most likely still be alive after it's all over, and everyone wants to hear me play well. the first half goes pretty well. 2nd half was a grind as i got tired and lost a little concentration. it was one of the few times i've played through the entire piece, so, keeping that in mind, i wasn't too disappointed with my performance. little did i know, that that performance was going to be the least stressful 4 minutes of the next hour i was to endure.

i was relieved to hear the first thing he said to me was "you have a beautiful sound." i smiled and said "thank you." after that, he proceeded to put me on the spot with his every question. it went something like this;

taylor - do you like this piece?
me - yes
taylor - why?
me - it's a beautiful melody
taylor - why is it beautiful and what are you doing to communicate that beauty?
me - (staring blankly at my stand) well, it's tonal which is pleasing to my ears, the phrases are easy to understand...i guess i'm just trying to sing through my horn...
taylor - why are playing this piece?
me - well, i heard it on doug yeo's cd and kind of fell in love with it. also, it's a required solo for the ita competition.
taylor - (nodding his head as if the competition is the only reason i'm playing this) i would never play this music
me - yeah, well, i would never play anything you like (ok, i wish i would have said this, but i didn't. it occured to me later that this would have been an uproaringly funny response and would have completely eased the extreme amount of tension that was building in the room)

ok, hopefully that little transcript gives you an idea of the kinds of questions he was asking me. they may not seem too "ball busting" but i certainly felt as if i was being "called out" in front of quite a lot of people...trombone players and professors. i didn't mind so much because i should have good answers to those questions. i certainly wasn't upset. it was just taking a toll on my nerves i suppose.

after that little exchange he asked me to play some things over again in different ways. once again i found myself trying really hard to figure out exactly what he wanted from me. one of the things he asked me to do was play the first statement of the melody in a stylistically acceptable way but completely different from what was on the page... i really didn't know what to do so i kinda just made up some different articulations. another thing he asked me to do was play all of the 8th notes as written, but to do something with the other notes. well, dona nobis is a pretty simple melody so really all i had left to work with were a couple quarter notes and a couple half notes. i think i ended up just holding them longer or something. i don't exactly remember (need to go back and listen...) while feeling awkward once again, he finally explained what he was trying to get me to do. he wanted me to play this piece in a way that was "natural" to me and not the way it has been written by someone else, for someone else. i really liked this concept, however, i felt pretty natural playing it the way i had been before. it was also interesting to me that he was able to tell me to play it different but in my own way....he wouldn't tell me how to play it because then i would just be playing it his way...which is what he was trying to get me away from doing. although i love this concept, i think it may have been better understood if i had been playing a different piece, like a concerto, instead of a hymn. maybe not....

he then went on to make the point that we should be playing music we love and if we don't, the truth of the music will never be revealed. it's kind of an artsy deep thing to say, and i'm not able to put it in his exact words, but it made sense to me. it's obvious the he is 100% into the music he plays. you can tell by watching him, listening to him, and by the sheer fact that you HAVE to love that kind of music to make your living off of it. he believes that the audience can hear when you're telling the truth and when you're lying (in this case, lying is playing something you're not totally "diggin' on"). he talked about his first recital (he was 40) in which he played technically quite poorly when the whole audience rose to their feet immediately after he was done for a standing ovation. he said he was quite embarassed about it for many years to come but made the point that the audience reacted to the "truth" in his playing. i guess it's something that you'll either believe or not believe...but i believed what he was saying.

so here's my question...how do you perform a piece of music "truthfully?" afterall, music is a form of communication and when we communicate we have the option of being truthful or lying.

here's my answer, and i hope to hear what others think about this. i think what i have to do is know a piece so well that i can justify playing it my own way. who wrote the piece? who did he write it for? why did he write if for that person? why did that person agree to play the composer's music? etc, etc, etc....the list of questions could be endless. but, i think when you truly know the answers to all those questions, you can begin to approach whatever it is you're working on from your own perspective. first, though you need to have A perspective. i also think that part two of the answer is you need to love what you're working on. it may be technically difficult, or maybe boring in a couple spots, but you need to find something about it you really love and care about it. those two things, i think, are what seperate an inspired performance from one that is just technically acceptable.

ok, so, once again, those are my thoughts. take em, leave em, respond to em, do what you will. either way, thanks for reading.

love,
james

my masterclass coaching with dave taylor

2006-10-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

my next post will be about my masterclass coaching with dave taylor.

right now, however, i'm gonna have a few...

love,
james

Baca baca boof!

2006-10-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

the title actually isn't in reference to the king of jazz, mr. baca. although i miss him quite a lot, it's in reference to how my orchestra conductor used to sing different rhythms to the orchestra. we just finished our second concert of the season last sunday and i think it went pretty well. the conductor was mark gibson, who teaches at the cincinatti conservatory....yeah, he travelled back and forth for our rehearsals... he was a pretty intense conductor, well, atleast from my limited experience with conductors. if the orchestra was not ready in time it was never a small thing, but instead a very serious offense, which oddly enough, i came to appreciate. the man heard every single detail and every single mistake, even if it was the 100th chair violin using a different bowing. i think what impressed me more, though, was the way he didn't take ownership over the orchestra. he constantly reminded us that he wasn't rehearsing for his sake, but for our own. if we didn't feel like something needed to be rehearsed (and he would ask constantly), he wouldn't rehearse us on it. likewise, if we thought we needed to do something over again, he'd let us do it. pretty cool i thought. so far my orchestra experience here has been awesome and i can't wait for the next concert.

so now a little follow up to my last post.

i'm coming to the realization that things are what they are and that the only thing i have control over are my opinions of them. sometimes i just shouldn't form opinions on things. i'll try to explain.... it's a fact that i've come into a routine of getting to the gym, doing well in classes, and improving on the trombone. it was my opinion that this meant i was getting stuck in a rut and becoming somewhat "bored." i think it had something to do with "reporting" to my friends and family how i'm doing here in indiana. if i talked to my mom, a friend from eau claire, and wrote an e-mail to a buddy from high school all in one day telling them what i'm up to, it seemed to me that things were becoming quite routine and boring here. i simply formed a false opinion.

on the other hand, i'm starting to go explore a little more to break up some of the monotony. last weekend i randomly decided to go checkout a local restaurant at 10 o'clock at night. i discovered some huge music festival that was happening downtown and just roamed around for a while. it was refreshing. i'm also looking for a couple good coffee shops around here where i can go to do homework. although i didn't frequent racy's and the acoustic until my last couple months in eau claire, i miss those places a lot. i also miss the bistro and obviously the joynt. i need to find some similar places around here to get away from the apartment and the music building.

ok, so those are some thoughts for ya...

now for something fun. i laughed myself into tears watching this clip the first time i saw it. 5 points if you can identify what the bunny is singing. 2 points for composer, 2 points for genre, and 1 point for the date it was written. it's music history time!

thanks for readin'

james

it really is about the journey

2006-10-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

so here i am, in my 5th week of graduate school, and i'm feelin' pretty burned out. don't worry, this post won't get depressing, i promise.

when i first got here, i had a few goals that i was looking forward to tackling and some things i was pretty optimistic about. i was coming off of a summer where i had been very dedicated about working out and i knew that once i got to school and quit playing 7 shows a day outside in the heat, followed by staying up till 2+ am in the morning, i would most likely start to make some nice gains. (ok, i know some of you laugh at me trying to gain weight, but others of you know it's mildly important to me). sure enough, i've put on some weight and am about to reach my goal. (to spare myself the embarrassment, i won't tell you what that goal is. you can probably guess anyways.) now that i'm so close, however, i'm losing the motivation. instead of eating first thing when i get up in the morning, or right before i go to bed, i make some excuse like, "it won't kill me to miss this meal just once."

and of course, the same thing is beginning to happen with my playing. in my first few weeks, i was really struggling to play with a good orchestral bass trombone sound. my high range/endurance was basically non-existent despite the fact that i played tenor all summer long out at dorney. i was EXTREMELY motivated to get it back and worked patiently and diligently to do so. this last monday (2 days ago) my teacher gave me a huge compliment in my lesson. he said something like "james, i'm starting to hear glimpses of the bass trombone player you're going to be someday." ok, so, maybe it doesn't really sound like a compliment to you, but trust me on this, it's the closest i've come to one in my lessons thus far and it was right after i got done playing something that i thought came out pretty well. also, in studio class the week before, i was able to shake my nerves for the first time while playing in front of people at this school. it was a huge relief for me.

one last thing before i move on. when i first accepted here and began to tell everyone, i was told how difficult of an academic school this would be. i was nervous about this not because i'm not smart (well, i am a trombone player...) but because i knew that i have problems sometimes getting homework done. so, i told myself i was going to stay on top of it from the very beginning. so far i have and i've gotten nothing less than a B+ on the many quizzes and tests i've had so far.

so now, here i am, somewhat "satisfied" with how i've been handling everything and i'm beginning to lose steam. i slept in and didn't go to my music history class this morning. it took me about an hour to eat something after i did finally get up. i have a theory assignment due tomorrow that i haven't started yet and i haven't played a note yet today. granted, i'm going to get all this stuff done and it's going to be fine. i'm not writing to complain about all the stuff i have to do. that would be pathetic.

what is interesting to me though is that i'm happy with how i've been handling this experience so far, but i'm now becoming bored with it. i used to be proud that i was able to get up and go to the gym before my 8am class and now it just sort of seems routine and ordinary. same with everything else. i know it's cliche to say that i'm stuck in a rut, but it's sort of what it feels like.

so now i ask myself what the heck i'm going to do about it...

i don't exactly know the answer, but the obvious thing to do seems to be to set some new goals that, in order to meet them, require i continue to do what i was doing those first few weeks. the playing thing is simple. i need to find some auditions and go to town with the goal of winning one. as for putting on weight and working out, my goal will be to weigh 10 lbs more than the goal i'm about to reach. as for the school thing, i'm not sure. i'm thinking about setting up some kind of thing where i reward myself with something silly for getting an A or getting my homework done in a timely fashion. i'll take suggestions on that one.

well, i guess i'm done writing about that for a while. i'm sure i'll be keeping you up to date on how it's going.

and in case you're not sick of reading yet here are some things that are coming up that i'm excited about.

sunday - schumann 3 concert
next week thursday - dave taylor is here
last weekend of october - one of my new favorite persons is coming to visit (she's a girl!)

ok, really, i'm done now. i could continue on and tell you about colin and mine's first big 10 sporting event experience at the indiana vs. wis game last weekend, but i just need to get away from the computer for a little bit. maybe i'll come back later in the day and write about it. no promises though.

love,
james

i love this stuff

2006-10-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/40984

this is sweet

2006-09-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvA2qTnoe1g

i like my burgers medium well please

2006-09-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

ok, it's time for a good ol' fashioned rant. i just got back from my 8am music history class and i got a few words to say about the behavior of some of my peers at this "prestigous" university.

1. turn off your friggen cell phones! you're a graduate student right? you want to be here, studying what you love and so do the people around you right? so turn the damn thing off. and maybe, just maybe, if some other unfortunate person's cell phone happens to ring before yours does, maybe double check to make sure that yours is off so that you don't become douchebag numero dos. oh yeah, and if two cell phones go off before yours does, and then yours rings, well, guess what, you're an idiot and deserve to be pantsed in front of the entire class. one last thing before i move on, if your ring happens to be 'when the saints go marching in' please refrain from being a tool and saying 'it's jesus calling' jesus wouldn't call you at 8am while you're in your music history class. he's smarter than that. you're not, but jesus is. he would 'want' you to turn your %)(*@)#( cell phone off.

2. maybe the last class before an exam isn't the best time to be doing crossword puzzles. no, i can think of a better time to figure out what 3 across is. here's a hint; it probably has nothing to do with machaut or motets. don't worry though, i'm sure you'll do great on the test.

honestly, the tromone players here kick my ass, but the people in these classes are nothing short of priceless. it's worse than high school. i just hope they have their spatulas ready...

i gotta admit

2006-09-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

i'm pretty impressed that anyone still reads this. after that long of a haitus (sp?), i was sure no one would be back. makes me realize how lucky i am to have friends that genuinely care...

k, sorry bout that, didn't mean to get all touchy feely on ya (leave it alone andrei...)

so here's a quick update;

all the trombone stuff is working itself out. i'm being patient with it and it's starting to pay off. one of the things i'm doing is playing a lot of air trombone where i just blow air through the horn instead of playing actual notes. so if something isn't working, i use all the right positions and articulation but instead of tone it's all air. i guess it just teaches my body how easy it should feel when i actually play. so then when i go to actually play the passage, my body seems to remember some of what i just taught it to do. yeah, it sounds silly but i'm writing about it because maybe someday i can come back and read this when things get funky again.

trombone stuff aside i'm doing well. i miss eau claire and all my friends and family but i'm slowing starting to meet new people and feel at home here. ultimate frisbee is helping with that side of things. i've been uber disciplined with my diet and working out, with the exception of going to qdoba too often with colin. we can't help it, it's just too good. i think we might have to sign up for their "frequent biter" card...

well, that's all i have time for right now. frisbee is starting...

take care,
james

a tough lesson

2006-09-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

well, i'm half way hoping that no one reads this anymore, but if someone happens to stumble across this post, it won't be the end of the world. i had a difficult trombone lesson today and just need to put some thoughts down. i don't currently keep a journal (maybe i should :-)) and i just need a quick place to put some thoughts down, so here they are.

like i said, i had a tough time in my lesson today. the specifics of the techniques i was struggling with aren't necessarily important. to sum it up, though, my high range sucks and i'm having difficulty controlling tension. i think it's mostly in my throat and neck. but, like i said, that's not really the important stuff.

what's important is the way i was feeling during the lesson (and afterwards) and the awful thoughts that were running through my head. i typically don't allow such thoughts to ever enter my brain, but today it was more difficult than usual.

i had this thought that i don't deserve to be here and i don't deserve the scholarship i'm on. i also felt like i didn't earn the placement that i got for ensembles this semester. being a bass trombone player (or even a trombone player in general) i've been fortunate to be afforded playing opportunities that are above my head, for the sole reason that there is no one else around to cover the parts. i'm starting to realize that it's all been a double edged sword. i've gotten better because of those opportunities, but i'm now in a spot where i skipped some very crucial steps along the way (atleast i'm feeling like i have at the current moment). it's not a good feeling to think that i can't perform a basic technique while beginning my masters degree.

another awful thought that entered my brain today is that i've just been fooling myself and everyone else with this whole becoming a professional musician thing. this is the thought that hurt the most. it's the idea that everyone thinks i'm so good (not that people think that or should think that but you know what i mean) when i intamitely know that i'm not. when someone pays me a compliment about my playing, most of the time i feel like i've gotten away with something. like i just fooled them or even lied to them. i know sometimes i even lie to myself just to get over my frustration. i also do this because telling myself i suck doesn't do me any good.

what i'm starting to realize is that i can't lie to myself about my problems, but i need to find a way to be honest with myself about them without being negative. i wonder if i can admit that i have a problem and be happy to have that problem to work on...

my other method to deal with this comes from my teacher. he reminded me that i need to be a happy, peaceful, patient, and tenacious person. being unhappy and getting down on myself won't make this go away or make it any easier. basically what i need to do is not let my trombone playing control my overall mood for the day. that's a hard thing to do when i'm so attached to my playing. after my lesson today i walked home listening to some relaxing music and then when i got there i just laid down on my bed and fell asleep with no alarm. now it's 8pm (haha, my lesson was at 1:30) and i'm feeling ready to give it a go again.

ok, well, i really hope i didn't subject anyone to such a lame post, but to be fair, you were warned at the beginning. not sure if there will be any future posts, but we'll see. if i'm able to get over this rather quickly i may post a lil follow up with what i did...but i don't think this is gonna be one of those things i can fix quickly.

here's to not being discouraged,
james

somedaybrassplayerswilltakeovertheworld

2006-05-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

just click below.

http://www.jayfriedman.net/files/strauss_fanfare.mp3

KBE editions has just released Jay Friedman's arrangement of "A Strauss Fanfare" which is an encore to Strauss' Alpine Symphony for brass which was premiered several years ago. This performance is by the brass and percussion of the Chicago Symphony and Royal Concertgebow Orchestra's, Jay Friedman conducting. It was recorded live in Symphony Center, Chicago, June 2005.

i almost cried. then i decided i would practice instead.

with l-o-v-e love,
james

marktwainconcerningthetrombone

2006-05-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

below is an excerpt from the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
and Other Sketches by mark twain. it's kinda long but if you love trombone, or love someone who plays trombone, you might enjoy reading it. i discovered it on the web site of my new teacher, carl lenthe. here's a link to his website for those who are curious:
http://www.indiana.edu/~trombone/StudioLenthe.htm

If it please your neighbor to break the sacred calm of night with the snorting of an unholy trombone, it is your duty to put up with his wretched music and your privilege to pity him for the unhappy instinct that moves him to delight in such discordant sounds. I did not always think thus: this consideration for musical amateurs was born of certain disagreeable personal experiences that once followed the development of a like instinct in myself. Now this infidel over the way, who is learning to play on the trombone, and the slowness of whose progress is almost miraculous, goes on with his harrowing work every night, uncurled by me, but tenderly pitied. Ten years ago, for the same offense, I would have set fire to his house. At that time I was a prey to an amateur violinist for two or three weeks, and the sufferings I endured at his hands are inconceivable. He played "Old Dan Tucker," and he never played any thing else; but he performed that so badly that he could throw me into fits with it if I were awake, or into a nightmare if I were asleep. As long as he confined himself to "Dan Tucker," though, I bore with him and abstained from violence; but when he projected a fresh outrage, and tried to do "Sweet Home," I went over and burnt him out. My next assailant was a wretch who felt a call to play the clarionet. He only played the scale, however, with his distressing instrument, and I let him run the length of his tether, also; but finally, when he branched out into a ghastly tune, I felt my reason deserting me under the exquisite torture, and I sallied forth and burnt him out likewise. During the next two years I burned out an amateur cornet player, a bugler, a bassoon-sophomore, and a barbarian whose talents ran in the base-drum line.

I would certainly have scorched this trombone man if he had moved into my neighborhood in those days. But as I said before, I leave him to his own destruction now, because I have had experience as an amateur myself, and I feel nothing but compassion for that kind of people. Besides, I have learned that there lies dormant in the souls of all men a penchant for some particular musical instrument, and an unsuspected yearning to learn to play on it, that are bound to wake up and demand attention some day. Therefore, you who rail at such as disturb your slumbers with unsuccessful and demoralizing attempts to subjugate a fiddle, beware! for sooner or later your own time will come. It is customary and popular to curse these amateurs when they wrench you out of a pleasant dream at night with a peculiarly diabolical note; but seeing that we are all made alike, and must all develop a distorted talent for music in the fullness of time, it is not right. I am charitable to my trombone maniac; in a moment of inspiration he fetches a snort, sometimes, that brings me to a sitting posture in bed, broad awake and weltering in a cold perspiration. Perhaps my first thought is, that there has been an earthquake; perhaps I hear the trombone, and my next thought is, that suicide and the silence of the grave would be a happy release from this nightly agony; perhaps the old instinct comes strong upon me to go after my matches; but my first cool, collected thought is, that the trombone man's destiny is upon him, and he is working it out in suffering and tribulation; and I banish from me the unworthy instinct that would prompt me to burn him out.

After a long immunity from the dreadful insanity that moves a man to become a musician in defiance of the will of God that he should confine himself to sawing wood, I finally fell a victim to the instrument they call the accordeon. At this day I hate that contrivance as fervently as any man can, but at the time I speak of I suddenly acquired a disgusting and idolatrous affection for it. I got one of powerful capacity, and learned to play "Auld Lang Syne" on it. It seems to me, now, that I must have been gifted with a sort of inspiration to be enabled, in the state of ignorance in which I then was, to select out of the whole range of musical composition the one solitary tune that sounds vilest and most distressing on the accordeon. I do not suppose there is another tune in the world with which I could have inflicted so much anguish upon my race as I did with that one during my short musical career.

After I had been playing "Lang Syne" about a week, I had the vanity to think I could improve the original melody, and I set about adding some little flourishes and variations to it, but with rather indifferent success, I suppose, as it brought my landlady into my presence with an expression about her of being opposed to such desperate enterprises. Said she, "Do you know any other tune but that, Mr. Twain?" I told her, meekly, that I did not. "Well, then," said she, "stick to it just as it is; don't put any variations to it, because it's rough enough on the boarders the way it is now."

The fact is, it was something more than simply "rough enough" on them; it was altogether too rough; half of them left, and the other half would have followed, but Mrs. Jones saved them by discharging me from the premises.

I only staid one night at my next lodging-house. Mrs. Smith was after me early in the morning. She said, "You can go, sir; I don't want you here; I have had one of your kind before -- a poor lunatic, that played the banjo and danced breakdowns, and jarred the glass all out of the windows. You kept me awake all night, and if you was to do it again, I'd take and mash that thing over your head!" I could see that this woman took no delight in music, and I moved to Mrs. Brown's.

For three nights in succession I gave my new neighbors "Auld Lang Syne," plain and unadulterated, save by a few discords that rather improved the general effect than otherwise. But the very first time I tried the variations the boarders mutinied. I never did find any body that would stand those variations. I was very well satisfied with my efforts in that house, however, and I left it without any regrets; I drove one boarder as mad as a March hare, and another one tried to scalp his mother. I reflected, though, that if I could only have been allowed to give this latter just one more touch of the variations, he would have finished the old woman.

I went to board at Mrs. Murphy's, an Italian lady of many excellent qualities. The very first time I struck up the variations, a haggard, care-worn, cadaverous old man walked into my room and stood beaming upon me a smile of ineffable happiness. Then he placed his hand upon my head, and looking devoutly aloft, he said with feeling unction, and in a voice trembling with emotion, "God bless you, young man! God bless you! for you have done that for me which is beyond all praise. For years I have suffered from an incurable disease, and knowing my doom was sealed and that I must die, I have striven with all my power to resign myself to my fate, but in vain -- the love of life was too strong within me. But Heaven bless you, my benefactor! for since I heard you play that tune and those variations, I do not want to live any longer -- I am entirely resigned -- I am willing to die -- in fact, I am anxious to die." And then the old man fell upon my neck and wept a flood of happy tears. I was surprised at these things; but I could not help feeling a little proud at what I had done, nor could I help giving the old gentleman a parting blast in the way of some peculiarly lacerating variations as he went out at the door. They doubled him up like a jack-knife, and the next time he left his bed of pain and suffering he was all right, in a metallic coffin.

My passion for the accordeon finally spent itself and died out, and I was glad when I found myself free from its unwholesome influence. While the fever was upon me, I was a living, breathing calamity wherever I went, and desolation and disaster followed in my wake. I bred discord in families, I crushed the spirits of the light-hearted, I drove the melancholy to despair, I hurried invalids to premature dissolution, and I fear me I disturbed the very dead in their graves. I did incalculable harm, and inflicted untold suffering upon my race with my execrable music; and yet to atone for it all, I did but one single blessed act, in making that weary old man willing to go to his long home.

Still, I derived some little benefit from that accordeon; for while I continued to practice on it, I never had to pay any board -- landlords were always willing to compromise, on my leaving before the month was up.

Now, I had two objects in view in writing the foregoing, one of which was to try and reconcile people to those poor unfortunates who feel that they have a genius for music, and who drive their neighbors crazy every night in trying to develop and cultivate it; and the other was to introduce an admirable story about Little George Washington, who could Not Lie, and the Cherry-Tree -- or the Apple-Tree -- I have forgotten now which, although it was told me only yesterday. And writing such a long and elaborate introductory has caused me to forget the story itself; but it was very touching.

hope you enjoyed it.

love,
james

breakingnewsfromthebbc

2006-05-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

i'm not making this up. i copied and pasted directly from the bbc website. the link is below. you should click it just to see the picture of the poor trombone that was taken. it's just funnier seeing it on their website.

Noisy neighbour's trombone taken

A trombone was seized by police in Dumfries after complaints about noise coming from a flat in the town.

Other items taken included a drum kit, electric guitars, a television, radio, stereosystems and amplifiers.

A 55-year-old man, of Barnraws, in Shakespeare Street, was fined £200 under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 at Dumfries Sheriff Court.

The court ordered the forfeit of the sound-making items which police said could "inflict misery" on neighbours.

The conviction related to a number of complaints of continuous noise and antisocial behaviour coming from the town centre flat.

The complaints were jointly investigated by local police and noise reduction officers.

'Antisocial behaviour'

Police said the action showed they would crack down on people causing a noise nuisance.

"Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is committed to addressing community concerns through working closely with partnership agencies," said Ch Insp Michael Collins.

"In this case the man concerned has been creating a nuisance to his neighbours for some time.

"We are delighted that the court has seen fit to forfeit the equipment this man used to indulge in antisocial behaviour and inflict misery on his neighbours."

here's the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/4973208.stm

looking forward to your comments.

love,
james

somereallysweettromboneplaying

2006-04-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Dailymotion blogged video
Carl Fontana

52postsisenoughithink

2006-04-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

well, i had a chance to sleep on it and i came to this conclusion; it's time for me to just bow out as gracefully as i can. i want to finish out my obligations here in eau claire, spend as much time as humanly possible with all the people i love, take a bow, and exit stage right.

the end.

love,
james

lastone?maybe......

2006-04-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

well, i think the goal of feeling awesome for the day has been achieved. i've been down the last few days and the combination of really nice weather, playing chamber music on my trombone with other good musicians, throwing a frisbee around with ryan and phil, and riding my bike has managed bring my moral back up where it needs to be. i think now i'll put on some good music and pick up around the apartment. living in a clean place will help me feel better about myself too.

in other news, i'm toying with the idea of giving up this blog. ::gasp:: i think it's just too easy to say sh*t publicly that shouldn't be said. i know we all have that problem a little bit with our blogs. that's why they're so interesting right? yeah, maybe interesting, but worth the trouble? i don't know. probably not for this guy. personally, i feel like we should have the right to write anything we friggen feel like writing. i'm not here to stop anyone from doing that. that would be completely lame. you can write about how you love osama or killing bunnies and i'm not going to get mad at you for writing it. as long as i'm not being forced to read it, why should i get upset? i'm a big kid and i can choose not to read it, so write on brothas and sistas, write on. write about me for all i care. tell the world i smell like bunny poop. that might be funny. but i figure, if you tell the world that i smell bad, you just make yourself look like a tool. you'd better shower a lot to say such a thing.

i guess i'm just unsure whether or not i can control myself when i REALLY want to say stuff but know this isn't the place. self-control and discipline are usually really easy for me. but when stress is mixed in, dammit it's hard. why do i have to be human. life as a robot would be so much easier. i think i can do it though. you're all gonna have to hold me accountable if i continue to put my thoughts here. don't let me say personal sh*t that i shouldn't say here okay? deal?

sweet.

love,
james"iknowiknow,istilloweyouaduckstory"yardley

leafsoupparttwo

2006-04-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

just got back from playing routine with corey. i was amazed at how great i felt once i put that horn to my face. playing my instrument is the best therapy i can think of, mentally and physically. i didn't feel awful when i woke up this morning, but there were some definite lingering effects from last night. i'm a firm believer that pain, whether mental or physical, is all a matter the mind and since my mind thinks of nothing but sound when i play my trombone, it's not occupied with pain or anything else. that's awesome to me.

so last night was freaking sweet. after playing at v-ball i hung with coliflower and his fam for a little while then went over to the house. jake, nate, lydo, phil salwas, phil salwas' friend, and i hung out and drank too much alcohol for our own good. we talked about gas, taxes, practicing, attitude, and probably some other stuff that i'm not remembering right now. the conversation was excellent. i haven't hung with salwas ever i don't think and he's a really cool guy. he makes a mean rum and coke too. i think i left around 2 and came back and slept like a baby. that felt really good.

not exactly sure what i'll do with the rest of my day. if you have any ideas, let me know :-). practicing will be in there somewhere, but other than that, i don't have too much planned for the day. maybe i'll sit around and watch tv or a movie. that could nice.

oh yeah, and i thought of something else that's green and cool while driving over to the music building. green traffic lights. i mean honestly, who doesn't love to see a green light? it's better than a red light and yellow, pff, c'mon. yellow's got nothin' on green. nothin.

love,
james"humptydumptysatonawall"yardley

leafsoup

2006-04-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

ever feel like you totally f*cked something up but it was okay because you learned from it? i have.

so, i started a new tube of toothpaste this morning. it's green, which is the sweetest color ever, in case you haven't heard.

okay, i gotta go play routine with vern. more later.

love,
james"lookingattheworldthroughgreencoloredglasses"yardley

greenisthenewblue

2006-04-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

so here's a couple things that i think are sweet:

1. thunderstorms
2. waking up and noticing that the grass is greener than the day before
3. ducks

yeah, last night there was an awesome thunderstorm. i slept on my couch, as i usually do, and watched the kitchen light up from the lightening and then listened to my windows rattle as the thunder boomed. the sound of the rain eventually put me to sleep.

waking up this morning, i noticed how much greener it was outside. it made me realize how much i love the color green and i'm now officially declaring it my new favorite color. i used to be a blue guy, but now it's all about the green. green is the color of a famous frog, my eyes, and my favorite shirt. so there ya have it. green is my new blue.

anyways, i had my first lesson with a new trombone student last night and i'm totally pumped about teaching again. i had taken a sabbatical (one of many i'm now realizing) from teaching in preparation for grad school auditions and it was really awesome to work with this young guy. he's a middle school euphonium player who wants to play trombone so that someday he can play in memorial's jazz band. wait a minute...that sounds familiar....oh yeah....that's the exact same thing i did when i was his age. cool. he really wants to learn and my first impression of him is that he's pretty intelligent, especially for his age. teaching a student with goals is about the sweetest thing a teacher can hope for.

not much else going on in the world of me. bone choir concert is tonight so you should probably go to that. 7:30, gantner. it'll be my last one here.....i promise this time! v-ball is this weekend, but i'm not sure how excited i am to go. bone choir is playing, so i'll fulfill my commitment to that, but i may jet afterwards, we'll see. the bistro might be a good place to hang this weekend.

that is all.

love,
james"you'llgetyourduckstoryinthenextpost"yardley

ps-congrats to angie heyer for the correct answer to the "trivia" question in my last post. i owe you a drink. now can someone please tell me what rsvp means?

piddlywinklesticks

2006-04-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

so i bet you think you're gonna read another duck story here don't ya. well, you're right. here comes one.

i was at the stones throw tonight and this duck walks in. he's all dressed up like one of those ducks that goes to important meetings and spends every spare second on his cell phone talking to other ducks about important duck business. you know the kind i'm talking about....so anyways, he waddles in and hops up on the stool next to me, orders a drink, and starts quackin' away about this and that. he's talking to me about eggs, and feathers, what it's like to have webbed feet, and i'm listening contently. then, out of no where, he pulls out his saxophone, hops up on stage, and takes 24 choruses of the blues and flies out the door. weird huh?

yep.

easter was cool. i went home to duluth for the first easter since high school (and we all know that's been a loooooooooong time....[insert old joke here]). it was nice to be home to spend time with the family and the dog. i rolled in at about 3 in the morning on thursday night/friday morning after driving from the recording session. i was really proud of my dog because she came charging at the door ready to attack when i walked in until she realized it was me. i was proud because she's the most happy go lucky dog in the world and i never gave her credit for actually being capable of protecting the house. she was really happy once she realized who i was. the rest of my family was sound asleep, even after the few seconds of her vicious barking, so i just crawled into bed quietly without waking anyone up.

the weekend was uneventful for the most part. i saw a LOT of deer and other wildlife, hung out with my brother a little bit, played trombone at church, and just relaxed. my mom's birthday was today so i had lunch with her before driving back to eau claire.

that's it. nothing profound. a duck story and a brief update is all you get.

love,
james"wantsacookie"yardley

ps-1 beer goes to the person who can tell me what ps stands for without looking it up. the person i've already explained it to is excluded from this offer (sorry). actually, no they're not. if they would actually let me buy them a drink (wink wink), then they can be included as well. but anyways, for one drink, what does ps stand for. and no looking it up! this is trivia folks, not research. on your honor! that was a good book....

breakingnews

2006-04-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

list of things to do today:

1. dishes
1a. practice
2. laundry
2a. practice
3. haircut
3a. practice
3b. practice
4. quit practicing and record in st. paul
5. drive home to duluth for easter

pretty simple day all in all. most of it will be spent preparing mentally and physically to record a solo for the jazz 1 christmas cd. i believe it will be more of a mental challenge than anything, so, the goal for today is to find that place where any thought that isn't related to music doesn't enter my brain. a good place to start, i think, is to get some thoughts out right now.

c'funk's recital was great. i thought he played splendidly and i was happy to be a part of it. i'm glad joe made it up too. it's always refreshing to play for the people in the audience who are really cheering for you. and...incase you haven't heard, joe got into grad school at the u of mn! that's right, three eau claire trombone players got into grad school in one year. maybe someday the three of us will form the trombone section of a major orchestra. wouldn't that be a ride (no pun intended). anywho....it's nice to know that the trombone studio can find a little bit of success outside of this tiny world of eau claire. if only i could find 5th position, life would be grand.

hmm....what else to write about? i guess that's it... sorry for the boring post. i'll make it up to you later with something really juicy. like...um...a watermelon, or maybe a steak. or maybe just a stick of juicyfruit gum.

so there was this duck....and he was walking (or waddling i guess) down the sidewalk, chewing juicyfruit gum and out of nowhere comes this bunny. and this bunny is like, "hey, gimme some of that gum," and the duck says, "quack quack, i'm not givin' your silly ball shaped tail nothin' quack." so then the bunny says "fine, then i'm not sharing my carrots anymore," and he hops away. yeah....that actually happened. weird huh?

the end.

love,
james"needstoquitsmokingsomuchcrack"yardley

ducksonthesidewalk

2006-04-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

so there's these two ducks right? and they're walking down the sidewalk infront of my house having a ducky ol' time. i have to admit that i'm kinda jealous. being a duck would be pretty sweet i think. you could fly to your favorite river or lake and just float around all day with the lady ducks. nice people would feed you stuff like popcorn or bread and could just amuse them with your quacking. yeah, a duck's life for me please.

anyways, i think i should stop reading other people's blogs for a while. maybe till i'm out of eau claire at least. sometimes i run into things that make my head spin, and it's not the good kind of headspinning where you get that dizzy feeling and laugh a lot. it's more of a, "wow, i really didn't want to read that" type of feeling. usually, i'm interested in other people's thoughts because a lot of times, they can be stimulating to my own brain. but, sometimes, i read stuff that makes me sad. i suppose i could just read the blogs i know won't bother me and ignore the ones i think might. any thoughts on the subject? feel free to comment.

joe hartson is visiting tomorrow and staying with me so i'm looking forward to seeing him.

joel left for germany today. we drank on sunday and he helped my break into my house after i realized i had locked myself out. i helped him move some stuff up to dickerson's house yesterday. the dog he was living with really is a little sh*t. i usually love dogs, but not this one. anyways, i'm going to miss joel a lot. i have nothing but good memories with that guy.

not too much else to say right now. warm weather is awesome. ducks are sweet. trombone is good.

see ya later,
james"ducky"yardley

underwaterblogging

2006-04-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

sometimes i feel like writing even when i have nothing to say. like right now... i could update you on all the stuff i've done, bought, eaten, stepped in, rollerbladed through, pole vaulted over, etc, etc, but that kind of blogging is starting to get old for me. but for those that are just dyin' to know, i'll humor you....

i bought a new trombone on saturday. becker and i traveled to groth music in bloomington, mn and we picked out a conn 88h with lindberg valve. it's a very nice horn and the more i play it, the more i like it. it made it's debut at the bistro last night on a blues. it was fun.

after hanging at the bistro, i went to the hastings house and hung with old man and company. we listened to some mahler rehearsal and i drank a celebratory beer. thanks pat. next we visited the house where there were two seperate (???) parties going on. it was kinda weird, so i didn't stay long.

i woke up this morning, played some trombone, went to lunch with my friend rebecca, then played more trombone at school, then went to the orchestra concert, then played more trombone. that brings us to the present moment. happy?

ok, so, the orchestra concert was good. there were definitely some very nice moments that sent chills down my spine. so a big, hearty "congratulations" to all who were involved. it wasn't technically perfect, but you made music and that's all that matters so be proud of yourselves. i certainly was.

sooo...not too exciting right? well, brace yourselves. this video is sure to entertain. enjoy!

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Tommy%20Pederson/video/99323

love,
james"girlsjustwannahavefun"yardley

i'm me again!

2006-04-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

ahhh...i finally feel like i'm james yardley again. it feels good, let me tell you. i don't feel like i'm someone else, trying to be all serious about auditions and not enjoying life to it's fullest and blah blah blah. ok, granted, maybe this feeling is a quasi drunkenness because i just got back from the joynt, but nonetheless, i feel comfortable in my own skin again, which is a relief. auditions took their toll, but it's all over now and i can do the things i enjoy in life once again.

i had an exciting conversation with a friend tonight. they know who they are. and hopefully they know that i'm actually following through with these plans. nuff said.

i hope my other friends feel better soon. i miss them and want them to be healthy again. hayley....lydo....and anyone else feeling under the weather...you get better soon.

that's about it. ben and i owned colin and evan at darts, so i will sleep well knowing my awesome skill contributed to that. evan started up the trash talking, to his own dismay. poor widdle guy. it's okay buddy. you just keep trying like that little engine that could. chugga chugga chugga chugga choo chooooooo!

love,
j

breathe james, breathe

2006-04-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

well, i just got off the phone with andy neesley and i must say, i'm feeling 100% better about my rejection from manhattan. i need a little time to absorb what he told me, so i won't write about it right now. maybe later. it's a shame all the "neesley critics" don't know him like i do because he is a brilliant person, and he's been a wonderfully good friend to me. i'm sure he doesn't read this, but that won't stop me from thanking him here anyways.

so, off to indiana i go. i should find an apartment asap. looks like i'm going to spend my summer at dorney again too. we don't start till june 27th, though, so i'm definitely looking for something cool to do with the beginning of my summer. i think much backpacking and camping will be in order. any takers? maybe a trip out west?

insurance company called me today about my trombone. i've got everything set and will be ordering a few horns to try out soon.

need to get my taxes done. need to start working out again. need to breathe more.

that's about it.

love,
james

bacon pie

2006-04-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

well, it's certainly been an up and down week for me. monday i find out my trombone was stolen. tuesday i find out i got a full ride to indiana. then things are cool for a few days. had a great time listening to brian grivna and lewis nash clinic and play on thursday and friday. saturday i received two rejection letters from manhattan and became pretty depressed. still not over it 100% but i'm feeling better. i forced myself to go to the party on saturday night after ignoring about a million and a half phone calls (sorry, i almost never screen my calls), but didn't really manage to have a good time. mostly it was because i was bummed about manhattan, but when you're already bummin' other things that normally wouldn't bother you get magnified and occupy your thoughts. so, i left relatively early and went to sleep.

just got back from lunch with a bunch of cool people and it cheered me up some. i have a bone choir rehearsal in an hour and a half, so i think i'm gonna go warm up soon. i'm calling off my break from playing and am going to dig in again. i needed the break, but it's time to get serious about music and trombone and forget about EVERYTHING else.

congrats to all the people involved with jazzfest. it was nice to play a minimal role this year and step back and enjoy it for once. good job to you all.

i'm gonna go practice now.

love,
james

gracias

2006-03-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

so a couple days have passed since i received word of my full tuition scholarship to indiana and it still hasn't sunk in yet. the two days that have passed, however, have made me realize how fortunate i am to have such a supportive family of friends here in eau claire. the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" could not be truer in this case. when i came to eau claire, i was truly a musical child. i think i've grown to become a toddler now, thanks to my teachers and, just as importantly, my friends. the musicians i've grown up with here have had just as much impact on me as any lesson or any class i ever took. to think that you can go to school, take your classes and your lessons and shut yourself off to everyone and everything around you and conquer the world alone is foolish, to say the least. so, with that realization, i owe my family and friends a huge thank you for every little thing you've done for me.

the search for my trombone continues. i've exhausted every possibility to find that damn serial number. i'm such a fool for never having written it down. i assure you, however, that the sn for my bass is now written down in many different places, including my brain. that's right. i have it memorized. i'm actually looking into installing a tracking device on my bass. hmm.....a tracking device in the counterweight of a trombone...quick, i need the inventor's hotline number. ok, i'm a dork. you got me.

not much else to write about i guess. jazzfest is this weekend and i'm looking forward to the concerts very much. i visited the rehearsal last night and was really impressed with what i heard from the band and especially the guest artists. should be a fun weekend all around. good luck to all who are involved!

take care,
james

that's what i'm talkin' bout!!!

2006-03-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

this is the kind of news i need to wake up to more often. read below.

Dear James:

Congratulations on your admission to the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music!

I am very pleased to inform you that in recognition of your successful audition and/or interview, the Jacobs School of Music has awarded you a music merit-based scholarship. We have sent this information to you via mail as well and you will receive it soon.

You are eligible for the following scholarship funding beginning in the 2006-2007 academic year:

Award renewal is dependent upon your meeting the requirements outlined in the financial aid policy which is in the mail with your letter.

For information about federal need-based financial aid, you may contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance at (812) 855-0321 or visit their website at www.indiana.edu/~sfa. The Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) will notify you of your federal financial aid eligibility in June, 2006.

In order to remain eligible for scholarship from the School of Music, please sign and return your letter to the Office of Music Admissions by April 15, 2006. Congratulations and please accept our best wishes for a successful academic career.

Sincerely,

Anne Vaught, Director
Office of Music Admissions

it's gonna be a good day.

love,
james

things that cheer james up

2006-03-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

1. sympathetic friends sending their condolences regarding my trombone
2. beer
3. delicous bread that colin's mom made for me (it's reallly good)
4. insurance
5. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10340.htm
6. listening to good music
7. quasi-acceptance from indiana
8. wearing my sandals for the first time this year
9. playing my bass trombone
10. making lists about things that cheer me up

ok, so thank you all for your sympathies regarding my instrument. i understand there's not much anyone can say to cheer me up, but just knowing you care and feel for me is much appreciated. so thank you.

today was basically spent making phone calls, sending e-mails, and rummaging through pawn shops in search of my trombone. not fun, but i had to do it. i didn't find it, but i can atleast eliminate a few places that it is not, which gives me some sense of coming closer to finding it, oddly enough. i received an e-mail from the person i bought it from and he gave me the phone number of the music store where it was originally purchased. i will go to bed tonight praying that this leads me closer to getting the serial number.

not much else to report. mr. baca asked me, today, to adjudicate for jazzfest. talk about short notice. i'm glad he asked, however, because it will be fun and i can use the little money that it pays. i'm now reminded of what mark lundin told me at the joynt the other night. he said that he was working on the program and it was the first time in 3 (or 4, i can't remember) years that he had to delete my name from the program. sad :-( i'm happy to know that it is being replaced by a worthy name, however.

so that's about it for now. i'm gonna find some food, turn on the tv, and fall asleep.

love,
james

note to a thief

2006-03-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

dear asshole,

you stole my trombone and i want it back. it was a bach 42bo, standard yellow brass with a rotor valve. put it back where you found it and never step foot into the music building again.

if you choose not to put it back, you will be sorry. maybe not now, but later, you will be sorry. the money you make from pawning it will not cover the hospital bill. it may cover the ambulance ride, depending on how far you will be from the hospital when you are beat down, but it probably won't cover the rest. i'm not a violent person. never thrown a punch in my life, actually. but, i've never had to either.

i will be looking in pawn shops, classified ads, music stores, grocery stores, treetops, mountain tops, underneath large rocks, and any place else you can possibly imagine. i'll be on ebay, and will be sending e-mails to every trombone player in the country. i have no job, and i'm not currently in school. so i have a lot of time on my hands. probably more than you.

trombone players don't steal trombones. you don't play trombone, but i suggest you start, because if you try to sell it, you will be found. you don't want to be caught holding an angry trombone player's horn. so start taking lessons, and enjoy my trombone. you will be caught.

sincerely,
james yardley

the things james wants

2006-03-24T00:08:00.000-08:00

ok, just got back from the joynt. maybe a little drunk. but i deserve it. here's the list of things i'd like before i die.

1. an acceptance letter from a grad school
2. a little bit of money to pay my bills
3. a really sweet dog
4. a pretty girl to hold my hand

yeah...that's about it. call me a simpleton. i don't care.

grad school auditions are over, so when i sober up, i'll maybe write about it all tomorrow. till then, g'nite.

love,
james

holy cow

2006-03-19T17:31:00.000-08:00

so i just finished up a big project and need to unwind the ol' brain a little.

andy neesley called me a few days ago and asked me to code a web site for new york artist jerry kearns. andy had done a basic job and needed me to do my thing with it. i agreed, but when i looked at the files, i wished i hadn't. all the pages were basically done with ms word html and it was all f*ed up. so, i poured a many hours cutting, pastings, deleting, etc. just to get it to function properly in any browser other than internet explorer (ie sucks by the way, download mozilla firefox). i couldn't fix EVERYTHING, but the average person to view her site won't know the difference. i just hate doing work that is below what i'm capable of.

if you're curious about the site, you can visit www.jerrykearns.com. remember, i didn't do the design, just the code (for example, getting larger images to pop up in new windows, etc.). her art is pretty neat i think.

other than that, not much else is new. i'm making some barbecue chicken in the crock pot and when it's done i'm going to cook some of my dad's canned corn and make some baby red new potatoes and feast like a king. yakob just sent me a message and i think i'm gonna go to the house and hang with him and erin k. for a while around 10ish.

thanks for readin'

love,
j

i found my tire wrench!

2006-03-17T10:51:00.000-08:00

so i was changing my tire last night (because i still had that tiny little donut spare on from our mishap on monday) and i discovered where my change wrench was hiding. i had it the whole time. it was underneath the cover for the holding well that holds the spare and the jack and everything. ok...so...imagine you have a jar of peanut butter and there's label that says "free spoon inside." where would they put the spoon? they wouldn't put it inside the peanut butter because that'd just be a big mess. they'd attach it underneath the lid. so yeah, that's where my tire wrench was. i'm smart. laugh it up because i still blame randy for the whole thing.

last night had to be one of the funnest nights of the whole year. at about 7:30, colin, randall, justin, becker, rachel, dunphy, and i journied (sp?) out to the ostrander residence for some winter time fun. we showed up with trays from the caf, a large shovel, and some hot chocolate. when we got there, becker and i began work on an igloo, while colin and the rest started sledding down the front yard (their house is built right into the side of a hill) on the trays. the ostranders were completely oblivious to what was happening outside their home until we started taking pictures. when dr. ostrander saw the flash, he opened up his back patio door and threatened to send a dog out after us. which was immediately funny to me because i knew they didn't have a dog. but then i later realized that doc pao had told me that he was dog sitting for a friend and he actually did have a dog inside. eventually they came out and, while mrs. ostrander took the dog for a walk, an all out snowball fight broke out. pao was wearing a hockey helmet and using his hockey stick to defend against our snowballs. then it turned into a bass trombone versus tenor trombone battle, which then turned into colin and james versus the world. after the snowball fight becker and i finished out igloo and started sledding in the front yard. colin and i figured out how to go tandem using the shovel and a tray. eventually they invited inside and we made the hot chocolate that we brought with us. we left around 10. i went to the joynt about 40 minutes later and there was pao and mrs. pao sitting at the bar. we actually convinced them to come down after attacking their home.

we may not be the smartest, the best looking, or even the most talented studio, but we definitely have the most fun with our teacher.

so today is st. patty's day. not sure what kind of trouble is going on tonight but i have some web work to do for andy that he needs to be done by tonight or tomorrow. hopefully it won't interfere with hanging out because i think josh hertel is in town.

well, that's all i've got.

love,
james

need a pick me up?

2006-03-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

came across a video today that should be shared. it's not funny. it's not sad. it's not political. just a good story that makes ya feel good.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/motion/echo/index?id=2346970&category=Page%202

enjoy.

love,
james

i love music

2006-03-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

as music majors, i think we all go through a period of time (or most likely more than one period of time) when we question if we should really pursue music as a career. or maybe i'm the only one...

anyways, i'm listening to some music right now and feeling pretty damn good. i can't tell you what i'm listening to because some of you may disown me and pretend like you never met me before in your life. i love you all too much to allow that to happen. so i'll just say that i was searching through the depths of my hard drive and found some stuff i downloaded from napster, back in the day, you know, when napster was the shit. it brings back so many memories that i didn't even know i had. i can't think of many other things that can conjure up so many vivid memories for me. imagery like pictures and video doesn't do it for me like music does. neither does the written word. something about music and sound does it though.

i've been counting my blessings lately, and music is definitely up there on the list. some of the happiest and saddest moments of my life have been influenced by music and right now i'm feeling pretty thankful for it all.

guess i just felt like writing that down.

today was a good day. i played tenor trombone in a quartet with becker, randall, and dr. ostrander for south middle school kids at 9am this morning. i spent some much needed quality time with a friend. i got my tire fixed (still have to put it on though. that'll be tomorrow's project). i shoveled lots of snow. and finally, i got some good trombone playing in.

that's about it.

love,
james

a quick story

2006-03-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

okay okay...i know i posted once already today...but...this story can't go undocumented.

after studio class today colin, becker, randall, and i decide to go get some food. arby's is chosen..to my disappointment. so colin is going to drive but realizes he left something in the building and goes back to get it. i decide that i'll drive instead so we don't have to wait for colin.

we get to arby's and wait too long for our over priced food while listening to the gangster rap playing in their kitchen. the guy working the register has an extreme lisp and colin and company are giggling behind me as i'm the first to order.

we get our food and the lisp guy comes to our table to ask us if the music is bothering us, while colin is talking about him... smooth one.

after eating we get in my car and drive away. i drive about half a block and notice that something is wrong with my car. i think i have a flat. i say something aloud shortly after that i think something is wrong and randall says "oh yeah, i totally forgot to tell you, when we got out of your car at arby's i heard a hissing sound and thought it might be your tire." thanks randall.

so i pull into the quality inn parking lot right next to shopko and begin taking all of the spare tire stuff out of my trunk. when everything is out i notice that i don't have a tire wrench. crap. then becker flashes his aaa card and we call them. it's freezing out so we get back in my car with the heat on and hang out. randall decides he's going to walk back to campus. thanks for ditching us jerk. then becker notices he has a missed call but doesn't know who it's from. it's the towing company calling to tell us that there's a guy at our car but we're not there. hmmm....i definitely didn't see a tow truck anywhere. becker calls them back and reminds them we're at the quality inn on clairemont ave. they sent their driver to the wrong place.....but we told them we were in a blue buick regal...so why would he have thought it was us??? weird. he shows up and informs us that he went to the excel inn, found a blue buick regal, took the back right tire off of it, and was looking for us. whoops. so he changed my tire, and we were on our way.

the end.

lessons of the story:
1. don't go to arby's because their parking is full of pointy things and they play ghetto music.
2. if traveling with randall, be sure to ask him if he has heard any weird sounds coming from your car before driving away
3. be nice to tow truck drivers because they go out in the cold and change tires for the unfortunate traveler who doesn't have a tire wrench.

okay, i'm going to the stones throw now. see ya later.

james

a good weekend

2006-03-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

so the weekend was pretty good all in all.

friday was cool. played routine with becker and hung out. colin and i setup the stage for the chip valley concert around 5:30, then we went to acoustic for food. dress rehearsal for chip valley after that, then to the house to make chicken with becker and colin.

the chicken was amazing. i think those chickens must have been sent from heaven or something because they're little legs tasted like amazingness. after we got done eating our chicken, colin and i, and a couple of other people from the house went down the block to the hastings house for a special viewing of conan. conan had spent a week in finland because he looks like their female president and the friday night showing was an hour long chronicle of his time there.

after conan we went back to the house and the party had pretty much died. by 12:30? lame! i walked home and went to sleepy sleep.

saturday was mostly spent cleaning my apartment. i was really happy to get that done and my place has returned to sweetness. i went to the state a little early and got a good warm up in on my tenor, in the hopes that it would be a little nicer to me than it was on friday. it worked, i think, because i made it through that damn wedding march without completely embarrassing myself. cavis pointed out that my part is higher than his part for the entire piece. note to mendehlsohn: don't friggen write trombone parts that are consistently higher than the trumpet parts moron! just kidding mendy. it was good for me. i won't go into detail about what i thought about the rest of the performance because ya just never know who reads these things.

after the concert we went down to the acoustic to hear john raymond's group. they sounded good and they had a huge audience, which was cool to see. i hung till the end just so i could hear them play kenny garret's "happy people." i love that tune.

so i went home, changed out of my tux, put some normal clothes on, and went to the joynt. we played darts pretty much all night and it was cool. the uncool part is that i broke down and started drinking again. dammit. colin was drunk and made some comment, while we were kicking his ass in darts, about how i was sober so ofcourse we would be beating him. little did he know that my dart game actually improves if i have a few in me. his taunting wasn't the real reason i went and got that glass from the bar though. the real reason is that my stress level was higher than i wanted it to be and i just needed to relax for a night and let go of my inhibitions. and let go i did. i had a lot of beer in two hours time and it felt great. now would probably be a good time to publicly thank mcginnis, lydon, and ben for taking care of my sorry ass that night. nuff said about that.

sunday:
practice, wind symphony concert, practice, dinner with mark, chill, then dooley's with evan and mark. in typical fashion evan came over 45 minutes later than he had told me. i wuv that little guy. we played darts and i didn't drink. we basically had the whole place to ourselves which was cool because it wasn't so loud that we couldn't talk. one of the bartender's was playing really crappy music, but i laughed about it more than i got upset. however, the hanson brothters "mmmbop" was pushing that tolerance level.

so here it is, monday morning and i'm pretty excited about all the snow that is falling. we basically had no winter here so this is cool. i don't care what you think, snow is a beautiful thing.

today will be spent mostly practicing with a trip to the gym thrown in there somewhere. thanks for reading.

oh yeah, and i finally figured out how to put links to my friends' blogs on the right hand side. if you'd like to be added or removed, please let me know. i just put the ones i could think of off the top of my head over there and may have forgotten a few. i love you all so don't let me leave you out.

love,
james

journey to manhattan, part II

2006-03-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

well, as promised here is installment number 2 of my trip to the MSM audition in NYC (don't ya love acronyms?).

Sunday

i woke up at about 7:30a and popped right out of bed...or should i say, andy's couch. i had used my north face jacket as a blanket and slept with no pillow. colin was on the hardwood floor with a blanket, using one of the couch cushions as a pillow. despite going to bed at 2:30a, being woken up by colin's phone ringing at 4a, sleeping on a couch with no pillow or blanket, i felt surprisingly awake at 7:30. i'm pretty sure it was the adrenaline of being 3 hours away from my audition. anyways, i took a shower, put on my suit, woke colin up, waited for his slow ass to get ready, and we hit the subway.

the manhattan school is on 122nd and claremont so we knew that we'd be getting off at the 125th st exit. having parked my car in front of the school last summer on a trip to the city, i had an idea of landmarks to expect when we got out of the subway. i didn't see those landmarks and began to wonder where the crap we were. so, we walked to 122nd and turned in the direction i thought we should. after a block i realized it wasn't the right way and we turned around and went the other direction. after a couple of blocks we came to a T intersection....which was no good because we hadn't run into our cross street yet. so we went down to 123, and then continued in the same direction. finally we recognized where we were and found the school. phew.

with an hour before my audition, i went to the practice rooms only to find that they were full. all 3 floors of them. with about 45 minutes to go, i found one and began warming up. luckily the auditions were running behind and i was able to feel warmed up before i went in. right before my audition colin came up and sat down next to me. he gave me his headphones and said "here, listen to this, it'll relax you." we were probably the only two that dared to listen to jimmy smith before going into our classical trombone auditions at the manhattan school of music. it worked though, because i felt a little more relaxed.

the audition went well. the panel was steve norell (bass bone of the met. opera), dave finalayson (2nd in the ny phil) and a tuba player whose name i can't remember right now. i played a solid audition. i didn't receive much indication of what they thought of my playing. just a couple "nice job" and "sounds good" type comments. i've figured out, after taking a number of auditions, that that's about all you'll ever hear from the panel. they just have so many people to listen to and are constantly surrounded by good musicians that you're just never going to wow them. even if you did, though, i'm sure they wouldn't say much to you immediately after you're done. which is fine. i can wait for the letter.

after colin finished his audition we went back to andy's place, changed out of our suits, and hit the town. first we grabbed some pizza at a place just a few blocks down from andy's. then we got on the subway and went down to soho to visit the apple store. colin hadn't seen it and soho is a pretty cool place. it was gorgeous outside too, so we bummed around down there for a while.

next we went up to rockafeller plaza because colin wanted to revisit the sharper image store. when we got there we went up to the ice rink and watched all the skaters. there was one guy that instantly grabbed our attention. he was wearing his iPod and skating around doing all these crazy awkward moves, inspired by whatever crap he was listening to, i'm sure. at first i kinda chuckled, then i lost it and was laughing so hard i almost started to cry. he was doing this move where after almost running into another skater, he would skate backwards on one leg while thrashing is other leg back and forth in the air, then turn around and do this thing with his shoulders. then....a girl fell down next to him and he was instantly transformed into romeo. the problem was that juliet was interested at all and he didn't catch the hint. he kept putting his hand out for her to hold and i can't imagine how awkward the conversation must have been. colin and i began talking as if we were them. you can only imagine some of things we said. all and all, we laughed for a good half hour which is exactly what we needed after the traveling and auditioning. release is a good thing.

next we went to the sharper image store and sat in their massaging chairs for a while. as i was sitting there i witnessed an all out religous debate that again had me in stitches. there were two couples, probably average age of 40 or so, who, from what i could gather, didn't know each other. one couple was looking at a gps system as the other couple walked by. one of the guys kinda looked over at the other guy and said something like "aren't these things incredible." the other guy kind of acknowledged and said something about how times have changed, or something to that effect. from there, and i have no idea how they got to this, they began arguing about jesus while i sat there in the reclined massaging chair, trying to hold my laughter in. after about 15 minutes i couldn't take it any more and we left. the last thing i remember hearing was one lady saying "do you think life is easy? because i sure don't." yeah, maybe that's because you spend your time in sharper image stores arguing about the bible with random people...gotta love the colorful people of new york city!

after that we met up with andy and got burritos at this really good mexican place. they were huge and i barely finished half of mine. colin, of course, demolished his. i love that guy. after dinner we watched a movie called "16 blocks" at a nearby theatre. it was pretty good. maybe not $10.50 good, but it was still nice to relax in a comfy chair and be mildly entertained for a couple hours. after the movie we went back to andy's and crashed. we were completely exhausted.

to be continued...

post no. 27

2006-03-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

well, this isn't a continuation of my journey to the manhattan school, but i need to write about some current happenings before i continue the rest of that chronicle.

we had chip valley rehearsal tonight. it sucked. tenor trombone wasn't nice to me. tomorrow will be better, i'm sure. becker made us laugh, which i definitely needed (and desperately need right now). he basically just made an entrance in the wrong place, but the visual exchange between him and nobu was funny enough for colin and i to crack up and begin our spatula choreography. then we continued laughing and couldn't play. it was great.

after the rehearsal we went to the house and made chicken. it was friggen delicious. and it was done just in time for us to eat it and run to the hastings house to watch the special conan o'brian episode of him in finland. i don't watch much tv these days, but it was fantastic to watch conan with a bunch of cool guys.

the drinking sabbatical continues and it is getting harder by the day. why did i decide to do this again? oh yeah, i want to get the crap out of here.

actually, i don't really WANT to leave eau claire. i like it here. i love my friends and i'm going to miss them sooooo much. but, i do need to move on i guess... i just wish moving on involved staying here with my friends.

so, anyways, i just had a good walk home from the house. it is absolutely gorgeous outside. the stars were out, the moon was bright, and it was warm and smelled of spring. settings like that always get me thinking, which is exactly why i chose to walk home instead of getting a ride from my dear friend colin. i needed to do some good old fashioned thinking. i'll be mysterious and keep my thoughts off this blog because it's not the most appropriate place for me to share what i had to think about. it involves people, places, and things. just like on the wheel of fortune. and isn't the wheel of fortune just one big metaphor for life? i mean, you have a pretty woman (vanna white), a buddy who helps you out(pat sajak...he tries), money problems, and random successes and losses. sounds like life to me.

gosh, i think it's bed time now. my random thought meter is telling me to quit writing now. did i mention that i haven't had a drink in a while?

with much love,
james

my journey to the manhattan audition, part I

2006-03-08T17:20:00.000-08:00

last night i returned from nyc where i was auditioning for the manhattan school of music. today, i will start to document my trip. while it's tempting to tell about the most recent happenings, i'm going to start from saturday morning and work to the present

so here goes...

Saturday
colin picks me up, about 20 minutes later than we planned, at 10:20a and we drive to the msp airport. we were going to make a stop for lunch at chipolte, but decided we were cutting it close enough and skipped out on burrito heavenness.

we parked off-site and took a shuttle to the aiport. when we got to the airport we navigated our way (it was complicated...) to the northwest airlines (who i will now refer to as nwa) counter. after entering all of my information into the automatic check in computer thing, it told me i needed to speak with a nwa representative behind the counter. i waited patiently and was eventually informed that our flight had been cancelled. our fully booked flight was cancelled? really? the dude tells us that we can take different flights and get there about an hour after we were scheduled. however, we can't be on the same flights because there's only one seat left on each flight. one of us has to fly to boston and make a connection and one has to fly to toronto and make a connection. so they book me to fly to boston and colin to toronto.

so we go through security...

colin gets through just fine. james' bags go through and the lady working the x-ray screams bagcheck as if the bomb i planted in my backpack was about to explode in 10 seconds. another lady comes to her aid, takes me backpack and asks me "is this yours" in an accusatory tone. i politely say "yes it is" and i follow her to the table where she proceeds to take out everything i had just carefully packed. after going through everything (i know it's her job, and i'm not mad about that) she says to me "there are lighters in here, where are they?" hmm...i don't smoke so i'd like to know where they are too... i tell her i have no idea, and she continues to look as if she didn't even hear what i had just said. she frustratingly gives up and decides that she's going to send everything i have in my backpack through the x-ray individually. after doing so she comes back, gives me all my stuff in a bin and says "you're good to go." i ask "did you find them?" she says, "no, you're good to go." i quickly re-pack my stuff, and hurry to my gate with 10 minutes to spare.

phew.

my flight left as scheduled and i got to boston in time to make my connection to nyc.

when the plane touched down i turned my phone on and listened to a voicemail colin had left me. his plan had made an emergency landing in detroit and it looked as though he was going to miss his connection in toronto. i'll spare the details of this whole thing because i believe colin is going to write about it in the next couple of days but basically, it involves him going through canadian and then us customs with no passport or birth certificate and eventually landing at la guardia around 11p where he then tries to board a bus to get him to the subway without a metro card and eventually ends up fronting a $30 cab fee. his rendition is more detailed and comical.

to sum up the travel, we paid nwa $267 for a non-stop flight from msp to jfk that left at 12:55 and arrived in nyc around 4. what we got was two seperate connecting flights that didn't get us to our destination until 11p.

no worries. we got there. however tired...and annoyed...we got there.

we got some chinese food and went to bed at about 2:30a.

to be continued...

james

when to say no more

2006-03-02T23:56:00.000-08:00

well, against my better judgement, i'm going to write at an hour when i'm probably not thinking as clearly as i should be.

just got back from the joynt. my drinking sabbatical is still going strong. tonight i had a sprite and a water. the second i walked in there i reminded myself of what my goals are in the next couple days. manhattan grad school audtions....probably the biggest opportunity i've had yet, just a couple days away. pray for me.

the joynt was fun tonight. colin got in a verbal bout with some really drunk guy. i admit i was a little anxious about what drunk guy was going to do because he was getting loud and his judgement probably wasn't quite spot on. the last thing i wanted to see was colin getting whacked in the mouth at such an unfortunate time. on a lighter note, lydon and i teamed up and did well on the dartboard until we got beat the last game. kevin and jake were up to 120 points with 20s and 18s closed after two rounds. ouch.

i had a thought as i drove home...

at what point do you give up and at what point do you keep trying at something? is it a matter of how much something means to you or is it a matter of how long you've been at it and how close you think you are? should trying for x number of years with little success be a sign that it's just not going to happen? i can't remember the last time i gave up on something...well, something moderately important anyways. i've been having this thought about music, and other things... maybe i'm just at a point where it feels like it's do or die, but in the end it's really not. personally, i think giving up blows. but then again, so does mental anguish and i know that i have the ability to let it all go once and for all. my problem is that once i let something go, it's gone forever (which is what i want), so it's hard for me to take that step. no worries though. i'm not about to give up on trombone (yet anyways) and i'm not giving up on life or anything like that. in the grand scheme of things, my problems are miniscule (sp?) and for that, i'm thankful.

dad came down today and we had lunch at the acoustic. when i got in his car he had a page of the newspaper folded open to an article titled Impeachment would solve many of country's problems written by garrison keillor. a surprising find for me since my dad is a republican. here's a link to the article; http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/editorial/13997364.htm if you've taken the time to read this far into my post you probably have a couple more minutes to invest in reading it. i'm not sure how long that link will work either. keillor refers to dick cheney as "gunner" which i found to be pretty freaking hilarious.

welp. that's all i got for now. i probably won't get a chance to write before i leave for nyc, so i'll be sure to save up some good stories for the next post.

g'nite,
james

there's another surprise at the end!

2006-02-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

just walked into my apartment about 10 minutes ago. been gone since wednesday. the trip was good, but exhausting. here's the timeline.

wednesday-
5:30p leave eau claire
10:00p arrive in fon du lac
10:30p play through audition for colin's family
12:30p go to bed

thursday-
5:30a wake up and get ready
6:30a leave for milwaukee airport
9:30a depart for rochester
1:30p arrive in rochester
2:30p shuttle to hotel
3:30p walk to eastman to play trombone
5:00p dinner with colin and jennifer
7:00p back to eastman to practice more
10:00p back to hotel to sleep

friday-
7:30a wake up and get ready
9:00a audition meeting thing at eastman
10:00a warm-up
11:00a food
12:00p play more
1:00p relax
2:45p audition
3:30p back to hotel to chill
5:00p chill time with colin, darts, pizza, etc.
12:00a bed

saturday-
6:00a wake up and get ready
7:45a shuttle to airport
9:30a depart for milwaukee
12:30p arrive in milwaukee
1:00p leave for eau claire
5:30p arrive in eau claire
5:32p leave for minneapolis (maria schneider concert)
8:00p maria schneider concert (amazing!)
10:00p hang with george flynn
12:00a hang with evan benidt
1:30a bed (still in minneapolis)

sunday-
11:00a wake up
12:00p leave minneapolis
1:45p arrive in eau claire

and that brings us up to date. as soon as i'm done with this post i'm gonna take a shower, and head over to school to practice.

the audition went well. it wasn't a personal best for me, which was disappointing, but it was still okay. i'm certain that the only reasoning that will get me in, however, is if they recognize that i got a little nervous and pawn off some of my mistakes on that. i can't worry about it any more. time to focus on manhattan next weekend.

the best part of my trip was my conversation with a 2 year old girl named audrey as i flew between detroit and milwaukee. i began to fall asleep before take off and audrey tapped me on the shoulder to make sure i didn't miss the best part of the flight. so we talked a little bit. she has a brother who is 4 and another brother who is 7. she likes gummy worms and is excited to move into her new house in milwaukee.

well, time for the surprise i guess. a few of you had seen the last video i posted, but i guarantee you haven't seen this one. i received this one through e-mail from a friend (i can't remember who it was anymore) in high school. it's a short video clip of me playing "makin' whoopee" with high school band. the camera work is top notch and 2 points will be awarded for each member of the band you can identify that ended up coming to eau claire. good luck, and enjoy!

http://www.jamesyardley.com/video/mvc-153v.mpg

love,
james

here we go! (read to the end, there's a surprise)

2006-02-21T21:35:00.000-08:00

just returned from chip valley rehearsal followed by some 'old man ball' at the hastings house. if you haven't played, it's a great game. colin and i took the first two games versus phil and ryan. not able to cope with losing at their own game, they challenged us to a third and we lost. teams were then switched up with phil and i taking down colin and ryan with a dramatic rebound shot that passed ryan's by a mere inch, thrown by yours truly. a good time was had by all.

chip valley rehearsal was good. tenor felt great today. maybe because i warmed up before hand? also maybe because i'm endurance has shot way up from grad school preparations. if i can get a grip on that mendelssohn wedding march i'll actually feel like i made the right decision by playing principal for the season. I still can't believe we're performing that on ANOTHER concert....c'mon, it's ceremony music, not concert music. i'm sure nobu has a good reason though. the low brass, i thought, sounded pretty good tonight as well. our intonation is starting to lock in, mostly because i'm learning where to place 3rd and 5th degree chord tones. we don't see much of that in the bass bone parts. if you don't know what i'm talking about...it's okay. i don't know what i'm talking about half the time either.

tomorrow begins my journey to my first grad school audition at the eastman school of music. colin and i are going to drive to fon du lac tomorrow so we can be only an hour away from the milwaukee airport on thursday morning. we'll fly in on thursday, walk to the school, get aclamated (sp?) to our surroundings, and then play great auditions on friday. we both did mock auditions for studio class yesterday and they went fairly well. for those who are interested, which i'm sure very few of you are, i'm playing the hidas meditation for bass trombone as my solo, exceprts from berlioz hungarian march, haydn creation, and the sarabande from bach cello suite no. 5. i think these selections do a really good job of showing off my strengths, but the audition as a whole is quite a marathon for me. i'd be fine if i could take even a minute between the solo and the excerpts, but i guess i'll just stall as long as i can to catch my breath. everyone tells me that they can't tell that i'm tired by the end of it, but i know they're just being supportive (which i sincerely appreciate!). the other thing i feel good about is the fact that i've been through this process before and i can already mentally picture how it will all happen. go positive thinking!

if this is getting long winded, it's because i have a ton of crap on my mind and i'm trying to get it all out before i go to bed. sleeping is difficult lately with the pressure of auditions on the horizon.

but...the one last thing i gotta say is that i'm extremely thankful for the backing i have here in eau claire. i can honestly say that i'm not going into this audition trying to win it by myself and for myself. i'm pretty sure if i tried to do this all on my own, i'd fail miserably. instead, i have a teacher who knows what it takes to get in, and a studio who is eager to see how i fair. for some, that may be cause for more pressure, but for me, it relieves some of the pressure. somehow i just have this feeling that i'm part of a team trying to get me into grad school instead of trying to do it by myself. i feel extremely lucky to be even given the opportunity to go do this. i'm prepared because i've worked hard. i'm focused because i've attacked my pieces from every angle possible and nothing can throw me off. i played well last year at eastman and i think by showing up again, at my level of preparation, there will be no doubt about how much i want this. i know they want to hear me play well too. all of these things are going to make for a great audition.

well, you must be bored by now. so here's something mildly entertaining as a reward for stickin' in there. it's appropriately titled "flaming trombones." i don't remember where i got it, but i found it sitting on my desktop. enjoy.
http://www.jamesyardley.com/video/winning_the_audition.wmv

keep your stick on the ice,
james

brrrrr

2006-02-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

dang it's cold right now. i'm beginning to wonder how i grew up in duluth where weather like this is considered warm. i'll never forget those 20 below mornings delivering newspapers for the duluth news tribune at 5am. those were the days. really...they were. i didn't have to think about grad school. i didn't really have to think that much about money. i didn't have to think about girls. all i had to do was deliver the papers, go to school, go to practice, do my homework, and go to sleep. life was definitely good.

mmea convention performance with trombone choir was really rewarding. the group played well, and the audience loved us. i've never seen a trombone choir receive a standing ovation before. that was a nice gesture. it was also rewarding being able to play for my high school trombone teacher who hadn't heard me play since i left high school. i was actually nervous for the first time in a while. that took me by surprise. my old band director was there too. i talked to them for a while after the concert and they made me feel really good about the progress i've made since i left. we got back to eau claire just before they locked the building so i got a good 1.5 hours of practice in afterwards too.

speaking of practicing, i just got done for the night. i feel like i was really productive in my practice, but i still don't feel like i'm 100% focused yet. i'm probably at about 88%. i recorded myself tonight with my mini-disc player and learned a lot about the way i am playing. whoops. that always happens though. stupid recording equipment....doesn't it know that ignorance is bliss? the bach sarabande is slooowly becoming acceptable. the other stuff is okay too. okay isn't where i need to be for these auditions, though. so, tomorrow will be more practicing.

not much else to say right now i guess. i'll probably be ready for some good old fashioned ranting by monday though.

what do you call a cow that plays the trombone?

a mooo-sician

-james

andreistrizek.com goes live

2006-02-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

andrei's website is now live. you can view it at www.andreistrizek.com. it's basic, but, as far as the code goes, it's my best work. let me know what you think.

james

thickburgers, ugh

2006-02-15T08:39:00.000-08:00

ever had so many things on your mind that you can't even remember what day it is? or couldn't fall asleep till 4am? atleast i got to see a lot of the olympics.... i really wish i could just fast forward a month so i could see how it all ends. instead, it's all just hanging over my head, stressin' me out. usually i'm great about keeping my head on straight and staying focused, but something's come over me where i have these moments of terrible confusion. it's all gonna work out right? k, good. as long as you think so, i'll trust ya.

yesterday was valentines day, and in typical fashion, it was spent mostly with my trombone and trombone related friends. i did go on a date, however, with most of the trombone studio to hardees for thickburgers. i've never had a hardees thickburger, and now i can safely say, that i never want to again. until maybe next valentines day. something like 2/3 lb. of beef, w/bacon, fries, and a drink. i could barely finish the damn thing and i felt like crap afterwards. colin, however...that boy amazes me. 1 thickburger, fries, drink, then 2 chicken sandwhiches. then, just when you think he's done, he goes for the cookies n' cream shake. i think just the thickburger combo alone is somewhere between 1500-1800 calories. gross. it atleast reminded why i never eat that crap. i know it doesn't sound like any fun, but you gotta picture colin, randy, ben, matt caine, brad, justin, and myself at the deserted hardees on clairemont avenue all acting completely ridiculous while stuffing ourselves with terrible fast food on valentines day. physically i felt like poo, but it sure was a lot of fun socially.

rehearsed the bass bone feature with jazz 1 on monday. i felt like i played well, especially for having practiced it only twice (i got my part on friday for a monday rehearsal). i'm supposed to show up at the end of rehearsal today to possibly run it again. i'm having a lot of fun with it, but we'll see how much fun it is when i'm in the studio. recording is sooooo much different than playing something live.

not much else to report i guess. well, there is, but i'll spare ya.

monkeys, cows, bananas, so on and so forth,
james

before i start practicing....

2006-02-10T20:15:00.000-08:00

just went to the music building to play for an hour, found out it closes at 10, so i got my horn and came home. gonna practice all my stuff, but figured i'd kill some time while i wait for my apartment to warm up. biggest reason i haven't been practicing at home lately is because it's just too damn cold here and i can't really afford to turn the heat on. so here comes some blogging.

things are incredibly busy lately. you'd think that after a guy graduates and doesn't have a job, there'd be plenty of time to do whatever. thankfully, that's not the case for me. (and i am thankful for that!) so here's a list of all the things off the top of my head.

concerts:

chip valley tomorrow night.

bone choir at minnesota state music convention, friday, feb. 17

chip valley march 10

auditions:

eastman, feb. 24

manhattan, march 5 and 7

indiana, sometime soon after manhattan

recording session:
maybe sometime before march 5? but not sure. the session itself won't take much time for me, but i've got a freakin' hard feature to prepare. take a listen at http://www.rewindplay.com/airmenofnote/sounds/holidaynote.htm. it's the last track, 'you're a mean one, mr. grinch' i'm totally pumped to play a feature on a cd, but i just got the part today and it's hard. 4 octaves of hard.

web design:

trying to update my site in a timely manner - http://www.jamesyardley.com

working on andrei's site, hopefully will have something up in the next couple days

working on prescott middle school band website, no idea when it will be complete, but it's going to be a huge project

rehearsals:
every monday and tuesday night.

so like i said, that's all stuff off the top of my head. there's more. i'm not bitching about being too busy, because i'm not too busy. it feels a little overwhelming, i think, because the auditions and recording are somewhat high pressure ordeals. but, i know i can handle it and everything will be fine. yay positive thinking.

not much else is new. and i think my apartment is now at a bearable temperture for me to begin practicing. i'm gonna go check to see if my neighbors are home so that maybe i don't have to play with my practice mute in. that'd be a treat.

cows,
james