Friday, November 25, 2005
Monday, November 21, 2005
On Musical Insights Into One's Mind
Earlier I was singing a song out loud, as I so often do. In fact, it was "Can't You See" by The Marshall Tucker Band, which I think I heard earlier on the radio. Somehow, though, this quickly merged into "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart. I have no idea how I got from one song to the other, or what the two songs might possibly have in common (at first glance, absolutely nothing). I also think it has been quite a long time since I have actually heard "Maggie May," which raises interesting questions about why it came to me then, of all songs.
But this gave me an idea. I want to keep track of what songs I sing out loud as the day goes on. Usually, I am singing something I have recently heard, but sometimes it is something entirely random. At least it seems entirely random. Maybe by keeping a list of recently sung songs I can begin to see trends. Perhaps this will give me some kind of insight into how my mind works, which songs I associate with which other songs, and so on. Or maybe it will just be kind of fun.
To the right, below the links, you will see a list of recent songs that I have sung out loud, the songs at the top being the most recent. Please feel free to send me comments about trends that you might see developing. I will also try to keep a complete list for my own records, if I can remember to.
So, some ground rules. The songs have to come to me randomly, or at least partially so. It can be a song I recently heard on the radio, but not a song that is currently playing while I sing along. Any time I can be said to be "randomly" singing a certain song out loud, that song will go on the list. The experiment would work much better if someone else were keeping track of which songs I sang without my knowledge, since the very fact that I am aware of the experiment means that I am probably subconsciously altering the results. But, it will have to do, and I will try to be as fair as possible.
Speaking of being aware of the experiment, I just lost the game.
But this gave me an idea. I want to keep track of what songs I sing out loud as the day goes on. Usually, I am singing something I have recently heard, but sometimes it is something entirely random. At least it seems entirely random. Maybe by keeping a list of recently sung songs I can begin to see trends. Perhaps this will give me some kind of insight into how my mind works, which songs I associate with which other songs, and so on. Or maybe it will just be kind of fun.
To the right, below the links, you will see a list of recent songs that I have sung out loud, the songs at the top being the most recent. Please feel free to send me comments about trends that you might see developing. I will also try to keep a complete list for my own records, if I can remember to.
So, some ground rules. The songs have to come to me randomly, or at least partially so. It can be a song I recently heard on the radio, but not a song that is currently playing while I sing along. Any time I can be said to be "randomly" singing a certain song out loud, that song will go on the list. The experiment would work much better if someone else were keeping track of which songs I sang without my knowledge, since the very fact that I am aware of the experiment means that I am probably subconsciously altering the results. But, it will have to do, and I will try to be as fair as possible.
Speaking of being aware of the experiment, I just lost the game.
Friday, November 18, 2005
On New Favorites
This is my new favorite song. You might need to watch the video first for context, but you should love the song either way.
On Slide Lubricant and Third Position (tromBONE heheh)
Today, being Thursday, afforded me with another chance to drive 45 minutes outside of the city and teach trombone lessons to high schoolers all afternoon. Now that I've settled into the routine of it, gotten more comfortable, and worked up some kind of rapport with my students, the hours do not drag by quite as slowly as they used to.
One of today's highlights was when my second student, at the beginning of his lesson, noticed that his slide was not moving very well. In fact, I had noticed in practically every lesson up to today that the noise made by his slide moving was almost louder than the noise coming out of his bell, but I hadn't said anything. He asked me if he could use my spray bottle, which was full of water. I gave it to him, and he gave each side of the inner slide one tiny spritz before handing it back to me.
"That's all the water you need?" I asked, about to ask him to try some more.
"Oh, yeah, that's much better," he replied, while working his slide back and forth, producing the same sandpaper sound. I asked him what kind of cream he used on his slide.
"Pond's Cold Cream," he replied. "It works real well unless it gets too dry. That's why it's good when we're outside."
I assumed he meant during marching band practice, which was often outside. But that didn't really explain his statement. Why was his slide better outside? The humidity? Was he relying on the humidity to lubricate his slide? Because the Pond's sure as hell wasn't doing very much on its own. I felt like asking him what kind of sick bastard told him he could put Pond's Cold Cream on his slide.
By the way, as a side note, I just Googled Pond's Cold Cream, and, according to the Unilever website, here are some possible reasons why you might want to put the stuff on your trombone slide:
-To remove hidden dirt and make-up from your trombone without clogging your trombone's pores.
-To deep clean without drying your trombone, so it looks and feels touchably soft and radiantly clean.
-If your trombone has had an allergic reaction to another lubricant, don't worry. Pond's Cold Cream is Hypo-Allergenic (The package does not state this, but it is!!).
-The special blend of cleansing ingredients and natural emollients softens as it deep cleans so your trombone slide feels smooth - never tight or dry.
Smooth...not tight or dry...that actually sounds pretty good. Maybe I'll try some myself. Besides, I've been looking for a way to get lipstick off of my trombone slide (that's another story). But I can't say that this is the worst case I have seen. When I was in high school, I knew someone who would spray their slide with Lemon Pledge. Apparently, he had to wipe it off whenever he was done playing, because if you left it on, it would dry and stick to the slide and then you couldn't move it the next day. Hmm. Not such a great lubricant, if you ask me. But, to each his own, and trombone players are an eccentric lot, to say the least.
Next time, stories about a different student who can't tell a G-sharp from a dump truck full of flaming tires (hint: one of them is in third position. Third position, God damn it. PLAY IT IN THIRD OR I WILL WRAP THAT TROMBONE AROUND YOUR SKULL).
One of today's highlights was when my second student, at the beginning of his lesson, noticed that his slide was not moving very well. In fact, I had noticed in practically every lesson up to today that the noise made by his slide moving was almost louder than the noise coming out of his bell, but I hadn't said anything. He asked me if he could use my spray bottle, which was full of water. I gave it to him, and he gave each side of the inner slide one tiny spritz before handing it back to me.
"That's all the water you need?" I asked, about to ask him to try some more.
"Oh, yeah, that's much better," he replied, while working his slide back and forth, producing the same sandpaper sound. I asked him what kind of cream he used on his slide.
"Pond's Cold Cream," he replied. "It works real well unless it gets too dry. That's why it's good when we're outside."
I assumed he meant during marching band practice, which was often outside. But that didn't really explain his statement. Why was his slide better outside? The humidity? Was he relying on the humidity to lubricate his slide? Because the Pond's sure as hell wasn't doing very much on its own. I felt like asking him what kind of sick bastard told him he could put Pond's Cold Cream on his slide.
By the way, as a side note, I just Googled Pond's Cold Cream, and, according to the Unilever website, here are some possible reasons why you might want to put the stuff on your trombone slide:
-To remove hidden dirt and make-up from your trombone without clogging your trombone's pores.
-To deep clean without drying your trombone, so it looks and feels touchably soft and radiantly clean.
-If your trombone has had an allergic reaction to another lubricant, don't worry. Pond's Cold Cream is Hypo-Allergenic (The package does not state this, but it is!!).
-The special blend of cleansing ingredients and natural emollients softens as it deep cleans so your trombone slide feels smooth - never tight or dry.
Smooth...not tight or dry...that actually sounds pretty good. Maybe I'll try some myself. Besides, I've been looking for a way to get lipstick off of my trombone slide (that's another story). But I can't say that this is the worst case I have seen. When I was in high school, I knew someone who would spray their slide with Lemon Pledge. Apparently, he had to wipe it off whenever he was done playing, because if you left it on, it would dry and stick to the slide and then you couldn't move it the next day. Hmm. Not such a great lubricant, if you ask me. But, to each his own, and trombone players are an eccentric lot, to say the least.
Next time, stories about a different student who can't tell a G-sharp from a dump truck full of flaming tires (hint: one of them is in third position. Third position, God damn it. PLAY IT IN THIRD OR I WILL WRAP THAT TROMBONE AROUND YOUR SKULL).
Monday, November 14, 2005
On My Various Disguises
Yesterday I went with the other members of my studio to our teacher's house to eat lunch and have our pictures taken. He has a picture of each trombone and tuba player on the studio wall, so it was our turn as the new students to get our pictures taken. Though Mr. Waters had a great new idea for this round.
He said that he had an extensive collection of hats, which, when we got there, we discovered was no overstatement. The man has quite a few hats. So his idea was that we all wear a different hat in our pictures. We thought that was a little strange, but it could be fun. So we picked out our hats. I wore an old army helmet, which was extraordinarily heavy. After we chose our hats, however, Mr. Waters seemed unsatisfied. He started talking about "props" that we should use, most of which ended up being weapons of some kind, and put different clothes on us. So basically, we were putting on costumes for our pictures. I had the helmet and a big camouflage jacket. Mike, who is Jewish, briefly considered the Nazi helmet, but then decided on a hat not unlike the one worn by the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. He then found a straw to chew on, and Mr. Waters gave him a shotgun to hold. Oh no, it was a real shotgun. I don't think it was loaded. Colin was wearing a sort of rastafarian knit cap, which was mulitcolored and had long black "dreadlocks" hanging off the back. Having nothing to really go with that, Mr. Waters decided to dress him up otherwise like a pirate (at least this was the end result). He wore a puffy shirt and had a large knife between his teeth. I can't seem to remember what kind of hat Mark wore, but he was holding a long knife, which was actually a World War I bayonet (where does he get all this stuff?). Then Mr. Waters himself dressed up in a cowboy hat and shirt, holding a pistol (this time a toy).
It was a fun time, like Halloween all over again, and I'm sure the pictures will be hilarious. What I'm still slightly concerned about, though, is putting them up on the wall of the studio. What will prospective students think? Anyone who walks into that room not knowing us will only see a bunch of guys in silly costumes holding dangerous weapons. I'm not sure what kind of first impression of a school that will be.
Then today I dressed up again, this time to appear in a film on my friend Steve's website. The video should be up sometime next week, so I don't want to give away too many details, but it involved wearing ridiculous amounts of camouflage face paint and running around the woods with our trombones. It's a movie about Thanksgiving. While we were running around the woods, though, we found about 15 of the same huge and scary looking spider on large webs between the trees. They looked something like this. Seriously, these guys were everywhere you turned. Deciding that anything that ugly couldn't possibly not be poisonous, we proceeded with extreme caution. Thankfully, the filming concluded with nobody getting bitten and dying.
He said that he had an extensive collection of hats, which, when we got there, we discovered was no overstatement. The man has quite a few hats. So his idea was that we all wear a different hat in our pictures. We thought that was a little strange, but it could be fun. So we picked out our hats. I wore an old army helmet, which was extraordinarily heavy. After we chose our hats, however, Mr. Waters seemed unsatisfied. He started talking about "props" that we should use, most of which ended up being weapons of some kind, and put different clothes on us. So basically, we were putting on costumes for our pictures. I had the helmet and a big camouflage jacket. Mike, who is Jewish, briefly considered the Nazi helmet, but then decided on a hat not unlike the one worn by the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. He then found a straw to chew on, and Mr. Waters gave him a shotgun to hold. Oh no, it was a real shotgun. I don't think it was loaded. Colin was wearing a sort of rastafarian knit cap, which was mulitcolored and had long black "dreadlocks" hanging off the back. Having nothing to really go with that, Mr. Waters decided to dress him up otherwise like a pirate (at least this was the end result). He wore a puffy shirt and had a large knife between his teeth. I can't seem to remember what kind of hat Mark wore, but he was holding a long knife, which was actually a World War I bayonet (where does he get all this stuff?). Then Mr. Waters himself dressed up in a cowboy hat and shirt, holding a pistol (this time a toy).
It was a fun time, like Halloween all over again, and I'm sure the pictures will be hilarious. What I'm still slightly concerned about, though, is putting them up on the wall of the studio. What will prospective students think? Anyone who walks into that room not knowing us will only see a bunch of guys in silly costumes holding dangerous weapons. I'm not sure what kind of first impression of a school that will be.
Then today I dressed up again, this time to appear in a film on my friend Steve's website. The video should be up sometime next week, so I don't want to give away too many details, but it involved wearing ridiculous amounts of camouflage face paint and running around the woods with our trombones. It's a movie about Thanksgiving. While we were running around the woods, though, we found about 15 of the same huge and scary looking spider on large webs between the trees. They looked something like this. Seriously, these guys were everywhere you turned. Deciding that anything that ugly couldn't possibly not be poisonous, we proceeded with extreme caution. Thankfully, the filming concluded with nobody getting bitten and dying.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
On Karaoke and a New Haunt
Since leaving Oberlin, I have missed many things about the tiny, isolated college town where I spent five long years. Not least of these was the only bar in town, the Feve. How many nights I spent there buying cheap drinks and getting my clothes nice and saturated with the ever-present cigarette haze I couldn't begin to guess. I have had a craving to return there for a while, but, sadly, no opportunity to do so. I have also recently had quite a hankering for some good Karaoke fun, which I hadn't had since that fateful night in the 'Sco last spring (Josh and I were so often on the stage that we were eventually no longer allowed to sing, at which point we had to assume false names).
Who would have thought that I would relieve both of these cravings in one night? As unlikely as it may seem, last night was that night. In the search for something fun to do, we were pointed by one of Lilly's many casual Houston acquaintances in the direction of a bar called The Proletariat. It turns out Friday night is Karaoke night at the Proletariat (which I think I might begin to shorten to "Prole," with credit of course going to Orwell), a smoky dive bar where the lighting is dark enough and the crowd eclectic enough that if you squint you're suddenly back in that familiar place. It may be thirty degrees warmer than it should be, the street outside may be Richmond Ave. in Houston instead of Main Street in Oberlin, and the Republican quotient in the room may be a good fifty percentage points higher, but somehow it still feels right.
Plus, Karaoke! There were a few regulars there who I think showed me up, but I still did pretty well. I sang Tiny Dancer by Elton John, which had a pretty good reception, and then later With or Without You by U2. One guy sitting near the front liked my rendition of that song so much that in the middle he came up and handed me something. I thought maybe it was a lighter, or something else appropriate that I could wave over my head solemnly while I sang. However, when I looked at it, I realized it was actually a pen. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I was oddly touched that he wanted me to have it. When I finished, he high-fived me, and I tried to give him the pen back. A very serious look came on his face, and he said, "No, man, you keep it." So I still have it here, but I can't quite bring myself to write anything with it.
The best part of the evening, though, was getting home and realizing that, for the first time this year, I had spent the night drinking and having a great time with friends at our regular place (which the Prole has now become), and my clothes reeked of smoke as a result. I never thought I would miss that smell.
Oh, by the way, here's a Halloween picture:
Who would have thought that I would relieve both of these cravings in one night? As unlikely as it may seem, last night was that night. In the search for something fun to do, we were pointed by one of Lilly's many casual Houston acquaintances in the direction of a bar called The Proletariat. It turns out Friday night is Karaoke night at the Proletariat (which I think I might begin to shorten to "Prole," with credit of course going to Orwell), a smoky dive bar where the lighting is dark enough and the crowd eclectic enough that if you squint you're suddenly back in that familiar place. It may be thirty degrees warmer than it should be, the street outside may be Richmond Ave. in Houston instead of Main Street in Oberlin, and the Republican quotient in the room may be a good fifty percentage points higher, but somehow it still feels right.
Plus, Karaoke! There were a few regulars there who I think showed me up, but I still did pretty well. I sang Tiny Dancer by Elton John, which had a pretty good reception, and then later With or Without You by U2. One guy sitting near the front liked my rendition of that song so much that in the middle he came up and handed me something. I thought maybe it was a lighter, or something else appropriate that I could wave over my head solemnly while I sang. However, when I looked at it, I realized it was actually a pen. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I was oddly touched that he wanted me to have it. When I finished, he high-fived me, and I tried to give him the pen back. A very serious look came on his face, and he said, "No, man, you keep it." So I still have it here, but I can't quite bring myself to write anything with it.
The best part of the evening, though, was getting home and realizing that, for the first time this year, I had spent the night drinking and having a great time with friends at our regular place (which the Prole has now become), and my clothes reeked of smoke as a result. I never thought I would miss that smell.
Oh, by the way, here's a Halloween picture:
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