Some of you may know that my University has a production every February called All University Sing. Really, it is a neat tradition. Groups sign up during the Spring semester the year prior, select a theme, storyline, music, etc. and work to put on what's more or less a 7 minute Broadway act. ( I use Broadway here in the sense that it's continuous singing and dancing that fits together to tell a story much like a musical). While I am not a member of Greek life (which all of the other organizations are) I was given the opportunity to participate in a group call Sing Alliance which allows those who aren't in a sorority of fraternity to participate.
Sing themes are always a big secret, and there's much speculation that floats around campus prior to the first performance, so don't expect me to say anything about what we're working on now before February 17, but since we are full swing into the Sing Season (our first practice was the night before Spring classes started and we've practice no less than 9 hours each week and in some cases more) I thought it might be fun to do a blog each Friday to share some of my favorite acts over my tenor in Sing. So without further adieu, I present to you:
A Latte Love-
This is perhaps my favorite act ever. I'm biased though, it was also the first act I ever got to dance in. Others agree with me too. Not only did it make Pigskin, but it was also the first Sing Alliance Act ever to place (3rd) and if I'm not mistaken won a people's choice for best Music selection. The video isn't super clear, but it's still entertaining.
p.s. I'm a business person in blue [ not that you should care]
Friday, January 28, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
And the Winner Is...
If any of you have ever heard me talk about my roommate, you might have heard me mention how much she loves movies. Not so much the shallow films cranked out once a year by major companies for the sole purpose of boosting box office returns, though, if the movie is "good" (subjectivity implied here) she'll enjoy those as well. Really though, Amanda has a passion for movies that best embody the true art of film making. Long before college she and her mom has a tradition of going to see all of the Oscar nominated films and indulging in the Award season. Over the past four years I've been sucked into the excitement.
Did you know the Oscar nominations were announced this morning?
Yes, there are awards for best picture, actress, actor, and all sorts famous categories, but I want to spend some time talking about the category that I allow myself to get lost in every year: original film score.
Have you ever noticed the music playing just underneath the current of the action and dialogue on the screen? Many people don't. It's usually the first thing I notice, mostly now because I've trained myself too, I suppose. Regardless, I think film scores possible contribute as much to our movie going experience as that great actor and actress working magic on the screen with not even half the notice. These scores unconsciously leads the audience into the time period of the piece, the social class of the characters, and provides the inner commentary on the emotions of the scene. Ever watch a movie where the main character, over coming all adversity, makes your heart swells with pride and bring tears to your eyes? You're pride for the character is the actor's doing. The physical response belongs to the music. I would never cry at the end of Titanic if that stupid music didn't start just as Rose realizes that Jack is a Popsicle.
Without further adieu, the 2011 nominees for best film score ( with added commentary by moi):
'Inception' Hans Zimmer- Zimmer gets a nomination every year. Seriously, the man
us up there with John Williams as one of the best film composers of the twentieth/twenty-first century. He's scored The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Sherlock Holmes, and Da Vinci Code. I wouldn't necessary recommend this score for pleasure listening, from what I remember it is much more background noise to aid the intensity of the scene, and it was vastly successful.
*'The King's Speech' Alexandre Desplat- I could not for the life of me figure out
where I heard this name from when it ran after the credits, I had to search him up on Wikipedia, but then I remembered Julie and Julia. He's also done the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and II, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Queen. The beauty of this soundtrack is that it strives to put the audience in the setting of the British Royal Family in the 1930s. It mixes alot of classical elements to achieve this successfully.
*'127 Hours' A.R. Rahman- I haven't actually seen this movie, so I can't speak to the quality of the soundtrack (though I'm certain it's fantastic). What I can tell you is that Rahman composed the music for both the Elizabeth movies with Cate Blanchett (gorgeous) and won the Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire.
*'The Social Network' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross- Again, haven't seen it and can't say much about it. It won the Golden Globe this year and from what I put
together the score seems to be very minimalist. Reznor seems to be fairly new to film composition having explored other areas of the music industry and Ross doesn't have any other notable distinctions.
*'How to Train Your Dragon' John Powell- words cannot describe my excitement over seeing this nominated. It went without acknowledgment at the Golden Globes more or less and I was incredibly worried that it would get no recognition, mostly because this movie came out right after the awards last February. Powell hasn't received alot of notoriety, mostly because I think he's done a lot of animated movies like Dragon. He also did Antz
and Shrek. However, he scored Hancock, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and all three Jason Bourne movies. How to Train Your Dragon far outshines the rest of the competition. It is my favorite soundtrack of all the ones I own (averaging around 50). I loved it the moment I first saw the movie, and have been pulling for it ever since. Give it a try, there are moments honestly when you know the world has to be a beautiful place because music like that can't exist anywhere else.
Two scores that I would have liked to have seen nominated:
Black Swan by Clint Mansell and True Grit by Carter Burwell.
Particularly True Grit because it is so steeped in time period in which the movie was set. Drawing on hymns such as Leaning on the Everlasting Arms and What a Friend we Have in Jesus, Burwell was credited for having said that the only place for a character like Mattie Ross to find her True Grit was from church. Consequently these are the songs that "Mattie would sing if she had time for such frivolity. ... The backbone of the score... grows from Church piano to orchestra as Mattie gets father and farther from home.
It just goes to show you, there is almost as much symbolism in the scoring as there is in the movies themselves. Sometimes we need to listen closer.
Did you know the Oscar nominations were announced this morning?
Yes, there are awards for best picture, actress, actor, and all sorts famous categories, but I want to spend some time talking about the category that I allow myself to get lost in every year: original film score.
Have you ever noticed the music playing just underneath the current of the action and dialogue on the screen? Many people don't. It's usually the first thing I notice, mostly now because I've trained myself too, I suppose. Regardless, I think film scores possible contribute as much to our movie going experience as that great actor and actress working magic on the screen with not even half the notice. These scores unconsciously leads the audience into the time period of the piece, the social class of the characters, and provides the inner commentary on the emotions of the scene. Ever watch a movie where the main character, over coming all adversity, makes your heart swells with pride and bring tears to your eyes? You're pride for the character is the actor's doing. The physical response belongs to the music. I would never cry at the end of Titanic if that stupid music didn't start just as Rose realizes that Jack is a Popsicle.
Without further adieu, the 2011 nominees for best film score ( with added commentary by moi):
'Inception' Hans Zimmer- Zimmer gets a nomination every year. Seriously, the man
us up there with John Williams as one of the best film composers of the twentieth/twenty-first century. He's scored The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Sherlock Holmes, and Da Vinci Code. I wouldn't necessary recommend this score for pleasure listening, from what I remember it is much more background noise to aid the intensity of the scene, and it was vastly successful. *'The King's Speech' Alexandre Desplat- I could not for the life of me figure out
where I heard this name from when it ran after the credits, I had to search him up on Wikipedia, but then I remembered Julie and Julia. He's also done the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and II, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Queen. The beauty of this soundtrack is that it strives to put the audience in the setting of the British Royal Family in the 1930s. It mixes alot of classical elements to achieve this successfully.
*'127 Hours' A.R. Rahman- I haven't actually seen this movie, so I can't speak to the quality of the soundtrack (though I'm certain it's fantastic). What I can tell you is that Rahman composed the music for both the Elizabeth movies with Cate Blanchett (gorgeous) and won the Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire.*'The Social Network' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross- Again, haven't seen it and can't say much about it. It won the Golden Globe this year and from what I put
together the score seems to be very minimalist. Reznor seems to be fairly new to film composition having explored other areas of the music industry and Ross doesn't have any other notable distinctions.
*'How to Train Your Dragon' John Powell- words cannot describe my excitement over seeing this nominated. It went without acknowledgment at the Golden Globes more or less and I was incredibly worried that it would get no recognition, mostly because this movie came out right after the awards last February. Powell hasn't received alot of notoriety, mostly because I think he's done a lot of animated movies like Dragon. He also did Antz
and Shrek. However, he scored Hancock, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and all three Jason Bourne movies. How to Train Your Dragon far outshines the rest of the competition. It is my favorite soundtrack of all the ones I own (averaging around 50). I loved it the moment I first saw the movie, and have been pulling for it ever since. Give it a try, there are moments honestly when you know the world has to be a beautiful place because music like that can't exist anywhere else.
Two scores that I would have liked to have seen nominated:
Black Swan by Clint Mansell and True Grit by Carter Burwell.
Particularly True Grit because it is so steeped in time period in which the movie was set. Drawing on hymns such as Leaning on the Everlasting Arms and What a Friend we Have in Jesus, Burwell was credited for having said that the only place for a character like Mattie Ross to find her True Grit was from church. Consequently these are the songs that "Mattie would sing if she had time for such frivolity. ... The backbone of the score... grows from Church piano to orchestra as Mattie gets father and farther from home.
It just goes to show you, there is almost as much symbolism in the scoring as there is in the movies themselves. Sometimes we need to listen closer.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
"What If..."
Fair warning: this blog isn't always going to be pretty. It might on some days, if I talk about the brand new nail polish I got at the grocery store last week ("mint" and believe me it is adorable) or if I share my insights into the latest movie we watched in my History of Motion Pictures class, but those are the filler posts. This blog is really about the nitty gritty mire that comes along with trying to hammer together a future out of nothing but whimsical dreams. Today is a nitty gritty post.
There are two words that ring horror into the hearts of all college seniors. Only two syllables, and containing six letters, they have the power to set minds reeling, plans to reorganizing, and hearts questioning. They are "what if." These two little words reared their ugly little head in my mind earlier this week, and I've been contemplating how to address this topic with reflection and insight instead of an anxious panic since then. Really, I just had to wait until the manic voices in my head quieted before I could write.
What if?
1). What if I'm signing away the next 7 years of my life to do something I don't really want to do?
2). What if I don't get into Graduate School
3). What if I do get into Graduate School and graduate only to be unable to find a job and wind up starving (which I could have done without the PhD) or, worse yet find myself doing a job I could have started with a BA.
4). What if what I want to be is not what I want to be and what I really want to be is something that I haven't considered yet?
essentially speaking: What if I'm screwing this all up?
Gets confusing right? Add to this a crisis of personality because I've always known exactly where I'm going and what I'm doing and you pretty much have summed me up on Monday night.
The simple fact is that things are scary. I'm standing at the cross roads of taking all my plans and dreams and putting them in reality, something I've never really had to do before. Even when I started college, there wasn't much of an option. I had to go to college, not choice there. Baylor was just my love, no choice there either. Now I'm faced with plenty of choices, even choices that I thought I had already decided on. I want to take no risks, want to know everything will work out the way I plan it... it's my personality. Unfortunately, we don't get guarantees like this in life. We must have Faith. But let me tell you Faith is hard.
It may surprise some of you, but I don't consider myself to have really had a crisis of Faith. (Faith meaning the knowledge that everything will work itself out, not Faith in God. Though, I don't consider myself to have ever had a crisis of Faith in God either). When someone comes to you and says that you have cancer there aren't a whole lot of options you can take. The road seems pretty straight forward. You do what you gotta do. But here, standing on the edge of an abyss that I get to fill with the things that will define my life, there are a multitude of choices. How do you know what to choose?! The reality is that they're pseudo choices. They appear real, but they're not. I made the choice to go to graduate school, and the outcome of that choice (whether I get in or I don't) will guide me to the next choice. As mom says "we can't screw this up." I'm learning that if you move slow enough and pay attention things will just fall into place (they always have) and in reality no choice is set in stone. The game can still go anyway it wants to, and when you put it that way "what if" isn't so scary. In fact, it's sort of a mysterious adventure.
There are two words that ring horror into the hearts of all college seniors. Only two syllables, and containing six letters, they have the power to set minds reeling, plans to reorganizing, and hearts questioning. They are "what if." These two little words reared their ugly little head in my mind earlier this week, and I've been contemplating how to address this topic with reflection and insight instead of an anxious panic since then. Really, I just had to wait until the manic voices in my head quieted before I could write.
What if?
1). What if I'm signing away the next 7 years of my life to do something I don't really want to do?
2). What if I don't get into Graduate School
3). What if I do get into Graduate School and graduate only to be unable to find a job and wind up starving (which I could have done without the PhD) or, worse yet find myself doing a job I could have started with a BA.
4). What if what I want to be is not what I want to be and what I really want to be is something that I haven't considered yet?
essentially speaking: What if I'm screwing this all up?
Gets confusing right? Add to this a crisis of personality because I've always known exactly where I'm going and what I'm doing and you pretty much have summed me up on Monday night.
The simple fact is that things are scary. I'm standing at the cross roads of taking all my plans and dreams and putting them in reality, something I've never really had to do before. Even when I started college, there wasn't much of an option. I had to go to college, not choice there. Baylor was just my love, no choice there either. Now I'm faced with plenty of choices, even choices that I thought I had already decided on. I want to take no risks, want to know everything will work out the way I plan it... it's my personality. Unfortunately, we don't get guarantees like this in life. We must have Faith. But let me tell you Faith is hard.
It may surprise some of you, but I don't consider myself to have really had a crisis of Faith. (Faith meaning the knowledge that everything will work itself out, not Faith in God. Though, I don't consider myself to have ever had a crisis of Faith in God either). When someone comes to you and says that you have cancer there aren't a whole lot of options you can take. The road seems pretty straight forward. You do what you gotta do. But here, standing on the edge of an abyss that I get to fill with the things that will define my life, there are a multitude of choices. How do you know what to choose?! The reality is that they're pseudo choices. They appear real, but they're not. I made the choice to go to graduate school, and the outcome of that choice (whether I get in or I don't) will guide me to the next choice. As mom says "we can't screw this up." I'm learning that if you move slow enough and pay attention things will just fall into place (they always have) and in reality no choice is set in stone. The game can still go anyway it wants to, and when you put it that way "what if" isn't so scary. In fact, it's sort of a mysterious adventure.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Done, done, done!!!!
Hear ye, hear ye, I have an announcement to make. I just submitted my last application for (what I hope) is a very long time. I'm not sure it's hit me quite yet that I don't have to spend my weekends putting all of this stuff together, agonizing over their perfection [ I just know I spelled my name wrong or is History supposed to be capitalized there or not?]. Now, I wait. As if that's not a more difficult job than having the applications in your hand. At least your doing something. So there it is. My mind is reeling with backup plans for all possible contingencies, but until we know anything for sure, there's nothing else to be done.
Friday, January 14, 2011
I'm Baaaacccckkkk!
Really, I'm surprised that it took me this long to start a new blog. Oh wait, no I'm not. Last semester was more than a little crazy. I barely had time to breathe much less ramble endlessly on the internet to a few unnamed face. Still, if you were with me for my last blog, it should be no surprise to you that I very much enjoyed working on it and have been thinking of starting a new one for a long time now. Well, there's no time like the present.
Unlike my blog last summer however, there is no great adventure going on in my life. Well, there is but it is not in the form of a foreign country or new culture. 2011 is going to be a pretty big year for me. This year I graduate college (certainly), get into graduate school (hopefully), and move into the next step of my life: adulthood (not really a choice here). Whether you're going to be in my shoes one day, have already walked the path and want to join me for a little reminiscing, or simply want to point an laugh at my pain [ I am posting this on the internet which, I believe, by default gives you permission if you please] I want this blog to be a real representation of my life as it is now. That means I want to be candid about everything (ok, not everything.... we do deserve a little privacy, don't we) from my panic attacks over signing away another 7 years of my life to the elation of my first (solo) apartment. And, while the big changes of life may not require a post everyday senior year antics, books, movies, and random thoughts from all of my fascinating classes, certainly will give me a bit to write about.
It's good to be back!
Unlike my blog last summer however, there is no great adventure going on in my life. Well, there is but it is not in the form of a foreign country or new culture. 2011 is going to be a pretty big year for me. This year I graduate college (certainly), get into graduate school (hopefully), and move into the next step of my life: adulthood (not really a choice here). Whether you're going to be in my shoes one day, have already walked the path and want to join me for a little reminiscing, or simply want to point an laugh at my pain [ I am posting this on the internet which, I believe, by default gives you permission if you please] I want this blog to be a real representation of my life as it is now. That means I want to be candid about everything (ok, not everything.... we do deserve a little privacy, don't we) from my panic attacks over signing away another 7 years of my life to the elation of my first (solo) apartment. And, while the big changes of life may not require a post everyday senior year antics, books, movies, and random thoughts from all of my fascinating classes, certainly will give me a bit to write about.
It's good to be back!
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