Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays Etc.

Best Wishes for 2007. Etc.

POV Part 2: Opera

So in the last post I spoke all about the city of Victoria and what I did in my spare time (of which I had very little). This post will describe the fun, challenge, etc that was my experience with the Pacific Opera Victroia's New Opera Works program (hereafter shortened to POV and NOW). This was the 5th year that POV has run NOW and the first year that they held the sessions and rehearsals in the music building on University of Victoria campus. UVic is quite a distance out of the main city core but it is on beautiful grounds. The Music building is a concrete bunker, quite obviously a leftover from the 70's but it is quite large and well staffed.

The first session held on Monday was an introductory day in which we met the fellow people in the workshop (2 other composers and 3 libretists(lyricists)) as well as the singers who were involved (many of them friends of people I knew at Western, the world of Opera and workshops is quite small). The idea behind the whole program is that 3 newspapers articles from the Sunday NY Times were selected and each composer was paired with a librettist and had to write the 1st scene (a recitative), which was due the following morning at 9am to be performed. This cyclce continue for the next two days so that eveyrbody got to work with every person and on every story. Day 2 was an aria, Day 3 a duet and Day 4, an ensemble piece, which we wrote with our orginal partner. The interetsing part was seeing how the stories developed as each partnership added to it so that when it was over we had 3, 4 scene operas about 3 stories in the headlines.

It was a fantastic experience but it was frantic. It's quite a challenge to leave UVic at 4pm and compose an entire scene for the next morning. It's also impressive to see how fast the singers involved managed to learn the music. We had a concert of everything on Saturday a few hours before I left and soon I will have a CD sent to me in the mail. Having done one workshop I can't wait to hear back from the Aldenburg/Jerwood Opera Workshop as well as the NAC(Nataional Arts Centre) Summer workshop.

In a side note... malls are insane... why don't people do their Christmas shopping earlier?
Another Victoria Picture:

POV Part 1: Victoria

I took a prop plane from Vancouver to Victoria which quite fun and then spent FIFTY DOLLARS to take a cab from Victoria Airport to the hotel. I couldn't believe how far it is from the airport to the city. That aside, Victoria is a wonderful city. It's a delightful place with quite calming weather and a much slower pace then the crazyness of Ontario. I spent my week in the Best Western Inner Harbour which was quite a good place to stay. Priced well it also included full internet service (that worked intermittenly) and a kitchenette. Having the kitchenette helped me to save quite a bit of money. The hotel included free breakfest, POV (Pacific Opera Victoria) provided lunch and the kitchenette made dinner (though I did get sick of eating hot dogs and stuff by the end of the week).

The hotel is also located relatively close to the major bus stops downtown so it was less then a 10 minute walk to grab a bus that would take me to the University of Victoria which is where most of the program occured. UVic is a beautiful campus spread out over quite a distance of the island. Located away from the city it's quite nice. Interestingly though, unlike the rapant mutant squirrels of Queens, UVic has quite a problem with rabbits. That's right, bunnies are everywhere. They apparently are such a problem that every year the university has to poison a bunch of them so they don't overbreed and die of starvation. As well, because of the bunnies, UVic had to hire more night security because Homeless people woudl come on campus and kill the bunnies for a meal. Quite interetsing to see so many bunnies:


On my way home on the first night I discovered quite the lovely surprise most of the harbour of Victoria as well as the parliment buildings have quite the light display with lots of twinkely lights on lampposts and all over the buildings. The city litteraly is glowing at night. The city of Victoria actually has quite the vibrant arts scene and I"m glad I've managed to make some contacts out there. As an added bonus I got to have a quick visit with Ming during my stopover in Vancouver on the way to Victoria, and on my way out I managed to see my cousin and her husband in Calgary during my stop over there. However my flight back was painful as it was the redeye and I was stuck next to this guy who smelled.. really bad.

Two more pictures:

Victoria Itinerary

Victoria Trip Itinerary:

Sunday December 3rd: (aboard AirCanada)
Leave Toronto Pearson(YYZ) 12:00
Arrive Vancouver(YVR) 14:05
Depart Vancouver(YVR) 16:00
Arive Victoria(YYJ) 16:27

Sunday December 3rd through Saturday December 9th:
Best Western Inner Harbour
412 Quebec Street
Victoria, BC

Saturday December 9th: (aboard WestJet)
Leave Victoria(YYJ) 17:45
Arrive Calgary(YYC) 20:03
Depart Calgary(YYC) 00:30
Arrive Toronto Pearson(YYZ) 06:17

Of course throughout this I can always be reached via email or my cell phone if anybody had a need to contact me.

Crunch Time

It's that time of the year again...
Christmas songs are playing in the mall (and since I work almost every day I HEAR THEM ALL THE TIME!) and snow is falling... except in Ontario where it's like 15 degrees celsius... and it also means 1st term of school is coming to an end and the crunch time is here.

I litterally have been going insane all last week. I have a workshop rehearsal this Saturday for the 1st three scenes of my opera and unfortunately had only two scenes done last week. So there was that to do.. when I finally finish scene 3 last night I had to make a piano reduction so that there was something to work with next Saturday. Finished that ridiculously late at night, printed over 100 pages of score and photocopied about 300 pages today in the office to make enough copies for all the profs, and singers coming out on Saturday.

Meanwhile plans for Victoria are driving me crazy. Flight times, and organization is less then desirable and as I leave on Sunday I still have no hotel or flights booked.

As for Eddie Bauer, it's getting crazy busy. But for some reason, things aren't selling. People are in the browsing mood and its making my sales low and making the manager's really edgy... really really edgy.

But on the plus side, I had a great time with on Wed-Fri in Waterloo and Ian Green was up visiting this weekend. Myself, Ian and Ilena had a mini Queen's reunion and drank 4 bottles of wine between the 3 of us in about 4 hours... needless to say work on Sunday was painful.

Victoria plans to follow in the next post (possibly really soon if I ever get a real person on the phone (been on hold for 20 minutes now)...

Victoria Bound!

Exciting News!

I just found a mere few hours ago that I've been chosen as 1 of 3 composers to be accepted to the Pacific Opera of Victoria's Composer/Librettist workshop. It's an intensive 1 week program in which we'll be paired with a librettist(a writer) to compose short new opera works that are performed at the end of the week.

It'll be a great experience to meet some librettists and some professional artists and will hopefully lead to contacts out West and here in Ontario to start getting my work out. Does this mean a job in composition is a possibility?

I'm ecstatic and I can't wait to go. Plus how can I say no to a trip to Victoria? Anybody out there on the West Coast, who wants to come visit me (Catherine and Ming???) I'll be posting my travel details shortly. The program runs from December 4th to 9th so I hope to be there from the 3rd to the 10th of December. Hopefully you can come visit me out on the Island! I'll of course have my trusty Powerbook and Cell Phone with me.

Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it. Canada Council for the Arts and UWO are my first two targets...

To check out more about the program or to check out the Pacific Opera of Victoria visit their site at: www.pov.bc.ca

Facebook

So I got Facebook.

It's a gigantic waste of time.... Yet somehow It's consuming hours left, right, and centre... With virtually no known benefit.

yay internet!

Mickey Rooney

So...

I was watching the new Family Guy episode tonight and as expected, it wasn't very good. Family Guy hasn't been very good in a long time. It seems the wit that the show had in its first few seasons has left it and instead it relies on cut scenes and randomness to create the humour and to hopefully hide the apparent lack of plot. I suppose it was like when the Simpsons started getting lousy, except in that case, the humour got transferred to Futurama. Sadly, this is not the case.

There was one particular moment in the show that had me rolling on my couch. They had a cut scene involving childhood actor Mickey Rooney and alledged that he was insane: Stating that he yelled at mice with his shirt off among other things. IS Mickey Rooney insane?

No. But something interesting trivia regarding Mickey Rooney is given to me by Wikipedia:
"In the Animaniacs song "Yakko's Universe", Yakko makes a comment that Mickey is small."

As well did you know Mickey Rooney can also be used as an adjective:
""Mickey Rooney" is also used as an adjective meaning inferior or of extremely high quality. eg. The Mickey Rooney chair re assembled itself every time I sit in it."

Thanks Wikipedia! And thanks for actually making me laugh Family Guy. Even if it was totally irrelevant to the show. Don't get me started on the lack of quality in this year's Treehouse of Horror... sigh....why are they making a movie...?

sigh.

In case you haven't seen this yet....

I forgot how amusing Weird Al can be...btw Yay! it's the weekend!!!

Baby Steps

A long overdue update here. Life has been busy and great lately but not very newsworthy. I work at Eddie Bauer. When I don't work at Eddie Bauer I visit Janet, go to the gym, or work on my thesis. Saw The New Pornographers and Beck recently, both awesome concerts. Possible trip in the plans to Toronto tomorrow (ie. Today after I sleep) to see Paul Frehner's piece performed by Espirit Orchestra but this hinges on car renting.

Baby Steps. On Friday I saw the first tentative steps in my Opera becoming a reality. With a fully formed Libretto full of passionate text we held our first workshop. Our cast (minus 1 who was sick) were all there and we read the libretto. It came to life in front of everybody's eyes. I believe most of the people in attendance were moved by the words. The cast we've assembled are going to be able to do some amazing things with this text. As well, after workshop we had our first Production Team meeting. It really feels like this could happen. I had doubts if perhaps this project was too ambitious. But it's not, I could really see a bigger picture now... And if somehow I could write operas and have the kind of collaboration I've thus far experienced I'd do it for a living.

I've written tentative music for the overture. This music has been well received by both my thesis Advisor as well as others who have overheard. This gives me hope.

Godspeed Opera Thesis. Godspeed.

PS. Battlestar Galactica Season 3 Episode 4 = WOW!

Month O'Concerts

October is my month of Concerts including:
Sloan
The New Pornographers
Beck
Death Cab for Cutie

It also includes new albums by:
Sloan
Beck
The Tragically Hip

Unfortunately this all results in my credit card bills going up ....

sigh....

in other news... opera progresses in slow motion... but progresses none the less....

also I miss rock climbing...

Post #75

This is where I would post content if I had any content to post.

Life is A-Ok.

Snakes... on a Plane

Best Movie Ever!

I'm Employed!

Now I'm in the Fashion Industry.

Working at Eddie Bauer when I head back to London

Thank Heaven for Money!

2/3rd's 562 Reunion Drinking Night

After a long 9 month absence from the province of Ontario Ming returned from Vancouver for a 4 day stay in Kingston re-uniting 2/3rds of 562 (Me, Stu, Adam, and Ming). Much fun was had especially in the art of destroying ourselves with alcohol like we used to do. Compressed into one evening Friday night became a gong show the likes of which I haven't seen in a great many months perhaps over a year.

It began out quite simply enough with a bottle of wine with our Curry Original dinner. It was decided to make things interesting that at the first 4 bars we went to we'd order drinks for one another and make sure they were drinks we hadn't tried before. First stop was martinis at the Tango. Mine was some raspberry and coffee flavored concotion which contained two sweedish berries at the bottom. Next stop was the King Street Sizzle (a round of random shots), next stop The Juice nightclub with 4 vodka drinks from the bar, finally The Keg's bar for another round of shots, these one premium brands. Next stop Windmills and drinks of our own choice. After that things get really interesting when we stop at Megalo's. Our server upon finding out we intended to drink, offered us a very premium and very bad drink... Absinthe.

Absinthe was very interesting in which we poured our shot over the sugar cube which we lit on fire and waited till it carmerlized before stirring the camelized sugar into the glass and shooting it. Absinthe is 70proof. It's pretty lethal. Then she gave us free drinks by presenting us with two challenging puzzles to complete. As well we did two more additional shots there.

Now being sufficiently gone from the Absinthe and other shots we continued on to Sol Latino for a tropical drink and then last stop at Filthy McNasty's for $2.50 drinks. Instead of wisely ending the night we head back to Adam's place way over by West campus. Everything we drank hits us, Adam throws up. Stu and I leave Middleton's at 3am and decide to walk to McDonalds. We're so drunk we can't figure out where we are and become lost temporarily. 4am we finally reach McDonald's and eat it. It is delicious. Still ridiculously drunk we finally head home. I get into bed at 5am, and fall asleep just as many people wake up for work.

Wake up at 1:30pm on Saturday. We meet at Stooleys. All our hungover. Pictures will follow eventually when I get them from Ming....

1 week left to awesome summer.

Making a Bad Morning Good

I'm invigorated. I'm pumped. I feel on top of the world.

This morning at 8:30am I woke up and went pee. On my way back to my warm comfy bed all prepared to sleep for another few hours I grabbed my glass of water off the night stand. I went to slip back into bed and I stubbed my toe on the bedpost sending 3/4 of a full glass of water down my front and all over my sheets. It was cold and it was a wake up call. I changed the sheets, dried the mattress and flipped it.

Rather then crawl back into bed I decided I would make the most of my early morning. I sat in bed and read till 9:30, then made pancakes for everybody and enjoyed them with a glass of OJ. This was followed by sitting outside and reading the paper while enjoying a nice English breakfast tea. Back inside I decided to invigorate my body and get back into workout mode for the upcoming school year. I went downstairs and enjoyed a nice 40 min jog on the treadmill. A nice long hot shower, and now topping it off with a nice stir fry zested up with some lime.

How can I not be invigorated though? I leave tomorrow for a nice night in the Muskokas with Janet at a premium resort. It's not my trip to England but it's certainly going to be a nice way to spend an August weekend. Only 2 weeks left to this wonderful summer...

Climbing Outdoors: The Full Post

So on July 30th I got the chance to finally try climbing outdoors and it was absolutely amazing. This post is a long time coming because I had to wait for my Mac to get back from the repair store and it's finally back today. So Malek took Stu and I up to the Kingston Mills which is just below the first lift lock on the Rideau River System. It's a cliff face that has slowly been eroded away over eons by the river and the elements.

Climbing outside is a spetacular experience. It really puts your gym climbing skills to the test and forces you to learn a whole new series of skills. Reaching the summit of your climb is also much more rewarding then in the gym. You get a real feeling of acomplishment when you reach the top and look out over the River from 60ft + above it. I suppose you could relate it between 20 minutes of training on a Treadmill versus running a marathon.

I climbed a 5.4, a 5.6 and repelled down two routes as well. It was a very education experience and I can't wait to try it again. I have a chance to do it this weekend for 2 days and learn how to set up outdoor climbs myself however it costs money that I don't have. I'm debating between cutting into my savings or not.

Pictures from the Climbing:
The View:

Stu on the Rock:

The 60ft 5.4:

Me on the Rock:

Everybody looks stupid in Climbing helmets:

Update

I climbed outside.
It was great. (pictures to follow)
I'm still unemployed.
That is not great.
My relationship is awesome.
That is great.
I'm broke.
That is not great.
Concert series for Western is a go.
Once again, great.
Computer is still at repair shop.
That is once again, not great.

Life is full of contradictions.

Long weekend ahead...

Moving On...

Say goodbye to Kingston woes, say hello to London... Hoes?

No.

That would not bode well; Angry GF, STD's, etc.

But a possible return early to London is more evident then I thought. Despite my doubts I dropped a few resumes off at places I wanted to work come September (ie. only CD and Music stores (I figure why not be picky to start)) and lo and behold a few days later, Music World calls and wants to see me for an interview on Friday.

Woot!

It's not an interview in the true sense. It's a "job fair" for people who they may like to hire. So I suppose it'll be me vs. a bunch of other chumps. But I figure I have the upper hand over everyone for 3 reasons:
1) I'm available all the time. With no classes I can work days, nights and weekends
2) I'm taking a music degree. Come On! How could I be more qualified?
3) I own a lot of CD's. Therefore I should get a job purely from the universe balancing out the amount I've spent. It's Karma!

The job (if I get it, fingers crossed) starts in two weeks which is a little earlier then I planned to move there but it's the exact kind of job I think I want. Plus a few of my London friends are coming back mid-August and it's not like I would be working everyday so I could always still make it out to the Boiler Room, Toronto and home over the rest of August.

But I shouldn't jump the gun... as it's not even a real interview... still...

PS. Climbing outside on Sunday, weather permitting. Joy!

Sometimes Stuff Sucks

So I got fired from my job for stuff I didn't know I was doing wrong without any warning.

This is depressing as I actually liked my job. I think if I didn't like it I would feel better about it. I feel generally insulted, upset, hurt and angry. A part of me wants to drive away somewhere. When I was leaving Kingston to come home today I briefly thought about getting on the 401 eastbound and take off to Montreal, then head out east to NS, NB and PEI before taking off south through the States to Boston and the like.

A small part of me also wanted to slap my bosses around a bit. But that wouldn't really help me much. It would get me in more trouble. I'm just not that kind of person.

In the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal. People have been fired many times before from lots of jobs for no reason. And it's not like this was a career aspiration, it was only a summer job. Still I'm out money I needed for school and in general,
my ego feels kinda bruised.

Do I qualify for EI now?

So I pose a question to you, the readers. Do I:
1) Take 6 weeks off and work on my thesis/climb/relax and get a job in September when I get back to London?
or do I:
2) Try a few companies I used to work at to see if I can get a job for 6 weeks to recoup my losses?
or:
3) Should I have just driven East like I originally thought?

Stuff that is Awesome

1) My growing obsession with climbing resulting in increased skill, endurance and strength.
2) This in turn results in increased happiness regarding climbing.
3) Mini Pesto, Chicken, Brushetta, and Feta Cheese pizzas are delicious and nutricious.
4) I bought fresh berries. Fruit Salad here I come.
5) One particular girl.
6) Euchre ... Despite it being on Friday and Saturday night and with my parents.
7) My job... Despite everything, it's pretty great.
8) Life is awesome. Life is awesome for some of my friends. This in turns results in life being generally awesome.
9) A trip to London this weekend to rescue my house plants and to generally chill out there.
10) Putting my feet up. Yes, it's simple, but it's one of life's greatest pleasures.

Life is Good

So... Life is good right now. Quite good indeed.

The only bad part is my job has once again hit the point where it takes over my life. Multiple 12 hour plus shifts a week gets to you after a while. Thank heaven I had 3 days off in a row to relax and take the edge off. I did a tour of some of the wineries in the Prince Edward County with a friend and relaxed and just generally enjoyed myself.. it still didn't make going back to work on Sunday any better though.

I saw Calexico in Toronto (a great band from the Southern States with a spanish sounds (2 trumpeters in the band)), and picked up a GriGri and Carabeaner from MEC for climbing. Climbing has become quite a hobby of mine now and hopefully I will be hitting up Kingston Mills for some outdoor climbing soon. I'm also slowly acquiring the necessary equiptment to make climbing outside a good possiblility.

The thesis is pumping along at a pretty regular rate now. I'm getting enough done to feel okay about how it's going. I"m in the final stage of revisions for my thesis proposal now and soon will be able to get down to the core of actual writing the opera. All my ideas and the way I plan to interlink the scenes and dramatic actions is starting to come to fruition. I'm just waiting on Scene 5 and then I'll be able to construct an outline for the whole thing.

2 more days of work before I have 2 days and can go home for a short rest again. Hopefully work will be good the next two days as it was today (we had a 7 piece swing band on the boat).

Anyways.. Life is good. As it should be. Is your summer going as good as mine? I hope so.

16.75

I just worked 16.75 hours in one day. That day is Canada Day. Now I am tired.

But I get paid time and a half. So at least I made a lot of money...

my feet hurt.

Exciting week ahead but early morning ahead as another day starts...

Adios for now...

"Shitter's Full"

So right now it's 1pm. Normally I would be at work midway through the first half of my double shift. But not today, for at 8am my Boss called to inform me that the "shitter's full". That's right... our boat is full of shit. And so I slept in and recovered from my crazy weekend.

This weekend my friend from highschool Teg, got married to his longtime girlfriend Melissa. It was a really nice wedding actually but it made for a long day. They got married in Orillia which is (for you ontario georgraphy knowledgeless) sort of across the lake from Barrie, and pretty far from Kingston. So I worked late on Friday night, and ended up going to bed at about 3am. Then I woke up early on Saturday, got in my car and started driving. Besides a brief stop to change into my suit in Port Hope it was 3 hours and 45 minutes till I got to Orillia. The drive in the day time was nice though... windows down, tunes playing, driving along highway 12 through the country. It was an interesting drive as my cottage used to be up by Orillia so I felt I was retracing routes I hadn't been along in years. The ceremony itself was nice and was held outside and the weather couldn't be more perfect. The reception was really nice, abeit long and so when I finally left at about 10:45pm I had the same long drive back to face, but it was dark and highway 12 is one lane, so it took even longer to get back to the 400 series of highways... and well besides another brief stop in Port Hope to drop off the suit I arrived back in K-Town around 2:30am, and slept.. for a few hours before I woke up early again to work a double yesterday.

I think Ian pointed out my feelings about the wedding accurately in the speech (paraphrased below) he gave to Teg and Mellissa: At first It was really weird. I couldn't believe my friend from high school was getting married. It was so weird. But then as I watched the ceremony suddenly it wasn't really weird. It was really awesome. Two people who couldn't be better for one another.

So anyways the shitter's still full at work and I'm waiting to see if they cancel my evening shift. Even if the shitter is fixed, at least it allowed me to type this blog and to enjoy a nice relaxing sleep in... something I haven't done in a few days now.

Go Shit Go!

Another Open Question

Dear "ass munch (or munches) who stole my bike":

Hello. You don't know me but tonight you screwed me over by stealing my bike. You, or another asshole a lot like you stole the really nice bike I bought two years ago. This year I bought a crappy canadian tire bike hoping that would make you not steal it. But I was wrong. Clearly there is no end to your ass munching idiocy. I really don't understand how stealing my bike could benefit you. It isn't a very good bike, so you'll get very little money for it. The parts aren't worth very much, and there was nothing fancy attatched to my bike. This leaves me only two ideas:
1) You needed to get home really fast or...
2) You just stole it for the sake of stealing.
Since you were walking around with a pair of bolt cutters i'm going to think it's #2. Is your life really that boring and pathetic that you feel a need to prove the need for your existence by stealing my bike? Do you realize how stupid that is? How stupid you are? You're the kind of person who makes people wonder why they bother getting up in the morning.
You are shit.

Yours truly,
- Matt

"all you see is where else you could be"

I'm listening to depressing music lately. Other people's sorrow makes me feel generally better about my current state of mind. The dumb part is I"m not really depressed or sad myself, I just have this cloud of imminent guilt hanging over my head. Its funny how when you get what you want, you find out you don't necessarily want it anymore. Or that it isn't what you thought it was? What you thought you got turned out to be different? That no matter what you say, once you've made up your mind about something, there's very little that can change it. It's funny how one person can feel something so strongly and the other not. How something you once thought was gone suddenly creeps back out of nowhere. That some people just feel like home. Or how some people just smell or taste right where others taste and smell wrong. That your gut can tell you one thing while your head tells you something different. That just rambling without being specific feels great.

I guess I don't know the answers... But it is funny...

Radiohead

So... I saw Radiohead at the Hummingbird Centre on Thursday night in Toronto with Ian. The concert surpassed my expectations. Therefore I am left nearly speechless except to quote Office Space:
"Fuckin' A'"



That's right: "Fuckin' A'"

Thesis-ing

I'm at that odd point of working on a composition where you've given the work a lot of thought and you're at the point where the music itself (the actual notes on the page) is at it's genesis. It's a point in which you start thinking of large scale concepts, about what overall things will make the beginning, middle and end contribute to a satisfying whole... and it's really hard to do when you're dealing with a project that is supposed to represent a whole year of work.

The individual ideas and moments have been floating in my head for months now. I've done my research (ie. Listening) and I've developed an idea of what I want my mini-opera to sound like. Now I must sit in front of a piano and bang out my harmonic vocabulary.

Sometimes I wish I was working on a thesis that wasn't such a personal expression or a passion. Somehow it might be easier...

... Of course this might all be a little less annoying if I actually worked on my thesis often which would require the following things to not exist:

1) Kingston 1000 Island Cruises
2) The Need of Money
3) My Comfortable Bed
4) Arrested Development
5) Eating
6) Sleeping
7) A Phone
8) Battlestar Galatica
9) The Boiler Room
10) Alcohol

Of course if those things didn't exist... well what would inspire me to write?

Self-Motivating

Haven't updated in a while but I've been pretty busy between work and life and stuff. Charlotte's been up for the past few days which has been great and I've been getting enough shifts at work though I need more to make sure I actually put money away this summer. I have also bought a membership at the Boiler Room for the summer and have put it to good use so far. I forgot how much I enjoy climbing. It's one of the more interesting sports (if you can call it that) for it requires two people to do (at least the actual climbing a route part) but the success is all personal.

What I mean is that unlike many other sports, how you rate in comparison to someone else is unimportant. Climbing is one of those sports in which "success" is entirely based on beating your own limitations. It's not that there isn't a competition to Climbing but rather I guess the people I've climbed with choose not to treat it that way. It's one of the most rewarding feelings to be able to accomplish something you couldn't do before. A real sense of accomplishment and improvement. It's also amazing how if you beat your own record, it's really self-motivating, a real boost... But if you fail to exceed your own expectations it's quite devastating. I suppose in a way it's worse to loose to yourself then anyone else.

I wonder how much better people would feel if we didn't hold ourselves to a criteria set by others but rather only set out to exceed our own expectations. Of course, that idea is a pipe-dream, and not even a very good idea. With no competition would we actually bother to improve? Are humans self-motivated enough to bother to exceed their expectations?

In other news... My thesis still sits un-started on my shelf... Sigh...

Summer...

So... I guess summer has begun now. I've been up in Kingston since Sunday and have settled into the old routine of work followed by Margaritaville. It's been a pretty busy week doing the training for the boat lines. All the Managers this year are very involved with the training and so it's been keeping me pretty busy. I mean our meeting at Margaritaville Monday afternoon for 5 hours was tough! :)
Things have been good. Got in a rock climbing session after the 5 hour meeting and it was good to see that I can still do it though my body ached afterwards for 2 days. I think I'm going to get a membership because it's 12.50 a climb but only 130 for a summer membership. That means once you've gone 10 times you've paid for it. Even if I only go 1x week it's still a good deal. Plus since I work at the waterfront I could buzz down after or before work and do some bouldering on my own as well. I think in addition I may grab a new pair of climbing shoes as my old ones hurt my feet and when I buy a membership they'll give me 15% off the gear which isn't bad, no tax anyways.
Yesterday was a 14 hour day. Thankfully 2 breaks were spent at Margaritaville, but still a long day. Today is $4 drinks at the Merchant, followed by getting paid to take the Haunted Walk... Unfortunately it looks like it's going to rain. Tomorrow is the Wine Tasting seminar followed by a party at the Griz. Saturday I head into Toronto to see Sigur Ros with Laura and Ian and as well meet up with Haley for dinner, who I haven't seen since last summer.
Next week I plan to accomplish the unbelievable and begin writing my thesis proposal which I hope to have done at the end of May, then I'll have June to work on the actual music before my job takes over my life again. As well, Charlotte has a few days off work so she'll be up here visiting which will be fantastic .

Life is busy.... And old people are shitty tippers.

Lists:

Reasons I love Kingston (in no particular order):
1) Kingston Brewing Company
2) The Boiler Room
3) White Mountain
4) Waterfront Trail
5) Wolfe Island Ferry
6) Gusto
7) The QP
8) Chez Piggy
9) Hard Cider
10) Campus Bookstore
11) Pan Chancho Bakery
12) Beer with Friends
13) The Student Ghetto
14) Random Encounters with Friends
15) Margaritaville
16) Church Bells on the Hours
17) 24 Hour Walk Through McDonald's
18) Golden Gael
19) Backyard BBQ's

A Good Day for a Bike Ride

Taking advantage of the sun and an afternoon of spare time, I decided to go out and explore the farm lands around my house in Port Hope on my Bike. My parents have been here nearly two years and I always said I was going to do some biking so I plan to get that in this week before I move up to Kingston permanently on Sunday. Today was the perfect day for biking: the sun was shining, birds were singing, and there was a nice cool breeze. A combination of warm sun and cool breeze make for the best bike riding days, as you're warm but kept cool at the same time.

I decided to do a simple route, a square around the local area. Heading out of my subdivision and sliding along Marsh Rd, I enjoyed watching the farm fields being turned for the new season. I stopped at the rail crossing and watched a train pass and then continued up Dear Park Road over the 401 and through more farmland and onto highway 2. Highway 2 is quite hilly at that point but with relatively few cars it wasn't much of a challenge. I followed Highway 2 back to my subdivision. All and all it was a great day for a ride and a good replacement for time I would have spent on the treadmill. As well a good intro back into the kind of biking I enjoy doing on Wolfe Island in the summer. This summer I intend to conquer the longest bike trail on Wolfe as in the previous summers I did the short and mid-length one. The short one is only 18km, and the mid-length is 28km. However the large trail is over double at 58km. It makes the 11km route I took today seem kind of measly but as I said a good start to the season.

I do so enjoy biking.

Quality

I was over at my Charlotte's place tonight watching some "Kenny vs. Spenny" on DVD. That show is ridiculous but hilarious. The episodes I watched involved them trying to be figure skaters, impersonating women and being blind for 3 days. They do some pretty ridiculous stuff. Usually Kenny ends of being an absolute bastard which is hilarious.
As well I saw the movie "Thank You For Smoking". A quirky black comedy that is definitely worth seeing. As well I've been watching BBC's "Coupling" with Charlotte, which is also quite hilarious. Kind of like Friends, except every episode is written really well and entirely revolves around sex.
Tomorrow I move my crap to Kingston and I'll permanently move up there this Sunday to start work. This week will involve driving to and from Kingston. I'd move up there now but as I have no work I'd rather be in Port Hope with the gf.
I know this posting is kind of boring but I"m tired and don't care...
Anyways... I cut my hair short. Below is a stupid picture:

So it's two days late...

Well, I said tomorrow.. But it turned out to be on Thursday... oh well..

So now I'm completely done 1st term. Today I officially finished my last duty as a TA. I proctored the 395 listening test and then marked 350. Woopee! So yeah.. I'm done... now I can spend time relaxing in London and such. It was beautiful weather today (22 degrees) which caused much rejoicing. And my evening with a new lady friend went really well.

Easter weekend was terrific. Lots of relaxing, just too much food. And bad food... Destroying my gym progress. In fact, I'm for sure going to miss my gym this summer. I'm missing it already despite the fact that I still have at least a few more days where I can use it before I leave London (and it expires April 30th anyways). Easter weekend was nice though, saw some friends, and family. Enjoyed some relaxing by the dock at my Uncle's place on the Lake Simcoe Canals and some fish were caught (but thrown back because it's not fishing season yet). I watched the entirety of the pilot of Battlestar Galatica last night with Taylor while drinking a bottle of ice wine and enjoying fancy fruit, smoked salmon and creamy havarti cheese. I have never had a better bottle of ice wine. It was like juice, liquid ecstasy (not that I've ever tried that).

The weekend also included a delicious gigantic All you Can Eat Brunch with Catherine who was home from BC for Easter. Always excellent to catch up with and old friend and see what's happening with mutual friends (and to discover that we are the only two who actually keep in touch to begin with). As well Monday was a trip to the Metro Zoo with Jen where much fun was had and many animals were seen. The only unfortunate part is I burnt my head (the crappy part of thinning hair).

I'm considering getting my hair cut short. Opinions?

Here's some zoo fish:

A Quick Update

Been super busy, but having a super good time.
Battlestar Galatica truly does rock.
Back to London tomorrow (more exciting post tomorrow).

Sunset on Grad School Year 1

So at 10:15 tonight I officially finished all of my work for the 2005-2006 school year. I know longer have anything to hand in/do. I still have TA duties but as for my own work, it's gone. This is a new feeling. It hasn't set in yet, partly from shock, and partly because tomorrow I have a concert of two of my works so it still feels like there's something to do. But I know there's not. It will be very surreal to go home this weekend for Easter and not have ANYTHING to do. Nothing. Zip. Zut!

This means that all that's left now... Is a thesis. .... Eek! But I've chosen to ignore that thesis thing till May 1st. As of Today, I am officially on vacation from school work for the remainder of April.

Looking back, I can't believe how much I have accomplished and how far my work has come since I started. Grad school has been a harrowing but a rewarding experience.

This photos comes from a collection of photos I took tonight driving on country back roads south of London. It is that perfect kind of spring day that puts your mind at ease. It also gets you ready for summer.

I'll be bouncing between Kingston, Toronto, London, Ottawa and Port Hope over the next few weeks so if anybody needs me, call my cell phone.... And then May 1st, I move to Kingston for my job on the 1000 Island Cruises.

Almost Done! Almost Done! ALMOST DONE!

There is exactly a week left of school as I post this. This means only 1 more composition lesson :( and one more counterpoint class :)

Actually I've gone from feeling ridiculous unprepared for the end of term and 3 weeks later I have very little left to do. I have to fix some mistakes in my counterpoint assignment, and just hope both my pieces go well in performance on next Tuesday. And then, I'm done, no more classes ever!!! I WILL NEVER HAVE TO DO A CLASS AGAIN (unless I do doctoral work... And that's still up in the air, because I keep thinking: I'll have been in school for 6 years straight at the end of this program.. Do I really want to do another 4 years?.... Part of me says "hell yes" because I can see myself better at what I do, and I love what I do... And the other part says "hell no" because I'm sick of school and kind of want to do the "real life" thing... Though I hear that can be often crappy as well. Never the less, in a weeks time I'll begin the big push that will last till I finish on my Thesis... The premiere of my short opera on Dieppe. Woohoo! I can't wait... Too bad I have lots to do still.

Denis was up this past weekend to see Daniel's recital and basically to drink. Exciting highlights include, drinking, soul cal 2, and going to an undergrad music kegger. It came to my attention while I was standing there, chatting, surrounded by 17, 18 and 19 year olds (for the party was mostly 1st and 2nd year students)... That I'm far too old for this kind of thing now. How sad... I suppose it would have been different if I'd known more people... Yet at the same time... There was like a 7 year age gap with some of the people.... How strange.

That being said, next time I'm in Kingston I won't hesitate to go to a kegger or party providing I know who's throwing it.. Or providing I'm too drunk to care... Bring on the boats and there guarantee of post cruise drinks at Margaritaville.

Yeah! Year is almost done! I am Excited.

Recitals, and Premieres, and Homework, Oh My

So the past little while has been a little hectic. Last week was the beginning of the "Oh crap, there's only 3 weeks left to complete all the stuff I've been ignoring all term" week. All of you who have done some higher form of education know what this is like. It's all the stuff you've been ignoring, and that your teachers have neglected that gets squished into the last few weeks before exams. This is of course compacted with long term projects and all the social stuff that comes up at the end of the year. This combination has left me with little time to come on here and blog away.

Between Thursday and Saturday I saw three recitals (congrats to Natalie, Christy, and Taylor), and enjoyed the premiere of my Horn Trio at the Student Composers Chamber Music Concert. As well there was celebratory wine to be had Thursday Night at Bertoldi's and celebratory beer to be had on Friday at the Grad Club. In fact Friday night was terrific for I got drunk and chatted up some girl, whom I agreed to go wherever she was going next with, and ditched for the last bus home. Ah alcohol, the story juice.

Aside from that, school has taken over. I have 2 electro pieces premiering in a few weeks in which for one piece I lack performers, and for the other I have the performer but lack the, um, well piece. As well, an acoustic voice piece sits half composed on my desk, due on Tuesday next week. As well my thesis is beginning to build momentum, which of course is starting to build tension and anxiety over the prospect of having to actually write this damn miniature opera. And of course counterpoint looms over everything like the black shadow of death.

And of course, I chose to ignore that tonight, and watch Office Space, and drink wine with Taylor instead. I leave you with my two favourite quotes from that film:
"No Talent Ass Clown"
and
"This is a Fuck"

.... Damn, I love that movie...

So...

So on Monday I turned 24.
Nothing changed...

Well except for the fact I wasn't at the QP. 4 years in a row makes you get used to something.

I remember a time when 24 seemed like a long time away. Now 30 seems close. Aging doesn't really bother me because in general, life has gotten better for the most part every year, but still it seems time is going by faster. At 50 will I still feel this way about aging?

hopefully.

Because I just couldn't resist....

Your results:
You are Jean-Luc Picard

Jean-Luc Picard 55% Chekov 55% Uhura 55% James T. Kirk (Captain) 45% Mr. Scott 45% Geordi LaForge 45% Will Riker 45% Data 44% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 40% Beverly Crusher 40% Deanna Troi 40% Worf 40% Mr. Sulu 35% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 30% Spock 20%

A lover of Shakespeare and other fine literature. You have a decisive mind and a firm hand in dealing with others.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz

Today was brilliant...

What an absolutely fantastic day. The weather was glorious which of course makes everything else glorious. Got up at a reasonable hour (woohoo 10am), score studied some Menoti Opera, did a bit of counterpoint; as of 3pm decided it was far too nice to be inside any longer. Went for a walk/bus ride down to Masonville to hit the stores and just generally enjoy walking around. In fact today with the balmy 10 degrees Celsius weather (yah, no coat) brought to mind the beauty of last summer and the wine drinking in the backyard and the margarita drinking at Margaritaville. So inspired by memories of last summer I bought a bottle of Pinot Grigio, which I had enjoyed 3 bottles of the night the staff went cruising. Finished the evening with the cooking of a delicious quiche and making banana chocolate chip muffins followed by scrabble with Taybird as we shared a bottle of Vidal.
My love affair with wine is back.... Though we never really broke up.. We were just on a break.

I leave you with a pic from last summer to remind you of warmer days...

Wine Makes Everything Better

"see above"

I'd like to thank Gato Blanco, Sauvignon Blanc and the country of Chile.

"Kismet?"

So I just got back from the best day I've had in .... Well.. .A long long time. Actually this week has been good. Reading week has been pure gold. Mostly I stuck around Port Hope and relaxed and hung with my folks, watched some movies, did a bit of shopping, and slept. Some brief more exciting highlights include getting some 1/2 price skiing in at Kirby on my new skis I got at Christmas; Seeing Laura's band in Toronto, Say Ah, and running into some people from high school I haven't seen in years; Going to the Stars concert with Ian only to realize that I'm at an awards show called "the Indies" celebrating Independent music hosted by Jian Ghomeshi of the CBC National Playlist. So that was kind of cool though surprising and the Stars were pretty cool as well as Magnet, the opening band, a Norwegian band consisting of a slide guitar, a delay pedal and a Norwegian guy; by far the best thing was my trip to Peterborough to hang out with Lyndsey and her friends, and the whole day was just amazing. I never thought it was possible to have so much fun in Peterborough... Actually I never thought it was really possible to have fun in Peterborough.

Do you ever meet somebody who completely amazes you and that you click with in a way that surprises you? And I don't mean exclusively in relationship/dating terms but in terms of friendships as well. It got me thinking about the connections you create with other people; the dynamics of relationships. The way you develop a connection with a person. I've had very few people I've met in life where the connection was instantaneous. Usually you develop a rapport with a person over time. You each learn each other's mannerisms and become closer over time. You begin to share in each other's jokes and develop your own private history of events. But how rare is it to truly meet someone with whom you share such a connection with that upon meeting them within a minute you're laughing, conversing, and finishing each other's sentences. Or saying the same thing at the same time. And that the hobbies and passions you have, they also share. Are these kind of connections important? Is it some kind of Significance? Or are these connections just a coincidence that statistically are bound to happen every so often? Is there any validity to the idea of fate or destiny? The possibility of kismet connection; or can we chalk it all up to odds?

"Aria De Mezzo Carattere"

So in the last two weeks this whole grad school thing has shifted and I'm starting to remember why I wanted to continue studying composition in the first place. I'm starting to get really inspired again, by of all things, my thesis.

I'm actually incredibly excited about the whole project. I've started really digging deep into what I want to do, and how to do it. I'm writing a short opera and for a while that was all I knew. But now it's starting to come together. I'm working with an award winning student in the English Department who is writing the libretto for me. I met with him today and we both sort of have the same idea of where we want to go. I literally can't wait until he finishes the first draft of the libretto. It's going to be so interesting not just to set text but to work with an author and craft a piece of art together.

I'm further inspired by the way in which I've suddenly really become to appreciate opera to a huge extent. I'm listening and buying opera now, both modern and classics. I listened to this amazing opera by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies the other day called "the Lighthouse" telling the tales of 3 lighthouse keepers on an island off the shore of England who disappeared mysteriously one foggy stormy night. It was amazing. I was thrilled and inspired. Tonight I'm tackling another Davies opera "the Martyrdom of St. Magnus" set in Medieval times.

Plus my compositions for the year are starting to come together, and I'm inspired to write more... I'm tempted to not get a job this summer and just compose... But if I did that, well.. I wouldn't be able to eat next year, or go the Banff Centre for the Arts (crossing my fingers)...

Being inspired is fantastic....And plus how can I not be excited.. My reading week starts tomorrow!!!!

QSOC Weekend

It's wonderful to return to your alma mater and realize that as much as things change (for example AJ's Hanger is now the Ale House), the more they stay the same (for example the cop cars and ambulance outside of the Ale House).

Denis and I went up this weekend to see QSOC's production of Poulenc's Les Dialogues de Carmelites. An opera set during the French Revolution looking at an order of nuns who get beheaded for their faith. The production itself was of exceptional quality and it's nice to know that something I poured so much of myself into last year music directing Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore hasn't suffered. Much dedication on the part of this years crew and cast has resulted in QSOC continuing on at the high quality it has set in the last 3 years.

Of course, an added bonus of going to see the opera was the ability to visit the old haunts and to hit up a good old fashioned CAST PARTY. Follows is a break down of the 3 days:
Friday: Arrived at Katrina's around 8:30ish and enjoyed a glass of wine and some fun chat before heading to the QP to meet up with friends at my favourite bar. Hung out at the QP till about 1am and then went to Gusto's to meet up with some of the cast and production team of the opera. Got kinda drunk and fell asleep around 4am
Saturday: Got up late, went for lunch with Laura, from the cruises, went to the QSOC Wine and Cheese, dinner with Colleen and Kat, followed by the opera, followed by the cast party. Got ridiculously drunk and partied with all my old friends and new faces till around 7am, passed out at Kat's shortly after arriving back.
Sunday: Got up late, packed up, drove back to London while exhausted and suffering from the worst hangover I have ever had.

The cast party was just a reminder of the ties and bonds you create by the things you do while you're at school. Despite graduation, knowing 3/4 of the people at the cast party resulted in me feeling very welcome. It's nice to belong somewhere and it's great to know you haven't been forgotten. It's also great to recapture the wild abandon of being an undergrad and getting ridiculously smashed, ridiculously fast regardless of consequences. That bottle of wine disapeared in 15 minutes...

Thanks to all the people who made the weekend such a great experience and I look forward to more drunken recaptures of Queen's in the near future. Some Pictures follow....

The Illegal Wine and Cheese at Grant Hall:


Denis, Trish and Duffy wasted at the Cast Party:


Alanna and I drunk at QP:


Selena and I chugging JD at the Cast Party:


Kevin Drunk:

My Hotel Year (Part 2)

What happened was this: Cathy and I walked to the edge of the reservoir's water and from her purse she removed a Ziploc baggie containing two filmy-tailed rather stupid-looking goldfish that Pup-Tent had bought for her the week before in an isolated moment of kindness. We sat down on the smooth rocks next to the spotless, clean, infinitely dark and deep lake water. She said to me, "You only get one chance to fall in love for the first time, don't you." And I said, "Well, at least you got the chance. A lot of people are still waiting."

She then poked into the glassy still water, made small ripples, and threw a stone or two. Then she took the baggie, placed it under the water and punctured the membrane with her sharp black fingernails. "Bye-bye, fishies," she said as the two languidly wriggled away down into the depths. "Make sure you two stay together. You're the only chance that either of you is ever going to get."

"They are Night Zombies! The are Neighbours! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhhh!"

Above: Perhaps one of the strangest song titles I have ever seen.

At some point, when I wasn't paying attention, my hobbies and my career fused together. Now I can't tell when I'm doing something out of pleasure or doing it out of necesity. This isn't bad just strange. Any comments or ideas?

If anybody is interested in some fun new music (or had a desire to buy me a gift), here are some band's I have been listening to recently:

1) Neutral Milk Hotel - Airplane over the Sea
2) The Most Serene Republic - Underwater Cinemotograher
3) Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
4) My Morning Jacket - Z
5) Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
6) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Self Titled

Ps. I got a 90% in my Orchestration course. boo yah.

Cheers!

!!!I'm Officially Done 25% of my Graduate Coursework!!!!!!

"see above"

"Make Every insignificance a Sign"

I think it's pretty amazing in general that even after months and years of not seeing people it's pretty easy to slip into old habits. People are essentially the same every year, more mature, but at the core of it all, the people I knew in high school are still there.

This weekend was sort of a "BHS class of 2000/2001/2002 Re-union" for my little social circle. We've all gone different directions, but for Saturday night it wasn't all that different from what it was back in the 90's (except that we were at a bar and drinking alcohol legally). It's also the first time since the parties of 562 that I've stayed out past 3am (grad school has apparently made me lame).

It all got me thinking though about how important the years that comprise are young adulthood must be. People I haven't seen in 6 years still have some significance. The experience we have between the ages of 15 and... Let's say 25.... Must make up a pretty large part of our personality. The moments we spend, and the people we spend it with, define the way in which we must view the world.

Proving that I'm still the same person as I was.... Girls are wonderful but when it comes to "courtship" I'm still as confused as I was at 15.

... f*&k.

My Hotel Year

This is not a long story. In the end Donny got his wish and he did get shot - over a very stupid drug deal that imploded in a China-town parking lot - twice in the back of the head and once in the back. I ended up having to identify the body as nobody knew where his family was or who they were. I guess his salmon jumped out of the river and onto the land and the river itself flows on.

I left the hotel shortly thereafter and, very soon after that, I fell in love. Love was frightening and it hurt - not only during, but afterward - when I fell out of love. But that is another story.

I would like to fall in love again but my only hope is that love doesn't happen to me so often after this. I don't want to get so used to falling in love that I get curious to experience something more extreme - what-ever that may be.

"January 8th, 8:38pm, EST.... From here on out I type without a script...."

"see if anything comes of it..."
"instead of my old shit."

Can you name the show?

So it's a few hours before I go to sleep and tomorrow, Grad school 2nd term restarts with my least favourite course, baroque fugue. It's not that I dislike listening to Baroque Fugue... But I don't really enjoy creating it. I especially don't enjoy having to create it for marks... But that's besides the point. I just can't believe that's already 2nd term. It seems like just yesterday I had just moved to London, and it only seems like mere days since I quit work and flew to Vancouver, and only maybe a week since I had convocation and spent the summer drinking wine with Haley. I guess I just wanted to remark upon how fast time flys. It seems in the last year that things seems to be happening faster and faster all the time. It feels like everything is coming up so fast. It wont' be long before I'm 24... And that's kind of freaky in a way. On the other hand... I couldn't care less.

The whole passage of time makes me happy though because it won't be long till summer is back again. I'll be done classes, friends will be around, and, hopefully, I'll be gainfully employed with the CBC. I spent about 2 hours Friday night redoing my resume and making up a cover letter to send off to the CBC. I've been listening to it so much lately, and I just feel like working there would be fantastic. Even if I'm only in the mailroom to start it could to lead to so many interesting opportunities both within the CBC and with the arts community in general in Toronto. Actually the mailroom or the archives wouldn't be so bad.. I could just sort stuff with my headphones on and generally spend my work day zoned out... Ah zoning out....So theoretically, I may be moving to Toronto this summer, and perhaps permanently depending on the nature of my job with the CBC (if I get one). Since classes are over, staying in London doesn't seem entirely necessary as I only need to be here one day a week to do my thesis.

Anyways, it's almost time for Family Guy and American Dad... Part of my 2 hour break from the tediousness of editing my string and orchestra parts for my upcoming readings in a week... I can't wait to hear them and validate the feeling of increased skill I've had recently...Or the crushing weight of failure... eek.