Thoughts on Corigliano's Pied Piper Fantasy

I have recently been listening a lot to Pied Piper Fantasy, a flute concerto by John Corigliano. It was commissioned in 1978 by Sir James Galway and premiered by him in 1980. What really surprised me about this piece is how wonderfully theatrical it is. John Corigliano wrote a very detailed write up about it on the Schirmer web site. The article can be found HERE. I think that if you listen to a recording of it and follow along with the "synopsis", I think you'll be surprised at how wonderfully the story is told and how vividly the images are portrayed. Check it out!

How to be selective about what you read, and why.

I have recently been rather busy, and I've been feeling like I haven't been having enough to really read the books that I really want to read. In the precious time that I do have to read, I want to read great stuff, soI've made some criteria, for selecting material.
I'll start with why. I've heard that the brain retains everything you hear, read, experience etc. and it affects us unconsciously. I'm going to try and find a link to an article, but until then...
If we retain every thing, then thats great for all the great stuff, but what about the bad media? We are retaining all that too! Thats not so great! So I've decided to be more selective about what I read and make sure I'm not retaining any junk!

So heres the criteria that I'm going to push a book through.

1. Reputation. Do I know any one thats read it? Did they have favorable reviews? Even they didn't like it, I'll still ask if it was well written and if they think its well written.
   
2. Did they learn anything? If they didn't learn anything, I will definitely reconsider if its worth reading.
3. Relevancy. Is it relevant to where I am in life right now, what I'm interested in at the moment or whats happening in the world? If not, it may have to wait.

I'll likely keep refining this, but its just a basic idea. And this isn't set in stone. Just because it doesn't mean I won't read it. I'm just trying to be more selective, so that I'm only reading the best.

-Dan

Coming soon!

Alas, my blog fadeth into the graveyard of dying blogs. But it shall not be...

Coming soon: How to be selective about what you read, and why.

What have I been up to?

*sigh* I haven't posted for a very, very long time. I still exist, so never you fear. I have been doing a lot of piano practice as I am playing in 3 competitions at Kiwanis in less then two weeks. I am playing

1. Dr Gradus ad Parnassum by Claude Debussy in an Impressionism class.
2. Impromptu no.3 by Franz Schubert in a Romantic class.
3. Piano Sonata k330 (three movements) by W.A. Mozart in a Sonata class.

I also auditioned and got accepted for a Shakespearean acting company, so I was at rehearsals for that during spring break and will be attending various functions at the Teens @ The Turn Festival, because that is one of the places that we're performing at. We're also going to perform at some schools too.

What else...hmmm. I've been reading lots of Shakespeare (I've always had a passion for Shakespeare). I finished Othello a few days ago and now I'm reading Richard III (and loving it!) Recently me and some of my other self-proclaimed Shakespeare nerds sat and watched Hamlet for 11 hours. Yes, you read that right. 11 hours. We watched Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (one of my favorites), then Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet again with commentary and then Laurence Oliver's Hamlet. Yeah, go ahead, say it. Nerdy. But fun.

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend, Josh at Running With Scissors.
So here what I do.
Pick up a book of at least 123 pages.
Open the book to page 123.
Find the fifth sentence.
Then post the next three sentences.
Finally, tag five people to do the same.

Okay, mine is from The Complete Works of Shakespeare and page 123 coincidently happens to be Richard III, which I am reading right now.

GLOUCESTER

Alas, why would you heap these cares on me?
I am unfit for state and majesty;
I do beseech you, take it not amiss;
I cannot nor I will not yield to you.

BUCKINGHAM

If you refuse it,--as, in love and zeal,
Loath to depose the child, Your brother's son;
As well we know your tenderness of heart
And gentle, kind, effeminate remorse,
Which we have noted in you to your kin,
And egally indeed to all estates,--
Yet whether you accept our suit or no,
Your brother's son shall never reign our king;
But we will plant some other in the throne,
To the disgrace and downfall of your house:
And in this resolution here we leave you.--
Come, citizens: 'zounds! I'll entreat no more.

GLOUCESTER
O, do not swear, my lord of Buckingham.



Now I will tag,
Kathleen of Liber Fides Veritas
Arlene of aRt De Me
Stephanie of Going Forth In Faith

Bother, I don't have anyone else to tag. *sigh*

I've been tagged!

Well, I've been tagged by my friend, Josh...

And that means I get to tell you some random facts about me and then tag somebody else!
So here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I'm a performer at heart. I love to be on stage, whether I am playing the piano, acting, speaking or Irish dancing (which I am not taking at the moment)
2. My favorite writer is William Shakespeare.
3. I was born in Vancouver, BC.
4. I love frogs. I have been known to roll up my pants and wade into a swamp in bare feet. (seriously)
5. I have fractured 1 arm and 1 rib (not at the same time!)
6. People often comment on the "strangeness" of my eyes. (They're not really strange, they just have a yellow ring around the pupil).
   
7. My room is the cleanest that its been for years (w00t!)
   

At the moment, I don't have anybody else to tag as all the other bloggers that I know have been tagged already, but I'll let you know if I tag somebody. :)

You gotta read this post by Raine. Its excellent and perfectly sums up my opinions too. Don't you love reading an article that so brilliantly shows you that you aren't alone in your opinions?

Asher Lev

I recently read some really great books. My name is Asher Lev and The gift of Asher Lev, both by Chaim Potok. They tell the story of a Hasidic jewish boy who has an amazing gift for art. The art that he creates, is not appreciated at all by his family and friends. Read them. They're great. Along with a lot of other things that I learned, I really gained an appreciation for painting and I've started doing some of my own, which I have discovered that I really enjoy.

Skype

I can't resist geeky things. Software, gadgetry, I love it all.

Skype is one of those things. I don't need it of course, in fact, I really have no use for it, but its soo cool! Its completely free and you can make free "phone calls" to other Skype users anywhere that there is an internet connection. All you need is speakers, a microphone and the free Skype download. Its pretty cool. You can use it for conference calls and everything. Its cool. And completely free.

(p.s. if you do download it, add me as a contact. I think all of you regular readers know my real name and email.)

Brr...It's cold out there!

I live in Canada. Contrary to popular belief, it is not always cold here and we do not all live in igloos. However, right now where I live, we have lots of snow. Its -46 celsius with the wind chill. It's really pretty though!

This is where our sidewalk should be...

...but, it's not there!

Comments

Sorry everybody, I hardly ever answer your comments. I am going to try to answer your comments a lot more.

Century Rolls by John Adams

I recently have started listening to a really interesting piece of music. Its called Century Rolls. It is a piano concerto by John Adams. John Aams was commissioned by Emanuel Ax for to write a new piano concerto for Emanuel Ax to play with the Cleveland Orchestra. I have to admit though, I just don't understand the piece. The more I listen to it, the more I understand it and appreciate it, but its just hard to understand. I suggest that you listen to it, and listen to it, and listen to it some more. I think you'll like it. I do. Some things to listen for-Especially listen to the rhythms and the way that the different instruments work together to make a rich musical tapestry. Its brilliant. Also listen to the colour and the vibrance of the piece. Its really neat.

Crazy dog

Here are some crazy photos of my funny dog. I laughed so hard about some of these. My sister thought I was crazy.

A lesson learned...in an amusing way

You can make a difference, one person can change the world, blah blah, etc etc etc. You've heard it before. I had heard it lots before. The message happily floated through my brain and out my ears, making no notice of the fact that it should stay in my mind. It never clicked. Two days ago though, it clicked.

I was in a car driving to a piano lesson. The traffic slowed and we were no longer moving at a normal pace. Trapped between a couple cars with no way of getting out of the slog, we inched along at a snail's pace. We drove for about ten minutes, going no faster than 10 kph. As we came around a bend, we discovered the cause of the slow moving. It was a young man standing beside his truck. By the looks of the oil tank beside him, he had ran out of gas. There is the lesson, right there.
One person affected about fifty people, just like that.

NaNoWriMo!

I actually finished it! I actually finished it on November 30th. 50,038 was my official word count but I still have a tiny bit more to add to my novel (or novella if you want to call it that). I might post some excerpts here at some point, but I have to do a load of editing to get it into readable condition.