Detour

So, I'm going to go on a detour, and not blog about my choir for this post.

Europe has been looking to ban the veil, niqab, that Muslim women wear for quite some time (well, not all of Europe, but rather some countries). Y'know, that in itself disgusts me. I'll confess that I don't know whether those countries have anything similar to Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but I'll go on a limb and say that they do. Their discussing its banning is akin to saying: Christians can't wear crosses. It's a religious garb that's been that way for centuries, and if they are privileged to have freedom of religion, they need to be allowed to wear this.

I see their counter argument that: people should be able to see others' faces, and that this is partly a "counter terrorism" measure. I'm not going to go into the whole religious debate, whether they are anti-Islam or not, but I want to know whether there are bans on people wearing balaclavas, thick and long scarves that cover their faces, a heavy make up. If they truly do, fine. Perhaps this is a law that has been around, and I'll admit to being ignorant. But somehow, I doubt such a rule currently exists... They also mention that it's "impolite" to not be able to see others' faces. If this has always been an issue, has there been laws on this in the past?

Tony Blair said that the garb is "a mark of separation, and that's why it makes other people from outside the community feel uncomfortable.” So... then don't all people who dress differently than "the norm" fit in this category? And is there even a "norm"? EVERYONE dresses differently; we are individuals. Heck. Even people who wear the same thing look different, because they ARE different. Perhaps if we just take Tony's quote literally and paraphrase it a bit, perhaps he really is just commenting that "when people are different, people feel uncomfortable." And perhaps if we read it that way, it's not so bad, since he *could* be relaying this to *everyone* who dresses different, and thus carry the "mark of separation". But somehow, I doubt that...

Anyway, that's the first bit of my rant. The more pertinent issue is that the above quote, Tony's quote, was posted as the Globe and Mail's poll to the public. The quote asks voters whether they agree with that statement or not. So far, 71% of Canadians think YES. WHAT? I've always been proud of Canada's tolerance, and our acceptance of other cultures and and religions, that we celebrate each other's differences. What happened? I am so ashamed of the results of that vote.

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh. Perhaps I should blame the media and the US a bit more than blaming the Canadians. After all, the media does have a slant on all this stuff, and especially the US media. But we still should not be swayed as such.

I've actually noticed a trend for Globe and Mail's poll. I've been noticing more and more that the voters (and I'll say "Canadians", since G&M is a Canadian publication) have been less and less tolerant. Yes, there is still terrorism, and that Islamic Extremists brought it to the forefront, but just because there are some bad apples, should we really toss out the whole bushel? And all the OTHER acts of terrorisms: what religion have THEY been? Why is there such a double standard?!

And to answer myself, yes, people are afraid of the unknown, the unfamiliar. But we seriously need to work on getting over it.

If everyone can understand the meaning of love and compassion as following the sagacity of the Dalai Lama, the world would indeed be a better place...

Rebirth

So, I am going to sticking around here, since I haven't really dived into travel plans at all. I thought about travelling in late October till Christmas, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I can find someone to do a road trip with... That'll be pretty freakin' sweet.

Anway, I digress. As this is the MRSS A Cappella blog, I'm going to talk about singning. I've started up the choir again. I didn't do my "play cool songs in front of people" when I did my recruting bit, hoping to ride the success of last year, and that people would flock to the choir. No such luck. I had a total of 10 people sign up, and only 8 actually came and auditioned. Yeah. It's this low of turn out. No guys.

What to do...?

First off, do I even have enough people to do a choir? 8 is a stretch. As in, if everyone stays, I can barely pull off 4 parts. And if soloing, someone will have to be singing one on a part. Very, very scary, seeing that while the girls are good, but are they strong enough to go be that alone...? And if one or two people drop out, then we're really, really screwed...

Second, I have a bunch of really cool a cappella songs that I want to do, namely Accidentally In Love that I arranged (at least I got a chance to hear it performed a month back), and they are all SATB (girls + guys needed). I have NO music. I'll probably look around, since I'm in a bind, but just a tough call overall...

But, I'll have faith. I'll see where this takes me. Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised. I've started rearranging Imagine by John Lennon into girls only. It's sooo hard to do 4 parts, since when I do a counter melody, I effectively only have 2 parts left to provide background... Not cool.

I spent a few hours a couple of days ago trying this, and there were areas where I full split up certain voices in order to flesh the sound out. The more I do it, the harder it gets. And with the low turnout of girls, can I afford to do 5 parts?

I remember a lesson I recently learned, to just let go of control. If something is so hard for me to shape, why force it? So, I bit the bullet, and split it into 5 parts. Way easier to arrange, but much scarier in terms of end success due to low number of girls. But I'll try it. Let's hope this pans out. Guess I'll find out on Friday...

Catching up

Well, it's been 3 weeks since I've written. One of the reasons is that I'm now teaching with Kaplan in fairly full force. Another is that I've been a tad lazy. And another is that... Actually, those are pretty much it.

So we had our concerts. And, damn, it's fun to perform. I love performing. I lover conducting. I love knowing that we sound great.

On May 31st, we had our first performance, with the Jr. year-end concert. We were on after Intermission, and my name was on the program as "director". Hehe. Director. Leading up to the concerts, there were a couple of possible concerns. One member is going to cut super close on time, and another had other performances within the school. And it's lucky that we're on after Intermission, since that minimizes the problems the best.

Oh yeah, I don't remember whether I've mentioned it, but we're down to two songs. Two songs that, well, sound *really* polished.


Anyway, I got there around 7pm, with intermission slated for around 7:40. Watched some of the groups, and I just have to say that Carrie does an absolutely wonderful job. She has so much fun with her choirs, and they in return. For her Sr. Chamber choir, they need to do a "leadership project". One of them wanted to an all female a cappella choir, and they performed before intermission. They sounded great.

Intermission came, everyone arrived in time. We went and practiced a bit in the choir room, then we went to the gym. Lined up, and were introduced. Then, I realized that the soloist for the first song wasn't there. She was just a minute ago. What happened? I think she was photocopying music. So, I did some tactful stalling. I rambled. I should've thanked the choir and their time, as I had prepared, but I just rambled about myself, which, frankly, I feel bad about immediately afterwards, thinking "why didn't I thank the choir?"

Anyway, she came back, and we started singing. And we sounded good. I'm pretty sure of it. California Dreamin' rocked. Great solo. Then, did Sweet Surrender, and that was awesome as well. I was at first apprehensive about the acoutics, but it ended up sounding fine. The audience seemed to love it. My friends who came thought we did well as well, and that's all the thanks I need. :)


Sooo, the next night, we had a slot in the Senior year end concert. Well, not a real slot, per se, since we were just going to do our thing during intermission, and not actually during actual performance time. But, I wrangled a "speaking" spot right before intermission. Now, I haven't done public speaking for a while. (I mean in front of a full audience: this was the Maple Ridge Art Center, ACT, and it's a full theatre, packed). Anyway, I minimized my ramblings, and let everyone know we'll be performing out in the lobby.

We got out there, and people were waiting for us already. They were gathered around, interested. We did a tiny bit of warmups, and we were off. Same set. Awesome, as before. The audience loved it. Did my thank you spiel, remembered to thank the choir, and that was it.

What a great, great couple of months of leading a choir!


(Yeah, I'm finishing this up waaayyyy later than this occurred, so the details are low.)

Oh, one more thing...

Oh yeah. One more thing: girls with a beauty mark (a la Cindy Crawford and Marilyn Monroe) = extra hot.

Lost

So, I've starting to re-catch up on Lost again. I was watching the season finale last Wednesday, and, while I plowed through Season 1 a year ago, and stayed caught up for half of season 2, it just kinda faded for me for a while. Yes, House was a big reason, and I started watching Justice League, but I just didn't find the time for it.

Anyway, the season finale got me intersted again, and thus I started to catch up.

Some thoughts:
Libby on the show definitely can look good. She generally does in her curly light dirty blonde hair, usually tied back. But in the flashback sequence where she was a redhead, she looked BAD. I mean, like Charlize Theron in Monster, but add sulfuric acid to her face bad. It isn't the redheaded-ness (my thoughts on redheads in show biz supports this: http://mrssacappella.blogspot.com/2006/04/why-are.html), but rather that it was all frizzy and poofy and stupid looking, making the rest of her just as frizzy and poofy and stupid looking.

Trying to figure out the hottest one on there. Kate is cute, but the buckteeth bugs me. It's a bit of a toss up between Shannon (dead) and Claire. And, while Shannon I think has the more All American hotness, Claire's personality and, y'know where this is going, her accent wins out.

When in a tie situation, the accent (Aussie (Perth > Sydney > Melbourne) > Kiwi > Cape Breton > French > Spanish) wins out. British can do it, but it carries a sense of... prudeness that doesn't fully do it for me. German/Dutch/Russian accents are a bit much. Southern charm doesn't do it for me either. And, of course, Chinese/Indian/Japanese/Korean accents just blows.

That said, Sun on the show is pretty cute. And, surprisingly, her accent doesn't detract anything.

Oh yeah. Michelle Rodriguez can both be somewhat okay looking (e.g. "cleans up nice"), and just plain gross looking.

And girliest man on there? Eko and Boone (also dead) are a toss up. ;)

The corporate world

As for the rest of my trip, nothing crazy. Visiting my old work was good. Seeing old colleagues, catching up, was... as plainly as this word can be, nice. I use this word because the one connotation I'm looking for is offered only by this word. It's the usage where it's... nice. Not overwhelmingly exciting, or as plain as okay. But... nice. It gave me a good sense of why I'm not there anymore. The people were great, for sure, but the environment, in retrospect, and even near the end of my tenure, sapped me. Perhaps it's just the effect of having a job in itself, or more likely, the corporate world, but it just... dulled me a bit. While I probably wasn't spending quite as much time studying for the MCAT and going to school from January to April than when I was working, I felt I had the energy to do something more. Thus the choir and the various volunteering. Even weekends, even though they were study filled, didn't seem so boring, like I was vegging/wasting my time.

I'm not insinuating that the corporate world affects everyone the same way, but the fact of the matter is that it, on average, makes life a little duller for most people. Sure, the money was great, and with those new means, a person can do things that fills their life, but not often enough, not that I have seen with my eyes as the norm, does the money fulfill lives more. A new toy or new additions to toys don't amount to as much as something that hits a person's psyche, a person's emotional, spiritual, and achievement needs. Perhaps for some, it does, but not as much as you'd think.

And if you think that you'd put the money to "good use" and "good will", yeah, you have the means to do it, but it doesn't occur enough. Not as much as you thought you would contribute. Generally not. But, hey, that's okay, too. I don't want to harp on the corporate world. It suits people's needs. It meets people's want of stability and structure. But truly fulfilling? Rarely.

One last note: I was talking and thinking about the big 2 out there, Google and Microsoft, and how they enter new markets and how they enter areas where it's already entrenched (gaming for Microsoft, and a little bit of everything for Google), and my initial thought was: why? They already have billions. The products are good. Why keep expanding? Why can't they just work together, and get along?

Oh yeah. Capitalism.

Naive? No, I don't attribute it to that. I've seen enough to not be surprised about a lot of things, and that having seen the world for twenty odd years has made me realize what's out there.

I attribute it to optimism. I think, I'd like to think, that the world out there is nicer and kinder than it is. I want to. I don't get crushed when I look more closely and see that it's not, but nor does this hope fade. It's what I have to do.

It's like...

So last weekend (you can see where this series of entries are going. I'm catching up), I went down to Seattle. Visited, saw some old friends. Not as many as I could have, but enough to respark the connections.

One of my good friends down there just started dating this girl. The one big thing that I've noticed is how comfortable around each other they are. Maybe I've just been out of the game for this long, or that I haven't seen new couple for a long time, but even after only about 2 or 3 weeks, they connect like they've been together for 2 or 3 months.

I'm pretty sure it's a good sign. I wish it the best, and hope it goes well.

It's finally arrived.

Wow. After about two and a half months, we've finally arrived. The raison d'etre of this blog, is imminent this week.

Wednesday and Thursday are the big performances for my little choir. We have a whopping 2 songs, sung by an astronomical 9 people. While I chide on the numbers, I assure you, that we sounded pretty good on our final rehearsal.

After ups and downs, extra people and more than warranted dropping out (started with 14, went to 15, now 8 plus me), and many missed rehearsals due to holidays and pro-D days, we've reached the penultimate point a couple of days ago.

Ran California Dreamin' briefly. Thank heavens, people remembered the nuances that we've painstakingly worked on the rehearsal before, 4 weeks ago. Only minor touch ups, and we spent only 15 minutes on it, as I wanted to.

Sweet Surrender. I surrendered last time. We had 15 minutes left, but it wasn't going anywhere. It was somewhat looking the same, in that we alwasy go sharp. Now, normally, going sharp is not unacceptable. If the whole group does so together. But with this group, everyone seems to go up individually. I'm quite sure it starts with the basses (guilty here), but we don't even sync up when we go up. After anoub 20 bars, half the choir's gone up. It takes another 20 bars for the rest to catch up.

So, a student suggested we just start a semi-tone higher. I've never done that before, and immediately assumed that we'd just continue to go up. But, miraculously (and not quite so), it worked. I guess either the group just natrually wants to sing the song at the new key, or, more likely, it just starts to get too high, and it's just not possible to go another semi-tone up.

Spent the bulk of the time on it, even worked in some dynamics. By the end, we sounded good.

I'm going to miss the choir and the singing. Most definitely. But there's still two performances, and still need to do a coffee house type thing for all the non school attendees, such as you guys who read this blog.
Polished up Sweet Surrender, and (we start on an F#, but

Yeah, but how'd it get here?

So, apparently, they found the source of HIV to have originated from chimpanzees: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/26/content_4604113.htm.

The much more interesting yet disturbing question is: how did it get to humans???

Did I just see...? Nope. Mistaken.

As some of you know, I'm not the biggest Asian girls fan. No offense to them, many who are very pretty, but usually, they just don't catch my eye.

So, I was watching MI:3 today, and Maggie Q, the, um, whatever expert she is in the movie - I haven't figured out her exact role, not like Ving Rhames is the "observer", and the other guy is the pilot, like "Face" of the A-Team - and she is absolutely gorgeous.

I thought I've found a prime counter example to defeat my views.

But I've a lingering feeling that she ain't 100%. The nose is very telltale.

So I looked her up, and, sure enough, half-breed.

And, damn, she's definitely a prime example of that.

Side Note...

So, Canada's coming out with our own "Canada's Next Top Model".

You know what? There's 10 contestants, and 5 of them are from BC, 4 of which are from Lower Mainland.

Oh yeah. Another reason why BC rocks (particularly Lower Mainland).

Side note: The Asian girl - surprise! From Richmond - looks freaky. Not the good freaky, like "I'm a brotha and the sista is freaky", but alien freaky. I think all my female Asian friends are prettier than she is (but then again, all of them are pretty good looking ;) )

ANTM/Other beauties

So, I watch ANTM - America's Next Top Model - once in a while. Not an avid fan, but I'll catch it if my parents aren't watching TV. That timeslot doesn't have anything else worthwhile anyway.

As I've alluded to in the past, there were really only 2 decent looking girls on the show this time around. And, unfortunately, the cutest/hottest one - Sara - got the boot. She was super tall (6' or 6'1"), and had a great face. Her body a tad angular (as many tall girls are), but she looked *good*. She's one reason I watch her, the other being Joanie (both, coincidentally, are blonde, as a side note, not that I have a particular thing for blondes). Apparently, she didn't even apply for the show. She just happened to be in the mall when they were doing trials, and she was picked out by the show to try out. And she got to be 4th. Not too shabby.

My final rant. Scarlett Johansson is gorgeous. It is ridiculous how ridiculously good-lookingly she is, and her body is, as some of my Seattle friends would put it, bangin'.

So, where's my rant? A lot of people I've expressed my feelings about don't find her in the same regard. Not even close. Fine, if you like some other actress, etc., but Scarlett Johansson is at least up there, no? No, apparently.

And thus is my rant. All you crazies out there.

Not all bad...

So, while yesterday had its frustrating moments, it was not all bad (as evidenced first by my final enrolment).

First off, the stupid UBC registration process finally sorted out, and I can enrol in the course that I need in the second half of the semester.

Secondly, I had my second interview/audition for teaching at Kaplan, the MCAT prep course that I took the past four months. My first interview, which I wrote about but didn't end up posting to the blog, went... frustratingly. Basically, the interview consisted of me teaching a topic, any topic, for 5 minutes. As you know, I've taught various things in myriad capacities before, and I consider myself a decent teacher. This time, I was rejected, and was told that I was confusing.

Me? Confusing? Wow. I was ready to blow a gasket. And I did.

But perseverance prevailed, and, knowing that I am better than I was judged, I told my case, and asked for a second chance. Thankfully, they allowed me a second passage.

This time, I took an easier topic (my first was to teach people how to read music... in 5 minutes) - which was how to fly an airplane - and dissected it. While I was obviously more nervous this time around (more pressure), I hung on to my plan. I didn't think too well of my performance, but I got more than was required of them to give me, and all I can do now is wait.

Lo and behold, after I got home, checked my e-mail, Kaplan already replied. They said that it was rare for them to grant second opportunities, and that they thought I might be able to better than the first time. And, it paid off for both of us. I got in.

Yay!

Hardest time ever

I just had the most ridiculous time ever trying to register for a course. I was originally going to go to UBC to pick up Organic Chem, not wanting a bunch of credits from a million different schools. However, even though I did everything on time, somehow, it still took them a lot longer then it should have to even process my stuff to allow me to register. By the time that I actually could register (and I've called once a week to update my status), the class was already over full, and the waitlist has grown to ridiculous portions, and there's no way I can get in, with lab space super limited as is.

Thus, I had to resort to going somewhere else. Douglas, where I went this past semester. The class had a short waitlist, but I thought that I would be able to talk my way in, seeing how I was in the same predicament last semester. However, this time was different. I tried as many ways as possible, but the prof wouldn't even budge. At all. I sensed no mercy, a complete stickler to the rules, and, even though she could bend the rules herself, she did not give one iota. Just something about her demeanor (although she was reportedly a nice prof) in the way she handled the situation really put me off.

So, frantically, I looked elsewhere. Langara was a good call, since I'd be in Van for the second half of the summer anyway, so that would've worked out beatifully. While they only offered the second half of the course, I thought that I can get in, seeing how I have a proven track record through grades, as well as prior O. Chem knowledge from the MCAT. I phoned in, and talked. And they prof was at least helpful and somewhat accommodating. Asked for transcripts and whatnot, and had to check with the lab TA. I thought I was golden.

The next day, before I set off for Langara, I decided to check my e-mail. Lo and behold, rejected. Wow. I am flabbergasted. I couldn't get into a 2nd year chemistry course. Why are professors so afraid to let a person's grades ride on their shoulders? Perhaps they don't want to deal with the possibility of my going to them for questions, as I don't have the prereqs on paper, but can't they deal with it at that point? Ultimately, I guess I really lucked out with professors at Douglas the first semester around.

Time waning, I looked at UCFV. I didn't want to go there, since the drive was in completely the wrong direction, but I was desperate. I got there, and after some wrangling, and at least a friendly, though pointed, offer was made, and I just have a few minor hoops left before I'm officially enrolled.

WOW. I never thought it could get this ugly, thought there'd be more trust and compassion in the world.

I guess not.

It's just sad to see the world so hung up on formalities, rules, and non-trusting of other people. While I know that the world is indeed skeptical and people need to be guarded, I will never let my optimism fall. That is not to say that I won't be astute in my dealings with others, but that I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Especially when the outcome cannot harm me, and can only aid the other, as in the cases listed above.

Now on the top 3 search engines!

So, my dad's pottery site, www.choispottery.com, is now officially on Google, Yahoo, and MSN Search. If you search for "choi's pottery", the site will be the FIRST THING that you see. This is absolutely exciting for me, since Google took *forever* for us to be at the top (MSN put us at the top before any of the other search engines... Must be some crazy inside connection :D ).

Brain and Energy

So, I've put on weight. First time in years that my body weight has fluctuated beyond the 4 lb. range that it normally rests in. And first time ever that I gain insight of my female friends saying "I know I gained 2 lbs, because these jeans fit differently". I guess with guys' much looser jeans, it needs a few more than 2 lbs. to make pants fitting noticeable.

Now, I know I've been eating very well since I've been home, but the weight gain didn't really feel gradual. It feels that the past couple of weeks was when this sudden increase in mass occurred.

And I have a theory: brain usage.

The brain normally consumes ~25% of energy intake. So that 4 pieces of chicken you just had? 1 went straight to the brain.

With the past months of MCAT preparation, my brain was in high gear. Even though I wasn't working out as much as I normally do (which isn't that much to start with), and with the added good and steady meals, I didn't feel like I gained weight. Starting from the week before the MCAT up to now, I think the mass was added. This is because when MCAT prep was happening (along with courses), my brain totally geared up. I bet it used at least 1/3 of all the energy intake, maybe even more. But now, no more MCAT, so my brain isn't as taxed, and all this extra energy is just kicking around. Yes, I started working out again, so not all the weight is "bad" weight, but whenever you gain weigh, you NEVER gain only good weight.

So I have a bit more mass to work with. More to sculpt with. I'll play Michelangelo, and aim for a masterpiece over the summer.

Accidentally Not In Love

Well, after finally starting Accidentally in Love the last rehearsal, I find out a couple pieces of bad news.

First off, we lost another bass. Because a lot of scholarship stuff happens during rehearsal, he won't be able to make it. It's too bad, since we lost another guy, but best of luck to him.

Second, I just found out that we'll lose 2 weeks for sure, possibly 3. 3 freakin' weeks. Band trip. Clinic, then ANOTHER Pro-D day.

Oh, on that rant: Since my graduation at MRSS years ago, school is now one hour shorter. One freakin' hour. 8:30 - 2:30. Wow. And this deluge of Pro-D days??? Don't they go to school anymore? Don't they need to learn???

Anyway, because of the couple of weeks of cancellations, there's no way in hell we can pull off Accidentally in Love. Man, another chance of knowing what my freakin' arrangement sounds like gone to drain...

Why are...

Redheads in all cartoons/TV/Movies ridiculously hot? I've yet met one redhead that is at that caliber. I mean, I've seen other hair coloured girls reach that level of hotness in real life, but not so for redheads.

How can this be?

It's the gingervitis, I know it.

Only in Ultimate...

... can you say "force" "bush" "dike" "dump" repeatedly without *anyone* falling into juvenile giggling fits.

Quotes for every day

A short list, but it's a start.

"Do you ever get chafed straddling the fence all the time?" - for all those wishy-washy people.

"Are you serious?" "Serious as an erection problem." - To bring gravity to any situation.

"Margaritas always taste better in Mexico." "Yes they do." "Margaritas and cock." - To pretty much end any conversation.

[after going to the bathroom] "You going to wash your hands?" "No. Cuz I'm EVIL." - if this ever comes up, this will probably end the conversation.

Synonyms for short

Stumpy
Stubby

Okay, that's my list. It's pretty short (pun not originally intended, by now is).

Take off your clothes!

So, why do superheroes always keep their costumes on? I mean, when they sleep, eat, play sports even, I bet.

Just change into something else already! That "no glasses" = Superman, "glasses" = Clark Kent business ain't foolin' nobody.

Oh, and dark hair, blue eyes, very hot (a la Wonder Woman).

Love Hurts, literally

A literal representation of "love hurts"

http://duonopocky.out-post.net/drawings/love.html

So, you got any donuts in that thing?

Batman carries absolutely everything imaginable in that belt.

I bet he even carries 3 jelly donuts from Tim Horton's...

That's called entrapment, girls

Read an article in the paper, about the crazy things women ask their boyfriend/husbands, and how we, as guys, are just kinda screwed.

1. The ol' standard: Be honest: do I look fat in these jeans? There is no honest way to say it. If she really is fat, you can't say that. If she really isn't fat, even if you say she isn't, she'll just say that you're saying that because you guys are together.
   
2. Dress sizes. WTF is a 12? A 4? Is this inches? That doesn't make sense. Feet? Metres? Y'know, in a man's vocabulary, there is "large" and "small", and we only started learning about "medium" three days ago.
3. Do you think my friends are hot? Am I the hottest one out of my friends? Girls, that's called entrapment.
   

Last Rehearsal - Finally, Accidentally

So, a couple of interesting observations:

• Some of the kids really, really likes the choir
• And some of them are a bit indifferent

Last Friday was a Pro-D day. For those who don't know, that's a professional development day for the teachers. Basically a day off for kids in high school.

Since we missed Good Friday's rehearsal, I really didn't want to miss it again. But seeing how it's a day off for them, I didn't want to force them to come.

I sent an e-mail out, asking whether people would show up if I held rehearsal. Some were enthusiastically "YES", and some were "I think I can manage", and some were "I may have something coming up".

Anyway, I got enough people to pull this together, and ended up only missing 2 people, with legitimate excuses. That's not bad at all, for a bright and sunny day, and a day off.

Ran California Dreamin', and the bridge still needed work. Worked on the intro, and after about a 1/2 hour of work, we were sounding alright.

Ran Sweet Surrender. Missing the solo, we still sounded decent. Still some improvements left, of course.

Then, we started my coup de grace: Accidentally In Love. Hearing the midi again, I'm still amazed at the arrangement (tootin' my own horn again). We started it, and took about 45 minutes to learn up to the end of the first chorus, which is actually expected. With the Acoustix, we split up to learn guys and girls parts, and took about 25 minutes to get that far.

Yeah, we're on our way!

Damn Yuppies...

So, I was in Yaletown today, just catching up with an old friend (and some of her friends) at the Cactus Club.

First off, I didn't even know there was a Cactus Club there. Second, I didn't have a clue that I was on Hamilton at the time. I thought I was going down an alley.

Anyway, after we got out, I looked around, and I totally see the whole yuppie-ness, and it was gross. All the girls were sorta semi-dressed up (likely spent 2 hours to look like it only took 15 minutes), and all the guys looked pretty much the same: dress shirt with either a sweater or nice jacket over it, and jeans/khakis (I'll admit to dressing like that at times) But worst of all was the way they walked. The damn swagger, thinking they're something. It just felt... Soooo pretentious.

That's when I look back on my on "young urban professional" days, and tried to remember whether it was like that... Well, I guess it was, sorta, with a couple of distinctions:

• There were a lot more South Asians (or "brown"), since most of my friends were as such;
• There were a lot more guys, period (unfortunately), and not enough girls.

Yes, the latter was definitely the most noticeable. At least in Yaletown, they looked good...

Park. Bench. Bee. Weedwacker. Outboard motor. Connection?

Man, I'm going all over the place chronologically with my posts. This one is actually for the night before the MCAT, about a dream.

So, I'm in a park, just chillin' out. I was on one of those picnic table benches thing, eating some scrumptious cake, when a bee started buzzing around me. I move away from it a bit (I both don't like bugs, and have a strange phobia towards them), but it followed me. I start moving away faster, walking away from the bench, and yet, it's still coming at me. I start running. I didn't know what to do. I run, and I run, and it was like a TV show, where I could almost hear car chase music, with "speed lines" whipping by, and the bee being shot with a wide angle lens (so that the front of it looks a lot larger). I run by a family who were picniking, and grabbed one of those pool noodles (those foamy, long thingy you play with at the pool). I started to fight back, swinging at the bee. I know it's not a good idea to attack bees, since they would fight back, but I was already being chased, right? I swung at it, but missed. Then again, but missed. I swung once more, and the tip of the noodle came ever so close to the bee.

Then, I really pissed it off. It came right at me, ass first.

Then I woke up. After a short breather, I realized that there was a weedwacker/outboard motor rumbling outside, at like 4am in the morning.

Funny how sounds mess with your dreams.

Freshman 15 is NOT a myth

So, I went to the Blarney Stone for what seems like the 76th time with my friend Mike and his friend on Saturday, and, after quickly settling in with a jug of cream ale, I started to relax and chill. (I was pretty pumped in going, but then petered out very quickly when I got there, mainly because that was when I started to feel drained from my day).

Anyway, while Blarney isn't really known as a hotbed for modelesque female forms (similar to the current "cycle" on America's Next Top Model, where there's only like 2 girls that are hot), they generally have enough eye candy (at least for a non-sweet tooth person like me - okay, bad mix of both metaphor and actuality of my non-sweet tooth-ness - and, hyphen and dashes galore!) And since I heard that this was the Saturday after finals for all the schools, I thought it could only get better.

Looking around, I notice... Freshman 15. Everywhere. Everywhere on the girls. I did a quick mental comparison of the girls vs. the guys, and the distribution of the 15 definitely went towards the gender whose symbol has a cross. It's like they were giving out free cake, and only girls were allowed. It was very, very eery.

A further mental check of a couple of months ago when I came here, the 15 is definitely heightened over finals.

Ahhh, Slick Ultimate

You see random people of the past in random strange places.

So, today was gorgeous. No other way to put it. Absolutely gorgeous. Woke up wayyyy too early, and just bummed about.

I wanted to take a nap on a beach, but I didn't think I could make it all the way down to Jericho without running into the ditch (from falling asleep), so I just slept a bit a home.

Eventually, I went for a short bike ride, mainly to get some road slicks (road tires for my mountain bike). Holy crap, they make such a huge difference. I couldn't possibly have imagined the difference it would've made until I tried them.

Then, I poked on the internet to find something to do outdoors. I wanted to play beach volleyball or throw a disc (frisbee) around, and found out that Maple Ridge, li'l ol' Maple Ridge, has our own Ultimate leage. Wow. That's just crazy. And, further more, they were playing at 6pm. Rock on.

Showed up at 5:45, and saw some unexpected old high school acquaintances, and even a teacher. Weird as heck.

Anyway, took a warm-up lap, and I was breathing hard already. I'm so out of shape.

Started throwing a bit, and it was nice to know that my handling hasn't completely fallen on the wayside. I picked up with a team, and ended up as a main handler.

By time I left, my quads, both legs, were seizing up. I actually couldn't walk properly, because I couldn't straighten out my legs.

And that's about the story that I had.

Yay.

I'll live

I was looking at the title of my last post, and contemplated whether to follow the trend or to use my MSN name. I decided on the latter.

So, I didn't rock as much as I would've liked. I doubt I did a 37 worthy performance. I was really hoping for a trifecta like last time (*finishing* all the sections would've been a trifecta for me), but to no avail.

The Physical section went phenomenally. I think there were about 2 questions I was unsure of, and that's about it. I'm crossing my fingers for a 14, but a 13 should be well within reach, and at the very worst, a 12.

Verbal, unfortunately, took a bite out of me. I missed the last passage, and there were a lot of unsure answers along the way. And my performance over the week has been poor on verbal, so I'm a bit nervous. Could be as low as a 9 (I hope not), or mebbe a 11 tops.

Writing, I felt I nailed it. Got some pointers from Kaplan, and I hope those gave me the boost to get me to two 5's. (equivalent of an R). I should be at a 4 and a 5, at least (and even if I only hit 4's, I won't be disappointed).

Biological sciences section did a small number on me. I was cruising along fine, then, because I felt I could afford it, I took extra time on a few questions. Big mistake. Those added up, and caused me to miss an organic chem passage. It was easy, too, if I only had the time. And there were dicey questions, so I wonder how I ended up. I should be at an 11, possibly squeaking out a 12 (unlike the 13 point monster that I had before), but could suck it up at 10 (which I doubt).

So, my estimate would be: 31, P - 37, R.

Now I just wait for 6+ weeks. Heh...

I know I rock...

"I know I rock, but I'm not made of stone."

What a great line. Find the origin, and you win!


On a side note, where are all the hot Greek women out there? I just saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding again, and it just reminded me how Greek women are hot (there weren't really any in the movie, but it just reminded me of them from my time in Greece).

I want someone to shove delicious Greek food in my face.

Fat guys and hot girlfriends

Y'know, I don't get it. How come TV insists on portraying fat guys with hot girlfriends/wife? I know it's part of the American Dream (to eat donuts with a hot wife making them and handing you a beer), but it's also soooo unrealistic. I've YET to see one fat guy land a ridiculously hot woman. Yes, I know some who are slightly overweight, and have good looking girlfriend/wife, but none nearly as polarized (there's an MCAT Verbal Reasoning word for ya).

Case 1:
Homer and Marge. Pretty much the archetype of the current TV generation. Fat, lazy slob, with a caring, presumably hot (for a cartoon Springfield) wife.

Case 2:
Doug and Carrie on King of Queens. This is really what sparked this post. I mean, this woman makes habernero sauce seem like a glass of lemonade. If you recall her summer guest appearance on SBTB, you'll see she both looks exactly the same, and has aged magnificently. And Doug is just a fat guy working for UPS. Go figure.

Case 3:
Peter and Lois Griffin from Family Guy. Yup. Another cartoon. But a perfect example. Lois is supposed to be ridiculously hot (as in her being a model, etc.), and Peter is just... Even dumber than Homer.

Case 4:
Fred and Barney, Wilma and Betty, from Flintstones. Okay, another cartoon. But the age of this is from waaay back, and shows that even back then, it happens. And, damn, Wilma is hot (strange, yet *another* redhead...).

Case 5:
Moose and Midge on Archie. Okay. I'll broaden the definition to "dumb", since Moose is supposed to be a star athlete. Wait. This is *very* similar to real life. Nevermind.


Okay. This wasn't as extensive as I thought it would be, and it's much more limited to cartoons, but still...

I rest my case.

On Basketball...

On MVP race:

"All the fuss about who is deserving and who isn't and what makes for an MVP [in NBA] and what doesn't is akin to debating what length of skirt turns a girl from sexy to a slut." - Marc Stein

I thought it was 8.7 inches?


On Tony Parker:
'Asked about Tony Parker's season, Tim Duncan credited Eva Longoria, whose presence initially concerned the Spurs. "When you're happy," Duncan told the SA Express-News, "you play good basketball."'

He's only 23.

And he's got Eva Longoria.


And Tony Parker on Eva Longoria:
"We're one of the only teams in the NBA [that] lets us travel with wives or girlfriends. They all talk to her, so they know she's not a crazy woman."

The "Reverse Hitler"

So, the fu is coming in nicely/grossly. It's the archetypal fu-man-chu, where there's a patch on my chin, and two brush-stroke looking clusters on the outer ends of my upper lip, with nothing under my nose.

Or another way of putting it, the "Reverse Hitler".

Milestones

Well, I've never thought that I would be this ecstatic over seeing an empty box (and, please, no dirty connotations).

So, I've been doing this Kaplan prep course for the MCAT, and for the final 4 classes, they are full length practice exams. Dave and I arranged with them so that we wrote these practices at UCFV instead of UBC, since that where we'll be writing the real thing. So, Kaplan sent these to us in a box (standard 8x11x4/5?).

For the past 4 Saturdays (including this one), that's what we've been doing.

Today, after we finished, I went to grab the box (just poking about), and noticed, to my surprise, that it was, in fact, empty.

Empty.

This is it. 4 months of hard work. Only the real test remains next Saturday.

That was milestone number 1.


So, the MCAT is one of the longest standardized tests in the world today. It comprises of 4 sections:
- Physical Sciences (1st year physics and chemistry, comprised of 10 - 11 passages, then you answer questions)
- Verbal Reasoning (read a passage, answer questions. Lots of argument and assumption dissection. 9-10 passages)
- Writing Sample (2 mini essays. 30 minutes each).
- Biological Sciences (1st year biology, and 2nd year organic chemistry, 10-11 passages).

The sciences portions are 100 minutes each, 77 questions. Verbal Reasoning at 85 minutes, 60 questions. Writing Sample at 60 minutes total. That clocks in at 345 minutes.

Just shy of 6 hours.

Throw in two 10 minute breaks and an hour for lunch, and we're at 7 hours.

Now, aside from the sheer duration, the test is long. It's a race against time. Throughout my life, I've never not finished tests (except one time when I was in Hong Kong. But that's a different story).

Until now.

Each time we write, I'd usually miss at least 3 passages overall. Usually 1 each in Physical Sciences. (Obviously, I'd guess "C".)

Today marks the first time that I've finished the entire test. Verbal was rushed, but semi-finished. I scored a tad worse per passage, but slightly higher overall on verbal (I aim to get less than 10 wrong, and generally would, if I were to finish).

That was milestone #2.

Lastly, I scored above 36 (it's graded on a bell curve type scale, total out of 3x15 = 45), a bit of a magic number that Dave and I originally shot for.

It's quite a day.

And now I must sleep.

Yup. That's high school

So it's Easter this Friday. Didn't realize that there's no school. Damn. Had to cancel choir. Booooooo.

One more down...

Well, last Friday marks the day the choir dips below double digits in members. Lost a soprano, which brings our total now to 9: 2 S, 3A, 2T, 2B (+ me). This is going to put a lot of pressure on each member, especially when solos + extra part kicks in. Already for Sweet Surrender, I'd have to sing tenor to balance (I'd rather do percussion, since the song sounds so good with it). For California Dreamin', I'd hate to bring an Alto up to Soprano, since we JUST learned the song in its entirety. I'll see if that's fully necessary, since there are a couple of spots with extra parts, and if I put an alto up there, that should work out.

On the bright side, the song is sounding good. And, we'll be starting Accidentally in Love on Friday!!!

Someone asked whether Stacy's Mom was negotiable... I could barely contain my laughter... But on that note, I may bring out my version of Imagine. Contrary to the title, I don't think my arrangement is all that imaginative, but the song should provide a challenge, seeing how most parts split. This'll be an interesting one if we get to it. I may or may not re-arrange it.

On the "One more down": another final out of the way. Really, only the big one remains.

Staying strong...

Okay. It's been officially one week since I've shaved. I remember when shaving meant once a week for me, and it was barely noticeable. But now I just look dirty. Just plain dirty.

Got two weeks to go till the MCAT; I must stay strong.

Sailing: like Coffee, but better. (Like Sailor... Moon?)

So, I was chatting with one of my friends, and we were talking about first dates, how the whole "let's go for coffee" is so... blah.

So, I suggested he take up sailing, since it's fun, and it's a cool idea as a first date type thing to do. I mean, it's not something crazy physical (like kayaking, and not everyone likes to get wet), or paintballing (you don't really have time to chat), and it's not as long as dinner and a movie (getting "stuck" at a dinner date is not cool. When you have nothing to say and nothing in common, you can't get away. At least in a movie, you have something else as distraction.). A first date should be something relaxed, where you can talk and get to know the person, and have a relatively easy way of escape for both parties if things go bad. That's why coffee works so well, since it's relaxed, and great for chatting.

Also, first dates (test-date, I guess) should also have the ability to lead into something longer. If you're having coffee at 2pm, then unless you've been talking for 4 hours, the idea of dinner will only a plan. If you have coffee at 4pm (or tea and scones, if you're British), you might be able to tie it over to dinner: "Hey, I know this great Chinese/Italian/Deli/McDonalds". And obviously, I'm not talking about the Seinfeld "midnight coffee".

But the biggest problem with coffee, is originality. Everybody and their grandma's dog does coffee. It's so... blah. Yes, a first date (or any date) isn't really about the thing that you're doing, but that you're spending time/getting to know the person (thus coffee works), but you don't make friends with salad. I mean, you don't want it to be remembered as "just another coffee encounter."

Thus, sailing fits the bill. It's light (no sweating involved), good for conversation (you even have two starters right there: "Have you gone sailing before?" and "How long have you been doing this for?"), and extends into anything very naturally (even coffee: "I know this great little coffee shop...").

If you think it's too much of a "This guy's taking me sailing? What does he want?", then you haven't initiated it properly. Should more be: "Hey, I was going to go sailing on Saturday, why don't you come along?"

Sailing, then, only fails on the "escape" aspect. You're trapped on a boat. And so's she. But you can always keep it short, by, well, not sailing so far (if she starts talking about... nothing, or, how, like, her friend Cindy is so totally just jealous of her other friend Sara's new boyfriend since Charlie has a new red car, and how they totally just need to, like, stop telling her about it, then you should make a quick tack and practise your docking skills). And if things go poorly for her, she'll give you the standard "I have to meet a friend/see my sick grandma at the hospital/need walk the dog/wash my hair", at which point, you can just sail back (unless there's no wind...). But it makes up this minor escape flaw in originality. In spades. I mean, how many people doesn't want to go sailing? Or go sailing so much that they would pass up the opportunity?

Unless she's like, Sailor Moon or something.

To fu, or not to fu?

Well, finals are upon us, and throughout university, I never did the whole finals-beard thing (or as much as I can muster). Looking at the mirror now, I'm seeing that I'll, at best, get a fu-man-chu (where this term came from, I have no idea).

I might do it for fun; it ties in nicely with MCAT action. I plan on being a hermit until then anyway, so I have no one to impress (there is choir, the raison d'etre of this blog, but, I doubt their respect for me will decline because of it).

Lessons learned...

Never intercept a woman and chocolate. It's dangerous to your health...

...especially after suggesting she needs to be prevented from eating the oh-so-delicious chocolate mini-eggs because "You need to watch your figure."

Oh, that's lesson number 2:
Never do what I did. Even if:
a) she really doesn't need to watch her figure, since she looks great;
b) ever.

Last Rehearsal

Funny how I'm always late for a post for Friday rehearsal.

Anyway, nothing major. I felt we regressed on Sweet Surrender. It's partly because we pretty much had no basses (only I was singing with them, so it's hard to hear how it really soungs), and there was no way we could work on balance.

Started California Dreaming. That's about it.

What an awesome post.

Only Atkins can save children's lives

Yes. Blame high carb diets for toddler obesity; we all know that all that carb-filled milk is bad for children.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=40830

Thus, we should immediately change all diets of children ages 3 months to 6 years old to that of beef jerky, pork rinds, and butter. They should also be supplemented with Tums and/or Rolaids to maintain proper calcium consumption. The limit for milk consumption will be 1 glass (8oz.) every 3 days, except on Wednesdays, when the 1 glass should be downgraded to a 4 oz. cup.

Naturally, these are skewed by statistics. They failed to mention that construction material quality has gone down due to higher quality material costs have gone up, thus the 40 pound test limit actually has a standard deviation of +/- 30 pounds, and that 2 out of every 3 babies are naturally big boned due to their watching racy television shows.

But, damn. Those are some fat babies.

Statistics is the leading cause of...

I hate statistics.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=1791507

People have too much time on their hands, thus try to find statistics to link to everything.

I bet I can find a statistic that says eating 1.0 apples everyday can lead a person to be a serial killer specializing in 3-7 month old babies who drink more than 1.3 bottles (8 oz.) of formula and 1.47 bottles (12 oz.) of breast milk a day, but those who eat more than 1.2 apples a day are more likely to get hit by a car between 11am and 2:30pm on the 2nd Friday of the month, with the car driven by teenagers who smoke between 10-20 imported cigarettes a week.

And there's a stat that says statistics leads to death, in that people who have seen at least 1.0 pieces of statistical information will die 100% of the time.

Anticipation Setting In...

Man, I'm totally on the "Accidentally In Love" binge. It'll be hard to wait like 2 or 3 weeks before we start it...

Invincible: part deux

So, I didn't win the 649.

I didn't even get 1 number right.

I get something for that, don't I?

"Accidentally In Love"

Alrighty. I got home from school, and decided to just chill and listen to some music. Pulled out Counting Crows - Accidentally In Love (from Shrek 2), and started to, as one would expect a person who enjoys singing to do, sing along.

After the song played through, I dug through my music, and found my arrangement for it. So I sang the song again, this time the Alto part. Then the Tenor part. Then the Soprano part. Then the Bass part.

Holy crap. This is going to be SOOOOO good. The parts are hard. Even though I arranged it (it was like 4-5 months ago), I still stumbled as would a second run of sight-reading.

But damn. As I went through it, I was amazed by the intricate rhythm involved in some passages, and can already hear the interplay of the parts. It can get to be pretty grand when 4 main parts, +1 extra part, + solo, + some split parts are all happening, but I feel those times are offset by the periods of quiet interludes. This will totally be a song that you need to listen to it a few times to get hear all the parts...

Oh, MAN! This is gonna be so good. We likely won't start this for a few weeks (want to nail down Sweet Surrender and go through California Dreamin' first), but when we get to AIL, this will be absolutely fantastic.


*anticipate and salivate*

Episode 3: A New Hope

So, choir again. I was looking forward to it all week, since I felt we made some really strong progress last week.

So I got there, and I had a strange feeling. The traffic was poor, and Tim Horton's was packed as if they were handing out free booze down in East Hastings. However, I was underterred in my resolve to get the Timbits necessary to ensure a strong start to the choir, and waited.

So I got there at about 2:40, a tad on the late side (choir starts at 2:45), and the place was deserted. Yes, I know that part of this effect stemmed from the lack of risers, but something didn't feel right. One of the tenors came to me, and was unsure whether he was going to stay. As well, a soprano had a paper due on Monday, and needs the time to devote to school work today. And augmented by the rather slow trickling in of the rest of the group (eg. only 6 others were there), I was rather worried about the future of this project.

The tenor apprarently has pretty busy weekends with work. I can tell he wasn't totally sure, and that he kinda wanted to stay, but just wasn't fully committed to the time necessary after school. He felt like he would let the choir down, and may screw the choir over. I was slightly on the same note (unsure about the choir's future), but, ultimately, the decision was his. I'm not a fan on guilt tripping and whatnot, and I'm determined to treat everyone here as adults: they make their own decisions, and they need to evaluate the choices they make.

Anyway, I also found that one of the basses wasn't fully committed to this, in the sense that he never fully signed up. The future was looking bleak indeed.

Eventually, I gathered everyone around. It was 2:53pm. I had to lay it out. I can feel the "storming" stage (organizational behaviour talk) kicking in.

"Alrighty. I need to know what's going on. This choir is something that we are all a part of, and we are a team; each one of us is just as important as the next, and we need to be here in order to make this work. We are all spending 2 hours a week to do this, and I'm wondering what your thoughts are. Ultimately, if this choir were to work, I think it's only fair that for 2 hours after school on Friday, the choir is your top priority. Is this a fair expectation?"

This feels very reminiscent of my time with the Acoustix, where people showed up late, skipped, etc. Yes, we were all working, etc., but as you go through life, you start needing to prioritize. And that's what was said. The Acoustix, for 2 hours on Monday, needed to prioritize that time ahead of everything else that's under your control. And work is important, but is 2 hours really going to make a difference? If so, so be it. Otherwise, you need to be here.

So this is pretty much the same discourse as half a year ago.

"Anything under your control, homework, hanging out, etc., if possible, needs to be lowered in priority. Yes, homework is important, but will these 2 hours make that much of a difference? If so, I'm not going to stop you; school should come first. But in the end, I'm asking: can you all prioritize these 2 hours on Fridays?"

I got the commitment I want from the 6 people that were going to stay (so the bass, tenor were out, and the soprano would miss this rehearsal, which is fair). I was somewhat uncertain whether we can go on, but the other still missing people (1 soprano, 1 alto, and 1 alto turned tenor) weren't here. The rest of the group vouched that they can catch up quickly, so we proceeded.

Ran warm-ups, and it was okay. A melancholy note to start on, but a new light is ahead. I have their word. Partway through warm-ups, the rest of them showed up, and I gave them the same spiel.

We have a game, folks.

Ran Sweet Surrender. Sounded pretty good. The bridge needed work, but that's the part that we spent the least time on. We are almost at the tweaking stage. All the fundamentals were nailed down, and memorization and polish will come later.

The light at the end of a tunnel is indeed the other side, and not some guy with a flashlight.

By 4pm, (so about 45 minutes of work on the song itself), we sounded good. I got Carrie to sing the solo so the rest of them know what it would sound like, and we were rolling!

Played California Dreamin' (finally got a copy of our concert from way back), and started on it. Decent progress. I learned from the last time I taught this piece, to skip the first 4 barts till later. And we learned pretty much up to the bridge in the rest of the time (it's not a hard song).

It feels good to get this going. The storming stage was earlier than anticipated, and lasted much shorter than it could've gone. We are fully at the norming stage.

A New Hope is upon us.

I am back; I can divide by zero.

Yes, I am

Further evidence of my invincible-ness of yesterday:

I walked in the middle of the street, wearing nothing but socks.
Needless to say, no cars touched me.

Then I bought a scratch and win.
Indubitably, I won.

I then proceeded to press. I used my winnings ($2) to buy 647. I invested in the following numbers:

• 6 (of course),
  
• 18 (my birthday),
  
• and a bunch of prime numbers, because prime numbers are invincible
  Like attracts like, remember.

And today, it rained. My invincibility shone through once again, because I didn't wash my car yesterday.

Invincible

Today, I went to school, and the sun was shining. My car's a bit on the dirty side, and I think it would be a good day to wash the car.

I got to school, and the parking lot seemed full. However, I found a spot.

Spot number 6, my lucky number.

And that's when it hit me.

I am invincible.

It's just one of those days, where I feel invincible, that I cannot fail, that I can do no wrong, that I will win at any, and everything.

I should buy some Tim Horton's.

More callbacks?

Alrighty. I'm a little late on the update, but I'm here nonetheless.

So... This past Friday was Spring break (for the highschool), so this is really an entry for the Friday before that, Friday March 10th.

So I got there at a decent hour, at 2:15pm, and no one, I mean, NO ONE was there, not even teachers. I soon found out that it was multicultural week, and everyone was at an assembly.

Eventually, people started to turn up. I also found out that a tenor and an alto can no longer make it due to conflicts, so my numbers are down. And whenever a guy is down, that's bad news.

Time ticked away, and eventually Carrie. I learned more about what this whole multicultural week was about, and, seeing how it was Friday before spring break, she figured not many would show up. I hope she was wrong, since I really wanted to get this thing going.

Luckily, devotion from the singers were high, and everyone showed up (except for the aforementioned, as well as a couple of them who have told me in advance), and an unexpected callback also.

So off we went. Callbacks were, coincidentally, 1 of each part.

Since I only had the callback tenor, I moved an alto down (and I might have to do this permanently, depending on the soloists for the songs). I did the usual warm-ups (I'll save the "one" warm-up for our first officla group practice), and off we went, t0o re-learn the song for the new folks.

I can sense boredom from the people who were there before, but if they knew the significance of needing more people, they may see the plight that the group could've been in: only 2 confirmed basses, and 1 tenor. So these callback guys had better be good.

And off we went, learning the song. More Sweet Surrender. More lyrical counter-melody for the sopranos (albeit a tad on the boring side). More rhythm for the alto. The tenors had the hardest time, since they had no one that knew the piece (remember, I pulled an alto down, and the other was a callback). Bass-wise, it wasn't too bad, since the callback came prepared, and also another bass was there.

Ultimately, after about an hour and fifteen of teaching, we actually learned the rest of the song (I'm crossing my fingers for how this sounds when I see them again this Friday...).

The most impressive thing about all this: the 3 sopranos sounded ANGELIC. No other way to put it. I don't think I've ever heard 3 sopranos blend this well. It was quite ridiculous, since their voices rang as if one person, one entity.

At the end, we had brief quartet, and I evaluated them. I'll of course disclose the results privately.

Anyway, with 3 strong sopranos, I'm trying to figure out how to juggle the 4th soprano who couldn't make it today. I may end up with some shuffling, pending soloist (audition this Friday). I hate to have someone relearn a piece just to accommodate, but we're still starting out, and hopefully they won't mind too much.

(wow, this is a pretty boring entry. Ah well).

On a side note, I got a copy of my old group (Acoustix)'s recorded concert with the Baud Boys. I clipped out our version of California Dreamin', so if anyone wants to hear it, it's here:
http://rapidshare.de/files/15954551/Acoustix_-_California_Dreamin.mp3.html

The start of something

Yeah, I was a tad nervous. Nervous in that, well, I'm really in charge here, with people whom I barely knew. I guess I knew the siblings of 2 of them, and apart from the auditions, that was it. That's all I knew. Furthermore, it wasn't like down in Seattle, where we were a group of peers; I was in charge. It's been a while since I ran a music group, but it's all there still.

Sweet Surrender. That's the focus of the day. I introduced myself some more, got to know them (I remembered all their names anyway, but always good to do introductions), and started warm-ups. I was missing a couple of people due to sickness (I'm sure I got sick from doing auditions, but it's worth it), and off we went.

Did some basic warm-ups, and did the 12345678 7 5 4 2 -> resolve warmup, which I particulalrly like. Then on to a sample of the songs we're doing:
- Sweet Surrender (+ midi)
- Stacy's Mom
- California Dreamin'
- Accidentally in Love

Some good responses, some blahs. Ah well.

Then we tackled the pieces. It was slower going than I anticipated, and perhaps it's what my expectations of a first run should go. It took a while to get going, and I'm going to guess that this is quite different from the other stuff they've done, since it's very... rhythm and background based, unlike regular choral music, which meshes in a different way.

After a bit, we got the main phrase going. The sopranos were very strong, and I pulled a couple to the Alto side. I ended up with an army of altos, vs. 3 sopranos. And the S's are still stronger than any other group. Blending will come. Blending will come.

Next thing we knew, it was 4pm. Finally got a a long enough stretch of music, so we took a break.

After the break, I informed them that, as callbacks, I need to see how well they can hold a part, especially with the deluge of altos; I need to make cuts, unfortunately. If I had more time remaining till the end of the year, mebbe I can take them all and work on them. Right now, I can only afford the well established singers. Potential, even very strong potential, isn't my game plan at this stage; I need the MJ's out there, not the rookies (LBJ aside, of course).

Even though we spent longer than I expected on about 24 bars (I guess we were a new group, and it was the first rehearsal. And, pop songs just repeat endlessly anyway, so the rest should fall into place more easily come next Friday), the time was well spent. Went on to octets, then quartets. And you know what? They started sounding better in smaller groups. Sure, they know the stuff fairly well by now (and they need to, in order to do 4/8-tets), but they know that there's fewer people singing, each of their individual contributions are that much more important. And they sang out. Well.

After octets, we all sang what we knew, the 24 or so bars, and I piped in on Vocal Percussion (VP). And, it's the start of something.

At the end of the day, it will be tough to make cuts. But I'm pretty sure I'll need to, for balance sake.

Indeed, it's the start of something.

One step at a time...

So, with that, I knew I can do it, as long as I get enough men to hold up the strong women voices.

As would the Cruise in Mission: Impossible, I gathered my resources, thought about the pieces, got permission to use my old choir's music, and made flyers. I've forgotten the time when the world ran on posters and flyers. It seems so... simple. Wouldn't it be nice if the world's problems can be solved by posters? Anyway, I was ready to roll.

Come Monday, I came back, armed with a head of hope, and, of course, posters. I popped in, pasted up the posters, and at the end of Chamber Choir, I quickly played my spiel: a CD of a cappella stuff, starting with The Impression That I Get by MMB, and pointed them to audition sign up sheets. I had my hook.

I came back the next day, bright and early for Junior/Gr. 8 Choir, and made the same spiel. I had sign-ups.

Back again on Wednesday, this time to do auditions. Only 3 people. That's fine. I was not deterred.

Thursday, back again, since I only had morning class. I even had 2 midterms the same day. I didn't care (well, I did my job with them, but I was focused ont the choir). I came with a vengeance. Auditioned people, and things were... going. It was a bit rough in that I wasn't sure if I would get enough men OR women in terms of quality mixed with quantity... Then came Friday, and it was finally looking up. But I still wasn't sure if I'd have enough. I decided to extend auditions for 2 more days.

And that leads us to beginning of this week. I heard from some people, I heard from some more. I even made the first cuts. I was on a roll! I just want to make sure I had enough strong male voices...

And, after a week's worth of intrepidation and anticipation, the first rehearsal/callbacks came, today.

Start from the Start

I've been thinking about doing this for a couple of months now, ever since I came back to Van. I had pretty a few main ideas after I came back, and they were:

1 - Live up in Whistler for a couple of months, bum out, board, and bartend
2 - Just bartend
3 - Take pre-req courses for a change of pace
4 - Prepare for the MCAT
5 - Start an A Cappella choir at my alma mater, MRSS

And, after 1 not working out, and being on stride for 3 and 4, I found that I had enough time left to do 5. And by enough time, I both mean enough free time and enough time to put together a few songs for hopefully MRSS's end of year performance.

So, a few weeks ago, I got my act together, and hit up Ridge. And, boy has it ever changed. It's like running into an old friend, who, while you used to be best of friends, but has since drifted apart, and now found that the friend has replaced a few vital organs, has had extensive cosmetic surgery, and, luckily, is still friendly. Yeah, that's my metaphor, and I'm sticking with it. Met the new music department on an apparently late Friday afternoon (and by "late", I mean 3:45pm... Used to be the normal end of school time for us pre 3rd millenium folks, but now has become an hour past such end of the week), and the choral teacher (also dept. head) is super friendly. Found out that we also went to the same university (and along with the band teacher, too).

Anyway, we caught up as would the meeting of me and the significant other of the above said friend would: some reminiscing of times past, although we've never met; talk of changes to the friend, mainly comparing my old images with the current state; and naturally, the topic of common interest that all three of us, friend, significant other of friend, and myself all share, and that is of course music. Chatted a bit, with Carrie being very friendly, and invited me to check out the her chamber choir come Monday (this was, oh, Feb. 10). With that, I threw in my other main focus: starting an a cappella choir. We tossed some ideas back and forth, and I had enough to get my mind started.

I came and checked out the choir come Monday. Wow. It was very impressive. For a group with about a 2:1 girl to guy ratio, the guys held up well, and the sound was full. I sang with them, and it was fun. It's been a while since I've sung.

At the end, asked if would anyone be interested if I started something new? Something more pop-song involved? I got some interested replies.

I had enough info. It is time.