The Videos

These are some of my favorite songs for this week. At least they seemed to be stuck in my head. I am also posting the link to Fame's trailer for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Fame's trailer

Fame's closing number ( amazing!)

Human by The Killers

Fireflies by Owl City

The Movie

This weekend, some of my friends and I attended one of the best movies I have seen in a long time, Fame. I don't think I need to justify why I like it because I already know and so would any one who knew me, but this was extremely moving and i have to do this.

Fame takes place in the New York High School of Performing Arts. I can't tell you how amazing I think it would be to go to a school for the performing arts. I love singing, dancing, acting, and playing cello and bass. In the movie, one of the coolest things I saw was when they had "lunch." I almost wouldn't call it lunch but the coolest freestyle jam session ever. It wasn't completely new because that happens in almost every musical that has ever existed, but it was taken to the next step. It included dancers, singers, rappers, guitarists, orchestral instruments, band instruments, drums, keyboards, and everything else you can imagine. I dream that could be possible somewhere in the world and that someday I could be there and be a part of that amazing experience.

I hope that I can get into a great music college and that i could perform music as a career. This movie was a good way to look at how competitive it will be and what could happen. At the beginning of the kids freshman year, the principle gives them a figure that show how competitive the business is. She says that they received 10,000 applications and only 200 students made it in. this made me think about my talent as a performer compared to others. I thought about just the friends I had gone with to the movie. One of them is a brilliant piano player and is the only junior alto in my schools top choir. Another made the top show choir sophomore year along with the top choir and was one of the 12 members in the vocal jazz ensemble. The last has been in every play it was possible for him to be in and has beaten me out for ever solo in show choir that we have both auditioned for. That was where I stood in the mix of only four juniors in my school alone. Think of how many other kids there are who must be five times as talented as I could ever be and they all want the same thing I want maybe even the same spot at college.

So what if I did make it in to a music school, how would I survive? Over the course of the movie, many of the characters were dropped from the school for their in ability to progress or their poor grades. If I am not even the most talented in my high school, how will I ever be able to survive any weed out classes that a college could throw at me? I can't afford to take voice lessons or cello lessons privately so there is no way, without scholarships, I will be able to go to a great music school should I prove that I am talented enough to go to one, and that would mean I would have to be exceptional. I realize that I am not that exceptional like my friend the piano player. She was able to play all the songs that the main piano playing character could on her leg during the movie by memory. I don't have talent anywhere near that.

I am not saying I don't have some talent and more than most, but I don't have the god given ability of my friends. I don't have perfect pitch and I can't sing high "C"s. I am not naturally funny or great at being any character that is thrown at me. I don't play with great technique and I can't sight read for anything. I have had to work hard to be where I am now and I still haven't reached the top of the ladder in any of the performing arts yet.

So what drives me to keep after my dream of music? One word: Love. I love music and performing more than anything else in the world. I realize that I may never succeed at being a great musician but if I didn't try I would be denying my heart the chance to do what it so desperately wants to do. I always have the choice, should performing fail, to become a music teacher to help nurture young people with the same dream I have succeed in their endeavors. The most inspiration I have gotten through these years has been from the teachers and directors that have helped me develop what talent I do have.

I know that in the next years I head down an uncertain and brutal path. I can't tell you what will come of my music, but then again who ever knows what will come of their life and love. All I can say is that I will never give up dreaming that some day there will be in a place where everyone jumps on the lunch tables singing in perfect harmony and I will be right there, helping the melodious chords rise and flow from my heart with everyone else. that is where I belong.

The Trip

Every other year, Happiness inc. goes on a trip usually to Show Choir Nationals in Nashville, TN. The year was last year, but due to crunched schedules and conflicts with the band's trip we have decided to go on a trip this year. Naturally, I was extremely excited when we heard about it last spring at the auditions for show choir. However, a recent event has occurred that puts a new twist on the entire trip.

This year for the first time ever, Protege, our prep group was invited to come and perform in the prep division. This is an awesome opportunity for Protege because they have always been a great group in past years and have even faired well against varsity groups. This has raised questions of whether the trip is select enough anymore. It used to be that if you weren't in Happiness then you didn't get to go on the trip which made the trip special for Happiness members. But if Protege goes is it still select enough? True Protege will compete in a lower division, but they will still get to do what all the Happiness members get to do.

Personally, I can only see benefits if we both go. I have lots of friends who are still in Protege and I would love for them to go along with us. Plus, Concert Choir is going anyway and probably 80% of Protege is in Concert Choir. Show choir is a lot about energy in your dancing and it will be much easier to do that if we have the support of our fellow show choir members cheering us on. People mentioned bonding with your group as a concern but I think that we are being to select to say having Protege there will hinder the groups bonding. We are all part of the same department and should all get to know everyone in all the groups not just our own.

I realize that this trip can only be better if we bring along our fellow show choir. All of Happiness is part of Protege's proud history and should want them to have this opportunity to prove their greatness to the world. I hope that the decision will be that Protege can come. Can't wait to here.

The Era of Musical Varience

I realized that I am about to live through my first full decade of music at the end of this year and I began to wonder how it will be referred to.

I think we will definitely be remembered as a time when nearly anyone could make it as a musician. Shows such as American Idol made nobodies into stars. Some of the most popular people off those shows didn't even win but were discovered because of them. that doesn't include the multitude of stars companies like Disney produced. Disney and others took all the actors for their tv shows who were slightly popular and let them try to sing. even if they couldn't sing it still made the companies money because the actors drew fans no matter what.

Another discovery is that there really wasn't a dominating genre of music. Rappers were popular and still are. Pop songs are "popular" (who would have thought). Country had some showings on the charts. Rock is still around and in the running. Almost every kind of music imaginable was at the top of the charts at some time this decade which is why I feel that no one type should or can be called the type for this decade.

Music refused to stay in ridged categories also. Artists like Taylor Swift have drifted between genres like country and pop. Almost all genres could be considered pop or other types at times depending on the song. That is another reason that no genre could be the genre for the 2000-2009. With this much transience how do you know which songs you are including?

I guess I don't really have to worry though because I don't have to know what music was popular in the past decade because I lived through it. I probably won't be deciding what was popular either. that job will be left to the media and future generations who look back on my time and tell me what I was listening to. Until then, I'll listen to whatever I like.

The Dance

Last night was the homecoming dance at my school and it was a very different expirience than I've had before. I went in a group of people of which noone was dating and most didn't even go with dates. Three of the eight people's first languages were not english which made conversations very interesting. For the first time, I didn't stay at the dance the whole time because we decided to go to a movie. It was also the least I have ever danced at a "dance."
The night began at Metro buffet where the whole group met to ride to olive garden where we planned to eat. Due to some forgetfulness, I ended up being the only American at Metro and I was the only person who didn't know an asian langue even when other americans got there. Needless to say, it was a quiet time for me in which I understood little. When we got to Olive Garden, we met the rest of our group who had not met at Metro by an accident in communication. The food was amazing but the portions were huge and noone could finish them.
After that, we headed for the dance even though it was almost an hour early. We had a multitude of pictures taken and we managed to leave nearly everything we needed in the car so we made many trips back and forth before the dance started. Pictures were easy once we actually were ready and we then head into the actual dance area.
Within minutes we were overly hot and decided to go outside. We ended up spending the rest of the night at picnic table talking with friends. We went in and dance for about three songs which was enough for us to decide to go to a movie instead so we left around nine fifteen. Given the few choices of movies not rated R or that looked boring, the group decided to attend Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was a very good movie and it ended well. After that, we headed back to Metro to drop off my date and me so we could take our cars home.
I realized that what was different about this dance from the other dances I have been to was that it had little focus on the couples because so many people didn't bring dates. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy the dance, but it wasn't what I expected based on my view of the dancing norm. I think I did learn quite a bit about my preferences on dances that I can apply in the future.

The Few

We are just a few days away from quartet auditions for All State choir and I was thinking back to the practice we had last weekend. Our director told us that he would hold part separated rehearsals to help us prepare for the audition. I was excited because I needed some help since I only get to be in Concert Choir every other day. My school is loaded with talented singers. It is difficult for even the most talented people to stand out. But we only ever get about five people into All State every year. Being that that is the case, I figured that loads of people would take advantage of a great opportunity like this but that was nowhere near true. In all, we had eight people, four sopranos, two tenors, two basses, and no altos.
This thought was originally surprising and I wondered if this why we don't get more people into All State. Have we become over confident about our abilities so much that we don't think we need practice? There was an ACT test that day during the time of the practices so that could have been the reason that there were so few. But a comment in class yesterday made me question us even more. My teacher said that he would easily be able to chose the top seven from the lower three parts because there were only a few more and in some cases less than seven auditioning. That was a shock to me because I had always heard that All State was super competitive, even at our school, and figured I might not even make it. I am exstatic that I will most likely get to audition but a bit worried. I think we only have one returning All Stater and I have faith he will make it again but will anyone else. There is a talented group auditioning and I believe that someone will make it but who knows. I can only guess why some people arn't auditioning.

The Deciding Factor

I am a bat boy for the single-A affiliate of the LA Angels, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, who have made the playoffs and are now in the second round. I was watching the games, either for the dugout or the stands, and realized that there was one thing winning all the games.

It wasn't batting. Most of the games were won by one run. Some were high scoring others were low. Players that had hit well during the year were still hitting well. So batting wasn't causing teams to win or lose.

But pitching wasn't it either. Pitchers were throwing just about the same as normal and pitchers on both teams were throwing at about the same level. Closers could still close and starters could still start. So pitching wasn't the problem either.

If the 2 most important things in baseball weren't the problem, then what was it? What was holding every team back was knowing when to change pitchers. It began with the Kernels win over Peoria. the Kernels were down by one in the bottom of the ninth inning. The game had been exciting up to that point due to a good amount of scoring that had taken place making it 8 to 7, but nothing I ever see will compare to the ending of this epic game. Peoria brought in their best closer and was prepared for an easy one, two, three sit down so they could win and play the next game to try and win the best two out of three series. Their pitcher only got two down, however, before he walked our first batter. This was just the beginning though and he proceeded to walk the bases loaded. During this time, the Peoria pitching coach had completely warmed up another pitcher but the head Peoria coach thought that the closer could get the final out. The closer then proceeded to walk the tying run in. The pitcher in the bullpen walked all the way down to the dugout and tried to tell the coach to put him but the coach refused. And that was it because the next pitch hit the Kernels' batter in the ankle, walking him and causing the Kernels to win all because Peoria wanted to let the closer to get the final out.

The same thing happened in the second round, except it was the Kernels' turn. In the fifth inning, the Kernels' starter had yet to give up a run to the Burlington Bees. He pitch well and got the first two outs, but then he started to walk people. He walked two batters who ended up on third and second before he gave up his first hit. The runners scored and it didn't end there. He proceeded to give up another run and two hits before the reliever was put in and ended it in three pitches. The Kernels lost that game three to two and only scored in the first.

I think progress has been made and it is shown in the way that the second game against Burlington came out. The Kernels' pitcher had pitched seven innings and he had only given up 1 hit. He got two outs and then let two more hits go by in the eighth. It was then that we brought in our reliever who finished the inning without any trouble.

I believe that in this years playoffs the team that learns when a pitcher can and can't handle a situation will win and the Kernels are headed on that track. It won't be easy, but I believe that this could be the year that the Kernels finally win it all because they know what to do about the deciding factor.

The Idols

I was recovering from the shock of the great choreography talking scandal when I decided to take sometime and reflect on whet it was I love about show choir. Thinking back to freshman year, I was in Chantuers, the freshman show choir, that year. I had never been in show choir before and I was ecstatic to have the chance now. I had moved from Kansas in the middle of eighth grade where the was no show choir to a place where show choir was as big as high school football. We were part of the group that was under new direction and we were all new to high school show choir. As anyone would, we found something that we thought was the pinnacle of perfection in show choir, Happiness inc., the varsity show choir at our school. The members of that group were like show choir gods to us. Our dream was to be just like them. I remember when I listened them sing. I spent weeks learning the parts to their songs so that I could sing them too. I loved how effortless their moves looked, how perfect their harmonies were, and how great it felt when they succeeded. But success didn't always come and I will always remember at the first competition of the year when Happiness was given 6th place. I don't worry about that any more because they received 2nd or 1st at every other competition.



Sophomore year I made it into Protege, the prep show choir. This group was amazing and I was happy to be a part of it. During the year, we received 3 grand champions, 2 first runner ups, and fifth over all in the finals at MoShow Competition. Even with that much success, though, I still idolized Happiness. They were amazing and I thought that was just them. They didn't have to work, there were no problems, they were just perfect. Or so I thought.......



Then came this year and I was finally in! I was one of the people that all the younger show choir members wanted to be. I thought that all of the problems that we had had when we were young would just vanish. But they didn't. We still talk too much, people still mess around, and we still have vocal problems sometimes. That was when the choreography retreat happened and I realized that it wasn't effortless or easy. Happiness wasn't naturally good, they had to work for it, they had to have good leaders, and learn discipline. Those leaders were the people I had known and loved from past groups. They were amazing and taught the group to be amazing too. And that's what we need. We need leaders who are positive examples and can teach others to be the best that they can be so that we can succeed just like Happiness always has.

The Root of Our Problem

I have recently had a revelation about a thing I hold dear in my life, show choir. It was strange because on the outside, the problem we have is not directly conneted to me. But in reality, it will more than likely affect me more than those who have the problem.

We knew that in show choir, we had a talking problem. I believe it is rooted in the beginings of your freshman year in high school if not before. You most likely had friends when you got to high school that you knew from middle school or somewhere else. I remember sitting in freshman orientation and hearing the phrase, " Get involved to make friends and have fun." I remember this year telling the freshman, I wish I would have had more friends and more fun my freshman year. This is the reason I think I don't have the problem that our showchoir has, talking too much. When people came to my school freshman year, some joined our freshman show choir. As anyone could guess that is where they made friends and those people are still friends now and still in show choir together.

The trend could only continue through the prep showchoir as almost all the people in the freshman show choir moved up to the next level. Now that members of the group can drive, they can spend more time outside of school with their friends and their friendship grows stronger. By the time they have reached the varsity show choir, almost everyone has a group of friends and they want to talk all the time.

And therin lies the root of our problem. The answer is not as clear because we can't eliminate friendship, we just need to control when the friends talk to each other. I have faith that we will find an answer, but if we don't ...... who knows. the fate of our sucess really rests on finding that solution.

Welcome

Hey, welcome to my blog! I have never blogged before but I'm giving it a try.(mostly because I have to for school) I will try to discuss mostly music and some about the plays and musicals I am involved in. I hope I figure out what I am doing and that you at least semi enjoy my blog.