what i've been doing...and the near future

i know i don't fly nearly as much as ian but i do my fair share...but not really. this is what i was looking at while waiting for my flight to Portland to board. very industrial. i was able to take a visitation trip to visit my wife while her father visited for a few days.


during my flight on final approach to PDX the passengers all get a very clear view of these two mountains. i think the one in the foreground is mt. Adams? in the background is mt. rainier...but i wouldn't bet on myself. out the other side of the plane one could easily see mt hood and those further south. the closer we got to portland a view of mt. st. helens became quite prominent.


so our adventure begins. this picture was of a completed grass shot and an orange-mango chaser. it tasted like grass and i still don't know what the benefit, if any, there was. thank God for the monstrous "surf rider" jamba juice that followed.


our first destination was the coast. along the way on highway 26 you are afforded the opportunity to see the largest sitka spruce in the U.S., so guess what we did? we saw it. if you guessed that...congrats.


so on to cannon beach and haystack rock, or "the goonie rock" as my sister and law calls it. "baby ruuth?"


and on we drove south down the coast. some magnificat views along the way.


and what is a visit to the oregon coast without a stopover at the Tillamook cheese factory? i don't know. so here we are. immediately after this photo was taken i had to be rushed to the restroom from a cheese sample overdose. and immediately following that i had some tillamook ice cream.


this photo was taken on the beach at Lincoln City.


the next day we took a trip into the cascades and visited Timberline Lodge. it may be hard to distinguish but if you've seen stanley kubrick's "the shining" then you've seen this lodge. unfortunately the interior set wasn't on location, so i couldn't perform my version of Jack's character looking through the splintered bathroom door. a very nice property however, built during the great depression as one of our nations' public works jobs.


timberline lodge is located 6000' above sea level, almost mid mountain on Mt. Hood where you can still ski/snowboard/sled/hike/climb/hitchhike during this time of year.


during this same trip we made a stop at Beonneville Dam to see fish swim up the fish ladder. good times.


then on to Multnomah Falls. its one of the highest in the U.S. or something like that...i forget.


tomorrow its back to the great plains to build more railroads and earn more tuition. my goal over this summer is to gain a basic grasp of Francais so that when school begins in August i won't be such a dumbass...as if i have a choice.

cheers.

my existence in a blog post

this is my baby brother and i in a dept. store.



hello all you out there in blogland.

i have been busy these past few weeks constructing railroads. it isn't so bad...but i don't have the appropriate attire. it has been snowing and blowing, raining and cold. i have t-shirts and a coat (non-waterproof.)
a lot of the time i have been in western north dakota. devoid of all but OLN where i can watch playoff hockey...something i can't even do at my home in Oregon.

i wrote about ten minutes of music for "1 IN 9" and have yet to see it in the film. hopefully i can meet with Michael within the next month to spot and make a que sheet.

i went to the lake last weekend and my friend and i went wakeboarding in the 47 degree water. even though we had wetsuits, my balls were still residing mere inches from my solarplexis.

in 4 days i am flying to portland for a visit to my home. i am so freaking excited. to be home and see my wife and tour the great northwest.

not too much else going on. just living and earning money this summer to help offset some costs of tuition for my second bachelors degree. you know...i never would have thought that i'd have 2 of those.

martin luther is being punched in the kidneys

here is a scary thought.

for those of you who know "pat the liar"...he says on his myspace account that he is attending Luther Seminary to become and army chaplain.

i hate his lies...and his ass-face.

i wonder if he got his pilots license yet.

here's a little anecdote for those of you who don't know him.

at the time of 9/11 he was one of my roommates. when i got home he was putting on his fatigues to go and "be on alert." the next day i talked to someone i knew for a fact to be in the national guard and asked him what they were doing. he said that their commander told them not to wear their battle dress uniforms on account that it made them a target.

i hate liars...and their ass-faces.

score

hello friends.

what have i been busy doing?

well, amongst other things i have been scoring a trailer for Michael Stromenger's "1 In 9".
it is my second attempt at scoring...anything

Feedback....

commitment vs. hockey

alright here's something.

this saturday i am singing in our church's masterwork performance of John Stainer's "Crucifixion".

Last night my dad called with tickets to attend the NCAA Hockey's Frozen Four where my Alma Mater UND Fighting Sioux are pitching a battle and hopefully counting their metaphorical coup. the games are thursday and saturday in Milwuakee, Wis.

Dammit all.

knight-errantry (something i suffer from daily)

Last night Ruth and i attended a performance of the Oregon Symphony. They performed Richard Strauss' "Don Quixote." they also performed Dutilleux's "Metaboles," and Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra."

Strauss' Don Quixote, is a tone poem (for those of you that don't know.) Which, very simply, is a work based on a writing; to bring across in the music that which was written. Strauss definately did well with that.
The Story is about a spainiard who confuses chivalry and real-life. For one example: Don Quixote sees a cloud of dust on the horizon and assumes that it is two armies warring with each other. He charges in meaning to put an end to the war only to discover that it is a large herd off sheep. no matter, he charges in anyway sword swinging. in the music you can hear what you believe is a battle in the distance. When he starts killing sheep the brass section comes through emulating bleeting sheep. quite funny!

It was a great evening. once again it helped me to realize that i made a good decision in deciding to return to the life of an academic musician.

on to other things...

this morning in the paper there is an article about kids in North Dakota getting out of school to help sandbag against the rising red river. it doesn't seem like its been 9 years since the "big, big flood" (of '97). when school was cut short and i wasn't able to raise that crappy grade in geometry.

have good days!

taxes, death, and generic soda

apparently the great plains don't want to cut the umbilical cord yet.
this summer i'm slated to build some railroads in North Dakota, and Minnesota.
how excited am i to do this you ask?

...i like money.

hopefully i'll be able to save enough to pay for some tuition. and if not some tuition...then maybe some pizza.


Michael S. sent me the first version of the 2nd 1 In 9 trailer...it's grrrrreat.i have begun scoring it and 4 hours in...writer's block. actually, it's not that i'm not thinking of anything...it's that what i'm thinking of seems to suck. i'm still a scoring padawan though...so i will continue tomorrow after sleeping on it...and maybe the midi-chlorians will help me.

This sunday Ruth and i will be attending the Oregon Symphony playing Strauss' 'Don Quixote'. the saturday after we are performing Stainer's Crucifixion. Good stuff.

well...time to hit the dusty trail. perhaps back to the keyboard.

i am going to be a viking

last night i was contacted by a professor from PSU saying that i need not worry about being accepted, because i am in the good pile.

(happy dance ensues)

tonight in celebration...turkey strogenoff and coke.

i like it.

does anyone know kara mc?

if you do here you go.
if you don't here you go.

art lives...in grand forks, ND

my great friend Amy Jo has started an art gallery in GF.
quite amazing. it's in GF.
check it out and if you're in town...support.

the biggest half-mountain i've ever seen...

Erick and i lewis and clarking it up at helens.



please helen's...don't hurt 'em.



a nice vocanic made lake.



the wife and i at mt. st. helen's.

creation station

hey mates. here's a new song (pop/rock...more rock than pop) for ya.
if you don't mind some distortion.
if you have some good headphones...use 'em to enjoy the pan effect in the 'quiet section.'

facists annonymous

Good news. the satellite Nasa sent to Mars made it sucessfully. it made me think of this question.

if the citizens of earth met extra terrestrials would we change the names of planets, stars, galaxies, etc...to match those of the aliens...or would we make them change?

also, welcome to kevin h-b

creation station

Here is a song (pop/rock)...too weird?

bigger than a loaf of bread...

my friend Erick H. and i doing our best Lewis and Clark impersonation.




Haystack Rock...where they filmed the Goonies!..."heeeyyy yooouuuu guuu-uuuuys."




the Ru and i (our first trip to the coast.)

this one's for Ian

jealous

if you want your face rocked off...go here.

rebirth

so the warrior-bard posted, and herr vogler had a follow up on two specific composers' role in music. and i would just like to throw my hat in the ring beside theirs.

i agree with the fact that one who's career it is to compose should be studied in all and as many different styles/philosophies/whatever of theory so as to have an authoritative grasp on their own subject matter. but my idea of musicality is much like the warrior-bard's.

the third experience i had with hands on training in composition helped me with my decision to quit music. it was pretty much 30% him, 30% me suffering with foreign language, 30% my lack of devotion to study, and 10% me being a pussy for not putting up with it. anyway...this professor had an undergraduate degree in mathematics and a doctor of arts. he basically forced myself and the other students to write in tone rows and concentrate on the "mathematical theory" of music while we wrote. i remember when he began to instruct us in method he would get a very sadistic glint in his eyes and become excited at the prospect of teaching these things that he loved so much. the other students and i tried to discuss the musicality of what he was teaching and challenge what was the ultimate lesson...but he turned a deaf ear.

so i became jaded and quit music. now however, i have no doubt that i will have to meet this particular school of thought head on and swallow it whole, thus inducing a musical peristalsis of all the crap that it is.

i had a good discussion about this very topic with my high school music mentor/teacher. he said that a few professors believe in what they profess. but the rest teach it with the evil glints in their eyes because it is what was forced on them. i just hope that if i am ever a professor i can teach it and then move on to the more aesthetically pleasing subject matter.

still waiting to hear from PSU about the results of my audtion.
and very excited because the organist at my church is going to perform a short piano piece that i am writing during holy week of easter. as soon as i get it recorded maybe you all can hear and judge my inexperience and my parallel octaves.

much love my friends.

the force is iffy

i had my
audition
for PSU
on saturday.
it went well
(i hope) and
the professors
seemed to be
all smiles.
here's me in
my new suit.






the one thing i have noticed is that a few of the people in the dept. don't really seem to know what's goin on. my point being is that about three weeks ago when i had an advisor's meeting i asked if the dept. provides an accompanist for the auditions and the answer was, "no, if you are auditioning on the scholaship weekend (which i did) then you must provide your own." so i scrambled to find an accompanist and get some sort of practice in.

so day of the auditions i noticed that no one else had brought an accompanist. i felt stupid. but...i felt comfortable because my accompanist and i had a (very short) history together so she knew how i would be performing and also where i liked to breathe. hopefully it made me look a little bit more professional. but that is always up in the air.

other than that...watching the olympics. and writing on my nocturne.

so peace my friends.

and a congrats to fockin bakken boobs n' bones for her engagement!!! and kevin too.

time

first time to Mt. Hood. me and my friend ian.

excellent even though i am in the worst shape i've ever been in my life.
so my goal for next time...be less fat.