YouTube Friday – “Total Lunar Eclipse February 20, 2008″

Unfortunately, it was cloudy and over casted last Wednesday, so I didn’t get the full effect of the lunar eclipse. Oh well, guess I just have to wait until the next total lunar eclipse in North America, in December 2010. Check out the clip’s website.

Until next time…

Exam week, Take 2!

Well, I am done for the week. I have tomorrow off, but I haven’t decided what to do for my day off. Should I see a movie? Rent some movies? Speaking about renting movies, Tim (by referral by Other Brother, Steve) discovered RedBox at our local Wal-mart. RedBox, if you don’t know already, is a jukebox like machine that dispenses movies that you want to rent for $1.00 per day, per movie. It has quite a selection for it being as large as a standard Coke machine. I think it’s a great concept, and they are currently expanding it to more towns across the U.S.

I’m thinking that I might just bum around the house. I have some books that I would like to get to. (I know, your probably saying, “Boring” or [yawning] right about now). Although, an idea just popped into my head. Since the Tucson weather is getting more favorable (it’s like 80 degrees outside), I might just go for a swim!

Back to the subject at hand, I have two exams to study for next week, both on Wednesday and both ironically is in the subject of history. I’m not too worried about either of them, just thought I would share.

Well, I don’t have anymore ideas at the moment.

Until next time…

My studying playlist

I don’t have any ideas about a subject, so I will share one of my iPod playlists. Many people ask me, “Melvin, how do you study so effectively?”. Well, I’ll tell you. One of the ways I have found is to listen to certain music that you can concentrate with (notice that I say with, not on), that keeps you focused at the task at hand. For some, it could be classical, it could be jazz, or for others it could also be garage grunge. I don’t really know if this is by anyway “scientific”, but it works for me.

Here is a specific playlist that I listen to when I study, or when I read textbooks. I also listen to this when I take a nap or just like to listen to quiet music. My playlist is entitled “Quiet Orchestral”…

1.) Gustav Holst “The Planets, Op. 32: II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace”

2.) Anton Dvorak “Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 “From the New World”: II. Largo”

3.) Aaron Copland “Quiet City”

4.) Aram Khachaturian “Selections from “Spartacus”: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia”

5.) Ottorino Respighi “Feste Romane: II. Giubileo” [Roman Festivals: II. Giubileo]

6.) Ottorino Respighi “Fontane Di Roma: IV. La fontana di Villa Medici al tramonto” [Fountains of Rome: IV. The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset]

7.) Ottorino Respighi “Pini Di Roma: II. Pini presso uma catacomba” [Pines of Rome: II. The Pines Near a Catacomb]

8.) Aaron Copland “Appalachian Spring”

9.) Aaron Copland “Rodeo: II. Corral Nocturne”

10.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Titan”: I. Langsam. Schleppend”

11.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 4 in G Major: III. Ruheoll (Poco Adagio)”

12.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 4 in G Major: IV. Sehr behaglich”

13.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor: IV. Adagietto. Sehr Langsam”

14.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 7 in E Minor: IV. Nachtmusik II: Andante amoroso”

This whole playlist takes about 3 hours to play through. I encourage anybody that is interested to listen to some of these pieces, all are like I mentioned quiet pieces. All of these pieces are accessible in iTunes as well. (A tip, if you want any of the Mahler symphonies, try and listen to the ones conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Orchestra. These are excellent, in my opinion). Also, I encourage anybody to test this theory out, to compile a playlist of your own and see if it works for you.

Until next time…

History is cool!

Before this semester, I had been remiss on history as a particularly engaging subject. Recently, I have been reading about certain icons in American history. Normally I read a good dose of books, ranging from the Bible, computer textbooks, periodicals, numerious blogs and such. I knocked out 4 books within a weeks time, which is a lot for me, probably averaging about 150-200+ pages per day. This is on top of the stuff I normally read on a daily basis. It’s actually kind of scary!

I am starting to have a new respect for the past, whether it’s about the early origins of American popular music, early American economic history and the railroad industry and other events and individuals and had an impact. I encourage anyone to start reading about events in history. It doesn’t have to center around a college history textbook, either. I have been using things that interested me currently:

1.) I’m taking an American history class, so I have been reading books about certain parts of American history that peaked my interests, in this case early American economic theory and the major players.

2.) I love to listen to jazz, so I have been researching on certain jazz figures, like Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington and other greats.

3.) I have an interest on computer technology and where it is going, so I have been reading books about how past computer technologies and computer business has formed into what it is today. This includes reading about characters like Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple, NeXT Computers, Pixar), Linus Torvalds (started the development of Linux), Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay) and other “movers and shakers”. Currently, I am reading about Steve Jobs; his early history at Apple, when he got fired from Apple and his move on creating a powerful computer with NeXT, buying the company The Graphics Group, which got renamed Pixar, and his return to Apple and so on.

Well, I suppose it’s time to go. I have a music exam this afternoon and I am ready for it. I say, “Bring it on!”.

Until next time…

YouTube Friday — “NYC 2007″

Instead of putting up a compelling blog post of “the happenings” in my life, Friday’s will be known as YouTube Friday’s. I will post something that I think is interesting/cool/funny that I see. It’s not that I’m lazy, but my Friday is my day off, the day that I rest and reflect upon the week. I also do something that is relaxing, like reading, watching a movie or doing something else that I enjoy. Anyway, this week’s feature presentation is a slide show that I did when Steve and I went to New York in the summer of 2007 for vacation…

Until next time…

You goin’ to da rodeo?

Yes, ladies and gentleman, it’s time for the famous Tucson Rodeo, which started on Saturday, February 16th and ends this Sunday, February 24th. So, get your chaps and bolo ties, and enjoy the show.

I personally never really had an interest with the rodeo and the Rodeo Parade, known for being “the longest non-motorized parade in the world”. I marched in it my freshman year of college. The Tucson Rodeo is so predominate to southern Arizona culture (next to the Gem Show) that the community college is officially closed for two days!

The Tucson Rodeo, also known as La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, started in 1925. Back then, Tucson was still in it’s infancy, Arizona had only been a state for 13 years. According to their web site, some prizes for the parade included a 750 lb block of ice (crucial for those rodeo keggers), 100 lbs of potatoes and a “Big Cactus” ham. I don’t know what the prizes are for this years parade are, but maybe they’ll have the ham as one of them.

I don’t know, maybe I might stop by and check it out this year… I will definitely write something about it.

Until next time…

Exam week

Just decided to take a quick break between studying. So far I have taken 2 of my exams this week, with 1 tomorrow and 1 on Wednesday. I felt confident in the last two, am a little worried about tomorrow’s and ready as I could every be for Wednesday’s. Just a few more hours to study (History); I don’t believe in all nighters anymore. I remember studying for the final in chemistry one semester when I was up for about 36 hours straight. My exam was like at 8 a.m. and I remember looking out of my window, my eyes puffy and red, looking at the sunrise that morning. I was so unprepared. I took the exam and actually fell asleep for like 30 minutes during the exam; I ended up with a C for the semester…ahh, those were the days!

A little quiet here at the cave (a.k.a. my apartment) with Tim gone home for a few days. I think he will be back in town on Wednesday, just about when all the craziness of school has subsided.

Anyway, I better get back to studying.

Until next time…

“I have a fever, and the only cure is More Rambo!”

Tim and I saw Rambo in the theaters yesterday. Just a warning though, this movie is not for the squeamish. It has a lot of gore and violence and blood. Rambo is in his sixties now, but he is still mission capable.  He also has memorable one liner quotes like, [using my best Rambo voice] “Burma’s a war zone”, “when your pushed, killing’s as easy as breathing” and “live for nothing… or die for something… your call”. So if you want to see a movie that will satisfy the Alpha male in you, and to see Rambo kill fish with his bow and arrow, this movie is for you.

Tim bought “First Blood” and “First Blood: Part II” at Wal-Mart and we are actually watching both right now.

Until next time…

Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orch. was AWESOME!

Last night’s performance was awesome! The theme of the performance was “Ellington Love Songs”, which featured some of Duke Ellington’s ballads. Wynton sounded as wonderful as ever, his tone sounding of the warmth of the emotions. His long time rhythm section (Ali Jackson on drums, Carlos Henriquez on bass and Dan Nimmer, on piano) were right on cue. The ballads provoked a sense of a time where things moved slower, things were not so complicated and “people danced on stairs”.

Now for some of the cons of the concert. The biggest one was of the guy that sat behind me with the cell phone. Wynton was playing a solo in the ballad, “Creole Love Call” when his cell phone rang. This was about 15 minutes into the concert. The funny thing was that the ringing was going on for like 60 seconds and when I turned around to ask him to turn it off, the guy was still not aware of it, (or probably just ignoring it). He eventually turned it off. I think this is even a worse atrocity than people who leave their cell phones on in the movie theater; this is at a LIVE concert, during a SOLO. Another thing that bothered me is when the audience claps at the wrong time. Ryan Kisor, trumpet, was playing “Concerto for Cootie”, which featured him as the soloist. After a phrase of him playing, people started clapping. He’s the soloist, he is not done with the solo. One more thing that bothered me, don’t remember what the song was called, but when the orchestra started to snap their fingers during on of the solo’s, some people of the audience felt compelled to snap their fingers to complement the ballad. What, does the audience now have a copy of the sheet music in front of them all of a sudden? That bothered me.

Anyway, overall my concert experience was “eh”, but the main feature, listening to Wynton’s voice (trumpet voice, that is) and the support of the Orchestra was awesome. Their interpretation of Duke Ellington’s ballads were spot on.

Until next time.

This Super Tuesday is going to end up with a bang!

I going to see Wynton Marsalis perform tonight! I’m so excited! Here are some clips of him playing some jazz…

These two, Sean Jones and Marcus Printup, are going to put you in the jazz mood…

Until next time…