Sometimes, Good Music Speaks for Itself

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But february made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ’n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin’,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

They were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die."

AAA - Howl's Moving Castle

Ever since I read "Hexwood," Diana Wynne Jones has been one of my favorite authors. Her books are always fantasy, with charming characters and witty plots, she's very aware of all the cliches in fantasy writing and rather than trying to avoid them, pokes fun at them. I've always enjoyed her books' sense of fun and how each was a sort of capsule of a different world. She doesn't tend to write long series.

So when I heard that the brilliant Japanese film director Hayao Miyazaki was doing a film adaptation of one of British author Diana Wynne Jones' novels, I could hardly believe it. Immediately it seemed like an obvious, if unlikely match. Jones has the same sense of nonsensical fun that Miyazaki often employs in his films. Their works are similarly quirky and clever and always set in impossible "magic" worlds. It was a perfect match.

I already had "Howl's Moving Castle" on my reading list. It had come up as a suggestion on my Amazon account long ago and I'd been immediately intrigued. Now I had to read it. It still took me until this summer to actually pick it up from the library, and the whole time I read through I tried to imagine how Miyazaki would approach a certain scene and kept marvelling at how perfect a match this was. I absolutely love the book, I'm rereading it already.

To my delight, the library district had the DVD and so I can give you a run down of both the book and it's Japanese adaptation.

"In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes." So the book begins, then introducing us to Sophie Hatter, who is unfortunately the eldest of three sisters and therefore has a rather hopeless outlook for her future life. When her father dies, her step-mother is forced to send off the other two sisters into apprenticeships because they can't afford to pay for their schooling, but as the eldest Sophie is forced to stay and labor on hats. The already shy Sophie becomes even more of shut-in until she goes to visit the middle sister who is working in a bakery across town. The book and the movie diverge a bit here. In both cases she runs into the "courtly" Wizard Howl, whose floating (or, in the movie, crawling) castle makes the villagers nervous because Howl supposedly eats girls' hearts. Sophie does not know it is Howl in either case, but in the book she is simply "accosted" by him and runs away. In the movie, their meeting leads to my favorite scene, where Howl rescues Sophie from being "accosted" and they go for a walk in the sky above Market Chipping. *avidly searches YouTube for a clip*

However the evil Witch of the Waste has her eye on Howl and becomes jealous of Sophie. So she visits Sophie's hat shop and places a spell on her, making Sophie into the old woman she acts like. Sophie finds that she is much more free to act as she pleases as an old woman than she ever felt as a girl and, since she feels she can no longer stay at the shop, goes out to seek her fortune. Of course she winds up at Howl's castle. She is let in by Calcifer the fire demon. Calcifer is working for Howl under a contract that he would like Sophie to break, so he makes a bargain with Sophie that if she breaks his contract he will break her spell, the catch being he can't tell her what the contract is or how to break it. So Sophie hires herself as Howl's cleaning lady in order to solve the mystery. The plot is delightful, but in traditional Diana Wynne Jones fashion, quite confusing and it takes at least a couple readings to really get everything straight. But of course, this fits Miyazaki to a tee.

In Jones' novel, the castle is quite traditional, but Miyazaki couldn't resist tinkering with the idea. His castle ambles along on four legs looking a lot like a turtle covered with a junk heap and sounding like a car that's about to break down. The castle is one of Miyazaki's best creations, and is immensely fun to watch.

Another toy Miyazaki gets to play with is the castle door, which leads to different locations depending on which way the doorknob is facing. The idea is so good it doesn't need alteration. Howl and his assistant run a sort of wizard's shop where they create spells for purchase. Their customers reach them through a variety of different places and Calcifer works as a sort of receptionist calling out which door someone is at ("Porthaven door!" or "Kingsbury!" etc.)

I was surprised at how closely the movie followed the book at the beginning. Some scenes were done word for word. One especially fun one is where Howl cooks breakfast on Calcifer and feeds him egg shells. But then things get... different... And quite hard to follow. Whereas the Witch of the Waste is the main villain in the book, she becomes merely a side character in the movie. Miyazaki hardly ever has straight villains, and instead there's an awful lot about a war that was only hinted at in the book. We're never quite sure who's fighting who or why (until the end, kind of...) but THIS is definitely a point. To quote Howl "does it matter?" The movie has strong anti-war sentiments, yet it is not totally pacifist. Howl, who is a self-described coward, does finally turn and fight because he's "finally found someone he wants to protect." This leaves the movie open to a certain amount of interpretation which I think is both intelligent and considerate.

I do not think this film is one of Miyazaki's strongest although I have to admit it's a bit addictive and definitely growing on me. All the characters are done well, but the points where the plots truly departs from the book are confusing and don't make much sense. It was probably worse for me because I was trying to decipher the book and the movie's plot simultaneously and that's just asking for a headache. But there is some delightful stuff here and Miyazaki's usual sensitivity and humor is present.

We mostly spend our time becoming acquainted with the characters, which is quite fun. Jones tends to draw quick, dynamic portraits of personalities but leave off details which works great for a two or so hour movie. People who are used to characters with complicated backstories and detailed personality traits will find Jones' slap-dash creations possibly a bit weak, but I think it's more a matter of style then of quality. One weakness (I'll probably get spat at for this) but I think one weakness that Jones and Miyazaki share is their endings. They set up such delightful worlds an clever pretenses that it's like they're not quite sure how to wrap things up. Both the book and the movie conclude far too neatly and it feels somewhat like we've been stopped halfway through the ride.

Despite its weaknesses, I keep coming back to this movie for some reason. It has a unique charm that I think overcomes its faults and I'd recommend it as a good introduction to Miyazaki's work.

*arrives with YouTube clip* Okay! I found a clip of my favorite scene. Unfortunately, it's the English dub and as much as I like Christian Bale, it still pales in comparison to the original Japanese in which Howl is much less of a "tough guy." But at least you get to see it. Enjoy!

AAA - Miyazaki

And we're back! With another exciting installment of "Anime Addicts Anonymous!" Today, Hayao Miyazaki and the films of Studio Ghibli.

Japanese animation actually started with Walt Disney. He was the first person to create "moving pictures" and so any animated film must be traced back to him. I've heard several theories about Disney's influence on anime, which emerged around the same time that Bambi was released. Some people speculate that artists were trying to imitate Disney and that's why anime characters have those large eyes. Others say no, it's all symbolic and the large eyes represent innocence, which, considering there are quite a few villains with large eyes, I'm not sure I buy into that one. Either theory actually seems suspect to me. There's no denying that anime has a recognizable style. The sharp angles, weird hair colors (and styles), flashy outfits, make one automatically think "ah! that's that Pokemon crap." But, American animation, until recent years (where it's taken on a bit of a Japanese flair, think Emperor's New Groove), has always looked relatively alike too. This is probably partially because Disney held the monopoly on animation for so many years, to the extent that many people automatically assume any animated film is a Disney film. Most people aren't aware that there are several other animation studios operating out there nowadays. Dreamworks (El Dorado, Shrek), and Fox (Anastasia) have both put out big name animated movies and I'm sure there's another one or two even I'm forgetting, not to mention the countless start up operations trying to make a go of it, like Pixar did.

Anyhow, where am I going with this? Ah yes, Studio Ghibli IS Japan's Walt Disney Studios. (Disney itself is very popular in Japan as well). And Hayao Miyazaki just happens to work for them.

The first Miyazaki film I ever saw was Princess Mononoke. I was just getting into anime and I remember seeing it on video racks, and thinking "wow, that looks awesome." Apparently I pointed it out to a friend enough times that he got it for me for my birthday. We watched together and I was blown away. It was so completely different from anything I'd ever seen before.

First off, the artwork was gorgeous. This was before I'd seen Escaflowne or anything with artistic merit. All I'd seen were the dumbed down anime on Fox Kids. This was the best animation I had EVER seen. Miyazaki really does elevate these movies to the level of art, something that I don't believe Disney has ever done, as much as I love them. The film opened with low drums and strings, and almost a painting of a mountainous landscape and my jaw dropped.

This is how Online Ghilbli summarizes it. "The film follows Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Ainu tribe, who is cursed by a demonised boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure from the Forest Spirit. Along the way, he encounters San (The Princess Mononoke), a young human woman fighting to protect the forest and Lady Eboshi, the head of Tatara Ba (Iron Town). Ashitaka is forced to find a middle ground between the two ambivalent forces.

Based on Japanese folklore, "Princess Mononoke" is a riveting piece which is moving and touches upon subjects that are still relevant today - questions of war, ecology, morals and principles."

Princess Mononoke IS primarily an environmentalist film, something even my 13-or-so-year-old self couldn't fail to miss. The whole conflict between the industrialized Iron Town, where people can finally live happily and prosperously but at the cost of the neighboring forest, whose fantastical inhabitants suffer. Ashitaka is the go-between, and while there are many battles the end result isn't one of conquerer and conquered but of reconciliation. The themes Miyazaki deals with here are very complex, I never fully understand his films, I don't think he does, I don't think anyone can. Different people interpret them differently and you can always find something new to appreciate each time you watch them.

But I was baffled by the grotesqueness of the animation and indecipherable nature of its symbolism. Grotesque is used in the best possible sense, but the images were startling. Giant animal "gods," forest spirits, and all sorts of weird creatures occupy the film (including weird little bobble-head like creatures and a giant black blob, Miyazaki seems to like formless blobby creatures). The result is rather confusing to our traditional Western thinking. And yet it's so imaginative that I was spellbound.

That's one thing that Miyazaki does. He really, really creates, and the result is the unexpected, sometimes beautiful, and sometimes shocking, but always interesting. I think one of the reasons anime is so fascinating is because it's so different from what we're used to. That's not to say it's alien, just foreign.

Anyhow, Princess Mononoke quickly became one of my favorite movies. Not because of the characters, not because of the themes, not even because of the artwork, but because the journey was so engrossing. So when I heard that a Miyazaki film would be playing in select theaters in Spokane, well, I called every friend I could think of to try and go. I finally found an old highschool chum who seemed interested and so we made our way downtown to watch Spirited Away.

Miyazaki on the big screen is magic. He's an artist, his films are art, and they deserve to be seen as they were meant to be seen, in a theater. Spirited Away was a different animal entirely than Princess Mononoke. It reminded me of a Grimm's fairy tale, some liken it to Alice in Wonderland.

This time the story is in modern-day Japan. 10-year-old Chihiro is moving to a new town with her rather unsympathetic and fairly stupid parents (something I disliked about the film was its portrayal of her parents). They stop at what appears to be an abandoned theme park, the parents are hungry, they find what they think is some food for sale, they eat it and turn into pigs. From this point on Chihiro becomes trapped in the "spirit world," where she finds a job in a bath house for spirits. (Spirits are a recurring theme in Miyazaki movies, this film is particularly pantheistic, giant black blobs and enormous old ladies also show up frequently). The house is run by the sorceress Yubaba who takes control of Chihiro by giving her a new name.

The plot and the characters are absolutely bizarre. The bath house is inhabited by an old man with like eight or so arms (who runs the furnace or something like that), little cute dust mite things, a strange masked thing, a giant baby, and a hopping lamp just to name a few. But it's all rollicking good fun if you're up for it. I didn't take to it as much as I did to Princess Mononoke, mainly because I'm a sucker for epics with sword fighting, but I was glad I got to see it on the big screen and I knew I had to see more.

And so I went to the library where I found Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Each was delightful in its own way (an important note though, NEVER watch the dubs, they're generally horrible, always watch with subtitles) although Princess Mononoke still remained my favorite.

Miyazaki doesn't necessarily bother with setting up the plot too much. Things kind of start in media res and we're left to catch up and figure out what's going on, which sometimes takes multiple viewings and in a few cases, not everything is explained completely. I've found this irks me a lot less now. Life isn't cut and dry, we don't understand all of it, even from a Christian standpoint, and whether or not the indecipherable nature of some of Miyazaki's films is a reflection of this I don't know. But it doesn't make them unenjoyable. I think Roger Ebert explained it as "spectacle without meaning" or explanation or something like that. We don't care that we don't understand what's going on, because it's so entertaining.

Recently I checked out Howl's Moving Castle (which is actually an excellent book by Diana Wynne Jones, I highly recommend). It had the same attention to detail, the same sense of fun and magic. Miyazaki really is a minimalist and he will get the most out of a single movement or shot that he possibly can.

I could write pages on each of Miyazaki's films, but I don't exactly have the space or time for that now, though Howl's Moving Castle will definitely get a review. Miyazaki's films may seem unconventional, even weird or disturbing (hopping green heads?) to the typical American mindset, but there's something present in his work that American filmmakers would do well to sit up and take notice of. The greatest strength and delight in Miyazaki's films is, for me, his willingness to just steep you in the moment. Whether that moment is a train ride, or a walk through a flower garden or whatever. Miyazaki milks every emotion, every expression, every movement for all it's worth and in doing so captures real life in his two-dimensional creations in some ways better than any live action film can do. And that's kind of the point.

I'm not saying that Japanese sensibilities are any better or worse than anybody else's. And I'm not saying money is any less the bottom line there than it is here. But it sickens me to think of how many billions of dollars have been blown on meaningless popcorn fair that doesn't do anybody a speck of good and how few thoughtful, artistic films are made. Producers and studio execs rely on what's worked before, on overused cliches and reused ideas, because it's a safe bet. It's unfortunate that so few are willing to take a creative gamble and really allow cinema to fulfill its potential. After all, if you're going to spend that much money on something, you might as well make something worthwhile.

It's obvious that Miyazaki enjoys creating and that he wants to make something worthwhile. And he consistently does. Hopefully I'll find the time to tackle each of his films individually because they really are fantastic. And I hope this post made an ounce of sense because I do tend to ramble mindlessly.

Home Again

It's always awkward transitioning from college to home. Something about your parents being present really changes personality dynamics. Classical juries went really well by the way, best yet in fact. Now I just have to find a job.

With that said, my mom is amazing. She and dad came to help me move out of the dorm and let me tell you, I have never seen someone more enthusiastic about cleaning. I could not take the vacuum away... My mom's used to being responsible for pretty much everything, so I don't think she fully realizes that her youngest is almost 20 and capable of helping out with a bit more than just emptying the dishwasher. It's a control thing.

The problem is convincing her of this. The other day, however, after she had been out working all day and I had been home sitting around, I was determined to contribute in some fashion. I told my mom I would be making dinner. My parents looked at me like I might have a high fever.

"What brought this on?" my dad asked skeptically.

"I want to learn how to cook! That's all!" Well, that and as I've basically been raised on guilt, I was feeling guilty for the fact that mom had been out working all day. It took some doing to shoo her out of the kitchen, but I finally convinced her to hand me a recipe and leave me alone.

It was some sort of fish. After covering the filets with bread crumbs the recipe wanted me to "brown" them in a skillet. I wasn't quite sure what that meant. I mean, obviously I was supposed to put the fish in a skillet, but how long did it take for said fish to be "browned?" I wasn't sure. So I had to ask mom. A couple of minutes apparently. Well that was easy enough.

Except that I turned on the wrong burner and didn't realize that I wasn't heating up the frying pan at all until I smelled smoke. Luckily, I was in time to save things. I just wouldn't mention that. So after the fish had been in the skillet for a couple of minutes I went to flip them over. Easier said than done. They fell apart. So instead of three fish filets, I had several bits and pieces of fish rolling around in a skillet. I was still not asking for help.

I managed to reconstruct the filets. The recipe called for cheese, and I only hoped, as I stuck everything in the oven, that the melted cheese would hold everything together.

I didn't burn anything and dinner actually turned out to be completely edible, if a bit late. So, all in all, it could have been worse.

Fin

Well it's over. Ish. I do have classical juries looming on Friday, and maybe I should be worried, but I've actually had such a good experience with that this year I'm kind of looking forward to it.

I made a huge mistake yesterday, and I'm still kicking myself for it. I'm pretty disappointed in myself. Basically, without getting into the details, I missed my students' piano recital. I didn't have to, but for some reason I just totally blanked. I'm not just a bad student, I'm a bad teacher and a bad person as well. So I need to call them and make amends, but I'd rather not dwell on this too much as it's pretty painful for me to think about.

Anyhow, the fallout of that was that I could not focus on my theory project. After 1:00am rolled around (I'd been there since 10:00), I decided I may as well do what I've always known I would do. Spend the night at the music building. I had a sweatshirt and a poofy backpack for a pillow and the only thing I really lacked was something to cover my feet. By 2:00 I was so emotionally and physically drained I decided I would sleep for an hour and start again at 3:00. I actually did manage to sleep on that practice room floor, but when 3:00 rolled around, I decided I didn't care if I failed Theory, I just wanted bed. So I stumbled out of the music building and fortunately was able to bike back to Stewart (it's a looong walk at night). Yay sleep! Yay relatively soft mattress!

But this meant that when I woke up at 8:00 I still had a large portion of my Theory project to do (which was worth 10% of my grade)... Plus I had a German final I'd barely studied for, but it wasn't cumulative so I wasn't too worried and besides, with language it's a bit different. If you know the mechanics and the vocabulary, you're golden. So I mapped out my project (a four-part jazz arrangement of "Ten Minutes Ago" from Rodgers and Hammersteins' Cinderella featuring alto sax). My German final wasn't until 1:00 and so I had just enough time to work out the A section. Took the final (and actually had some lunch!) and then I worked out the B section just in time for our "theory" party at 3:30.

And from that point on the week became somewhat enjoyable. I got to sit and listen to everyone else's projects, Brent's wife and small daughter (who is SO cute! And apparently has a fondness for cake) dropped by and brought "munchies." And since then I've just kind of been trying to relax while fighting the urge to sleep so I can go back to having a regular time schedule.

Thanks for reading.

Finals - Tuesday

So, I planned to get up at 6:00 this morning, but after a glorious eight hours of sleep I got up at 8:00. Studied for Intro to Business until 9:30. Had breakfast. Studied for Intro to Business until 1:00. Took my Intro to Business final. Jack didn't make enough copies (he's had some orginizational problems this year. Like the time when he gave us copies of the answer key instead of the tests...). The actual final went okay, all though I had to borrow a pen from the office upstairs. Way to be prepared!

Had a light lunch at 2:00ish. Then practiced for jazz juries until the actual jury at 4:30. Oh jazz juries...

I didn't know I could play that badly... I mean, I kind of knew, but... It was SO bad! Brent's been telling me not to play timidly, so I was super-focused on this. Unfortunately I also absolutely grid-locked the moment I walked in that room. It's always the same, Brent along with one or two other anonymous jazz faculty sitting there in front of the piano with their pens and their evaluation sheets just STARING at you. It might be better if they weren't so nice, but they generally have eager smiles plastered across their faces. You hate to disappoint them.

So I'm thinking to myself "Play aggressively, play aggressively, play aggressively..." and finally they tell me start. And I do, and it's okay except... No, wait, not that fast! Stop! This is bad... And just like that everything starts to fall apart. I have no control over what I'm playing, no control. I'm just watching in horror as my hands fly across the keyboard... I want to do something, but it's like I'm in some sort of weird trance and my hands honestly have a mind of their own. "I need to use that bass figure," I remember. So I try to implement it, but it's way to fast, almost comically frantic. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. THIS is what I practiced all semester for? I can feel my face getting red. The solo section begins, and I'm just filling space. As long as I keep playing, everything will be alright, I won't have to look up at them. I've forgotten all about vocalizing or playing simple motifs, my hands play as many notes as they can fit in and I wish it sounded impressive but it pretty much reflects my absolute terror at the moment. I finish the song, and I truly wish the ground would swallow me up. They're faces are disturbingly indiscernable. I wish they would just say it sucked and let me leave.

Instead Brent asks me to play some ii-V-I progressions. Sure, whatever, just another thing for me to screw up on. And I do screw up. Okay, next humiliation.

My Funny Valentine. I'd actually been hoping to start with this one as I wasn't even sure I could remember all the chords. I start alright, although by now I'm too numb with mortification to play anything resembling music. I fumble through it, missing notes and pausing at difficult sections and FINALLY Brent tells me to stop. Then I have to sit through 2 agonizing minutes of one guy's critique because he didn't have a sheet to write on. He's very nice about it, but I feel like breaking into hysterical laughter when he tells me it sounded "frantic." Just how bad was it I wonder? I'm so glad I can't remember clearly.

The only time I've exited a room faster was when Brent asked me to sing for him during jazz lessons... You know, music teachers really do get to see the inner-most facets of your personality. It's a little disconcerting.

And so I shuffle across campus, basically, in the words of Professor McPherson "Thinking about death." And I still have to do a music theory project by tomorrow even though my enthusiasm for the art form is decidedly nil at the moment.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my German exam and our Music Theory "party?"

Finals - Monday

Okay, all-nighters are just stupid. I KNOW this. And yet, I definitely pulled my first all-nighter last night. No sleep. At all. It's because of this stupid Reporting for Mass Media article I had to write. It was on worship music, and I had a really difficult time contacting people so that in the end all I had were three sources. I asked for an extension but McPherson said no. Dang it McPherson! So this is pretty much how to be a bad student.

Why I Am A Bad Student #1 - I was so intimidated by this final paper that I kept putting it off. Procrastination, while something I joke about, really does bite me in the end. For some reason I could not make any progress on it. It's amazing how something that you spend 5 plus hours on can still be so crappy... So I don't even know about that class. If I had the time and energy I could try and revise my other paper and bring my grade up that way (I think I'm getting a B-, and if that turns into a C I will be really unhappy with myself, not to mention my parents...) Anyhow, I don't know, I may just give up on that class and be done with it as there's no guarantee I'll get a better grade on the revision anyways.

In other news, why do I insist on making an idiot out of myself in front of my professors? I was kind of embarrassed about asking for an extension, and so for some reason I could not shut up as I was waiting for my article to print so I could turn it in today. McPherson must have wanted to cry. I kept talking about Calvary Baptist, and as usual he proved that he was way more knowledgable about any subject known to mankind than I was. Okay, except for music, I definitely know more than him there. But honestly, sometimes I just want a roll of duct tape that I can use when I start feeling awkward and making a fool out of myself...

Why I Am A Bad Student #2 - Meanwhile I was super-tired today. I slept a ton, which means I now have a lot of catching up to do for my Intro to Business class. The nice thing is I have all of tomorrow morning as well as tonight, so I may be able salvage that. But I should have started studying a long time ago.

Why I Am A Good Student! - So I AM doing well in German. Aced my oral eval today and I scored above the 200 level on the placement exam. That bodes well for the final on Wednesday although I really haven't been as on top of this as I was last semester.

Why I Am A Bad Student #3 - Ugh, Jazz juries. I ALWAYS screw up jazz juries. And I actually was pretty good about practicing this year. Brent seems to think I'll be able to play proficiently in a few years. He keeps referring to future gigs, but I think he's nuts.

Why I Am A Good Student! - Last Theory test of the year today and I swear I aced it! Woohoo! So easy. Jazz harmonies? Thank you jazz lessons. Of course you play a melodic minor scale based on the third of a half-diminished chord! Doesn't everyone know that?

SO! I need to go get some caffeine, log in some serious practice hours and hit up the library. In other news they FINALLY fixed the heat in Stewart. Yay! Four days to go.

One Week Take Two

It's been one week since you looked at me
Cocked your head to one side
and said "I'm angry"
Five days since you laughed at me saying
"Get that together, come back and see me"
Three days since the living room
I realized it's all my fault, but couldn't tell you
Yesterday you'd forgiven me
But it'll still be two days till I say I'm sorry

Hold it now and watch the hoodwink
As I make you make you stop, think
You'll think you're looking at Aquaman
I summon fish to the dish,
although I like the Chalet Swiss
And I like the sushi
'case it's never touched a frying pan
Hot like wasabe when I bust rhymes
Big like LeAnn Rimes
Because I'm all about value
Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits
You try to match wits, you try to hold me
but I bust through
Gonna make a break and take a fake
I'd like a stinkin' achin' shake
I like vanilla, it's the finest of the flavours
Gotta see the show, 'cause then you'll know
The vertigo is gonna grow
'Cause it's so dangerous
you'll have to sign a waiver
How can I help it if I think you're funny
when you're mad
Tryin' hard not to smile though I feel bad
I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral
Can't understand what I mean?
Well, you soon will
I have a tendency to wear my mind
on my sleeve
I have a history of takin off my shirt

It's been one week since you looked at me
Threw your arms in the air
and said "You're crazy"
Five days since you tackled me
I've still got the rug burns on both my knees
It's been three days since the afternoon
You realized it's not my fault
not a moment too soon
Yesterday you'd forgiven me
And now I sit back and wait
till you say you're sorry

Chickity China the Chinese chicken
Have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin'
Watchin' X-Files with no lights on
We're dans la maison
I hope the Smoking Man's in this one
Like Harrison Ford, I'm getting frantic
Like Sting, I'm tantric
Like Snickers, guaranteed to satisfy
Like Kurasawa, I make mad films
Okay, I don't make films
But if I did they'd have a Samurai
Gonna get a set a' better clubs
Gonna find the kind with tiny nubs
Just so my irons aren't always flying
off the back swing
Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon
'Cause the cartoon has got
the boom anime babes
That make me think the wrong thing

How can I help it if I think you're funny
when you're mad
Tryin' hard not to smile though I feel bad
I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral
Can't understand what I mean?
Well, you soon will
I have a tendency to wear my mind
on my sleeve
I have a history of losing my shirt

It's been one week since you looked at me
Dropped your arms to your sides
and said "I'm sorry"
Five days since I laughed at you and said
"You just did just what I thought
you were gonna do"
Three days since the living room
We realized we're both to blame,
but what could we do?
Yesterday you just smiled at me
'Cause it'll still be two days
till we say we're sorry.

:-)

This Day is Weird

So I woke up this morning a little later than I'd hoped, but full of good intentions and the drive to accomplish something. I'd scheduled an interview with the worship coordinator from New Community at the Service Station at noon, and I got up around 10:30 or so. I didn't feel the need to hurry but I was ready to go by 11:00 when it dawned on me. I couldn't find my keys. Shucks. Now what?

I tore the room apart. I searched through both my backpacks five times, checked all my jeans and sweatshirt pockets, looked down in the laundry room, thoroughly investigated the inside of the couch (otherwise known as the black hole, it eats things) and actually cleaned up and organized some papers. Nothing! I was getting worried because, while the Service Station isn't super far, it would probably take me at least a half hour if not more to walk there. My bike was across campus and I'm not comfortable riding it on Nevada anyways. So I began to frantically call my friends and finally got a hold of Erica. She was working, but she made some calls for me and her friend Tom was able to drive me over. It was nice of him and I was only ten minutes late.

After the interview (which went well), I bought some coffee because I'd used their venue and then prepared myself for the long walk back. Luckily I ran into a fellow music major who was just heading back to campus. All is going well. So far.

Lunch (well, breakfast) was an odd affair. I ran into my friends Jessie and Gabriella and as usual Gabriella offered to introduce me to the others at the table. Here's the thing, my dorm's Resident Director was sitting at the table AND I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE HER! It was TOTALLY a context thing I swear! I'm not around Stewart a whole lot, but I have seen Katrina on a number of occasions and I do know who she is. But for some reason I didn't make the connection and firmly stuck my foot in my mouth. I was pretty much silent for the rest of the meal, but I didn't want to leave before they did because I could just imagine what they would say after I left! I KNOW I'm socially inept at times, but I don't TRY to be... I am such a dork.

When I returned to the dorms I realized my decision to where jeans and a sort of long-sleeved shirt was a bad one. It was really hot. Hotter than the weather forecast had predicted. I ordered my mom's mother's day/late birthday gift and called home for directions to the restaurant we're going to tomorrow, and then I looked for and finally found my keys (they WERE in one of my backpacks after all! Backpacks have too many pockets...) By this time it was unbearably hot in my room. I'm used to this because my house does not have air conditioning and it gets super hot upstairs in the summer. But this was ridiculous.

I went to open the windows all the way and realized that THERE WAS HEAT COMING OUT OF THE HEATER! What the...!? I checked the thermostat, but it was down as far as it could go. Why was the heat on? I went downstairs to check with the Resident Director who I had indirectly insulted at lunch, but she wasn't there. But I discovered that pretty much all the heaters in Stewart were on in some strange variation of the heat being broken. As long as the sewage system stays intact (it broke last year) I will be happy, but it's still pretty brutal. The bathroom is the worst, it must be close to 110 degrees right now... I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight, and showering in the morning could be an adventure. I was pretty dehydrated before I finally wised up and evacuated the building. I felt so yucky.

I had planned to go to the Saturday service at St. Mark's Lutheran as part of my journalism project. I felt a little awkward just showing up by myself, but I grabbed my stuff and went for it. It would have been one thing if I had been early, but by the time I got there I was either right on time or late. I didn't want to walk in late by myself. I was still considering things when, for some reason someone honked at me! (Was I drifting into their lane? What did I do?) This is a testament to how ridiculously sensitive I am and how much I can not handle anger. I don't get angry, I don't think I'm really capable of it, and I hate it when people get angry at me. I feel awful. So I felt like crawling into a hole because I hate it when people get angry at me when I drive AND when I do a bad job driving. Then I thought "what if they're going to the church service, what if it's someone I know?" So, as I said, in a testament to how sensitive I can be I turned around and went back to campus. What a waste of time and gas money...

And now it looks like the first thunderstorm of the season will be tonight. Rain and lightning with open windows. Woohoo. I love thunderstorms though. Once I asked my mom if I could go take a walk during one and she pretty much told me 'no' in every way possible. I could stand outside and try to catch a virgin pinecone (an unofficial requirement for graduation), but I should at least try to get SOMETHING done before I go to bed. Which means I should probably stop typing this. Still, it was such an odd day...

One Week

So I went to Karen's schola concert last night. So good! I feel sorry for people who only listen to one type of music. They miss out on so much! Generally this goes for non-music people, but sometimes we music nerds can get caught up in our superiority and overlook the fact that there's some pretty good stuff out there, and it doesn't have to be 100 years old. Likewise it can be. Or more.

Mostly right now I'm just trying to distract myself from the enormous amount of stuff I have to do. I just had my LAST EAR TRAINING CLASS. The final went okay, and I got an 'A' on my transcription even though I made a bunch of mistakes. I'd hate to see what a 'B' looks like. I will miss Ear Training a lot. I figure I'll try and continue by working on Mini-Mel (it's a computer program) and doing lots of transcriptions but I won't have anyone to check and see if they're right. But there's no substitution for sight-reading rhythms with 12 other peopl (1 ta-ta 2-ta-te-ta, 3-la-lee, 4-ta-te), I won't start my Tuesdays and Thursdays by singing a Bach chorale anymore, I won't get to hear Brent's amazing piano skills every day, and there will be no more Ear Training competitions! Honestly, I've developed so much as a musician just because of this measly one-credit class that gives everyone a headache. You put tons of work into it, and it's only one credit! *le sigh*

I really can't believe how much we've covered in only two years (I can't believe it's been 2 years!) I can sight-read quite a bit USING SOLFEGE! The only song I could sing in solfege before coming here was Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music. I always assumed that a good ear was something you were just born with and there was nothing you could do about it. Not true! Music does come more easily to some people, but you really can develop your ear if you work at it.

Now if I could only be done with Reporting for Mass Media. That's a class I won't miss.

So I'm taking down "Tank!" even though it makes me sad to do so. I think I'll put up a few different musics I've been enjoying lately. Yay for diversity!

Housing Lottery Take 2

I thought I'd take a break from my anime obsession (kind of) to inform you that this blog has officially been around for a year. Wow. If you scroll way back into the depths of worthless ramblings you will find a post about Housing Lottery last year. It was craziness. This year was too, but mostly because I couldn't figure out where to live until the last minute.

1. FIRST I thought Katrina and I (at least I had a roommate set up) could live off-campus. But that becomes difficult when she's in France and you have to look for the apartment by yourself. It just wasn't a responsbility I felt was safe to take on my own shoulders.

2. So I thought we'd go for a theme house, the next best thing. Well, first we had to find at least one other person to theme house with us. We did find 2 other people, which changed to one other person, and then back to 2 other people, and I actually submitted our proposal but we didn't get the house. I wasn't too surprised.

3. SO then one of our people still needed a roommate so we decided on a triple in Ballard. Well, she found another roommate so we were down to

4. a double in Ballard. Except then I got approached by a group of 4 other girls who wanted to go for a...

5. 6-person pod in Duvall. Okay. So that was the plan until the night of housing lottery, when I found out there had been some miscommunication and they were going for Boppell instead. *blinks* Okay, Katrina and I will just...

6. go for Ballard again. Except... The girls who were going for Boppell ended up in Duvall. And so did my other prospective theme house people and a lot of other people I know. Okay... Well, it's really far from the music building but it sounds like a bunch of fun.

7. A double in Duvall it is! Whew.

The actual lottery went pretty well since Katrina and I are both upperclassmen. We had 7 housing points together (I got to wear her nametag as well as mine, which felt a little strange). I was actually first in line at housing lottery! FIRST. It was so weird after all the stress last year. It meant I actually had to make a decision, which was really difficult without Katrina's input. I finally decided on a room in the basement and I've heard that's a good floor. So in the end everything worked out and I'm really looking forward to next year! I still have to contend with this year though... Only 2 more weeks until finals! Gaaackkk!

AAA - Cowboy Bebop

Okay, so now we're changing gears, a lot. Forget fantasy, kingdoms, swordfights (well, almost), and the epic feel of Escaflowne. Cowboy Bebop is a completely different animal. Ponder the title for a moment. Cowboys, associated with Westerns, sunsets, and (ugh!) country music... And Bebop, the epitome of cool. It actually is rather fitting but, WHERE do they come up with these ideas? Cowboy Bebop is about a group of bounty hunters who act like film noir detectives, oh yeah, and it's set in a futuristic Star Wars type world. Once again, where do they think of these things? And can Hollywood start borrowing some of their ideas? Because this series definitely blew me away. It's so original, so quirky, and so new. Drawback: this is definitely Adults Only. Rated R. Not all of it, but there are certain episodes and certain scenes that go beyond PG-13. I know. I'm a bad person. But, but, but *stammers* oh just watch the trailer...



So that music, playing during the trailer? It's by Yoko Kanno. That is a tune called "Tank!" and it's amazing. Please listen to it. It's on the sidebar. I told you Yoko Kanno was diverse right? Well here's where it really shows. Cowboy Bebop utilizes jazz, swing, blues, and even some rock amongst other things. The music to Cowboy Bebop can be... a little strange... Consider that the name of Yoko Kanno's band is "The Seatbelts." But this is exactly what I love about anime. It can be so out of the ordinary. Ordinary gets boring after a while. One of the funny things about anime songs (or J-pop in general) is that they use Engligh sometimes. Sometimes it's just three words followed by a string of Japanese. Apparently they think it sounds cool. When a whole song is in English generally it doesn't make any sense whatsoever. :-) This next tune is called "Bad Dog No Biscuits," and it's a little strange with crazy guitar riffs, random cheering, and some down and dirty 'bone solos. Get it? Oh dear, bad pun.



The first episode introduces us to Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, two space-age bounty-hunters or "space cowboys" (weird phrase huh. Their ship is called "the Bebop," thus Cowboy Bebop). Spike and Jet are pretty good at what they do, but they're generally broke anyways. The reason being Spike causes a lot of damages while chasing down a bounty and these have to be payed off. Who knows how long these two have been operating this way, but things are about to change. It starts when they go after a dog-napper with a huge bounty on his head (episode 2). The dog, we find out later, is some sort of genetically altered genius and that's why it's so valuable. Spike and Jet never figure this out though, so after losing the bounty, because they're both really big softies at heart, they keep Ein as a pet. Ein is adorable and generally knows exactly what's going on even when everybody else is clueless. Awwwwww.

Next tune: Piano Black. Kanno uses a lot of sound effects in her music and usually it's very effective.



The next addition to the Bebop crew is my least favorite. Faye Valentine.
Faye is actually a pretty good character. Spike and Jet run into her at a casino, where she's working as a dealer. Eventually Faye teams up with the two, thinking that if she nabs a huge bounty she'll be able to pay off her enormous debt. And where does that debt come from? Well, if you don't mind the spoiler, the truth is Faye knows next to nothing about her past. This is because she was cryogenically frozen decades and decades ago, and now that she's been revived she's left with a mountain of medical bills and a case of amnesia. Plus she's been through a bad relationship since so she pretty much hates men. The only thing I don't like about Faye is her tendency to dress provocatively. Come on, wear some real clothing please. Other than that Faye's pretty much equal to Spike and Jet in terms of skill, so it's nice to see a strong female character.

I actually don't know what this next tune is called. I don't remember it from the series, but it's a good representation of some of the quirky music Kanno writes.



The final addition to the Bebop crew is my favorite. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Trivusky the 4th. Ed for short. Ed is... a girl. Genius. A 13-year-old girl genius. Named Ed. Actually, Ed doesn't know her real name so she made this one up which, in the words of Spike "if you made it up then how can you be the 4th?" Ed is amazing. Like Ein, she generally knows what's going on even when everyone else doesn't. Before she joins the Bebop, Ed is known as the famous hacker "Radical Edward." When she's suspected of hacking into a satellite a bounty is put on her head and the rest is cowboy history. Ed is as wacky and weird as they get. Her dialogue generally doesn't make sense, except that it does, once you realize what's really going on. That probably doesn't make sense but needless to say Ed is awesome. The following quote pretty much sums up Ed. "I think I know, I don't think I know, I think I know, I know I don't think I know, I don't think I think..."

Music is used in interesting ways in this show. This next song, which I know as "Green Bird" although I've heard it called "ELM" and "The Ballad of Fallen Angels," is actually used in a chase scene. It's a very emotional moment, so it makes sense to not do the obvious thing and use upbeat chase-scene music. I like that kind of subtlety.




And then of course we have Spike and Jet. Jet is also a favorite of mine. An ex-cop with a tough exterior, Jet's actually a big softie with a love for cooking. And jazz music. Jet pretty much acts as a mother-figure, which is pretty hilarious. He really cares about everyone else on his ship and although he acts like he's angry with them it usually masks the fact that he's worried about them. In his own words, "I'm Jet Black, 36 years old. I'm often told I don't look 36, but you shouldn't judge people based on appearances... or how much hair they have..."

This next tune is called "SPY." Very James Bond.



And finally we have Spike. Spike's kind of like Jet in that he pretends to have a tough exterior. In his own words, "There are three things I hate the most: Kids, pets, & women with additude. So tell me, why do we have all of them packed into our ship!?" But Spike feels responsible for his comrades and it shows. As for himself, Spike's pretty laid-back with a devil-may-care attitude towards his own safety, a tendency to push people a way, and really poofy hair. His fighting style is a tribute to Bruce Lee I guess, although I'm not really that familiar with Bruce Lee. Needless to say, Spike can hold his own in a fight. Spike has an interesting past (he was a former criminal and now he's paired up with an ex-cop. Interesting, neh?)

Okay, okay! I know you will like this song even though it has one sort of swear word in it sort of. I'm amazed at the use of instrumentation here. Contemporary vocals and pipe organ. It's awesome!



Oh wait? I almost forgot! Who is this menacing fellow? Well there has to be a villain doesn't there? This one is straight out of Spike's jaded past and is aptly named Vicious. We don't see him often, but when we do generally a very cool fight scene ensues. Let's just say that Vicious defies the saying "never bring a knife to a gun fight." Vicious is a great villain, which is interesting because you feel absolutely no sympathy for him. He's just evil. Yet he has depth somehow. Plus, let's face it, a black suit and a katana? Cool.

Cowboy Bebop's plot is exclusively character-driven. If any outside struggle does come along, it's generally only for one episode. The main storyline deals exclusively with the characters' pasts and how they relate to one another, which is interesting. Because they're all looking for something, and as I heard someone say, they don't realize that what they're looking for is right there with each other. The show is very clever with more references than I could ever catch or understand. Every episode either refers to a song title or a style of music ("Asteroid Blues," "Jupiter Jazz," "Gateway Shuffle," "Mushroom Samba"). The show can be simultaneously funny, deeply emotional, and reflective. Unfortunately there's exessive violence and some sexual references that I could definitely do without, which is partially why it's only my number three. (Sometimes I think the Japanese are more obsessed with violence than we Americans are). But altogether it's a solid and unique piece of work.

AAA - Escaflowne: A Girl in Gaea

Like most anime, Escaflowne takes several forms. Usually anime begins as "manga," or what we would call comics. If the original manga is popular there will probably be an animated series, probably a movie (or 2 or 3), video games... You get the idea.

Escaflowne actually started out as an animated series, which is unusual. There are a couple of spin-off mangas but I hear they're both not that great. I haven't really been able to get into manga anyways.

And then there's the movie. Anime movies follow a couple of different patterns. They can tell backstory, or just be a completely new idea or a continuation of a series, (there are standalone movies as well, but we're talking of movies that are based on a series). The Escaflowne movie is a little different in that it's a retelling of the series. And it's kind of neat. The world of Gaea has a whole new feel, very tribal and almost middle-eastern. While the artwork of the series is AMAZING (I mean, really, even with the pictures I put up, there's no way to describe), the movie's artwork is even better. It's sooo amazingly gorgeous.



Unfortunately some idiot decided that it was possible to retell the entire complex story of the series with only an hour and half of time. Come on people, 2 hours at least! So things get paired down quite a bit and to be honest, the movie isn't that great because of this. Oh the possibilities. Characters become 2-dimensional, the plot is almost impossible to follow (forget it if you've never watched the series), and so we end up with an interesting world with a lot of sword swinging.

Instead of the Zaibach empire under Emperor Dornkirk, we have the Black Dragon Clan/Empire which is lead by Van's brother Folken (replacing Dornkirk as the villain). They're taking over the world, yada yada yada. The central story however, is the relationship between Van and Hitomi, as it was in the series. There's no time for love triangles and complications though. Van loves Hitomi, Hitomi loves Van, straight and to the point. So, sadly, my favorite character Allen is left on the sidelines. He may have a cooler outfit, and he still knows how to kick Van around, but Allen barely gets any screen-time. Sad day!

Hitomi herself is altered quite a bit. Instead of a happy-go-lucky highschool freshman, she's a highschool senior suffering from depression. There's no mention of fortune-telling or tarot cards that played such a central role in the series. Instead, Hitomi is called to Gaea by Folken because she is believed to be the legendary Wing Goddess who calls the dragon-armor Escaflowne.

As I said, the story is extremely weak. I don't understand the finer points of half the scenes. Why does Van have wings? What exactly happened with Folken? What's up with Hitomi's pendant? Things that were addressed in the series are simply left unanswered here. However, the fight scenes are well-done (if you can handle the blood, it's even more gory than the series, a common trait in anime...) and as I said, the artwork is just gorgeous. The music too is impressive. Yoko Kanno scored this as well, and she takes a different approach (that versatility I was talking about) and gives the movie a new, tribal feel.

The movie opens with Van attacking an enemy transport. He's using his wings to his advantage and so we first see a blue sky, and then wings in the distance, and then Van falling rapidly towards the transport. The music is perfectly synced. As Van lands, drums begin and then at his first attack, the rhythm accelerates until finally the violin comes in. Perfectly synced, completely different from the series, and pretty much amazing.

This next track is also interesting in that you can hear hints of the "Duel of the Fates" (which was composed later in case you're suspicious).



When the choir comes in, it's definitely the same chord progression as the Duel of the Fates, and the melody is similar just a little later. :-) Oh Yoko Kanno, you are so cool.

AAA - The Vision of Escaflowne

Warning, the following post is really, really long...



The Vision of Escaflowne is, I think, my favorite anime. Escaflowne is unique in that it spans so many genres. It can be described as a romance/action/sci-fi/fantasy/drama/epic and whatever else you want to pull out of the hat. The uniqueness of Escaflowne's world is really what draws me to the series, but even without that, so many things are done so well I can't help but love this series.

The music to Escaflowne is absolutely fantastic, so be sure to listen to the samples as you read through. I'll try and space them out a little.

Escaflowne has very strong fantasy and sci-fi elements. There is sword-fighting, dragons, kingdoms, knights, princesses, and even a variety of different races (no elves or dwarves though). Escaflowne's overall feel is decidedly fantasy, which is why I like it. But there's a lot of sci-fi too. Robots (they're giant suits of armor, called guymelefs), scientific experiments, and advanced technology all play a large role, but it all fits somehow. The story itself is rather complex, so I'm posting the trailer as an introduction.



Okay, so the trailer doesn't do it justice. Basically, Hitomi is transported to Gaia just in time to see the country of Fanelia burned to the ground by the "evil empire Zaibach." She and Van, Fanelia's king, escape with Escaflowne and run to the neighboring country of Asturia. There they meet the knight Allen Schezar. Allen feels the injustice of what Zaibach has done and feels Zaibach won't stop with Fanelia. He takes Hitomi and Van to petition Asturia's king to act, but the king is a coward and turns a blind eye to the threat. So Van, Hitomi, and Allen band together to fight Zaibach and uncover the mystery on why Zaibach is so intent on capturing Escaflowne.

Rather than try to take you through Escaflowne's long, complex, and confusing storyline, I'll introduce you to its characters. The best plot ever written would be nothing without well-written, believable and interesting characters and Escaflowne has a large and diverse cast. True, there's enough angst to supply ten soap operas, but it's all so removed from every day life you actually sympathize with all the tragic pasts and contorted relationships.



Hitomi Kanzaki - until being transported to another world and getting caught in the center of a war Hitomi was your average high school freshman. Her life revolved around the track team. Her best friend was the manager, her crush was the team captain, and her goal in life was to beat 13 seconds in the 100 meter dash. Hitomi has a strange hobby though, fortune telling. (Unfortunately this plays a large part in the series. Because of the my Christian background I really dislike the use of tarot cards and dowsing in any setting, but the series does have some redeeming qualities so hear me out). When she is transported to Gaia, fortune telling becomes more than just a game. She starts having visions which are unfailingly accurate and thus becomes a desirable tool for either side. But there's more to Hitomi than this. It is Hitomi's care and concern for others that is her real asset. Van, Allen, and everyone else she comes in contact with come to rely on her emotional support and it is in this way that Hitomi makes the whole series tick. Unfortunately, the girl is rather inclined to be very silly. The first thing she does in Gaia is develop a full-blown crush on Allen (immediately after declaring her undying love to her team captain back home). In her defense, Allen does rescue her when she's in an emotionally unstable condition. Much of the series revolves around the love triangle (one of many love polygons) revolving around Van, Allen, and Hitomi. The series' message of unselfishness in love is something I appreciate and it's bittersweet ending drives this point home, a strong ending to a strong series.



Van Fanel - Van is angry, brash, arrogant, insecure, and headstrong. And no wonder. (major spoiler warning) Like so many in the series, both his mother and his father died when he was very young. His older brother left to complete the Rite of the Dragonslaying, required to become king. He never returned and the responsibility to gain the kingship fell to Van. Van only completes the Rite at the very beginning of the series and has only just been crowned king when Zaibach attacks. The first thing we witnesses as ruler of his people is Fanelia burning to the ground. Worse yet, he discovers that his brother didn't die during the Rite of the Dragonslaying, but has actually joined Zaibach and helped in attacking Fanelia. Van blames himself for being weak and has a rather distorted view of honor. But he has a lot of good qualities too. He's undyingly loyal, honest, and acts on his beliefs. The series does an excellent job of portraying Van's growth as a person over the course of the series.



Allen Schezar - Allen has issues. And really long hair. His father left his family when he was young, then his little sister disappeared, then his mother died... So Allen became a highway robber. He never lost a fight until he ran into one of Gaia's master swordsmen (the same guy Van learned from coincidentally). When he was defeated he threatened to kill himself (I was a suicidal teenage bandit!) Instead he became a knight of the round table, er, I mean Asturia. That's why he has those puffy sleeves. But it doesn't stop there. Allen's gained a bit of a reputation as a lady's man. It seems all three of the Asturian princesses were in love with him at some point (I'm rooting for Eries!) and so the king moved him to an outpost where he runs into Van and Hitomi and our story begins. I've got to admit, Allen's one of my favorite characters. The angst just drips off of him. And he's really good at swordfighting. Happily for angst-lovers Allen gets to confront ALL of his issues during the series! Bring on the flashbacks!

And behind all this is the main question of fate vs. free will. How much are we governed by the past and how much of our lives is our decision? I'm happy to say free will wins out and I must say you cannot find this kind of thing in American television.

One thing that's confusing about anime is that it's a cartoon, and here in the states, cartoons are for kids. This is not at all true in Japan. Cartoons are for everybody! Therefore, Escaflowne CAN have the depth it has. Well, that and blood...

Anime has a bad rep because everyone's used to seeing Dragonball Z and Pokemon and stuff like that. Not the highest production values. Escaflowne however is like watching a painting. I've been trying to choose pictures that illustrate this. There are certain scenes where you just want to take your tv and hang it on the wall.

And then there's the music. Yoko Kanno is one of my heroes. I'd say she's the best writer for film living. She's certainly more original than John Williams and, sorry Howard Shore, as much as I love LOTR Kanno's simply so diverse it's hard to compete. The next two animes I'm posting also feature scores by her and I think I'll be able to demonstrate what I'm talking about. For now, listen to this final piece. I hope you've enjoyed this brief venture into the Vision of Escaflowne. The amount of thought put into the world of Gaia, the story, the characters, well it pays off. And if things get a little convoluted from time to time, well, the show's just too cool for me to care. It definitely gets weirder as the series progresses until you finally wonder what kind of mind trip you stumbled onto. But when you get to the end, you realize it was worth it.

Anime Addicts Anonymous

Okay... I have to confess. I. Like. Anime. Please still like me. Don't get me wrong! I'm not into gory, pornographic disgustingness. Nonononono... I try to stay away from that stuff. Far, far, far away. But still. There's something about some of it. An intelligent plot. Interesting themes. Art, music, characters with depth. And pretty much downright coolness. I just can't help liking it. I'm sorry!

It's not for everybody. I know a lot of Christians don't like it because it has "pagan" themes. Yeah. It's from Japan. They don't exactly have a rich Christian past. But there's still truth there, and it's not all corrupt. If I only read books with specifically Christian themes or watched movies with such I would be severely limited. Plus I don't know that that's wise. I think we should be open to other ideas so that when we are challenged we can respond intelligently. If something is wrong or goes against my belief, I should first of all be able to identify that and secondly be able to explain why I disagree. I can't do that if I live in a vacuum. And I certainly can't hold intelligent conversations with non-Christians if I don't know where they're coming from. So yes, anime often employs pantheism and other traditional Japanese beliefs. That's to be expected. But I think I can approach it the same way I'd approach other non-Christian authors and art.

Secondly, it's definitely... different. A mind trip sometimes? I can understand why people don't get it. And unfortunately there's sometimes some inappropriate material but like I said this I try to avoid.

However I must try and defend myself. So I have been inspired by Karen's recent list of musicals to run my own of anime I like. Run, scream, do what you will, but please at least listen to the music I put up because IT'S SO COOL! So, looking forward to that.

Something New Every Day

I've applied for a theme house. If you don't know what a theme house is, it's a special type of on-campus housing. You have a theme (like piano, or cooking, or ninjas, yes there is a ninja theme house). We chose multicultural music. Then you have to draw up a proposal and submit it to Residence Life and they decide who gets a house. It's really nice because you don't have to pay utilities but you save some money because you don't have to have a meal plan. Do I think we'll get it? No. No frankly I do not. It was such a last-minute thing and I think I even made some grammatical errors etc. Yuck. But I did learn something I didn't know while putting together our proposal. Apparantly *drum roll*.... I'm a Junior! I have over 60 credits and have been a junior since the end of January. I had no idea. So that made me happy.

For once in the past few months I feel like I'm on top of everything. I went to bed at a decent time last night, did all my homework, and even had some free time. It has me feeling kind of paranoid to be honest. I've gotta be forgetting something.

Procrastination

Heidi is enjoying having a few minutes to breathe. She may call it procrastination, but she doesn't feel guilty about it. :-) So I did this thing.

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
Opening Credits:

Concert Duo Movement 3 – Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer

(oooh, artsy… in a folk music way. Works well.)

Waking Up:
Heart We Will Forget Him – Whitworth Women’s Choir

(I’m waking up to an Emily Dickinson poem…)

First Day At School:
Strange Meadowlark – Dave Brubeck

(groovin’)

Falling In Love:
The Magic Castle on the Mountain of Sweets – Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker

(it actually kind of works, although the title’s kind of funny)

Fight Song:

We’re Flying – Escaflowne Soundtrack

(Hmmm, no. That just doesn’t work on any level)

Breaking Up:
On Fire – Switchfoot

(Good songness! And once again it actually kinda works)

Prom:
Ashitaka and San – Princess Mononoke Soundtrack

(Okay never mind, this isn’t typical prom music not that I’ve ever been to one)

Life's OK:
Bemsha Swing – Thelonious Monk

Mental Breakdown:
Concerto for 2 Violins and Cello in D Minor III. Largo e spiccato – Antonio Vivaldi

(sad!)

Driving:
Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia – Aram Khachaturian

(I’m going reaaaalllll slow. Or it’s a nice day out)

Flashback:
Living Water – The 5 O’Clock People

(mmmm I love this group)

Getting Back Together:
Scrapple From the Apple – My Jazz Combo this year

Wedding:
At Friar Laurence’s – Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet

(you’ve got to be kidding)

Birth of Child:
Short Trip Home – Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer

(and we’re back to the folk music)

Final Battle:
Eight’s Enough – written and performed by my brother Eric Olson

(oooh sinister, good call Eric)

Death Scene:
Metamorphis – Delirious?

(Yeah!)

Funeral Song:
Told You So – Barenaked Ladies

(it’s the happy yet wistful band!)

Spring Break

So if I were a "normal" maladjusted college student I'd have gone down to California, or Florida, or Mexico, or simply to my local pub and get smashed. At least I think that's the right expression. But I am most definitely not normal. So what did I do?

Well, I read a 700 page novel from the 1860's. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. It took me 2 and a half days. And when I'd finished that one I picked up "The Undomestic Goddess," a book a la Bridget Jones' Diary, and polished that off in my remaining free afternoon. Take THAT Harry Potter nerds! *Heidi, they're like 12, you're trying to compete with 12-year-olds by comparing how much you can read in a week...* Hmmm. Well never mind. I haven't started on Inkspell yet, or the biography on Johann Sebastian Bach, and I'm only a third of the way through "The World is Flat." This is FUN for me. Something's wrong here.

Of course this after I went to a Lord of the Rings party at Karen's house... *Heidi, you do realize people can access this blog from your Facebook account. You do have a link up. What if someone who THINKS you're normal suddenly realizes... Realizes... How much of a dork you really are!* Oh shut up. The voices are louder today than usual. It's a good thing I'll be going back to college soon and then I'll be busy enough to look as normal as a music major can. I'm NOT going into how bad of a music major I am. Nothing more needs to be said on THAT topic.

I read that my generation is extremely narcissistic (oh goodness that's hard to spell) compared to others. *GASP!* I don't know WHY! I mean, our parents flock around us and dote attention on us and make us the center of the universe. And then everyone starts scratching their heads saying "why do these kids think they're the center of the universe?" Okay, so maybe not all kids are so... lucky... Some are neglected, shuffled from foster home to foster home or coming home to an empty house while dad's at work, trying to meet the status quo. Bottom line is the article had a point. We have blogs and MySpace pages and Facebook accounts and all of these glorious "social networking" tools generally promote Me! I like my blog. I like reading over past entries and seeing where I was in my life. I'm too lazy to keep a journal. But I hope I don't become so self-centrered as to forget the value of others. God comes first, others second. This is what I was taught growing up and it still seems like an admirable philosophy still. So I'm hoping to be less self-centered on this blog and use it as a tool for communication. Not just about me, but about life and others and God too. We'll see how it works.

2 Random Things (or maybe more than that)

Cripes Mondays are busy. I try to get up at 6:00, sometimes it ends up being 7:00... I WILL do devotions! *sigh* I have classes from 8:00 until 10:30. Then I go to the Fitness Center (I am just not created to be sedentary. That's one thing that's been driving me crazy at college.) After that I do homework and get lunch etc. Then I have class again at 2:00 until 3:00. I have half an hour or so to prepare for piano lessons then I teach Grace and Grant for about an hour. Then I usually stay and practice for an hour. Then IDEALLY I would eat dinner and go back and practice for another hour but this generally doesn't happen because I usually eat dinner and then pass out on the couch. So now I have to practice still plus do more homework...

Mark Levine is giving a clinic and concert tomorrow. Super excited. Or I would be if I wasn't so groggy.

Now what I was originally going to post about. Keith's senior recital. Keith is well-loved. I've never seen the recital hall that full. They had to add an extra row of chairs in the front as well as along the aisle on either side. And people were standing in the back. In the words of one prof "we need that new recital hall yesterday." The music building's been on the top of list for rennovation for a while now. If they could only make it look less like a prison...

Secondly, with regards to Keith's recital, everyone should hear "The Dead Moth Tango" at least once. Too bad I can't remember who wrote it.