arr. john guari

hearing your own arrangements being played IN REAL LIFE is awesome!

i just got done recording my arrangement of the Tadd Dameron tune, "Lady Bird."

i had to re-copy a bunch of music to make it prettier this evening, and i realized i'll have to re-re-copy some of it tomorrow so that it fits the very specific parameters.

things discovered today:

• making nice looking eighth note tails is harder than it looks
  
• the Staedtler Mars plastic eraser is indeed the best eraser of all time
  
• repeat brackets/bar lines are important to write in, if you want music to be repeated

so i've pretty much gotten all the hard stuff out of the way as far as the arrangement goes. music is still the best. arranging is a lot of hard work, but it is extremely fun to hear it all play out the way i heard it in my head.

EDIT: "Arr. John Guari" refers to the complete phrase "Arranged by John Guari," though i neither deny, nor confirm any pirate connections.

a little sick

i have fallen slightly ill. my roommate has been sick and has made many people around him sick.

i think i read about this in a history book somewhere...

ah yes, that's it.

a strict regimen of naps, vitamins and halls fruit breezers will keep sickness at bay.

rogue wave

i got Rogue Wave's album, Out of the Shadow today. it's pretty good. think of a not-so-sad acoustic elliott smith crossed with an Elephant 6 band.

i reccommend.

upcoming concerts

so i'm still waiting for my Killers ticket that i ordered two weeks ago to come in the mail. it'd better come soon.

yesterday, elizabeth, bustos and i went to Seasick Records, this tiny little indie music shop on the edge of campus. i bought Rilo Kiley's More Adventurous as well as tickets to the Rilo Kiley show, and to the Death Cab For Cutie show.

last night was filled with Tomato pizza and Freaks and Geeks in Bustos's room. i'm really tempted to get the Freaks and Geeks Box set, but it's really expensive, and available only through the official website. hmm. Christmas is only 3 months away!

today was filled with transcribing, practice, scrubs and Rip Rock's cheeseburger.

the Trilogy and New Music 9-25-2004

i watched all the Star Wars on DVD last night. what an homage to nerdiness!

as usual, i liked Empire the best, and Jedi was a close second.

today i've checked out some music from the library:

Death Cab For Cutie - the Photo Album

Portishead - Dummy

Cursive - (Cursive's) Domestica

Azure Ray - Azure Ray

Elbow - Asleep in the Back

indie_cred++;

gonna buy a futon and rug with stones later.

marathon and on and on

my day today (thursday) was crazy long. i'll post more later

EDIT:

ok here was my day yesterday. aural skills III at 10:00, Physics test at 11:00, Physics lab at 12:00. the Lab went until about 1:15, then i ate lunch and practiced for improv. improv was at 3, then i wrote some letters, and returned my CDs and went to lab band at 5. i ate dinner after that, then went to the wind symphony concert at 7:30. i was going to work on my arranging project at the concert, but i forgot an important piece of music to copy, so i did my theory III homework instead. after the concert, i went to the music computer lab at 9:30 and stayed until about 11:00. at 11:30 i went to bustos's room and watched Freaks and Geeks.

that was a long and grueling day.

today is much better by comparison. some useless finale info in theory, a 100 on my scales test (probably the only 100 in the class, w00t), finishing up my finale part of my arranging project, and sending off the aforementioned letters. now all i have to do is finish the hand-copied portion of this arranging assignment and go to my sectional and arranging lab, then it's nothing but THE TRILOGY tonight!

It's a trap!

mat back

hurrah! our welcome mat is back...for now.

hail to the thieves

so jeremy's and my welcome mat, having often been moved to other places in our hall, has been stolen. most likely by our friends jamie and elizabeth. it will be returned soon, i hope.

otherwise, i'm just busy with a bunch of different stuff. all my jazz-related classes (improv, arranging, lab band) are really tough. i can tell it's making me a better musician, but i'm to the point of the semester where all the stuff piles up and makes for grueling weeks and crash weekends.

please be kind, don't drop the rock on me

for a monday, today has not been bad at all. strategically placed naps have had their benefit.

i organized all my Rilo Kiley in my iTunes today. it had been a bit jumbly with any material before The Execution of All Things. i'm excited to go see them when they play at Hailey's in Denton.

other concerts i'm looking forward to are the Killers and most likely Death Cab For Cutie. i ordered my ticket for the Killers, but have not yet received it. they'd better get on that soon, lest i become worried. people going to see Death Cab are elizabeth, jamie, and (i've been told) bustos. that'll be good. i need to familiarize myself with more of Death Cab For Cutie's music before that concert. that will make it more enjoyable for sure.

i watched Session 9 with kate and bustos yesterday. it's a suspense/thriller. basically, i am a wussbag and neither of them got the least bit freaked out, while i did. it's that whole haunted house aspect of not knowing what's going on.

scrubs

i've been watching Scrubs lately. i saw a few episodes a couple years ago, and they were hilarious, and i remembered Zach Braff as "that guy who was in Scrubs" when i saw Garden State.

the show is so funny. i want there to be DVDs out so i might buy them.

i still haven't opened Fable yet. i have homework and practicing to do, and taking 20 minutes out of my day to watch some Scrubs is nothing compared to the 3 or 4 hours i'd likely play Fable if i started in on it.

soul plane

last night, me, bustos, elizabeth, ashley and eventually benji watched Soul Plane. i don't think i'm off base when i say this was the BEST MOVIE ever.

i don't even really know what to say. the whole first 45 minutes of the movie is just one racial joke after another, then they try to cram some sort of sensitive back story in the middle of it. it's really ridiculous. tom arnold can die and stop being in movies please, also that goes double for loni love and mo'nique. NO MORE.

it's time to do major laundry now.

A.C. replaced

whoa! R.A. lisa put me in the book to get my A.C. looked at last night, and we have a new unit in today! all right maintenance!

fable: uh oh

i bought Fable today, for the XBox.

um, who's ready to say goodbye to my free time?

bye bye bye, you dead

i died in T.A.G. last night. i just bumped into my killer in the dinner line. that was that.

today is busy, gotta go to class soon. can't write. WAAAA!

the best present in the history of EVER

this is a melodica. it looks like a keyboard, it sounds like a harmonica. i got it for my berfday from home. it is so awesome, and is the best present in the history of EVER.

sucky parts about my berfday:

• had to wake up at 8:00 to get ready for 9:00 lesson
  
• was falling asleep in aural skills and physics
  
• almost got killed in T.A.G.
  
• missed the deadline for an online quiz

awesome parts about my berfday:

• i got that melodica
  
• i eventually got a big long nap
  
• the due date on that quiz has since been extended
  
• i know my T.A.G. target's room number
  
• i know what my T.A.G. assassin looks like

today is nice because i didn't have a 9:00 class (read: i napped), and departmental was like 15 minutes long, instead of 55, so i get to warm up for brass band, which i'll be doing right about now.

thank you everyone who wished me a happy birthday, or berfday.

berfday for me

today i turn 20 years old.

berfdays for others

it's September 12, which means it's Katy Fiedler's 20th berfday, and it's Ben Folds's 38th berfday.

EDIT:

It's mah berfday too!

EDIT:

It's my berfday too, precious!

this other new band is killer (rotfl)

so shannon informed me of a Killers show that previously was not on their gigs list for Tuesday, October 19th in Dallas. i bought my ticket within 2 minutes of this knowledge so that i would actually HAVE A TICKET for the show. i'm making it my bidness to go to that show.

i'm keane on this new band (lol)

so i'm all about giving mad props when they're due (and mad eProps, when apropriate). though it's fun to be the first person on your block to know/like a new band (the Killers), it's also fun to be told that some new music is great and it ends up being great. this happened for me with a couple bands.

this friends is where i give mad props to Drew James for saying "Oh, by the way, the Keane cd Hopes and Fears is brilliant."

he's right. he's absolutely right. it's fantastic. i checked them out and they get my seal of approval. drew was mildly peeved when i'd caught on to the killers about 2 or 3 weeks before he did, well drew, you beat me to the punch on Keane. well played, friend. well played.

also, Drew saw the freaking KILLERS in Milwaukee tonight.[/jealousy]

new music 09-10-2004

i actually got these from the library three days ago, but forgot to post them. it's an 80's week this week!

Echo & the Bunnymen - Echo & the Bunnymen

Duran Duran - Duran Duran

The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl

Kraftwerk - Electric Cafe

The Pixies - Bossanova

king koopa

tonight was the first King Koopa's Video Game Thingy of the year at Bruce Hall. i set up my gamecube for mass Smash Bros action. i also got myself a free pizza from here. all i paid was tip and i got a pizza.

after i ate the pizza, the DJ played "MMMBop" and i rocked out and got the party thumpin'. it was a really good time.

i think service pack 2 was the problem with my computer. since it's been gone, no problems. aw yeah.

who has to get up in 6 1/2 hours for class? ME.

VD update

i uninstalled windows service pack 2, and reinstalled my ATI driver. so far, so good. but still, the computer could just be messing around to give me a false sense of security.

also, it's almost TWO IN THE MORNING and i have a 10:00 class tomorrow. bed time!

my PC has the VD

my computer is bluh right now. it reboots when i log off windows, turn my monitor off, and when the screensaver goes on. it happens other times sometimes, but that's mostly what it is. i've gone through the regular laundry list of fixes, and i still have more elaborate fixes to go. so if i'm chatting with you and leave, it's most likely because of this problem. i don't even know if it's a virus. MacAfee didn't pick up on anything. i may need a new power supply, some say. we'll just have to see.

jazz arranging is indeed difficult work.

yeah, so things are still going. that's it for now.

too much labor

all my homework has not been done yet. UNT decided not to give me in-state tuition, so i went to the ESSC and rectified that problem. my trumpet lessons are Tuesdays at 9:00 AM :(

words of the weekend

the two words of this weekend are "Bustos" and "movies."

Friday night was Van Wilder, Saturday night was Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Tomorrow (today (sunday)) is Moulin Rouge, circa 10pm, in Bustos's room. the word is hereby spread. make it your bidness. watching movies was never so good.

crack it open, get me out of here

i feel like i need to play Pinkerton 10,000 1,000,000 more times.

the dvds

in boredom, i've compiled what is at least a partial list of my DVDs. if there are any titles i've forgotten that you know i own, let me know.

that's not what this is for

i just went through my archives and deleted dozens of comments from internet solicitors that put links to websites in older posts of mine. sometimes i wonder if this site does more harm than good or vice versa. things can get taken out of context, you know.

new music 09-03-2004

i checked these CDs out of the Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout Willis Library:

Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker - Walking Shoes
Lee Morgan - Cornbread
J.J. Johnson - The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 2
Wayne Shorter - Juju
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers - Ugetsu

now that i'm back at UNT, the craving for jazz has returned.

friends goal

my goal is to make tons of new friends, and it is working out pretty well. i hang out at the front desk from time to time and watch people trickle in and out of the building and talk with the RAs. i played charades tonight with some people i didn't know so well. by their charades decisions, i deem them to be cool and funny people.

i have an 8:00 class tomorrow today, but am i indeed staying up late? yes. yes i am.

wave 'o babies!

EDIT:

thinking about a contest

hey, remember when i had stupid contests on my website? let's do another one. in this post, i request suggestions for what kind of contest it should be. Limerick, Haiku, Acrostic poem? Paintoons?

this is the part where you comment in with your idea.