Merry Christmas

Finals Week

Three down, two to go. Monday's three final marathon made for a pretty brutal day. Thankfully I'm done with what I think are probably the two most difficult: Physics and Humtut. I have my music jury in a few hours and a religion final on Friday. After that, the semester is done! It's amazing how fast it has gone.

The annual CLU Christmas concerts were a few weekends ago. Usually it's just choir and strings but there was a choir piece that was accompanied by two clarinets so I got the opportunity to play. It was a really nice program with a lot of very strong music and the nice "warm and fuzzy" Christmas feel. Julian, Tani, and Casey came down for the Friday show and my parents for Sunday so it was fun to see them. Apparently you could see me pretty well in a picture from the concert that made the front page of the campus paper, The Echo. The next day, the picture at right appeared on my door.

As I type I believe it is snowing in the AV. It's pretty cool to get snow this early but too bad it couldn't have waited a week. All we get here is cold rain and wind.

There's a few TofR alum that are planning on heading to Bandfest next Tuesday the 30th to see the many QH folks in it this year. If anybody is interested let me know soon so we can get tickets and such.

Bush's shoe dodging video has made the rounds, but there was actually a photo from another angle that not many have seen. Have to give that guy some credit.

A New Jersey ShopRite store refused print three year old "Adolf Hitler Campbell's" name on a birthday cake this week. I think the bigger question in this whole controversy is why a parent would name their child Adolf Hitler. Yes it's unique, but is that really necessary?

Made in "52 hours on 2 dozen redbulls," this trailer for the action-packed-epic-romantic-war-thriller-drama-saga starring office supplies is pretty dang cool. I think I'd actually pay money to see the film if it were real.

That's it for now...I must go mentally prepare myself for my upcoming jury.

The Elf Cousins

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fred Astaire

Keep in mind this is 1940.
The things we learn in Music and Culture...

The British are Here

Or at least they were for our first Wind Ensemble concert Friday night. All went fairly well and from those I've talked to it apparently sounded pretty decent. My parents and Casey came down to hear it so and it was pretty cool seeing them.

Since the ride was there, I went home this weekend. I test drove a Subaru Forrester which my parents will mostly likely buy sometime soon. At that point I'll hopefully get the Lexas for next few years and, assuming I don't drop out and take to life on the streets, I'll inherit the Subaru when I graduate. Pretty good deal.

School is keeping me busy. There always seems to be something going on which is a good thing because I like staying active. The other night I got a last minute invitation to Ventura with a few other music students to see John Adam's Dr. Atomic performed by the Met and broadcast live in HD. If you're into contemporary Opera, or like music at all, it's a pretty awesome Oprea and I highly recommend.

I attended a couple lectures by Andrew Newberg-- a medical doctor who specializes in the neuroscience behind spirituality and religious belief. Absolutely fascinating stuff. He has a few books out which I'm going to definitely try to read someday.

After being hit at 70mph, a dog in Italy survived embedded in the grill of the car for more than 15 miles. That's one lucky dog and that's one true Italian driver.

Well it's happened. The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that individuals who are "functionally disabled by obesity" are entitled to two airline seats for the price of one. This whole obesity thing is sounding better and better. You're already a multi-millionaire from suing McDonalds and now you get extra room during flights.

For our Matrix fans out there, it appears some have speculated what would happen if the Matrix ran on on Windows. The subtitle says it all: Take the red pill. Get the blue screen.

That's it for now. Have a happy Thanksgiving and don't eat too much (or do and get an extra seat next time you fly).

My Dorm Smells Like Death

There's either food or a small mammal rotting in here somewhere. I'm taking a break from my weekend long investigation into this progressively worsening situation.

On a lighter note, I played my first concert with the Cal Lu University Symphony last week. I think the Romantic Visions sounded pretty nice. It's fun getting more orchestra experience now. You play with a whole new awareness when you realize that nobody is doubling the part. I think the concert should be up on iTunes U pretty soon, so stay tuned.

Our Wind Ensemble concert is coming up on Nov 21 and anybody is welcome (plus it's free...).

I was able to make it home for Micah's first birthday last Sunday. Presented with cake, the little dude didn't disappoint. While it was pretty chaotic with 5 toddlers running around, it was really nice to see everybody.

After Tuesday's election it's nice to see that the world doesn't hate us as much anymore. It'll also be nice to watch TV without stupid campaign commercials.

Did you catch the SNL Presidential Bash? Pretty good stuff. I think you can catch the whole episode online.

CNN made television history on the night of the election by having a corespondent appear via hologram. Very cool and Star Warsish although I don't really get the point.

Black Friday is coming...anybody up for joining me on the traditional early morning bash?

That's it for now, the quest for the source of the stench continues...

Happy Halloween

Public Transit and Wayne Root

Yes, I know. It's been a couple weeks. I'm still trying to get the routine thing situated here.

School is going well...no big complaints. There are a few papers due this week and some fairly big upcoming tests. I'm definitely keeping busy. There's a lot more reading and writing than I've ever dealt with before, but to be honest I don't mind it that much.

We had our "fall holiday" last Friday so I decided to go on a little adventure and see the folks down in Long Beach. The ride thing got really weird so I ended up taking three different buses (with So Cal's finest) to CSUN to meet up with Casey. It took about 2 hours to go 30 miles. It was definitely a good "experience" that I think all people should tackle at one point in their lives. Kemper and Jamie picked us up and we went down to hear Julian play with the Long Beach State Wind Symphony (not a bad performance...maybe more along the lines of amazing) and hang out for a while afterwards. We spent the night and headed home the next day. Pretty fun little trip.

For some strange reason, the Libertarian Vice Presidential Candidate, Wayne Root came to speak at CLU earlier this week. I sat in just for kicks and have to say that guy is pretty out there with some of his ideas. He expects to be in the White House in 16 years. No comment. I was definitely a minority in the crowd so keeping control of my facial expressions was fun. I picked up a pamphlet and button if anybody wants them.

Next time you buy some broccoli be sure to check for dirt and those pesky little human heads that seem to pop up everywhere.

A single freak lightening strike killed 52 cows in Uruguay last week. I now understand why you don't grasp onto metal fences during a lightening storm.

I can't leave you without posting some stupid political video, so here's the top 10 worst political ads of the season. You gotta wonder how a candidate scooping up dog poop in her backyard translates to political experience.

That's it for now, have a happy Halloween.

Bush's Endorsement

Think Big Thoughts

But relish small pleasures.

Every week I receive a postcard from my mom containing one of "life's little lessons." I just got back from the mailbox so it was on my mind.

The last two weeks have been pretty brutal. I've had a total of 4 papers due, 1 test, and 2 midterms. What I've gotten back so far is looking promising. It's always nice to get the first test out of the way so I can know whether or I'm on the right track. I felt pretty good with the two midterms, but we'll see how they turn out.

This weekend is homecoming so my family will be visiting and many returning "home." There's a whole bunch of stuff (carnival, football game, free food, other activities) so it should be pretty fun.

Dodgers took the National League West and are currently competing for the NL title. They swept the cubs (which was awesome), so as long as they don't screw up this series there'll be a lot of excited people around.

Watching the presidential debate the other night was quite frustrating. I'm not a huge fan of the "town hall" setting but what really got to me was how both candidates completely blew off the idea of a time limit. What made it worse is how they took all that extra time to say the same amount of nothing. 25 days and it's all over.

If you haven't been keeping up with SNL's election/debate skits, you definitely must. I know everyone agrees, but I'll just say it again: Tina Fey makes an insanely amazing Palin.

Keeping with the election theme, it appears that over 4000 Harris County, Texas registered voters are deceased. I've always been curious of what the ideological makeup of the dead would be.

I'm in a Bioengineering club here and at a meeting the other day, we watched a video of the Boston Dynamics "Big Dog," which is basically a headless robotic pony that is programed to walk and maintain balance under essentially any circumstance. It's hard to describe how cool this thing is...just watch the video.

That's it for now...I think I'll go take a much needed nap.

College...

I've been meaning to update for quite some time but only today forced myself to take a break and sit down to do this. I'll get into a routine pretty soon.

A lot of people have been asking, "So what's new?" This has been a pretty difficult question to respond to recently considering just about everything is new. Now finishing up the 3rd week of classes, I'm pretty much settled in. Cal Lu has been pretty much what I expected. The orientation was pretty touchy-feely which isn't really my thing but it was probably good for me. Dorm life is going well (the food's pretty decent), and no major complaints about classes yet. I've been told I'm slightly suicidal with my 19 units but we'll see.

• Physics: Mechanics & Thermodynamics (a great way to start off almost every day)
• Humanities Tutorial (aka HumTut, fun to say. It's basically a yearlong English+Philosophy course)
• Intro to Christianity (pretty interesting stuff)
• Music & Culture (mostly review but also good)
• Freshman Seminar (aka "Intro to College." Yes, it's all that fun stuff)
• Wind Ensemble
• University Symphony
• Clarinet lessons

So far it's been really good. The people are great and all is going well.

As part of our orientation we did a service project cleaning out abandoned homeless camps in the Ventura river basin. It was actually pretty fun and the Ventura County Star had a nice article on it.

Karl, Jon, my dad, and I made our annual Dodger game trip two weekends ago. It was really fun and we got to see them pull ahead of Arizona into 1st. They're still there and hopefully will stay for a little while.

The Large Hadron Collider is up and running as of early September. The 17 mile (and $8 billion) particle collider is supposed eventually recreate conditions following the Big Bang. A few are worried that we're all going to be sucked into space but the brains who made it claim it's safe.

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton made a rare appearance together last Saturday. The video is definitely worth a watch.

That's it for now...I should probably try to stay awake and read another hundred pages of the Iliad. Fun stuff.

2 Days!

It's pretty hard to believe that I move in to Cal Lu in only two days...the summer seems to have flown by (as it always does).

Our trip to Italy was amazing...I posted some pictures but even those don't do it justice. We had a great time and I can't wait to go back to Europe someday. Apparently I've caught the "travel bug."

I took my NREMT exam right before we left and got results that I passed during the trip. That makes me a certified EMT. I'm now waiting on my LA County License.

I dropped by Quartz Hill the other day with a few other people and I have to say it is really weird to not be back in high school. Don't get me wrong; it's awesome, just kind of weird. Like I said above, I move in on Saturday. We have four days of orientation before classes start on Wednesday. I'm still not entirely sure about my schedule because I'm hoping to make some alterations during orientation. I would describe what I'm feeling now as extreme excitement plus extreme nervousness. I'll try to update the first couple days.

I really enjoyed the past few weeks watching the Olympics daily. Seeing how amazing Phelps, the Americans, and the rest of the world's incredible athletes are is just really cool. It is so nice to see a few weeks where the world comes together and actually gets along for a little while. I know I sound like some idealistic fool here, but it's depressing to go back to watching pathetic news again. Oh well...only two years until Vancouver.

The Democratic National Convention started this week. We'll save commentary on that for later, but if you notice how well the signs are choreographed, it's pretty interesting/dumb.

Finally leaving you with the theme of Italy, the Vatican recently warned journalists who travel with the Pope to not take holy water on the papal plane. If they do, it'll be confiscated. What a shame.

Well, that's it for now. I really need to begin madly packing.

Italy

It was an awesome trip and we had a great time. Too much fun. The pics here don't really do it justice. If you're interested in seeing some of the other 700 let me know and I'll bore you to the point you wish you hadn't asked.

Off to Italy

Off we go to the land of gelato, fine wine, and a lot of art. Feel free to email any time. Happy day!

Wall Street Got Drunk

While sipping on mineral water this afternoon it occurred to me I hadn't updated in a while. So here I am. I'm trying to come up with the new and exciting developments in my life the past couple weeks but am drawing a blank. Gotta love Summer.

I finished my EMT class last week. The skills testing and final went well and I'm pretty pleased with having learned so much in only 6 weeks. I take my National Registry exam tomorrow in Pasadena so I'm pretty nervous/excited for that. If I pass I'll be certified and can apply for licensure in LA Country (or wherever else).

I surprised myself and began packing today...3 days before we leave. That's a pretty amazing thing. I'm getting really stoked for the trip...should be awesome.

Looking at the title of this post, the first name that probably comes to mind is our wonderful Comedian in Chief, Mr. Bush. He didn't fail to disappoint.

The parents of nine year old Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii (that's her name) have lost custody, well, for naming her that. Friends called her "K." There are lots of weird people in the world.

That's it for now...I need to study.

1-800-GOOG-411

Disney Hall

So apparently Summer is supposed to be a relaxing time. In my case I like to consider "relaxing" the act of constantly working.

The AVC band played at the Walt Disney Concert Hall last Tuesday. It was simply amazing. I have never before seen a venue of that caliber both onstage and backstage. The acoustics were simply amazing and facilities awesome. It felt really cool to sit in the same lounge as LA Phil players and actually see their individual lockers. The concert went well and the evening as a whole was very fun.

My EMT class is going well and keeping me busy. I did my ER clinical shift and ride-along last weekend. Both went well. I must say that there is some pretty interesting stuff out there.

Myself, Tiffany, Casey, Lauren, Mitch and Rachel made our long overdue trip to Disneyland last Sunday. It was tons of fun as expected, and I got to see the actual Fantasmic show for the first time. It was pretty cool and we had a really long/fun day. As an added bonus, we unknowingly ate lunch next to Whoopi Goldberg and family. Yeah...pretty cool/weird.

As you can see, "sleep is overrated" was my motto for last week.

A new Australian law makes it illegal to "cause annoyance or inconvenience." So it's illegal to annoy people. Despite the possible encroachment on civil liberties, that is pretty dang cool.

New owners of half-million dollar homes in Florida are continuing their search for live bombs that tend to be frequently found in the property. That's a tad disturbing to me.

Finally, I leave you with yet another Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Clip. My only response to this is vive les idiots!

That's it for now, have a Happy 4th.

Happy Father's Day

A jolly good day to all those fathers out there.

Thankfully my dad is doing much better now. He's almost back to normal routine and we have rescheduled the trip for later next month, so everybody is looking forward to that.

Certain events sort of threw my schedule for the summer off, so while it didn't look like I would be able to get my EMT like I wanted to in the beginning, I got into a good program at ROP. We just finished our first week and I have to admit I didn't realize how much work was involved. It's a pretty brutal 6 week course (normally 16 weeks) and a lot of hands on stuff, but its fun I think its good for me.

So it looks like I have officially made the switch. My MacBook should be here next week and my free iPod Touch came in on Friday. They have a cool little promo, so if you're remotely interested I urge you to act. The little thing is pretty awesome and a lot of fun to play with. I'll keep you updated on how I like the MacBook.

When Rock Hill school officials in South Carolina tell commencement crowds to hold their applause until the end, they mean it — police arrested seven people after they were accused of loud cheering during the ceremonies. Don't you love the happy spirit of graduation times?

A German sports reporter was running late for his flight to catch a game in Italy. Desperate times call for desperate measures so he called in a bomb threat in hope to delay his flight. It worked...the flight was delayed, but he was arrested before stepping foot in the terminal.

So you have to admit that this election season has been pretty weird. A McCain/Clinton ticket would make it even weirder...and some actually believe it could happen although I wouldn't unnecessarily consider myself in that group.

It was a shame to hear that Tim Russert passed away last week. Although I didn't watch Meet the Press too much, I always enjoyed his commentary and how he was such a wholesome guy. My first recollection of him was during the 2000 election as he was explaining the electoral college and all the weird quarks of the system, and I understood it perfectly. To make a 10 year old understand that system, you have to be a gifted reporter.

That's it for now...I need to study some C-spine.