Thursday, February 21, 2008

Happy Birthday Frank

Last Sunday, Casey, Lauren, Tiffany and I went down to USC to see/hear the Thornton Wind Ensemble play their tribute for Frank Ticheli's 50th Birthday. The concert was amazing (as usual). They closed with a pretty awesome performance of Blue Shades (I love that clarinet solo towards the end.).

Casey and I are off to Fresno for All State later today. We have the live audition tonight to determine band placement and a full schedule of rehearsals, concerts, and free food Friday and Saturday. The concert is 1pm on Sunday. If you're remotely interested in driving 4 hours to see our lovely faces, the info is here. I'm really looking forward to this year...it should be a lot of fun.

A British fisherman came across a "Giant Snakehead" fish last week. You can see where it got the name. Those suckers are apperently known for killing and eating anything they come across. I'm glad it wasn't me.

I have to admit, this is one of the coolest video/music things I've come across: It's music made completely from those annoying little Microsoft sounds in Windows 95 and 98. Don't get me wrong, the music isn't annoying...it's just plain cool.

That's all for now...I should probably finish packing.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Karl is Famous

Valley clinic looks to help runners

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Monday, February 11, 2008.

By ERIC BACA
Valley Press Staff Writer


The secret is out about the Antelope Valley's running talent.

In the recent New York Marathon and time trails, the local community saw nearly a dozen participants, ranging in age, tackle what many have dubbed "the beast."

While one secret may have been unlocked, two local runners are hoping to spread a few more.

Clayton Patten and Karl Stutelberg of Valley Physical Therapy provided a free, one-hour sit-down presentation and discussion about the importance of physical maintenance and injury prevention for runners Saturday. In doing so, the two look to open a few eyes to the sport of running, while simultaneously offering sound lessons on proper mechanics and fundamentals to lessen the frequency of common running injuries.

"A lot of runners have similar problems," Patten said. "Runners are just poor athletes. Runners tend to be some of the worst athletes. They run in a straight line, so they don't have to be very athletic. But as we're seeing like in golf with Tiger Woods, you have to be more athletic."

In addition to handouts and warm-up demonstrations, the duo used a Power Point presentation to illustrate and highlight some of the key areas they feel have led to prolonged injuries. After the lecture, the two took questions from a field of 28 attendants, a successful turnout according to Patten.

Patten, though, is slow to acknowledge sheer ignorance of the sport as the reason for many of the problems facing runners. Instead, Patten contests, shoe type, core and hip strengthening, poor flexibility and improper warm-ups are all potentially problematic issues facing today's runner.

"All four of them go together to provide a cumulative effect," Patten said.

One aspect of the sport that Patten and Stutelberg are excited about is the recent (over the last decade) increase in participation. It's precisely because of that increase, though, that fuels the cause that the tandem feels so strongly about.

"It's really anything that anybody can start doing," Stutelberg said. "People are so focused on health, and running can be part of a healthy lifestyle."

Paton, 48, attributes the surge to a back-to-the-future type effect.

"The baby boomers are getting up into age," he said. "A lot of things are going retro, and people are having their mid-life crisis. They are going back to the original running boom of several years ago."

And Paton, with years of formal education and training, is following suit. The difference is the motivation that drives the runner-turned golfer turned-runner again.

Patten rejoined the ranks of the local runners after a 23-year layoff in order to pursue golf. His daughter, an avid golfer, will be attending California State University of Northridge in the fall after years of playing with her dad.

"It's so seldom that I get out there (to the golf course)," Pattensaid.

That infrequency has been replaced by a new 5-year goal. Patten, by year's end hopes to shed 20 minutes off of his marathon time, and plans to do it three years ahead of schedule. Patten will be running in the California International Marathon later this year.

As runners, the two understand first-hand the joys and benefits of racing. That intimate knowledge allows them to provide more than just static data and trite stretches. While the two want to promote a heightened sense of enthusiasm for running, they want to do it the right way. Stutelberg cautions new runners and advises that they seek out professional help when buying the proper equipment.

"You can't just go into a sporting goods store and buy a running shoe," he said. "Sometimes people get into the wrong shoes for them, or they try to run too much mileage without establishing their base strength. If done correctly, and with the right shoes, the positives far outweigh the negatives."

Stutelberg also discounted the idea of running causing long-term damage to one's joints and ligaments. The 28-year-old countered that standing still for long periods of time causes more damage than running.

The two hope to offer more running clinics on a quarterly basis, which would allow them to cover far more subject matter than 60 minutes would suffice.

To follow Pattenon his quest, log on to www.claypatten.wordpress.com or for more information on the local running scene log on to www.highdesertrunners.com.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Happy Day

Why such a "happy day" you may ask? Because I actually have a day off! It's such a rare yet wonderful occurrence.

On Friday the AV District Honor Band went to Disney's California Adventure. We had a few hours in the morning, performed early afternoon, and stayed until the park closed. It was a long day, but very fun. Although CA Adventure is slightly boring compared to Disneyland (not enough to do...there's a about 4 worthwhile rides), I guess it was a nice change and definitly some good times.

Yesterday I had my audition for Pepperdine. I think it went fairly well, and the orchestra director seemed to think I did well also. There was also a written theory placement exam which, I learned towards the end, was not all written. There happened to be a piano sight reading and sight singing component to the test. The piano went well. My first experience sight sining sounded a lot like it was my first experience sight sining. We'll leave it at that.

The plethora of college applications has turned into a lesser plethora of scholarship applications. I'm beginning to get a little sick of typing my volunteering efforts over and over again. On a completely unrelated note, I'm very excited for Solo/Ensemble fast approaching. I'll be doing the Copland (If you haven't heard it...you need too) and I got a group together to do Schickele's Monochrome III (you need to hear that one to). Drop me an email if you want some sound bites.

Karl discovered a post online for regarding a slightly different alarm clock. It solves the age old problem/curse of the snooze button. When you're alarm rings, the top files off like a helicopter and continues flying around and beeping until you get up to deactivate it. Simply genius. I know some people who could really benefit from this...

Paris Las Vegas experienced a little bit of Microsoft's infamous BSOD the other day. It must have been pretty good with a display that large. Fun stuff.

Finally, for everybody who ever wanted to know the true secret to playing pool: it's so easy a chicken can do it.

That's all for now...I'm going to go enjoy my free time by taking a nap.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Concerts & Weddings

All Southern was fairly amazing. I got into the Wind Ensemble, and our conductor, Allen McMurray was absolutely incredible. He is probably one of the best conductors I've ever played under and that band was potentially the best I've played with. We did some really good literature...hopefully I'll get the CD soon and can post some audio. The Symphonic Band sounded fantastic also, and the weekend was quite a bit of fun.

I got the chance to play at Julian's brother's wedding yesterday (Saturday). Despite the fact it was an outdoor (very cold) ceremony, all went well. It was neat to say I got my first actual wedding "gig" and it was an excellent experience.

Three auditions down, three to go. I got back from UC Irvine a few hours ago and feel really good about the audition. I have Pepperdine and Long Beach next week followed by Redlands a week later. This is a very busy time of year.

Josh, my fellow phone hater, sent me a pretty awesome video of some European cell phone throwing competition. I figure we should both enter and see if we can win anything.

They say when a person wears glasses it makes them more sophisticated and approachable...I try to wear glasses to most auditions and like to think it works. This graphic outlines the concept pretty well.

I came across this link for the "universcale." It's a really awesome little flash app where you can see things according to their size (i.e. the universe vs. a proton). Pretty cool stuff.

That's all for now. They say it might snow tonight so I'm gonna go do my snow dance.

Groundhog Day!

Punxsutawney Phil says "six more weeks of Winter!"