All Southern 2008 Audio

The audio is from our January 27 concert at CSULB. I've only posted the Wind Ensemble stuff (if you want Symphonic Band, let me know and I'll make you a copy of the CD). I think I can safely say that this group is probably the overall best I've played with under an absolutely incredible conductor, Allan McMurray.

• Dance of the Jesters, Tchaikovsky. An awesome (and hideously fast) opener. Listen out for the clarinet runs.
• Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, de Meij. The actual fist movement of the Symphony. Very powerful.
• Le Baron Cemetiere Mambo, Grantham. My personal favorite; a really fun and upbeat mambo.
• An American Elegy, Ticheli. My favorite Ticheli work. It's very emotional and there is a lot of symbolism in it. Let me know if you are interested because I can go on forever about it.
• March from the Symphonic Metamorphosis, Hindemith. Our really cool closer with the normal quirky Hindemith sound.
  

Cal Lu

I got back yesterday from my Presidential Scholar visit to Cal Lutheran. I must admit, I was pretty impressed. Although a lot of it is "marketing" (as my mother puts it), I really felt comfortable with the whole small, familyish atmosphere. Despite the slightly uncomfortable sleeping conditions, it was a very good experience. I think my interviews went pretty well and I should hear about scholarship within a few days.

Last Saturday Karl and Jon threw a not-so-surprise birthday party for my sister's 30th. It went really well (that cake was awesome) and it was cool seeing everybody. If you're interested in playing the famous "guess the twin" game let me know. I am also proud to say that I survived my second (and probably last) 7 hour Easter marathon playing bells.

I got the CD of All Southern audio after a small delay (the first cd was shattered...apperently a casualty of the postal service). The audio is posted on the next post, and if you want a copy of the CD let me know.

The Dodgers and Red Sox set a world record with 115,000 fans in attendance of their exhibition game on Saturday. It was a very interesting set up in the LA Coliseum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the LA Dodgers.

I have often had the debate about whether or not you can differentiate 128kbps mp3 quality vs. 320kbps. Finally somebody has set it up. Good luck and let me know how you do (I'll openly admit I was wrong).

I think this has been around a while but it's worth a mention. It's a 911 call and it involves stupid people and Burger King. It is pretty sad to hear how dumb some people are and even sadder to know this was clogging our emergency lines for two and a half minutes.

Well that's about it for now. Countdown to Chicago: 11 days.

Solo/Ensemble 2008

I must say, March 15 is historically a very successful day. Not only is it Andi's & Karl's anniversary and the birthday of the famous Matthew Stutelberg, but yielded 2 Superiors and 3 Command Performances at this year's Solo/Ensemble festival. My Solo (the Copland) got a CP along with our quartet and nonet. To be perfectly honest, I was sort of worried about Monochrome II (the nonet) but everybody really pulled it together and it gelled quite nicely. I have DVD's if anybody is interested just let me know. If I'm really bored I may extract some audio and post it.

Spring Break has been very nice. Having a week with little to do is a very unusual but good feeling.

The Latest on the college front includes acceptances to USC and UCSD. The only things I'm really waiting on are Pepperdine and the CSULB & CLU Presidential Scholarship decisions. This is somewhat nerve racking.

With Hillary and Obama in a dead heat for the Democratic nomination the questions begs to be asked: Why choose if you can combine?

A German woman woke up from what she thought was a leg operation to find she had been mixed up with another patient suffering from incontinence. Yep, she now has a new sphincter. That wouldn't be too fun.

In honor of Holy Week, we can celebrate by purchasing a HungryMan Salisbury Steak TV Dinner with an image of Jesus Christ in the gravy. I'm at a loss for words.

Thats it for now, hope you all have a blessed Easter.

Is Hillary Clinton a Muslim?

I'm Legal

Now that's a pretty scary thought.

I must say, my birthday was pretty swell. Being at All-State and enjoying a full day of rehearsing and listening to great music really made the day a good one. The only downside was not really seeing a lot of family/friends, but that was made up for other times. Highlights of this year's loot includes 18 boxes of Good & Plenty's, a rubber-band ball making kit, a Metrotuner, a bag of drug pens, losing lotto tickets, a bunch of cool shirts, and a really cool mug. Good stuff.

As expected, All State was pretty amazing. Casey made it into the Concert Band, and I got into the Symphonic Band. Our conductor was really animated and very good. The literature was a lot of fun too. We played some Traffic, a cool little tango thing, and a Grantham piece, among some other things. We sounded great and the experience was tons of fun. I'll post some audio when I get it.

The Future Leader thing in the paper the other day. The article/picture turned out surprisingly well. I just wish you couldn't see up my nostrils in the picture and she hadn't used the "skinny" quote in the article. Other than that, it was kinda cool.

A daycare teacher has been warned for giving cat food to the children. I'm curious about two things: 1) Why would anybody taste cat food, or give it to small children to eat? and 2) Why wasn't she fired?

A group of cannibals in the Ukraine have been locked up after they ate a friend who offered to cook them dinner. Guess they weren't full.

Representative Kingston (R-GA) was on MSNBC the other day criticizing Obama for not wearing one of those little American flag pins that every other politician on the planet wears. Where it gets fun: Dan Abrams calls him on not wearing one himself during the interview.

That's it for now...I need to practice some Copland.

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.

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.

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.

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!"

Honor Band Season

As I prep for the District Honor Band concert in a few hours, I'm packing and prepping for All Southern which starts tomorrow. I'm pretty thrilled to say that I once again got into All Southern and All State. The exciting part of All Southern is my place in the Wind Ensemble...the top band. Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked/excited.

Like I said, the District Honor Band concert is tonight and was preceded by a full day of practice yesterday and a half day today. We're doing some pretty cool stuff like Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Overture to Candide, and my personal favorite (and the most challenging/worst sounding) Lollapalooza. Should be a good show.

Micah was baptized two weeks ago. It was a really nice service as Grandpa Tom came from Minnesota and did the actual baptism. My sister had a nice get together thing at her house after, and it was cool seeing everybody. At left is our late "Christmas" picture.

For anybody remotely interested, I got a new cell phone number. If I didn't talk to you or you didn't get me email, drop me and email and I'll update you. Just be careful if you ever have to call me...remember, I hate phones.

I encourage everybody who has succumb to the evil that is Myspace to take advantage to January 30 and join millions of others (not including me because I would never stoop to that level to begin with) in deleting their Myspace profiles. You know you want to...

A common question arises when debating how to clean a computer LCD or CRT screen safely. Finally, the answer.

As for the latest entry to the list of "stupid things people do because of political correctness," we are no longer allowed to use the story of the three little pigs. Apparently the pigs are racist. Oh, I can understand it.
No wait...I can't.

But thanks to Google, I do understand how to get from Here to There.

That's all for now...I must prepare myself for the next three days of nonstop rehearsal.

Micah's Baptism

A Rainy Day

It's been raining the past 24 hours and that is awesome.

Well, it's back to it tomorrow. I have to admit; this break was a very good one. T of R was a blast...it was tons of work but there's this really great feeling of accomplishment. The parade was just as much fun as last year. We didn't get great TV coverage but there is a nice clip of raw footage (minus Bob Eubank's story of his three week stint at PCC) online. Overall, I think everybody had a lot of fun. I am also proud to say that in a four day period I successfully finished off 6 In-N-Out cheeseburgers. Yummy.

I got a Mio c230 GPS unit for Christmas. It's one of those little gadgets that talks to you and has cool little map features, etc. Mimi has basically become a member of the family and is in use whenever I get in the car. Hey...I have to exert my geekness somewhere.

The All Southern audition was today. I think I did decent...it kind of threw me off when the audition was actually 10 minutes ahead of schedule but I recovered. Results from that and All State should be in some time this week...I'm fairly anxious to say the least.

$10 to the first person who can successfully name this animal.

A Chicago tavern said on Thursday it will begin selling chicken wings coated in one of the world's hottest peppers creating a dish so hot that patrons first have to sign a waiver agreeing not to sue for injuries. Sounds like fun.

If you've ever had the urge to throw a paper airplane out of a 30 story building...here you go. I do have to admit...its a pretty cool flight.

That's all for now...time to finish some Winter Break Bio questions.

Rose Parade 2008

Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band

Greetings from Pasadena

I'll be living in Pasadena for the rest of the year. Kinda has a cool ring to it.

We got a hotel here for the 29th-31st which will make life much nicer (i.e. no hour and a half drive every day at all hours). We learn things from previous experience.

Disneyland was on the 27th...we sounded pretty good and it was a fun, albeit long, day. Our first Bandfest performance was today and went fairly successfully. We have the final two tomorrow followed by megga laps at Dodger Stadium on the 31st.

I'm dead tired, but I love this stuff.

Since I know you all want to see our wonderful faces on the 1st, here's the info:

• Channel 5 (KTLA) for the best (local) coverage. If you don't get it, ABC would be my second choice.
• We are entry number 45 and will pass TV approximately 9:00 (give or take 10 min or so). You are looking for the Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band.
  
• I can be found in rank 13, one off center to the right of the block facing forward. Tiffany is next to me on the right, Holly and Jon are left guides, Lauren is a right guide, Casey can be found on the right side of the block in the third row of trumpets, Mitch is just left of center also in the midst of trumpets, and John, Josh and Joey are in the tubas (can't help you much more there).

Happy New Year!

Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Winter Break

It's amazing: three weeks off. Band, school, finals, and college apps (with the exception of a few things) are done. This whole "stress free" thing is really nice.

On a whim (and a random comment by Dr. Reti) I decided to make everybody at school pet rocks for Christmas. Thanks to my crafty mother, they all are outfitted with bows, hair, etc. Thanks to me they all have weird names.

That free time won't last long. Rose Parade practice starts up tomorrow and is nonstop until the 1st with the exception of the Dec 23-25. We set the block last week and unfortunately I'm not a center again this year, but one off to the right (closer to cameras at least). We're doing some good music and I encourage all to come to Bandfest...it's pretty amazing/fun.

I saw a neat story the other day about a girl on a cruise who had appendicitis and needed an emergency appendectomy. Seeing as the ship was 500 miles offshore that was a problem, so the Navy flew her off the deck of the cruise ship to an aircraft carrier and the surgery was a success there. Pretty cool stuff.

Thanks to our wonderful war in Iraq and the wonderful political idiots running the county the new budget is complete- with deep cuts for scientific education and research. Way to go folks.

If you have 10 minutes, there's a pretty funny clip from Judge Judy about an eBay scammer. My favorite quote: "You may weigh more, but you're not going to be smarter than I am in one finger!" The plaintiff got scammed out of $400 in goods and gets a $5000 settlement. Sounds pretty good.

That's it for now...good luck on last minute Christmas shopping.

Achmed the Dead Terrorist

Black Friday

Well, we kind of struck out this year, but it was still fun. Karl and I did the ceremonious 3:30am wakeup and journeyed to Circuit City to wait in line. And wait. And wait some more. They ran things differently this year; only 20 people were allowed in every 10 minutes or so, and when there is a line of a few hundred outside, it takes a while. Inside, the store was pretty much empty which took the fun out of the mad Black Friday rush. We only really netted one item (a DVD recorder); I ended up returning the GPS because it was an older model, so I'm still in the market.

Thanksgiving went smoothly and, like all good Thanksgivings, was full of babies, toddlers and weird uncles. It was nice to get everybody together and spend some time eating lots of food. The five days off were an added bonus.

I wish it would get a lot colder. It just doesn't seem winterish until the winter weather starts up. Plus, it's just weird when radio stations are playing Christmas music and its sunny and in the 80s outside.

Annoyance of the week: speaking of Christmas, since we all have to be PC now, Lowes's Christmas catalog is offering nice green "family trees." They're not "Christmas trees" but "family trees." Oh Please.

Pic of the week: That's a pretty big sinkhole.

Video of the week: We've all seen the talking cat Youtube, but now we are able to offer conversing cats. That's scary.

Good news of the week: I'm glad to say that Alex the baby piglet is safe after being found in the back of a toilet paper truck. That must have been a fairly uncomfortable ride.

That's it for now...I'm going to go try to take a nap with Micah.