Little Brat
Partway through The Butterfly Lovers Concerto I heard some rustling. Later I find that Jeri has learned to create a ghillie suit out of that hair of hers....
March 16, 2008
October 16, 2006
Fumble
Regarding yesterdays performance of the Infernal, Goddamned Beethoven Romance, my beloved Doodle will be penning her thoughts on the matter. Look forward to them later, when she's released from the Salt Mines called Sonora Quest.
My thoughts are fairly brief: I was nervous, frightened and I peed myself. (Okay, just a bit of a trickle, but it counts as peeing myself since it wasn't done with any sort of erotic intent). I'm glad I did play for the less than small audience, and am looking forward to another performance...even if it means holding onto the Beethoven for awhile longer. Perhaps I should just stroll into Doodles labor camp and play a ditty to brighten the spirits of the slaves?
Other highlights from the weekend, were watching Jeri eat yesterday, watching Jeri eat on Saturday, and watching Jeri eat Friday night. I made no baked goods/cookies/treats for Jeri this weekend - I knew I wouldn't have time, what with the um...work thing on Saturday (Jeri will explain), and the Beethoven thing yesterday. Next weekend, I promise!
It was also good to tell my parents that their son is well, pretty fucking crazy.
I know I need to post a few more things on here, I'll get caught up and take care of that soon, perhaps later today if my behaviour is good enough.
One last, and perhaps the biggest highlight involves my friend and little brother Kerry; thank you for looking after me!
July 03, 2006
Updated Audio
Jeri's going to be pissed but there is no longer any Fear Factory queued up on the Audio Stream. Instead, I've taken it upon myself to stream a bit of what I've been working on, and will be working on.
Track list is as follows:
- Bruch Violin Concerto in G Minor
- 1. 1st Movement
- 2. 2nd Movement
- 3. 3rd Movement
- Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto #4
- 4. 1st Movement
- 5. 2nd Movement
- 6. 3rd Movement
- 7. Finale
- 8. The Fucking Beethoven Romance
June 15, 2006
Confirmed
I do have a lesson tomorrow. Maybe now I can get the Beethoven monkey off my back and move on to something different. Anything would be a nice change....well, almost anything, I was never that big of a Mozart fan.
It's been quite around Visceraman1 lately I know, it's been quiet around the workplace without any wisdom from Kerry, or love notes from Sweet Jeri. I haven't been doing much gaming as of late, the last thing I played was the DaVinci Code game; fun at first, but grew old after a few hours. This is okay, since I have a stack of books to read, and the library is making quick work of my request list. Nothing too serious in my book queue currently, catching up on quite a few missed Kellermans, and a John Irving I overlooked. There's an Augusten Burroughs (one of the funniest men alive), but Jeri snatched that away pretty quickly....it must be pretty good since she hasn't stomped into the room and flung it at my head (like the Confederacy of Dunces).
I must have been dreaming pretty good the other night, I woke up absolutely drenched in sweat. The only thing I've recalled dreaming from that night involved dermestid beetles....
**Update:
I did have my lesson, and got to play with the piano for most of the lesson as well! No, the Beethoven will still be heard throughout the house for the next week, and then....hopefully it will disappear. My starting the lesson with "Can we get rid of this now?" may not have been the thing to say. The lesson was free too....to quote Jeri, "Jews like a good bargain!"
February 23, 2006
Challenged
After picking up Vieuxtemps Concerto #4 from SWStrings on Saturday, as well as some new strings, I set about changing and cleaning the violin. Now, when I would do this on my guitar, I would take all the strings off, and give the guitar a good cleaning. It's been a few weeks/months/years/decades since I've done any string changing on the violin, and of course I popped all the strings off. Thus relieving any necessary tension on the violin and causing the soundpost to gently fall and roll about the inside of the violin. This was both good and bad.
Bad, because I couldn't practice at all. Good because it put me in the same room with my mentor who quickly repaired and made a few adjustments to the violin, and we discussed taking up private study again. I am looking forward to this quite a bit, more so than in my youth. I also like the tone of the violin now that the bridge and post have been repositioned, a bit heavier I think. The Vieuxtemps? A bit tricky. I should update the media player to include what I'm currently working on....
January 27, 2006
Progress
I feel like I'm slowly making progress with my return to the violin. There's be a couple of days that are frustrating, but I even on those days, I still feel like I have made some progress. In the vein of the discussions that occur on violinist.com, I like to warm up with a bit of the Carl Flesch action, (scale system). I've stayed primarily within the confines of G and C major, with a bit of A minor thrown in for good measure. I remember having a bit of a struggle with 3rds back in the day, so it's oddly refreshing to see that not much has changed there. I then gravitate to some Wolfhart studies, and later some Kruetzer Etudes. (Jeri seems to be a big fan of some of the Kruetzer Etudes, her clapping from the great room always makes me smile). For my "piece", I've still clung to the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto as though it's some sort of heroic venture. I'm not sure why I cling to this rather than some Wieniaski, or perhaps Havagnaise by Sarasate. I attribute this largely to the fact that I played the Mendelssohn, and am frustrated by not being able to play it now. I've stepped around the 1st movement for now, and am instead focusing on the 2nd movement....always a favourite of mine. I did get the sheet music for Havagnaise, but that's best saved for a rainy day. Make that a snowy day. My curiousity has be aroused about the Butterfly Lovers Concerto, I'd never heard it before, and the bits and pieces I'm able to dig up on the innernet lead me to believe it's quite a romantic piece.....I've not had luck searching for the sheet music though.
It's different drinking beer and practicing....my parents should have allowed that in my younger years.
January 03, 2006
Reflection of my youth?
Thanks to Jeri and her cronies, I am once again playing my violin. It is surprising both how much I remember, and how much I have forgotten over the years. It was an odd feeling opening the case and seeing her (my violin was always a "she/her") laying inside. My mentor had seen to it that I had fresh strings, and new hair for the bow. It seemed rather bizarre that I was able to recall part of the Vivaldi Violin Concerto (A minor) so efficiently, and disappointing that the Mendelssohn is not as forthcoming. I realize of course that it will still be another era when I play the Paganini Violin Concertos, or the Tschaikovsky Violin Concerto. I'm not sure if I've plotted my return in the best of fashion, but have set forth on studying the Kruetzer Violin Etudes, and a bit of the Bach Violin Concerto (E major) as well. (The Mendelssohn does sit at the ready, ever the optimist I am!). Friday, when I hit up Southwest Strings for a metronome, I am hopeful that I can get a copy of the Carl Flesch Scale System to add to my new morning ritual. (Yes, I'm afraid that my work day will begin a bit later now....I have so much to do you see!)
Of course, now I do have some regrets about waiting so long to play again (and now the guitar will have to wait it's turn), but with a bit of practice I will be back in rare form. One day I'll get around to posting a photo of the violin, but don't count on it too soon.
