June 2008
4 posts
“I have honestly studied this music and have tried to understand it in its...”
– Allen Lannom
not the time
this game told me everything i didn’t want to know. the celtics are just the better team right now. lakers made the same type of comeback (down 24) in game 2, but couldn’t get over the hump. the celtics came back from 24 and took the game. the lakers showed their inexperience (because for some reason, Phil kept Farmar & Radmanovic in until the lead was already gone).
again, Phil...
game 2
the refs definitely had an impact on the game….true, the lakers still didn’t play well and there are other reasons for the loss, but man. when a game goes down to the wire like that, just ONE foul call changes everything. what the heck happened when kobe didn’t even touch the ball at that critical play near the end. phil is a great coach and he does so many great things, but i...
lakers celtics
i would’ve written this earlier, but i’ve been in Bakersfield for some choir stuff. fun times. before the playoffs started i said it was such a great feeling to expect la to meet boston in the finals. but i have to admit, once the playoffs started, i started doubting. even though they were both the #1 seeds, i kept thinking, somehow, something was gonna screw up this storybook ending....
May 2008
1 post
Game 1
I can’t believe I’m gonna post something by Plaschke, but this was pretty good. ”The Lakers didn’t just come back from a 20-point deficit to steal an 89-85 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals opener Wednesday. They turned basketball’s smartest crunch-time team into dummies. They turned basketball’s toughest veterans into...
April 2008
3 posts
Epic Opera
i listened to a podcast on Wagner’s Ring Cycle for a homework assignment. the Ring Cycle is a cycle of 4 operas that add up to around 15 hours of drama & music. performances usually take 4 days, one opera per day. i highly recommend the podcast….it’s very well made, and geared toward the average listener, not music or drama experts. a few interesting facts & observations...
March 2008
2 posts
i’m so proud of the 6 that represented kaba modern on Randy Whackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew. they consistently had the most versatile choreography and the most intricate formations. but what i appreciated even more was their humbleness, comradery, class, and the fact that every time i watched them, it was obvious that they were having fun. i think it’s messed up that...
“Stop teaching music to people and start teaching people through music.”
– Eph Ehly
February 2008
4 posts
healthy singing
i wish more people would appreciate good healthy singing. i’m not saying that only classical/operatic singing is acceptable because it’s possible to sing all styles of music with good vocal production. i guess more than anything else, i’m trying to say that i have a problem with people mistaking tense and strained singing for amazing vocal ability. it’s like people only...
“The making of music is the everlasting and inescapable act of creation. With the...”
– Robert Shaw
i’m glad the pats didn’t pull off their “perfect” season. i’m also happy for eli, especially since he’s been criticized and compared to his brother for so long. isn’t it a great feeling to expect the lakers and celtics to meet in the finals? i take back every bad thing i ever said or thought about mitch kupchak.
visit to claremont
yesterday, i drove to claremont college to do some research for a project i’m working on. i’ve been trying to locate a manuscript or facsimile of a work by Marenzio, a 16th century composer. i managed to contact Roland Jackson, an expert on Marenzio who has published many editions of his works, and he told me the original sources were on microfilm at a claremont library. i enjoyed...
January 2008
11 posts
Job
I have a job interview tomorrow! …well, in 10 hours. It’s for an after school program called Musical Minds that holds group keyboard lessons for elementary school students. Wish me luck! I need the money…but also, it would be good teaching experience, even if it’s not choral or vocal.
I don’t wanna be a teacher of songs. I’d rather be a teacher of music. It’s got to be more than playing their notes on a piano, giving proper diction, saying, “Louder!” or, “Softer!” or telling them when they are out of tune.
Disneyland
went to Disneyland on Friday with Stef & her parents. we were there to watch her bro (RJ) perform in his high school jazz band. space mountain was really really fun, even though i’d ridden it at least 10 times before. maybe because it’s been a while since the last time i rode it, but it also seemed much darker than the last time. the fireworks show is the best fireworks show...
Our choir director, Joseph Huszti, is a special conductor, which is why I chose to come back to UCI for grad school. He has experience, has worked with the great teachers of the 20th century, has the knowledge, and communicates vividly with his hands and body, but so many conductors throughout the world share these same traits. The thing that makes him special is his natural ability to inspire and...
“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead...”
– Frank A. Clark
Olive Garden Comics →
“Don’t go into your grave having achieved all your goals. You should always...”
– Joseph Huszti. Paraphrased from tonight’s conducting seminar.
lakers
as of tonight, both the lakers and the celtics hold the #1 spot in their conference. what a great feeling (disregarding the two blowouts the lakers suffered against them). i want to cherish this moment because it probably won’t stay this way for long, because bynum’s gone down. i hope they’ll prove me wrong, but i see the lakers falling back down to the 6th seed over the next 8...
first week of school
back to school. only a week has gone by, but it’s been a much more enjoyable experience. i’m not constantly worrying about finishing a reading or writing assignment. i’ve also gotten enough sleep every night.
2008
looking forward to… conducting studies smash bros summer choir tours (wales - eistedfodd/choir of the world, austria - choral olympics) weddings (jannelle & nelson, jon & tin) entire laino family together in california for the first time
December 2007
26 posts
lakers-celtics preview
as much as i love the lakers and as well as they’re playing right now, the celtics are playing just as well. i admit, i’ve watched several of the celtics’ games and they’re really really good. i think it’s great though…renew the rivalry. it’s great for the league when the lakers and celtics do well. anyway, i’m pumped for the game tonight, and...
dog
my family got a dog again. this is the 3rd dog they’ve had since i moved out. the first two were given to friends because they were too rowdy. this one is a much better fit and i’m sure they’ll be keeping her. her name is marilyn and she’s a chihuahua mixed with something else. she’s very well trained and one of the sweetest dogs i’ve ever met. she only barks...
Grades
yay
I managed to get A minuses in the two classes I struggled through and ranted about. I was expecting the worst because I didn’t work hard enough on the final papers so Im very satisfied with the results.
lakers
lakers won another great game against the suns. if they keep this up, i think they can make it to at least the western conference finals. i know it’s early in the season, and they had the same kind of start last season, but i think they’ll be able to keep it up this year because of a few major differences. trevor ariza is a solid defender that can guard 3 or 4 different positions....
hax0red.
oh noes! it’s stef!
My favorite source for Laker news. →
The Tales of Beedle the Bard →
“Ah, music, a magic beyond all we do here.”
– Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
participation
i got a C+ for participation, but still managed to get an A in Critical Studies.. i sort of regret taking that class because it took up so much of my time and i don’t really feel that i gained much from it. if you’re wondering what the class is, it’s a little hard to explain because the topic is so broad. generally, it’s a study of critical theory as it relates to music....
new tv shows
i will tivo the new american gladiators. i will not tivo the clash of the choirs.
1st quarter of grad school
critical studies and bibliography. those classes killed me. very bad idea to take both in the same quarter, but now they’re out of the way and hopefully i can finally focus on conducting in january.
OotP
Order of the Phoenix came out today on DVD! This was definitely the best HP movie so far. I don’t understand how some people recommended Transformers over it this past summer.
finals
4 days off for Madrigal Dinner time to work on research paper and critical studies paper.
For those who weren’t able to make it to the...
madrigal dinner
1st show tonight
ariza
trevor ariza finally got some good minutes today, only because the roster was so short. phil jackson needs to play him. he says that ariza hasn’t had enough practice time, which means he “hasn’t learned the offense.” i say, that doesn’t matter. play him. they don’t need offense, they need defense and that’s what they brought him in to do.
vent
for my bibliography class, 40% of the grade is based on the final draft of a 12 pg research paper. since the professor kept assigning us other assignments not related to the paper, everyone had to basically write the entire paper over two weeks, including Thanksgiving break. we turned that in last Thursday, and we were supposed to get them back the next day with feedback. i didn’t get...
job
my schedule should be a little lighter next quarter, so i want to try to find a part time job. ideally i could just work a few hours a week teaching music….theory, private lessons or whatever, but it would be hard to find a job like that in irvine. i’m also thinking of working at the apple store. i believe in all the products, i hear it’s a nice working environment, and there are...