The Return

So I haven't bothered to blog in about two weeks, but I think today was deserving of a return.  It was a Thursday, usually best day of the week, but the AP Schedulers had other ideas.  For some glorious reason it was decided to be a good idea to put both Economics exams (a /ton/ of people take both) on the same day.  So I tested Macro from 8 - 11 or so, and then proceeded to have a one hour break before a 12 - 3 test on MicroEcon.  Neither was hard; that was the worst part.  Given 70 mins for each MC, I didn't take more than 30 for either, and given an hour for essays, I took a max of 30 minutes...the joys of AP Testing.

Luckily that was the last AP test ever!  All done!  It's amazing!

After all that, I went to my brother's TIP awards ceremony at O'Connel Center, and ran through a deluge...more fun.  Then Chipotle and headed to Bishop's concert, which actually was extremely good.

Oh, I've had The Battery's Down absolutely stuck in my head all day long...it's like my brain has the "repeat one" setting stuck permanently on for about 4 hours or so, then i move on to the next track.\

Daytona's tomorrow, a much needed break from school (or lack thereof) and testing.  Time for a weekend of fun & relaxation!

State MPA

So today was the last of our away-from-GHS public performances.  We ended up with a 1 and two 2s, better than almost anyone expected, but at least we managed to give a better run than our average.  The first band we heard was so together though!  They were able to play for entire sections with no conductor, which allowed her to actually spend most of her time cuing and bringing emotion into their performance, something I wish Id seen more in our ensemble.

Afterwards, 11 of us went to the Flying Biscuit - which was fun and delicious as always.  Anyone who hadn't been before was an instant fan - there's no way they'll ever have any problem; the whole town loves it!

Then this evening I think I may have fixed our internet issue - we got a new coaxial cable splitter, which may have been the problem w/ our spotty connection, because we haven't had any problems tonight *knock on wood*.

I've been given even more new music from Joe!  Bruckner is the composer of the day, and I'm really liking his work so far.  I'll have to listen to more of it later.

So although my voice ran away last night, it came back this morning - so there wasn't really any major problem.

We listened to [title of show] in Owens today, my choice for TRL.  About 5 people seemed to love it, 5 seemed mildly interested, and the other 40 had no clue what they just listened to.  On the whole, a successful venture.

I've spent most of my evening ripping DVDs of The Office, which I've borrowed from Joe.  Around 45 episodes on the whole I think - definitely a lot of Steve Carell Comedy, and of my new 3rd favorite show or so.

The day's been pretty uneventful on the whole.  Happy 2-month anniversary TJ!

Musical Reviews

I've listened to a few new musicals this week, all noteworthy in their own ways.

Bounce - Stephen Sondheim (2003 Original)

This is Sondheim's newest musical, still not all the way to broadway yet.  This recording's from a few years ago - its since been through several iterations and is right now running as Road Show off-broadway with Michael Ceveris.  While a bit slow at the start, a song or two in, Sondheim's unmistakable style was evident.  A bit of a blend between Merrily We Roll Along and A Little Night Music, it isn't my favorite Sondheim show by far, but it's pleasant to listen to.  The cast is good and the music is interesting on its own merit (the plot seems a bit sketchy, but hopefully it's been improved in the new version).  I'll definitely be getting the updated version when it comes out to see how it's changed

Candide - Leonard Bernstein (1974 Revival)

While sometimes referred to as an opera, the frequent spoken lines of this show, plus its highly comedic, modern nature, classify it as a musical for me.  I haven't read Voltaire's Candide, but it seems like it follows that plot only loosely.  Rather the closest comparison I could make is probably Pippin, by Schwartz, but with better music and a more epic plot.  It follows the adventures of Candide, a budding philosopher, and his many encounters and seperations from his love Cunaganda.  The bizarre story includes people dying and then returning to life, several social criticisms and a few wars, but its pushed along by well-crafted songs and a nice, full orchestra.  Fun to listen to and a quality piece of work.

Jekyll & Hyde - Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse (1997 OBC)

I am actually listening to this as I type.  I haven't finished it all the way, but it seems to be in the same vein as the modern literary classic shows such as Jane Eyre, A Tale of Two Cities, and The Secret Garden.  While I've never read the book, the story seems easy enough to follow and the actors all have great voices.  Of course I'll point out a show that makes heavy use of complicated vocal harmony, for that is all to rare in modern theatre.  It will definitely join the list of my most-played shows in the coming months.

Other than listening to broadway CDs, I've spent my day working on Ms. Bergeron's Poetry Project...analysing and presenting Fleur Adcock's "The Telephone Call" for my 5th Period class.  Oh, and finally getting over my cold - that's a big plus!

Week of Apr. 13

I haven't posted in a while, but then again I haven't done a whole lot this week.  I've been sick now for a week and a day...and while it's showing signs of clearing off, I wish this cold would just go away.

Positives...our Chemistry class has been practicing Cambridge tests every day, and now we're all doing ridiculously well, so that's definitely a plus.  Economics we finished our teaching on Friday, so now we're gonna take Corbett's method for review.

The best part of the week was definintely finishing up The Battery's Down Season 1.  One of the best shows ever, even if its not on TV at all.  For a musical theatre freak like me, a show with numbers referencing 20 to 30 musicals in quick succession is hilarious and amazing to watch - and now I've got the CD of it too! (Thanks to Joe!)

I have a Poetry Project due on Monday for Bergeron....don't really want to do it, but I have to put together a presentation and an essay - analysing a poem that, while fun to read, doesn't really have much poetic merit.

So I was still sick today, but I managed to drag myself to school and decided there wouldn't have been much point in my going home - I wouldn't have healed up at all.  School was pretty monotonous, but nothing particularly bad.  The highlight of my day was in English when I looked at my essay passed back and saw a 9 sitting there (AP Scale, so Perfect)!  It was the first time Bergeron had given a 9 in over a year she said.

This afternoon I came home and...slept, surprise surprise.  I tried to work on my Senior Will some, but didn't really get any farther.  The best part though, was when my family decided to go to Flying Biscuit, the new restaurant near Fresh Market.  Its from Raving Brands - the Moe's old parent company - and serves awesome breakfast all day!  The cheese grits are absolutely the best ones I've ever had, and their biscuits are insanely good too.

Sick

Today was already set to be the busiest day of the break.  I had to get up at 6:45 A.M., be @ church by 7:20, then proceed to ring handbells, play trombone, and sing, (all in various combinations and orders) for the next four-and-a-half hours through our 3 Easter services at my church.

Oh so luckily, I came down with a sore throat a few days ago which, last night, blossomed into a fever and full out illness.  So not only was I set to do an insane day, I was going to do it on little sleep and in a state of not-well-being.

Starbucks was a must on the way, but even that was unable to ever fully awaken me.  Somehow, I managed to make it through the services in one piece.  As usual, Trinity was packed to the gills!  At our middle contemporary service, there were so many people we were seating overflow with us in the choir loft.

After the long morning, I came home and we had a full-out Easter feast, with anything and everything one could imagine or want, after which I lapsed into 3 hours or so of fitful naps, trying to recover from this cold.  Yay end of spring break :/