Coffee Klatch

Today I auditioned for the Butler University Chorale. I have to have at least one Music Ensemble credit as part of my 30-credit Master’s degree. Since I’ve got some good experience with advanced chorales (4 years in the Cornerstone University Chorale, 3 years in the Bloomington Chamber Choir, 2 years in the Evangelical Choral Society, and about 5 more years in the CU Chorale–that’s 14 years!!), it seemed like the best ensemble fit.

And, yes, I did get in. I’ll be singing Bass II (that’s bass as opposed to baritone). I’ve been told that Butler has been thought of as the Baritone Capital of the Midwest so it will be nice to help build up the lower bass section.

It will be really nice to be part of a group like this again. I heard the Chorale sing a few months ago and found myself thinking it would be a fun group (and a musical one) to sing with. Classes start on Monday, as does the first Chorale rehearsal. How COOL!!

Well, I’m on my way! I’m heading back to school, working on another Master’s degree. This time in Music Composition (my Bachelor’s was in the same thing). I figured that since I’m getting free tuition I might as well put it to good use. I can take up to 6 credits per semester with full tuition remission. Pretty cool! Definitely one of the perks of working at a university.

The Master of Music degree here is 30 credits and I’m taking 6 this spring. Hopefully I’ll be walking in May 2010. Today I got registered for classes, took care of the paperwork, and bought my textbooks (for which I get an employee discount of 10%!). I’m taking a “Music of the Baroque Era” class and a “Seminar in Choral Literature” which is focusing on the Classical Period this semester (Haydn, Mozart, etc.). Plus I’m singing with the University Chorale, which will be fun. It’s been three years since I’ve sung with a university chorale and this time I’ll be doing it as a student again.

Some other classes I’ll be taking will be based on the requirements for degree (go figure!), including a couple of electronic music classes, composition lessons, Music research, and some other Music Theory electives, ensembles, lessons, etc. The “thesis” for a Composition degree is a score of an original work “of a major nature” along with a performance recording if possible. There’s also an oral defense of the thesis/score and a separate comprehensive oral exam that covers all the classes you took in the program.

I think it will be a fun couple of years, since everything I’ll have to do, take, learn, etc., is stuff I really enjoy. I’m still working full time and ringing with the Circle City Ringers (plus being president of the Board this year), so I’ll be keeping pretty busy, but at least it’s all enjoyable. That makes me more fortunate than many people who don’t like their jobs or find schoolwork unpleasant or difficult.

Current music: Soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

One of my favorite movies is Murder By Death. It’s funny, witty, very well written, and has a great cast. The movie is based on a play written by Neil Simon. The complete cast is as follows:

• Eileen Brennan
• Truman Capote
• James Coco
• Peter Falk
• Alec Guinness
• Elsa Lanchester
• David Niven
• Peter Sellers
• Maggie Smith
• Nancy Walker
• Estelle Winwood
• James Cromwell
• Richard Narita

Five detectives are invited to “dinner and a murder.” They’re all take-offs on famous fictional detectives:

• Sam Diamond (Sam Spade) - Peter Falk
• Milo Perrier (Hercule Poirot) - James Coco
• Jessica Marbles (Miss Jane Marple) - Elsa Lanchester
• Dick & Dora Charleston (Nick & Nora Charles) - David Niven & Maggie Smith
• Sidney Wang (Charlie Chan) - Peter Sellers (made up and talking with an accent)

And Alec Guiness (the original Obi-Wan Kenobi) is the blind butler.

Some of my favorite quotes from the movie:

“And what is your name?”
“Bensonmum.”
“Thank you, Benson.”
“No, my NAME is Bensonmum.”
“Bensonmum?”
“Yes sir. Jamesir Bensonmum.”
“Jamesir Bensonmum?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How odd!”
“My father’s name, sir.”
“What was?”
“Howard. Howard Bensonmum.”

“Just as I thought: another test that could have cost us our lives, saved only by the fact that I am ENORMOUSLY well-bred.”

“I don’t get it. First they steal the body and leave the clothes, then they take the clothes and bring the body back. Who would do a thing like that?”
“Possibly some deranged dry cleaner.”

“There’s nothing on him ’til ‘46, when he was picked up in El Paso, Texas, for trying to smuggle a truckload of rich white Americans across the border into Mexico to pick melons.”

“Since we cannot call for a doctor, I will need a cold compress for my chaffeur, and a cup of hot chocolate for me, n’est ce pa?”
“I don’t think we have any Nespa, sir. Just Hershey’s. ”

“Is he dead?”
“With a thing like that in his back, in the long run, he’s better off.”

“I’m scared, Sam. Hold me.”
“Hold yourself. I’m busy.”

“I never did nothin’ to a man that I wouldn’t do to a woman.”

“Mrs. Charleston’s hair red. You have blond hairs on shoulder. This means she has dyed red hair blond, then back again to red, or else you have been…. So sorry, Wang is wrong.”

“Something isn’t right in all of this, eh. I can feel it in my buns.”
“Your what?”
“My buns.”
“Buns? Your buns? You bought buns and you didn’t tell me? Where are they? Where are the buns?”
“Oh! No, monsieur. The BONES in my body.”
“You should not speak with an accent when you know I am so hungry.”

“How lovely dear! We’re in Wang’s wing!”

Currently watching: Murder By Death

It’s raining iguanas in Florida. The cold temperatures have gotten so bad this week (mid-30s in Miami) that dozens of iguanas “froze” and started falling out trees. I think they’re much like frogs, who can freeze for the winter and then thaw in the spring, using a form of suspended animation. The iguanas come back to life when they warm up in the sun. Kinda like some people I know, waking up and going, “Where the heck am I NOW?” Pretty weird!

Click the picture to get the full news story from the Miami Herald.

Wired.com reported today that Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep. Just imagine being on a long driving trip, feeling tired, and using a nasal spray to restore your mental abilities back to a level similar to when fully rested! It won’t allow your body to get the rest it needs, but for people in situations requiring mental alertness for longer periods of time, this may become an option. Click the link to read the article.