Friday Night Lights

So I'm walking to work (it's a Friday night) and I take a detour through the math building.  I look around to see the goings-on.  While I'm walking past the math tutor room, I see several people.  All of them are guys.  And most of them look like this guy:

So what's funny about this?  Well, the fact that there are no girls around leaves no secret: sausage party in the Talmage Building.

But who am I to judge?  I work every Friday night until midnight!  Only difference is that I was scheduled to work by someone else.  This was definitely NOT a personal choice.  And what makes it worse is that those that populate the math building also occupy the library.  At least send some interesting people to keep me company!

This also doesn't help since I woke up at 6 AM because I couldn't sleep.  Burning the midnight oil sucks when you're exhausted. . .  But tomorrow is Saturday!  You know what that means! . . . well neither do I, but now I'll bet you're curious as to what I was going to say.

Oh, and the pre-recital hearing is only 5 days away.  It's cram time!

Barry Green

This week was really cool!  Barry Green came and did a master class on Thursday and gave a recital on Friday night.  One of his favorite things to do is to get people to move with the music, since that's what music should do.  So for that reason, the recital was quite entertaining.

But I think that the best thing about Barry being here was being able to play in a bass quintet with him.  We played Jamba Mon, written by the one and only Eric Hansen.  I was intimidated at first, just because playing with two bassists of that caliber doesn't happen all that often.  But just sitting in and listening to Barry play, then getting some feedback from him after I played in master class, opened my eyes even more to what I can do with the bass.  It was cool!

HFAC Practice Tombs. Errr.... Practice Rooms

So I'm doing a research project on the availability and reservation of practice rooms and have come up with a few ideas.  I talked to Kory Katseanes the other day and he chuckled when I told him that students were having trouble finding practice rooms, stating that "every time I go down the practice room hallway, I always see rooms that are open."  But that led me to think about some other things.  For example, students can practice until 11 PM, when the HFAC closes.  But is that realistic?  Some people actually go to bed at decent hours (I may not be one of them, but it happens).  Others can't be there at 6 AM when the HFAC opens.  When students are on campus during the day, they want to practice.  But the rooms are all being bombarded with people trying to steal rooms; waiting for those who have reserved them, who are not using them, to miss their 15-minute window to claim that room.  SO.  Here are some ideas that I have come up with in my research:


Practice rooms that are available for reservation: 42
Practice rooms specifically for Organ/harpsichord: 6
# Upright/electric Piano: 18
# Grand Piano: 18


Students in SoM: ~700 (incl. graduate students)


Bigger practice rooms should be reserved for larger instruments (i.e. basses/cellos). Set aside
specific rooms for specific instruments. Less mobile instruments have reserved rooms in the E
Wing of 2nd floor practice hallway. Smaller instruments have some of those, but do not have
priority on those rooms, since they are more mobile and can be taken to C Wing practice rooms.


Model practice room availability after organ, harp and percussion studios?


Keep the 15-minute rule.


Sine the reservation system stores the students' class information (level and instrument), this can still be done online.  Rooms can be set aside proportionally to accommodate each studio.  Once each student has an opportunity to sign up for his/her studio's assigned practice rooms, reservation opens to all other students.


I'm curious to know what people think about my research so far.  If you have any suggestions, let me know!  I'm going in to talk to Mark Ammons on Monday afternoon to talk to him about these ideas.  Any feedback would be welcome!

BYU Philharmonic Orchestra's "Evening of Concertos"

So this coming Wednesday is the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra's Evening of Concertos.  Every year, there is a solo competition involving instrumentalists and vocalists from the School of Music, the winners of which perform with the Philharmonic Orchestra.  This year's winners and performers are:


Josh Coffey - Artunian Trumpet Concerto in A-flat Major
Gina Connely - Nystroem Viola Concerto
Liberty Pierce - Gounod, Jewel Song from Faust
Abigail Tippetts - Copland Clarinet Concerto
Allison Smith - Ravel's Tzigane
Jessie Fullmer - Strauss Oboe Concerto in D Major
Yurika Ohki Taura - Grieg Piano Concerto in A Major

It should be an exciting performance!




However, I do have ONE small problem. . .  This will interrupt my own Evening of Jimmer.  I will be forced to miss our home game against New Mexico and I am NOT happy about it.  I WANT JIMMER!!!!!!!!!!!

Ode to Jimmer

"Jimmer, you are amazing.  The shots you take take my breathe away.  When I saw you pull up for a shot from 40 feet away, my heart stopped.  When the ball sank through the net, it jumped for joy!  The way you dribble, the way you post, the way you cross; I rejoice in those moments, for I know that you will give me cause to bask in glory.

Those who despise you are only jealous of your abilities.  They want to be you.  They want to emulate you.  But they cannot arrive at your level because your level is far above that of any normal basketballer.  The stunned looks on the faces of your opponents cause the basketball gods to smile greatly.  They approve of your awesomeness.

With this, may it be kept in memory the greatness of the Great Jimmer Fredette, the Anointed One."

LONG LIVE THE JIMMER!

Photo Shoot

 The results of a photo shoot that Jay and I did with Laci on Sunday afternoon.  I think we had a little too much fun!

And some people have made comments about where they think that this photo should be.  Guys Quarterly was one.  Others say that I look like Guy Pearce.  You can decide.




Contemplating the meaning of life.  Laci was taking photos of Jay and I was a little bored, so I just went to the bench and sat down for a few minutes in this lovely pose.

And being Mr. Suave, as usual.  Once I got Laci's attention, I just started posing in all sorts of ways.  This one was the only one that was captured though.

Then I decided to have a little fun with Christine.  This is not an unusual scene.  And for some reason she hasn't run away screaming yet.

This one is the one that I used for the cover page for my Music Education portfolio.  It was widely acclaimed to be a very good-looking photo.  It makes me blush. . .

JIMMER FREDETTE!

There's nothing that I love more than an awesome athlete.  So, in honor of the BYU great, here's my Ode to Jimmer:

"Jimmer, you are amazing.  The shots you take take my breathe away.  When I saw you pull up for a shot from 40 feet away, my heart stopped.  When the ball sank through the net, it jumped for joy!  The way you dribble, the way you post, the way you cross; I rejoice in those moments, for I know that you will give me cause to bask in glory.

Those who despise you are only jealous of your abilities.  They want to be you.  They want to emulate you.  But they cannot arrive at your level because your level is far above that of any normal basketballer.  The stunned looks on the faces of your opponents cause the basketball gods to smile greatly.  They approve of your awesomeness.

With this, may it be kept in memory the greatness of the Great Jimmer Fredette, the Anointed One."

LONG LIVE THE JIMMER!

BYU/SA: Most Controversial Organization at BYU

I was always convinced that BYU/SA was the biggest waste of time and resources.  Really?  Am I paying tuition in support of the supposedly helpful organization?

But something happened last semester that started a bizarre chain of events.  One day, as I was standing in the hallway waiting for my professor, I was approached by my old Music Theory teacher, Dr. Thornock.  As we talked, he asked if I would be interested in serving on the School of Music (SoM) Student Advisory Council.  I accepted.  My only obligations?  Representing the string department of the School of Music and going to SAC meetings every other week.  No big deal.

Well, during the first meeting, I was asked to be part of the College of Fine Arts and Communications (CFAC) Student Advisory Council.  A slightly bigger obligation, but still manageable.  I would attend those meetings on the off-weeks of the SoM council meetings.  Since I didn't have much to do on Fridays, I was okay with that.

Then starts Winter semester.  I get a call from Shelbi, the other student on the CFAC advisory council.  Since one of the other students graduated, there was a vacancy that I was asked to fill on the BYU/SA Student Advisory Council.  I hesitated for a minute. . . trying to understand what exactly was going on.  BYU/SA. . .  Aren't they the guys who send me obnoxious Facebook invites trying to get me to support certain groups and people and events that I never end up going to?  Yeah. . . that would be them. . . and they want ME on their Student Advisory Council?  Hmmm. . .

I accepted the invitation.  But then I went back and thought, "Wait a minute. . . I'm part of that organization that no one likes. . . CRAP!"  But as I've gone to SAC meetings and gotten to know the people that work with BYU/SA, I've come to realize that they're just like me: students trying to do well in school and make something of themselves.  It's been good getting to know what kinds of things go around on campus and what we can do to help.  As the Student Advisory Council, we are the "bridge" between the student body and the administration.  I've been able to see what that really means since I joined BYU/SA.  I never thought I would say anything like that. . . ever.