我不是美國人, 但有些事情是跨越國界的。

Went to Penn State’s Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony concert today at Eisenhower Stadium - on stage of course. That part went well, as well as it could have, but the first part, in which the entire choir sat in the balcony seats, was one of the less pleasant concert experiences I’ve had.

Having been to some concerts before, I’m more or less prepared for babies crying and children being distruptive, but not for coughing that persisted throughout the first half. There were two people who seemed to have a throat problem, and when one starts coughing the other also does, which sets off a chain reaction of coughs. The fact that one of them sat right behind me made it even worse. During the violin concerto in the first half we had a violin solo on the stage - and a cough duet off the stage.

I’m sure they don’t want to cough any more than I do, but it would have helped had they at least covered their mouths, since they must have known that they were having a sore throat. And seriously, if your throat is that bad, don’t come - how the bloody hell are you supposed to sing when you couldn’t stop coughing? You aren’t doing anyone any good by coming here, so please do everyone and yourself a favour by going home…

And then there are the cell phones. They tell you to turn them off for a reason, you know. To the choirs’ credit, nobody’s phone rang during the concert, but we had quite a few people who were sending text messages and didn’t stop for the entire first-half of the concert. Jesus Christ, you couldn’t live without SMS for one hour? Just because it doesn’t make any noise doesn’t mean it isn’t distruptive you know; with the lights off-stage turned off, having someone sending text messages on a cell phone in front of you is like having someone shine a bright torch right in your face in a movie theatre. For god’s sake, don’t these people realize how freaking bright their cell phone is? It’s so bright that I saw some people using it to illuminate their concert program - which is perfectly fine with me, because it is a legitimate use, and the light is pointed AWAY from others, but sending messages in the middle of a concert with that torchlight pointed at me for the better part of an hour? Sorry, no. At least make an effort to cover the screen somewhat with your hand and clothes like some people do, damn it, or do you enjoy having the whole world read your messages?

And then finally there’s the women…bah, it’s always the women, it was the women who were coughing, the women who were sending text messages, and you blame people for being feminist…now I understand that female shoes are designed by the KMDB and are about as comfortable as a fur coat in the middle of summer, so I’ll turn a blind eye to women taking off their shoes, as long as the smell doesn’t reach me, but holy shit, don’t put your fucking feet on the railings! Do you know how bright the stage is and how dark the balcony is? Put your bare feet on the railing and all we could see is the sihoulette of your beautiful beautiful toes - no thanks.

If that was all there was to it then I might have been able to live with it, but unfortunately she positioned her feet really well - her left foot completely eclipsed the violin soloist during the concerto, and her right foot completely blocked out the conductor. No, bitch, put your fucking feet down, or I’m going to cut them off.

And to think that these are all choir members, who are supposed to have performed on stage at least a few times and have some understanding of concert etiquette. I really want to ask them, how would they feel had they been in Esber Recital Hall where the audience is close and in plain sight, and heard the audience coughing constantly in a delicate duet, sending text messages throughout the concert without looking up on stage even once, and hanging their bare feet on the first row of seats?

This is the kind of thing that really makes you want to take an MG42 and start spraying around. No, it’s better not to allow students to carry guns on campus. I really could not have resisted the urge to pull it on those morons.

R^2 (R) walks into room.

Grad assistant (G):  Hey, I heard you got into the School of Music?

R: Yeah.

G: What will you be majoring again? Performance?

R: Yeah, piano performance

G: Thats great! Dr L told me that you would be sitting at the piano today?

R: WTF?

G: You didn’t know? He said that he told you…

R: WTF

已報 18 credits

MUSIC 121 (Theory) - 1
MUSIC 131 (Theory )- 2
MUSIC 980 (choir) - 1
HIST 001 (Western history) - 3
JAPNS 001 (Japanese) - 4
INART 258 (MIDI Audio)- 3
HIST 020 (American history) - 3
MUSIC 194 (Accompanying) - 1

如無意外在這之上應該還要追加八個

MUSIC 092 (Chamber voice) - 1
MUSIC ? (choir accompanying) - 1
KEYBD 130J (Piano Primary) - 3
STRNG 100J (String secondary) - 1
VOICE 100J (Voice private) - 1
WDWND 100J (Flute private) - 1
KEYBD 101J (Organ private) - 1

Voice 和 flute 的 private lesson 不知道能否入到就是, 都是競爭超多的 studio

不過無論怎麼樣, 下個學期最少修 25 個學分, 還可能去到 27 個學分

然後還希望可以找到 part-time 工作…(這不容易, 但不找的話日後只會後悔…)

還有 08 年秋番…(Gundam00 和 CLANNAD AS, 之外不知道還有多少)

還有只會越來越多的輕小說坑…(就是這樣才要找工作啊)

還有隨時跳出來的遊戲坑…(光是現在的 COD4 就夠我踩了)

還有自家的作曲 + 編曲計劃… 

誰有新鮮的肝可以捐給我啊 （；´ー｀）

這邊不知道何年何月何日才會換成 WP 2.5 呢…那時候 3.0 大概都出了吧

Knock knock.

"Who’s there?"

Guy in carrot suit: "Did you order a carrot?"

"No."

Guy in carrot suit: "Did any of your roommates order a carrot?"

"No."

Guy in carrot suit: "Oh, sorry. (walks away)"

Damn, should’ve taken a photo…



 

Audition Date: 16 Feb 2008

This post will be updated daily with new recordings of my audition pieces.

- The pieces are recorded using a Creative Zen Vision:M at PSU’s practice rooms

-The piano used will typically be a Yamaha U1. -

- Only the first run-through of the session is recorded; that is, for the practice session for which the recording was made, no previous practice of the pieces took place, other than scales for warming up.

- No effort has been made to edit or cover up any mistakes made during recording.

- These recordings are an accurate representation of how I will perform at a recital or audition at the time of recording.

- Recordings are in mp3 format. 

23 Jan 2008

Bach Toccata No.2 in E-minor, BMV914

Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 27 in whatever key Beethoven thinks it’s in, Op. 90, First movement

Kabalevsky Piano Sonata No.3 in there’s no point asking what the key is, Op.46, First movement 

25 Jan 2008

Bach Toccata No.2 in E-minor, BMV914

Beethoven Piano Sonata No.27 Op.90 first movement

Kabalevsky Piano Sonata No.3 Op.46 first movement

26 Jan 2008

Bach Toccata No.2 in E-minor, BMW914

Beethoven Piano Sonata No.27 Op.90 first movement

Kabalevsky Piano Sonata No.3 Op.46 first movement

27 Jan 2008

Bach Toccata No.2 in E-minor, BMW914

Beethoven Piano Sonata No.27 Op.90 first movement

Kabalevsky Piano Sonata No.3 Op.46 first movement

28 Jan 2008

Bach Toccata No.2 in E-minor, BMW914

Beethoven Piano Sonata No.27 Op.90 first movement

Kabalevsky Piano Sonata No.3 Op.46 first movement

08 Feb 2008 (no tags)

Bach Toccata No.2 in E-minor, BMW914

Beethoven Piano Sonata No.27 Op.90 first movement

Kabalevsky Piano Sonata No.3 Op.46 first movement

14 Feb 2008 (Recorded on Steinway & Sons grand piano)

Bach Toccata No.2 in E-minor, BMW914

Beethoven Piano Sonata No.27 Op.90 first movement

Kabalevsky Piano Sonata No.3 Op.46 first movement

- Never expect to board the bus on time. Or within one hour of scheduled time

- Never expect the bus to arrive on time. Or within five hours of scheduled time

- When transferring, expect to have to take one bus later than scheduled

- Never believe the luggage loader when they say "they’ll give you a new tag at Pittsburgh"

- Always watch the tagging of your luggage

- Never board the bus until your luggage is tagged, no matter what the staff tell you

- On a lay-over, always bring your luggage with you

- Never expect call to any phone number at any Greyhound station to  be answered

- Never allow customer service to bounce you to the baggage department

- When asking baggage to be re-forwarded, never expect it to arrive within 24 hours of scheduled time

- Never take Greyhound. 

I thank a certain baggage staff at Greyhound Pittsburgh and a certain baggage staff at Greyhound Detroit for making effort towards repairing the mistakes of their colleagues.
 

關於 "American" 的笑話在英語圈聽多了, 中文圈有這種說法倒是第一次見到。

President: Gentlemen, we have a problem. The sun’s fusion process has just stopped. What do we do?

Astronomer: Nothing. It will keep shining for the next 40,000,000 years.

All hail the end of innocence…
 

Use of English: 76/100 (A)

預想之中, 這科如果拿 B 的話就見鬼了…不過 Practical Skills 一項分數低的有點恐怖, Task 1 寫實用文拿 23/57 XDDD…嘛, 平時做練習時偷懶的結果就是這樣, 反正唯一的遺憾就是始終比某同學低兩分而已。

Chinese Language and Culture:  54/100 (C)

聆聽: 70/100 (今年的考卷特難, 老師還特意在分數旁邊寫個「好」字 XD)

文化考題: 11/54

…這啥鬼啦 XDXD 同一科中拿這麼極端的分數我還是第一次, 雖然問了一下發覺文化考題分數比我還低的同學多的是。倒是聆聽拿如此高分數嚇了我一跳, 畢竟離開考場時我和同學都覺得這份變態的考卷拿零分也非奇事, 現在拿了個可能是全班最高的分數也許我要躲起來了 XD…

Physics: Absent

啊, 那天起床晚了真是好事(爆) 看同學們都超低分, 自己補考(不計分數)也是做的一頭霧水, 我這十八年來還沒試過如此接近交白卷的…如果真去考了的話拿 U 也不奇怪吧。

Pure Mathematics: 28/100 (F)

…比起上學期更低 orz 也不是沒有溫習(雖然並非溫習了很多), 會拿這種分數只能說是命吧, 我始終不適合讀這一科。

Economics: 62/100 (B)

喂! 這分數怎麼來的! 我上學期可是不合格的啊 XDXD

能拿到 B 很大程度上是因為有 *一條* 問題是大家都拿 4-5 分而我拿了 9 分吧…有人想看一看嗎?

整體來說平均分 55.00, 雖然如果物理去了考的話一定會比現在低 XD