Equilibrium

And now, for an attempt at the "ideal" blog post, which should contain:
1) A current anecdote to illustrate my trivial existence
2) Minimal pessimism
3) An inside joke or at least an obscure and esoteric reference
4) Something to take with you

Okay. This is my blog's last attempt at balance before taking its inevitable plunge into the self-indulgent Dark Side of the Blog.

1) We just had our first gamelan concert of many this semester. Two more tomorrow, then it will be a little while before we do another. (We were working in collaboration with dancers, too.) I was already familiar with gamelan, but it was something else to be in it. I recommend everyone participate in a gamelan once before you die. If you don't know what a gamelan is, look it up. There are multiple kinds; this one is Balinese.

2) Yesterday I found out something bad about the thesis process. I don't want to get into it, but there's a whole other step--another confounded hoop to jump through--that I was originally told I didn't have to do. It turns out the extra step is not quite as bad as I thought it was as of last night, but it is still not good. The composition department seriously needs to work on its communication. Today has jerked around my emotions concerning my thesis so much, I don't even know what I think of today. It's jejune at best.

3) Basically, after another colossal 350B, I'm starting to look at my "education" like the Yuuzhan Vong Embrace of Pain. Someone told me earlier today that she thinks I've been in such a serious state of worry for so long that I don't know anything else. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something...

4) Outside the realm of "academic" or "serious" or "art" music (whatever that's supposed to mean anymore), there is a bottomless well of untapped resources. I would like to post some recommended listening. Not because I think these are great works that deserve historical recognition, but because I believe you will appreciate them, regardless of your predisposition towards any genre of music. I recommend these not out of pretentiousness or professional/personal bias, but out of philanthropy. Also, these examples provide a look at the kind of music I truly enjoy, without being burdened by "intellectual" (whatever that's supposed to mean anymore) discussion or justification:

Battlestar Galactica: Season One (Bear McCreary) - I have never seen a single episode of this show, but the music is my kind of music. This is seriously a CD I can listen to all day (in fact, I have done that). To me, this music is perfect for a good OR bad mood. The music is a brilliant fusion of ethnic styles--Celtic, Arabian, Japanese--with sweet, sweet percussion.

Audio (Blue Man Group) - This is also a highly percussion-oriented source of endorphin release. Every track on this album makes me happy. Blue Man Group invents many of their own instruments, mostly from PVC pipe. This is postmodernism at its absolute best.

The Lord of the Rings (Howard Shore) - This trilogy is pretty much the reason I am a composer. Pay attention to the way he develops the themes. You will be rewarded.

Ocean's Eleven (various) - I don't care who you are. Get this CD now. Live it. Love it. This music will make you want to pull off a heist.

I could go on, and I'm sure I will again sometime. But these I think everyone should appreciate, as long as you open your mind and open your ears. Happy listening. And look into gamelan.