Testimony Tuesday: I Was a Band Geek

For those of you who went to high school with me or really know me, this is no surprise. To the rest of you...SURPRISE!

I was in band 4th grade through 12th grade. Throughout my music career I did concert band, jazz band, marching band, and drumline. I also played nearly every percussion instrument (snare drum, timpani, triangle, etc), trombone, french horn, and mallet instruments (xylophone, marimba, vibraphone).

My main focus was drumline. Now if you are thinking of that movie with Nick Cannon, that's not what I did at all. Drumline consists of two seasons, fall and winter. During fall season all the members march crazy formations on the street while wearing their instruments on harnesses. This all happens while playing music. Below is an example of my high school. I am the one who starts of basically in the center of the screen (I'm the tallest one).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qnVIlj7iZ8

Then there's winter season. Winter season is a lot more involved and theatrical. The show typically runs between 6 and 7 minutes. Also, each show has an overarching theme. The themes of my shows included Blue Man Group, Africa, Hypnotic (Dreams), City Beats, Kaleidoscope, and Inferno (Dante's Inferno). The props, costumes, and music all work together to create a complete production. My high school competed regionally and nationally. Here is a video from my senior year. Sorry for the camera. And yes I'm the creepy one who starts off the show and plays marimba.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dJR28m6wNs&feature=related

And there's a look into a side of me that maybe you didn't know.

Music Mondays: Adele Medley

These songs have died out for the most part on the radio so hopefully you can enjoy this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri169fuI7lw&list=PL18C1DF00C1AFC4E8&index=12&feature=plcp

Again it's a mashup, which I love. Adele is such a musical genius, so the starting material is already good. I just love that they blend the songs so well, one into the other. Then when they layer the songs, so they sing at the same time, my ears are at complete ease.  And I really like what they do to change the feel of Someone Like You. The beat behind the singing adds flavor and makes the cover unique.  Michael Henry and Justin Robinett have a lot of good covers, but I wanted to share this one because I heard Adele on the radio today. I hope you enjoyed.

TV Thursdays: Heroes (No Spoilers)

I know that this show hasn't been on TV in over two years, but I thought that it was still worth talking about.

Simple background, this show is about ordinary people who discover that they have super powers. The show follows these characters as they figure out how these powers affect their daily lives and the lives of others. During all of this, their is a company who is trying to control these super powered humans. The first season is all about how these characters are strangely connected in their attempt to save the world.

The show reminds me a lot of a live action comic book. Similar to superhero movies, the show is very stylized. As for other TV shows, I can't think of anything else that is too similar.

The first season of this show is amazing! I would recommend that everyone watches it. The season is 23 episodes and the plot is so good. The episodes quickly become addicting and tense, because like any superhero story there are also villains. The first season has a villain who is trying to kill them but people don't know what he looks like. It's so intense. The characters are developed very well and it's interesting to see how the characters figure out their abilities and come to realize how they can use these powers to help others.

Sadly, the show only gets worse after the first season. The second season was during the writer's strike, so it is short (11 episodes). The second season isn't awful, but it just wasn't as good as the first season. I would say that is still decent and possibly worth watching. After second season, things got really cheesy and a little ridiculous. And worst of all, the final episode has to resolution because the show was cancelled before the writers could wrap everything up. So season 4 just ends abruptly.

Heroes Season 1 is my focus today and I really would suggest watching it. I enjoyed it so much and I hope that either have already seen it or that this post will convince you to watch it.

Web Wednesdays: Sweet Brown Meme

This is slightly late, but I still felt like I should create a post for my Web Wednesdays. This will be short and sweet. I found this meme the other day. I hope you enjoy.

Testimony Tuesdays: Feeling Lazy

Today I'm feeling weird
                 and lazy.
      So today is a skip day for me.
                                   Sorry.

Music Mondays: 9 Crimes

Before I dive into the song I wanted to make a brief side note. Some of you may have noticed I didn't do a Skillful Saturday. I'm sorry. But the original purpose of Saturdays were to get suggestions of things to do. No one has given suggestions, therefore I didn't do anything. So if you want to see me do something (sing, dance, juggle, etc) then please leave suggestions on my Facebook. Otherwise Skillful Saturdays may just die away.


Sorry for the interruption. This song is amazing! My first week of blogging I featured a cover. Last week I featured an album. This week I wanted to choose a song that could stand alone by itself. 9 Crimes by Damien Rice is that song. WARNING: Warner Music may not let you play this video directly on Blogger. If a message comes up you can simply click the Watch on YouTube link after clicking on this video below.




If you haven't heard it before now, you're welcome. But seriously this song is so powerful. It is simple and very haunting. I love the layering of the piano, cello, and two voices. The combination is perfect and gives me chills every time. This song is so good that I chose to include a video with no frills. None of the videos with actual footage did the song justice and were just distracting.

I think what makes this song so phenomenal and timeless are a few key factors. The topic (cheating involving someone who is married) is something that is very difficult to speak of in the first place. The lyrics are simple but do a wonderful job of telling a story of how the people involved know that this is wrong but can't stop. Secondly the song builds in just the right way. The song begins with a solemn piano intro. Then the girl is added on top of the piano. Damien Rice sings his part to introduce the other side of the relationship. Then they start singing together and the cello comes in very quietly. The cello builds as their voices build. Finally the song leaves with a short piano break to mirror the beginning.

This is a song that I love coming back to. I hope that you enjoyed.

Film Fridays: Pitch Perfect

This movie is hilarious! Or should I say Rebel Wilson is hilarious? She truly made the movie. If you've seen the trailer or the movie, Rebel Wilson is "Fat Amy". But besides being funny, the music itself is actually really good. Normally I would be against a female a cappella group for the exact reason the give in the movie, female a cappella groups don't have the deep bases to round out their sound. But I really enjoyed all of the mashups. They do a really good job in the arrangements of songs and create greatly layered songs.

For those of you who haven't seen the preview, the preview is really what sparked my interest.

Rebel Wilson is the star because her lines are SO funny.  For example, "Sometimes I feel like I could do crystal meth but then I think, hmm, better not."  And her lines are so memorable that you will be quoting them long after the movie.  Yes her lines are funny, but it's the delivery.  She is so serious.  The great thing is she's like that in real life.  Watch any interview with her.  This one from Ellen is really funny:

 

But back to the movie. Yes the story line is a little cheesy and predictable at times. But I really liked the movie mostly based on the music and funny lines. The humor kind of reminded me of a less crude Bridesmaids mixed with She's the Man. Both of which I really enjoyed.  I would definitely recommend this movie. I wouldn't say that it was a necessary movie to see in theaters, but I think that it's a good movie to see sometime.


My Rating: 86%
Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
Entertainment Weekly: B-
Roger Ebert: ★★