[ x ] prokofieff 4th mvt
[ x ] rach etude
[ x ] liszt ballade
[ ] prokofieff 3rd mvt
[ ] chopin etude
[ ] mozart concerto
[ ] rach concerto
[ ] beethoven concerto
[ ] 111, bach, and earl wild

it's gonna be a long semester.

Upcoming destinations: Texas in Feburary. Japan in June. Australia in July?

In rewatching "Quiz Show" and "Finding Forrester", I found it especially intriguing that both movies climaxed a scene with a 'quote game' - an intellectual game for the esoteric and elite few who are nerdy enough to memorize individual and distinct lines from Dickinson, Shakespeare, Tennyson, etc. poems to quiz the challenger. I always found this sophomorically impressive, not that I would ever be nerdy enough to quote anything from a dead European poet.

However, since the new American cultural idiom (or does that exist?) tends to be in areas much less respectable (or artsy-fartsy) than dead European poetic jargon, I figured the contemporary equivelent of such a game would be to quote rap.

So test yourself. Rack your mind. Recreate yourself and intellectually indulge to see if you can place the title and artist.

"Today I didn't even have to use my AK / I guess it was a good day."

"Even though you was a crack fiend, mama / you always was a black queen, mama"

"See to live is to suffer but to survive well that's to find meaning in the suffering."

"Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood....and it's still all good."

"Have you ever been hated or discriminated against? I have / I been protested and demonstrated against."

"I don't rap to get the women. Fuck bitches / Gimme a fat slug who cooks and does dishes."

"I sold my soul to the devil, and the price was cheap / yo it's cold on this level cause it's twice as deep / But you don't hear me, ignorance is bliss and so on / Sometimes it's better to be thought dumb, Shall I go on"

"How many brothers fell victim to the streets? / Rest in peace, y'all niggaz / There's a heaven for a G"

A few of us here got involved in quite-heated discussion regarding gender-bias amongst classical musicians - specifically, in the question of whether or not one could distinguish the piano playing of a male or a female without prior knowledge of the gender.

Oddly enough, the results through the times have reversed their chauvinist tendencies, and it was the females who maintained that yes, truly, there were highly apparent and discernible differences between male and female players. "Males tend to have a more solid, direct, and louder sound, whereas females will never be able to achieve that sound but compensate by cultivating a more refined sense of subtlety and lyricism."

(Bullshit)

The truth is, there really is no difference between a male and female player. Period.

"In my experience, it is much easier to tell a male or female musician by an examination of their genitalia." - Brian Snow

This is the weather at the current moment in the coldest parts of the world:
Moscow: 26 F
Iceland: 32 F
Antarctica: 24 F
North Pole: 2 F
New Haven: 0 F

HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT?

Tentative Recital Program:

Debussy Etudes: Pour les huit doigts, Pour les agréments, Pour les arpèges composés (10 minutes)
Liszt, Ballade No. 2 (14 minutes)
Rachmaninoff, Sonata No. 2 (25 minutes)
Gershwin/Wild, Improvisation in the form of a Theme and Three Variations on 'Someone To Watch Over Me' (12 minutes)

good quote: "You know the world's gone crazy when the best rapper is white, the best golfer is black, the tallest guy in the NBA is chinese, France is accusing the U.S of arrogance, Germany does NOT want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in the world are named "Bush" and "Dick".

Haven't blogged in awhile. Random thoughts:

Unsure at this point whether it is strange that I foster an immediate distate for the unabashedly wealthy, particularly in the case of the nice-and-rich. I played a gig last week for one of the top donors to the Yale School of Music, who reportedly donated a lump sum of over 10 million dollars to us - on top of that, upon further conversation, I discovered that a new hobby of his was the collection of vineyards. Yes, vineyards. Not a wine collector - a vineyard collector, with vineyards across the United States and France.

I found myself fostering an immediate distate for this man - who, in all respects, was possibly one of the nicest men I had ever met. I'm still not quite sure what it is. Perhaps it's the hypothetical - had he given this 10 million dollars to Oakland public schools instead of to an institution that annually receives over 11 billion dollars in funds (in addition to its long-standing private arrangements with corporate business), would the world be a better place? Am I wrong to foster such judgement? Is it even any of my business?

I found out quite interesting tonight to find out that Howard Dean's outspoken Christian faith is becoming more prevalent in the campaign trail, particularly because he is most heavily associated with his brave support of gay-rights. Also interesting to note that his wife (and kids) are Jewish. Christians take note.

School starting again. I feel ready for the stress and the 9am-midnight days. I hope it will last.