VAY-K

got back today from a four-day cruise to cozumel, mx. i LOVE traveling. i love other cultures and being immersed in them. i'd really like to go down to honduras and do some mission work some summer. anyways, i digress. i had a great time just chilling though. last year when we went on the cruise i was more immersed in the mexican culture. this year i hung out in my stateroom, watched entourage, and slept. man it was nice. missed two days of teaching with it too. now it's spring break. a total of eleven days away from students. hopefully i'll come back refreshed and ready to go! i might post some pictures sometime soon.

a month later

Ok, I haven't posted in a while. Been busy.

I'm leaving soon on a cruise to Cozumel. I love to travel. It's so much fun.

So now for a totally different train of though. I really like finding musicians, movies, etc. that aren't mainstream yet. I really enjoying Hoodie Allen right now. He's a rapper from New York, but I'd use rapper very loosely. Yeah sure he raps, but he infuses lots of samples from the indie-scene. He's got a sweet love affair with January Jones and has an entire chorus of one song about her. On another he samples from Death Cab for Cutie.

Iration is another up and coming band. They've got a pretty sweet sound. A mix of reggae and rock, all of the members hail from Hawaii and you can hear it in their music.

Johnny Stimson is the last up and comer I've got for the day. He's an acoustic rock guy from Highland Park, Texas, went to A&M, and now lives in New York/Dallas. He sounds a lot like Gavin Degraw and Bob Morris from the Hush Sound. Happy in B-flat is a great little tune. Go look him up!

Ok, now for some funny.

weather

pops, you'd love this weather. 70 on monday. tornado/bad thunderstorm blew threw early tuesday morning. the rest of tuesday it snowed. hasn't been above 30 since. today we've got about 3 inches of snow on the ground. wish you were here.

when to chunk it the deuce

So here goes.

I'm going to choose my words carefully. This is, after all, being posted publicly and it could possible bite me in the butt later.

I have learned throughout the years to only do the things I love and to have fun doing it. If it's not fun what's the point?

Furthermore, some people need to realize that they are the cause of others misery. What's the point for you to be like that? You own betterment? To put yourself on a pedestal?

The leader of a group is never above the group. He or she should view themselves as the bottom of the group. The leader can be easily replaced.

I know there are many grey phrases and even though no one reads this nothing is directly to the point. That's fine. I'd rather not directly say the thing to which I'm referring. Oh well. It's off of my chest in so many different ways now.

Oscar stuff

Ok, I've been watching lots of movies lately. Here are my predictions on who will win.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech”

Animated Feature Film

• “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland”
  Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara

Cinematography

• “Inception” Wally Pfister

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood

Directing

• “The Social Network” David Fincher

Documentary (Feature)

• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger

Documentary (Short Subject)

???????

Film Editing

• “127 Hours” Jon Harris

Foreign Language Film

??????

Makeup

• “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)

• “Inception” Hans Zimmer
• “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

It's a toss up between those two!

Music (Original Song)

• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Picture

• “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

??????

Short Film (Live Action)

??????

Sound Editing

• “Inception” Richard King
• “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague

Again, another toss up.

Sound Mixing

• “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

Visual Effects

• “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

Another day. I'm ready to go on another trip. I love traveling. Going to Mexico on the cruise last year was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again. Going to Disney this summer with my family. Should be a lot of fun.

Had All-Region yesterday. Sat around doing practically nothing all day. Concert was ok at best. We've lost a lot of quality players in the region. Oh well.

Saw this movie the other day. Story was great. Music was awesome too.



Music is such an amazing thing. It is the only thing in the world that can convey so many different emotions.

21 days later

Nothing new.

Been watching a lot of movies lately of different genres but of the same recurring "coming of age" story. A few days ago I looked at moviefone's top 50 list of 2008, 2009, and 2010. Crazy. I've seen most of them. Watching the one's I haven't seen that are actually interesting to me.

Been listening to this song a lot.


Such a good song. Really I got there from this video.




Nothing's ever too hard. Someone will be there. Don't lose touch. Never give up.

New Year. New Thoughts, New Persona.

So we've been out of school for two weeks. That's pretty much the reason for not having posted any "funny" stories. I know that no one reads this blog, but I enjoy getting my words out.

2010 is over.

In retrospect, 2010 SUCKED! Sure, there were some amazing things! I did some things that I've always wanted to go and do! But in the end, there were a lot more painful and stressful situations in 2010.

I know that I have EVERY RIGHT to feel sorry for myself and how 2010 was, but I refuse! Instead, I'm going to have an amazing 2011. I don't make resolutions. You break them and most are too far fetched. However, in 2011 I plan on doing more traveling, experiencing more awesome stuff with my wife, trying more foods, etc. I always say I have a "Bucket List" but in truth I don't. I have things that I really want to do before I croak but nothings written down. Maybe I shall do that. If and when I do I'm going to knock at least one of them off this year!

Here's to 2011! Cheers!

Weavie Wonder,

So in continuing my funny stories that I'd otherwise tell my Dad, I'm brought to this story.

This actually happened Saturday night after our game but I'm just now remembering it.

So we get back from the game around 10 pm. I'm the designated guy to stay late this week. I'm hanging out in the band hall, pushing kids out the door, etc. There's only a few students left in the band hall; everyone else has either gone home or is outside waiting on their ride. I'm walking around the band hall when I see it. It being someone's weave. A student's weave had fallen out. Not once. Not twice. BUT THREE TIMES throughout the band hall. There are strands of weave everywhere. It was hilarious. The two students that were left were taking pictures of the random weave on the floor. I just can't believe that: A) someone wouldn't realize their weave was falling out and B) that their friends wouldn't tell them, "HEY! YO WEAVE BE FALLIN' OUTCHOW HURA!!"

New Stuff

Ok. I haven't posted in forever.

Let's make this easy. My Dad committed suicide on November 2, 2010. Not only was he my father, but he was a close friend and confidant. As a colleague, he was someone I always went to when I had something bad happen or when I had something funny or good happen.

I'll probably update with stuff I'm feeling about my Dad sometimes, but the main thing I'll be using my blog for is to update on the funny stories I have from the classroom.

So for the first couple of funny stories.

I have a really good student who plays tuba. He's of Mexican descent. So for Thanksgiving he was going to Mexico. I REALLY REALLY REALLY like bunuelos. So I was talking to him about the Bimbo bunuelos that I got in Mexico last year. He says, "Yeah! I'll buy you some and bring them back!" So after Thanksgiving break he brings me this bag. It's got two packages of the Bimbo bunuelos, a box of borrachitos (GROSS!), and a REAL rabbits foot! This thing is random! I'm not talking about the rabbits feet that we had as a kid. You know, the one's that are really just a thing stuffed with cotton. No, this is the real deal. Dang thing came complete with claws and bones! One of the most random things EVER!

Ok, next story.

So in Longview we play LOTS and LOTS of football. In fact, we just played a game. At tonight's game, one of the funniest and saddest and most random things ever happened. Towards the end of the third quarter there was what looked like smoke coming over the rail of the northwest side of the stadium. I told a french horn player, in joking, "Hey! Something's on fire!" Next thing I know, people are running towards the top of the stadium looking over the rail. More and more smoke is starting to come into the stadium and I start to smell fireworks. Well come to find out, someone's truck somehow caught on fire. I felt bad for the owners. Hopefully they have insurance. I still think it's kind of funny though.

Part 2

Alright, so the next morning Lauri and I wake up at 430 in the morning. Luckily, Chris's place was about 10 minutes or so from DFW. My plane leaves at 6. We get there at 445. No problems, right? WRONG! Apparently, my driver's license had expired. Didn't the state used to send letters saying it was about to expire? I NEVER GOT MINE! Anyways, I'm like, "CRAP!!!" The TSA guy was like, "It's not a big deal. I just have to put no id on your ticket." So I go on through. Well, I read the FAA guidelines on liquids wrong and had to throw some stuff away. People were giving me dirty looks. I don't care. They were pretty ugly anyways.

That was basically it for Grapevine/DFW.

I had a flight change/layover in Philly. Got there with no problems and was supposed to have about 2 hours there. So I start walking through the airport. At first I thought it was somewhat nice. Once again I was wrong! It looked nice, but the terminals were DIRTY and crowded and smelled! I at lunch at a TGI Fridays. It was ok. So I get done eating and I walk to my terminal. My second flight left a little after noon and I was at the terminal at 1115. When I walked up there was NO ONE in the terminal except the lady that was checking tickets. I notice that they were already boarding and since I had a few minutes at sit down. I'm not kidding when I say I sat down for only 5 minutes when the lady got on the mic and said, "Last call for boarding from Philly to Hartford/Windsor Locks!" I was like, "CRAP AGAIN!!" So I get on this little commuter jet that was already filled to capacity. I didn't trust US Airways with my crap so I kept it all. However, being that I was late getting on the flight there weren't hardly any storage bins left open. I had to put my carry on in the back third of the plane whereas I was sitting in the front third. Needless to say it was very enjoyable getting my junk off of the plane. I was last getting off!

Anyways, will post more about actually being in Connecticut later.

Adventures in Grapevine and Yankee Country

Alright. So I said I'd blog about my vacation and here it is.

So on Thursday June 19 Lauri and I drove to Grapevine. My flight left the next morning at 6 and Chris was gracious enough to let us crash at his place. Anyways, so Lauri and I get to Chris's place early enough that he was still at work. Called him and he said, "Come on over to my office!" Chris, you've got a freakin' sweet gig! That stuff you do is amazing! So after hanging at Chris's office for 10 minutes or so we got back to his place and unload our gear. Chris lives right near Grapevine Mills Mall and Lauri hadn't ever been there so we went. We got hungry. Here's where the night became AWESOME!

So, we're driving around trying to find a place to eat. I didn't really want fast food. I wanted to sit down and have a good meal and chill. So we pass this place called "Cutie Pies Roadhouse." Alright, I admit that no after the fact, the name should have given this place away, but I had no clue. Neither did Chris nor did Lauri. So we pull in. It looks nice. Walk inside and were blown away. I opened the door for Chris and Lauri and the girl standing at the hostess stand makes the girls at Hooters look like prudes. These girl were wearing basically nothing. That wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that not a SINGLE ONE was skinny. ALL or jiggly. Every freakin' one looked like they had a jello-mold for a stomach. It was crazy. PLUS our waitress was dumber than dirt! Seriously, I've had more intellectual conversations with Ms. BSW (Chris figure it out) than I did with this beast. Here's a run down of some stuff. They had to dumbest names for things. I ordered the chicken fried steak with onion rings and "crazy seasoned corn." That's a direct quote. We sent the corn back. All three of us tasted it and it tasted like cigarette smoke. Other than that, the food was decent. The whole time I felt awkward with Lauri there. But she's amazing and made the most of it.

Anyways, like I said, our waitress was an idiot! Here are a few things she did. When asking about the corn and some other things on the menu she replied with, "Yeah, they are freaking retarded names!" She gave us her entire life history in the waitressing business. She told us, and I quote, "I used to work at Fuddruckers before coming here, but the manager and I started dating. So I had to quit, but I like it more here." Like I said, none of the girls working were um... petite? Our waitress says to us, "I LOVE the fries here! They are so awesome. I love fried food. I could eat it everyday!" No kidding. If I had slapped the right side of her tummy, the left side would have jiggled like a water bed! Insane!

So that's pretty much it for the dinner.

After we ate we all went back to Chris's place to hang out. He's got a pretty sweet club area at his place and we went in there. We kicked some little kids out of this lounge room. It was funny. Some asian wanna be Michael Jordans were playing basketball. We crashed that party. Then challenged them to a game. We lost by 1 but, honestly, if we wanted to we could have destroyed them just like we did in WWII. Wow. That was over the line. Anyways, that's pretty much it from Chris's and Grapevine. More to come.

Wow

I'm back from a ten day vacation. So much to say. Explaining everything will have to come in shifts. First will be the night with Chris. Then the time with the Yanks. Finally the time spent in the South.

Will clue ya in later.

Not Real Good at Posting

Yeah, I know it's been forever, and I think only one person reads my blog but that's ok.

Updates.

Someone stole my camera. Of course I had to get a new one and Lauri let me get a step-up from what I had. Yay. Computer still sucks too much to allow me to post pictures though.

I'm leaving in a week for Connecticut and Aaron's wedding. After that I'll be going to South Carolina, Charleston specifically, to meet Lauri and her parents for a week long vacation in Charleston.

I'm teaching private lessons and if anyone out there knows someone who needs private instruction in percussion or brass hit me up!

Oh yeah, my stupid iPod got the white scream of death three times in three days! I was soo pissed at that thing! Had to completely restore it. Took me three hours to rip all 25 gigs back onto my computer! Ugh!

Go check out Katy Perry. She's pretty awesome!

That's it for now.

UGH! My computer pisses me off to no end! Actually, it's not so much my computer as it is my ISP. Stupid AT&T! Sold my number to freakin' telemarketers after only having it for two weeks!

On a much better note. Taking a couple of my private lesson students to see Allen Vizzutti tonight. Should be a good time.

I'll MAYBE post pictures of it and other things when my computer isn't being a complete tool.


Cheers!

First Time

Alright. This is my first blog, obviously. I probably won't blog near as much as I'd like to, but this should be a fun thing to do. I feel that I should first state a few things about me as they pertain currently to my life.

1. I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the world.
2. We have a dog. Who knows what kind she is. She's SUPER hyper, but very smart.
3. I'm a band director. I teach at Longview High and Judson Middle Schools.
4. I love music. Obvious by my profession.
5. I'm a HUGE sports fan. I like going to just about any sporting event. NASCAR AND NO-LIMIT HOLD 'EM ARE NOT SPORTS!
6. I really enjoy food and cooking food. I love to grill during the Spring and Summer.
7. Two-faced people really annoy me and I try not to associate myself with them.
8. Traveling is something I love doing when I have time.
9. I used to have a xanga. Haven't updated that thing in two years. This seems much more "adult."
10. I didn't come to realize where I currently fall in my professional world until just a few weeks ago.
11. I've been blessed by God with amazing things that I am no where NEAR worthy enough to have.
12. I'm a HUGE Northwestern State University fan. Period.
13. I like to read. A lot. Michael Crichton and Dan Brown are my favorites.
14. MAE is my favorite band. I've seen them twice and have even driven them to their hotel.
15. I come from a very musical family.

Ok. That's it for the introduction.