I've had a great visit with Olive so far. When my parents and I passed through last September, I had no idea what we were missing (sorry Mum!)
The city is just full of different architectural styles from various eras throughout history. I love just wandering around town, taking it all in.
It seems that Bristol's history is tightly linked with the sea... Trade, explorers, piracy, the slave trade, press gangs.
Tomorrow we go on a self-guided treasure trail. "This trail explores the many faces of Redcliffe and Temple, from historic caves, through the industrialisation of the city to the stylish glass and steel redevelopment at Temple Quay."
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Friday, 10 February 2012
Strange Behaviour
I often find that as I'm in bed, trying to shut down my brain for the night, I have a song or tune running loops around the outer edges. Tonight it was [dramatically shortened] "a, e, i, o u, a vowel is in every word, that we read or write."
Children can be so strange. We affectionately term the underachieving Year 1's "Dozy Ducks". Every morning I have to cajole, bribe, entice, bully and manipulate them into staying focused and singing the alphabet and vowel song with the rest of the class (who likely don't need it anymore). Then I give them Golden Time on Friday afternoon, and the rest of the class is off playing lego or house, and my Dozy Ducks are glued to the whiteboard, fighting over who gets to use the pointer, all of them singing the alphabet song. What the bleep?
Children can be so strange. We affectionately term the underachieving Year 1's "Dozy Ducks". Every morning I have to cajole, bribe, entice, bully and manipulate them into staying focused and singing the alphabet and vowel song with the rest of the class (who likely don't need it anymore). Then I give them Golden Time on Friday afternoon, and the rest of the class is off playing lego or house, and my Dozy Ducks are glued to the whiteboard, fighting over who gets to use the pointer, all of them singing the alphabet song. What the bleep?
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Huskimo Land!
Yay! It snowed last night.
I was out for a walk this morning when a kid burst out of his house at a run, arms in the air, shouting "HUSKIMO LAND! We live in huskimo land!!!" Poor kid seems a little confused. Someone should teach him that A) huskies and Eskimos are not interbreedable, and that B) they're Inuit.
I was out for a walk this morning when a kid burst out of his house at a run, arms in the air, shouting "HUSKIMO LAND! We live in huskimo land!!!" Poor kid seems a little confused. Someone should teach him that A) huskies and Eskimos are not interbreedable, and that B) they're Inuit.
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Gung Hey Fat Choi
I crashed yesterday. Recovering from lack of sleep and over socialization. I know it may come as a surprise to some of you (none who have lived with me I'm sure), but as much as I love people, I'm in reality an introvert.
But that set me up for today. What a day it was! After church I headed into town to meet up with some coworkers. We'd volunteered to be guinea pigs for a new interactive treasure hunt around London. This is SO my cup of tea!!! Each team is given a BlackBerry mobile and a map. Clues are texted to you, and as you text back the answers, you receive more historical information about whatever it is you found, and then our next clue. Great exercise, especially if you're a little bit competitive. The clues were generally within about a km of each other, but we were on the go for a good couple of hours.
Following the hunt, Heather, the other dark curly haired girl from Canadia, as the Keith the Australian likes to call it, and I continued on to Chinatown and Trafalgar Square for the rest of the Chinese New Year festivities. We picked up some of those miniature sidewalk firecrackers, and got into some minor mischief with those, some sketchy chinese food from a vendor, and watched as they lit Nelson's column on fire as part of their fireworks show.
However, I am s-s-so cold. One of those wet Vancouver cold to the bone days. Maybe I'll go fill my big Paris mug with steaming hot chocolate and curl up by the fireplace with a blanket. Mmmm... I even think I still have a Sherlock movie left to watch. Can the weekend get any better?
But that set me up for today. What a day it was! After church I headed into town to meet up with some coworkers. We'd volunteered to be guinea pigs for a new interactive treasure hunt around London. This is SO my cup of tea!!! Each team is given a BlackBerry mobile and a map. Clues are texted to you, and as you text back the answers, you receive more historical information about whatever it is you found, and then our next clue. Great exercise, especially if you're a little bit competitive. The clues were generally within about a km of each other, but we were on the go for a good couple of hours.
 |
| The winning team. How rude. |
However, I am s-s-so cold. One of those wet Vancouver cold to the bone days. Maybe I'll go fill my big Paris mug with steaming hot chocolate and curl up by the fireplace with a blanket. Mmmm... I even think I still have a Sherlock movie left to watch. Can the weekend get any better?
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Worship Team, Here I Come! (slowly)
I had my first Worship practice tonight. They keep giving me more music. Apparently I'm actually going to have to become proficient at reading music, and not just memorise it. Oh.
Luckily, Gavin blew it all up on the photocopier for me at the end of practice. I was having a terrible time squinting at little chicken scratch notes on a yellowed pages... it might do for guitar chords, but when it comes to a novice reading the melody line...
I can tell that I'm going to be stretched in so many ways. I feel like I'm on a journey, and I have no map. I have guides though, and have a general idea of where I'm headed. I catch glimpses of the route and destination on hill crests, and through breaks in the trees.
I'd love to describe some of my revelations and struggles, but unless you're about where I'm at on a violin, it'll mean little to you. You have my permission to tune out.
#1: I am so incredibly thankful for the few months I got to study under Trent Freeman. He was teaching me WAY above where I was at at the time (and still am, to be honest), but it's slowly starting to come together now. Maybe the most ongoing useful part of his lessons were the mini theory lessons. I learned about chords, what makes them up, and which three chords in a key go together. I learned about scales, and what a "key" was. I learned how to listen to a scale, and figure out another one by using the same note intervals. I learned that if you play the scale of whatever key you're in, you'll know your fingering for that song, unraveling the mystery of when to play a high or low 2, 3 or *shudder* 1. I learned that there was such a thing as a high 3, and a low 1. All of the above came into play today. I am still picking up snatches of theory here and there, but if feels like I pierced little holes in the knowledge barrier with his lessons, and now it's seeping through, and not quite so brand new and mind blowing.
#2: Off the top of my head, I still don't really know what note I'm playing. However, I can more readily tell you which finger goes down in relation to the little black dot on the paper.
#3: I am also incredibly thankful for people in the Church. When truly seeking God, and trying to walk in Jesus' footsteps, people seem to be more genuinely eager to share their time and knowledge, without looking for a return. It seems to be something that society (in GENERAL) has lost in the current generation, where it tends to be all about what you can get for yourself. Instant gratification, and "me, me, me".
#4: The trumpet player has to transpose all of the music, because his instrument is in the key of B flat. PS. As a violinist, I have decided tonight that I hate Bb (first encounter). ANYWAY, I think I had a revelation this evening! This is the second time I've heard of an instrument being in a different key, and the music looking different. How can a written C sound different on two instruments? I think I've figured it out! It must be like a tin whistle... When a tin whistle is in the key of D, it plays a D when all the holes are covered. So the simplest scale to play would be a D scale.
Now, to continue with my guess work, for some ludicrous reason, when people write music for a trumpet, they must write the first note in the scale where you would usually put a middle C for a piano on sheet music. Would someone who knows about music either confirm or kibosh my hypothesis? If I'm right, it suddenly all makes sense and is so simple. If I'm wrong... well, who am I kidding? I've got to be right. It's the only explanation that makes sense.
Luckily, Gavin blew it all up on the photocopier for me at the end of practice. I was having a terrible time squinting at little chicken scratch notes on a yellowed pages... it might do for guitar chords, but when it comes to a novice reading the melody line...
I can tell that I'm going to be stretched in so many ways. I feel like I'm on a journey, and I have no map. I have guides though, and have a general idea of where I'm headed. I catch glimpses of the route and destination on hill crests, and through breaks in the trees.
I'd love to describe some of my revelations and struggles, but unless you're about where I'm at on a violin, it'll mean little to you. You have my permission to tune out.
#1: I am so incredibly thankful for the few months I got to study under Trent Freeman. He was teaching me WAY above where I was at at the time (and still am, to be honest), but it's slowly starting to come together now. Maybe the most ongoing useful part of his lessons were the mini theory lessons. I learned about chords, what makes them up, and which three chords in a key go together. I learned about scales, and what a "key" was. I learned how to listen to a scale, and figure out another one by using the same note intervals. I learned that if you play the scale of whatever key you're in, you'll know your fingering for that song, unraveling the mystery of when to play a high or low 2, 3 or *shudder* 1. I learned that there was such a thing as a high 3, and a low 1. All of the above came into play today. I am still picking up snatches of theory here and there, but if feels like I pierced little holes in the knowledge barrier with his lessons, and now it's seeping through, and not quite so brand new and mind blowing.
#2: Off the top of my head, I still don't really know what note I'm playing. However, I can more readily tell you which finger goes down in relation to the little black dot on the paper.
#3: I am also incredibly thankful for people in the Church. When truly seeking God, and trying to walk in Jesus' footsteps, people seem to be more genuinely eager to share their time and knowledge, without looking for a return. It seems to be something that society (in GENERAL) has lost in the current generation, where it tends to be all about what you can get for yourself. Instant gratification, and "me, me, me".
#4: The trumpet player has to transpose all of the music, because his instrument is in the key of B flat. PS. As a violinist, I have decided tonight that I hate Bb (first encounter). ANYWAY, I think I had a revelation this evening! This is the second time I've heard of an instrument being in a different key, and the music looking different. How can a written C sound different on two instruments? I think I've figured it out! It must be like a tin whistle... When a tin whistle is in the key of D, it plays a D when all the holes are covered. So the simplest scale to play would be a D scale.
Now, to continue with my guess work, for some ludicrous reason, when people write music for a trumpet, they must write the first note in the scale where you would usually put a middle C for a piano on sheet music. Would someone who knows about music either confirm or kibosh my hypothesis? If I'm right, it suddenly all makes sense and is so simple. If I'm wrong... well, who am I kidding? I've got to be right. It's the only explanation that makes sense.
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Celtic Connections cont.
I've come to a decision. Celtic Connections is amazing. I was a little disappointed in my choice last night. Should have gone to see the Punch Brothers and Carolina Chocolate Drops. Still kicking myself. At the time that I booked the tickets though, I couldn't justify three North American concerts in a row. Now that I know how the festival is structured, I'd do things a little differently.
So all you who are coming in the future, take note. What you REALLY want to see are the Late Night Sessions or Festival Club. It's WAY cheaper, and you get an excellent sampling of all the groups who will be playing over the 3 week festival. There are a couple catches... you don't know who will be playing until you show up at the door, and it doesn't end until about 4am. Which hurts when your body is programmed to wake up at 6am. A lot. Or maybe I'm just getting old.
Also, when looking at the workshops, forget whatever your main instrument is, and take a bunch of "come & try" or beginner workshops. Instruments are provided, it's fun and relaxed, and again, cheap. Third tip: come alone. It's a great way to meet people, and you'll leave with a list of "here's my contact info. Come visit" invitations. And they're genuine.
I can't believe how friendly the people are here. I ran next door for a sandwich at lunch today. The lady sitting at the next table asked me if I was drinking orange juice (?), and the next thing I know, she's writing me a list of all the different restaurants and cafes I need to try while I'm here.
Today was magical. One of the highlights was the Mandolin workshop. Soooo much fun! I now know how to hold a mandolin and plectrum properly, pluck Ally Bally Bee (sounds vaguely like Kumbaya), play the chords, and play an arpeggio slide intro and bridge thingy. I got to be in the "advanced" half of the class, because it's tuned like a fiddle. LOL.
The other highlight was the Vent du Nord and Väsen (+3 other groups) concert tonight. High energy is the place to be! Somehow they blended the Swedish, French Canadian, and Scottish styles really well. But MAN, was it hopping! It made my fingers itch to get home to my fiddle. Vent du Nord are great performers - they really know how to interact and involve the audience, and seem to be incredibly excited about being on stage and playing with their guests. I can't even begin to describe the atmosphere. Put on one of their CD's, throw on a couple other high energy CDs from other groups at the same time, then add in 2,475 people standing, stomping their feet and clapping, and that might be a start.
Honourable mention goes to an up and coming band named Rura that played yesterday at open mike. I'm checking out their myspace page right now (http://www.myspace.com/therura). The recordings on there don't have the same pulse and energy that they had live yesterday, but they were REALLY good!
So all you who are coming in the future, take note. What you REALLY want to see are the Late Night Sessions or Festival Club. It's WAY cheaper, and you get an excellent sampling of all the groups who will be playing over the 3 week festival. There are a couple catches... you don't know who will be playing until you show up at the door, and it doesn't end until about 4am. Which hurts when your body is programmed to wake up at 6am. A lot. Or maybe I'm just getting old.
Also, when looking at the workshops, forget whatever your main instrument is, and take a bunch of "come & try" or beginner workshops. Instruments are provided, it's fun and relaxed, and again, cheap. Third tip: come alone. It's a great way to meet people, and you'll leave with a list of "here's my contact info. Come visit" invitations. And they're genuine.
I can't believe how friendly the people are here. I ran next door for a sandwich at lunch today. The lady sitting at the next table asked me if I was drinking orange juice (?), and the next thing I know, she's writing me a list of all the different restaurants and cafes I need to try while I'm here.
Today was magical. One of the highlights was the Mandolin workshop. Soooo much fun! I now know how to hold a mandolin and plectrum properly, pluck Ally Bally Bee (sounds vaguely like Kumbaya), play the chords, and play an arpeggio slide intro and bridge thingy. I got to be in the "advanced" half of the class, because it's tuned like a fiddle. LOL.
The other highlight was the Vent du Nord and Väsen (+3 other groups) concert tonight. High energy is the place to be! Somehow they blended the Swedish, French Canadian, and Scottish styles really well. But MAN, was it hopping! It made my fingers itch to get home to my fiddle. Vent du Nord are great performers - they really know how to interact and involve the audience, and seem to be incredibly excited about being on stage and playing with their guests. I can't even begin to describe the atmosphere. Put on one of their CD's, throw on a couple other high energy CDs from other groups at the same time, then add in 2,475 people standing, stomping their feet and clapping, and that might be a start.
Honourable mention goes to an up and coming band named Rura that played yesterday at open mike. I'm checking out their myspace page right now (http://www.myspace.com/therura). The recordings on there don't have the same pulse and energy that they had live yesterday, but they were REALLY good!
Friday, 20 January 2012
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
I don't even know what happened last night. Honestly. My mind was blown. I don't know how to write this without gushing and sounding obnoxious. I almost didn't even go to the concert...thought I'd take it easy. Now I don't know if the rest of the weekend will live up to the standard that has been set!
I had assumed that Béla Fleck and the Flecktones was a bluegrass band. Well, they may take a few bluegrass instruments up on stage, but I can't even begin to guess at what they played! Best harmonica I've ever heard played to begin with. Yes, I know... I'm so experienced ;) His solos - all of their solos - frequently required me to remember to shut my mouth.
The bass player was absolutely fantastic! I didn't even KNOW that a bass guitar could lead the melody. He blew all preconceived notions that I had about how instruments are supposed to be played out of the water. Every minute they were up on stage, my eyes were opened to new ideas and limitations were annihilated.
His brother was the same; this big black pirate standing to the side with some weird instrument that looks like it came out of Davey Jone's locker strapped to him like a guitar. It took me three songs just to pick out what sound it was making. It was some sort of electric drum kit that he's invented, called the drumitar.
THEN, for the last song before breaking for intermission, they call out Casey Driessen. I nearly flew through the roof in surprise and giddiness! I had it in my head that he was Canadian - I've been listening to one of his CDs for the last year, in awe of the power and flexibility behind his playing. He wasn't even supposed to BE at Celtic Connections! My Canadian pride has now been crushed - he's American. But for the second half of the evening, I had the certainty that Canada was represented up on stage.
For the second half, there were 12 musicians up on stage, from around the world. Again, I frequently found my mouth hanging open, and from the reaction of those on stage, they were equally impressed by the melding and dance of music being created. It had a much more Celtic flavour to it. I wish I could list who they were, but to be honest I don't know.
I met an Austrian girl at the concert, who was likewise there by herself. Being so riled up by the concert, we joined forces and headed to the Festival Club next door for more live music. Roxanna, you'll never guess who opened. Just to continue an amazing day full of excellent surprises. Yup, Findlay Napier. You're right, he does have a nice voice. They had him turned up so loud though that both my ears were aching. I was about to take that as a sign to head home when Vent du Nord started setting up on stage.
Obviously I couldn't tear myself away at that point. Within the first song they had the dance floor full, and kept it that way for their whole set. French Candian music has a very definite flavour to it. For the very first time since moving here I felt a pang of homesickness. Alain, Marie-Maude and whoever else brought an instrument always turned our potentially boring staff parties and "retreats" into kitchen parties (who calls locking teachers out in the middle of the wilderness so they can't escape two days of meetings and planning a "retreat"?!?)
Éléa, I took one photo on my iPhone for you. I've got a very bad feeling that I'm going to be so busy experiencing this weekend that I won't be doing any photography :( Sorry. Plus, my camera doesn't do well in the dark. No idea who they are (again), but they're one of the groups following Vent du Nord. They themselves didn't even know the name of the guy on cello - some kid from New York that they invited up on stage with them. The guy on bodhran was one of the people on-stage for the last half of the Flecktones concert.
I had assumed that Béla Fleck and the Flecktones was a bluegrass band. Well, they may take a few bluegrass instruments up on stage, but I can't even begin to guess at what they played! Best harmonica I've ever heard played to begin with. Yes, I know... I'm so experienced ;) His solos - all of their solos - frequently required me to remember to shut my mouth.
The bass player was absolutely fantastic! I didn't even KNOW that a bass guitar could lead the melody. He blew all preconceived notions that I had about how instruments are supposed to be played out of the water. Every minute they were up on stage, my eyes were opened to new ideas and limitations were annihilated.
His brother was the same; this big black pirate standing to the side with some weird instrument that looks like it came out of Davey Jone's locker strapped to him like a guitar. It took me three songs just to pick out what sound it was making. It was some sort of electric drum kit that he's invented, called the drumitar.
THEN, for the last song before breaking for intermission, they call out Casey Driessen. I nearly flew through the roof in surprise and giddiness! I had it in my head that he was Canadian - I've been listening to one of his CDs for the last year, in awe of the power and flexibility behind his playing. He wasn't even supposed to BE at Celtic Connections! My Canadian pride has now been crushed - he's American. But for the second half of the evening, I had the certainty that Canada was represented up on stage.
For the second half, there were 12 musicians up on stage, from around the world. Again, I frequently found my mouth hanging open, and from the reaction of those on stage, they were equally impressed by the melding and dance of music being created. It had a much more Celtic flavour to it. I wish I could list who they were, but to be honest I don't know.
I met an Austrian girl at the concert, who was likewise there by herself. Being so riled up by the concert, we joined forces and headed to the Festival Club next door for more live music. Roxanna, you'll never guess who opened. Just to continue an amazing day full of excellent surprises. Yup, Findlay Napier. You're right, he does have a nice voice. They had him turned up so loud though that both my ears were aching. I was about to take that as a sign to head home when Vent du Nord started setting up on stage.
Obviously I couldn't tear myself away at that point. Within the first song they had the dance floor full, and kept it that way for their whole set. French Candian music has a very definite flavour to it. For the very first time since moving here I felt a pang of homesickness. Alain, Marie-Maude and whoever else brought an instrument always turned our potentially boring staff parties and "retreats" into kitchen parties (who calls locking teachers out in the middle of the wilderness so they can't escape two days of meetings and planning a "retreat"?!?)
Éléa, I took one photo on my iPhone for you. I've got a very bad feeling that I'm going to be so busy experiencing this weekend that I won't be doing any photography :( Sorry. Plus, my camera doesn't do well in the dark. No idea who they are (again), but they're one of the groups following Vent du Nord. They themselves didn't even know the name of the guy on cello - some kid from New York that they invited up on stage with them. The guy on bodhran was one of the people on-stage for the last half of the Flecktones concert.
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