Tired...

Taking a break from editing my thesis... At this point in my revisions I am looking at about 31,000 words completed out of a minimum of 36,000. It blows my mind to think about it, so I'm not going to for the rest of the night. I also have to prepare for my tutorials tomorrow but I think that might fall slightly to the wayside for now. Last week was great fun as I got to teach on Singin' in the Rain--best job ever!

I am following the baseball playoffs as best I can and I am nervously excited to see if the White Sox can pull a win out of this series against the Rays. Even if we don't we have still managed to do better than the Cubs, and that is what matters. Go WHITE SOX!

So a few weeks ago I played at a coffee shop event we had at church. I was originally told that I would be doing two songs. A few weeks later, on the day of the event I was told that I would be playing four to six songs. I ended up playing seven! Luckily I had been practicing hard all week. Here's the set list for those who are interested:
---Strength to Try
---Favorite Place
---Hope
(break)
---When You're Gone (aka Dysfunctional Love Song)
---Noah and the Banyan Tree (Ben Bishop cover)
---Smaller Than I Was (new version)
---Farther Along (traditional hymn)
When it was all over I jumped off an amp doing the windmill and scissors kick and then set my guitar on fire. Just kidding.

Exciting news: I received my absentee ballot in the mail! I showed it off to my German friends who would gladly fill it in and vote for Barack Obama if I let them. I was just disappointed there were no Communists on the ballot this year...

Random Rules:
Tombstone Blues --- Bob Dylan
Amy in the White Coat --- Bright Eyes
Thou Shalt Always Kill --- Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
Farewell to Ernest --- Jyotrinda Moitra and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
Second Chance --- Liam Finn
Daughters Will Tune You --- Danielson

Good night!

Spring Break

This semester is just flying by! Right now I am enjoying two weeks off for spring break. It's not really that much of a break for me since I have to grade essays and revise four chapters of my thesis. But I do get to sleep in everyday, so no complaints here! The other nice thing is that spring is on the way! We've been having increased amounts of sunlight and warmer weather which is a welcome change from the cold and rain we've had for months now.

Here are just a few last pictures from trip to the South Island. This is Milford Sound:

This is what happens when fresh water and sea water meet.

Recent Playlist:

"Let It Be Me" and "You Are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne

"Creature Fear" and "The Wolves" by Bon Iver

"While You Were Sleeping" and "Ash Wednesday" by Elvis Perkins

"The Big Guns" and "Handle With Care" by Jenny Lewis

"I Will Explode" and "Better to Be" by Liam Finn

"Daughter" and "Grey In L.A." by Loudon Wainwright III

"Ne Me Quitte Pas" and "The Call" by Regina Spektor

Halfway Point

The semester is nearly over! Looking forward to a much-needed break...
I am actually fighting of a cold today (it's winter here), so I'll try keep this brief:
So far, I have written about 20,000 words of a rough draft of my thesis, so I've made some good progress.
I finished tutoring for the semester, except for some exams I have to mark. It was a great gig, and I'm hoping to get re-hired for next semester.

I am learning German! Well, sort of. I have several German friends here right now, so I have been learning a few phrases---another unexpected experience that comes from living in New Zealand.

Here are some tunes I have been spinning in high rotation lately:
"Skinny Love" by Bon Iver
"Everybody Here is a Cloud" by Cloud Cult---check out the entire album Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
"Go to Hell" by David Ford (not as angry as the title suggests!)
"OK, It's Alright With Me" by Eric Hutchinson (thanks Bethany!)
"I Love the Rain the Most" by Joe Purdy (again, thanks Bethany!)
"The Cure for Pain" by Jon Foreman
"Loose Lips" by Kimya Dawson
"Crown" by Mason Jennings
"Sun Down" by Nik Freitas
"Bag of Hammers" by Thao

A Year Without Music

Last November I made the decision to not buy any music (cds, records, downloads...) until I had completed my Masters degree. If you know me at all, you know that I am a bit music obsessed. I love finding new bands and rediscovering I missed out on due to the unlucky chance of being born in the wrong decade. But I realized that I just couldn't reconcile spending money on music when I have to pay for school. Plus, it never ends. I mean, the need, the desire for more music is never quenched so you just need to get more and more of it. It's the definition of addiction, and I hate having an addiction. I realized I had songs on my computer I did not recognize, and cds that I have not listened to since the day I bought them! That is just wasteful.
So, no buying music until 2009.
It was very hard at first, but now I am really learning to enjoy the music I have. By this time, I no longer feel that itch to buy every album under the sun. Plus, there are plenty of ways to get free music (legally), that I still get to entertain my hobby.

So, that being said, let's have some fun! It's time for Random Rules:
"Night and Day" Sondre Lerche covering Cole Porter on the album Duper Sessions
"Chicago (adult contemporary easy listening version)" by Sufjan Stevens from The Avalanche
"Patty Lee" by Les Savvy Fav from Let's Stay Friends
"Just Like You" by Waterdeep from You Are So Good To Me
"The Greatest" by Cat Power from the album The Greatest
"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (outtake)" by The Beatles from Anthology

Remember, the original version of this game can be found at the AV Club website--check out the link to the left...

Thanks for reading. Peace.

Musicals!

People keep asking me what exactly am I studying, and what classes am I taking, and what am I writing my thesis about. So here is the answer, in bulletpoints:

• I am studying Film, TV, and Media. Basically, I watch, study and analyze movies. I do NOT make movies. What I do is WAY easier than making movies...


• I don't have any classes this year! My sole existence as a student revolves around writing my thesis.


• Speaking of my thesis, my topic is about musicals. Specifically, I am writing about new musicals that take a genre characterized by fantasy and try a realistic approach. Um, yeah...

So, here are my two main examples so far:

Once: a charming little Irish movie with really great music.

Dancer in the Dark: a grueling melodrama from director Lars von Trier.

Besides my schoolwork, I am again involved at my church here. I have started helping out again with children's church, and I am going to start getting trained on AV and sound. Also, I will probably start helping out with editing the church magazine, which I am really excited about. I get a strange little high off of proofreading.

I think that's all for now. I'll leave you with ten songs I have in high rotation right now:

"The General Specific" by Band of Horses

"Click Click Click Click" by Bishop Allen

"Suspcious Character" by The Blood Arm

"The Crane Wife 3" by The Decemberists

"Les Champs-Elysees" by Joe Dassin

"Strangers" by The Kinks

"Second Chance" by Liam Finn

"Sorry Signs on Cash Machines" by Mason Jennings

"Mr. Pitiful" by Matt Costa

"Every Line of A Long Moment" by Roddy Woomble

Summer Vacation

Hello everyone! I have been grossly negligent with my blogging lately, but I have a good excuse. I was on summer vacation! And now since I am not back at school, I figured my first entry should be a classic "What I Did On My Summer Vacation Entry" to sum up the last three months of my life:




First, right after classes were over, I headed down to the bottom of the North Island to spend a few days in Wellington.
Wellington is a beautiful city right on the harbour.





It is known for being the capital of New Zealand, as well as being something of a cultural center. It also holds the nations film industry.
This is a picture of the national museum, Te Papa. I spent a lot of time there...



Ok, after Wellington it was back to the USA. I was back just in time for Thanksgiving in New York City with my family.
This is, of course, Time's Square.


Isaac and Graciana on the Staten Island Ferry.


After the holiday, I spent a few days on my own doing some siteseeing.
This is a view of Manhattan from the Empire State Building.


And, I got to take in a concert! This is me up front to see Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche live in concert. He is one of my favorite artists, so it was a real treat so see him live.

By the way, he did all the music for a nice little movie called Dan in Real Life which stars Steve Carrell.

After that I spent Christmas in the Chicago-area as usual. There was some nice snow there, and good times visiting old friends.
And the rest of my time was spent in the LA/OC area as I was working at Biola with my old financial aid buddies.

Some of my favorite people took me to the airport for a final farewell as I headed back to the other side of the world.

Steve, Kimi, Brynne, Bethany, Mike and Wes

I can't believe how much I crammed into such a short amount of time! It seems a shame to gloss over it, but after all, this is a blog for Kiwi adventures... I promise to bring you updates soon about my life here. Thanks for sticking with me for a second year!

Study Break

Just wanted to take a minute to think about something else besides these essays I've been writing forever. At least it feels like forever...

Here are my top-ten favorite songs today:
"Melt Your Heart" by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
"You're Learning" by Paul Kelly with Kasey Chambers
"Did I Step On Your Trumpet" by Danielson
"Middle Distance Runner" by Sea Wolf
"Energy" by The Apples in Stereo
"You're a Wolf" by Sea Wolf
"Your Love Alone is Not Enough" by Manic Street Preachers
"Fall on My Knees" by Abigail Washburn
"Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe" by Okkervil River
"Peacebone" by Animal Collective

I have written five songs in New Zealand, plus co-wrote two others. Hopefully you'll get to hear them someday...

Ok, back to work. These essays are due tomorrow at 4pm, and then I am DONE!

No Show, Just Tell

I tried to add some pictures to this blog, but for some reason it didn't work. Use your imagination.

I just finished reading a wonderful book called The City of Ember. It is already a new favorite. It's about a decaying city in a world where there is no sun, or moon , or stars, and the only light that exists comes from electric lamps. Intrigued??

Right now I am on spring break. We get two weeks off, but it's not a total vacation because I have essays and things due right when we are back in session. Pretty soon I will have to buckle down and read a book about the use of blackface in old musicals, write an essay proposal about the movie High Fidelity, and catch up on some other reading.

The last few weeks in children's church, I have taken up my guitar for one song during the singing time. It's been pretty fun and I think the kids really like it. Sometimes kids do the funniest stuff:
---I went over to a group of boys to wrangle them back to the group, and when I was close enough I realized they were playing Harry Potter and using coffee stirrers as wands.
---One little girl was quite wriggly during story time, but not really disrupting anyone, or so I thought. No one noticed until it was too late that she had taken of her shoes, stockings and underwear.
---One of the other leaders asked the kids to raise their hands if they like my American accent. Most of the kids raised their hands, but it made me wonder about the kids who didn't...

Current Playlist:
Sugarcane by Missy Higgins (Listen here: http://www.missyhiggins.com/)
Lies by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Stations by Denison Witmer
Rag and Bone by The White Stripes
The Park by Feist
The Funeral by Band of Horses
Yankee Go Home by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
I'm Sorry, But I'm Beginning to Hate Your Face by Eagle Seagull

Waking Life...

I've been absent from my blog for a while--sorry! In my defense, I have been writing essays for the past month. I only have one essay left which means have completed 1/4 of my Masters. Sweet as!

This Wednesday will be the start of my winter break. Here are my plans:

---sleep!

---finish reading The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie

---bake ginger snaps

---watch some movies (just for fun!)

---clean the flat before new flatmates come

---check out a thrift store I found

---write a new song

---see the new Harry Potter as soon as humanly possible

---and go to FIJI! I'm heading off for 10 days with some friends, and I'm really excited. It will be a lot warmer there than it is here, and I'm hoping to work in some surfing...I promise to take some sweet pictures.

I am just now recovering from a case of insomnia. The last two nights in a row have been good, but for the past two weeks I could not fall asleep for anything. And when I did, I had the strangest dreams (time travel, mops, homework, flying like a bird over Pangaea).

This past weekend I went with some friends to see Warren Miller's Off the Grid. It was about skiing, which I know nothing about, but I was told that it was one of the better ski movies out there.

Did you know that in Japan they have snowball fight championships? Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZU1BLotGpU&mode=related&search=

A few more Kiwi words:

choice = cool, sweet, or awesome

batch = a summer home, or second house

flash = fancy, dressed up, expensive looking

"dob in" = tattle on (At church, what happens is if you know that someone had something good happen to them in the past week, you dob them in by standing up and telling everyone during sharing time. Then you both get a kit-kat bar. From what I understand, it's an Australian phrase...)

Random Rules:

http://www.avclub.com/content/randomrules

I love this game! Since I have been writing this blog, here's what came up randomly on my iTunes (no skips!):

Cold Truth by The Guggenheim Grotto

The Times They Are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon

Punkrocker by Teddybears featuring Iggy Pop

Wise Up by Aimee Mann

Lesson Learned by Ray LaMontagne

Discoveries

Discovery #1: Snorkeling
We drove about an hour north to Goat Island where we were able to snorkel. It was amazing! If you ever get the chance to snorkel, make sure you do it. I got to swim with schools of fish, and see the bottom of the ocean--I just wish I had a camera with me since words can not describe the beauty of it...

Discovery #2: Children's Church
I went to check it out, and see if I would like to become a regular helper on Sunday mornings during church. I had a great time, and they really need helpers. The age group is about 5-10 years old, so there is a wide range of ages. And kids are just funny. I try not to laugh in their faces though...

Discovery #3: Music is a Hobby
Last week I played an open mic at Forde's Pub which is just down the road. It was really fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy my playing. I played two cover songs ("The Other End of the Telescope" by Aimee Mann and "Till the Sun Turns Black" by Ray Lamontagne), and of my own songs I played "Wander My Way Home," a new song called "Strength to Try," and another newer song that still doesn't have a title. I was very pleased with how the night went.
Then, last night I went to the worship team practice at church to check it out and see if I would like to join up there. Unlike children's church, the worship team is overflowing with talented singers and musicians. It was a fun time, but I realized that while I love to sing and play my guitar in worship, joining a team would really suck the fun out of it for me. Music is my hobby--I pick it up when I feel like it, or when I just need to clear my head. So I decided to keep worshiping from the seats instead of from the stage.

Discovery #4: Kiwi Pies
Kiwi's love pies! But a pie here is not like a pie at home. Pies at home are fruity and sweet and they are eaten for dessert. Here, pies are made with meats, cheese, veggies, or eggs. And they are small, like a Hot Pocket. You can get them everywhere and they are always served really hot. They are the perfect little snack.

Discovery #5: New Tunes
Here are some of my new favorites:
"1234" by Feist
"Not Dark Yet" by Bob Dylan
"Save Yourself" by The Colour
"Worried Shoes" performed by Daniel Smith and Sufjan Stevens
"Here (In Your Arms)" by Hellogoodbye
"Philosophia" by The Guggenheim Grotto
"Violins" by Joey Cape
"These Friends of Mine" by Rosie Thomas