Before the show!
And during the show!
This whole week I have been making slow progress on my paper(s). I have only really been working on the digital resources paper because I don't know what I should write about for my GIS assignment! Unfortunately, the assignment is less about GIS and more about archaeology, so I am kind of out of my depth...
The digital resources essay is supposed to be about comparing analog and digital versions of the same item, so I chose an old concert that I played in Texas, since I was able to find the recording online and I am still in contact with a lot of the people who played with me out there (as well as the esteemed composer, Jen-Kuang)! The essay is proving to be fairly easy, because talking about performance practice and changing critical perception of "perfection" in music after the advent of recording technology is kind of old hat for a music major, haha. I am enjoying chasing up old journal articles and resources that I know are out there somewhere, as well as coming across new, interesting perspectives. I think my main problem is going to be condensing my paper down to only five pages!
Meanwhile, I am enjoying the sales going on at the moment during study breaks. For £12 at two different stores, I am now the proud new owner of four belts, two shirts, some gloves, tights, and a purse, which I think is a pretty good haul for Oxford Street, the Mecca of shopping in London, haha.
I found a couple jobs that I think I will apply for, as I should have (hopefully) a bit more time this term. One of them sounds way to good to be true. The National Portrait Gallery's reading room is hiring a part time clerk / researcher / question-answering-type position at the moment. Two days a week, ≈ £20K annum....that's fantastically good money, and the reading room is only open 10 - 5, so I feel like there has to be a hitch. Most likely I am not qualified but there is no harm in sending them my CV. I have to make a CV in the next week or so anyway, because the DH programme is gearing up for work placement at the moment and our lecturer wants to be able to send our CVs to potential internships. I hope that my past experience doesn't mean I get stuck doing OCR (optical character recognition) somewhere....although if it was for google that would be A-OK!
Meanwhile, dad might like this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hco0bR_mfzo
It reminds me of Focus, while incorporating more Klaus Nomi / David Bowie types dancing the Johnny Bravo dance, haha. Maia is responsible for showing me that gem.
Also, I recently persuaded Hans, Maia's boyfriend in Germany, to watch Buckaroo Bonzai. Surprise, he burned me a copy and sent it to England with Maia, so now I can watch it whenever I want! haha.
I have also been looking into orchestras that I might be able to play with in the surrounding area. I can't really tell what level of playing a lot of symphonies around here expect, because even the ones without auditions have things like, "Grade 8's and up only, please." I guess there is some kind of a ranking system for musicians in the UK but I can't find a website that will tell me what it means, so I guess me and my crappy UK cello will just have to show up to some stuff before figuring out where I am on their scale, haha. If I had Kip here I would be confident enough to show up to most semi-professional stuff, but with a cello that sounds like a high school quality instrument I am worried about making bad impressions! I will have to contact some orchestras soon, because the spring seasons are all starting up in a week or two and I don't want to miss rehearsals!
Anyway, I got invited to come eat somebody else's food tonight, so I am going to go take advantage of that and then come back and work on my paper some more! Adios!
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