My first new new car. . . albeit a lease.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Deathly Hallows Predictions
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is on the near horizon. People have been throwing up ideas and possibilities and predictions about the ending to this great series of books for a long time — no reason I shouldn't toss my sorting hat into the ring as well. I have a few predictions for Deathly Hallows:
Minor predictions:
1. Mr. Ollivander will make an appearance. If you remember, he disappeared without any sign of struggle in The Half-Blood Prince. Voldemort will want to know as much as he can about how to defeat Harry, and considering what happened at the end of Goblet of Fire, he'll need to know more about Harry's wand. And why not go to the source? Mr. Ollivander, after all, created (or at least sold) both Voldemort's and Harry's wands.
2. Hagrid's brother Grawp will die, most likely trying to save Hagrid (or, perhaps, vice versa). Keeping Grawp around really serves no other purpose that I can see. (If this were Star Trek, he would be listed in the credits as "Away-Mission Giant.") With Rowling's focus on the value of being able to love, it isn't much of a stretch to imagine Hagrid's attempts to "civilize" Grawp leading Grawp to love and want to protect his brother.
3. One of the Dursleys will do something surprisingly brave for Harry. It'll likely be either Dudley or Petunia.
4. At some point in the novel, we will be led to believe that either Ron or Hermione is dead (or both), but that won't really be the case.
5. Viktor Krum will make a return appearance. I don't know what purpose he will serve — likely something to do with Karkaroff — but I think he'll be back, if only to make Ron self-conscious.
6. Neville will shine through. He may even sacrifice himself (or nearly so) to save his grandmother, which will make her completely rethink her disappointment in him. (If Rowling outlines the "happily ever after" that follows Voldemort's death, Neville will go back to teach Herbology at Hogwarts.
Major predictions — how it will end:
Through the first six novels, Harry was always being protected by the ones who loved him — his parents, Sirius Black, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Mr. & Mrs. Weasley. When the sixth novel ended, his protectors — including the spells that protected him while he lived with the Dursleys — were dying away (I sure hope Mrs. Weasley knows how to cast a good Shield spell), leaving Harry to stand alone against Voldemort.
Dumbledore stated outright that Harry's greatest power is his ability to love. He has also shown how Harry has been protected by the love of others. I think these two ideas will come together in the final chapters of The Deathly Hallows like this:
Voldemort wants Harry Potter for himself, as stated by Snape at the end of The Half-Blood Prince. He won't, then, simply want to kill Harry. There will be no Avara Kedavra cast at Harry. No, Voldemort will want to use the Cruciatus curse to torture Harry to death. At some point, Ginny Weasley, whom Harry loves, will come under direct assault by Voldemort. Without even considering his own life (for that is the nature of love, right?), Harry will come between Ginny and Voldemort and take the brunt of the curse. Ginny will be knocked unconscious.
Now, Voldemort unexpectedly has Harry Potter under his wand and helpless. Out comes the Cruciatus curse. The ending will mirror the final Death Star scenes in Return of the Jedi: Harry (Luke Skywalker) writhes on the ground under the effects of Voldemort's (Emperor Palpatine) power. Snape (Darth Vader) will then cast the final blow that kills Voldemort.
That's right — I predict that SNAPE will kill Voldemort. He may die in the process, but not before revealing why he had to kill Dumbledore and telling us that it was all part of Dumbledore's plan to defeat Voldemort.
Other completely different possibilities that I considered:
Grawp learns, if nothing else, love. But then Voldemort (or his lackeys) kills Hagrid. Grawp, in a sad rage, attacks Voldemort or takes out a whole bunch of Death Eaters, evening the odds in Harry's favor.
Snape will use Polyjuice Potion to "impersonate" Voldemort (which will be difficult, considering Voldemort doesn't have any hair to put in the potion) and disrupt Death Eater tactics and Voldemort's ultimate plan.
Comments welcome. Any bits of info I missed?
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Fireworks
Friday night after an Indianapolis Indians game, I discovered what neat kinds of things one can do with a camera and a fireworks display. Here are my favorites:
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
It Came to Me in a Dream
It came to me in a dream, out of my own (dream) mouth, even:
To God, people are like feet: They're useful, but they stink.
That was one wacky dream.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Musical Premiere
On Sunday, April 22, members of the Indiana Wind Symphony premiered my clarinet sextet "Channel Surfing at Six" at John Knox Presbyterian Church.
The sanctuary was hot that night. I don't know why. It was gorgeous outside, and the rest of the church was comfortable, but it was probably over 80 degrees in the sanctuary.
The public performance didn't go quite as well as the final rehearsal had, but it had its moments. If nothing else, this was a learning experience. What did I learn? Don't write in sharps. Also, it's another thing I've accomplished.
So what's next for Andyman, Composer? When the IWS breaks for summer, I'm going to try to find the time to work on a full-band piece that I've been tossing around in my head for a while. It's a piece that's based on Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, and that's probably what I'll call it. I want to make it so that a band has the option of actually inclusing a reading of the whole book during the piece...but I don't remember exactly how long the book is. I don't have a copy of it right now, but I plan to get one soon.
But for now, I will just bask in the afterglow of my musical accomplishment. At least I would if my gastric system wouldn't keep kicking me in the colon.
The sanctuary was hot that night. I don't know why. It was gorgeous outside, and the rest of the church was comfortable, but it was probably over 80 degrees in the sanctuary.
The public performance didn't go quite as well as the final rehearsal had, but it had its moments. If nothing else, this was a learning experience. What did I learn? Don't write in sharps. Also, it's another thing I've accomplished.
So what's next for Andyman, Composer? When the IWS breaks for summer, I'm going to try to find the time to work on a full-band piece that I've been tossing around in my head for a while. It's a piece that's based on Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, and that's probably what I'll call it. I want to make it so that a band has the option of actually inclusing a reading of the whole book during the piece...but I don't remember exactly how long the book is. I don't have a copy of it right now, but I plan to get one soon.
But for now, I will just bask in the afterglow of my musical accomplishment. At least I would if my gastric system wouldn't keep kicking me in the colon.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
God, Sex, and Silverware
Something new I learned recently.
Oneida, the company that makes nice silverware, began its life as a utopian society in Oneida, New York, in 1848. Founded by John Humphrey Noyes, this religious and social society was based on the ideal of Perfectionism, a form of Christianity with two basic values: self-perfection and communalism. The community worked together to make all sorts of commercial goods, and apparently made some fine bear traps. Eventually, they moved into silversmithing and thence to the Oneida Ltd. of today.
That’s what you can get from the Oneida
web site. From the Oneida Community Mansion House Web page, you can discover that the Oneida community considered itself “a society that lived as one family with more than 300 members.” Furthermore, the society was disbanded in 1881 because of “pressures from within and without.” Both Web sites conveniently gloss over the whole truth, which is much more interesting than silverware and a 93,000-square-foot brick mansion.
The Oneida society had a few good ideas. For example, men and women had equality and equal voice in the community government — this during a time when black slaves were still considered property instead of people. Men and women were equal in the work force, too: they had a community nursery that allowed both men and women to work.
But they had a few ideas that are as radical now as they were then, specifically complex marriage, male continence, ascending fellowship, and stirpiculture.
Complex marriage. In the Oneida society, every man was married to every woman, and vice versa. Community members were not allowed to have exclusive romantic relationships. Every person in the community had his or her own bedroom. This sounds like a lovely little happy arrangement, but let me frame it in a different way: Because of complex marriage, nearly every adult had continuous sexual access to a partner. You might think that this would lead to all sorts of unregulated in-breeding, but wait . . .
Male continence. The men of the community were encouraged, as a sign of grace, to avoid orgasm. This kept unplanned pregnancies to a minimum. It all came down to muscle control. And how did men learn this muscle control? Younger men just entering puberty were allowed to have sex only with women who were too old to bear children, and these older women would help teach the young ‘uns some control.
Does this not sound like a great deal for the women? Because men avoided orgasm, sexual encounters could last for over an hour. And as women got older, they were encouraged to have sex with strapping young boys, all in the name of God! But the women weren’t the only ones to benefit sexually...
Ascending fellowship. J.H. Noyes believed that sex had not only biological, but spiritual and social purposes as well. The Oneidans believed that older people were spiritually superior to younger people, and that men were spiritually superior to women. (So much for equality, eh? But this society was, after all, created by a man.) To improve oneself, one should have sex only with someone who is spiritually superior, i.e., older. This is “ascending fellowship.” Once a person reached a certain level (usually determined by Noyes and his inner circle), he or she was then to practice “descending fellowship” by having sex with the younger folk.
Stirpiculture. Stirpiculture wasn’t one of the original tenets of the community, but was introduced in 1869. It was a selective breeding program to produce “more perfect” children. People who wanted to have children would come before a special committee, which would pair people up based on spiritual and moral qualities. This resulted in 58 children, 9 of whom were fathered by Noyes himself.
The “pressures from within and without” that caused the community’s breakup in 1881 — which the previously mentioned Web sites so quickly glossed over — was a product of two events. First, J.H. Noyes tried to pass leadership on to his son (which never works, does it?). The younger Noyes was an atheist and a weak leader. Second, a warrant was issued against J.H. Noyes for statutory rape. Noyes was tipped off and fled to Canada.
This reminds me of the episode of Numb3rs called “Nine Wives,” which involved, among other things, an in-breeding chart sewn into a quilt. Although life in the Oneida community most likely wasn’t nearly as oppressive or, frankly, scary as what was portrayed in Numb3rs, I’d bet good money that the shows writers started with Oneida as a skeleton.
Oneida, the company that makes nice silverware, began its life as a utopian society in Oneida, New York, in 1848. Founded by John Humphrey Noyes, this religious and social society was based on the ideal of Perfectionism, a form of Christianity with two basic values: self-perfection and communalism. The community worked together to make all sorts of commercial goods, and apparently made some fine bear traps. Eventually, they moved into silversmithing and thence to the Oneida Ltd. of today.
That’s what you can get from the Oneida
web site. From the Oneida Community Mansion House Web page, you can discover that the Oneida community considered itself “a society that lived as one family with more than 300 members.” Furthermore, the society was disbanded in 1881 because of “pressures from within and without.” Both Web sites conveniently gloss over the whole truth, which is much more interesting than silverware and a 93,000-square-foot brick mansion.
The Oneida society had a few good ideas. For example, men and women had equality and equal voice in the community government — this during a time when black slaves were still considered property instead of people. Men and women were equal in the work force, too: they had a community nursery that allowed both men and women to work.
But they had a few ideas that are as radical now as they were then, specifically complex marriage, male continence, ascending fellowship, and stirpiculture.
Complex marriage. In the Oneida society, every man was married to every woman, and vice versa. Community members were not allowed to have exclusive romantic relationships. Every person in the community had his or her own bedroom. This sounds like a lovely little happy arrangement, but let me frame it in a different way: Because of complex marriage, nearly every adult had continuous sexual access to a partner. You might think that this would lead to all sorts of unregulated in-breeding, but wait . . .
Male continence. The men of the community were encouraged, as a sign of grace, to avoid orgasm. This kept unplanned pregnancies to a minimum. It all came down to muscle control. And how did men learn this muscle control? Younger men just entering puberty were allowed to have sex only with women who were too old to bear children, and these older women would help teach the young ‘uns some control.
Does this not sound like a great deal for the women? Because men avoided orgasm, sexual encounters could last for over an hour. And as women got older, they were encouraged to have sex with strapping young boys, all in the name of God! But the women weren’t the only ones to benefit sexually...
Ascending fellowship. J.H. Noyes believed that sex had not only biological, but spiritual and social purposes as well. The Oneidans believed that older people were spiritually superior to younger people, and that men were spiritually superior to women. (So much for equality, eh? But this society was, after all, created by a man.) To improve oneself, one should have sex only with someone who is spiritually superior, i.e., older. This is “ascending fellowship.” Once a person reached a certain level (usually determined by Noyes and his inner circle), he or she was then to practice “descending fellowship” by having sex with the younger folk.
Stirpiculture. Stirpiculture wasn’t one of the original tenets of the community, but was introduced in 1869. It was a selective breeding program to produce “more perfect” children. People who wanted to have children would come before a special committee, which would pair people up based on spiritual and moral qualities. This resulted in 58 children, 9 of whom were fathered by Noyes himself.
The “pressures from within and without” that caused the community’s breakup in 1881 — which the previously mentioned Web sites so quickly glossed over — was a product of two events. First, J.H. Noyes tried to pass leadership on to his son (which never works, does it?). The younger Noyes was an atheist and a weak leader. Second, a warrant was issued against J.H. Noyes for statutory rape. Noyes was tipped off and fled to Canada.
This reminds me of the episode of Numb3rs called “Nine Wives,” which involved, among other things, an in-breeding chart sewn into a quilt. Although life in the Oneida community most likely wasn’t nearly as oppressive or, frankly, scary as what was portrayed in Numb3rs, I’d bet good money that the shows writers started with Oneida as a skeleton.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Comparisons
Ann Coulter is to liberals what Andrew Dice Clay was to women.
Rush Limbaugh is to conservatives what Barney Fife was to policemen.
Rush Limbaugh is to conservatives what Barney Fife was to policemen.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Adding Composer to My Resume
My clarinet sextet, "Channel Surfing at Six," has been programmed for the IWS April chamber concert. This is the first public performance of anything I've written. I hope it goes well. Charlie, Dr. Maestro, was making a big deal about the IWS having a world premiere of a piece.
I plan for this piece to be one movement of a larger, multi-movement piece for six clarinets. Each movement will have a television theme. This one is the evening news. I'm mulling over ideas for a "Saturday Morning Cartoons" movement. I need a slow movement, though. I need it to be slow but not boring -- so I don't want to do a PBS movement or a "Book Channel" movement. (I could do an eclectic "Public Access" movement, though...)
This is actually the second performance of something I've done, now that I think about it. In college, I was a part of a woodwind quintet that would drive out to elementary schools one morning a week and play and talk about our instruments. Among other things, we did some of Handel's Water Music. As you can imagine (he said, rolling his eyes), elementary school kids go ga-ga for Handel. So I used some piano music I had and arranged the theme song to "Tiny Toons Adventures," the Spielberg cartoon that was pretty popular at the time. You could hear the shift in the air as the kids suddenly started paying attention because they recognized the music.
And the arrangement was really good, if I do say so myself.
Wish I still had it somewhere.
I plan for this piece to be one movement of a larger, multi-movement piece for six clarinets. Each movement will have a television theme. This one is the evening news. I'm mulling over ideas for a "Saturday Morning Cartoons" movement. I need a slow movement, though. I need it to be slow but not boring -- so I don't want to do a PBS movement or a "Book Channel" movement. (I could do an eclectic "Public Access" movement, though...)
This is actually the second performance of something I've done, now that I think about it. In college, I was a part of a woodwind quintet that would drive out to elementary schools one morning a week and play and talk about our instruments. Among other things, we did some of Handel's Water Music. As you can imagine (he said, rolling his eyes), elementary school kids go ga-ga for Handel. So I used some piano music I had and arranged the theme song to "Tiny Toons Adventures," the Spielberg cartoon that was pretty popular at the time. You could hear the shift in the air as the kids suddenly started paying attention because they recognized the music.
And the arrangement was really good, if I do say so myself.
Wish I still had it somewhere.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
A Haiku
The weather has been cold and snowy. I had to dig my car out this morning and slide on over to work about three hours late. I try to keep my spirits up, though. At least I'm inside and warm. I'm tired of snow, though.
Feathers of dark sky
Drift o'er the frozen prairie,
A blanket of calm.
I start my new job tomorrow...
Feathers of dark sky
Drift o'er the frozen prairie,
A blanket of calm.
I start my new job tomorrow...
Friday, February 02, 2007
Don't Sell Her
On the way home from work yesterday, I was perplexed by the lyrics I heard on the radio:
"Don't sell her; I love her."
It seemed like such an odd song...
It wasn't until the was over that I was informed that I had been listening to Big Head Todd sing
"Don't tell her I love her."
"Don't sell her; I love her."
It seemed like such an odd song...
It wasn't until the was over that I was informed that I had been listening to Big Head Todd sing
"Don't tell her I love her."
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