Author: Matthew Eilar

Just a dude with a stereo, a computer, and a brain.

Keeping piano skills while super busy

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I have not been able to blog this past week, so this is the first of about a billion posts tonight.

“Keeping piano skills while super busy” was one of the search engine terms that led some poor soul to my, well, poor blog. Now, I am hardly the poster boy for consistent practice under pressure, but I do know that I have never gone more than three days without playing piano since I was 7, save for a three week period during Junior year of high school when I got tendonitis from playing too much. And really, if I had better habits back then, I wouldn’t have had tendonitis, but that’s another story.

What I will say is that what I have learned is that there are two ways to stay focused and maintain skills, even when you are not taking lessons:

1. Always have a goal.

When you are taking regular lessons, this is really easy. But when you are not taking lessons, it is easy to get in a rut where you are half-heartedly playing pieces that you have already learned, or just messing around without any larger goal. Probably the best thing is to work through piano pieces that are at your level. No matter what your skill level is, there are thousands of songs written for people that play right at your level. Even if you are not progressing to more difficult pieces, this will at the very least help develop your music reading skills. More importantly…

2. Make it easy to practice.

Now, I know that not everybody has the luxury of a piano in their home or where they live. I certainly struggled to figure out the most convenient place to practice when I moved to college. Luckily, I live very close to the music building, so access has not been much of a problem. Basically, you want it to be easy to stop by the piano, even if its just for ten or fifteen minutes at a time. It is certainly nice to have a couple of hours at a time to practice, but any small amounts help. My only advice for people that do not have a piano in their home and whose piano is far away is to see if there is a church or school nearby that will allow you to have access to their facilities.

The times when I am most grateful for my piano skills has been when I have been frustrated or swamped and just need a study break. That’s my two cents.

Mehst Week Ever – March 15, 2009

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Between perparing for midterms and getting home, I have spent surprisingly little time on the internet. I offer these pathetic links and apologies. Also, stay tuned for an upcoming post on my first time attending an opera.

1. Paraplegic man gets bitten by brown recluse. Then, is able to walk again.

2. John Waters wants to turn “Pink Flamingos” into an opera.

3. The Nietzsche Family Circus.

A hilarious mashup of Family Circus cartoons and quotations from the famed philosopher.

A little poison now and then: that makes for agreeable dreams.
A little poison now and then: that makes for agreeable dreams.

Hilarious.

4. Slangcity.com

I’m pretty sure that this is a slang website for people that are learning English or are otherwise not native speakers. Some highlights are the interactive charts with slang for body parts. Also the translations of American movies:

Patches O’Houlihan: You all are about as useful as a lollipop that tastes like feces.

Ben Stone (to answering machine): Hey, Doctor Howard, this is Ben Stone calling you. Guess what the fuck (used for emphasis) is happening? Alison is going into labor and you are not fucking (used for emphasis) here. Do you know where you are? You’re at a stupid bar mitzvah* in San Francisco, you contemptible person (literally: feces), and do you know what I’m going to have to do now? I’m going have to kill you. I’m going to shoot you with a gun. You’re dead, like well-known rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, both of whom were shot to death. You contemptible man (literally: feces), I hope you fucking (used for emphasis) die or drop the chair and kill the boy who is having his bar mitzvah*. I hope your plane crashes. Goodbye, hated person!

*The bar mitzvah is a Jewish ceremony in which 13-year-old boys enter the age of religious adulthood. As part of the celebration, the boy is raised up above the crowd on a chair.

The Times: New Roman Empire

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imperial-america

“Amnesia is frightening and pitiful because the amnesiac does not know who she is; when she recovers her memory she recovers her identity. The same, mutatis mutandis, is true for peoples; their beliefs about their origins and histories contribute crucially to their sense of their existence as a people and of what sort people they are, and a populace wholly amnesic about its past, if such a thing could be imagined, could not know itself as a people.”

-Katharine Toll

'Meh'st Week Ever – March 8, 2009

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I was too conflicted about Watchmen to provide an objective review, and was in too much of a sleep deprivation induced-coma for the next two days to do much blogging. But I know all four of you that read this blog really enjoy my Sunday posts, so here goes. This is what I found on the internet this week.
1. Hamburger Cupcakes
cupcakes
2. Mall Ninjas
These are excerpts from posts by either a delusional 13 year old or an extremely mentally disturbed mall security guard. I think it’s extremely funny, but I must caution you, it’s extremely internet humor-y. You’ll either find it hilarious or a complete waste of time.
3. Henry Makow- A real live 21 Century sexist:
I know it’s probably not good to laugh at this, because there are probably some people out there who take this seriously, but it’s so offensive, I can only chuckle at the extreme crazy that is this man. And what a lonely existence he must live; alone in a world where people believe that men and women are equally capable at any number of professions and that domestic violence should be prevented by the police. Here’s an exerpt:

How can we fight the New World Order?

Let’s begin by reaffirming our distinct male or female identities. Perhaps this personal manifesto from a happily married male frog who finally jumped out of the pot will serve as a reference for some:

The essence of masculinity is power.

Isn’t it obvious? It’s what women respond to. Similarly, men are drawn to vulnerability in women. We want to protect them.

To equalize power is to eliminate sexual distinction. This doesn’t mean that woman are not powerful and effective as women, but not by becoming like men.

Men — steer clear of any sexual relationship where you are not in charge.

4. Amazing Video

I wish I could embed this video on this blog, but WordPress is stupid and restrictive so I have to encourage you to click on the link. It’s a short video about a man who builds a virtual world for his wife, and it has some of the coolest computer graphics I have ever seen, which is more amazing because they are all homemade.


5. Bad Paintings of Barack Obama

I swear it’s not on purpose that every week there’s something about BHO. These are really funny.

obama126. John Fetterman and Braddock, Penn.

This man is John Fetterman:

20090227pp_fetterman_oven_1_500He is the mayor of Braddock, PA, a former steel town that has lost 90% of its population and wealth in the last 25 years. Now, anybody that can afford to leave does as soon as possible, and there are few enough businesses in the community that you can count them on one hand. The median house price is $6,400. Not $64,000. $6,400. Fetterman has been trying a radical new approach, attracting businesses and artists and artisans who want space and low rent to try and revitalize the town. It’s in ideas like this that I betray my age, but everything about this project sounds unbelievably cool and romantic. I’m trying to see if I can persuade my father to buy something there. He’s a general contractor with a tendancy to wander, so I may be able to succeed. Articles about the town found here here and here.


‘Meh’st Week Ever – March 8, 2009

Matthew EilarLeave a comment

I was too conflicted about Watchmen to provide an objective review, and was in too much of a sleep deprivation induced-coma for the next two days to do much blogging. But I know all four of you that read this blog really enjoy my Sunday posts, so here goes. This is what I found on the internet this week.

1. Hamburger Cupcakes

cupcakes

2. Mall Ninjas

These are excerpts from posts by either a delusional 13 year old or an extremely mentally disturbed mall security guard. I think it’s extremely funny, but I must caution you, it’s extremely internet humor-y. You’ll either find it hilarious or a complete waste of time.

3. Henry Makow- A real live 21 Century sexist:

I know it’s probably not good to laugh at this, because there are probably some people out there who take this seriously, but it’s so offensive, I can only chuckle at the extreme crazy that is this man. And what a lonely existence he must live; alone in a world where people believe that men and women are equally capable at any number of professions and that domestic violence should be prevented by the police. Here’s an exerpt:

How can we fight the New World Order?

Let’s begin by reaffirming our distinct male or female identities. Perhaps this personal manifesto from a happily married male frog who finally jumped out of the pot will serve as a reference for some:

The essence of masculinity is power.

Isn’t it obvious? It’s what women respond to. Similarly, men are drawn to vulnerability in women. We want to protect them.

To equalize power is to eliminate sexual distinction. This doesn’t mean that woman are not powerful and effective as women, but not by becoming like men.

Men — steer clear of any sexual relationship where you are not in charge.

4. Amazing Video

I wish I could embed this video on this blog, but WordPress is stupid and restrictive so I have to encourage you to click on the link. It’s a short video about a man who builds a virtual world for his wife, and it has some of the coolest computer graphics I have ever seen, which is more amazing because they are all homemade.


5. Bad Paintings of Barack Obama

I swear it’s not on purpose that every week there’s something about BHO. These are really funny.

obama126. John Fetterman and Braddock, Penn.

This man is John Fetterman:

20090227pp_fetterman_oven_1_500He is the mayor of Braddock, PA, a former steel town that has lost 90% of its population and wealth in the last 25 years. Now, anybody that can afford to leave does as soon as possible, and there are few enough businesses in the community that you can count them on one hand. The median house price is $6,400. Not $64,000. $6,400. Fetterman has been trying a radical new approach, attracting businesses and artists and artisans who want space and low rent to try and revitalize the town. It’s in ideas like this that I betray my age, but everything about this project sounds unbelievably cool and romantic. I’m trying to see if I can persuade my father to buy something there. He’s a general contractor with a tendancy to wander, so I may be able to succeed. Articles about the town found here here and here.