Itzhak Perl-stud

My greatest highlight of January was Perlman’s recital with Rohan de Silva at the Luckman Center. Needless to say, his playing was flawless. By flawless I don’t mean flawless technically, but his everything was so flawless that I could probably burn calories by just attempting to describe his performance. There are a lot of musicians out there that give great shows that are basically perfect with the exception of a single slipped or accidental whistle noise, and even more out there where they play, say, a single measure where, as an audience member, you wish that they could emphasize a dynamic or note more but this guy is made of wax. He’s probably the ultimate role model for all modern violinists. His vibrato looked fast even, but gosh it was so beautiful. Man, his Beethoven sonata was the epicenter of win. His wrist motions were beautiful. His facial expressions were of the perfect caliber of expression. My teacher says that Perlman is the most beautiful sound on Earth, and I have to agree.

Of course, Perlman’s fame would draw audiences from all over to get big crowds, but I have figured out the secret to his success (besides musical GENIUS): an open personality. He has a warm, booming voice that feels familiar, as if he was talking to an acquaintaince rather than a mass of strangers. Itzhak has an interesting, funny personality, and I knew that not only from the quirky little jokes he makes for every encore piece but one of his students is a friend of mine, and she says that he's extremely kind and friendly. Speaking of encores, he makes it really easy on the audience- he knows that the audience won't be satisfied without a couple of encore pieces, so the second time he wheels out during a standing ovation, he starts consulting a list and thus begins a concert within a concert. This guy is a stud. He creates freaking paradoxes.

And...Has anyone seen the size of his hand? They're MONSTROUS. I've heard from my mum that Perlman has abnormally large hands, but I didn't notice them until the scroll of the violin disappeared into his palm when he was tuning his violin. No wonder he plays with such ease and with such a broad vibrato! He has physical advantages!

Studstudstud!

Family Guy, meet CB

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100217/ap_on_en_tv/us_palin_family_guy

But damn, that episode was kind of funny.

Hrm. Hypocrisy Success.

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93375?fp=1

tl;dr: Palin opened the door to a 2012 presidency run, giving a speech full of attacks on Obama, one of them about him using teleprompters. People watched videos of her speech and discovered writing on the inside of her hand, saying "Energy, tax cuts, lift American spirits."

The real meaning of Jazznkat (sort of)

I hated dancing when I was a little kid. I preferred to stay stolid and unemotional, physically, because not doing so would catapult me out of my comfort zone. Then I begrudgingly took ballet in Li's Ballet Studio in 3rd-4th grade because my parents wanted all their offspring to have great posture just like them. It was actually fun, and I elevated from n00b to 1337 quickly and had some buddies in that class. (I met Cherry there btw, though I thought her name was Charlie at the time. phail) (I also took a little ballroom dancing later on, but that was really bad and I quit soon after I discovered that I couldn't discern my left foot from my other left foot.)

But ballet is a very square and elegant dance. The next instance where I was confronted with rhythmic body movements was my first dance in 6th grade. It was there that I discovered everyone was a professional hip hop dancer except for me, LOL. So I flailed my arms, pumped my fists, and mouthed the words to the loud crap you'd find on KIISFM. Although I probably looked like an idiot, it was actually enjoyable to imitate whatever your friends are doing among a sweaty crowd in a large dark room.

(Needless to say, the promo was the next instance. Hopefully I didn't look like an idiot this time, right FMS peers?)

Anyways, onto the core of this post: my current dance classes!

I needed to find a substitute for P.E. due to my shortened school schedule, and my violin teacher always complained of my stiffness (esp. my hips)- so now I am attending ballet and lyrical dance classes in Pasadena. Ballet is going quite well- I had a lot of trouble with my 2 left feet when we did turns and stuff across the floor, but recently I have been nailing them! :D My instructor, Leigh, is extremely patient and helpful, and she also happens to be a young adult author. Her classes are teh bomb.

As for lyrical dance, it might be easier if I explain what it is first:

It lives up to its name, as the objective of the dance is to interpret the music with your body. It's a fusion of ballet and JAZZ, so there are plie's and chasse's but also a lot of modern moves- stuff you'd see on "So You Think You Can Dance".

I just had my first lyrical class today, and I think it'll be a bit of a struggle, mainly due to the JAZZ bit. I have no prior experience in JAZZ, and even the ballet stuff are things I've only barely brushed upon in my Basic Ballet course. Therefore half the time, I'm saying "WTHHH" in my head whenever my teacher (Frit) does something complex or when we do our crazy stretches. (There were 16 pushups in the middle of our warm-up...DEATH.)

It's all good fun though- I love the piano music in ballet and the very expressive motions in lyrical (that I cannot mimic). Even if I look like a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing kat woman, it only matters if I'm enjoying it (and getting well-needed exercise). :>

In other news, I'll be performing in my first masterclass tomorrow with my flute/piano/violin group. This is pretty bad for me, since I'm one of those people with slow reactions, so it'll be hard for me to correct my playing right on the spot, with a quite reputable violinist/teacher (Lorenz Gamma) and 50 people observing me.

Yeah, please pray for me not to screw up!

Disneyland: California Adventure Orch 1 Review

It was fun.

I mean, DANG, like the best time ever. And I'm sure all 100 kids in Orch. 1 agree that it was one day full of the best time of our lives. It was like a day sent down from the heavens above in a glorious shower of glory accompanied by a golden choir.

No other wordly experience in the history of the universe will ever compare to it. Ever.

It was so DAMN fun that it didn't even happen.

I stood there at 7 in the morning in the pouring rain, reading a sign that said "Orchestra Trip to California Adventure canceled due to weather."

I'm not ashamed to say I died a little inside, standing out there with a rather large bag full of performance things, a disposable poncho in my pocket I decided to take because there was rain (irony!), a violin, and three months worth of Mr. England yelling at the first violins every time anyone screwed up.

R.I.P Orchestra 1 Trip to California Adventure 2010 2/6/10 < / 3

A decade and a half ago on the very day...

A spaz was born.

I fear that this is quite unfortunate for out society as, the spaz has truly grown up to be a full grown spaz.

...

Okay sorry I have no idea where I was going with that.

/crappy

Happy Birthday Jason!

PLEASE UNDERSTAND

THAT I WILL POST WHEN I HAVE TIME.

I AM A VERY VERY BUSY KAT

PLEASE STOP PRESSURING ME, AS I HAVE ENOUGH OF THAT RIGHT NOW.

I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMITMENT TO THIS BLOG BUT SOMETIMES I WOULD LOVE TO SLEEP MORE.

THANK YOU