May 14 - Record This

Weird weather, and probably weirder still over the next few days, gloomily out the door yet again rather early to record All the BBC Sound Files

XXV. Planes
XXVI. China
XXVII. Babies

in the Lab, expediting Eduardo and Jason's set-up in 101.  Errands around town (back to the big box, discovering one can go in and out of and make all purchases from the side entrance) and home, finishing  Psalm 55 (and the process of transferring the analogous King David movement from Sibelius into Encore), producing the second-movement pdf of Nocturnes for Insomniacs (Op. 10), and bringing over Violin Concerto ("Ticklish") (Op. 87) from PC to Mac (having already previously transcribed The Gospel According to St. Matthew and Magnificat in the latter).

Also take in most of Richard Wagner's Die Walkure on the Met broadcast: James Levine, Placido Domingo, Bryn Terfel, Deborah Voigt -- definite sense of deja vu, but after all these years...

While finishing up the Nocturnes work, an error message appears that the 500 GB Passport external hard-drive has been disconnected (it hasn't), and while such a message has appeared occasionally (as far back as last November, soon after it was purchased), this time, when re-connecting the unit, a clicking noise is heard.  Google the issue, and it could very well be "the click of death," signifying the imminent demise of the unit.  Hustle off to Staples, where perception is confirmed, and am directed over the freeway, past charming student musicians making their bid to save school music (amen!), to Best Buy, where a 1 TB unit is purchased.

Returning home, the larger Passport is not recognized by the computer (but suddenly, neither is the 320 GB unit that was acknowledged before disconnecion).  The horns of a dilemma: turning off-and-on the computer will probably jog it back into reading the external hard drives, but will the ailing one give up the ghost entirely?  Yes and no... the new unit boots up and the old one doesn't die, yet.  All files are transferred over, but it takes 5 hours, such that it is impossible to attend Owen Lee's Diablo Valley College Philharmonic Concert, wherein Bill Wolter's new piece is played, as well as New Big People Old Trouble So Sunday -- alas -- but Owen happily checks in via email (regrets from this end had been expressed at 7:30pm via voicemail) to assure that the pieces went well and were warmly received.

A seventh clip for Camino Real: Block 9 video quite late....

May 13 - Aye, Year, Noise...

Another early departure,

over

the

Sulfur

Springs

Mountains,

past

Lynch

Canyon and

St. John Mine Mountain Ranch, to

Marin for the

weekly rendezvous with

Crystal and Stanley in the

Crestwood Open Space.  We talk of her marvelous business and the recent Obama / Osama finale, then head down the

hill to John's computer place for more info re transferring data en masse from PC to Mac,

do errands around town,

including checking the postbox, followed by blitzes to Berkeley (to drop off very belated 21st-Century Music for printing) and Diablo Valley College for clerical matters.

Full rough circle up 680

and

80,

stopping

briefly for more video enrichment -- including

The Rainmaker (1956),

A Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry, 1959 / 2008),

The Razor's Edge (W. Somerset Maugham, 1944 / 1946)

The Reader (2008, with music by Nico Muhly, b. 1981)

The Reagans (2003),

Rebel Without a Cause (1955),

The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane, 1895 / 1951),

Redbelt (David Mamet, 2008), and

Alexander Korda's Rembrandt (1936). Upon return, learn that Harriet has also brought back a trove, among which are numbered

Dark Victory (1939) and three versions of

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. (1847 / 1967 /

1970 / and

1992), plus

The Young Victoria.  Additionally, Blogspot is back up, and there's even more spring cleaning, plus composing the next page (15) of Psalm 55 (simultaneously bringing the corresponding King David movement from Sibelius into Encore), beginning the pdfs of Nocturnes for Insomniacs (Op. 10), and transferring Flute Concerto ("Mythological") from old to new computer.

Late in the evening, a pleasure to rediscover Igor Stravinsky's Agon in its classic Robert Craft recording, on YouTube, plus a fine BBC documentary on Steve Reich, and several classic John Cage audio-videos (including an intriguing orchestration, by Lou Harrison, of Suite for Toy Piano).  Also pleased to be merely at 491 MB (48%) of the 1024 -- three days less megabyte usage than budgeted...

Oh, yes, and a sixth clip for Camino Real: Block 9 video on this Pogo-esque final weekday.

May 9 - Perchance

Slightly warmer (high c. 72), for composing page 11 of Psalm 55, reformatting King David: VII. Oh for the Wings of a Dove into Encore from Sibelius, doing final edits of the taxes, and finding the way to Diablo Valley College, where Dillon bails out the scheduled presenters by taking the reigns early in a dictation from Dream Theatre,

featuring a melody modulating from F Minor to its relative Ab Major (perhaps most easily solfeged in fixed do) and

a harmonic passage from earlier in the composition that seems to move from F Major to Bb Minor -- marvelous!  Also marvelous, a belated Compostion 2 from James, then passing off quizzes with Mitch, Katie, and Eduardo.

Homeward in the moderate bluster, at last mailing the taxes, and beginning the rest of the day's activities, including pdf of The 12 Fingers: XII. March, transfer of Joshua Fought the Battle (Op. 64), and a little farther with the video of Camino Real: Block 9.  Also begin the ASCAP yearly Standard Awards application.

May 8 - Arrangements in Blue, Gold, Red & Purple

Compose page 10 of Psalm 55, reformatting King David: VII. Oh for the Wings of a Dove into Encore from Sibelius, before heading out with Harriet to

Alameda's

Virago

Theatre at

Rhythmix and her direction of

Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata,

starring,

among others

Eileen Meredith (Margaritte in Camino Real) and

Jo Vincent Parks  (who assisted in The Playboy of the Western World),

with Robert Ashens conducting.

We linger with Jo,

Wayne

Wong, and Eduardo Prado, during intermission and outside

thereafter

with

Robert -- before celebrating Mother's Day at Crockett's

The Dead Fish, with views of Carquinez Strait, and

the surrounding hills and

Bridge.

Upon

return

call

Bette and George, and

Crystal and Christina (they parent Stanley, after all) to wish them the best of the day, and begin video for Camino Real: Block 8, pdf'ing XI. Eleven-Tone Music from The 12 Fingers, and transferring Moses and Aaron (Op. 63) from PC to Mac.