Monty Python + Trek = Pure awesome.

I'm just dropping by to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Joyous Holiday-I-Don't-Know-About or Just Another Day.

I'll be celebrating Christmas with my brother in a few days. We'll probably have pizza and play Animal Crossing. Totally non-traditional, but it'll be fun!

I also wanted to share a couple of YouTube videos with you. Some of you know I'm a Trekkie, but you may not know that I also enjoy Monty Python. I'm one of the many people who can recite the Holy Grail from memory. And since I'm a musician, I'm especially fond of the musical numbers.

Here is a video of the famous "Camelot" song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

Monty Python - Knights of the Round Table

And here, for all the Python/Trek nerds like me, is the same song put to clips from the original Star Trek series:

Star Trek meets Python

Enjoy the rest of your week! :-D

Rock 'n' roll dreams...

I don’t know if I should call this a dream or a nightmare. I call it a dream because it occurred while I was asleep and was interrupted when it was getting interesting, as usually happens with dreams. Also, I was doing something that most likely won’t happen in real life. But I think it would be better labeled a nightmare because I was being my usual clumsy, absent-minded self.

I was in a really cool recording studio with the Dirty Guv’nahs. The studio looked like it was in someone’s house—dark brown, wood walls with lots of knots in them and whatnot. Like a cabin almost. It was most likely my subconscious’ version of Levon Helm’s studio since that’s what I’ve been reading about in the Guvs’ tweets and whatnot. Earlier in the dream I was talking with the guys about a song they were working on—apparently I’d heard them working on it or something, or maybe they invited me to hear it? Anyway, I was there and we both had some ideas for an orchestra in the background. Our ideas matched up, so James grabbed a score* (a rock band having a “score” seems so funny) and handed it to me. Then the rest of the band picked up their scores and we started brainstorming.

I was feverishly jotting the ideas down that we all came up with and pretty soon the score was covered in notes. I think the score I was given already had some other notes on it because I remember there being some larger writing in places, on top of the music (I usually try to write small and in the margins)! So anyway, we were getting a lot of stuff done—put strings here, put some brass there, etc. Everyone’s ideas complemented each other and it sounded like it was going to be an incredible number. I thought to myself Are these the same Dirty Guv’nahs I worked with a few months ago? I’m always wary of bands who start off one way and then blow up and start adding more musicians and entire orchestras and choirs and dancers and ventriloquists and whatnot… I don’t like the term “sellout” but I do wonder if some musicians lose their original vision when they’re faced with all the possibilities of modern technology and such. I worry too much. A lot.

But I digress. We were working hard and ideas were flowing like maple syrup over a mountain of bacon pancakes. But I kept losing my music. We would be working on a section and then I’d get up and walk to the window for something (don’t ask what; I have no earthly idea—my dreams rarely make sense all the way through). When I went back to the first place I was sitting or standing, I didn’t have my music in my hand anymore. So we lost several minutes of creativity while searching for my score. Then we got some more work done. Great idea here, interesting tweak there… Then my music disappeared again. Why was it so hard for me to keep up with this blasted music?!?!?!

I was beginning to feel really stupid. I wondered if the band would be better off working with someone else. [Why can’t I be close to normal in my dreams? Must my faults follow me into subconsciousness?] It was the second or third or dozenth time that I misplaced my music that an alarm on my phone ended it all.

I woke up with more feelings of frustration and self-loathing than excitement and creativity. I also woke up with the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” running through my head, so we must have been working on something along those lines. Often my brain won’t remember the music that my subconscious created while I was asleep so it will pick something that my waking mind recognizes—something similar to what was in the dream—and leave that in my brain. Or it could be that we were working on “All You Need Is Love” but in the dream it was an original composition. That often happens—for instance, I’ll see a friend from high school in a dream but I don’t actually know them in the dream, or I know them from somewhere else.

So that was my dream this morning. I’d like to thank my 10:30 alarm on my BlackBerry for ruining everything. I was probably about to redeem myself and come up with the perfect finishing touch (once I found my music for the umpteenth time) before the blasted real world got in the way. Oh, well. Maybe tonight I’ll dream of maple syrup-covered bacon pancakes…

*For the laymen out there a score is a printed version of a song or piece of music. Usually it refers to the conductor’s score which has all instrument and/or voice parts on it. Generally speaking rock bands, jazz bands, and other “popular” musicians/groups work off of chord charts or often from memory. Scores are more associated with classical music, though they can be used by anyone.

Post-Thanksgiving Check-In

Hi, all! If you celebrated Thanksgiving this weekend, I hope you had a wonderful time. If you didn't celebrate it, I hope you had a wonderful regular old weekend. :-D

I am now back from my MANY hours on the road and am very thankful to not be in a moving vehicle. VERY thankful.

I took my camera this weekend and snapped a few fun shots. Check out my Thanksgiving 2009 album here. My absolutely favorite shot is of the Georgia state line.

And speaking of my photography, check it out: Schmaps.com chose one of my Georgia Aquarium photos (along with others) to be featured in their Atlanta guide. How cool is that?! This link takes you directly to the "Zoos, Farms & Aquaria" page, complete with my photo showing in the Aquarium section (look for the photo credit "Photo: Robyn Allegra"). However, if you scroll over anything else it sometimes disappears or is replaced by another photo. If you miss it you can also check out the original photo at Flickr.

Alrighty, that's all for now. I must find food... Or perhaps take a nap.*



*I'll leave you with one more link, since this is a particularly link-heavy entry. One of my favorite places to waste time: Yahoo! Games - Board Games

Happy list!

In my personal journal over at LJ, I sometimes post “Happy Lists.” I usually wrote them when I wasn’t feeling happy and needed to find something to be positive about. But today I actually am happy and I thought I’d post a list saying why so that the next time I’m down in the dumps I can come back to this.

I highly recommend making a list of your own. If you don’t have a blog you can leave a list in the comments for this post. If you do blog your own list, be sure to let me know! It’s fun to read other people’s lists as well.

How appropriate that I’m making this list the day before Thanksgiving…. I totally didn’t plan that. Anyway, here goes.

Thanksgiving Eve Happy List

1. This afternoon, as I left Pellissippi and walked across the parking lot to my car, the fall leaves made the coolest sounds as they were blown across the pavement by a gust of wind. The sounds made me smile.


2. A close girlfriend of mine got some great news from the doctor today.


3. A close guyfriend of mine, whom I haven’t seen since I played at his wedding 7 months ago (!!), also called with some good news.


4. (Related to previous one) Having two friends call me in one day and share the wonderful blessings they’ve received from God is one of the best things ever.


5. My student did very well in solo class today. :-)


6. I’m about to take a road trip with my brother to spend Thanksgiving with our parents, some aunts and uncles, and probably some cousins, too.


7. I’ve finally found shoes I can teach in without my feet hurting at the end of the day.

See, wasn't that fun? ;-) I highly recommend checking out TOMSshoes (the shoes to which I was referring in my last item). Great shoes and a great cause. I'm going to buy another pair--possibly two--in the very near future.

**If the formatting looks weird that's because I'm posting this from my phone. Will fix later (I'm currently on the road)!**

I almost got married!

Fun dream time! I was getting married to friend and coworker (we'll call him "S"). We were sitting outside, maybe waiting to take pictures? We were at a beautiful church and it was a GORGEOUS spring day. S was in his suit but I was dressed down. We were sitting on a bench talking about random stuff (none of that old-fashioned don't see the bride on the wedding day stuff, I guess), in love and completely oblivious to the chaos around us.

At one point I looked at my watch: 1:15. The wedding was at 2:00 so I said I should probably go get dressed! Next I was in the church in what looked like a choir room. I had a couple of girlfriends trying to help me but the mothers were getting in the way and were starting to STRESS ME OUT. So I said "Hey, isn't it about time for you two to get into your dresses?" That got them out of my hair and I was then able to focus on makeup and whatnot before putting on my dress. A little while later my mom and S's mom poked their heads in the door to say hello on their way to the sanctuary. My mom had on an off-white shell dress with jacket and S's mom had on a halter-style, light green dress. We exchanged smiles and waves and I got really giddy. "I'm so glad I chose to have a Spring wedding," I squealed, "even though I always said I'd do it in the Fall! I mean, look at all these colors!!" I was totally freaking out.

Before I knew it I was walking toward the back of the sanctuary to make my entrance. The sanctuary was pretty big and there were several entrances at the back. As I made my way to the center aisle, some people saw me before they were supposed to! Suddenly I started panicking. "Where's my DAD?!" I whispered to no one in particular. Finally I saw him and smiled as I walked toward him. He actually started down the aisle before I'd placed my arm in his--I had to sprint to keep up with him!

I tried my best to smile because hey, it’s my wedding day. Unfortunately my processional music was 1) that @#$&%$ Wagner march and 2) being played terribly on a slightly-out-of-tune piano. Dad and I paused halfway down the aisle to pose for a picture, and then had to stop again before we got to the end because three bridesmaids—in long, beautiful marine (blue) dresses—were also posing for a picture. Weren’t they supposed to be out of the way before I started my walk? Whose wedding was this anyway?!

Well, they were finally gone. And we apparently hadn't had a rehearsal because Dad took me on this weird route. It turns out we hadn't gone down the center aisle so we had to make a left turn to get to the altar. Then he kind of zig-zagged me between the bridesmaids [several more than I'd ever have in real life] and then planted me in front of the minister (who was facing the congregation, as usual) and directly to the groom's right. I motioned to Dad, trying to explain that he was supposed to stand between S and me. As I was trying to correct Dad and switch places, S was switching places with a girl on his left side (what the heck was he doing with a girl on his arm?!!). It looked like we were square-dancing with all this do-si-doing going on.

Well, I don’t know exactly what happened next. Dad never got to the giving of the bride because a couple of the bridesmaids on the other end of the wedding party (stage right) started fighting. I didn’t even know who these girls were! All I know is that the wedding never even really started because of the scene they were causing. The next thing I remember was sitting with my mom in a pew, trying not to cry. What in the world had just happened?!

Some moments—or maybe a lot—went by and then I had an idea. We were already dressed up, the reception was still booked. Why don’t S and Inot go to a Justice of the Peace or something and have a quick private ceremony, head back to the church for pictures (it’s SUCH a gorgeous day, after all) and then go to the reception? I don’t even think I ran the idea by S or not but I decided to run with it. Then it occurred to me “Hey, the minister is a good friend. Why not ask him to perform the ceremony, then head to the reception?” So I searched out the minister.

I found him, but guess what? The minister was now S. I know, it’s crazy. But this is one of my dreams, remember? Crazy comes with the territory.

So anyway, S was the minister so I don’t know who the groom was. I asked him if he’d be willing to continue with the ceremony with just the wedding party. He said he’d love to but that he might not be able to due to an injury he sustained (possibly during the bridesmaid fight?). He tried to smile and I saw bruising on his gums. Someone had punched him on his left cheek! I know this is crazy but even his teeth were purple and bruised, and maybe even swollen. Holy crap! I quickly explained that he didn’t have to do it if it was going to hurt! We could just as easily find a judge or other official to perform the ceremony.

And there you have it. I woke up sometime shortly after that. I almost got married.

What do dreams say about a person?

I don't really think every dream is a window into a person's inner workings but I do often wonder if my dreams have any meaning. This was a relatively short one; or maybe I only remembered the end. Usually I remember most if not all of my dreams, with lots of detail. I enjoy reading them later and sharing them with friends so I usually try to write them down or type them as soon as I awaken.

This is a dream I had a few days ago that I'd like to share.
________

The KSO were rehearsing for a concert at an aquarium (but not the TN Aquarium). The hall featured a round, glass window in the low, arched ceiling. During a lull in rehearsal a bunch of dolphins showed up (interesting since they would need open air as well as water; perhaps the hall was underground??). First they paused to see what the funny humans were doing. They dipped their noses toward the glass and we in the orchestra made googly-eyed faces and silly noises, as if we were talking to babies. Did I mention that musicians are often easily amused? Suddenly, a LARGE group of dolphins swam past (over) very quickly. It was a steady blur of dolphins for a good few seconds. A couple of us violists broke out into an a cappella version of "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish." It was totally spontaneous and hilariously awesome.

Next I remember Maestro Richman rehearsing the end of a work and fixing a percussion part. I guess I should say the percussion part because it looked like Clark (our co-principal percussionist) was all by himself! Anyway, it turned out that Clark had a different part than what was in the conductor's score--he referred to it as the "Scott Eddlemon edition" (didn't know Scott was an editor, haha!) and apparently it had an alternate ending and changed keys. I took my part back there and showed it to Clark (as if that would help?!). He gave me this look and shooed me away, saying "You have fun with your alto clef..."
________

So what do you think--any deeper meanings? Hidden messages? :-D

Intrusive music...

Dear friends,

Having a music player on your website/MySpace page/blog/etc. is totally cool. It gives us a chance to see your musical taste and, if it's a customizable, your favorite color scheme and whatnot.

But it's totally not cool if it automatically starts playing when the page loads. Not cool at all. I love you, but please change your settings. If the settings can't be changed, get a new player. Please.

Yours truly,

Robyn Allegra