Veganism

Veganism is a cult of tree-huggers who have decided not to eat anything having to do with animals (sorry dad, but it's true!). No meat, no milk, no eggs, no butter, no dairy, nothing having to do with animals. How weird is that? I mean, it is probably the hardest type of non-meat-eating sort of thing to do. You try it, and I doubt that you will get through one meal as a vegan. Anyways, while I don't understand it, I have the highest respect for the hippies that do it. Go you, dad!


(and here comes June in just a little over an hour and a half! Yayayayayayay!!)

Movie of the Week

Stranger than Fiction is one of the only movies that Will Ferrel has been in that I actually like. Emma Thomson rocks my socks off so dang much that I'm barefoot.

See it! It is a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed!

IMDB

Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia

Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) is a very fast heart rate that happens. It doesn't happen all the time, and when someone is not experiencing a PSVT, their heart rate is normal. The "electrical current" in your hear is supposed to move in a cyclical way, but for people with PSVT's, it short circuits, so instead of making a full circuit it just goes back and forth, causing the heart rate to increase. When someone has PSVT's there are a few ways to treat it, you can take medication, just live with them and not do anything for them, or have invasive heart surgery. They are not fatal, and can be lived with fairly easily, though doing something about it, like taking medication or getting surgery, would make life easier.

Medical Encyclopedia

Musical Group of the Week

I know I've been posting a lot today, but this is my last one (probably)...

On The Rocks is a men's accapella choir from UofO that sings well-known songs. One of my favorite is their version of the song Insomiac (here's the video)



For more of On The Rocks, check out their website, or more videos on youtube:
For the Longest Time
Brown Eyed Girl
Superstitious
Lullaby

Or check out their sister group, Divisi, a women's accapella group from the UofO



On youtube:
Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
Hide and Seek
Sunday Morning

Book of the Week

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde is my favorite book of all time. Actually, that book is the first in the Thursday Next series, which is my favorite series of books of all time. They follow the life of Thursday Next, (my favorite character of all time), a LiteraTec with the Special Operations Network, who gets asked to help capture a man named Acheron Hades (the third most evil man in the world). Through gunfire, car crashes, old boyfriends, death, and the most horrible crime of all: the theft of the original manuscript of Jane Eyre, Thursday and her partner Bowden try to get through everyday life as easily as possible.




The Eyre Affair (reviews)
Jasper Fforde's Website (totally worth visiting!)

Word of the Week

This week the word of the week is conundrum. Please use at least twice every day this week!

Toilet Aquarium

As I was looking for a picture from Flushed Away for my door decorations for Music in May, I found this instead...
















"If you would install the ‘Fishn’Flush’ on your toilet, your guests would probably have to examine the fish tank thoroughly before they flush. But don’t worry - the fishes are isolated from the flush water and won’t be flushed away. The removable toilet aquarium is yours for $399."

Toilet Aquarium

What will they think of next?
(oh wait, how about the Vader Project, an actual Raygun, the one can Mini-Fridge, or the Atari Candle?)

Pachelbel Rant

One of my friends showed me this, and I had to share it with all you! Orchestra and band kids will especially like it.

Curiouser and curiouser

I'm in the process of reading a very fascinating book that has given me some cool random facts that I'd like to share with you!

There are somewhere around 40,000 thunderstorms around the world everyday.

The term, "walking on cloud nine" most likely comes from the first edition of the International Cloud Atlas, where the "plumpest and most cuhiony looking" cloud was the ninth one listed, called the cumulonimbus.

One of the last really big animals to become extinct was the Sea Cow. It looked like a cross between a walrus and a whale and could reach lengths of up to 30 feet and weigh ten tons (in comparison, a male African elephant can get to be about 30 feet long, but weigh only 16,500 pounds.) It was extinct by 1768.

Yellowstone national park (2.2million acres) is a supervolcano. Beneath the park is a magma chamber about 45 miles across (approx. the same size as the park). The park has been erupting every 600,000 years(-ish). An eruption that occurred about 2 million years ago covered New York State in up to 67 feet of ash, and California in 20 feet of ash. The most recent eruption covered 19 western states (basically everything west of the Mississippi River), in addition to parts of Canada and Mexico. The last eruption was over 600,000 years ago.

"She sells sea shells by the seashore" is most likely referring to Mary Anning from England. She had a knack for finding fossils, and she spent 35 years of her life gathering and selling fossils to tourists near the English Channel.

Almost every dinosaur that you can name (for ex. stegosaurus, brontesaurus, triceratops, etc.) was discovered by either Edward Drinker Cope or Othniel Charles Marsh. The only big exception is the T-Rex.

For years, makers of toothpaste and laxatives put radioactive material in their products. Radioactivity wasn't banned in all products until 1938.

Radioactivity is so long lasting that Marie Currie's papers and lab books (even her cookbook) from the 1890's are too dangerous to handle. They are kept in lead lined boxes, and you have to wear protective gear to touch them.



All fact were found though A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson.

Pooped!!

I've been spending the last few days helping out with a music conference at my school, and I must say I've never worked so hard for practically no money. My days are so long, with almost no breaks, except for the ones I get while listening to the ensemble practice, in fact I only have about 5 mins to write this; I'm on my lunch break.

This week has been totally worth it, though, and I'm so glad I'm here. All the high schoolers are awesome (ok, not all, but most of them) and I've loved watching a different conductor teach and I can't wait to steal his ideas! The orchestra has been working so hard, and they are starting to sound killer! They are playing West Side Story, an Elgar and Sibelius' Finlandia. It is going to sound great! In fact, Edward Elgar is becoming one of my favorite composers, though I don't know if I will ever be able to forgive him for writing Pomp and Circumstance...I hate that song with a passion!

Well, I've got to go, high schoolers need me!

Josephine County

Well, if I were you, I wouldn't be heading through Grant's Pass or any part of Josephine County in Oregon any time soon. The citizens failed to pass a new property tax that would support their local sheriff's officers. "'We're looking at the virtual loss of the entire criminal justice system for our county,' said Commissioner Dave Toler. 'We think this is kind of Katrina proportions in what this is going to mean.'"

Toler goes on to clarify, "In Josephine County, minor burglaries, drug crimes and even domestic abuse probably will go unpunished... 'Meth? Forget about it,' he said. 'We won't get to it.'

90% of the DA's office is getting cut, 100 inmates are being freed, and 15 patrol cars are being removed from the streets. Concealed weapon applications have quadrupled, and hunters have been sawing down their shotguns to within the legal limits for protection.

If you don't believe me:
The Oregonian article
Josephine County's Sheriff's website (note that they are teaching self defense classes)

Concert of the Week

Oh my cow! Last night I went to the Pink Martini CD release concert at the Arlene Schnitzer concert hall. It was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. China Forbes is a treat to listen to, and even better live. Their four percussionists are extremely versatile, switching instruments for each song. The trombone player gets a pure trombone sound out of his horn, the pitch was in the center for each note. Tom Lauderdale is the single most enjoyable pianist to watch. He is engaged, vibrant, entertaining, passionate, and a killer musician. At one point he was playing the piano, singing in a different language and conducting a choir. He uses the entire piano keyboard, giving the music a layered feel with a depth that isn't found in other groups.

The sound of Pink Martini can not be categorized. It is jazz, world, samba, classical, popular, latin, big band, small ensemble, movie music, and pretty much everything else you can think of. Their new album, Hey Eugene! is a perfect mix of all of these. I've been arguing with my dad over weather or not this album is better than their second one, Hang on Little Tomato, but one thing is for sure, it is pure Pink Martini magic.

If you ever get the chance to see them in concert, do it! They are some of the most enjoyable performers I've experienced, and their concerts will not disappoint you!

Moving on up

I'm a junior now!! Yay!!! (well, as long as I passed all of my classes...)





























(just kidding, mom!)

4 down, 1 to go

My finals week is almost over. All that's left is to finish a take-home test and check out my residents. As people are packing up, it is a reminder that the year is over and, as my friend pointed out, nothing will be the same. I know that sounds heavy and drastic, but the one thing about college that is consistent is it's inconsistency. Each year will be different, people coming in and out of school, leaving to study abroad, moving off campus, friendships change, people wig out, people forget. The three months of summer staring me in the face seem vast. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to summer, but it will be weird to be living in a new place, with new people and a new job. I suppose it will be an adventure...

4 finals down, 1 to go.

Juries suck.

I'm not talking about the kind of juries that try cases in a court of law, which are really cool if you think about it. No, I am talking about the unjustified monstrosity forced upon all music majors and minor at my school.

It is essentially a final for private lessons, but it is much worse than even the most difficult final. You walk onto the stage of the auditorium in front of all the music faculty, and many of the private lessons instructors. They sit there with their higher education and doctorates in music and stare at you while you play the piece you have been preparing for the entire semester, (which you royally botch, by the way) and then tell you you should have practiced more. Your piano player abandons you on stage as the faculty demand that you play minor scales, and then at least one etude.


Ok, ok, it's not really as bad as I make it out to be, but juries suck. And now I have to go and see if it's going to be as bad as I think it will be.

Oh joy.

(By the way, did anyone else watch the office last night???? Talk about amazing!!!!!!!!!!)


*UPDATE* As of 2:20 my jury was over, and it didn't suck as much as I thought it was. In fact, it went fairly well. I guess I can't be right all the time...

Encounter with a Little Old Lady

So, I was sitting by the Safeway pharmacy with David, when this little old lady comes up to us on her way to the blood pressure reader-thing and says "You know, every woman needs four animals in her house."

Me: "Oh, really?" (thinking that she was some crazy cat lady or something).

Little Old Lady: "Yes. A Jaguar in the garage, a saber in the closet, a tiger in bed and a jackass to clean up." (With mischievous Little Old Lady eyes she turned to David and asked,) "so which one are you?"

David: "Uhhh..."

Little Old Lady: "Oh just say you're the tiger in bed, then someone will have said it about you."

I'm still deciding if it was some sort of old woman pick up line, or if she wanted to shock us. But she then went on to say how she never had blood pressure problems until she turned 80.

All I can say is I wish I was related to her...she was amazing.

Quote of the Week

Sarah: "Caitlin, you should really stop 'of the week-ing' things."

Caitlin: "No! I will never succumb to your tyrannical ways!"




(that might not have been my EXACT answer, but you get the idea...)

Game of the Week

I am a closet video gamer. Which is a good thing for me, because my friends have been in my room for four hours trying to beat this week's Game: Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure (for Sega Genesis).

The game involves Buster Bunny trying to get a hidden treasure to save Babs...or something. In all honesty, even with hours of playing I'm not too sure what the plot line is supposed to be. But who cares? It features all your favorite Tiny Toon characters and robots and spikes and ghosts and trees and electric currents and carrots. A very fun game that is strangely addicting...just ask me, I need to write a paper still

...but I can't stop watching.


The actual story (who knew)