Track @ Carmel

The past two Thursdays were our first track meets of the season, both held at Carmel. The first was not scored, and I got out of Biology around 1:00 to go over on the bus. At this one I ran the 1600-meter (mile), 800-meter (½-mile), and 4x400 relay. My relay team was Addison, Peter Sujan, and Victor Saucedo. I got a PR on the mile at 6:04.70. Yesterday's meet started later, and featured the addition of the 3200-meter (2-mile). I ran the same races as the previous weeks, but did a regular 400 (¼-mile) rather than a relay.

3/20/2009 4x400 Relay Leif Swenson, Addison Miller

Kyle Lundquist 200-meter dash

3/20/2009 4x400 Relay Team Peter Sujan, Casey Reeves, Addison Miller, Leif Swenson

Alpha-Omega Concert

ΑΩ

Photo © Nate Phillips

Last night was the Alpha Omega concert, in which both high school band and orchestra and fifth grade band played. Nick Reyes, who recently moved from PG to Monterey, received special permission from Mr. Hoffman to continue playing in the PG band until this concert. Nate came along with his dSLR and 70-200mm lens and took photos of the concert. The concert began at seven with the orchestra, and on their first piece the oboes, bassoons, and french horns accompanied them. After intermission we listened to the fifth grade band and then got on, playing Sevens, Sleep, Armenian Dances, and Raging Machines. The concert went really great and the music was some of the most fun to play that we've had.

See the entire album at Nate's Blog:
http://natephillips.wordpress.com/people/alpha-omega-concert-2009/

New Blog Design

After having the same theme for quite a while, I finally got around to changing it in favor of a more toned-down theme. I will probably still edit it more soon but updated it like this for now. The logo uses Adobe Nueva Std, one of my favorite serif fonts. Blog and the background text is in the font Olho de Boi. I also updated the icon to match.

The Old Design:


Intermediate Design:


Final Design:

History Project: Minority Rights

Here's some Photoshop pictures I made for a history project on minority rights that I'm doing with Nate: (edit: condensed into one post)

Separate but Equal: / Jim Crow Laws:


Civil War:

Michael's for the Weekend

On Sunday over President's Day weekend I went up to Cupertino to visit Michael for the first time. His dad had business to do in Monterey, so he came down and we played Super Smash Bros. Melee at my house for about an hour until he was done. Then we drove back up to his house in Cupertino, which was really close to where I used to live in 3^rd grade. It was pouring rain the entire time, and did not ever fully stop for the entire trip. We had pizza for dinner and caught up on everything that's happened since he moved, including the CCS concert. Then we played Halo 3 on his fairly new Xbox 360.

The next day it was still pouring rain. We drank Chai tea and hung around at the house for quite a while. Katie left around ten to go to the mall and a movie with her friends all day. Since there wasn't much to do outside, we stayed inside and watched the Puffy Shirt episode of Seinfeld, among other things. At one point we went on a small walk around the area when the rain lightened up a little. In the afternoon we came along when his mom was picking up Katie and drove by my old house in Cupertino. I still recognized all the stores and parks. We had pasta for dinner that night.

On Tuesday we left around eleven to drive back to PG. We stopped in Gilroy at Predator's Archery because his mom had to take her two bows in for inspection and repair. We stayed there for about an hour and watched people shoot in the small range inside the store. Then we continued back and went to Matthew's for a couple of hours before I went home.

Big Sur

For my mom's birthday on the 13^th, we went down to Big Sur and had lunch at Nepenthe. I had not been to Nepenthe since the China Camp to Big Sur hike a while back, when I went with Matthew. I had the vegetarian ambrosia burger for lunch which was really good. After we ate lunch and went to the Phoenix Shop, we went to the Garapata area where I took some nice photos. Then we went to the Succulent Garden at the Barnyard in Carmel and my mom picked out a nice stone lion head for the garden.

RE: CCS Honor Band 2009

From the Cedar Street Times, regarding our CCS concert:

CCS Honor Band 2009

The Central Coast Section honor band this year was at Salinas High School. Our first rehearsal was Thursday evening. When we got there, it was pouring rain and nearly dark outside. We got to the SHS band room almost an hour early, but finally the rehearsal started. Our conductor was Paul Bambach, a clarinetist and conductor from UC Santa Barbara. For the past couple of weeks, we have been rehearsing the CCS music since PG makes up over a third of the band. The first piece was Fanfare for a New Era, in honor of Barack Obama's presidency, followed by Scenes from the Louvre, a multi-movement piece based on music of the period when the Louvre was being constructed. Cloudburst, the third one, was a conceptual one imitating a rainstorm, with finger-snapping and bass drum "thunder" rolls. Last was Nitro, a frenetic fast piece with a lot of complicated fingering. We got back from Thursday's rehearsal after 10pm.

Friday was the biggest rehearsal, lasting all day. It was nice to take a break from regular classes and get to miss a day. We met at 8am and once again took the bus over. I sat in the back of the bus with some sophomores also in cross country (Alec Guertin, Matthew Shonman, Leif Swenson, Peter Sujan), as well as some seniors and juniors (Michael Yanoska, Kristen Sanchez, Emma Nuss, Cory Jones)*. Michael Y. brought an iPod dock and both on the way up and back played songs on the speakers which we sang along to (at least, the ones I knew—these included Coldplay's Viva la Vida and a couple Beatles songs including Help!). On the ride back we sang Viva la Vida switching all the L's and R's—a surprisingly difficult endeavor.

This was the most wearying rehearsal, lasting for over six hours (with an hour lunch break). For lunch, we all walked across the street where there was a Subway, Foster Freeze, Jack in the Box, and other places. I went to Subway, along with a couple other. I went back and ate outside the band room with Michael Y. and Enoch Matsumura (concert master; 1^st chair clarinetist). Later on a few others arrived, including Nick Reyes and Leif and Alec.

Today (Saturday) was the day of the concert. We met at the school once again in the morning planning for the bus to leave at eight. We waited outside in the slight rain until about 8:40 for the bus to come (the one we had yesterday had a bulge in the fuel line or something like that). Finally we were on our way, but arrived late: about a half hour into the rehearsal. Rather than rehearsing at Salinas High like previous days, we did it at the Sherwood Hall where the concert would be.

We ran through all the pieces and made some minor changes, and then took a lunch break. Coincidentally, there was yet another Subway across from Sherwood Hall, so almost all of us went there and got subs. Then we went back into the lobby and ate. I sat with Nick, Cory and Emma, who were listening/singing to music on the iPod dock. Then we changed and got ready for the concert. First we watched the choir and orchestra perform, and then performed our songs. During Cloudburst, Cory played the bass drum behind the audience and Michael on the stage, creating a surround-sound thunder effect. After the performance, we headed back on the bus, although many people got rides with their parents instead. We stopped at In-and-Out and got food such as shakes, and then continued on the way back with the usual singing in the bus.

Michael and Kristen don In-and-Out hats.

Progress on Breaker Stadium

Our new school stadium is nearing completion, scheduled to be finished in April, with the major remaining task being the track. The turf is almost completely laid down, the lights are back up, and restroom/concessions buildings are in progress.



Previous photo of stadium progress here.

Tuesday Afternoon with Tijmen

Today Oliver and I both went over to Tijmen's house for the afternoon. On the way over (I live about a 2-minute walk away from him), I came across this amusing graffiti on the ground with a deranged chicken holding a fish. When I got to his house, Tijmen's sister Emma answered the door because he and his mom were out picking up Oliver. I came in and played Super Smash Brothers Melee until they arrived. We tried out his new copy of Guitar Hero: World Tour which he got for Christmas, while Emma was playing Strawberry Fields Forever and other Beatles songs on the piano in the other room. World Tour was the first Guitar Hero game to include drums and vocals as well as guitar/bass. We switched off instruments, but for the most part I played guitar, Oliver did vocals, and Tijmen played drums. When we got tired of this, we switched to Mario Kart Wii, where Tijmen, Oliver, Emma, and I all did 4-player races. While we were playing, Tijmen's mom made some Gouda cheese-covered bread, and toward the end we also got some really good brownies that Emma made earlier in the day. Mid-afternoon we went up to the field by the David Avenue school where we played croquet for a while. We came back and played Tanks on Wii Play and I left around five.

Michael's Last Day in PG

Since Michael is moving to Cupertino (coincidentally, where I used to live), today was his last real day in town. We used a guest pass and went to the aquarium for the morning and got pizza for lunch at the Portola Café near the otter tank. He hadn't been there in a few years so I I came back around 3 and went on a run on Huckleberry Hill with Michael and his dad. I also helped him set up a Y! Messenger account so we can stay in touch during lunch break at school.

Lemon Squares

Ingredients
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup butter or margarine
• ¼ cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• from 3 to 4 lemons:
```• 2 tsp lemon juice
```• thin round lemon slices
```• zest (peel grated)

Preparation
• Heat oven to 350°.
• Measure flour by sifting. Blend flour, butter, and confectioners' sugar thoroughly.
• Press evenly in square pan, 8x8x12". Bake 20 minutes.
• Beat eggs, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon juice, and zest together.
• Pour over crust and add slices on top.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes more. Do not overbake.
• Cool and sprinkle lightly with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Makes 16 squares.

Christmas 2008 (a short summary)

On Christmas Eve I went up to San Jose and went to Melita's church, St. Andrew's Episcopal in Saratoga, for the Christmas Eve service, featuring hymns done by the talented choir and instrumental ensemble such as O Come, All Ye Faithful and Silent Night. Christmas Day I opened presents with my dad and Melita. I got my dad a pair of walnut salt/pepper shakers from Brinton's and Melita a green enamel frog pin. Then we went to Melita's daughter Zita's house, where we had lunch, opened more presents, watched Mamma Mia!, and had dinner. The next day I celebrated Christmas with my mom and Brian. I got my mom a pair of books and Brian a jumbo level and stud sensor. We made a "scrünchi mouse" mouse cat toy for Checkers out of a hair scrunchy with felt ears, a puff nose, and a shoelace tail (I took a video which I will post on YouTube). Some of my presents included some really nice photography books, some money (to put toward a dSLR), and an 8GB thumb drive.

Carmel River State Beach

Last night we went to the Carmel River State Beach near the Carmel River Lagoon. The sunset was really picturesque so I got some good photos while I was there. Unfortunately, my battery ran out before the sun got really low and colorful.

Hailstorm (Winter Begins)

Waking up on Monday morning, we discovered hail on the skylight. When I went out to see, everything was covered in what looked like snow, but was actually condensed hail. This was a first for me since living in Pacific Grove; it has only slightly hailed once before. From what I have heard, there is snow on Toro Peak right now, and I'll try to get down to the coast to see when I can.

Here are some photos to try to convey what it looked like...

The Winter Concert

Matthew Shonman tuning his trombone

This past Thursday night was our winter concert, featuring the chorus and orchestra as well as the band. Since the middle school auditorium, the usual venue, is under construction, we had to hold the concert at the high school multi, which was much smaller. Band went first, and we played quite a few songs: A Festival Prelude, O Holy Night, Procession of Nobles, A Chanukah Celebration, and A Christmas Festival. After our section came the chorus, singing numerous Christmas and Hannukah classics, and then the intermission.

Jane Rudy singing in Chorus

At intermission, Matthew and I helped Michael Yanoska carry the large timpani around the building in the dark to the band room since it was too big to use the inside route. After putting away our instruments, we went to the snack bar in the back where some middle-schoolers (including Michelle Watkins and Emma Teering) led by Tijmen's mom were selling snacks.

Following the intermission was the orchestra's performance. They first did a suite by Edvard Grieg featuring the band's percussion section and some other classical pieces, and then performed a really neat tango piece involving improvisation.

Michael Yanoska Drum Captain

Kristen Sanchez Senior Flutist

The Percussion Section Brent Smith, Matthew Johnson, Taylor Jones, Michael Yanoska, Leif Swenson, Andy Bieman, Cory Jones (front)

Thanks to Oliver Bunten for the photos.