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/

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:

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.

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.

Holiday Parade of Lights

Last night we played in Pacific Grove's annual Holiday Parade of Lights for marching band. This was the first event in which we wore the formal uniforms with the big brass buttons, suspenders, and feather plumes. Being a clarinetist, I had to cut off the fingertips of the gloves because air leaks from the holes in the clarinet when you try to play with gloves. We donned the uniforms and got in line around 5 and left to march down a half hour later.

We began by marching in a single file line with drum cadences from the school to Pine Avenue. We rested here and watched the North Monterey County Marching Band, also in the parade, practice. Finally, we got into the block formation. Mr. Hoffman moved me around the formation quite a few times, and I eventually ended up in the back next to Kristen Sanchez and some other flutists, with Riley a couple of places away and most of the other clarinetists in the next row. The parade began and we marched down Fountain Avenue, over on Lighthouse, and then back to the school up Congress. We played Santa's Parade, a conglomerate of Joy to the World, Jingle Bells, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. We repeated the song about 10 times, with a drum cadence with horn swings in between each repeat.

Heading back up to the school on Congress, we began going faster and faster and everyone was yelling to Marcy, the drum major, to slow down. Eventually we lost all order and everyone started singing. The tempo clicks stopped and we pretty much just walked back the rest of the way.

A map of the marching path from Google Maps:

League Meet and Big Sur Half Marathon

Last Thursday was the MTAL League Meet for cross country. I beat my previous time by about a minute, and overall our team did pretty well. Even so, Carmel completely demolished all the other teams and ended up winning for varsity.

The Big Sur Half Marathon was today, and instead of volunteering for scouts like I have in the past, I did it with the cross country team. We pioneered the new BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) station in which we would fill up runners' bottles with water and Gatorade. We met at the Fishwife restaurant around six and walked to the station, at the turnaround point on the course. We got breakfast burritos with egg, refried beans, and cheese on a spinach tortilla, and then the runners began coming around 7:30. Casey, Addison, Michael and I filled up pitchers to give to the rest of the team who were pouring water into the cups. We also took turns holding signs saying "BYOB" Ahead. Michelle, Coach Watkins' daughter, also helped out with the filling. About halfway through it started raining quite hard, so we were all soaked upon leaving.

Pacific Grove vs. King City

Last night was the last of the football games that we would play at for band. We met at the school at about six, and I was almost late because the computer's clock was off. About a half hour later, we arrived at MPC, by which time it had already become completely dark. We warmed up and went out onto the track, while the JV football team was still playing. The wait took a really long time; what seemed like over a half hour. Finally, it was time to march out and play the national anthem and P.G. Will Shine.

During the first and second quarters, we were completely demolishing King City. At halftime we came down and played three songs: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, Messin' With the Kid, and Mr. Pitiful. Following this was the senior salute, in which all of the seniors in the band did some sort of salute, dance, or other such thing. Roy Chan, a previous scout of Troop 90, probably had the funniest one, in which he got the trombones to play a background while he sang Can't Touch This. When these were done, we played a fourth song, Rescue Me, and then left for free time during third quarter.

A video of us playing Messin' With the Kid taken by Michael Yanoska:


While the halftime show was in progress, a huge blanket of fog began pouring into the stadium, and it felt like it dropped ten degrees. Within ten minutes, you couldn't even see across the field to the King City bleachers. Our music was fogging up so fast it was sometimes hard to read and the pages would stick together.

At the immediate start of fourth quarter we began playing Tequila from the stands. By this time, King City had caught up quite a bit, and soon the score evened out to a tie of 29 to 29. A referee came over and made some comment to Mr. Hoffman that we couldn't play while they were kicking off because it gave PG an "unfair advantage." The game ended with the tie still in place. We didn't get back into town until after eleven.

This was probably one of the most fun games. The only problems were the fact that we had to wear jackets which made it way too hot, and also the abscence of our mascot Billy Breaker.

The Rain Has Come in PG

Finally, for the first time in months, rain has finally come, accompanied by wind and fog. This was perfect weather for Thursday's Cross Country meet against Stevenson, Carmel, and Catalina, in which I beat my last time by about a minute. At long last, this extra hot summer is finally over and winter weather begins.

Significant rain event underway for northern and central California

Low pressure off the northern California coast is pushing rain bands onto the northern California coast by dawn Saturday with a vigorous cold front expected to pass the San Francisco Bay area early Saturday afternoon. The atmosphere turns unstable with the cold-frontal passage and a chance of thunderstorms will develop at that time and continue into the evening hours. Locally heavy rainfall is expected with the frontal passage across the area beginning in the morning in the north bay and extending through the afternoon for the remainder of the central coast. Locally gusty winds and heavy rain will accompany any thunderstorms. Heavy rain may cause ponding on roadways creating hazardous driving conditions.

Concern remains high for the threat of mudslides due to heavy rain expected on the Santa Cruz mountains and Monterey County burn areas. By midnight tonight showers are expected and then persist into sunday morning.

Listen to a recording from yesterday afternoon (mp3)

Homecoming 2008

This last week was homecoming week. Tuesday through Thursday were spirit days which included dress-ups for "Nerd Day," "Robot Day," and "Neon Day." Riley won the school wide Rubik's Cube competition on Nerd Day. On Thursday we had a cross country meet at Toro Park which was very hot and tiring, and I got about the same time as the last Toro meet. Yesterday concluded the week with a pep rally in the gym with music, guest speakers, competitions, and a really random video of a hypnotized Billy Breaker holding all the football players hostage.

After school yesterday was the homecoming parade which we played in for band. We marched down to Pine Street in a straight line while the percussion section played drum cadences and the rest of us did a horn swing with our instruments. Once we got to Pine, we got into the block formation and played alternating school fight songs: PG Will Shine, Go Big Red, and Red and Gold, broken up by a cadence in between each song. We went down to Lighthouse Avenue and then back up to school on Congress.

Today was the homecoming football game against Robert Louis Stevenson School. For the first time, we actually got to stay for the whole game instead of leaving after 3^rd quarter. Before it started, I went over to say hi to Tijmen, who was selling candy and pom-poms with other people from the middle school band. During the game we played the usual Hey Song, Go Big Red, Iron Man, and the other usual stands music. For the halftime show, we played Beethoven's Fifth, Roll Over Beethoven, which the dance team danced to, and Escorpión. Before the second quarter began again, they announced the homecoming king and queen. Our team won 34 to 6 against the Stevenson Pirates, continuing our league winning streak.

Roughrider Invitational

Yesterday for cross country we drove up to Fresno for the Roughrider Invitational in Woodward Park (sponsored by McDonald's, oh joy). I rode in Coach Watkins' van with a group of sophomore boys: Matthew Shonman, Leif Swenson, Alec Guertin, and Peter Sujan, as well as Casey Reeves from my grade. The car ride lasted about three hours, and pretty much all we did was listen to assorted music brought by Alec and Leif. The first thing we listened to was a CD called Shake It Up! With Fruits and Veggies, an album recorded by some LA teachers about eating fruit and vegetables. It was completely absurd and funny in a sick way, with songs such as I Wanna Eggplant and Bananas for Bananas. After finishing that album, we moved onto more sane music such as the Beatles.

When we arrived, we had a couple of hours to walk around and watch the middle school races. The course was only 2.2 miles, but the fact that it was about 90 degrees made it a lot harder. The frosh/soph girls went first, and Isabella got a medal for 17^th place. My race was next, and I got somewhere around 16 minutes. Alex Shramm got 2^nd place.

Once we had time to rest, we drove back down to Los Baños where we ate dinner at a Basque restaurant called Wool Grower's. After dinner we played tag in the park across the street and then drove back to PG, getting back around 8:00.

October Break (Q1 Summary)

After countless weeks without any breaks, October break is finally here.
Here's a summary of how this last quarter has been...

The first quarter so far has been quite difficult compared to middle school, especially with Honors classes and such. Band has been enjoyable although marching is not my favorite. Playing at football games has been nice, especially the night games. Geometry is pretty good, with the normal math class routine observed since 7^th grade, revolving around homework and notes. The homework is not that much and very easy, which is a nice change since in past years about ¾ of my homework has been math. This year, that ¾ is from the Honors English and History classes. English is quite enjoyable during class, and my 1^st quarter base group, Ellis Smith, Jane Rudy, and Mikey Cho, completely owned our group assignments. However, both classes have a ton of homework which often involves worksheets of 10-or-so questions that each have to be answered in a well-developed paragraph without the use of is, am, are, was, were, because, or numerous other words that I previously would use all the time. The History tests are probably the hardest tests I have ever taken.

Biology is very fun; we do many labs and in-class discussions and periodically have "dialogs" where we talk about things like politics. We also go on "nature walks" around the school observing things like deer and acorns. Spanish has a lot of hands-on activities such as the art project we recently did. We just finished swimming in P.E. and have moved on to Ultimate Frisbee, among other things.

An "alternate" picture of our mascot I've seen around the school periodically:

Cross Country @ Pacific Grove

Today was the first of our small cross country meets at home in PG at Rip Van Winkle open space. We went against King City and for the girls Santa Catalina school as well. It was another small meet so all the boys ran together and all the girls ran together, rather than by grade or Varsity and JV. To my surprise, I saw Tijmen's sister Emma there, apparently friends with Coach Watkins' daughter Michelle. The course was 2.4 miles through the shaded dog park area. Despite being a hot day, it was quite cool on the shaded course which was a very enjoyable change. Alex Schramm got first place for boys and Emily Marian got first for girls. Quite a good day for the Breakers.

I didn't bring my camera so I thought I'd put this picture up, of a sign on our Railroad Run put up by a lumber company on the side of their building:

Tomato Plant

This was a project for Spanish today in which we were to reproduce a piece of art done by a Spanish artist. I did Picasso's Planta de Tomate, or "Tomato Plant" (see image at the right). We had the full class period to work on them. I used Prismacolor pencils which are really good colored pencils that are easy to mix with. Unfortunately, we have to present them to the class this Friday. Presentations, I do not like.

The final Tomato Plant picture:

Photoshop Ship

I got the idea for this Photoshop creation from studying slave ships and the Middle Passage in History. I haven't figured out what to call it yet...

PG Invitational

A while ago was the North Tahoe cross country meet, which I was unable to attend, where the team went to Tahoe and stayed with their team and then competed the next day. Last night, the Tahoe team came down to Pacific Grove for the same occasion. We held a spaghetti dinner in the home-ec room and then went to see the movie Eagle Eye as a group at Lighthouse Cinemas.

Today we had our invitational meet, with the teams from North Tahoe, Greenfield, and others. Marching band was supposed to play today at the butterfly parade at the same time, which would have been really hectic trying to make it to both. However, Mr. Hoffman had to make an emergency trip to Orange County, so the event was canceled.

The course went from the high school, around the baseball fields, and into the Rip Van Winkle Open Space. It was a lot easier than other courses because there weren't many hills and the weather was nice and cool. It even lightly rained at one point. There was a race for each gender of each grade. Since we went second out of eight, I spent the next few hours cheering on the rest of our team. There was a snack bar set up with Gatorade, Vitamin Water, bagels, chips, Cup Noodles, and other refreshments. Isabella Fenstermaker and Alex Schramm both got first place in their categories, and Casey and Addison got 4^th and 6^th. My time was about 23 minutes for the 3-mile course.

Cross Country @ Greenfield

On Thursday we had a cross country meet at Greenfield, CA. We left school right after lunch, consequently missing biology, and drove for an hour on the bus. We arrived quite early apparently, so we had over an hour of free time in Oak Park, the location of the start. The course was very challenging and consisted of a levee that went out into the fields with the wind blowing really hard, followed by a sandy hill run. JV and Varsity boys went first, followed by JV/V girls. We got back to the school around 7pm.

Pacific Grove vs. Aptos High School

The next football game that we played at for band was versus Aptos High. Unlike the last game, it was in the day time, which was not nearly as nice as the previous night game. It was a very hot day at MPC, our temporary home stadium, in the upper seventies. Billy Breaker, our mascot, didn't show up unfortunately.

We did just about the same routine as last time, playing stands music for the first three quarters and then leaving. We once again also did the halftime show, in collaboration with the dance team. We played Hold On I'm Comin', Bend Me Shape Me (which the dance team danced to), and School's Out. Unfortunately when we left our team was losing 22 to zero, so it was pretty much impossible that the Breakers could have won.

Toro Invitational I

Addison Miller

At around 2:15 on Thursday our cross country team left school on a bus to Toro for the first of a few Thursday meets. The varsity team went first, followed by the girls and the JV boys, which Michael and I was a part of. We had a while to warm up and watch the other groups go beforehand.

Around 5, it was our turn. The course was 3 miles and very dusty, which made it harder than others. I got about 24 minutes; Michael got 26.