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.

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:

Cinnamon Crêpes

These cinnamon crêpes were an extremely tasty dessert. We used vanilla soy ice cream (Trader Joe's Soy Creamy) instead of the frozen yogurt. Using just the batter without the filling makes a great breakfast as well.

Ingredients
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp. light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1½ cups low fat milk
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup low fat vanilla frozen yogurt
• 1½ cups frozen unsweetened berries, thawed
• Powdered Sugar (optional)

Preparation
• Blend eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, and oil on low.
• Slowly add flours ½ cup at a time.
• When the batter is the consistency of heavy cream, pour into a bowl.
• Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.
• Coat an 8-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Place over medium heat.
• Pour ¼ cup batter in the pan and spread with a spatula into a 6-inch circle.
• Cook crêpe until lightly browned and crispy on the edges (about 30 sec.)
• Flip with spatula and cook until second side is light brown (about 30 sec.)
• Repeat with the remaining batter, respraying between each crêpe.
• Spread 2 tablespoons frozen yogurt on each crêpe.
• Add about 3 tablespoons of berries.
• Roll up and serve with powdered sugar if desired.

Makes about 4 servings.

Baked Shrimp Scampi with Rice

Our Thanksgiving main course was this baked shrimp casserole with white rice.

Ingredients
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups rice
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3½ to 4 cups vegetable broth
• ¾ tsp. salt
• ¾ tsp. pepper
• 1¼ pounds large shrimp, shelled
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 3 tbsp. chopped parsley
• 3 tbsp. fine unseasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Cooking spray

Preparation
• In a large saucepan, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the rice, 2 tablespoons of the butter, 3½ cups of the broth, and ½ teaspoon each of the salt and pepper.
• Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
• Uncover the rice and allow any excess broth to boil off, and add some water if the rice seems dry.
• Cover and cook until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and keep covered.
• In a large nonstick skilled, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes.
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the wine, lemon juice, and remaining ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook until the shrimp are just opaque, about 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle the shrimp with the parsley and bread crumbs, and cook for 1 minute.
• Pour mixture into a casserole dish and top with Parmesan and bread crumbs. Spray top lightly with cooking spray to prevent burning.
• Cook at 450º until lightly browned on top, for about 6 to 8 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Tomato and Eggplant Bulgur Wheat Salad

This was our appetizer for our Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Ingredients
• 1 cup bulgur wheat
• 1 eggplant, thinly sliced
• 5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• Salt and Pepper
• ½ cup basil leaves, torn

Preparation
• Heat broiler.
• Cook the bulgur according to package directions.
• Arrange eggplant slices on 2 baking sheets. Brush both sides with a total of 3 tablespoons of the oil.
• Broil the eggplant 1 pan at a time until brown, 2-3 min. per side.
• Transfer into a large bowl. Stir in tomatoes, vinegar, remaining oil, ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper. Fold in the basil.
• Transfer the bulgur into a large bowl and top with the mixture.

Makes about 4 servings.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving I went on the Turkey Trot in cross country with Alex Schramm, Alec Guertin, Peter Sujan, and Leif Swenson, as well as my mom and stepdad Brian. I ran/walked from the school to the aquarium and back, which turned out to be about 8 miles. When we got back we began work on the Thanksgiving dinner. Rather than the usual Thanksgiving menu, we had a shrimp scampi casserole (▶), a tomato eggplant salad (▶), and cinnamon crêpes for dessert (▶). After dinner, we watched House and Survivor.

Speed Bump by Dave Coverly

RE: Asilomar Sunset

Here's another neat photo I took tonight at the boardwalk near Asilomar State Beach.

Photoshop Cat

This is a cat I made on our Mac G4 about a month ago, in Photoshop 6.0. It was a pretty simple design, using basic shapes, with the shading done using the dodge and burn tools.

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.

Asilomar Sunset

This evening I got these nice shots of the sunset on Asilomar State Beach.

Obama Victory!

Huzzah! After nearly two years of campaigning, Obama will be the next president!

In Biology yesterday we had the election coverage on, and I kept watch of it after school as well. In the middle of our movie, we switched to NBC News to the sound of loud cheering and the headline BARACK OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT. After the news was announced, McCain did a speech (▶) recognizing Obama's victory that I thought was very gracious despite the booing from his audience every time he mentioned his rival's name. Following was Obama's acceptance speech (▶). The final electoral votes were Obama 349 and McCain 147.

Jack-o'-lantern

A bit late, but we finally got around to carving a Jack-o'-lantern for Halloween:

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)