2011

My last duet of the year, recorded December 31, was Elmer Bernstein's simplified arrangement for his theme from To Kill A Mocking Bird. It was very satisfying to be finally able to - after 18 months of playing piano - take a crack at a piece by one of my favorite composers, albeit a simplified arrangement:

A special thank you to Prof. Desmond Wee for inviting myself and James Turnbull to give a special lecture to his Sociology students. James spoke about sexual imagery in Korean advertisements and I spoke about cults and in particular the JMS cult, the subject of my other website:

Ever since I first encountered the JMS cult back in 2003 I have always wanted to give a presentation on the subject, so it was with particular relish and enthusiasm I prepared my presentation which ran way overtime as a result^^. But the feedback was all very positive with most students hearing about JMS for the first time.

Thursday, December 1: December began with a quick chest, shoulders, and triceps workout after work. With a presentation on cults to prepare for Saturday my gym time was severely and unfortunately limited.

Monday, December 5: Back exercising after an enforced break due to that cult presentation which went well but left me exhausted! An intense and heart-pounding cardio workout between work and Korean class:

Tueday, December 6:  A quick twenty-minute legs and core workout after work.

Wednesday, December 7: A quick twenty-minute back, lats, traps, and biceps workout that left me very very sore the next day.

I began the month by listening to John Williams' 1999 score for the first Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace. Perhaps one of the most anticipated scores in movie history, which unlike the horrid film it was written for, fulfilled all expectations with several stunning new themes, numerous new motives, and references to much-loved themes written for the original trilogy. Here's Mr. Williams talking about his return to the Star Wars universe 18 years after his last visit: 

I'll never grow bored of playing music^^.

Tuesday, November 1: I started exercising before the month of November was 7.5 hours old. It was hard to get up early after a long day in Seoul yesterday, but I managed to do just that and I arrived at the gym on campus just after 7 a.m. for a pretty good all round weights session in which I exercised my thighs, hamstrings, calves, sides, abs, lower back, back, traps, lats, and biceps.

Wednesday, November 2: Up early again and at the gym by 7:15 for a 4.5 kilometer treadmill session which included a lot more jogging than usual:

October 1 - 9: Music wise, October began on the treadmill with one of my favorite Bill Conti scores to help pass the time. Not Rocky, although I do love that score, the score I listened to was the very innocent, lyrical, and joyous The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993). It's been a long time between drinks, but it was nice to hear those refreshingly clear melodies again.