life is crazy

This semester is kind of kicking my A.  I'm taking four classes which is one more than I took last semester and these classes require much more time than the last ones.  Physical Modeling is a two parter: 1) learn interesting digital audio process through math and diagrams 2) Implement in C Sound (or MAX).  The MAX stuff I kind of get, but C Sound is brand new to me and it's ripping me a new one.

Then there's Analytical Techniques II which is a theory course from 1700-1900.  This is a pretty large time frame for only one semester.  We just took the midterm today and it was an analysis of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.1, III Allegro.  We got the piece on Tuesday and of course I wait until this morning at 6 am to start my analysis.  This was cutting it close as the test was at 1 and I had a recording gig at 11-1.  I woke up in a panic and started to get to work.  My brain was fried by the test and he packed a 1:30 hour test in an hour which meant I was writing as fast as I could the entire time (then with a few minutes left I had a pencil malfunction which almost made me run out of time).  Now I am a fast test taker.  I am usually one of the ones to finish first and I rarely change an answer after I answer it.  This test was four questions and I wrote as fast as I could and still was almost last in the class.  So that means my answers were too long or I'm a slow thinker, but that couldn't be it as I was literally writing the entire time with no real thinking.  I think I did well, at least the 'top' grade for this teacher, a B, so I think I'll get a B and be done with it.  But I'm pretty sure I nailed a few questions that the answer was kind of hidden.

My lessons this semester are also less than spectacular.  I am studying with the different guest composers and when I'm not with them I'm with Dr. May.  This has been very troublesome and I really haven't written anything yet.  I'm going to write a mass which is no small task and I'm just so busy that I'm not getting the time I want.

It's going to be a push to get to spring break.  Pauline Oliveros is going to be here and I'm performing in a few pieces of hers.  One is a part of NOVA, our new music ensemble (the fourth class I'm taking) and it's an improv with like 12 other people.  The other (and more scary) are a set of two pieces called "The Well and the Gentle" which I'm performing with the improv group I've been apart of this year (Sarah Summar, Scott Price, and Ben Johansen are all in it).  It's a little exposed with four people, two guitars, sax, violin.  We haven't performed either and we'll be premiering at this concert in front of a lot of people and Oliveros. I'm a bit nervous to say the least!  This is all coming up in the next few weeks.  Crazy time.

God let me make it to spring break.

Debates

This was an interesting debate series by ABC.  This debate was really funny in parts.  Man, people believe stupid things.  This Bishop needs to get off his 'I am damaged by fundamentalism' soapbox, and he has a very small God.  Deepak is an idiot.

Here's my favorite Deepak quote:

'There are forces of creativity and forces of entropy and there's tension between them.  IF you only had evolutionary forces the universe would rapidly burn itself up and disappear into the heat death of absolute zero. If there were only destructive forces the universe would rapidly collapse into a black hole, before you could say 'Jesus Christ'.'  (-5:17) from face-off 9.

-Could he have added any more abstract, BS, quasi-scientific terminology in there.  Why don't you just say 'The universe would implode into an atom moving twice the speed of light in orbit of a blah...blah...blah...'

I'm glad I don't put my faith in science as science only reveals what limited knowledge we know.  I'm not saying that science is bad, science gives us a peek into how God made things work.  But if you glorify the creation (and how it works) and not the Creator, you're focusing on the wrong thing.  The funny thing is, what has science afforded us?  Are we really better off with all our technology?  We still fight, we're not any more 'enlightened' than any other time and God knows we're the most advanced, and we still have many wars.  (I know many will say war is caused by religion and especially people 'in the name of Christ' but people who kill in the name of Christ have a small view of God)  God is good and he wants you to choose Him over this world and yourself.  This is not a lie, that's all he wants out of us.  He wants us to believe Him which really benefits us more than any other thing on this planet (or universe).


Driscoll stepped it up and was calm and sharp.  Nice.
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/

Where's Christ?

A generous segment of today's social and cultural preaching is increasingly Christless. Instead of Jesus, the message is either personal moral fortitude or collective political action. Because this sort of preaching appeals to the fears and emotions of evangelicals, it is commonplace. Thanks to people like James Dobson, Jesus has become the patron saint of any conservative's social and political agenda. While many of these crusaders are doubtless correct on the Biblical worldview, they are also usually too busy getting us to the polls to get us to Christ. 

The Bible is certainly not oblivious to moral issues. The prophetic voices in scripture testify to God's holy concern with how we treat one another, and how justice is exhibited in society. But the key to scripture is always Jesus, not moral or social reform. In some of his most shocking words, Jesus says that there is a comparison that can be made between religion that helps the poor and the Gospel that commands all men everywhere to repent and believe.

Evangelicals are emotionally--and politically--engaged with cultural battles like homosexual marriage and abortion. They have demonstrated substantial growth in their support of ministries of mercy. But some of this political and moral involvement has been at the cost of Christ-centered preaching. "The Crisis"--whatever it might be--is never the point of our discipleship. We are always followers of Jesus.

-Michael Spencer 'Internet Monk'

http://www.internetmonk.com/articles/N/nochrist.html