Well, I've finally come out of hibernation from my ridiculously busy schedule and have decided to update you on how my life here at BSU is going. Needless to say, I'm surprised I have time for a post! Ever since Spring Break, I feel like I haven't had a moment to myself. Whether it be class projects, teaching, or getting ready for the big end-of-year Spectacular show that the University Singers put on every year, I've been nonstop from the moment I wake up til the time I go to bed (which still doesn't seem to be enough time!). I know it's a few weeks past, but I'll post some pictures from my Spring Break in Florida and also put in a little plug for my show. I'll try not to ramble, cuz I have plenty to say!
In short, Florida was absolutely amazing. Need I say more? A week in the sun; over 1000 miles from school, work and reality; being able to visit the happiest place on earth (Disney World, of course!)...it was the relaxing time off that I had needed for quite some time. Even the 18-hour drive down there (of which I drove 14) wasn't unbearable because I knew of the bliss that was to come. Our resort was top-notch; pools, hot tubs, water slides, putt-putt, golf courses, the wildlife...all of it was just too perfect. Even our villa, which wasn't horrible huge, seemed like a mansion for the 8 of us that were there. Excuse me for making it seem like heaven on earth, but you must realize that I've never gone ANYWHERE for a Spring Break before, so for me, it was heaven! Our days mostly consisted of waking up (not to an alarm!), laying by the pool or floating down the lazy river, visiting Disney World's Magic Kingdom, and staying up to all hours of the night playing games like Catch Phrase or What If. Needless to say, it ended up being one of those weeks that seemed to be over before it even started. But it was definitely worth every minute of it! I'll conclude the post with a few shots of this!
But before the pics, here is a little plug for my show. On April 3rd and 4th and 7:30pm in Emens Auditorium (the main performance venue on Ball State's campus), the Ball State University Singers are putting on our annual Spectacular. It's a 2-hour show filled with singing, dancing, lights, a live band...the whole works. Tickets are available at the Emens Box Office, online at ticketmaster.com, or from any cast member! It's kind of sad knowing that this is actually my last Spectacular. I feel that it's affecting me more this year than it did last year when I thought it was my last year (don't ask...long story). Just realizing that returning to the cast is impossible because of my Student Teaching commitment is helping that set in. But it's definitely been a fun four years with the group, and you can expect to see an entire post on our show here in the next week or so. But anyway, if you're around and would like to come see what the University Singers do, please join us in our biggest production of the year! You can also check out our website at www.bsu.edu/univsingers.
Now to conclude...here are some photos from Florida. Enjoy!
Pictures 1 and 2: The inside of our villa (living room into the dining room and kitchen)
Picture 3: Our group in front of Cinderella's Castle. Picture 4: We found Beneficence's cousin in a pizza parlor...Giordano! Picture 5: Going up to the monorail in Disney.
Picture 6: Tyler and myself showing off our mad skills in a Disney shop. Picture 7: Our group with Push, the talking trash can. We were quite the hit! Picture 8: Group pic
Picture 9: Jake and I got Best Dancer pins for bustin' a groove during a Disney Parade. Picture 10: Ellen being attacked by a vicious waterfall on the lazy river. Picture 11: A perfect ending to a perfect week.
I will be in a car with some friends heading down South to warm, sunny Florida for Spring Break. I wish I could say that my previous absence from blogging was because of exciting reasons that I could tell you about, but unfortunately, this is not the case. I was actually just so busy with trying to keep up with my school work that I had no time to do ANYTHING except stay up until 3am most every night to keep up. I even pulled an all-nighter for the first time this semester so I could get my midterm work done. But now, sitting at work and reveling that my Spring Break has started, I'm able to just throw a quick post up.
The biggest news on my end these days is that I'm having to switch where I'm student teaching. I'm no longer going to be teaching at Goshen, so I'm in the process of finding a new school. My first two possibilities are Zionsville Community Schools or Hamilton Southeastern. I will be contacting those departments before I leave for Florida and hopefully I will have some kind of information before we start classes back up in a week. Of course I'm not looking forward to contacting Goshen and sharing the unfortunate news, but woe is life, right?
Other than that, it's been just a busy few weeks that I'm glad are over. Next time you hear from me, I'll be in a much warmer place, lounging by a pool in some amazing resort...*sigh*...like I said, woe is life!
Nothing really...except that I experienced both of them within the past week. I guess now the only thing to do is explain the connection...or lack of one? Whatever...on with the blog.
Now we all know that around this time every year, people go absolutely berserk about getting in shape for Spring Break. Well, this year is no different. I, along with some of my friends, will be traveling to Florida this Spring Break to enjoy a week away from Muncie (where it will probably be either raining, snowing, or just -40 degrees and windy). In my 5 years at Ball State, this is the first Spring Break I actually get to do something fun. My first two I went to Cleveland with the pep band; it was fun, but I missed my whole Spring Break for ONE day in Cleveland...both years. Not fun. The next two years I spent in Pruis Hall working a convention that comes every year. I made the "big bucks," but still...not fun. But now I have something for which to look forward! A week in the sun, by a pool, on a beach, at Disney or Universal...who knows...so many possibilities. Oh yeah, back to the main reason for this paragraph...Weight Watchers. Anyway, a lot of my female friends are doing Weight Watchers in preparation for Florida. Well, I have never cared to change my diet, so my roommate Jake and I thought we'd give it a shot for a week. All week I kept a careful count of what I ate. Some days I was right on target, other days I went over a few points. In the end, what did I gain from this experience? Well, I learned that I love food to much to even attempt to do such a thing again. Not to mention I didn't lose an OUNCE of weight. But I learned to appreciate all those crazy, insane people who have the will power to eat like that all the time. Kudos to you all. Now let me eat my Krispy Kreme donuts...
On with the blog. This past Tuesday night, I was part of a group of University Singers that joined some of the crew of WCRD, Ball State's radio station, in an attempt to spread the word about who we are, what we do, and how people can get involved. 5 of us went down to the station after rehearsal Tuesday night to join David Boulton, host of Radio Sweetheart, for an hour of on-the-air fun. This was my first time ever being on radio, and boy was it an experience. First off, the topic for the night, other than us, was "Drunken Karaoke Favorites," where all the music played was music you would hear at a bar, belted out by your local drunks...very poorly, of course. It was even requested of us to sing on air, so we gave the listeners a preview of one of the songs, "Sweet Home Alabama," guitar solo and all. During our discussions, we got to plug our end-of-year show, Spectacular, talk about the group and how it works, and even talk about some of our favorite experiences. We were even broadcast over a webcam, so listeners could go to the website and watch us during the show. To top it off, near the end of the broadcast, the host attempted to auction me off in the effort to get me a date for the University Singers formal tomorrow night (Saturday). Someone messaged in that they would love to be my date, but did not reveal their identity, so David's attempt was only in vain as I am at the moment, still going stag. But that's ok...it makes it a cheaper night for me! In the end, it was a great experience and one I hope to repeat sometime soon. In closing, here are a few shots of us in the station. Enjoy!
The host David Boulton and Nick Sarantakis The original 4 "on-air" cast members Nathan, myself, Brooke, and Jake
Nathan posing so I could post some individual shots..haha Kate took over for Brooke about halfway through. She wasn't quite ready...
Finally, Nate and myself during the show.
So this post is actually going to cover a few different topics. First off, let's just start with today. This morning I completed the Writing Competency Exam. Now, what this is is an exam to test your writing capabilities before you graduate. It's basically to see if you know how to set up a paper, organize your thoughts, and successfully portray them in your paper. This is required for all students before they can graduate. For me, I think it's a waste of time. Probably every student that attends Ball State goes through at least one English class. In that English class, students probably write papers. I believe that if by the time the student has completed the required English courses, it should suffice. You don't see a "Mathematics Competency Exam" or a "History Competency Exam," so why is there a need to waste our time to have us write one more paper to decide whether or not we can graduate? Sorry for the venting...it just doesn't make sense. If you made it so the student couldn't complete the required English courses until they could write properly, then this test wouldn't be needed. But anyway, I've finished it, it was a cinch, and it's over. Moving on.
Last night was spent as a night out at the opera. I, along with several University Singers cast members, attended Don Giovanni at Emens Auditorium. Though opera is not necessarily the music of choice for many of the cast members, we went to support several of our alumni that participated. One alumnus portrayed the title role, two others were main supporting roles, and still a few could be found in the pit orchestra. I have seen a few operas during my time here at BSU, and this was by far my favorite. I would have to say the only performance that tops this one was when I saw La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York last year, starring none other than Renee Fleming. I went into the performance not knowing too much about this one specifically, but for the cast being of the collegiate level, I was extremely impressed. My congratulations goes out to the entire cast from last night and "break a leg!" to the cast performing tomorrow!
Now for the afore-mentioned topic, Ball State's face lift. Over the past few years, Ball State has seen many facial improvements as well as new construction over the entire campus. There was the fabrication of the Shafer Bell Tower, the renovation of McKinley Avenue, the erecting of the David Letterman Communications Building, a renovation of the Woodworth dining area, the construction of Park Hall...all over a span of around 5 or 6 years. Now, in the past year or so, construction and renovation has taken over Ball State. At the moment, the L.A. Pittenger Student Center, Irving Gym, and the DeHority Complex are all being renovated along with the construction of a new dormitory, North Hall. I've traveled around the campus and snapped a few photos for you so you can possibly see some before and after pictures. Some of the changes are astounding! The campus is absolutely beautiful! Enjoy the photos!
First, we have the completed McKinley Ave. Then we have Irving Gym BEFORE renovations started.
Now Irving DURING renovations. And what it's supposed to look like when it's finished.
Next is the DeHority complex. Here is a before and after picture. (different angle! notice the new, pointed roofs)
Finally, we have the future North Hall. Here are a few angles as they are constructing the complex. This can be found behind the Studebaker Complexes.
So I know I promised that my next blog post would be about the face-lift that Ball State is undergoing, but tonight has been too eventful of a day to pass up, so the face-lift will be next! So, where to begin...
All though I have no classes on Wednesday, it was nice to see that because of the foot or so of snow, all classes were canceled. It gave me a sense of "I'm going to get stuff done" today. I started my day with a meeting with the Director of University Singers and some of my production team members to discuss possible Spectacular poster ideas. After coming up with what we thought was a great idea (if you want to see the idea, just wait til we print them off!), we called it quits so we could begin brainstorming how it would all come together. From here, I decided to make my way to the Health Center...
Now if you come to Ball State, you may hear the Health Center referred to as the "Death Center." It seems like no one on this campus has a good story about their visits. However, I'm here to prove that good can come from this place! I've only been to the Health Center three times during my 5 years here, and each time I've been helped and out of there within an hour; I think everyone else claims to have to wait for HOURS before even seeing a nurse or doctor. Anyway, today I became a guinea pig for science. They couldn't figure out why I was feeling ill because the symptoms were so few and didn't seem to match anything. After a while, the doctor decided to check my stomach and claimed that my spleen and liver were just slightly swollen...so he goes out into the hall and asks every nurse whether they had felt a swollen spleen before; they all said no. So, they all pile into my room and do their own feeling of my stomach so they can experience what it feels like. Each nurse asked "are you SURE this is ok?," and the doctor answered, "of course it's ok...it's for science!" Even after all this testing and guinea pigging, I was still in an out within an hour, so I give a big kudos to the Health Center.
My day isn't over yet. I had dropped my phone off at a Verizon store earlier that day because it had begun to just shut off in the middle of things. At the time, my roommate Jake was driving. I had yet to dig my car out of the foot+ of snow that had fallen. So I go out to dig my car out, and spend a good 10 minutes brushing off all the snow, all the while being entertained by the apartment right next to my car where 2 ladies, who appeared somewhat intoxicated, were belting out and dancing to something on the television...while standing on a kitchen counter. Needless to say, I wasn't bored. After I THOUGHT I had dug out my car, I attempt to leave, only to find myself rocking back and forth slowly. Nevertheless, I slowly began to get out of my parking spot...only to get stuck after about 5 or 6 minutes. Out of nowhere, 5 ladies come sprinting out of the alley and run behind my car, begin to push, and yell "GOOOO!" After about a minute, they were successful in getting my car to the alley that had been at least SOMEWHAT plowed. After rolling down a window and yelling my thanks, I go about my errands. On the way home, I came across a corner where 3 guys were just waiting for cars to get stuck, only to help anyone that needed it. Aren't students on this campus great??
Ok, so I think that about sums up my day off. In the end, I got a few things done, but not quite enough. Oh well, maybe I'll catch back up this weekend...like I always say. Until next time, enjoy the snow, the days off (if there happen to be more), and the blog!
In honor of our official day of the year, the 45th cast of University Singers is putting on a Cabaret Night. I made a special little video for it, but it's not the right type to put on here, so please visit the
University Singers website and check it out! All are welcome to attend!
This post isn't going to be much and I'll have a much more interesting one coming in a day or two, but after watching the inauguration yesterday, something struck my fancy, so I am deciding to post about it...
So as we all know, history was made yesterday. At 12:05pm, Barack Obama was sworn in as the first colored President of the United States. There's nothing for me to say about it that probably hasn't been said before. This post really isn't about Barack...excuse me...President Obama exactly, but about his sidekick, Vice President Joe Biden. Something I find interesting is that President Obama was scheduled to be sworn in at 12:00, not 12:05. Therefore, for that brief five minutes Obama was late being sworn in, wouldn't that make Joe Biden the President?? Not that it's some HUGE dilemma, but I just found it rather interesting. Maybe I'm just way over-analyzing this minute detail, but I felt it needed to be pointed out. My roommate and I were discussing it and we let our imaginations go WILD. We imagined a book or even better yet, a movie being made about how the United States would be taken under siege during that five minutes, and what else could we do but let Joe Biden take the helm. Could prove to be a best-seller...I'll get on that right now.
Anyway, that's all my mind has to offer at this time. Tune in within the next few days and you'll get a real post...a post with substance...a post about Ball State; and how it's growing and getting a face lift. Until then...*salutes*...God Bless America.
Well, the end of the first week of classes is here. And it's COLD. Even without the wind chill, it was a brisk -7 degrees here in good ol' Muncie. Needless to say, walking to classes today was almost painful! The one benefit of the cold weather? My high school is on a two-hour delay tomorrow, and since I'm scheduled to be a sub, I get to sleep in! Anyway, I would just like to share with you what my semester is going to look like this spring.
First off, I'm happy to say that I'm no longer commuting from home; I have an apartment right in the village. This is probably going to prove costly as I live right next to Jimmy John's, the Pita Pit, and Scotty's...no bueno! Maybe I'll be able to gain some self-control this semester...we'll see. Anyway, back to the semester. I have a feeling I'm going to be quite busy this semester. I'm taking an Educational Psychology class, a Teaching Instrumental Music Methods course, either an Economics class or a Religious Studies class (which yet I'm not sure...still in the works), still busy with University Singers, working on campus at Pruis Hall, working as a substitute teacher back home in New Castle, and also choreographing for my high school. On top of that, my puppy Copper is up in Muncie, and let me tell you, it's like having a kid. Constant attention, whether it's playing or going outside. And with it being so cold, I hardly want to spend 30 minutes outside playing, so he has a lot of pent up energy at the moment.
I'm also getting really excited because I realize I have one more semester before student teaching, then I'm DONE. I feel like I've been at Ball State for YEARS...oh yeah, I kind of have. Oh well. It's coming to a close, and I can't wait. I'm excited for this semester and I hope it's a good one. Until next time, au revoir!
why am I so busy?? This past week has been just one thing right after another with class and work and dress rehearsals and performances and Christmas parties...the list just goes on and on. And as my fellow blogger Stephanie wrote, all-nighters have begun. Before I fell asleep this morning around 3am, I had been up for 41 hours straight. Well, minus a quick accidental nap that happened while watching American Idol Season 3 winner Reuben Studdard in "Ain't Misbehavin" last night on the Emens Auditorium stage. While the music was fun, it was a little static to watch, and being sleep deprived, it was only a matter of time before I dozed! But now that I have officially taken my last class and only have 1 final to worry about, allow me to drift back to last week and elaborate (or ramble is more like it...) a bit more on my busy week.
On Monday, I was a wreck. I had my usual rehearsal schedule with University Singers, but I knew I had a test in my Accounting class. I had missed the week before, and since it is a one-night-a-week class, I had no idea how much I had missed. So I spent a good 6 hours Sunday night and Monday studying for this test...come to find that it was probably the easiest test we had taken thus far. Needless to say I was a bit upset that all my studying and anxiety seem to be for nothing. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was a substitute teacher back in my hometown of New Castle. I was an elementary P.E. teacher one day and a middle school General Music teacher the next. Then on Thursday the chaos started. This past weekend we had two Christmas performances, one with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra and one with all the other Ball State choirs. So Thursday was a rehearsal with the MSO, Friday was substitute teaching and a final dress rehearsal with the MSO, Saturday was a dress rehearsal with the choirs until noon, then the MSO performance that afternoon, Sunday was a final run-through rehearsal with the choirs, the actual performance with the choirs, then the annual University Singers Christmas party. By the time the Christmas party arrived, we were ALL ready for that week to be over. The party was filled with secret santa exchanges, caroling, madlib carols, pictures, and most importantly...FOOD. Jan Richard, an original member of University Singers that hosts the party every year, always has the best array of food available. I didn't eat most of the day in preparation for it! Some of us ended up staying until 11pm and probably would have stayed longer if possible. It was just a perfect ending to a hectic week.
As I had let my camera die, I unfortunately have no photos of my own from this week. I don't really like ending blogs without some kind of visual, so as soon as they become available from others, I may steal a few and throw them up here for your enjoyment! As we come to the end of the semester, best of luck to everyone on your finals and have a great Christmas break!
Tuesday night Ball State football finished a perfect 12-0 regular season. Despite the seemingly sub-zero temperatures, over 23,000 people (11,000 of them being students) crowded into Scheumann Stadium, also known as "The Scheu" to watch the Cardinals take on the Western Michigan Broncos. Though the first part of the game was close, by halftime, Ball State had taken over and they didn't look back. Coming back from halftime, the Cards scored twice within 23 seconds thanks to an interception that was taken all the way in for a touchdown. No matter how cold it got, the stadium didn't clear out, and for good reason. It was too important of a game to worry about the weather! With 5 minutes left in the game, the student section cleared out and was down at the fences, ready to charge the field. Being the blogger I am, I stayed in the stands to record. In preparation for the crowds, they had cops surrounding both goal posts because word got out that at least one of them was gonna be taken down if we won. I found out later last night that some students ended up taking down one of the goals on the practice field and threw it in the duck pond! If only I could have caught THAT on film! Anyway, this will be a short post, but here are a few pics from Tuesday night's game. Sorry the video is shaky...but it was cold!! Enjoy!
Format: MOV
Duration: 1:11
Heck yeah. I had planned on using this post to celebrate University Singers' first show in Chesterton, which I will, but I think I'll start the post with even greater news...Ball State staying undefeated upon beating Central Michigan University just a few minutes ago. The second the score was final, even from my seat backstage of Pruis Hall, I could hear the cheers and shouts of joy from outside. The celebration is still going on in the Village as I sit here and type. My good friend Jake told me that two individuals started running through the streets in their boxers! Anyway, despite my lack of general excitement for the sport of football, I have to admit that winning this game was quite exciting and I can't wait to attend the game next Tuesday! So good luck Cards!
So, with the end of that blurb, I will now continue with the real purpose of my blog, the Chesterton show with University Singers. With it being the first show of the year, needless to say excitement was pulsing through the entire cast. The choral director at Chesterton, Mr. Chris Brush, is a University Singers alumnus, so it was nice to meet back up with him and get a chance to tour the newly-built school and auditorium. There's not really too much I can talk about, so I'll leave it to the pictures to do the talking. The one thing I can say is that this is officially my last first performance with the group as a glee club member; next year is student teaching, so this is it! *cue emotions that I already went through last year* Enjoy the pictures!
1) Unloading the set...that piece is called "Booger" 2) I can't believe it's my last-first performance! 3) Our Assistant Company Manager struttin' her stuff down the hall
4) That's me opening the show! 5) A shot from our first number. 6) The guys during "Cool Water"
7) Us in our ever-famous "A Position" 8) Rockin' out during the show. 9) Myself and Jan (Singers Alum) sporting the new track suits
10) Ryan sporting HIS track suit... 11) Not only do we sing and dance, but we take awkward photos too! 12) A group of Singers avoiding tear down!
1st time at a Ball State football game. As a student section cheerer, that is. That's right...I said it. 5 years at Ball State, and the game this past Wednesday against NIU was the first one I've attended as a spectator. Sure for three years I was part of "The Pride of Mid-America" marching band and attended all games then, but my junior year was gameless, as was my 5th year...until now! I've never been one to sit in front of the TV for hours watching sports or even sitting in the bleachers for hours for a game. But after several threats from my friends, I gave in and decided to go. I'm not sure if it was the thrill of knowing our past record against NIU wasn't the best...or the fact we totally crushed them...or maybe both...whatever it was, I don't think I've ever had so much fun at a sporting event! And of course, I took my handy-dandy new camera to document it. Unfortunately, I didn't make sure it was charged before I went, so it made it through halftime then died. However, I still do have some photos for you to enjoy. Nothing too exciting as everyone has seen photos from a football game...but they are exciting for me!
Along with that, University Singers had their first "mini" show this past Friday at the Delaware County Country Club. We were invited by Dr. Kvam, the Dean of the College of Fine Arts. With no room to move around, it was a nice "stand-and-jive" kind of performance with around 100+ in the audience. Though they thoroughly enjoyed it, it was far from our best work, unfortunately. I wasn't able to get any photos from this, but do look for my next post as I will be blogging about our first major show. On Saturday, we are traveling to Chesterton to perform in their high school auditorium. If you happen to be in that area, the show begins at 7:30pm I believe. Not sure about tickets as they will set the price for those. Nonetheless, we are all excited to be able to do our first show!
In closing, here are some pics from the game. Enjoy!
Pic 1: Me and Lindsey (fellow University Singer) Pic 2: The football team taking the field Pic 3: What's a football game without the marching band?!
Pic 4: Each time we score, we find a victim and throw them in the air for each point we have. (and that's my hand...the black blob...I was wearing bear claws)
Pic 5: The most embarrassing field goal attempt ever. Pic 6: When we have the opposing team at a third down, the student section chirps!
Take Me Out to the Ball Game?? Now you might be thinking, "What in the world do THOSE things have in common?" Well, allow me to explain...
Near the beginning of October, the University Singers were asked to take part in a project that was being put on by the Teacher's College here at BSU. The Teacher's College do these things called EFTs, or Electronic Field Trips. This particular EFT was taking them to Cooperstown, New York, to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." The purpose of this EFT was that a live broadcast was planned for October 21st to help educate students on how music has evolved throughout those 100 years of this song's existence. Well, they came to us, University Singers, and asked if we could help them out with that aspect of it. We were asked to arrange and record the song in four styles: the original vaudeville-esque style, big band/jazz, rock and roll, and a modern/hip-hop/R&B/rap version...but with one condition...we had around 2 weeks to do it all. Now, for those of you familiar with music and recording, you know that recording alone can take weeks to lay down the tracks and do all the editing. So from the get-go, we knew we were pressed for time. To help out, the director asked for help in arranging the pieces. I stepped in and said I'd take care of the rock and roll version. Our alto sax player, Sean Sumwalt, took the jazz while our lead technician, Trevor Frohberg, took the rap version.
Knowing the time commitment, we all knew it was time to put everything else aside and focus on this. We were to do the song as a "chorus-verse-chorus" arrangement. Now, how many people know the verses to the song? Yeah, neither did we. So we did some research, found lyrics and recordings, and got to work. I decided to keep it simple and just do vocals with the rhythm section (piano, guitar, bass, drums). Never having done an arrangement outside of just doing one for fun or for a theory class, I knew this was going to be an undertaking.
When it was time for recording, we brought the band in first and laid down the instrumental track. This was a lot of fun as I played the piano for my arrangement. It's nothing amazing as my piano skills are barely more than basic, but it's still cool knowing that it's me...ya know? Anyway, the band tracks were laid down wonderfully and it only took about 6 hours for 2 tracks...the original was strickly piano that would be done the same day the vocals were recorded and the rap version contained no real instruments. The vocal recording lasted just as long, but each voice part got 1-1/2 hours to do their 4 recordings. The ladies came in and got their work done...the guys on the other hand, had a bit more fun with it. This was also a lot of fun for me because not only did I sing with the tenors, but one of the basses was out with a previous engagement, so I got to step in for him and sing bass for the recordings too! Once the vocals were done, our technicians had just a few days to do the editing and get a finished product ready. Trevor Frohberg, our lead technician, was in the studio until 6:30am the day it was all due.
As this post is becoming kind of long, I'll get to the fun part...the media. Below are several pictures and a video from the recording session. I hope you enjoy!
P.S. The audio and video files are currently not working. Check back in a few days and I will have both a video and audio from our recording sessions!
Javier settin' up the piano room Trevor at the main board Lindsey is here and ready
The alto section Our bassist, Angela The horn section
Ellen, never paying attention Some of the basses getting a level check in the headphones The tenors listen in on a take
So you may notice something different about my blog. Yeah, it's different. I've set a new theme for my blog since it's been the same since I started it last year; I thought it would be best to give it a new look. Anyway, I'm not here to post about how amazing my blog looks. I'm actually here to tell you about Homecoming 2008: Red, White & U. Ball State's Homecoming happened a few weeks ago, but I'm just now finding time to tell you about it.
As I said above, the theme for this year was "Red, White & U." I believe this was the theme for multiple reasons. I think the general idea was that because it is an election year, they played off a theme of "Red, White and Blue." HOWEVER, I think it's nice and convenient that our school colors are red and white. So in my eyes, the theme was a nice double entendre. Nonetheless, on with the blog. For University Singers, homecoming week is always a busy week for us as we take the week seriously. Just to get an idea, University Singers has won the overall homecoming award (the Ashley Award) six of the past eight years. Being in charge of it this year, I felt the pressure to keep that tradition alive. We unfortunately didn't win overall this year, even though our participation was higher than usual and our category wins were multiple. Monday night was Opening day activities. As this was also Talent Search tech night, a lot of our people were unable to make it because of the tech rehearsal running late. In the end, our teams were defeated in the first round of each category; not the best start to our homecoming week! Monday night concluded with a huge bonfire on LaFollette field. Tuesday night, we started picking up steam. We had 4 acts competing in the annual Talent Search in Emens Auditorium. From what I remember, the crowd was just over 1,100 people, the largest crowd in several years for this. I was in two groups: Insomnia, a band led by University Singers alum Adam Hendrickson, and we performed Bohemian Rhapsody where I played the tenor saxophone; and Cardinal 5, my a cappella group, and we performed the jazz chart Fever. Kyle Affolder, the piano player for University Singers, won his category of instrumental with his rendition of a piece titled "All of Me," which included some arm banging and even some head banging on the piano.
Wednesday was a down night as we had rehearsal. But the events for that night were Touch the Tower, where teams of two gathered around Schafer Tower and had to perform certain acts with arms linked and one partner's hand always touching the tower. This was a new event for this year and I really wish I could have experienced it. The other event for the night was Music on McKinley, where bands come and play for the enjoyment of the spectators. Now comes the biggest event of homecoming week, Air Jam. Once again, Emens sold out for this event. Air Jam is a lip-sync contest where groups strut their stuff on stage. Our group had an amazing performance and you can see it here. After the performances, Homecoming Royalty was announced...and our king candidate, Trevor Junga, won! I believe this is the first time in homecoming history that a University Singers member won, so there was much excitement in the crowd from us. Friday consists of what we call Bed Races. For Bed Races, teams of 4 pushers and 1 rider take on other teams while racing down Riverside Avenue on dorm beds. This year, the University Singers guy's team AND the University Singers girl's team dominated the competition, taking first in their categories. We even did it while dressed for school spirit! And of course, what is homecoming week without a parade and a football game. Both of these were on Saturday. For University Singers, our day started at 5:30am. Yeah, BEFORE dawn. It was early. But we moved our float to the parade site and ended up winning best float for our category for the second year in a row! My puppy Copper even joined in the parade fun. I unfortunately didn't go to the game as I had literally pulled an all-nighter getting the float ready for the parade. Needless to say, I could barely keep my eyes open by the time the parade was over.
Overall, it was a very successful week. I am, however, glad it is over. It's amazing how stressful such a week can be! I'm going to conclude this post with several various pics so you can get an idea of the events I mentioned above. I hope you enjoy them!
Welcome, bienvinedos, bienvenue, wilkommen!
For those of you that are just now tuning in, welcome; to all of you who might be returning to my blog from last year, welcome back! My name is Luke and I am a 5th-year Senior (yes, that means I'm old) Music Education major with minors in Vocal Performance and French. As I said, this is my second year as a blogger for Ball State. Upon my return, I am also the blogging coach for this year's group. With this first blog, I would like to do just a little introduction about who I am and what I do and, if you're a returning reader, a RE-introduction in case you forgot!
I hail from New Castle, Indiana, where I have lived for just over 14 years now. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia many years ago. After living in a few cities around good ol' GA, my family packed up and moved to Kansas for a 1-1/2 years. From there, we moved here to Muncie for a year, then on to New Castle. I have a rather large family consisting of 4 sisters, 3 brothers, 1 brother-in-law, 1 nephew, and 2 nieces. I recently helped increase those numbers by getting a puppy, Copper, who might as well be a kid. Copper is a Lab mix (they weren't sure what the dad was, but I'm pretty sure it was a beagle) and he's about 4-1/2 months old. I have included a picture at the bottom of when I first got him. I would include a more recent picture, but shortly after I got him I might have accidently thrown my camera into a lake, so I am currently without a camera.
To keep busy, I currently have 5 jobs (other than being a blogging coach). I work at an on-campus building, Pruis Hall, which is one of Ball State's performance halls. I also substitute teach, teach choreography, and help out with my old high school marching band. I am also part of an a cappella group called Cardinal 5. This group is hired to do gigs in various places around the state, traveling as far as Evansville with the President of Ball State. We were most recently selected to be in the finals of a talent search during Homecoming week here at BSU. Amongst all this, I also save room for an accounting class and my all-time favorite time consumer, the Ball State University Singers. This is my fourth and FINAL final year with the group. Last year I said it was my last, but the new director gave me a call before classes started and said he had a spot open, offered it to me, and I accepted, thus coming out of alumnus status and prolonging my time with the group (and I couldn't be happier!). With the group, I also run their blog, so feel free to check it out here! If, after all those, I still have some free time, I spend it with friends or arranging music.
Enough about school, so on to my favorite topic, traveling. I LOVE to travel. Up until my junior year of college, I had never traveled abroad; now I can't get enough of it! In the past 16 months, I have visited France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, and Mexico. I was scheduled to be in Australia this semester, but that unfortunately didn't work out. However, a fellow blogger of mine is blogging from Down Under this semester, so feel free to check out her blog here. As for future plans of travel, I have none at the moment. However, I know that someday I want to visit Russia, Italy, and I have to find my way back to Paris so I can spend more than just a week there.
Well, in a nutshell, that is who I am. Throughout the year, I hope that you get to know me and my life a little better as well as the university. If you ever have a question about me, the university, or just life in general, don't hesitate to leave a comment! I am more than glad to assist with any questions you may have! The first pic is obviously my puppy, Copper. Pic #2 is of me, pic #3 is of the Ball State University Singers during one of our shows (I'm there in the center wearing blue), and the final pic is of my family (minus the puppy and the brother-in-law). Until next time, enjoy the following pictures!
