2/21/2015 – 10:50 – Snowpocalypse 2015 

This picture is from last year’s snowpocalypse but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful

If there’s one thing you should know about how the southeast deals with snow it’s that they don’t. When it does snow everything shuts down until it melts.  School’s been canceled for me for a week for just an inch or two of snow and ‘hazardous road conditions’. So while the northeast is getting hammered with snowstorm after snowstorm and deal with it, we southerns see flurries and believe that the world is ending. Hence Snowpocalypse.

An accurate depiction of a northeastern weather forecast.

I’m not complaining though. It’s been below freezing all week which means that ponds are starting to freeze over. For the first time in about ten years I had the chance to play pond hockey. It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that good (and safe) pond hockey conditions don’t come around too often in North Carolina. So I seized the opportunity, went out and found a public pond this morning and had a nice morning skate before it got too warm. I felt like a kid living in Maine again. It was all very nostalgic, playing hockey with my father and brother on an outdoor pond like I had when I was a kid. All in all this was probably the best snowpocalypse that I’ve experienced in North Carolina yet.

Photographic proof. Let this day live on in the history books.

10/11/2014 – 3:46 – Can you feel the Holiday spirit? Because I can . . .

While most people right now are all geared up for Halloween my mind is already fixated on December. Why is that you may ask? Well, as a instrumental musician its hard to escape the inevitable “Holiday” concert performance. Meaning that for the musicians, Christmas starts earlier than the holiday K-mart commercials. For the past couple of years I have performed in what is called a prism concert during the holidays. Prism concerts are typically characterized by small ensembles being set up in different parts of an auditorium and performances hop around the room.

This particular concert I have performed at multiple times on multiple instruments. But there’s only so much Holiday music that one can handle year, after year, after year (I just might have to drive an ice pick through my temple if I hear Jingle Bells performed one more time). So my ensemble and I have decided to do something a bit different this year with our performance. Since the only requirement for the music is the be winter or holiday themed we decided to arrange a Frozen medley using already existing content on Noteflight. Yep. Frozen.

It beats playing Jingle Bells any day of the week.

If anyone cares to look at what my Bass Clarinet quartet will be performing in December, be my guest: http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/15c97b8060a035fc19bac9fdacf4964118dce8f1

10/04/2014 – 2:49 – NERD BLOCK!!!

My week (month, really) was made when I received my Nerd Block in the mail. What is Nerd Block you may ask?

Nerd Block is a subscription service where they send you geeky themed items in the mail every month. Each month you get 4-6 pieces of geeky merch PLUS a kick-ass geeky shirt. In past months merchandise such as Star Wars plushies, Nerf Guns, and various figurines have been included in the “Classic” Nerd Block.

This is my first month with them and I am not disappointed. I absolutely ADORED everything that I got this month. I cannot express how awesome (for lack of a better word) this service is. Here’s a list of what I got in September’s Nerd Block:

• Blue Superman Figurine
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Paper Set
• Foam Brain Stress Reliever
• Mr. Fantastic Mega Block Character
• Gonorrhea Plushie (My favorite item this month)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Themed T-Shirt

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It’s needless to say that I’m pretty excited for my next Nerd Block. I’m also getting my very first Arcade Block this month, which is a video game themed version of the Nerd Block. I’ll probably put pictures up here when it arrives in November. If any of you want to join the fun and get a Nerd Block just click here.