rdm_ation

Second post in a couple of days, I guess I am back.

Today I went to see The Lion King in 3D with harpisan. Damn, I love that movie so much. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the 3D stuff, we went in spite of it not for it. Which gives us hope that the 3D version of Finding Nemo that is being released next year will also be awesome.

Despite having seen the movie many, many times, I still manage to forget how fricking adorable baby Simba is. Also noticed lines that I never have - the pun on 'lion around' made us lose it. How have I never noticed that one?! also new injoke things made me giggle madly at slimy-yet-satisfying, don't ask
Oh, and Scar is the sassiest, most sarcastic villain ever and I have never appreciated that as much as I did today. Heh.

Then, it was a mad run back to my teacher's house to get forms signed (oh yeah my day started off by me realising I'd misread times and so everything was pushed an hour and a half later oops), and then home to try and accomplish far too much in the space of 3 hours. I got most of what I needed to done, I just ran out of time to practice. Oops.
That reminds me I still need to sing through my pieces to time them.

Then, it was onto the last dress rehearsal for the production of Bye Bye Birdie I'm playing for at the moment. It hit me last night, during the run, that this musical is quite literally about fangirls. Set in the 50s. Some things really don't change and it amuses me far more than it probably should. The music is so much fun to play. SO MUCH FUN. And most is not too difficult, except for the bows (which I basically rewrote a part because I physically could not play it at tempo, and my brain was refusing to process reading every second note). Also the band people are awesome. One reminds me so much of a friend from uni, it's ridiculous. a slightly more straight-passing version of him anyway

And now it's nearly 11:30, and I wish I could just crash in bed but alas I still have things I need to do. Bugger.
Night all!
Rdm

 Ah Tom Lehrer you are amazing and awesome and I'm not sure how I've HAD an album of yours for months and months and hadn't listened to it until tonight.

( The things that amuse my muso mind... )

What I actually *did* today was work (teaching job) and then rushing to this mini concert thing they were putting on in order to support my students (one way to make me feel like a real teacher...) but managed to be too late to see them play. Sadface. She said it was 'okay' though, which coming from this student means she was probably totally fine XD

It's interesting listening to the standard of the other students. Pretty common music school concert, some were terrible (nerves or poor teaching you never really know), some were decent, and there were one or two that screamed 'so much potential'. Pity that the one that jumped out at me as 'she could be amazing' had a shocking bowhold (DOES NO ONE ELSE TEACH PEOPLE TO BEND PINKIES GEEZ), and will need to change teachers to improve much more. Which knowing the way these things work, she may not any time soon. Which makes me kind of sad, tbh. I think the piano teaching is much more consistent, there were some pretty good piano students.

Then it was me driving all the way home, dropping off my violin, and then jumping on the train back into the city to go watch my friend, B, sing his first solo jazz gig. He has such a gorgeous (countertenor) voice, it was a perfect way to unwind. I've been wanting to hear him sing for a while. He's also adorable. although I will never not find it amusing how many 'effeminate gay male' stereotypes he fits. never. he just doesn't give a shit either which is part of what I love about him

I actually teared up at one point. Oh and apparently we're doing a 'fancy afternoon tea' because we managed to miss each others' 21sts and haven't actually caught up in a few months. <3

That's all, folks.
Rdm

 She apparently randomly speaks in third person.

( Real life? )


( Lauren's music 101 )

 Guys guys guys, my technical exam is DONE!! It went so much better than expected, so I can relax a bit now. I have one more exam on Friday and then a month of delicious freedom.

I've gotten fairly slack with lj-posting, I will probably remedy that once I'm properly on break.
Since my last freak-out post over violin I:
- finally got off my arse and did some serious practice
- skyped pebblegosling  multiple times
- decided that I am taking the year off practical violin next year, and I won't go back on that now. I need a break from the stress it causes, and need time to settle into a proper routine
- put together my Esmeralda costume for the Disney-themed party I'm going to on Friday (I'll post a pic if I remember!)
- have bought myself clothes for the first time in ages
- finally paid off all those insurance claims
- spent a lot of time on tumblr and reading fanfic (including RPS for a movie I haven't seen - sign of good writing, right there)
- had a couple of good shifts at my teaching job
- taken my violin in to get a couple of niggling things fixed, of course, as soon as I physically *can't* play it, I wanted to

Last night was so much fun. I went to see Bell Shakespeare's production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' with snuggle_monster  and thalia03  and it was ridiculously funny. I honestly haven't laughed that hard in a long long time. My stomach hurt for ages afterwards. Beatrice was so good, so acerbic but still came across as not entirely bitter, Benedick was freaking hilarious because instead of putting on the overly formal accent a lot of actors do in Shakespeare he still had this almost-Bogan Aussie accent... took me a little while to warm up to it but once I did it was hilarious. The use of music was great, random assortments of instruments and awesome vocal harmonies - so good. So much of what made me laugh was physical humour, so it's not all stuff I can remember or describe now. Although one thing that cracked us up so much was the way Don John and his cronies were characterised - as mafia-type guys. The way the guy who played Don John was SO much like Rowan Atkinson's way of playing Mr Bean, we were in hysterics at points because of that.

I'd forgotten how much I love some of the more sappy dialogue in this play. 'I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest' <3

The ending was the single most appropriate way I could ever have thought of to finish that play. Basically, everyone is coupled off, embracing, and it's a really sappy affectionate moment. Cute. Lights dim except for on Beatrice and Benedick, as he reaches down and grabs her arse. Audience as a collective group: awwww.... HAHAHA XD

Today, thalia03 and I started studying for our English exam on Friday, watching Endgame and writing notes on poetry, interspersed with parts of movies and watching bits of Spring Awakening on youtube. The cast list for our uni's production went up the other day, and we were highly amused/surprised that the guy I kind of sort of have a mini crush on in English is in it. How do I spot the musos/musical theatre people in a LIT class?! Even for my instincts that's ridiculous.
We now have a plan to talk about Spring Awakening obnoxiously before the exam and try to draw him into conversation. Comfort zone, I am leaving you. Yep.

I think that's enough now!
Rdm

 I've been a bit slack with proper posting here lately, I apologise. I've gone a little tumblr-crazy, as well as actually having some form of social life. Insane right?

( Update! )

 I am happy to report that I am feeling much much better after a couple of decent night’s sleep (damn it Dad, why must you be right?! XD) Between yesterday’s study session (which was fun, after all yay!) and my productivity today I am not feeling quite so worn down.
True, I still have a lot left to do – but I’ve finished all my homework tasks for the week, and so can focus on all these pesky assignments. I also managed to get in about 2 hours of really good practice in so I am really happy with myself atm.

( Study and real life )

 I've been resisting posting all day, so I can actually get some work done, but I've had a really productive day and this is now my break.

This Klaine video is so beautiful. I love it.
It won't let me embed it, but watch it here.

The past few days have been pretty crazy, really. What with study, work, practice, and then heading to sine_animo's place for a sleepover last night I've been so busy. Great though.

A few points, to make this quick:
1. Planning out my practice helps. A lot. I've gotten a lot done in a short amount of practice time! Efficiency win =D
2. This muscle relaxation thing is AMAZING. I can never get my brain to switch off, normally, and when I do these exercises I drift off to sleep about 5 minutes after finishing. I haven't felt so well-rested in a long time.
3. Hanging out with sine_animo is epic. 

On that last point, here is a sample of what we did.

We squeed and fangirled like crazy over Glee. Again.

We watched Hercules. Some of the lines in that movie are SO amusing, and would have flown straight over my head when I was younger. Like this:


Epic win call of the night though, goes to sine_animo for 'cockblocking cloud'. At the end, when Hercules and Meg are kissing a random cloud comes and takes them away.
(it also wins the award for most real-looking Disney kiss ever. just saying)
A lot of Hades' lines are briliantly sarcastic and amusing too.
Then, we headed out to her spa and had a playlist of Darren Criss, Glee, and random other loves of ours. So good. Apart from entertaining her god-sister for a while (she's 8 and needs attention like she needs air), we had the chance just to talk. About anything and everything.

Then it was rewatching the 'Sexy' episode of Glee, and then I had my mind totally blown.
When I was a little kid, the only places I would watch movies were at my two sets of grandparents' houses. At my mum's parents house, I would watch all manner of Disney movies. At my dad's parents' house, I would watch 'The Swan Princess'. Over and over and over. I loved that movie to pieces.
I was informed last night that Jean-Bob, ie the epically funny frog, was VOICED BY JOHN CLEESE. WHAT IS THAT?!
So naturally, after that revelation we HAD to watch some of it. I want to rewatch that movie so freaking much now. As a parting gift, here is a song from it that I just found, it was always one of my favourites. I still haven't found the turtle's amazing 'friends call me speed' line. DO WANT.


Rdm

PS. This made me laugh hysterically when I got home.

 LOVE


*melts into a puddle*

( Less flail, more real life )

   I've tried to post a few times over the last couple of days, but they didn't seem to flow very well so I kept giving up. I hope this one is better!

( Uni life is amazing sometimes )

( SPAM SPAM SPAM )

I have two more videos for you now. I am utterly addicted to this song. Their voices blend so well together, and I'm really starting to get into Charlene Kaye's music. To give you an idea, I had this song on repeat basically all of yesterday. Which is kind of huge for me...
Lastly, this is a song I adore by Sara Bareilles. She's just released this video for it, and it's so cute. I love that it's so many random people, and that Josh Groban and Ben Folds are in it. WIN WIN WIN!


On that note, I am going to collapse into bed. I made this post twice, because lj is full of fail sometimes.
Rdm

 Day 1 of new job - interesting. New place, new faces, new environment.

I can officially say I am a violin teacher! This makes me insanely happy. It really does. I love it. The kids were all so sweet (really big range of ages too) and most of them have been playing for at least a little while and getting decent sound out - so I don't have to start from scratch with many of them at all. Which is nice, I have to admit.
I also love how unthinkingly honest kids can be. There was one girl, who is 8, who essentially told me she liked me better than the last teacher she had. It was really cute - and I had to be careful just to say 'thank you' and not laugh.

It was a bit odd though, I spent half of the day sitting around because students didn't show up. I'm not complaining too much though, I'm pretty sure I still get paid... =D
Next time I'll bring my own practice to do though.

I'm now off to a coworker's 21st, actually, and I hope it'll be good. I'm fairly tired though so we'll see.
Rdm