So yeah. No scroll button. Continuing from "wh"... which he is. A squirmer. Saturday or sunday brett kate and the little guy come over to moms and we visted for a while which was great. I got to hold the little guy which was great and I got to see some family friends in town moving C into an apartment downtown because she started an internship where? SECOND CITY! Awesome!
anyway... saw Hubi Skittels and the rest of the crew had some laughs had an emotional breakdown that I was hoping was gonna get overlooked but didn't and all in all had a great weekend last weekend. Next week ill be travelling again on the company's dime to watch the utter horror that my old teams and the other teams from Puerto Rico, California, and other great volleyball areas will put my guys team through. It'll be fun and scary. But hey the company is putting me up in the downtown hyatt for three nights.
Buck
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Coon hunt?!?!
So this is going to be my first attempt at updating this bad boy from my new fancy dancy phone. Forgive any spelling errors as this modern technology assumes I am an idiot and didnt mean to spell what I spelled. Since...March you might have gotten the impression that I am dead in a ditch or have joined a cult or some other apocalyptical catastrophe occurred. I am pleased to say that I was not taken during the fake rapture nor do I think I will be in October. (Thief in the night folks.) That being said I am still truckin' along like I seem to always be.
Let's see since March two of my volleyball teams completed their seasons with the last team ending in a week and a half. The 13 year olds did great and in retrospect were my favorite team to coach. They finished third in the region which is no small feat. Granted Iowa is its own region when it comes to club volleyballBUT there were roughly 300 teams there. Not. To. Shabby. The 17s were a different story altogether. First day of regionals they didn't even show up to play mentally and were summarily destroyed which left us fighting just to place. We didn't. Parents explode at me players are crying and there I stand trying to make the lie of "we had a good season and it isn't over yet we still have a tourney in June", sound good. Some of the more coniving parents try to take me to the side no doubt to bludgeon me to death with whatever they can find for not being an amazing coach; and I just has to say to each of them in turn in my grown up voice and the look that all parents and teachers give as a warning...No. Now is not the time. It has been emotionally draining for all of us and I'm going to see if any other coaches need an extra set of eyes.
That probably wasn't the best thing to say but I feel that I did a great job of censoring myself. Two or three weeks after that come to find out that the parents were planning a coup that was spoiled because of people that are decent. Some wanted to take the girls to the last tourney without myself or Curt which would have ment they were not a USAV sanctioned team and therefor inelligible to play. (Not real smart). Some of the parents had younger daughters that I coached either this year or last and know my style and mannerisms fairly well and we get along great; we've shared some beverages together after tourneys seen the girls play during school season... those parents alert Club Management and it became a battle royals the likes of which I hope I never see again. Well that's not fair as I didn't see this one,just the aftermath. Long story short troublemakers are elsewhere now never to be allowed even pa tryout the good ones are playing up on a different sister team and I didn't have to drive to the dells.
Which leads nicely into Tristram AKA bass. The weekend I was supposed to be in WI I spent back home holding and visiting my freshly birthed nephew. I got a text message that woke me up at quarter to four in the morning from mother saying that my sister was giving birth. I was very happy very confused and still mostly asleep. I rolled over and addressed what I could 360 miles from the action. An hour later on the way to work I start texting mom for updates and started filling dad in as I assumed no one else at the time was. After the announcement of the lifts guy dad asked if I spelled the name right and I soar yes with the caveat I would be calling him bass. He asked why which my reply was "cause I've caught bigger fish and he looks like a squirmer. " wh
Let's see since March two of my volleyball teams completed their seasons with the last team ending in a week and a half. The 13 year olds did great and in retrospect were my favorite team to coach. They finished third in the region which is no small feat. Granted Iowa is its own region when it comes to club volleyballBUT there were roughly 300 teams there. Not. To. Shabby. The 17s were a different story altogether. First day of regionals they didn't even show up to play mentally and were summarily destroyed which left us fighting just to place. We didn't. Parents explode at me players are crying and there I stand trying to make the lie of "we had a good season and it isn't over yet we still have a tourney in June", sound good. Some of the more coniving parents try to take me to the side no doubt to bludgeon me to death with whatever they can find for not being an amazing coach; and I just has to say to each of them in turn in my grown up voice and the look that all parents and teachers give as a warning...No. Now is not the time. It has been emotionally draining for all of us and I'm going to see if any other coaches need an extra set of eyes.
That probably wasn't the best thing to say but I feel that I did a great job of censoring myself. Two or three weeks after that come to find out that the parents were planning a coup that was spoiled because of people that are decent. Some wanted to take the girls to the last tourney without myself or Curt which would have ment they were not a USAV sanctioned team and therefor inelligible to play. (Not real smart). Some of the parents had younger daughters that I coached either this year or last and know my style and mannerisms fairly well and we get along great; we've shared some beverages together after tourneys seen the girls play during school season... those parents alert Club Management and it became a battle royals the likes of which I hope I never see again. Well that's not fair as I didn't see this one,just the aftermath. Long story short troublemakers are elsewhere now never to be allowed even pa tryout the good ones are playing up on a different sister team and I didn't have to drive to the dells.
Which leads nicely into Tristram AKA bass. The weekend I was supposed to be in WI I spent back home holding and visiting my freshly birthed nephew. I got a text message that woke me up at quarter to four in the morning from mother saying that my sister was giving birth. I was very happy very confused and still mostly asleep. I rolled over and addressed what I could 360 miles from the action. An hour later on the way to work I start texting mom for updates and started filling dad in as I assumed no one else at the time was. After the announcement of the lifts guy dad asked if I spelled the name right and I soar yes with the caveat I would be calling him bass. He asked why which my reply was "cause I've caught bigger fish and he looks like a squirmer. " wh
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Soul Snatchers
Volleyball will steal your soul. Haven't had much time for the whole keeping people updated on my life since...October something or other. Comes from working 90+ hours a week with two jobs and no days off.
Come April hopefully I will be back on the airwaves much more regularly.
buck
Come April hopefully I will be back on the airwaves much more regularly.
buck
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Prayer
Disclaimer: Religion is about to be discussed.
Whether you believe in God, a god, or gods, or none of the above you know what I'm about to say is going to strike true. Maybe not all of it, but something - even a piece of minutia - will strike you as something you remember.
Do you know what its like to have a prayer answered? Its like having your first kiss with you first love. Having your mother kiss a scraped knee after a fall, then running out trying to find out whos "it". Hearing someone outside the family for the first time say "I love you". It is an adrenaline rush, finding 20 bucks in a pair of jeans you put away last winter and forgot about. It is a feeling that knocks you down even when you're laying down. Every single pure bliss emotion you can think of...It's that feeling. And truth be told they don't come every day. Which is both a shame and a good thing. The dichotomy of which makes me laugh. If answered prayers came everyday belief would be full of addicts looking for that rush. Which would flood congregations, synagagues, mosques, cathedrals, basements with believers. Which is a good question for debate I think.
Let me back up. Two nights ago I spent an hour car ride and another hour after that talking to God. Both as a human and as an equal. I got the woman I've been seeing ticked off because of the conversation I was having that wasn't with her. The conversation ranged from the politic to the angry to the pleading to the begging back to the adoration that a bliever owes to their God.
Lately - past four years, and before - my faith/belief has been tried daily. I am not a perfect person, and thank God for that. You know what happened to the last one? Romans didn't have Crazy Glue or Velcro. I am proud to be fallible. Not happy about it, but I am proud of it. How else are we to learn from our mistakes and prove the pundits and naysayers wrong? There is no other way to live - in my mind- other than to own your mistakes and learn from and then not repeat them!
A very wise man once told me a long time ago that the way to become wise is to challenge oneself to learn something new everyday. This is a phrase everyone in every culture has heard. I would like to add an ammendment to it however. Add it not only to your knowledge but use it and share it!
I am not a trained educator - unless you cound 18 years surrounded by educators, and in an education field as a job a trained educator - however I am a coach, I interact with the public, I write here... How can I in good conscience say that I am not an educator? Every single person is! Everyone we meet we can impart a portion of knowldege on.
Example: A friend and I were having a debate last week; which has more sway over the populace: culture or religion? It was a free exchange of ideas, and while our views tend to be similar, there are still huge differences, and We can argue either side when pressed. His main argument stemmed from the idea that the chicken came before the egg. Which is what the debate boiled down to in the end anyway. But the question still stands and can be argued by anthropologists around the world. Can a culture be defined as such with out a belief system? If so, does that belief system then in turn make the culture better or influence in it any other way?
What about the Catholic Church? They have had their collective hand in culture for about a millennium. What about Hinduism or Islam or Judaism which are as old or older than most Christian and Judeo-Christian belief structures.
It is a debate that is centuries old and will continue with most subsets that either A. care B. smoke pot C. have more education D. pontificate.
Through my conversation both in the truck and then on the porch I didn't gain much insight. At least not until I came in that night, made a drink and started looking for a book to read while enjoying my beverage on the rocks. Looting through my couple dozen of boxes of books I came across the book I was searching for along with another book. I was confused why I sorted my confirmation bible into a book of historical and classical fiction literature.
Before I went back downstairs to the living room I opened up the Bible and read two of the three passages I have bookmarked. "Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
Reading those two passages answered quite a bit of what my conversation entailed and revolved around. They helped guide me to a clarity of mind and purpose that I haven't felt for a long time. Boiled down...they answered my prayer.
Let me tell ya, it feels great.
Buck
Whether you believe in God, a god, or gods, or none of the above you know what I'm about to say is going to strike true. Maybe not all of it, but something - even a piece of minutia - will strike you as something you remember.
Do you know what its like to have a prayer answered? Its like having your first kiss with you first love. Having your mother kiss a scraped knee after a fall, then running out trying to find out whos "it". Hearing someone outside the family for the first time say "I love you". It is an adrenaline rush, finding 20 bucks in a pair of jeans you put away last winter and forgot about. It is a feeling that knocks you down even when you're laying down. Every single pure bliss emotion you can think of...It's that feeling. And truth be told they don't come every day. Which is both a shame and a good thing. The dichotomy of which makes me laugh. If answered prayers came everyday belief would be full of addicts looking for that rush. Which would flood congregations, synagagues, mosques, cathedrals, basements with believers. Which is a good question for debate I think.
Let me back up. Two nights ago I spent an hour car ride and another hour after that talking to God. Both as a human and as an equal. I got the woman I've been seeing ticked off because of the conversation I was having that wasn't with her. The conversation ranged from the politic to the angry to the pleading to the begging back to the adoration that a bliever owes to their God.
Lately - past four years, and before - my faith/belief has been tried daily. I am not a perfect person, and thank God for that. You know what happened to the last one? Romans didn't have Crazy Glue or Velcro. I am proud to be fallible. Not happy about it, but I am proud of it. How else are we to learn from our mistakes and prove the pundits and naysayers wrong? There is no other way to live - in my mind- other than to own your mistakes and learn from and then not repeat them!
A very wise man once told me a long time ago that the way to become wise is to challenge oneself to learn something new everyday. This is a phrase everyone in every culture has heard. I would like to add an ammendment to it however. Add it not only to your knowledge but use it and share it!
I am not a trained educator - unless you cound 18 years surrounded by educators, and in an education field as a job a trained educator - however I am a coach, I interact with the public, I write here... How can I in good conscience say that I am not an educator? Every single person is! Everyone we meet we can impart a portion of knowldege on.
Example: A friend and I were having a debate last week; which has more sway over the populace: culture or religion? It was a free exchange of ideas, and while our views tend to be similar, there are still huge differences, and We can argue either side when pressed. His main argument stemmed from the idea that the chicken came before the egg. Which is what the debate boiled down to in the end anyway. But the question still stands and can be argued by anthropologists around the world. Can a culture be defined as such with out a belief system? If so, does that belief system then in turn make the culture better or influence in it any other way?
What about the Catholic Church? They have had their collective hand in culture for about a millennium. What about Hinduism or Islam or Judaism which are as old or older than most Christian and Judeo-Christian belief structures.
It is a debate that is centuries old and will continue with most subsets that either A. care B. smoke pot C. have more education D. pontificate.
Through my conversation both in the truck and then on the porch I didn't gain much insight. At least not until I came in that night, made a drink and started looking for a book to read while enjoying my beverage on the rocks. Looting through my couple dozen of boxes of books I came across the book I was searching for along with another book. I was confused why I sorted my confirmation bible into a book of historical and classical fiction literature.
Before I went back downstairs to the living room I opened up the Bible and read two of the three passages I have bookmarked. "Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
Reading those two passages answered quite a bit of what my conversation entailed and revolved around. They helped guide me to a clarity of mind and purpose that I haven't felt for a long time. Boiled down...they answered my prayer.
Let me tell ya, it feels great.
Buck
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Ouch
The past two weekends have been filled with stress. Not gonna lie.
We started up some clinics at the club working primarily on skill fade and getting rid of horrible habits whilst "instill[ing] the foundation for future performance excellence". Very tall order considering we had four hours and 50 plus girls with four coaches. Oh, and we were dealing with 12, 13, and 14 year old girls.
Most of the faces I recognized with a bunch of new girls which is promising for them and their teams. We drew a crowd from Johnston, Urbandale, Ankeny, Waukee, Clive, and a couple of girls from Nebraska (at least that's what their shirts said). The first half hour to forty five minutes consisted of only block drills which are mind numbingly boring. Not only for the coaches, but also for the players.
- A block drill is something that everybody knows. You have a partner. The partner tosses you the ball. You pass the ball back to your partner.... Drills of that nature.
However, block drills do have their place in the scheme of things. Foundations, you have to start from foundations. Ex. "This is a passing platform. When you are in the ready position your hands meet, elbows are locked, thumbs are pointing down. When I say go, the passer will start in the ready position, your partner will overhand toss a ball to you. You will forearm pass the ball to the target who will bounce a ball to the tosser. Do 8 then switch. Tosser becomes passer passer becomes target target becomes tosser. Spread out throughout the gym, but you cannot toss over a net. Go." From that foundation you can start branching out to overhead passes, out of core passing, downball defense, short defense...all sorts of things. This does not change however that you have downtime, you have players not getting reps, and the players - who have an attention span worse than a puppy at a circus- get bored.
Block drills do have a huge point in their favor from the coach's perspective. Coaches can correct, modify, encourage, and focus on the skill set being practiced. The draw back is that most coaches, - myself, one of my mentors in the club, my former coaches from any sport- will stop the player to do any of the above. Worst thing possible is taking the player out of the drill. It slows the drill down, they lose focus which was hard to get in the first place, the other players involved in the drill become even more bored, it singles the player out to the other players...the list can go on. If coaches are attempting to modify mid drill nothing will be accomplished, but if they don't incorrect habits form. It is a very very thin line to walk.
After we got through passing and attacking block drills we started going to random drills.
- Random drills are not improvised drills, instead they are spontaneous drills. Game-like drills. Forcing the players to read the situation, know what they are supposed to do, and above all adapt. C says that any sport is a micro-cosym of life. If you mess up you have less than three seconds to put it behind you and get your head back in the game. Maybe that's why successfully athletes have good coping skills...I like to think so. Make the drills life-like. Keep score, have a player enter a ball into play over the net, transition, rotate, switch, cover...any of those brought into a drill will make it a quicker drill which means more reps for the players, they bring in conditioning, reading, court awareness...all sorts of goodies.
There is a huge drawback to random drills. At least from my perspective which is still in it's infancy: Skill loss. As players tire from a long practice or the fact that they're young, they lose focus. With that loss of focus brings about a whole new problem. All that time that you spent doing the block drills was wasted. Those incorrect techniques come slamming back into the player's mind. From there it is a direct line to the muscles which don't care if the ball wasn't passed properly. The ball was passed.
- Let me make a point here. Muscles do NOT have brain cells. Therefore muscles canNOT have muscle memory. Impossible. Your brain fries neural networks, a certain way of firing synapses and nerves to make your muscles move. Those become ingrained with time and repetition. Your brain has the ability for motor-memory. Your muscles do not.
Another drawback to random drills is that the coach has to have a very good eye. What I mean by that is that the coach needs to know the skills forwards backwards sideways and if possible barrel-rolled. That way you can spot the discrepancy. And know all the player's names. At the clinics, during block drills I could come up with the name quick enough. During random drills I started shouting shirt colors. K and I were working on movement on the court - switching out if you messed up, or if you were standing still not doing anything - with the 12 and 13 year olds (the majority of whom he had in club or on his school team so he had the names down cold.) C came in hearing me bark out shirt colors and K translating. I thought he was gonna die laughing so hard.
Anyway. My focus for the upcoming season is tricky. With two teams I have to have different goals. The 13's I'm going to try to focus on staying outside my comfort zone, or make a new comfort zone, by using random drills after dynamic warm ups. With the 15's my personal goal is to bring fun, and a love of the game and instill that in the girls. Going into sophomore year the competition for spots gets tougher and if they don't have fun and love the sport they won't try as hard to get a spot. The secondary goal with both teams is to bring warm-up games to the forefront. A team gets the court for themselves for 2-5 minutes - depending on the tournament and what match- Why do we as volleyball coaches think that time must be spent on hitting lines? That isn't game-like; when does a setter get a perfect pass for a perfect set to a hitter standing around waiting. Nobody warms up in that situation. Warm-ups are to prepare the players for the game ahead; physically and mentally. Why not use a game for that? Short-court, ladders, north-south, fish on, back attack, four on four, kill the setter... There are options here!
I'm working on a paper for the club. Not because it was assigned but because I feel that there are issues for new coaches that need to be addressed. Maybe a glossary and an atlas would be better suited but I don't draw well. The benefit our club has over some others is that we utilize current college players. They bring a great understanding to the game, but most have never coached before. Most other clubs in the area have coaches that are very far removed from the sport other than playing sand court in the summer as a way to relive the glory days. I'm not saying one is right and the other wrong, but...with the youth of our coaching staff comes a...I don't actually know the proper word for it. A timidness I suppose. Sure we know drills, we know the sport inside and out. But we haven't developed the eye for knowing what all 12 people are doing in that 900 square feet all at the same time. I don't think that is something that can be taught or learned or cultivated. I also don't think that you're either born with that ability or you aren't. I lean more towards the side that says young coaches need to immerse themselves even more fully into the sport. Watch tape, go to conferences, go to seminars, pick other coach's brains, talk to your players, talk to other players from other teams, read, but most of all...practice which equates to try. The worst that can happen is you fail. So what?
You can't win them all.
-Buck
We started up some clinics at the club working primarily on skill fade and getting rid of horrible habits whilst "instill[ing] the foundation for future performance excellence". Very tall order considering we had four hours and 50 plus girls with four coaches. Oh, and we were dealing with 12, 13, and 14 year old girls.
Most of the faces I recognized with a bunch of new girls which is promising for them and their teams. We drew a crowd from Johnston, Urbandale, Ankeny, Waukee, Clive, and a couple of girls from Nebraska (at least that's what their shirts said). The first half hour to forty five minutes consisted of only block drills which are mind numbingly boring. Not only for the coaches, but also for the players.
- A block drill is something that everybody knows. You have a partner. The partner tosses you the ball. You pass the ball back to your partner.... Drills of that nature.
However, block drills do have their place in the scheme of things. Foundations, you have to start from foundations. Ex. "This is a passing platform. When you are in the ready position your hands meet, elbows are locked, thumbs are pointing down. When I say go, the passer will start in the ready position, your partner will overhand toss a ball to you. You will forearm pass the ball to the target who will bounce a ball to the tosser. Do 8 then switch. Tosser becomes passer passer becomes target target becomes tosser. Spread out throughout the gym, but you cannot toss over a net. Go." From that foundation you can start branching out to overhead passes, out of core passing, downball defense, short defense...all sorts of things. This does not change however that you have downtime, you have players not getting reps, and the players - who have an attention span worse than a puppy at a circus- get bored.
Block drills do have a huge point in their favor from the coach's perspective. Coaches can correct, modify, encourage, and focus on the skill set being practiced. The draw back is that most coaches, - myself, one of my mentors in the club, my former coaches from any sport- will stop the player to do any of the above. Worst thing possible is taking the player out of the drill. It slows the drill down, they lose focus which was hard to get in the first place, the other players involved in the drill become even more bored, it singles the player out to the other players...the list can go on. If coaches are attempting to modify mid drill nothing will be accomplished, but if they don't incorrect habits form. It is a very very thin line to walk.
After we got through passing and attacking block drills we started going to random drills.
- Random drills are not improvised drills, instead they are spontaneous drills. Game-like drills. Forcing the players to read the situation, know what they are supposed to do, and above all adapt. C says that any sport is a micro-cosym of life. If you mess up you have less than three seconds to put it behind you and get your head back in the game. Maybe that's why successfully athletes have good coping skills...I like to think so. Make the drills life-like. Keep score, have a player enter a ball into play over the net, transition, rotate, switch, cover...any of those brought into a drill will make it a quicker drill which means more reps for the players, they bring in conditioning, reading, court awareness...all sorts of goodies.
There is a huge drawback to random drills. At least from my perspective which is still in it's infancy: Skill loss. As players tire from a long practice or the fact that they're young, they lose focus. With that loss of focus brings about a whole new problem. All that time that you spent doing the block drills was wasted. Those incorrect techniques come slamming back into the player's mind. From there it is a direct line to the muscles which don't care if the ball wasn't passed properly. The ball was passed.
- Let me make a point here. Muscles do NOT have brain cells. Therefore muscles canNOT have muscle memory. Impossible. Your brain fries neural networks, a certain way of firing synapses and nerves to make your muscles move. Those become ingrained with time and repetition. Your brain has the ability for motor-memory. Your muscles do not.
Another drawback to random drills is that the coach has to have a very good eye. What I mean by that is that the coach needs to know the skills forwards backwards sideways and if possible barrel-rolled. That way you can spot the discrepancy. And know all the player's names. At the clinics, during block drills I could come up with the name quick enough. During random drills I started shouting shirt colors. K and I were working on movement on the court - switching out if you messed up, or if you were standing still not doing anything - with the 12 and 13 year olds (the majority of whom he had in club or on his school team so he had the names down cold.) C came in hearing me bark out shirt colors and K translating. I thought he was gonna die laughing so hard.
Anyway. My focus for the upcoming season is tricky. With two teams I have to have different goals. The 13's I'm going to try to focus on staying outside my comfort zone, or make a new comfort zone, by using random drills after dynamic warm ups. With the 15's my personal goal is to bring fun, and a love of the game and instill that in the girls. Going into sophomore year the competition for spots gets tougher and if they don't have fun and love the sport they won't try as hard to get a spot. The secondary goal with both teams is to bring warm-up games to the forefront. A team gets the court for themselves for 2-5 minutes - depending on the tournament and what match- Why do we as volleyball coaches think that time must be spent on hitting lines? That isn't game-like; when does a setter get a perfect pass for a perfect set to a hitter standing around waiting. Nobody warms up in that situation. Warm-ups are to prepare the players for the game ahead; physically and mentally. Why not use a game for that? Short-court, ladders, north-south, fish on, back attack, four on four, kill the setter... There are options here!
I'm working on a paper for the club. Not because it was assigned but because I feel that there are issues for new coaches that need to be addressed. Maybe a glossary and an atlas would be better suited but I don't draw well. The benefit our club has over some others is that we utilize current college players. They bring a great understanding to the game, but most have never coached before. Most other clubs in the area have coaches that are very far removed from the sport other than playing sand court in the summer as a way to relive the glory days. I'm not saying one is right and the other wrong, but...with the youth of our coaching staff comes a...I don't actually know the proper word for it. A timidness I suppose. Sure we know drills, we know the sport inside and out. But we haven't developed the eye for knowing what all 12 people are doing in that 900 square feet all at the same time. I don't think that is something that can be taught or learned or cultivated. I also don't think that you're either born with that ability or you aren't. I lean more towards the side that says young coaches need to immerse themselves even more fully into the sport. Watch tape, go to conferences, go to seminars, pick other coach's brains, talk to your players, talk to other players from other teams, read, but most of all...practice which equates to try. The worst that can happen is you fail. So what?
You can't win them all.
-Buck
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Whirlwind
So this past month has been what one might call...crazy. Some really great things happened, some really not so great things happened. Such is life eh?
First and foremost, congrats must go out to my sister and new brother-in-law on their marriage. I could not be happier for them, and hopefully they will always be happy.
I'm glad that they had their wedding out in Iowa because the way my work schedule shook out I would have been hard pressed to get anywhere else just having the wedding day off. It was great seeing family and friends again, especially when everyone was so obviously happy and having a good time.
P.S. The food? Amazing. The maid of honor and I had a fun little aside about the proper way to eat mashed taters, and my dislike for cooked carrots.
I feel bad that I missed portions of the reception, and I feel bad for the way I presented my gift to the couple. But, from my stand point, I didn't really have a whole lot of options.
Other than the wedding and festivities, things have been plodding along as they seem to always do. We showcased an olde time wedding at work last weekend which went over very well, except for the part where I was the only person out of 12 actually making sure the farm was running. I understand that we're "educators", but this "educator" also had to pick up a lot of slack to make sure that the event got pulled off without a hitch. Or having oxen running around like two year olds.
In about a month I traverse back to the land of Illinois to refferree a volleyball tourney. Something that I've been doing for years it seems now. It is always a good time and every year I know fewer and fewer people there. Which is both fun, but also a bit intimidating. Yes, I know the sport, yes, I know the rules. But, the sport has changed, and it seems parents of the LSA have not. Most don't like my philosophy of reffing which is, "They're kids. Let 'em play." It will be the first tournament of the year and coaches are more worried about setting up line ups and figuring things out that work for their team and against certain opponents. Let them play.
Real coaching starts tomorrow. I am both excited about this, but also a bit on edge. 'S not that I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm a bit more familiar with the people I'm working with and for. But, it is a new year, a new group of kids, new parents. And that right there is the kicker. I had my parents trained last year. Now I have to break in not one new group of parents. I have to break in two. One group I'm not worried about. The other team where I am a co-coach for the only reason that the parents are horrible...I'm not really looking forward to that.
There is a laundry list of things to be in a huff about but nothing is going to change, and this is assuradly not the forum for it. Therefore, we'll let it slide.
That's about all I've got.
Buck
First and foremost, congrats must go out to my sister and new brother-in-law on their marriage. I could not be happier for them, and hopefully they will always be happy.
I'm glad that they had their wedding out in Iowa because the way my work schedule shook out I would have been hard pressed to get anywhere else just having the wedding day off. It was great seeing family and friends again, especially when everyone was so obviously happy and having a good time.
P.S. The food? Amazing. The maid of honor and I had a fun little aside about the proper way to eat mashed taters, and my dislike for cooked carrots.
I feel bad that I missed portions of the reception, and I feel bad for the way I presented my gift to the couple. But, from my stand point, I didn't really have a whole lot of options.
Other than the wedding and festivities, things have been plodding along as they seem to always do. We showcased an olde time wedding at work last weekend which went over very well, except for the part where I was the only person out of 12 actually making sure the farm was running. I understand that we're "educators", but this "educator" also had to pick up a lot of slack to make sure that the event got pulled off without a hitch. Or having oxen running around like two year olds.
In about a month I traverse back to the land of Illinois to refferree a volleyball tourney. Something that I've been doing for years it seems now. It is always a good time and every year I know fewer and fewer people there. Which is both fun, but also a bit intimidating. Yes, I know the sport, yes, I know the rules. But, the sport has changed, and it seems parents of the LSA have not. Most don't like my philosophy of reffing which is, "They're kids. Let 'em play." It will be the first tournament of the year and coaches are more worried about setting up line ups and figuring things out that work for their team and against certain opponents. Let them play.
Real coaching starts tomorrow. I am both excited about this, but also a bit on edge. 'S not that I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm a bit more familiar with the people I'm working with and for. But, it is a new year, a new group of kids, new parents. And that right there is the kicker. I had my parents trained last year. Now I have to break in not one new group of parents. I have to break in two. One group I'm not worried about. The other team where I am a co-coach for the only reason that the parents are horrible...I'm not really looking forward to that.
There is a laundry list of things to be in a huff about but nothing is going to change, and this is assuradly not the forum for it. Therefore, we'll let it slide.
That's about all I've got.
Buck
Friday, July 16, 2010
Piano legends.
I have no idea how many of you have heard of Marc Andre Hamelin. If you haven't, you need to listen to him. Looking through the music that I have been given to browse through for my sister's wedding I keep coming back to Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. My piano teacher gave me the music - the actual for piano arranged by Franz Liszt music- as a gag end of the 14 or so odd years of learning from him gift. Over the last five years I keep looking at it, and thinking: If I were really good I could play this.
A little background on the piece. If I remember what I learned in my beginning Piano by Thompson books (the red ones) Liszt was heavily influenced by his heritage while writing...19 Rhapsodies. His heritage being predominately Hungarian/Rom/~ Gypsy. I know that this particular Rhapsody can make or break a performer, highly technical while at the same time allowing the performer to express themselves in a wide array of styles. Number 2 uses the Gypsy scale more than any of the other piece Liszt wrote. It is also originally for piano, then was later adapted for orchestra. That means that the technicalities of the piece become easier as opposed to harder when "fleshing the piece out" - Instead of condensing an orchestra into one instrument, you water down the piece throughout the orchestra.-
We have all heard this piece. It is a classic in Tom and Jerry. Tom is playing the piano, and Jerry drives him nuts as usual inside the piano. At the end Jerry takes the bow for playing such a hard piece and poor Tom is left ragged and his tuxedo is in shambles.
I can't help but think of a carousel whenever I heard the second and third movements.
For those of you who still have no idea what I'm talking about, here is a video from youtube of Marc Andre Hamelin playing this piece at and concert in Japan. Listen and watch this piece twice. First time through don't even watch the video just listen to it. Listen to how discordant the melodies and harmonies are. Try to pick out your favorite bits. Listen for how little he uses any pedal or modulation of the voice of the piece. Can you pick out all of the separate movements and how they play on each other? Does one part of the piece remind you of another part?
The second time you listen and watch the piece actually watch the performer play. Watch his reactions and emotions to the music. For heaven's sake watch how fast he can move his fingers!
Anyway...
If that doesn't blow your mind, or if you just don't appreciate music try some comedy. Victor Borge plays the same piece with the Muppet Rowlf. You could check that one out too.
Buck
A little background on the piece. If I remember what I learned in my beginning Piano by Thompson books (the red ones) Liszt was heavily influenced by his heritage while writing...19 Rhapsodies. His heritage being predominately Hungarian/Rom/~ Gypsy. I know that this particular Rhapsody can make or break a performer, highly technical while at the same time allowing the performer to express themselves in a wide array of styles. Number 2 uses the Gypsy scale more than any of the other piece Liszt wrote. It is also originally for piano, then was later adapted for orchestra. That means that the technicalities of the piece become easier as opposed to harder when "fleshing the piece out" - Instead of condensing an orchestra into one instrument, you water down the piece throughout the orchestra.-
We have all heard this piece. It is a classic in Tom and Jerry. Tom is playing the piano, and Jerry drives him nuts as usual inside the piano. At the end Jerry takes the bow for playing such a hard piece and poor Tom is left ragged and his tuxedo is in shambles.
I can't help but think of a carousel whenever I heard the second and third movements.
For those of you who still have no idea what I'm talking about, here is a video from youtube of Marc Andre Hamelin playing this piece at and concert in Japan. Listen and watch this piece twice. First time through don't even watch the video just listen to it. Listen to how discordant the melodies and harmonies are. Try to pick out your favorite bits. Listen for how little he uses any pedal or modulation of the voice of the piece. Can you pick out all of the separate movements and how they play on each other? Does one part of the piece remind you of another part?
The second time you listen and watch the piece actually watch the performer play. Watch his reactions and emotions to the music. For heaven's sake watch how fast he can move his fingers!
Anyway...
If that doesn't blow your mind, or if you just don't appreciate music try some comedy. Victor Borge plays the same piece with the Muppet Rowlf. You could check that one out too.
Buck
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