Author Archives: thh55

Seeing the Walking Man

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Professor Schwarz was kind enough to take a group of students, and some other interested members of the party, around the Johnson Museum for a tour!

I’d been to the Museum before, but I hadn’t had commentary from someone as experienced in the field of art history as Professor Schwarz. I’m really so glad I went, because I wouldn’t be able to get his insight from anywhere else in the world. He clearly cares a lot for the specific pieces of art housed at the Johnson, and he talked to us about the pieces in a way that was interactive.

For one piece in particular, he gave me a literal new perspective. There’s a long, Walking sculpture on the second floor, literally titled the Walking Man. He’s tall, and freakishly elongated. He’s grey, and withered looking, and his face is long and droopy. To be quite honest, he looks a little grotesque.

Professor Schwarz explained to us that what was important about this sculpture had to include the spaces. The spaces between his legs were important; and the face, of course, was a focal point — if we couldn’t see the face from where we were standing, move! That’s the fun thing about art, and particularly sculptures, and particularly this sculpture. So we shifted around in a circle, and saw the Walking Man from a new perspective.

a (real) shooting star

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I actually didn’t realize shooting stars could actually…happen…..!….until I saw one at Fuertes.

I knew they were real, but I’m also from a city, so I’d sort of internalized that I would never get to see one myself. But with the Rose House, we walked all the way out to Fuertes Observatory, and I remember thinking that it was a very far walk. But I realized once we got there that it was darker out there, and that the stars were really, really visible.

Quite a few people were in line for the telescope at first, so my first move was to go up to the balcony. It was really dark, and the entire balcony was lined with red lights. A helpful Astronomy club member told me that red lights are actually better for star spotting! As were talking, and she was helping me identify specific stars and their designations (which differ per country, in some cases), there was a bright streak of light — a shooting star.

I really wasn’t sure what I’d seen, and I still wouldn’t be sure if it wasn’t for the gasps of everyone else on the balcony. I still feel really lucky to have seen that star; I hadn’t ever seen one before, and I’m not sure if I’ll be as lucky next time I make it over to Fuertes!

Klezmer

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The Klezmer event was really memorable. Cookie, the leader, was really kind and supportive; I’m a violist, which isn’t exactly a traditional Klezmer instrument — but she showed me some of the most extreme basics of the style, and the entire group welcomed me into their rehearsal!

At first I listened in from the outside, but I had a giant clunky viola case with me which was sort of hard for them to miss. So I was invited to sit in and play, which was really, really nice, considering I have never played the genre before and my exposure with it is relatively minimal. There are fun tips and tricks they let me know; if you hear the beat getting rhythmic, grinding your bow against your string (causing a dark, gritty noise) adds to the beat and keeps time!

So even if I wasn’t playing something particularly interesting or loud, they made sure I always had something I enjoyed playing. That’s key, I think — that night, I went onstage with them at Anabel Taylor hall, and had so much fun performing with such an excellent group of players. Their experience was immediately visible, and I think from the videos I’ve seen, my inexperience with the genre was similarly visible, but I because of their instruction, I looked like I definitely belonged! That’s all I could ask for, and I’m eternally grateful to the ensemble for the opportunity.

seeing US

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I love US. I saw this movie when it was in theaters, and I jumped at the chance to see it again, so I actually conscripted people to see it again — because even though I’ve seen it, it’s still scary.

I actually saw this movie for the first time in Canada, visiting a friend; I remember this detail, because there’s a line in the movie where the main family asks, terrified, to the other family,

“who are you?” and the evil family replies in a choked voice,

“we’re Americans!”

The entire theater of Canadians laughed, for some reason, and I have no idea why to this day. In the movie, I think it’s meant as commentary on the American condition. A theme from the film is the Hands Across America movement, to end hunger, and family remains at the heart of the film, so it’s safe to say that the American Dream is important to the film’s message. Since the film has a good family, and an evil family, the message seems to be that this dream can be twisted.

diya jale!

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Diya Jale was incredible!

It was the kind of event that made me proud of my fellow students. There were so many acts, and each one was more exciting than the next. But as a musician myself, two particularly stood out to me, and those were the classical Indian ensemble and the a capella pieces.

The a capella pieces stood out, firstly, because they were sung in two languages! I always love when songs are song in two languages because you can hear the differences not just in words, but in tone of the speaker. Pitch, timbre, and rhythm can become noticeably different when the singer transitions languages. If the singer starts singing from a different part of their throat, then their pitch and timbre can sound different; their rhythm sounds different to account for different syllable structure of the words they’re speaking.

The classical Indian ensemble did a great job. I don’t play any of the instruments that were on stage, so I couldn’t tell if they made any mistakes — but I think I would still have trouble guessing, because they had so much energy the whole time. They looked really proud to be there, and to be playing the music they love, which is something I think I can understand.

All in all, a wonderful night of excellent performances!

music of Sprited Away

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I grew up watching Spirited Away and the adventures of Chihiro, so its soundtrack has been committed to my memory. As a result, One Summer’s Day, the piano-heavy theme that follows Chihiro around, is one of my favorite pieces to come out of cinema.

It starts out gentle, with simple piano chords that roll. It sounds like a breeze, actually, and it almost physically resembles the first and last scenes of the film where Chihiro and her family enter and escape the spirit world. The strings come in slowly. The piano comes back in after the intro, this time with the theme.

Listening to this song by itself, it’s clear that two characters are being represented by the piece: Chihiro, and summer.

Chihiro, as the protagonist, is represented by the piano. The summer is represented by everything else. Chihiro is a young girl who’s just had her family taken away, but not forever; if she works, she can earn them back, but only at the mercy of the witch who runs this corner of the spirit world. The piano melody exemplifies this with a light, hopeful tone, but a memorable motif that keeps coming back. The summer is seen in the surroundings, so everything that Chihiro encounters is delivered to her through this haze of summer, and with the light breeze behind her.

exercise without going out

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I’m someone who really loves video games, and I think it’s reasonable to say I’ve spent a lot of time playing them. But even so, I was really impressed with the VR spin class we went to.

I spend a lot of time looking at generated scenery, made to look like rivers and mountains and artificial cities — but the little scenes painted in the spin class were really nice to look at, and it was so fun to spend time bicycling around the area!

It takes place in a darkened room, sort of like a theater; there’s a big screen in the front. It’s still a spin class, so you have experts cheering you on and leading the exercise. You get on a bicycle, which is fit to your specifications, and the music starts off to a moderate beat. The scenery begins in a city, but changes after some time, so you’re never bored. The fan blows in your face when the screen tells you you’re going downhill, too, which is a really fun touch!

It effectively emulates biking, but in a way that excites you more than I would say is normal…when I’m biking around downtown, I do not expect to see massive trees move out of my way, or spiraling ramps, or geometric lights sparkling. It’s a great experience, which I highly recommend to anyone looking to get some exercise without actually going out.

 

 

Perception of a Pre-Professional Student

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On Thursday evening, I dressed up in my only formal outfit, put on makeup, and headed out to the conference room in Rose Main to get my headshots taken. It’s been a few years since Picture Day in high school, but I assumed this event would go the same way: show up, get in line, take a single picture, and then leave. 

Instead, the photographer assured us that we would have control over our individual sessions. We could take as many or as few photos as we liked (time permitting), and we were to let her know if we’d like anything specific edited when she goes over the photos later. A few students had specific requests for the photographer, but most followed her lead completely and came away with three or four professional-grade headshots. 

The event gave students an opportunity to chat about their professional aspirations. We were all gathered in the same place wearing formal tops and, oftentimes, non-formal shorts (it was hot that day.) The aspect of the event that was the most fun to me was talking to the others in line; there were no specific time constraints, so people queued up for photos were forming groups and having conversations. One that I overhead was about ideal towns to work in, while I chatted with an upperclassman about his math major, and where he plans to take it after Cornell. Overall the event was useful, but it also gave me a new way to perceive myself as a pre-professional student.