Lunacy

 

I've always wondered what would happen if a werewolf became an astronaut.  Just when you thought moon landings couldn't get any more interesting.... 

Ramming Speed

While it's not my main instrument, I play the clarinet in the university band.  The current director is, er, interesting.  As in he has never been able to fully grasp the concept of mortal limitations and human suffering.  He also happens to be my teacher for my composition major lessons.  Apparently it's true that artists are required to suffer. 

In any case, we have a concert next week, and everyone is a bit dubious as to how one of the songs will turn out.  It's this thing called "A Duddy Romp," which was commissioned for a high school band, performed once, and then never saw the light of day again until now.  The only copy of the score that I know of is hand-written in pencil.  So yes, it's a tad on the obscure side.  Now, if you ask a band director why that is, they probably won't know and will tell you that it's an excellent piece that should really receive more recognition.  If you ask a performer, they will tell you exactly why:  this piece is an unholy nightmare to play.  We're talking about painful fingerings, strings of 16th notes at a tempo of 300, and 3rd clarinets playing in the stratosphere range. 

The composer of this song is dead, but apparently his son is going to be flying in from Hawaii to hear us perform. 

No pressure. 



P.S.  Sorry this is late.  I had a little trouble organizing the drawing.  Excuses, excuses. 

The Song that Didn't Want to be Written

Yes, those are actual screenshots, because this really happened.  The same piece that I had to start over on because my music program spontaneously crashed before I had a chance to save it (and the only other time the program had ever crashed was actually my fault) decided to develop a rather bizarre glitch that hasn't appeared in any other file.  The fact that it sounds, in my roommate's words, like haunted mansion music doesn't help.  She thinks the song is possessed.  She may be right. 

This is the first movement to a three-movement work based on a Webern twelve-tone row, to be performed by nine people in front of a panel of jurors as my final project for my composition class.  In the middle of the semester.  Yes, you read that right.  My professor is a bit of an over-achiever, to put it nicely. 

In other news, I discovered it's possible for loud sounds to hurt your eyes if you're tired enough. 



P.S.  I get bonus points this week because I actually asked my roommate for permission to put her in a comic before posting it, unlike the last four times.  She approved.  Happiness!



Edit:  She was right.  It was cursed. 

Brain Food

It's a pity that most teachers don't accept the excuse of "vampires slurped my brains," because it would have been appropriate several times this week. 

Also, I will refrain from making any head cheese jokes.  You're welcome. 

Happy June!

Another month, another Birthstone Unicorn. 
It's June, it's sunny, and my siblings are out of school.  Meanwhile, I'm busy worrying about midterms.  Hooray for messy schedules!

Safety First

It doesn't matter who or why.  If someone winds up duct-taped to the ceiling, something has gone horribly wrong. 

Also, if your roommates start asking if the Taj Mahal is lost somewhere in your room, it may be time to do a little cleaning.