I thought Jon's performance of this piece was an interesting coincidence. The piece titled Horizons by Peter Louis Van Dijk was commissioned by the King's singers in 1995, the very same year I traveled to South Africa for my Fulbright Exchange Trip. The song depicts the experiences of the San and the Europeans. During my trip, I was able to hike through the Drakensburg mountains and view rock paintings left by the San. In the drawings there were depictions of the British soldiers who ultimately brought their undoing.
This trip was a peak experience in my life and as I sat there listening to this piece on Wednesday, I was flooded with memories of teaching in a Zulu village, running in a race on trails that bordered Mozambique, traveling to the bottom of a gold mine, overcoming culture shock and homesickness, being caught up in the struggles and transformation in the new South Africa, walking in the steps of Mandela at Robin Island.- I could go on and on.
I sure enjoyed this, especially since this was the first time I got to hear Jon sing in a performance setting. I wonder if he remembers sitting in the airport on his mother's lap crying as I took off on the plane.
If you're reading this, take a minute and click on the video bar to watch and listen to this story.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Maggie and I had a chance to see probably one of the greatest films ever yesterday. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a film adaptation of a book written by Jean-Dominique Bauby, a magazine editor from France who suffered a stroke and wrote about his experiences. By blinking his eyelids, a speech therapist was able to translate his blinks into letters forming words and sentences and eventually a book.
The creator/director of the film, Julian Schnabel produced a masterful work. I understand that he is also a painter. After watching this film, it really makes one think about what it means to be a human being. I was able to read a couple reviews and I agree with most of what I read. Schnabel really wanted the viewer to leave that movie with a feeling of hope about the human condition.
Watching this man suffer through the loss and the complete control of his body except for one eye and an eyelid and experiencing it in the first person was simply the most amazing movie experience I have ever had. I have to say that it was one of those experiences that causes one to make changes in their own life. I know that it changed me.
Friday, October 26, 2007
In Remembrance
Jon's trombone playing has matured quite a bit. We sure enjoyed this moment last week.
What a performance this was! Enjoy this on You tube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCKmXpCHm0o
It was interesting to see all of the related videos and comments that were put up.
A Makeover
What does one do to raise $10,000? A few minutes of being able to laugh at yourself with 300 screaming elementary school students is one heck of an easy way to do it. In fact, it is just down right fun.
Linwood students raised $10,000 for student funds and activities and I offered myself up as a spectacle with the help of our music teacher, Dave Noyes who gave me quite the makeover.
After a busy day of dealing with the challenges of being a principal, it was fun just to let go for a moment.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The Movie- Once
I don't often go to see movies more than once, but you'll have to excuse the pun. I did see this movie more than once. Some have characterized it as a music video expanded to a music movie. Anyway, I really got into this story and the lyrics of the music by Glen Hansard of the Frames. The song, "Falling Slowly" really seemed to be the main message of the whole film.
I found an excerpt from an article on the web that shares some of Hansard's insights into music. Here it is:
Music is medicine and dreams. For me that's what music is, when it's at its best. It makes time stop. It's salve. For me music is a moment of peace, and quietude - ironically. Poetry on the other hand is different. Poetry stirs the blood. Poetry makes men go to war. If you listen to any of the speeches from Bush or the statements from Al-Qaeda, it's all poetry, and that's what makes men kill. For me singing a political song is like me trying to sell you a Volvo, only because it's like selling an idea. If I write a song about a situation, some people can do that very convincingly, but I don't think that I can. It's something I admire. I admire Damien Dempsey for example. It's not even that he writes political songs, he writes songs about social situations and his people. You have to be very strong to write and sing songs like that. If you can see someone like that as a troubadour or a herald, that's not what I am. I'm more like a little cinema. I'm a little world cinema in the corner of the town square, inviting you in to look at something. Follow the story and forget about the politics for a little while. I've always had a real problem with people standing up on a stage and singing those songs. As much as I love Dylan, and as much as I love so many other singers who've done that, for me selling an idea is like using music to sell McDonalds. It's wrong. Not that commerce is bad, it's not, but it's not in the same realm as music. It's like using naked women to sell beer. Naked women are beautiful, they're sacred. They've been depicted through the millennia as being the source of all man's inspiration, and yet you put a woman in an American flag bra and put her with a bottle of Budweiser - you're taking something sacred just to shift some units."
I found an excerpt from an article on the web that shares some of Hansard's insights into music. Here it is:
Music is medicine and dreams. For me that's what music is, when it's at its best. It makes time stop. It's salve. For me music is a moment of peace, and quietude - ironically. Poetry on the other hand is different. Poetry stirs the blood. Poetry makes men go to war. If you listen to any of the speeches from Bush or the statements from Al-Qaeda, it's all poetry, and that's what makes men kill. For me singing a political song is like me trying to sell you a Volvo, only because it's like selling an idea. If I write a song about a situation, some people can do that very convincingly, but I don't think that I can. It's something I admire. I admire Damien Dempsey for example. It's not even that he writes political songs, he writes songs about social situations and his people. You have to be very strong to write and sing songs like that. If you can see someone like that as a troubadour or a herald, that's not what I am. I'm more like a little cinema. I'm a little world cinema in the corner of the town square, inviting you in to look at something. Follow the story and forget about the politics for a little while. I've always had a real problem with people standing up on a stage and singing those songs. As much as I love Dylan, and as much as I love so many other singers who've done that, for me selling an idea is like using music to sell McDonalds. It's wrong. Not that commerce is bad, it's not, but it's not in the same realm as music. It's like using naked women to sell beer. Naked women are beautiful, they're sacred. They've been depicted through the millennia as being the source of all man's inspiration, and yet you put a woman in an American flag bra and put her with a bottle of Budweiser - you're taking something sacred just to shift some units."
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Time For Truth
I have dived into a book entitled, Time for Truth by Os Guinness. I have been awestruck by the examples he shares of fake biographies and stories published all in the name of trying to get at the truth of a matter. He shares the example of the Nobel peace prize winner from Guatemala who wrote a book in 1983 depicting her brother's execution in the village of Chajul. She was honored by Pope John Paul II. It turns out the whole story was fictionalized. Her brother was executed, but not in the manner depicted which included bizarre descriptions of being burned alive in a town square where people were forced to watch.
He shares other examples including the life of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens).
Recently, I have also been reading a book, Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell. I saw her speak at the recent National Association For Elementary School Principals. She has done an amazing thing. This book is essentially a compilation of diary entries from the students in her English classes who were writing about their own realities in inner city LA during the 1990's and the Rodney King backlash. She was able to get the students to compare their own existence to the lives of Ann Frank and others such as Zlata Filipovic (siege of Sarajevo). I have to say that this is some of the most honest writing I have ever read. Mind you, I have no way to check out all the stories that are being shared, but it is hard for me to believe the experiences of these students are fictionalized.
In thinking about Os Guiness's assertion that as a western society we have lost respect for the truth, I have to say that I agree with him. I agree that there are many examples of stories that were made up just to get attention and promote a cause. But after reading the entries of these students and their own discoveries of the similarities between their existence and the life of Ann Frank, I find it hard to believe that they could be exaggerating. I believe that sometimes truth hits us so hard, that we refuse to believe it. Truth is a funny thing. It seems that sometimes we need to change it somehow to make it more glamorous or sexy. And at other times we need to minimize it or just ignore it altogether.
But to glamorize or minimize, we have to have some certainty of what the truth is before we can do either. I wonder what someone like Nietzsche would say about the Freedom Writers. Guinness quotes Nietzsche in his book, Beyond Good and Evil.
He says, "Indeed, it may be a characteristic of existence that those who would know it completely would perish, in which case the strength of a spirit should be measured according to how much of the 'truth' one could still barely endure- or to put it more clearly, to what degree one would require it to be thinned down, shrouded, sweetened, falsified."
The diary entries of the freedom writers are for the most part, short and straight to the point. There isn't much sweetening that I can tell. They are heroes trying to communicate forgotten truth or truth that we refuse to pay attention to- the poverty in our inner cities, the growing gap between haves and have nots, and the lack of equity in our educational systems. Why can't we all follow the example of the freedom writers by sharing our own realities, sharing the truth about our lives without fabrication? Somehow, I can't help but think that we could build a better existence. Nietzsche says this is impossible and that we cannot endure the truth. Perhaps by sharing it, we can be healed and move on to be transformed to some higher form of existence.
He shares other examples including the life of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens).
Recently, I have also been reading a book, Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell. I saw her speak at the recent National Association For Elementary School Principals. She has done an amazing thing. This book is essentially a compilation of diary entries from the students in her English classes who were writing about their own realities in inner city LA during the 1990's and the Rodney King backlash. She was able to get the students to compare their own existence to the lives of Ann Frank and others such as Zlata Filipovic (siege of Sarajevo). I have to say that this is some of the most honest writing I have ever read. Mind you, I have no way to check out all the stories that are being shared, but it is hard for me to believe the experiences of these students are fictionalized.
In thinking about Os Guiness's assertion that as a western society we have lost respect for the truth, I have to say that I agree with him. I agree that there are many examples of stories that were made up just to get attention and promote a cause. But after reading the entries of these students and their own discoveries of the similarities between their existence and the life of Ann Frank, I find it hard to believe that they could be exaggerating. I believe that sometimes truth hits us so hard, that we refuse to believe it. Truth is a funny thing. It seems that sometimes we need to change it somehow to make it more glamorous or sexy. And at other times we need to minimize it or just ignore it altogether.
But to glamorize or minimize, we have to have some certainty of what the truth is before we can do either. I wonder what someone like Nietzsche would say about the Freedom Writers. Guinness quotes Nietzsche in his book, Beyond Good and Evil.
He says, "Indeed, it may be a characteristic of existence that those who would know it completely would perish, in which case the strength of a spirit should be measured according to how much of the 'truth' one could still barely endure- or to put it more clearly, to what degree one would require it to be thinned down, shrouded, sweetened, falsified."
The diary entries of the freedom writers are for the most part, short and straight to the point. There isn't much sweetening that I can tell. They are heroes trying to communicate forgotten truth or truth that we refuse to pay attention to- the poverty in our inner cities, the growing gap between haves and have nots, and the lack of equity in our educational systems. Why can't we all follow the example of the freedom writers by sharing our own realities, sharing the truth about our lives without fabrication? Somehow, I can't help but think that we could build a better existence. Nietzsche says this is impossible and that we cannot endure the truth. Perhaps by sharing it, we can be healed and move on to be transformed to some higher form of existence.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Jon Spooner- 1st Place at Sate Solo Contest!
Congratulations Jon Spooner! He holds the State Title For Trombone at the State Solo Contest
Jon, his mom, dad, and his sister Rachel were in a surprised state of blissful shock when the names were announced for 1st through 5th place at the state solo contest held at Lewis and Clark College yesterday, Saturday, April 28th. Jon had an outstanding performance of the Graf concerto. After it was over and after having listened to other performances, he ranked himself in 5th place or lower. There were a few missed notes, etc. that he thought would cost him with the judges ratings. We listened as the names were read at the awards ceremony: 5th place- no Jon, 4th place- no Jon, 3rd place- no, Jon, (At this point we had to think it was an honor just to be there) 2nd place- no Jon, 1st place- There he was! Wow! Our hearts were pumping.
In the end, we all knew that Jon's muscianship and his ability to play this piece with his heart was what mattered most. The competetive element can be a blessing and a curse depending on one's perspective. We're all glad for Jon.
Here is an excerpt from the Oregonian's blog:
Four students defend titles at OSAA solo music contest
Posted by The Oregonian April 28, 2007 22:16PM
Categories: Breaking News
Four students successfully defended state titles they won last year Saturday at the 2007 OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires Solo Music State Championships at Lewis and Clark College.
The repeat winners were Briana Lehman of Gresham High School on the bassoon, Matthew Keown of Springfield High School on rudimental snare drum, Nicole Skau of David Douglas High School on alto saxophone, and Matthew Markham from Colton High School on low saxophone.
A total of 424 students from 105 high schools participated.
Trombone: 1. Jon Spooner, Gresham High School; 2. Bryan Pawlowski, Aloha High School; 3. Sean Meesey, Churchill High School (Eugene); 4. Matthew Hettwer, West Salem High School; 5. Naomi Jeffries, Oregon City High School.
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