Category Archives: General

Movie Review: Music by John Williams

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I recently watched the John Williams documentary, Music by John Williams, on Disney Plus, and loved it so much that I knew I had to talk about it here!

This documentary was really interesting.  John Williams is, and I don’t say this lightly, an iconic composer.  Even if you don’t know his name, you know his music.  I’ve included a playlist with some of my favorite songs.

 

I learned so much from watching this documentary, and there were a lot of great stories.  The documentary doesn’t go into a lot of detail, but it is a pretty good overview of his life and his career.  Not only that, but condensing a decades long career into roughly 90 minutes is an incredible task, especially with all of the movies he’s worked on.  It mostly focuses on his childhood, and the early years of his career- Stars Wars gets a lot of screen time, as does his working relationship with Steven Spielberg, particularly Jaws and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

Here are some cool things we learn in the movie:

  • Steven Spielberg loves film scores, and he was knew that he wanted to work with Williams on everything.  It seems like they have a great relationship, both personally and professionally
  • Williams met George Lucas at Spielberg’s request, and was considering working on a movie called A Bridge Too Far but ultimately went with Star Wars.
  • Lucas believes that Williams was so important to the creative process for Star Wars that Episodes 1-3 might not have happened if Williams hadn’t agreed to come back to work on them.
  • I got chills when they played the Opening Theme for Star Wars, along with video footage of him working with the orchestra
  • Joseph Williams, the lead singer of Toto, is one of his kids
  • Spielberg initially thought the theme for Jaws was a joke because of how simple it was
  • He’s not a big movie person. That was one of the most interesting bits of the documentary because of his career and the fact that he’s composed some iconic movie themes
  • He doesn’t do anything electronically: he still composes with pencil and paper, works with an orchestra, and doesn’t use any electronic equipment, which means his younger colleagues work a lot faster than he does
  • Itzhak Perlman has a great story of being asking to work on the score for Schindler’s List.  He told Williams he’d think about it, and when he told his wife, she seemed pretty stunned that he’d think about working with Williams and Spielberg.  Perlman would go on to work as a soloist on the Schindler’s List theme

There’s a lot more I could talk about but those were some of the highlights for me.  I will end with one last thing, though.  I can’t remember who said it, but it is in reference to doing Jaws, Star Wars and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind in close succession.  Doing any one of those would be the accomplishment of a lifetime, and he did them pretty close together.  It’s especially amazing when you consider his career as a whole.  There’s also Indiana Jones, Home Alone, E.T., and Jurassic Park, plus many more.  He’s worked as a composer, a conductor (he worked with the Boston Pops for quite a few years, and has worked as a guest conductor with other orchestras), and even did songs for the Olympics and Sunday Night Football!  There are so many songs of his that are instantly recognizable, and on their own, they’re amazing, but together, they make up an amazing career of songs that people know and love.  I can’t say this enough but if you like movies, music, and movie music, this is the documentary for you!

2021: A Year Of Learning

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I’m not going to lie, it’s really weird to talk about my word of the year a few months into the year.  Better late than never, after all.  But here we are, four months into the year, talking about what I want to focus on.

I really hope it goes better than last year, when my plan to embrace creativity fell apart.  After everything that happened last year, it was hard to focus on anything.  I mean, a pandemic, starting school and a lot of changes at work…it’s a wonder I was able to get anything done!

But that was last year!  It’s a new year and there’s plenty of time to get things done.

This year, I just want to learn! 

Being in school really helps with learning.  How could it not?  I feel like, being in school at 34, I have a much better idea of who I am, what I’m interested in, and why I’m there, compared to when I was in college right out of high school.  I want to take all of the things, because there are a lot of classes that sound absolutely cool, so it will be quite the assortment of classes.

And I know that they all fall into graduation requirements, but there are a lot of classes that I’ll probably take because I want to, and not just because I need to.  If I could be in school forever, I would!  I’d be that vampire with a ton of degrees, probably.

On a super random note, I finished an intercultural communications class recently, and I am really glad I took it!  I learned a lot about communication, especially about communicating with people from other cultures.  There are a couple of links I wanted to share, because they were really interesting to look at and go through.

One is a white privilege check.  While I wasn’t surprised that my answers were yes all the way down, I do know that I need to act, and not just think.  On a related note, taking these hidden biases tests were also really informative.  It’s a really good starting point to see how you’re biased, even though you don’t realize how you’re biased.

It is pretty vague, though.  A few months into the year, and I’m still not completely sure what it is I want to learn, and how I’m going to do it.  On the one hand, it’s going to be hard to focus on specific things because I can’t completely pinpoint what it is I want to learn.  I feel like not having some specific things to focus on will mean that I won’t have some starting points.  But I also like that it’s vague, because it leaves it open-ended.  If I find a rabbit-hole I want to go down, I will go down that rabbit-hole.

I don’t want to stress out over it, though.  I want it to be fun, not stressful.  I like learning!  It makes me happy to learn something new, and I get really excited when I learn something new.  So fun and natural, not forced and stressful.

There are a couple of things I specifically wanted to focus on this year:

  1. I plan on reading at least one non-fiction book each month, and so far, I’m doing pretty good with that.  It’s a good starting point, and maybe I’ll actually read more than one non-fiction book a month.  I’m not ruling it out, but one is definitely manageable!  I have a ton of books to choose from too, so picking something new won’t be hard at all!
  2. I also want to learn a new craft.  A few months into the year, and I still haven’t decided what that will be.  I could learn how to embroider, do cross-stitch, draw, paint, sew or knit.  The possibilities are endless, but a new craft would be fun, even if it’s not a permanent part of my life the way crochet is.  It could be, and I won’t know until I try.  I actually have to do, though, instead of thinking about it.

I’m excited about all of the possibilities- whether it’s from a book, from school, or something else entirely, it will be really nice to focus on something I really love.  The last year has really got me thinking about making learning a priority.

That’s all for today!

I’ll see you next time,

Around The Internet #36

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Hello and good morning!

Here is today’s edition of cool and interesting things I found on the internet.  I hope you find what you need from the links below.

That’s all for today, and I’ll be back soon!

Stay safe and be kind,

School Update!

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It’s been ages since I’ve done a school update, and thought it was time to talk about what’s been keeping me so busy!

First, I thought I’d recap the fall semester!

I had an astronomy class, which was really fun!  Science is cool, but not my strong suit.  Still, I enjoyed the class because there were a lot of random assignments where I had to look stuff up, and some questions to answer.  The professor was super involved, and checked in with us a lot.  It was really obvious that she wanted us to do well, and gave us a lot of different resources throughout the semester.  It was really easy to get an A in this class.

At the complete opposite end of the spectrum was Anatomy And Physiology.  This was in the medical assistant department, though there is a similar class in the biology department.

I really wish I had taken the biology one, because this class was terrible.  The material itself was fun, but really dense.  It was also a lot of information.  The professor wasn’t involved in the class at all- other then a few announcements at the beginning and end of the semester, there was nary a peep from him.  The tests were pretty strange too.  Answers were in a strange order.

You’d have something like this:

  • A.  All Of The Above
  • B.  Answer
  • C.  A And C
  • D.  Answer

Or this:

  • False
  • True

Or you’d see the same question twice in a row- as in the exact same question, but 4 choices for the first and 5 for the second.  Or true/false and then false/true.  And there would be a lot of detailed questions about diseases, which were talked about in the book, but the book was more of an overview since this was a class about the parts of the body and how it works, and not a class about the diseases.  It was so strange to see super-detailed questions about diseases that weren’t covered in the book and were not linked to or mentioned anywhere in the book.

And I felt like nothing stuck, because the class was primarily tests, with a few discussion posts sprinkled in.  I ended up with a B, and I do not have to take this particular class again, which makes me happy.

I also took Native American history, which was a really good class!  I learned a lot, and not surprisingly, we were absolutely horrible to them.  I knew we were, of course, but I am glad I took this class.  It’s unfortunate that we don’t get a lot of this information in regular history classes, and have to take a separate class if we do want to learn it, but at least it’s offered for those of us who do.  This class was another A!

As for this semester:

It’s a busy one, because for some bizarre reason, I decided to take a total of 5 classes.  While working full time.  It seems like most of my time over the last month has been working or doing school stuff, but it’s not as bad as I thought.

I have pathophysiology, which is all about diseases.  It’s really interesting, though some of the pictures in the book are a little hard to see.  There’s a reason I deal with medical records and paperwork.  But the tests are short and they aren’t frustrating.  We have to do a paper on a disease, so I need to figure out which one to write about.  And I like that every week, we have to do a worksheet on 5 diseases.  I don’t get those questions wrong!

I’m also taking biological anthropology- lecture and lab, which are two separate classes.

  • Lecture class is pretty cool- we’ve had discussion posts and quizzes, mostly, but I think we’re going to be getting some other assignments in the very near future.
  • Lab is a zoom class.  Tuesdays are pretty long, because of going to work, and then coming home with just enough time to get my computer set up for a 3 hour zoom class.  Props to everyone who’s on zoom for a lot longer than that.  Because lab is on Zoom, and most of the work we’re doing is during class, I felt like I was able to handle a 4th class.  It’s pretty fun but also weird to do a lab class on zoom.

I have two 8 week classes this semester also.  Biological anthropology and pathophysiology are a full semester, so they are definitely moving at a slower pace.

Currently, I’m taking intercultural communications, which has been really great!  It’ll be over at the end of the month, which is weird because I feel like I just started it.  But I’m learning a lot in this class, and I think it will be helpful at work, since I do talk to (and work with) people from a lot of different cultures.  Actually, it’s helpful for life in general, so it’s been worth it!  I ended up in this class because I need to take a personal growth class and was looking for something that was 8 weeks, which is how I ended up in this class.

In April/May, I’m taking mythology!  I just really wanted to take mythology, and didn’t care that it was 8 weeks, or that the only one that worked with my schedule was a zoom class.  Also, I needed to balance out all of the science.  I don’t know what this class is going to be like, but I’ll do an update if I can remember to do one.

And that wraps up all of my school updates, at least for now!

See you soon,

Around The Internet #35

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Hello sunshines!  I’m back with some of the cool things I find on the internet.  I hope you enjoy the links below.

That’s all for today, and have a great week!

Around The Internet #34

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Good morning!  It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these and thought it was time to share some of the really cool (and frustrating) things I’ve found on the internet.  Enjoy!

That’s all for today!

Enjoy your day,

Around The Internet #33

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Good morning!

It’s hard to believe that 2020 is over.  So far, it’s been the longest and shortest month, and January isn’t even over!  On the plus side, it’s not 2020 anymore, and I’m finding a lot of really cool things to share with all of you.  As usual, take a look at the links below, and hopefully, you’ll find something that you really like!

That’s all for today, and I’ll be back soon!

Around The Internet #32

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Hi!  We’re back with another edition of Around The Internet, where I share the interesting things I find on the internet.  Enjoy!

That’s all for today, and have a great week!

Around The Internet #31

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Hi!  Well, I didn’t think I’d be sharing some of the cool stuff I’ve found so soon, but here we are.  I hope you find something that catches your interest from the links below.

That’s all for today, and I’ll see you next time,

Around The Internet #30

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Hi!  It’s been a while.  It’s like I’ve disappeared from this little corner of the internet I call home…because I have disappeared.  I just haven’t been in a blogging or reading mood the last few months.  It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve picked up a book, or thought about blogging.  Honestly?  I lost motivation and interest for a while.  That and school has kept me a little bit busy.  But here I am, looking at drafts of posts that have been hibernating for months, so my apologies that many of these links are months old at this point.  I still hope you find something interesting from the links below.

That’s all for today, and enjoy your week!