Rob's Workshop

Last Friday I went to Rob's workshop and it couldn't have happened at a better time! I actually have started to rekindle my interest in photography, but that's besides the point. Rob's workshop was really relaxed and fun. We looked at some photographs and talked about the lighting and how it effects the photograph itself and the message it gets across, he showed us this through 2 different photographs by 2 different photographers, I forget their names, but they were awesome! Then he told us about the Secret book and how people write down their secrets on a postcard that has some sort of art on it and they send it in to be published in the book. Rob told us to each get a bit of paper and write out our secrets on it and then our partners had to photograph us thinking about the secret or photograph the secret coming "alive" through us and then we had to get a picture of ourselves as the person we present to other people (this reminded me of Jim and the idea of the mask everyone wears). After we got a few shots of our partners, we had to go outside and take a picture of ourselves and things which spoke about who we were as a person. I really got into the whole natures-leaving-us aspect of outside and got a pretty cool shot of some sort of writing in the pavement. Overall, I really dug Rob's workshop, I just wish we had more time to actually do the photo-shoot with our partners but I suppose with more limited time and limitations, the more likely it is you won't mess around and you can actually get a good shot.

Dave's Workshop #2

So this time around, things got more difficult. It's known that I'm not the best bassist, and I'm not saying it out of low self-esteem, but because I never got that far with lessons and I've never really played bass seriously. Dave was talking about techniques that are really simple for a lot of people, but for me, it's incrediabley difficult. I don't think I was really meant to be in his workshop to be quite honest, and it's not your fault. I don't think you knew my level of capabilities on the bass, but I'm no where near good enough (even with practice) to be good for another workshop with Dave. This is for more advanced musicians who know all their scales, capabilities, playing techniques, etc. I am not one of those people. I can play any standard rock song, those aren't hard, but Jazz is a whole other world that I'm not at all ready for. I need more practice on my own with bass before I can consider it. I don't want to hold the group back, so despite our talk yesterday, I think it's best I leave Dave's workshop. If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to work with Robin, he's helping me with mixing songs, which is something I've wanted to pursue since I started running sound and I've been doing a lot of it this year. I'm sorry again and to Jack, Jesse, and Leah, you guys are great players, it was fun when I wasn't messing up!

Dave's Workshop #1

Thursday was the first day of the jazz workshop with Dave. During the workshop we talked about a very popular jazz standard called Giant Steps by John Coltrane. Leah, Jack, and Jesse played scales played up and down in half-step intervals. I couldn't join in on the scales because the furthest I've gotten in my lessons was the C scale and I believe the G, I'm not entirely sure. I was really nervous for the workshop because I heard that Dave doesn't put up with people that don't know their stuff, and I'm not the greatest bass player, but Dave was pretty easy on me and that really made me feel more comfortable. He assigned Jesse and I to practice some scales for the next workshop so I've been practicing my scales. Next workshop I believe we'll be playing Scrapple From The Apple by Charlie Parker and I'm looking forward to it quite a bit. I want to actually be able to play songs and not just take the root notes and just hold those out, my goal is to become a more disciplined bass player after this workshop and a more comfortable one too, I'm already on my way!

STAC Book Presentation

Today I talked about the book, Wittgenstein's Poker by David Edmonds and John Eidinow. I think my presentation went well, but it was pretty short. I feel I spoke too much about how the book effected me than the actual book itself. I gave a really broad interpretation of the book and didn't touch on anything specific. I think for my next report, I'll avoid comparing it to my life and how its helped me and find an equilibrium between me and the content in the book.