Chalire Murphy!

I saw Charlie Murphy a couple nights ago on campus. He was pretty funny, but I think he relied too much on the image of himself on the Dave Chapelle show. He ended up quoting the Rick James sketch quite a bit and it quickly got tiring. The small bits of actual standup he did do were pretty funny, so it was unfortunate that he felt like falling back on old material. Also, he did mention the Dave is doing well and possibly starting a comedy tour soon, so it was good to hear that. All in all, I'd recommend the show if your a fan of his style of humour or are a big fan of the Rick James sketch.

Keith Jarrett 3/13/06

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Keith Jarrett perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, CA. This was actually a rare improvised concert, and I turned into quite a beauty. I actually didn't know that much about Jarrett's actual history, so I did a little research before the event which makes it more astounding in my mind how he was able to meet my expectation. Apparently he's been suffering from a chronic fatigue syndrome, but there wasn't even a hint of it during his performance. His first piece was so avant garde, with hands moving like liquid over the keys I was utterly blown away. Each song only got better and better. The audience was in an uproar at the finale, and Jarrett seemed actually quite content to perform three encores! That's quite a lot considering chronic fatigue. I did also see Jack Black and Sandra Bullock there, which was kind of surprising. I'm sure there were more celebrities that I didn't recognize. Overall, I was overjoyed at the opportunity to see such a legend in such an intimate setting. Who knows, maybe I will be able to look back at this concert as one of the great ones of his career.

http://www.vitalicokcowboy.com

This is a really sweet video featuring, well, dogs. Check it out at:

http://www.vitalicokcowboy.com

Let me know what you think.

London Philharmonic

I went to see the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Arlington Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara, and I must admit I was thoroughly impressed. The theatre itself is barely above average acoustically, but the orchestra was simply amazing. They performed Britten's Simple Symphony, Op. 4, Khatchaturian's Violin Concerto (1940), and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. I had played the Britten's piece in my own orchestra, and never really liked it that much; to me it always came off as rather elementary, but the performance by a professional orchestra cast it in a very different light. However, it still paled in comparison to Khatchaturian's masterpiece. The soloist was a young man only one year older than me by the name of Sergey Khachatryan, also of Armenian decent. He did a splendid job maintaining the atmosphere of the piece and its folk-like qualities. Tchaikovsky's symphony was also brilliant, with the famous French horn solo perfectly executed in the second movement. Overall I was very pleased and glad to have the opportunity to listen to such a high class orchestra. Next week is Keith Jarret on Monday, and then a couple concerts over spring break, so I'll talk to you then!

Sunset

Sweet sunset from my dorm room window. I'm just getting the hang of this, so give me some time to get the hang of everything. 

Well this is the first...

Well, this seems to be the beginning of my life on the internet blog scene. I realize that its about time that I make my thoughts heard since its so easy nowadays. I hope to much more stuff to come. Check back often!