[author's note: So since this is a personal blog, a couple of shameless self-promotions are perfectly okay.]
A couple of good friends from my high school, Eric Choate and Sean Colonna, have put together a summer choir that’s called the Camerata Singers, and I’m in the choir. Over the past weeks, we’ve prepared music by Palestrina, de Victoria, des Prez, Morley, Gasparini, Rachmaninoff, Vaughan Williams, and a couple settings of folk tunes. Rather than keep this incredible music to ourselves, we want to share it with you!
With this said, join us for our season concert this Sunday, August 2nd, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1407 N 2nd St, in Phoenix. (It’s near the McDowell/Central Avenue Metro station.) The performance begins at 3:30pm and a free-will retiring collection will be taken.
And, if you’re bold enough, join the church for its 5:30pm evening service and see me conduct the Camerata on Tomás Luis de Victoria’s O magnum mysterium. It’s a really beautiful piece:
Earlier today, I went to Central Music (at Central & Camelback) to get some new music to play on the piano. (If you’re curious, I bought Volume I of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.) Anyway, while waiting at the cash register, I read quite possibly the greatest series of music puns. Sadly, if you don’t understand music theory, you won’t get this post.
A C, an E-flat, and a G go into a bar. The bartender says: “Sorry, but we don’t serve minors.” So, the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished: the G is out flat.
An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, “Excuse me, I’ll just be a second.”
An A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims: “Get out now! You’re the seventh minor I’ve found in this bar tonight.” The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes.
The bartender (who used to have a nice corporate job until his company downsized) says: “You’re looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development.” This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit and stands there au natural. Eventually, the C sobers up and realizes in horror that he’s under a rest. The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.
I wait on the platform
With the heat of the summer
Dripping down the back of my neck.
I stand waiting.
Down the street as far as one can see
A metro train grows in the distance,
Lights flashing as a warning.
I stand waiting.
As it rolls up to the stop
I collect my things,
There is a pause before the doors open.
I stand waiting.
On entering I look for a seat
In this one-car-train,
None are to be found.
I stand waiting.
The train jolts into movement,
I try to keep my balance.
A noise explodes from somewhere below,
The sound of a new train in need of oil,
And I stand, Waiting.
[author's note: Since April 2009, I've been working with the IT and e-Learning side of the ASU College of Public Programs in a new endeavor that combines my passion for technology and the advancement of learning. Don't get me wrong, I'm still working with the Student Ambassadors (StARs). The StARs group we have assembled at the moment is an energetic, passionate, and eager bunch and I'm humbled and honored to call them all my colleagues and friends. Do please check out what these future world-changers have to say. But this added gig lets me work with CoPP faculty to reach out to new students in newer and more innovative ways.]
[editor's note: At least once a week, we'll try and have an e-learning post online wherein we share our thoughts about technology in the classroom, social media, emerging technologies, and anything of the sort. You can find all these assembled posts under the Online Learning subtheme of the ASU theme.]
About a couple of months ago, ASU announced that it had partnerned with Inigral to bring ASU on Facebook (click to launch), a Facebook application that connects students to each other in the same class, major, school, and college. The application also allows students to connect with instructors, view class schedules and find other students from the same hometown. The premise of ASU on Facebook is that it links a student’s Facebook account to the ASU Student Information System via the ASURite single sign-on (SSO) system.
With the introduction of any new system comes lots of questions. Borrowing from a popular format by Educause, I co-wrote (with Dr. Colleen Carmean) 7 things you should know about ASU on Facebook for the College’s e-Learning team. You can click on the image at right to download a nice 1-page flyer (on legal-size paper, 8.5×14) of what this Facebook application is (and is not) or you can check out a more detailed version on the College’s website, http://copp.asu.edu/facebook. In the context of a hypothetical scenario of Sheila, an undergraduate student in the College’s Social Work program, the flyer outlines the what, who, how, significance, downsides, where, and implications for learning of this new application.
The thing that will be interesting to see is how this ASU on Facebook application works with – and quite possibly even complements – the existing Blackboard course management system. Most students are probably on Facebook more than they are on Blackboard (sadly), so will students treat this new application as though it were Blackboard?
Probably not at the outset. Notably lacking from the ASU on Facebook application – and probably by design – is a system where students can submit their assignments and review their grades. ASU can make people use Blackboard, but it cannot make them create a Facebook profile, the crux of this entire system.
ASU on Facebook is an informal approach to discussion and connection in a course. Since many students already use Facebook, this initiative provides a familiar approach for students seeking connection outside the classroom. Will faculty embrace the initiative, accept course invitations to join their students at ASU on Facebook, and embrace informal course communications? Time will tell.
233 years ago, never have words have such a profound effect on history. On this day, the Declaration of Independence was signed and thus was born the greatest political experiment, the United States of America.
Fast forward to 1891, when young church organist and composer Charles Ives composed his Variations on ‘America’, which you might know as either My country, ’tis of thee or God save the Queen (how ironic).
Finally, fast forward to today, 4 July 2009, where you’ll listen to the late concert organist Virgil Fox play this piece:
