Usually, I am loathe to do a ‘monthly recap’ blog — I often tend to oversimplify events and skip several crucial details — but in this case, I will have to make an exception as there are simply too many critical points to discuss. Onward, then, friends; once more into the events of November!
Though my family didn’t come down for Parents Weekend, I was far from removed in terms of events happening. Round Midnight, the all-gender folk and jazz a capella group that I chair, performed at the opening concert on Friday evening in Finney Chapel. It was a blast and a half, but truth be told I vastly underestimated the total amount of people who showed up to support us! I wasn’t present at last year’s Parents Weekend concert, and had only experienced end-of-semester performances in markedly smaller venues. Doubly nerve-wracking was the fact that I was conducting my first arrangement for the group (Hammond Song by the Roches), but once we got underway I forgot the stage was there entirely. Trite, I know, but no less true for saying so.
Following that was the three watch parties I set up for Arcane season two — each season is released in sets of three episodes, and being able to view them on the big screen was nothing short of breathtaking. The animation styles alone were just amazing, and when you combined them with the soundtrack I was blown away — I had some gripes with the overall narrative arcs, sure, but on the whole it was a wonderful experience. Anyone can reserve the screening room in Wilder Main, and it was lovely seeing people come together to celebrate, critique, and discuss the series as it unfolded. Concurrently, I was also applying to teach an exco (experimental college) course on the show, bringing in critiques of class structure / struggle, the history of tragedy as a literary genre, and concepts of gender as performed throughout the work as a whole. I am so excited to dive into what makes the series special, and will post updates on the class come spring…
In a similar vein, I applied to present at the North American Conference of Video Game Music on the advertising function of (you guessed it) Arcane’s soundtrack, with extensive help from Prof. Leson in the musicology department. In my last blog, I detailed how my current exco — the study of game music in general — is proceeding, and given that the conference itself is in Cleveland this year I decided to send in a proposal. Whether I present or not, I will be attending to hear what other academics are saying on the matter, but it was a really fun challenge attempting to come up with a topic and put it in a presentation abstract format. Trying to fit so much information in only 250 words was daunting, but working with Prof. Leson made it both possible and fun to do so.
As I did last year, Thanksgiving was celebrated on campus for me. Based on how late the holiday was and how expensive travel is, it didn’t make sense to go back to Minnesota, and so instead I participated in Friendsgiving here. It was truly wonderful — I love to cook, but I haven’t done it much since being at college. Being back in a kitchen (even if it was only to make that simplest of dishes — mashed potatoes) was a real joy, and having several stage managers in the crowd made the whole ordeal far less stressful, as everything was timed with a degree of precision that was somewhat frightening. We didn’t go home until the small hours of the morning, having decided to both watch the Wizard of Oz and play various types of karaoke games well past finishing pie, and I have to say it was one of the most fun Thanksgivings I have had to date.
That about sums up the big events of November for me — obviously there are other things I left out (registration, quartet rehearsal, planning for study abroad, etc.), but on the whole it has been a lovely, if extremely busy, time. The last contra dance of the semester is quickly approaching (Dec. 5th, in the Philips Center from 8-11! Shameless self-promotion…), and I expect that it will feature prominently in my next post…. Until then, though, have a lovely rest of your weekends and best of luck with the start of December.
