Commitments (not marital ones)

Over the last few months, it has struck me that a lot of my friends don't take their responsibilities as seriously as I do, so today I am pondering dedication and commitment.

Anyone who knows me will know that I do everything; Guides, Scouts, Bands, Church, Choirs, helping in classes, private tutoring, form prefecting, the EPQ, etc. etc. And I do all of these things to the best of my ability; if I say I'll be somewhere or do something, the I will try my darnedest to be there or do it (a few weeks ago, when I missed the Year Seven inter-form badminton competition I felt so guilty, especially as the Captain didn't go either) and long standing commitments, such as bands, always come first to me. Obviously, I know that other people don't take this stance and often "blow off" bands/choirs etc. for other things and I don't have a problem with that, it's their choice. But until recently, I hadn't realised how common it was.

Even people who I thought would be as dedicated to their work and extra activities as I am (people who I would deem the most reliable and moral people I've ever met) are willing to 'skive' or 'pull a sickie' on a band rehearsal or event which they think will be boring, or that they cannot be bothered with on that particular day.

To be honest, I've learnt two things from this. Firstly, I am apparently incredibly dedicated to everything compared to others (even those I thought would be less likely to miss things like that). Secondly, dedication doesn't seem to be related in any way to being a good person. This surprised me, as I've always considered that one of the things which made me a good person (perhaps actually the only thing) was that I could be relied on to do anything I was required to. But some of my closest friends and the nicest people I've ever met (including the Captain) don't need to be like that to make them good people, they are just inherently good in other ways.
Wow. Surprisingly deep.

Also, I'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone who sent me good wishes for my Birthday the other day. I'm sorry I've not been prompt in replying to any of it (social networking has not been kind to me), but I will get back to you, if I haven't already. I love you all :)

Choir, Singing and the Community of Music

Hey there, random folk of the Internet! Today, because it is a huge part of my life which I could not live without, I am pondering music. For those of you who don't know me, you should know how great my need for music is; if I don't go to band or choir or something, I'm usually singing. Or singing in my head. Or singing out loud and singing something else in my head (this, as I'm sure you can guess, has lead to some fantastic mash-ups...)

So, today I was at choir and, whilst Mr Werner was prancing about like a prancy thing (he is a beautiful man), I realised how much I love being there, in choir. We have all these little in-jokes, like the altos and their sexy E-flats and how diva-y the sopranos are meant to be (from experience, they're not really). Like many things, the Chamber Choir is like a kooky, awesome family and I'm really going to miss it when I leave next year.
By the way, that's true of all the other choirs too, but you really notice it in the Chamber Choir because it's so small and tight-knit.

Then there are bands... *Sigh* Where do I begin? Well, there's Bean Band (more formally known as Concert Band) which is, much as it pains me to say it, really good fun! Mr Bean doesn't realise how funny he is, and we often end up laughing at him being amazing. Then there's everyone else. They're all fabulous too, and (even if they do have tendencies to dye their hair canary yellow) I love them dearly. Some of them, like Hannah, Emma, Joanna, Lizzie etc. (that is by no means an extensive list) are far more used to my quirks and therefore pull faces at me during band, which is good for when it gets boring, or Ben has a solo... Like the choir, it's very close, especially after Belgium and we're sort of like the most dysfunctional (extended) family that has ever graced the Earth's surface. Apart from the Splorers, of course.

Finally, we come to Soul Band. Like every other musical activity I do, this is the highlight of my week. We are so close and, although there are meant to be only a few of us, there are twenty in the horns section alone. This makes us beautiful; even Ben. Even Tom. Even Ashley's hair.

Especially Ashley's hair. It's beautiful, despite its luminescent qualities.

Plus, Miss McNally is the most inspirational person I've ever met; she's actually taught me so much about life, entirely by accident and she lets me wear hats to rehearsals and concerts, which is awesome :) The Soul Band is a mad, laugh-a-minute comedy roadshow of a family and I love it more than anything I've ever done in my life. Ever.

Except perhaps Scouts. Although, nobody in the Scouts can play "Teddy Bear's Picnic" as an impromptu duet on trombones. That's gold.

So yeah, this is what I do with my life. It's beautiful and I wouldn't change it for the world, although next year I will have to. I'm going to miss it so much! If any of you are reading this, I love you guys!

Oh, and I finally found a vegan song (sort of). It's called "Save Me Now" and it's by Jeff Lynne. Give it a listen, it's beautiful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VChiKsQo534

Musical Education - Seriously, you should know this by now

As Jeff Lynne has two new albums coming out later this year, I have been pondering the awesome world of music. And by music I mean proper music, not that rubbish that passes for music nowadays (golly, I sound at least sixty)...

OK, so, a brief lesson on Rock Family Trees:

• So, Jeff Lynne was in a band called "The Idle Race", who were alright.
• Then he got bored of them and moved to a band called "The Move" (so called, because all their members moved about a lot).
• Also in "The Move" at that time were Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Rick Price (previous members include Ace Kefford, Carl Wayne, Trevor Burton and Richard Tandy).
• Roy Wood had moved to "The Move" from "Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders", where he was constantly fighting for supremacy with (surprise surprise) Mike Sheridan.
• After "The Move" Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan rejoined forces with Richard Tandy to form "The Electric Light Orchestra" ("ELO"), who are one of the best bands ever to have existed. "ELO" also included about six or seven other members, most of whom played strings (and Bill Hunt, who played keyboard and french horn).
• The incredibly talented Roy eventually left "ELO" to pursue a more lucrative career where he wasn't fighting for supremacy against other incredibly talented musicians (Lynne). Roy then went on to become the lead singer of "Wizzard", one of the other best bands of all time, along with Charlie Grimma, Nick Pentalow, Mike Burney and Rick Price (from "The Move"), amongst others.
• "ELO", in Roy's absence, picked up several new members, including Kelly Groucutt and Mik Kaminski, and became extremely successful. Eventually, somewhere in the midst of the eighties, Jeff Lynne got bored and left, after writing a song about it (as you do). 
• After this, "ELO" picked up an excellent new singer called Eric Troyer and formed "ELO Part II", "Orkestra" and "The Orchestra" in quick succession (Jeff Lynne had the rights to the "ELO" name).
• Both Kelly Groucutt and Jeff Lynne took up solo careers at various points during the nineties and two thousands. Jeff Lynne also "reformed" the "ELO", still having the name rights, but with girls, and very few of the actual original members. They did a tour called "Zoom" in 2001, but everyone seems to agree that the less said about that, the better.
• Jeff Lynne was also in the supergroup with the best lineup ever (Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, George Harrison and Bob Dylan - I know, right?!?!) - The Traveling Wilburys.
• Roy Wood, in the meantime, has been in several bands since Wizzard; firstly there was "The Wizzo Band", which was weird and experimental, "Roy Wood's Helicopter", "Roy Wood's Army", "The Roy Wood Big Band" and, now, "The Roy Wood Rock and Roll Band". ("Roy Wood's Army" and "The Roy Wood Big Band" were both mostly, if not all, female apart from Roy. This makes them doubly awesome. "The Roy Wood Rock And Roll Band" is not all female, as the majority of the musicians from "The Roy Wood Rock And Roll Band" all went off to have families and babies.)
• Roy was also part of a supergroup called "The Rockers", who were the House Band on the TV show "OTT" (which Roy wrote the theme tune for). This band comprised of Phil Lynot, Chas Hodges and John Coghlan.

OK, that's a family tree which is practically horizontal. But awesome. For more information, check out this video, which is the best thing on the web:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRDqpaDEG3k <-- Watch it, or be forever shunned...

Team Saxophone!

OK, this time, at the request of Hannah, I have been pondering Team Saxophone. I have to keep it civil, just in case any of them read it (just kidding) - but to be honest, I don't see why they would. Team Saxophone, for those of you who don't know, is a group of seven "epic" people, who all play the saxophone in Concert Band (probably as a punishment for something bad they did in a former life...). It's pretty cool, we've all become some sort of warped and confused family over the last two years, since Hannah, Ben Vize and I joined.

Over the years, we've had several "wonderful ideas" of things we could do as team bonding activities; these have included, but aren't limited to, a team trip to Legoland, a team trip to Cadbury World, a team Christmas Dinner and a Team Saxophone room on the Concert Band tour (this last one was Hannah's idea - unfortunately, because Ben is a boy, we couldn't make this work :-( ).

It occurs to me that I should probably introduce the members of the team at this stage; well, there's Holly and Ben, who plays first alto (I think), Rosalind and Ellen who play second alto (again, I think - I can't see who's playing what from where I sit on the end of the row). Then there's Bethan and Hannah who play tenor; recently though, this seems to have diminished to just Hannah as Bethan has been on study leave and so hasn't been to many rehearsals. And then there's me, stuck on the end (almost falling off the stage) with my Bari. So, all in all, not too bad.

One of our most long-lived rituals as a section is "The Saxophone Shotgun". This involves the entire Team saying "Shotgun" really quickly after we've finished playing the last piece and the last one to say it has to put away all the chairs, stands and music. Unfortunately, as I am on the end, it is not always registered when I say it, because nobody can hear. Oh well, Ben's always last anyway. (N.B. Ben seems to be of the opinion that normal rules do not apply to him and he doesn't have to bother. They do and he does...)


So yeah, that's Team Saxophone, they're pretty cool. So, further reading time! As I've already said, my friend Emily now has a blog. It seems to be getting more and more like mine whenever I read it, so if you like this, you'll like that...
http://shirleynomates.blogspot.com
Also, my German teacher (and possibly favourite person in the whole world) Mr Robinson now also has a blog. It is really interesting and I highly reccomend it to anyone who... Well, just to anyone!!
http://lorolocuaz.wordpress.com/
And, as always, if you like this, you can follow me on Twitter; @EmPernilla, probably.

Alice

Today for no apparent reason, apart from the fact she told me to, I am pondering Alice. She's really cool. She has, err, hair and a face. You know, a face. It's that lumpy thing that sits on the front of your head, next to the hairy bit....

Anyway, Alice.

She has quite a nice face, like a sort of white Cleopatra, but not as manipulative or evil, or with a really big nose. And she's got a really nice smile :-) And, errrr... It was fun to have her at the Bond Night last year, when she didn't get thrown in a paddling pool by a huge ginger. Unlike some people *ahem* Emily...

Martha thinks that Alice is "fantastical and incredibly clever and it's not fair"

Eduin thinks that Alice is "imaginative, cheery... Jonny Depp!!?!?!!?"

Leila thinks that Alice is "hot, good at English"

Alice thinks that Alice is "the pengalengalengalengalengiest". Ed disagrees...

Wer've just spent the last ten-twenty minutes, at Alice's request, trying to work out who we wanted to play us in the movie of our life. The list is as follows:

• Ed: Matt Damon, as he looks like him (and he's the pengalengalengalengalengiest)
• Eduin: Alan Rickman, or Hugh Laurie when Alice said he couldn't be Alan Rickman (as he was mean in "Love Actually"). I think Alan Rickman would be a wonderful Eduin. Hehehe, Eduin.
• Martha doesn't think Alan Rickman is vegan. If we are going by this criteria, we will be here forever trying to find someone who is an actor, and vegan, and awesome/hot enough to play Eduin.
• Martha suggests Paul McCartney.
• He is not an actor.
• Or hot enough to play Eduin.
• Alice: Probably Emma Stone, I don't know why.
• Martha: Kiera Knightley, as she has been told she looks like her. I think perhaps Jim Parsons, or even Morgan Freeman, would be a better choice.
• Martha suggests Miss Piggy.
• Leila: Jonny Depp, no questions asked :)
• Sophia: Probably... Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood, for those who [like me] weren't sure of the actor's name)
• As for me, we are torn between Whoopi Goldberg and Lisa Kudrow. Obviously neither of them look like me, but that is perhaps for the better.
• At a later date I have returned to this and I now suggest Neil Patrick Harris, as we have so much in common...

N.B. I think Liz should be played by Helena Bonham Carter in the movie of my life...

Shout It To The World!

You peeps! I have a very serious, yet jokey ponderance today.

This evening I found out a very interesting fact about one of my best friends that, really, I should have found out about a year ago. It's nobody's fault, it's just how things happen to have turned out. But it got me thinking. When I asked my other friend (Alice) if she knew she said it was "knowledge" but that there "hadn't been a huge song and dance about it". This gave me an idea.

From now, I am starting a campaign to get people Shouting their news from the rooftops!!! I think that the best thing we can do for our society and for ourselves is to be more open about our lives. So, if anyone had anything they'd like to share, they can comment here or message me and I will make it public (slightly) for them. This blog only reaches about forty people, but it's more than one person can tell at a time without a microphone or a soap box. You don't have to give a name, if you don't want to, but telling people will make you feel so much happier within yourself.

I'll start.

My name is Emma (we all know that) and I play the saxophone. I use the saxophone as a way to stop being sad and be awesome instead. I am a massive grammar nerd. I am a huge geek. I am both massive and huge. I have some friends, but no boyfriend, which is a shame. I study English (which I'm not as keen on as I used to be), German (which I love), Religious Studies (which I also love) and Chemistry (which is difficult, but worth it). I am a Methodist Christian (but not in a "you should all come to church with me" way. It'd be nice if you did, but I respect your right to choose, as long as it's not a danger to anyone else). I have recently discovered that I possess a power which makes people answer "yes" when really they should answer "no". This came back to bite me. I have the most supportive friends in the world!! I am an Explorer Scout and a Ranger (Guide Senior Section). I love playing the saxophone and it is a major part of my life. My saxophone is like the child I have yet to have (don't worry I'm not pregnant). My favourite film is Snow White. My favourite book is The Shell House.

Is there anything else? Ask me questions, I'll answer them. (Keep it clean please)

SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!
Spread the word! Start telling people things!

You Know You're Sad When...

Shalom, as Phoebe would say, my darlings. My ponderances since I last write have been minimal, although my working-ness has been much. Today I have been pondering how very, very sad I am. I really am very, very sad.

I thought to myself, as I cleaned my saxophone, wearing a shirt with a colourful message about Jesus after finishing playing music nobody had listened to and thinking about Scouts.

Yes, I am about six walking stereotypes.

So, here is a list of things which I, the Queen of Sad, have deemed "You know you're sad when..." If more than half apply to you, then you need to take a serious look at your life.

• You have never looked at a wall and thought "I could run through that!"
• Your one true love is a saxophone named Alfonz
• One of your top goals in life is to achieve the Silver Acorn
• You know what the Silver Acorn is
• Your best friend is a dog called Bertrandt
• You wish you had a dog called Bertrandt
• You are part of a society or organisation in which you have less than three friends and you only turn up for the free food and/or drink.
• You can recite the first chapter of the first Artemis Fowl book
• You read this blog regularly
• You write this blog regularly
• You watch more than 1 hour worth of programmes on "Dave" per day
• You watch more than 1 hour worth of YouTube videos per day
• You are overly pernickety about both spelling and grammar, especially on social network sites and in Greetings cards
• You know all the words to The Garo Song
• You've never been camping. No, PGL doesn't count. I mean PROPER camping
• You don't know what proper camping is
• You broke a goat

Computer Games

Hello All (I got told off for writing "sexy beasts" last time). How are we today? Sorry I haven't updated in a while, real life took control :(
I have been pondering computer games today for a reason which will become apparent; this evening, James (my brother) and I are at a friend's house because my parents are "sociable" and the boys I am with are intent on playing computer games all night. Which is fascinating. Except that one of them thinks anything we do is boring (but can't come up with anything better to do - genius that).

Computer games were, it appears, invented by nerds for nerds without girlfriends or the entrepreneurial skills to invent their own computer games. Or those who are bored inventing computer games and just want a break. The are the most colossal waste of time and don't do anything for any form of personal skills. Just ask my brother.

This can also be said for most of the videos on YouTube (you tube). Who cares whether or not a cat can say "no no no no no no" for a minute and a half, or whether a baby looks scared at the camera? Apparently, Russell Howard and some more nerds, who got RSI from their computer games. Actually,  there are some pretty good videos out there, such as the "Urban Sports" series and the video I will be uploading later tonight, or tomorrow, of our neighbours singing "Sweet Caroline" very excitedly at yesterday's street party.
And little clips from film and TV can be funny too.

Comments?