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Saturday, March 25, 2006 
This is a temporary home page. The regular home page is malfunctioning right now. I am hopeful that we will fix this toon.
Saturday, October 18, 2003
Ellen Parr.
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." [Quotes of the Day]
Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River
Low water on the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. Tuolumne Meadows. October 12, 2003Wednesday, October 15, 2003
C. P. Snow
- "When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion." [Quotes of the Day]Monday, October 13, 2003
My first music teacher Gilda Mazzanti
is featured in a Mercury-News article (Strings of history: Gilda Mazzanti has played violin in San Jose orchestras for the past half-century) celebrating her 50th year as a member of the San Jose Symphony (now morphed into the Symphony Silicon Valley).
She is a piece of history, a strand of connective tissue that stretches through musical decades: from the old San Jose Symphony's days as a community orchestra, which Mazzanti joined at age 20 in 1953, while majoring in music at San Jose State College; through its 20-year ``golden era'' under conductor George Cleve; its 2002 bankruptcy filing; and the birth last year of the new orchestra with many of the same musicians but a far shorter schedule and a fancier name.
I took trombone lessons when I attended the Schallenberg Elementary School in the San Jose Unified School District (a long time ago) and "Miss Mazzanti" was our music teacher. Our "orchestra" met in the school cafeteria each week, in an era when each school had a music program and many students took instruments or voice lessons at school.
Mazzanti is a character - but in the best sense of the word. She could be a tough teacher - she once told me that if I wouldn't be quiet that she would "make a bow-tie out of my trombone" - but I have nothing but good memories of my early experience in music under her guidance.
Thank you "Miss Mazzanti!"
Several students
loaned me CDs of their music or music they like during the past few weeks. Thanks! I'm currently listening to a Yellow Magic Orchestra recording that Chris Chong loaned me. (To my son Brandon at UCLA: The "happy song" by YMO that you played for me is on this recording: "Behind the Mask")
Completely unrelated
View of the Sierra Nevada crest from the summit of Vogelsang Peak. October 11, 2003.
(If you are interested, read more here.)Thursday, October 9, 2003
Shortened office hours
are possible again today due to my academic senate responsibilities. (Note below that I thought this would be the case earlier this week, but in the end I was able to meet my full office hour.) If it turns out that I cannot stay for the entire 9:40-10:30 period and you need to see me I will be glad to set up an alternate meeting time with you - or "meet" on the phone, via email, or using Instant Messenger.Wednesday, October 8, 2003
I will only meet the first half of my office hour today
(Wednesday, October 8) due to some scheduling complexities. (This may also be the case tomorrow.) I can arrange to meet with you at an alternate time if necessary and, as always, I'm available via email and IM almost around the clock. (Update: I was able to stay for my full office hour after all!)Monday, October 6, 2003
Vote On Tuesday!
 Tuesday is very important day for California.
Regardless of your views on the issues I urge you in the strongest terms to vote on Tuesday. In our democracy every citizen has a responsibility to take elections seriously, carefully consider the issues, and then vote.
If you are a first-time voter you may have questions about the process. If you don't know where to get answers, ask me and I'll try to help.
Students occasionally ask me to take positions on election issues in class. I will not do this, even though I do hold strong views - particularly on this election - and feel passionately that this election holds great dangers for public education. However, I'm willing to discuss this topic outside of class with individual students - and you can easily figure out my thinking and how I'll vote with a few clicks that will take you to non-college web sites.
Not sure where to vote?
You can use the following form to look up your voting place.
New Mailroom Policy
I just received the following from the college:
As a result of concerns regarding confidential information in the Staff/Facutly Mailroom, students are no longer allowed entry to the Staff/Faculty mailroom. Students may drop off material for faculty in the Student Mail Drop for Faculty in the lobby of the Administration building. Items placed in the drop box are picked up and placed in mailboxes at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m Monday-Friday.
What this means is that if you need to leave materials for me you will either need to use the drop box as described above, drop materials off in the Creative Arts Division office (A-47), or slide them under my office door.
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Fall 2009 Term
Fall 2009 classes begin in September, and registration has already begun. Visit the De Anza College web site to find out more about admissions and registration. My schedule includes: Music 1A: Introduction to Music- MTWTh at 9:30-10:20 in A11
- MTWTh at 10:30-11:20 in A11
Music 51: Introduction to Electronic Music- MW at 12:30-2:10 in A91
- Friday-only at 10:30-1:50 in A91
Music 8: Intermediate Electronic MusicFor more information about courses I teach, visit the web sites for my Intro to Music and Electronic Music classes. Also, be aware that the state budget crisis may force changes in this schedule. Send me email if you have questions - see the Contact Info section lower in the sidebar. I posted an extremely important note about enrollment during a budget crisis last year - it still applies for the upcoming term. Please read it!
Recent Posts From My Other Sites
Music 1
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Extra Credit Concerts for Fall 2009. I posted the first of what will eventually be perhaps 10 or so concerts eligible for extra credit in Music 1A. These are end-of-term concerts by De Anza Music Department performing groups - no other events are eligible for this extra credit. The basic concept is that you'll attend events (as many as three if you want) and submit a very brief written document on each of them - full details are found on the Extra Credit page, along with an evolving list of events that qualify.
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Two Important Schedule Changes for Week 8. As I work to balance the need to give sufficient time to certain subjects with the need to keep moving forward - the term ends sooner than you think! - I have decided to make two important changes to next week's schedule:
- Test #2 is now delayed by 24 hours until WEDNESDAY, November 11. (It was originally scheduled for Tuesday.) As per the calendar this test focuses on the Baroque and Classical eras.
- Next week's quiz will be at the end of the week rather than at the beginning - it will be on THURSDAY, the day after the test.
I am not changing the due date for either the online discussion topic or the listening assignment.
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Three Brief Announcements (11/4/09). I have updated the quiz grades to included corrected grades for quiz 4, corrected scores for quiz 5, and grades/scores based on this week's quiz.
I have updated the concert list to include events through next Tuesday. This weekend would be one good time attend your second concert.
A formatting problem has developed on the calendar page. The information on the page is correct, but a large space may appear above the calendar when you view the web page. Please scroll down to see the calendar.
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| Source: Music 1; Updated: 11/6/2009. |
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Electronic Music
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Quiz FOUR assigned for Friday-only Intro class. As we discussed in today's (Friday) class, there are only two remaining Friday class meetings after today as result of having two November Friday holidays. Yes, only TWO meetings!
As part of our acceleration of the Friday class (along with today's quiz/test combo) the next quiz is due at our next class meeting on Friday, November 20 - at the start of the period or shortly after. We going to take the two remaining quizzes out of order so the quiz that is due on this date is QUIZ 4. See the link on the quizzes page.
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Need Extra Lab Time?. As we pass the midpoint of the term, you may be surprised at how quickly final exams and final projects approach - and how much you wish you had more lab time than what is available during class!
You can always drop in to use the lab during my other classes. See the Open Labs link in the sidebar at the upper left for more information. (Students in those classes always have priority for their computers, but you may use any vacant workstation.) There is also an open lab on TTh at 11:30-12:20. In addition, there is a very good chance that you will find the lab open at the same time on MW.
The tight schedule is especially an issue for the Friday class since there are two Friday holidays during the final five weeks of the term. Friday class students should make it a priority to come to the lab during open times. But even students in the MW and TTh classes will find that there is barely enough time to finish projects - and little at all to make them really great - if you limit yourself to class time only
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Important Schedule News for the Friday-only Class. As we have discussed in class on more than one occasion, the Friday-only class loses 2 (of only 11) class meetings this quarter to campus holidays. As you know, we need to work extra-hard this quarter to stay on schedule and complete the full course in nearly 20% less time!
The two holiday Fridays are coming up in November. The class does meet next week on November 6, but not on the week after than, November 13. Then we have one more meeting before the Thanksgiving holiday.
With this in mind, our next class is going to be a busy one! In addition to some important work time on project #6 (which will likely be due on November 20!) quiz #2 is due at the start of the period and I have scheduled test #1 for the last part of the period. Since quiz questions will appear on the test it is critical that you complete the quiz and be in class on time for our review at the start of the period. You will have some additional time to study/review during the class period prior to the test.
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| Source: Electronic Music; Updated: 11/6/2009. |
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Quotes
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Bertrand Russell "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." - G Dan Mitchell (gdanmitchell@gmail.com) |
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H. H. Williams "Furious activity is no substitute for understanding." - G Dan Mitchell (gdanmitchell@gmail.com) |
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George Orwell "Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it." - G Dan Mitchell (gdanmitchell@gmail.com) |
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| Source: The Quote File; Updated: 9/24/2009. |
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