Quick note, coz apparently I can't stop posting on my blog all of a sudden. Yeah, it's just weird that it's already been 4 days into the new year. It might feel that way, in part because I've only really left my apartment a handful of times. Anyway, work starts back up tomorrow and as much as I love vacation, some human interaction and just being at work in general, I'm sure, will feel pretty good. I suppose, all I really wanna say is, I hope 2012 is a great year. There's a fairly good chance this'll be my first full year in Japan. We'll see how that goes.
(here's where I get a little ethereal)
Living can be pretty easy sometimes. Course, on the other hand, it's never easy. The balance that we like to call normal is really just the x axis on this sine wave we're all riding. Every time we think we're getting close to it it's just to overshoot it and keep being abnormal. I think, I always want to make the best of when I'm in -y and to really appreciate when I'm in +y - to continue the sine wave metaphor. I don't know, obviously, all that 2012 has in store for me. Every day has its troubles, but time doesn't stop. Before our eyes moments become minutes become days, then weeks, months and just like that another year's past. I honestly don't think "the world will end" in 2012. I do think it'll end, as all things in this life do, but I don't think anyone alive on the planet right now will come to see it. That said, I do see the virtue in living with the thought of finality in mind. Not so that it saddens us but so that it moves us; so that it drives us to cherish life and all that comes with.
I wanna greet 2012 with a good, firm handshake and spend it so that at its end it may initiate the goodbye hug, missing me as I shake hands with 2013.
Showing posts with label bio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bio. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2011: A Recap (part 2)
2011: Part 2 – Japan
OK guys, how we doin’? Need a break? We’re halfway there now! Don’t worry though, I think the second half may not take as long.
I’ve already covered a lot of August in the two posts called Japan: A Beginning so I won’t go into much detail so as to not repeat myself. And for Pete’s sake those are a pair of really long posts in and of themselves! Long story short: Tokyo orientation for 4 days was insane, jet-laggie, earthquaky and before I knew it I was already in Oda. After that: few weeks reading, playing games, being hot and sweaty, relaxing and unwinding from the whirlwind of the preceding few weeks. Finally: Shimane orientation where I met many of the crazy bunch of people I live close to and often enjoy drinks/jokes/singing/dancing with. Oh yeah, I got my phone right before orientation and with it a window back into the internet. I missed it so!
September is when school and my life in Japan began proper. Did a speech in Japanese at opening ceremony, started doing classes with the teachers, sports festival and the following welcoming party was a blast and I met and started to get to know most of the people that are now a huge part of my life. That is, the crazy Oda crew, the teachers at Ni-chuu, surrounding town JETs and last but most definitely not least, the student body at school; gotta love those kids, even the ones that don’t give a quarter of a rat’s fuzzy bottom about English. School is interesting, everything is new, some students are funny, others are difficult, some are undetectable, the teachers are great fun to be around and they make me wish I was already fluent at Japanese so I could also joke around with them. I’m workin’ on it!
The remaining months of the year go by in much the same manner as September, really. Still just teaching and generally enjoying my time in great amounts. In October I’m starting to feel a little more comfortable with Oda, school life and life in Japan in general. It began to sink it that I’m really going to be here for a while all the while time just flying by faster than I can even fathom. Honestly, it feels like sports day was just the other day but it was actually 4 months ago! In October the kids had culture festival, which was also a lot of fun! Each homeroom chose a song and they practiced and practiced and practiced it for the chorus competition that takes place at the culture festival.
By the time November rolled around there were still some schools I hadn’t visited, namely the elementary school I visit a few times per semester. I finally got to go to it around mid-November and it was great. While in junior high, it’s sometimes hard to get the students motivated or excited about anything or to even smile, elementary school kids are, in stark contrast, a savage bunch of happy, energetic kids that, for the most part, actually try to do well and want to play games and answer questions and repeat after you! It’s not impossible in junior high but it’s often not easy. I’m sure most teachers out there can relate. It probably also doesn’t help that school is apparently quite difficult in junior high but hey, we all did it, right? Just gotta try to relate and help ‘em get over themselves when necessary, or something like that!
Finally we round out the year with the month that ended yesterday: December. It was a really feel-good month. It’s finally now after several months that I’ve begun to feel, in some way, comfortable in the classroom. I’m still a little apprehensive in there sometimes but a lot of things are starting to become pretty commonplace and the patterns are starting to show up. I’m slowly learning the kids’ abilities, attitudes, aptitudes and demeanor and most importantly, their names. I can’t try to learn all of their names – I’ve got over 300 students – but I want to learn as many as possible. Names are powerful knowledge and also a sturdy bridge, not to mention a practical requirement in most any relationship. Also, they all know mine so it’s only fair I try to return the favor.
Right after the semester ended the teachers had the year-end dinner and party and it was WAY more fun than the one at the beginning of the semester. I should note that that one was a lot of fun too. The main reason this one was better is because I now know a lot of the teachers a little better and they know me a little better and so it’s easier to have fun, I guess. Also, more karaoke this time, which, as you know, is my favorite. Sad note: the school nurse ended her stay at the school and I didn’t even realize it when she was giving her speech at the closing ceremony but man was it sad. Needless to say, people everywhere were turning on their waterworks. I almost cried too. She’s a super nice lady and I’m actually really going to miss her.
Wow, there’s a lot to talk about in December. Wrapping up, I just got back from a super amazing little vacay in Tokyo. Had a ton of fun with Steph and Maggie and their friends Janelle and Ally as we gallivanted about the city and hit up all sorts of places. Check out my album in facebook for a peek at the photos I took. Like I said in a tweet recently, I was only in the city for a few days – not even a week – and I already miss it. I really have to go again and have some more fun there. To give you an idea of how much going about we did, here’s a list of the places we hit up: Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Roppongi, Ikebukuro, Tokyo DisneySea, Ghibli museum, the Square-Enix store, the Evangelion store, the Pokemon center, and the list goes on, actually. I even got to have lunch with Kristen from Tiny Prints and her sister (who’s a JET like me) and their friend. We went to a tonkatsu restaurant that our friend Kimi suggested and it really was some of the best tonkatsu I’ve ever had.
There’s a lot of things I didn’t even talk about but there’s really no way of saying everything and it wouldn’t be very nice to my poor, dear reader to make you read volumes of my often uneventful life, which I’m very much enjoying. This past year, 2011, was a year full of amazing things, saying goodbye to wonderful people, saying hello to friendly people, a year divided but that is really two halves of a whole lot of great things that happened to me. I’ve grown, I’ve changed, I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve eaten like a pig and drunk like I’m more than thirsty. I’ve learned even more about myself, my friends, teaching, learning, Japan, and Japanese than I could have imagined I would. And as 2012 begins, as we mark this new cycle of our planet around the nice warm star God gave us, I’m thankful for what has been, for all I have, and especially for what’s to come. I’m just gonna stand atop this clearing and stare into the bright, blank horizon of the coming year, try and brace for the bad stuff, remember to enjoy the good stuff and really appreciate and be thankful for the great stuff.
2012, here we go!
2011: A Recap (part 1)
Guess what! I want to listen to all the awesome new
music I got thanks to my sistuz. (For reference I'm going to list it here:
David Crowder*Band - Church Music; Innerpartysystem; Eisley - The Valley; Avril
Lavigne - Goodbye Lullaby; she - Orion) Of course, what better way to listen to
music than by sittin' down to write off a year's worth of life? That said, get
ready folks. This is gonna be another of the biggies so hanker down with your
favorite warm drink (if you're in a cold place, like my room, for example!) and
enjoy my ramblings!
Now, before I start (what, did you think I’d just
let you off without some more illogical preamble? Have you seen my blog’s name?
I can’t even stop from interrupting even myself! XD) I’m just gonna apologize.
To be sure, this blog and I have had a bit of a relationship. I’ve had it for
several years and it really feels like every time I post something I include
some sort of rant bemoaning how few readers I have or how little I post – two things
that are bound to have some correlation. But, thinking about it with as clear a
head as I can have at the beginning of this brand new year, I’ve always used it
as a personal writing outlet. Such a thing is, at its core, for the benefit of
my own catharsis. Following that, though, is the fact that writing’s natural
progression is communication in some form and it’s from that that stems my
frustration, minor and insignificant as it often is. The apology, then, is to
my reader in being forced to deal with my violent love-hate swing surrounding
this exercise in writing. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, but I can get
behind having some impetus in regards to not complaining about audience or
content around this blog.
It makes sense to take this month by month but I’m
not really sure I can recall what happened within those particular time frames
(my memory’s not that good sometimes) so instead I’m just going to kind of wing
it as I try to be as sequential as possible.
In January I was already in the midst of the
application process for JET. I just checked my emails to verify the date and it
appears it was mid-January when I found out I got the interview for JET. As you
may or may not know, in 2008 I first applied to the JET programme and for
whatever reason, I didn’t get to the interview phase of the applications process
so getting it this time was pretty much mind blowing. I’m certain none of you
are strangers to how much I was dying to go to Japan so getting just as far as the
interview made me unfathomably happy. I was still cautiously optimistic because
getting interviewed didn’t exactly mean I was going to Japan. Even then, I was,
for once, confident in my placement. Maru-sensei, one of my favorite teachers
(of all time), had such faith in my ability and prowess as a candidate for JET that
I just knew I could do it.
[Other notable things in January: Not much? Played a ton of games… actually
2011 was a great year in gaming. If I recall correctly, I played through a ton
of really fun/great games this year :D We’ll leave that for another post, if at
all.]
This actually quite seamlessly leads into February,
which is when the interview took place. Don’t recall much happening in
February, to be honest. The interview went pretty well, I thought, and so began
the waiting game. Actually, the waiting game began when I mailed in the
application back in October 2010 when I started the application. The game
clearly consists of a checklist where you have to wait some sort of vague span
of time between each item. I will now proceed to painstakingly delineate said
items and spans of time up to this point and update the list as I go through
the post. (The time in parenthesis is the wait time until the next item)
[X] – January 2011: find out I have the interview with JET (~1 month)
[X] – February 2011: interview in SF (~2.5 months)
March 11, 2011 was when the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami happened. The interview was in late February so I was quite fresh out of it and feeling closer than ever to going to Japan. I still remember being at work and watching videos of people screaming, of the swelling sea coming in, rushing into land and taking with it bikes, cars, boats and buildings. It was honestly frightful. The people that knew I was planning and trying to go to Japan asked me what was going to happen. I didn’t have many answers. I didn’t know whether JET was going to cancel this year’s applications. I heard of at least one JET who was in the Sendai area who died. I did have at least one answer though: I still wanted to go to Japan. Something inside me wanted to be there even then helping however I could.
Time went on and April came and went. I can’t say I recall any particular thing that makes April stand out. Sorry, April! Oh, actually, I take that back. Imogen Heap’s 4th album began in the tail end of March and the first song from it came out in early April. Love, love, love Lifeline and I can’t wait to hear the newest song coming out real soon (she’s doing a song every 3 months). AND – wow, gotta thank my sent e-mails box since it’s really helping this post out – it turns out it was on April 17th that I found out I was on the short list for JET.
[X] – April 17, 2011: get into JET
Lemme just say, I stopped short of exploding right
there in my chair at work when I got the e-mail. Suffice to say, I read it
through a good 3 or 4 times just to make sure I wasn’t misreading it. I then
proceeded to tell my close circle of friends, family and a selection of people.
I would then proceed to tell others as I saw fit. I’m sneaky like that. Wow,
just remembering finding out is putting a huge smile on my face. That moment
for me was the consummation of so many hopes and the beginning of a future I’m
currently living. I’m in the middle of the Japanese country-side staring out
the window of my apartment past the reflection I can’t see on my window. I’m in
this window, this door to the outside that is my current life in this country I’ve
pined for for years. Forgive me for waxing metaphysipoetical.
I love May. 1) It pretty much kicks of with my
birthday on the 2nd – it always sneaks up on me, actually – and 2) it’s
also the beginning of the summer, which is usually a fun season. May was when I
started to put into action plans and efforts for The Big Move to Japan at the
end of July. I also got my iPad in May :D Yes, it still rocks. It’s my Japanese
video game playing companion so I can look stuff up and talk to my friends
while I game. It’s the little things, folks!
June’s when I found out where I was placed for my
stay in Japan: the town of Oda in Shimane prefecture. To be frank, I had no
[insert expletive for color] idea where Oda or even Shimane were. I’d never
heard of the prefecture and quite possibly any part of it. It was a little
daunting to think I’d be living in a place I’d never heard of, even if it did
happen to be in Japan. I remember looking it up in google maps and thinking
something along the lines of “I’m in the middle of nowhere” or “country life… I
hope my body can take it.” Obviously, I was being the classic drama queen I
usually am but still had a positive outlook coz I was going to Japan! [Spoiler
alert: loving it here, wouldn’t trade it.] Seriously though, I was a little
concerned because it is a rural area and I’ve never lived in a rural area but
seeing as I was ready and willing to embrace the unknown by simply going
through with going to Japan, there was [and still is] nothing to be afraid of.
July is when I kicked the preparations for
departure into HIGH GEAR. I had, at this point, 30 days to get ready to fly
2000 or whatever miles to my new home. I wanted/had to reduce the entirety of
my belongings to things that I could throw away, give away, sell or take with
me. I’d like to think I was successful, for the most part. Although there were
some things I ended up not being able to take care of. (SORRY MIKE) Let’s not even
talk about how I spent the whole night before my flight packing. Yes, the whole
night, didn’t sleep a wink. The span from about 6-8AM was the toughest ever to
stay awake through. I seriously could not sit down for too long for fear that I’d
just conk out. In these last few weeks before moving to Japan I:
-
Sold my car
-
Sold my laptop
-
Sold my desktop
-
Bought a new laptop
-
Gave away a ton of clothes/things
-
Sold a bunch of stuff at a garage sale (for stupid
cheap coz I needed to get rid of it)
-
Bought the best jacket I’ve ever owned (shout-out to
Harim, holla!)
-
Had as much pearl milk tea as I could – no regrets!
-
Said goodbye to everyone I was possibly able to and had
probably several too many farewell dinners that I feel guilty I got treated to.
Thank you friends T_T
-
Probably a bunch of other things, it’s all a blur
And this all culminated in…[X] – July 30th, 2011: fly to Japan
(next part coming soon)
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Catchin' Up
Saturday morning while doing laundry and sipping "leche con Quik" (my signature chocolate milk—yes, I know it's Nesquik now but I'll never acknowledge it!) is apparentely the perfect time to write a blog post. I've got some hilariously bubbly j-electronica pumpin' in my headphones (band's Perfume, if you're curious). Now while it's pretty uncharacteristic for me, I'm gonna cut to the chase. In less than 3 months I'm going to be in Japan. I'll be starting a new arc in my life story (to those familiar with anime/manga jargon, you'll know what I mean by arc) as an English teacher in Japan. To be sure, I'm still here and it's 77 days away (but who's counting down the days, right) and there's still a chance something could happen to prevent me from going, but barring any unforeseen occurrences July 30th I'll board a plane taking me to an archipelago on the other side of the world. This is still sinking in but every so often it reaches a new depth of understanding within me and I realize how insane it is. In good and bad ways, it changes my life pretty much entirely. I'll be in a country I've only ever heard of and learned about, one that is thousands of miles from "home" with a language I only really started to learn at the age of 19 or 20, where the only people I'll know are the handful of new friends I'll have just really started to meet the day before departure. I'll have left just about everything behind: Puerto Rico, Rochester, Cleveland, Rocklin and Sunnyvale. Those are all distinct chapters of my life.
Going back to the arc analogy, I would say my childhood up to high school is 1 arc, one that lasted 18 years. The second arc would be my college years, including the year I spent in Cleveland and the time afterwards moving here to California and working at Tiny Prints, where if I wasn't leaving for JET, I would have been for 2 years this September. Yet this august starts a new arc. One that takes me farther than I've ever been from the place I was born. And who knows, maybe this chapter in Japan will be an omake and I'll just come back to California after one year and get on with my life as a web developer. I'll simply have a treasure trove of experiences of a year-long dream, a life lived in a land distant and separate. Or maybe I'll be compelled to stay, to make Japan my new home. It's no secret Japan has stolen some of my heart for quite some time. And I've talked about this before in my Divided Heart post last year (seriously can't believe it was that long ago by the way) but it seems as though I just can't settle. For better or worse, I've been relatively nomadic for the last 10 years of my life. It might be the stage of life or perhaps it's the budding of the wandering flower that is to be my life.
Needless to say, I am excited about going to Japan; to an extent qualifiers such as super, really, very, extremely or even ridiculously can't quite encompass the feeling. I've been dying to go to Japan ever since I started to get really into the language when I was learning it in college and for one reason or another I simply haven't been able to go. Yet in the last few years I realized I didn't want to just visit. I wanted to go and be part of the culture, inasmuch as a gaijin (foreigner) can do so. Of course, I realize it's not all puppies and rainbows. The economy all over the world is really suffering and there has been talk of cutting funding to the JET program so it may not even repeat next year regardless of whether or not I want to do it again. Not to mention the geological phenomena that has been plaguing the entire world as of late. Ever since January 2010 it seems you can't go a month without hearing about some place in the world having a strong earthquake and it was only 2 months ago that Japan went through one of the biggest if not the biggest earthquake in recorded history (or something like that). As for the radiation concerns everybody keeps talking to me about, all I've read from very trustworthy sources (you know, like the news, government officials, experts on the subject) is that some of what people hear is greatly blown out of proportion. Plus, I really don't think JET is sending anybody to areas where they would be greatly inconvenienced or where their life is in any way threatened. Speaking of which, I still don't know where I'll be teaching and won't find out until the end of the month, at the earliest.
I suppose this wasn't as much a catchin' up post as it was a me rambling about going to Japan post, hehe. Well enough, I say. For the record, I do plan on continuing to use this blog for my posts from Japan if and when I get over there so be watching out for these. I'll see if they happen at all though, considering "leche con quik" is probably gonna be hard to come by over there :)
Going back to the arc analogy, I would say my childhood up to high school is 1 arc, one that lasted 18 years. The second arc would be my college years, including the year I spent in Cleveland and the time afterwards moving here to California and working at Tiny Prints, where if I wasn't leaving for JET, I would have been for 2 years this September. Yet this august starts a new arc. One that takes me farther than I've ever been from the place I was born. And who knows, maybe this chapter in Japan will be an omake and I'll just come back to California after one year and get on with my life as a web developer. I'll simply have a treasure trove of experiences of a year-long dream, a life lived in a land distant and separate. Or maybe I'll be compelled to stay, to make Japan my new home. It's no secret Japan has stolen some of my heart for quite some time. And I've talked about this before in my Divided Heart post last year (seriously can't believe it was that long ago by the way) but it seems as though I just can't settle. For better or worse, I've been relatively nomadic for the last 10 years of my life. It might be the stage of life or perhaps it's the budding of the wandering flower that is to be my life.
Needless to say, I am excited about going to Japan; to an extent qualifiers such as super, really, very, extremely or even ridiculously can't quite encompass the feeling. I've been dying to go to Japan ever since I started to get really into the language when I was learning it in college and for one reason or another I simply haven't been able to go. Yet in the last few years I realized I didn't want to just visit. I wanted to go and be part of the culture, inasmuch as a gaijin (foreigner) can do so. Of course, I realize it's not all puppies and rainbows. The economy all over the world is really suffering and there has been talk of cutting funding to the JET program so it may not even repeat next year regardless of whether or not I want to do it again. Not to mention the geological phenomena that has been plaguing the entire world as of late. Ever since January 2010 it seems you can't go a month without hearing about some place in the world having a strong earthquake and it was only 2 months ago that Japan went through one of the biggest if not the biggest earthquake in recorded history (or something like that). As for the radiation concerns everybody keeps talking to me about, all I've read from very trustworthy sources (you know, like the news, government officials, experts on the subject) is that some of what people hear is greatly blown out of proportion. Plus, I really don't think JET is sending anybody to areas where they would be greatly inconvenienced or where their life is in any way threatened. Speaking of which, I still don't know where I'll be teaching and won't find out until the end of the month, at the earliest.
I suppose this wasn't as much a catchin' up post as it was a me rambling about going to Japan post, hehe. Well enough, I say. For the record, I do plan on continuing to use this blog for my posts from Japan if and when I get over there so be watching out for these. I'll see if they happen at all though, considering "leche con quik" is probably gonna be hard to come by over there :)
Monday, June 21, 2010
#ihsaratoga
For those not in the know, the title of this blog is the hash-tag for the Imogen Heap concert I went to last night. As a quick aside, hash-tags are a phrase or word you put in a tweet so that when you search for it, you can find all the tweets that contain it. Anyway, hope you're comfortable coz this post's gonna be a biggie so grab a cup of iced coffee or pearl milk tea (jeez am I my audience? haha), put on some Imogen, sit back wrapped up in your snuggie and enjoy the show, vicariously.
I'm not one to start at the beginning, oh no. I start at the very beginning. That said, a brief history of my Imogen Heap fandom would probably be a good start. I will, however, try to keep it short as this post is about the concert. So yes, I first heard Imogen Heap, like many others, as part of the band Frou Frou; specifically, the song Let Go from the Garden State soundtrack. I owe this to my sister Emille and I am forever grateful. I probably don't need to tell you that it was love at first listen. The journey from that point to finding out about her album Speak for Yourself is a blurry one but I will say I anticipated that album like few others in my life. Some time later Ellipse comes out and some time after that Imogen's first tour for it. Here's a sad part: I missed her concert in the Fillmore last year. I was crushed but hopeful for the official US tour after she came back from Europe. All culminated in last night's show.
The drive up to the Mountain Winery is winding but beautiful. I only wish I hadn't been the driver so I could have just stared out the window to take in the sights from the side of mountain. The venue itself is a fantastic little place and it was the first outdoors concert I'd ever been to. At once refreshing and also the one minor drawback to the show, obviously at no fault of anyone, it was freezing. Not so much at first but after 2-3 hours in 48ºF, the occasional chilly gust made me quite shivery.
After getting to the Winery and paying $20 for parking (ouch), I made my way down to the theatre area and sat expectantly. Eventually Imogen made her way out and presented the first act: a fellow by the name Ben Christophers. He was a good start to the show with some smooth vocals and curious lyrics, backed by his excellent guitar playing. His voice at times reminded me of IAMX's Chris Corner, which is by no means a bad thing, and the songs he played were all pretty enjoyable. Before finishing he plugged his album up at the merch table but in a somewhat comical manner, barely saying it was over there and to buy it. He said he was terrible at selling things but he may've sold me on it just on that pitch. I do love my oxymorons. He then exit the stage, hugging Imogen on the way out and then Imogen presented what I was least ready for in the whole show.
Geese. All I have to say is that when Imogen "warned" that magic came out of their violins, I thought it was an exaggeration. Well, that's definitely not all I have to say. A young man and woman carrying violins stepped unassumingly unto the stage. They started gliding their bows on their violins, I thought tuning them but they kept going, eventually beginning to add effects to them. At a certain point they started to sound like wolf howls and then that mixed with a siren song, and this was just the beginning. Geese made violins sound like, not only how I've never heard violins sound but like things I've never heard in my life. At times they even sang (or blew) into the microphones in their violins to create even more impossible sounds. For a few songs they brought out Imogen's band's drummer and together made such a crazy amalgamation of noises and sounds that I wasn't sure I'd make it to see Imogen. The young girl in the band was adorable, ending her little spiel with a quaint "good-bye" and then they played one more song to round out their savage set.
After the violin storm, they walked out greeting Imogen and she then came out, silent but with a plastic tube in her hands. An avid follower of her vBlogs on youtube, I instantly recognized it. It's a sort of toy you spin in the air to make a sort of howling sound and in fact you can actually tune it! In classic Imogen manner she began looping various sounds. The howling tube, some oohs and aahs, the perennial mbira and so began taking shape the first song. As she continued to layer the various bits and pieces of the backing melody, in came trickling the various band members each one adding one more bit to the song until finally it hit me and I recognized it. The Walk! One of my favorite songs from Speak For Yourself and a most excellent start to the show. Once she started singing the first few words, "Inside out, upside down twisting beside myself", I was practically giggling in my giddiness.
From this point on, as much as I'd like to retell the entire show song by song, I simply cannot trust myself to remember neither the order nor the finest details of each performance so I'll do what is hopefully second best and recount some key moments or interpretations that still jump freshly in my mind two days after the show. Also, now's a good time to make yourself a sandwich because we're only about halfway done. :P Spoiler: the moral of this story will be that if you have not seen Imogen Heap in concert and get the opportunity to do so, you owe it to yourself to experience it. Yes, it's an experience!
After The Walk, the show continued to go from amazing, wonderful, beloved song to the next. Imogen Heap has discovered, and seemingly loves crowd-sourcing. Basically, it's using an audience to find answers, make decisions, you name it. She's done this through youtube and Twitter quite expertly. For this tour, she's been encouraging audience participation from before the show even happens. (We'll get to the in-show audience participation soon.) One of the finer points, I thought, was having a sort of poll for each show where you could vote on your favorite Imogen songs and basically help construct her set list. Here clearly hoping most people would gravitate towards the more popular songs, and that invariably happening. Despite not playing what may be my favorite of hers, Closing In, the set was absolutely fantastic and I could not have asked for more.
Earth was one such crowd-sourced song. For this one Imogen has had a youtube group where talented fans can upload a rendition of the backing vocals for the song Earth. if you've yet to hear it, Earth is an impressive feat: an a cappella song composed of at least 30 vocal tracks all done by Imogen. Because it would be, I imagine, too time consuming or strenuous to do this song on her own, Imogen decided to have her fans help her out and that they have. She mentioned this show's may yet be her favorite Earth performance so far. In walked two women. They were so very different but it was evident that it was that very difference that gave them the chemistry vital to being able to pull this off. With Imogen standing between them they began their bit and the crowd went crazy. They were utterly nailing it. Good show you two.
One of the more interesting surprises of the show was when Imogen mentioned something about the cold (this happened a lot, we were all freezing) and then said to bring in a fire, at which point the stage burst in flames(!), so to speak. That is, a projector sent forth the image of a fire upon the stage and most of the lights went dark as the song began to the sound of a particular piece of wood burning, its story having been told by Imogen moments before. At all this, of course, I thought she was going to play The Fire but as the song grew I knew it couldn't be. The Fire is simply a piano piece played to the sounds of that very flame (and hooting owl). But the song grew and the projected fire was joined by a multitude of red lights effectively dying the stage and stone wall a bright scarlet and I soon recognized the whispers of the beginning of Canvas. Arguably my favorite song in Ellipse, Canvas is a breathtaking piece with cryptic lyrics, syncopated guitar, modulating bass and beautiful harmonies. It was as much peaceful as it was overwhelming in the grandest sense of the word. I cannot begin to portray all this performance was but imagine seeing the stage lit up in red at night on a chilly eve.
Towards the end of the show Imogen once again pulls the audience in to participate as catalysts to her endless creativity. Throughout this tour she has been doing a unique improvisation act at each venue. She asks the audience for a key, be it A#m or E flat or what have you, a time signature like 3/4 or 6/8 and a tempo and comes up, on the spot, with a brand new song. This song is recorded right there and they do their mixing magic on it after the show and sell it to benefit a particular local charity. She said, however, that lately she's been asking an audience member for a melody instead of her coming up with it. Well I confess now that I was the idiot jumping up and down next to his seat at the chance to be called upon to have a melody of my choosing be immortalized by Imogen for a good cause. However, my greatest efforts were not enough to get her attention halfway across the theatre and my phone almost broke when it flew out of my pocket. I have no regrets!!! That said, she did a neat, upbeat song kicked off by some drums, which she claims she can't play but we all know better. The one she did for us isn't up yet but it will be in http://www.imogenheap.com/charity/ soon. In the mean time, do check out some of the others and definitely grab a couple to support the causes!
After this we were asked to stand up and sing, literally. Before the song, Imogen divided the audience in three parts and taught each a part of Just For Now. The three parts overlay into a wonderful harmony that backs the main vocal, which Imogen proceeded to sing over us. We were Imogen's track! She even taught us the rhythm part that goes on during the verse of the song. As the song winds down your hear the whole audience softly singing alone with Imogen in a diminuendo that gives any choir a run for its money. It's an exquisite experience being part of the creative effort behind a song, even if many have done it before you. Furthermore, because I love to sing, these little bits were like some sort of dream come true.
Tidal was yet another face melting number. According to the vBlogs, it was the hardest song for Imogen to get through in the writing process for Ellipse but it came out splendidly. It's an energetic, bouncy and fun song that the whole band seemed to be super into throughout. And then... at the end of the song for the rock solo of the night, Imogen steps off a little bit to get back her keytar and a pair of 80's sunglasses and vehemently ROCKS OUT while the lights go crazy effectively triggering the electric bursts in every synapse in my brain simultaneously causing me to explode, squee and smile so wide I'd put the cheshire cat to shame. Point in case, it was the show's highlight for me.
Immi ended the show on her now classic Hide and Seek. Unfortunately at this point in the night the wind was beginning to pick up and was messing with her harmonizer's microphone and causing the wind itself to get harmonized. For the record, Pocahontas, Imogen can sing with all the voices of the mountain. So even at great pains and excuses, everybody loved Hide and Seek and even here yet again we all sang with her the "ransom notes keep falling out your mouth" part at the end. A tender and vulnerable moment as we all froze on the side of a mountain singing together in the shivering seat and distorted, harmonized wind. A fitting end.
It was an amazing show, whose surface I've barely begun to scratch in this retelling. I didn't mention the glass harmonica she played or the ambiance during Little Bird but perhaps you should just try to catch a show ;) Imogen Heap, I'm proud to be a fan. Excellent show. Hope to see and sing with you again soon.
-Emilio
I'm not one to start at the beginning, oh no. I start at the very beginning. That said, a brief history of my Imogen Heap fandom would probably be a good start. I will, however, try to keep it short as this post is about the concert. So yes, I first heard Imogen Heap, like many others, as part of the band Frou Frou; specifically, the song Let Go from the Garden State soundtrack. I owe this to my sister Emille and I am forever grateful. I probably don't need to tell you that it was love at first listen. The journey from that point to finding out about her album Speak for Yourself is a blurry one but I will say I anticipated that album like few others in my life. Some time later Ellipse comes out and some time after that Imogen's first tour for it. Here's a sad part: I missed her concert in the Fillmore last year. I was crushed but hopeful for the official US tour after she came back from Europe. All culminated in last night's show.
The drive up to the Mountain Winery is winding but beautiful. I only wish I hadn't been the driver so I could have just stared out the window to take in the sights from the side of mountain. The venue itself is a fantastic little place and it was the first outdoors concert I'd ever been to. At once refreshing and also the one minor drawback to the show, obviously at no fault of anyone, it was freezing. Not so much at first but after 2-3 hours in 48ºF, the occasional chilly gust made me quite shivery.
After getting to the Winery and paying $20 for parking (ouch), I made my way down to the theatre area and sat expectantly. Eventually Imogen made her way out and presented the first act: a fellow by the name Ben Christophers. He was a good start to the show with some smooth vocals and curious lyrics, backed by his excellent guitar playing. His voice at times reminded me of IAMX's Chris Corner, which is by no means a bad thing, and the songs he played were all pretty enjoyable. Before finishing he plugged his album up at the merch table but in a somewhat comical manner, barely saying it was over there and to buy it. He said he was terrible at selling things but he may've sold me on it just on that pitch. I do love my oxymorons. He then exit the stage, hugging Imogen on the way out and then Imogen presented what I was least ready for in the whole show.
Geese. All I have to say is that when Imogen "warned" that magic came out of their violins, I thought it was an exaggeration. Well, that's definitely not all I have to say. A young man and woman carrying violins stepped unassumingly unto the stage. They started gliding their bows on their violins, I thought tuning them but they kept going, eventually beginning to add effects to them. At a certain point they started to sound like wolf howls and then that mixed with a siren song, and this was just the beginning. Geese made violins sound like, not only how I've never heard violins sound but like things I've never heard in my life. At times they even sang (or blew) into the microphones in their violins to create even more impossible sounds. For a few songs they brought out Imogen's band's drummer and together made such a crazy amalgamation of noises and sounds that I wasn't sure I'd make it to see Imogen. The young girl in the band was adorable, ending her little spiel with a quaint "good-bye" and then they played one more song to round out their savage set.
After the violin storm, they walked out greeting Imogen and she then came out, silent but with a plastic tube in her hands. An avid follower of her vBlogs on youtube, I instantly recognized it. It's a sort of toy you spin in the air to make a sort of howling sound and in fact you can actually tune it! In classic Imogen manner she began looping various sounds. The howling tube, some oohs and aahs, the perennial mbira and so began taking shape the first song. As she continued to layer the various bits and pieces of the backing melody, in came trickling the various band members each one adding one more bit to the song until finally it hit me and I recognized it. The Walk! One of my favorite songs from Speak For Yourself and a most excellent start to the show. Once she started singing the first few words, "Inside out, upside down twisting beside myself", I was practically giggling in my giddiness.
From this point on, as much as I'd like to retell the entire show song by song, I simply cannot trust myself to remember neither the order nor the finest details of each performance so I'll do what is hopefully second best and recount some key moments or interpretations that still jump freshly in my mind two days after the show. Also, now's a good time to make yourself a sandwich because we're only about halfway done. :P Spoiler: the moral of this story will be that if you have not seen Imogen Heap in concert and get the opportunity to do so, you owe it to yourself to experience it. Yes, it's an experience!
After The Walk, the show continued to go from amazing, wonderful, beloved song to the next. Imogen Heap has discovered, and seemingly loves crowd-sourcing. Basically, it's using an audience to find answers, make decisions, you name it. She's done this through youtube and Twitter quite expertly. For this tour, she's been encouraging audience participation from before the show even happens. (We'll get to the in-show audience participation soon.) One of the finer points, I thought, was having a sort of poll for each show where you could vote on your favorite Imogen songs and basically help construct her set list. Here clearly hoping most people would gravitate towards the more popular songs, and that invariably happening. Despite not playing what may be my favorite of hers, Closing In, the set was absolutely fantastic and I could not have asked for more.
Earth was one such crowd-sourced song. For this one Imogen has had a youtube group where talented fans can upload a rendition of the backing vocals for the song Earth. if you've yet to hear it, Earth is an impressive feat: an a cappella song composed of at least 30 vocal tracks all done by Imogen. Because it would be, I imagine, too time consuming or strenuous to do this song on her own, Imogen decided to have her fans help her out and that they have. She mentioned this show's may yet be her favorite Earth performance so far. In walked two women. They were so very different but it was evident that it was that very difference that gave them the chemistry vital to being able to pull this off. With Imogen standing between them they began their bit and the crowd went crazy. They were utterly nailing it. Good show you two.
One of the more interesting surprises of the show was when Imogen mentioned something about the cold (this happened a lot, we were all freezing) and then said to bring in a fire, at which point the stage burst in flames(!), so to speak. That is, a projector sent forth the image of a fire upon the stage and most of the lights went dark as the song began to the sound of a particular piece of wood burning, its story having been told by Imogen moments before. At all this, of course, I thought she was going to play The Fire but as the song grew I knew it couldn't be. The Fire is simply a piano piece played to the sounds of that very flame (and hooting owl). But the song grew and the projected fire was joined by a multitude of red lights effectively dying the stage and stone wall a bright scarlet and I soon recognized the whispers of the beginning of Canvas. Arguably my favorite song in Ellipse, Canvas is a breathtaking piece with cryptic lyrics, syncopated guitar, modulating bass and beautiful harmonies. It was as much peaceful as it was overwhelming in the grandest sense of the word. I cannot begin to portray all this performance was but imagine seeing the stage lit up in red at night on a chilly eve.
Towards the end of the show Imogen once again pulls the audience in to participate as catalysts to her endless creativity. Throughout this tour she has been doing a unique improvisation act at each venue. She asks the audience for a key, be it A#m or E flat or what have you, a time signature like 3/4 or 6/8 and a tempo and comes up, on the spot, with a brand new song. This song is recorded right there and they do their mixing magic on it after the show and sell it to benefit a particular local charity. She said, however, that lately she's been asking an audience member for a melody instead of her coming up with it. Well I confess now that I was the idiot jumping up and down next to his seat at the chance to be called upon to have a melody of my choosing be immortalized by Imogen for a good cause. However, my greatest efforts were not enough to get her attention halfway across the theatre and my phone almost broke when it flew out of my pocket. I have no regrets!!! That said, she did a neat, upbeat song kicked off by some drums, which she claims she can't play but we all know better. The one she did for us isn't up yet but it will be in http://www.imogenheap.com/charity/ soon. In the mean time, do check out some of the others and definitely grab a couple to support the causes!
After this we were asked to stand up and sing, literally. Before the song, Imogen divided the audience in three parts and taught each a part of Just For Now. The three parts overlay into a wonderful harmony that backs the main vocal, which Imogen proceeded to sing over us. We were Imogen's track! She even taught us the rhythm part that goes on during the verse of the song. As the song winds down your hear the whole audience softly singing alone with Imogen in a diminuendo that gives any choir a run for its money. It's an exquisite experience being part of the creative effort behind a song, even if many have done it before you. Furthermore, because I love to sing, these little bits were like some sort of dream come true.
Tidal was yet another face melting number. According to the vBlogs, it was the hardest song for Imogen to get through in the writing process for Ellipse but it came out splendidly. It's an energetic, bouncy and fun song that the whole band seemed to be super into throughout. And then... at the end of the song for the rock solo of the night, Imogen steps off a little bit to get back her keytar and a pair of 80's sunglasses and vehemently ROCKS OUT while the lights go crazy effectively triggering the electric bursts in every synapse in my brain simultaneously causing me to explode, squee and smile so wide I'd put the cheshire cat to shame. Point in case, it was the show's highlight for me.
Immi ended the show on her now classic Hide and Seek. Unfortunately at this point in the night the wind was beginning to pick up and was messing with her harmonizer's microphone and causing the wind itself to get harmonized. For the record, Pocahontas, Imogen can sing with all the voices of the mountain. So even at great pains and excuses, everybody loved Hide and Seek and even here yet again we all sang with her the "ransom notes keep falling out your mouth" part at the end. A tender and vulnerable moment as we all froze on the side of a mountain singing together in the shivering seat and distorted, harmonized wind. A fitting end.
It was an amazing show, whose surface I've barely begun to scratch in this retelling. I didn't mention the glass harmonica she played or the ambiance during Little Bird but perhaps you should just try to catch a show ;) Imogen Heap, I'm proud to be a fan. Excellent show. Hope to see and sing with you again soon.
-Emilio
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