Anything Goes

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally time to blog about our school musical, “Anything Goes.” I’m a member of the pit orchestra, playing alto sax and clarinet. We’ve had the music for about a month but only had, I believe, 5 practices before our first dress rehearsal. Let’s talk about dem dress rehearsals a sec, shall we? The pit orchestra is back stage and hidden from the audience, so all rehearsals seem like performances and vice versa.

The rehearsals started on Monday of last week. The first was at 5:00 and lasted until 10:00. 5 hours, a really looooong five hours. The next was Tuesday, from 6:00 to 10:00. 4 hours, a looooong four hours. Wednesday. . . wow Wednesday. On Wednesday there was an All City rehearsal at 3:30 that lasted until 5:00. Then there was musical rehearsal across town at 5:45. . . that lasted until 10:00. 6 and a half hours of practice. . . .a FREAKING LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG SIX HOURS! But, the 6 hours had an interesting ending! Anything Goes is set on a cruise ship and at one point one of the characters yells “All ashore a’goin’ ashore!” Connor (tenor sax) and I (alto sax) felt that that scene needed the ship to blow its horn in warning, but there was no ship horn! Well, guess what a low Bb sounds like on a saxophone? Fog Horn! Plus, when the tenor and alto both play a low Bb, it sounds a fourth and sounds exactly like a fog horn/ship’s horn! We asked the play director after the last dress rehearsal and she said “Sure, go for it!”

Then Thursday, opening night! We were all dressed in black and excited! Overall the performance went very well for the pit orchestra. The actors had some technical difficulties, but it all went decently. One of my favorite parts was definitely when they yelled “All ashore!” and we belted out the fog horn. Not one actor knew it was coming and everybody backstage whipped their heads around in shock, lot’s of “wtf?” looks, but it was great. The performance went pretty well.

Highlights from other performances include

- our drummer/band director using a rimshot as a shotgun sound effect and scaring the actors backstage so badly that they screamed.

- the pit orchestra memorizing everybody’s lines and performing brilliant monologues backstage and acting out scenes

- Jake, our trombone player, melting his pencil to his stand light. . .twice.

- Realizing that my space heater acted like a dimmer for all the music stand lights and dimming everybody’s lights a bunch.

- Our line! The band actually had a line in the play. It was towards the end, here’s how it goes. Somebody on stage loses their dog, and somebody else comes on stage having found the dog. Dialogue on stage: “Where did you find him?!” “The swimming pool” “What was he doing in the swimming pool?” Band: “THE DOGPADDLE!!!!!!!” It was great, we screamed it as loud as we could. We were happy.

- There’s a wedding scene and so when the piano is playing the wedding music, the whole orchestra stood up and saluted. Remember, the audience can’t see us, so we were just doing it to be stupid. It was fun though!

The play continued throughout its duration and in the end, it all turned out really nicely. It devoured our time, but I think it was worth it, we had a good time. It was a hilarious play, so that helped. Here are some pictures of us having a good time:

Kevin, with a trombone mute in a flugelhorn


Our drummer/band director going crazy!


Conner, our seductive tenor sax player


Aw, three happy pit peoples


Jake busting out some trombone


Jake found a plunger!


Truman, messing with his hair of course


Kevin got bored and climbed into the catwalk stair cage

Anything Goes

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally time to blog about our school musical, “Anything Goes.” I’m a member of the pit orchestra, playing alto sax and clarinet. We’ve had the music for about a month but only had, I believe, 5 practices before our first dress rehearsal. Let’s talk about dem dress rehearsals a sec, shall we? The pit orchestra is back stage and hidden from the audience, so all rehearsals seem like performances and vice versa.

The rehearsals started on Monday of last week. The first was at 5:00 and lasted until 10:00. 5 hours, a really looooong five hours. The next was Tuesday, from 6:00 to 10:00. 4 hours, a looooong four hours. Wednesday. . . wow Wednesday. On Wednesday there was an All City rehearsal at 3:30 that lasted until 5:00. Then there was musical rehearsal across town at 5:45. . . that lasted until 10:00. 6 and a half hours of practice. . . .a FREAKING LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG SIX HOURS! But, the 6 hours had an interesting ending! Anything Goes is set on a cruise ship and at one point one of the characters yells “All ashore a’goin’ ashore!” Connor (tenor sax) and I (alto sax) felt that that scene needed the ship to blow its horn in warning, but there was no ship horn! Well, guess what a low Bb sounds like on a saxophone? Fog Horn! Plus, when the tenor and alto both play a low Bb, it sounds a fourth and sounds exactly like a fog horn/ship’s horn! We asked the play director after the last dress rehearsal and she said “Sure, go for it!”

Then Thursday, opening night! We were all dressed in black and excited! Overall the performance went very well for the pit orchestra. The actors had some technical difficulties, but it all went decently. One of my favorite parts was definitely when they yelled “All ashore!” and we belted out the fog horn. Not one actor knew it was coming and everybody backstage whipped their heads around in shock, lot’s of “wtf?” looks, but it was great. The performance went pretty well.

Highlights from other performances include

- our drummer/band director using a rimshot as a shotgun sound effect and scaring the actors backstage so badly that they screamed.

- the pit orchestra memorizing everybody’s lines and performing brilliant monologues backstage and acting out scenes

- Jake, our trombone player, melting his pencil to his stand light. . .twice.

- Realizing that my space heater acted like a dimmer for all the music stand lights and dimming everybody’s lights a bunch.

- Our line! The band actually had a line in the play. It was towards the end, here’s how it goes. Somebody on stage loses their dog, and somebody else comes on stage having found the dog. Dialogue on stage: “Where did you find him?!” “The swimming pool” “What was he doing in the swimming pool?” Band: “THE DOGPADDLE!!!!!!!” It was great, we screamed it as loud as we could. We were happy.

- There’s a wedding scene and so when the piano is playing the wedding music, the whole orchestra stood up and saluted. Remember, the audience can’t see us, so we were just doing it to be stupid. It was fun though!

The play continued throughout its duration and in the end, it all turned out really nicely. It devoured our time, but I think it was worth it, we had a good time. It was a hilarious play, so that helped. Here are some pictures of us having a good time:

Kevin, with a trombone mute in a flugelhorn


Our drummer/band director going crazy!


Conner, our seductive tenor sax player


Aw, three happy pit peoples


Jake busting out some trombone


Jake found a plunger!


Truman, messing with his hair of course


Kevin got bored and climbed into the catwalk stair cage

Binders

I have remembered a legendary Snively family story that I haven’t blogged yet! I was very excited! Here we go with the exciting tale of The Binders!!!

It was an average day. School just let out and I was about to go home. My dad pulled up and I hopped into the car. “Hi dad!” “Hi son. Son, I might have made a mistake.”

This is when little alarm bells go off inside my head. My dad makes mistakes all the time, but he never actually calls them mistakes. When he uses the word “mistake”, it’s time to start listening.

“Um, what’d you do dad?”
“Well, I was on eBay, and I found something.”
“Did you buy it dad?”
“Yes.”
“How much was it (thinking it was probably ridiculously expensive)?”
“$12.00”
“Well that’s not so bad! What’d you buy?”
“Some binders.”
“Wait. . . why’d you buy binders on eBay?”
“Well, they were government surplus and they were cheap so I bought them and went and picked them up today.”
“How many did you buy?”
“A bunch.”
“(Realizing that I was getting closer to the mistake part of my dad’s experience) How much is a bunch dad?”
“Well. . .”
“30?”
“Um.”
“50?”
“Well. . .”
“Dad, how many binders are in our house right now?”
“700 pounds”
“WHAT?!?!?!? WHY IN GOD’S NAME DID YOU BUY 700 POUNDS OF BINDERS?!?!?!?”
“Well, it was a good price!”
“HOW MANY BINDERS IS THAT?!”
“A palette”
“Oh my god, you’re kidding, right? You bought 700 pounds of binders?”

We’re home by this time and have started down the driveway. As we reach the bottom I see the “mistake”

“Oh lord dad, what have you done?”

In the back of his truck is not just a palette of binders, but a HEAPING palette of binders. Overflowing. Binders that, if laid end to end, would encircle the globe. There were a LOT of binders.

“So, son, your job today. . .”
“No.”
“Is to. . .”
“No dad, I won’t do it.”
“Unload and sort all the binders”
“NO! You bought them, you do it!”
“Nope, it’s your responsibility.”
“I hate you dad.”
“I love you too son.”

I spent the next six hours of my life sorting 700 pounds of three ring binders by ring size, putting them into boxes, and carting the boxes of binders to our basement. It was dark by the time I’d finished.

This was in 7th grade. Guess what’s still in our basement. We still have about 5 boxes of binders left, about 50 binders total. Most binders were either given away (about a hundred had this fate), used for school projects, trashed, or used for some other purpose. We still have no idea what to do with the rest.

So that’s my binder story. Exciting, isn’t it? Remember, next time you buy government surplus, be careful of how much you buy. You may get a deal that really is too good and too true.

Binders

I have remembered a legendary Snively family story that I haven’t blogged yet! I was very excited! Here we go with the exciting tale of The Binders!!!

It was an average day. School just let out and I was about to go home. My dad pulled up and I hopped into the car. “Hi dad!” “Hi son. Son, I might have made a mistake.”

This is when little alarm bells go off inside my head. My dad makes mistakes all the time, but he never actually calls them mistakes. When he uses the word “mistake”, it’s time to start listening.

“Um, what’d you do dad?”
“Well, I was on eBay, and I found something.”
“Did you buy it dad?”
“Yes.”
“How much was it (thinking it was probably ridiculously expensive)?”
“$12.00”
“Well that’s not so bad! What’d you buy?”
“Some binders.”
“Wait. . . why’d you buy binders on eBay?”
“Well, they were government surplus and they were cheap so I bought them and went and picked them up today.”
“How many did you buy?”
“A bunch.”
“(Realizing that I was getting closer to the mistake part of my dad’s experience) How much is a bunch dad?”
“Well. . .”
“30?”
“Um.”
“50?”
“Well. . .”
“Dad, how many binders are in our house right now?”
“700 pounds”
“WHAT?!?!?!? WHY IN GOD’S NAME DID YOU BUY 700 POUNDS OF BINDERS?!?!?!?”
“Well, it was a good price!”
“HOW MANY BINDERS IS THAT?!”
“A palette”
“Oh my god, you’re kidding, right? You bought 700 pounds of binders?”

We’re home by this time and have started down the driveway. As we reach the bottom I see the “mistake”

“Oh lord dad, what have you done?”

In the back of his truck is not just a palette of binders, but a HEAPING palette of binders. Overflowing. Binders that, if laid end to end, would encircle the globe. There were a LOT of binders.

“So, son, your job today. . .”
“No.”
“Is to. . .”
“No dad, I won’t do it.”
“Unload and sort all the binders”
“NO! You bought them, you do it!”
“Nope, it’s your responsibility.”
“I hate you dad.”
“I love you too son.”

I spent the next six hours of my life sorting 700 pounds of three ring binders by ring size, putting them into boxes, and carting the boxes of binders to our basement. It was dark by the time I’d finished.

This was in 7th grade. Guess what’s still in our basement. We still have about 5 boxes of binders left, about 50 binders total. Most binders were either given away (about a hundred had this fate), used for school projects, trashed, or used for some other purpose. We still have no idea what to do with the rest.

So that’s my binder story. Exciting, isn’t it? Remember, next time you buy government surplus, be careful of how much you buy. You may get a deal that really is too good and too true.

Engineering

I’m taking an engineering class this year and of course, I’m lovin’ it (McDonald’s pun totally intended). So far we’ve made mousetrap powered catapult cars and little wooden bridges, not to mention a lot of animations and computer models. Now we’re on to our latest and greatest project, the legendary Wooden Toy Project! Basically, our teacher showed us all a book full of the most complicated looking little wooden toys ever and said “Draft. Animate. Build. Pass.” So. . . . that was that! We all dug around in the little book to find toys to build. There were different strategies people employed when choosing. Some went with the “I’m going to pick the easiest one in there and get done in a week” method. Me? Nope. Some went with the “I’ll build one that somebody else is building so that we can help each other” method. Me? Nope. Some went with the “I don’t really care, just give me one” method. Me? Nope. Some went with the “Let’s find the most complicated little puzzle in the book with the most curves that will be impossible to constrain on the computer and even more impossible to build and has the least satisfying result!” method. Me? You betcha! *Sigh*

I chose a wooden lock/key/tumbler toy. I began by drafting it in AutoDesk Inventor (computer program) and then assembling it all into a pretty 3D model. Then I had to actually tell the computer the physics behind how the pieces moved and clicked around so that you could actually turn the key on the computer and the deadbolt piece would move. I’ve never had to do anything more frustrating in my life. Ever.

The computers in our CAD lab are beefy and are very good. I’ve never been able to crash one. That being said, I crashed my computer 13 times trying to constrain those pieces together so that they’d move. It was hell, and towards the end I actually started slamming my keyboard against the desk and contemplating strangling myself with the mouse cord. In the end I gave up, switched programs to AutoDesk Viz, and made an animation. SO MUCH EASIER! When I get a chance I’ll upload the animation I made.

After that was the building stage. Not a lot to talk about here. I spent about 2 weeks with a band saw and a belt sander getting the pieces right. I’d have to say that the hardest piece was the bit that slides when you turn the key. The one in the final toy is the 4th one I made. The other 3 had. . . issues. I was anticipating that the building stage would take about 5 weeks, but to my surprise and a brilliant stroke of luck, I was able to cut it down to 2. The stroke of luck came when it came time to cut a notch in the sliding piece such that when the key turned CW, it would slide, and when turned CCW, it would slide back. I was expecting to have to cut multiple notches on multiple sliding pieces until I got it just right, but it turned out that the rough notch I cut the very first time worked perfectly! YAY! After that I just cut out the tumbler (easy), sanded everything so that it’d be nice and pretty, assembled it, and mounted it to a base with dowels. Ta-Da! One lock and key wooden toy! It’s surprisingly fun to just turn the key back and forth and watch the sliding piece move in and out.





It may not look like much, but a lot of work went into this thing and I’m very proud of it. I’ve never really made something small and mechanical out of wood by myself, most of my wood experience is large scale construction and I work with my dad. This little guy is kinda my own baby. I’m quite fond of it.

Engineering

I’m taking an engineering class this year and of course, I’m lovin’ it (McDonald’s pun totally intended). So far we’ve made mousetrap powered catapult cars and little wooden bridges, not to mention a lot of animations and computer models. Now we’re on to our latest and greatest project, the legendary Wooden Toy Project! Basically, our teacher showed us all a book full of the most complicated looking little wooden toys ever and said “Draft. Animate. Build. Pass.” So. . . . that was that! We all dug around in the little book to find toys to build. There were different strategies people employed when choosing. Some went with the “I’m going to pick the easiest one in there and get done in a week” method. Me? Nope. Some went with the “I’ll build one that somebody else is building so that we can help each other” method. Me? Nope. Some went with the “I don’t really care, just give me one” method. Me? Nope. Some went with the “Let’s find the most complicated little puzzle in the book with the most curves that will be impossible to constrain on the computer and even more impossible to build and has the least satisfying result!” method. Me? You betcha! *Sigh*

I chose a wooden lock/key/tumbler toy. I began by drafting it in AutoDesk Inventor (computer program) and then assembling it all into a pretty 3D model. Then I had to actually tell the computer the physics behind how the pieces moved and clicked around so that you could actually turn the key on the computer and the deadbolt piece would move. I’ve never had to do anything more frustrating in my life. Ever.

The computers in our CAD lab are beefy and are very good. I’ve never been able to crash one. That being said, I crashed my computer 13 times trying to constrain those pieces together so that they’d move. It was hell, and towards the end I actually started slamming my keyboard against the desk and contemplating strangling myself with the mouse cord. In the end I gave up, switched programs to AutoDesk Viz, and made an animation. SO MUCH EASIER! When I get a chance I’ll upload the animation I made.

After that was the building stage. Not a lot to talk about here. I spent about 2 weeks with a band saw and a belt sander getting the pieces right. I’d have to say that the hardest piece was the bit that slides when you turn the key. The one in the final toy is the 4th one I made. The other 3 had. . . issues. I was anticipating that the building stage would take about 5 weeks, but to my surprise and a brilliant stroke of luck, I was able to cut it down to 2. The stroke of luck came when it came time to cut a notch in the sliding piece such that when the key turned CW, it would slide, and when turned CCW, it would slide back. I was expecting to have to cut multiple notches on multiple sliding pieces until I got it just right, but it turned out that the rough notch I cut the very first time worked perfectly! YAY! After that I just cut out the tumbler (easy), sanded everything so that it’d be nice and pretty, assembled it, and mounted it to a base with dowels. Ta-Da! One lock and key wooden toy! It’s surprisingly fun to just turn the key back and forth and watch the sliding piece move in and out.





It may not look like much, but a lot of work went into this thing and I’m very proud of it. I’ve never really made something small and mechanical out of wood by myself, most of my wood experience is large scale construction and I work with my dad. This little guy is kinda my own baby. I’m quite fond of it.

Calculus Story That Actually Involved Calculus

Yes, believe it or not, some calculus actually occurs in my calculus class, I just never mention it. Today I’ve decided to mention it! Here’s what happened.

We were reviewing for a test that was coming up, specifically we were reviewing how to find the surface area of curves revolved around a certain axis. We were all settled on which curve we were going to use, but had to decide which axis to use. The following dialogue occurred:

Teacher:
Which axis should we revolve the curve around John?

John:
Um. (Doesn’t really have a preference) How about the X-axis?

Class (realizing that the x-axis requires much more work):
*Groans*

Teacher:
X-axis it is!

John (realizing his mistake):
Um, Y-axis. I meant Y-axis.

Teacher (questioning whether John decided to switch because of peer pressure or because he understood why the Y-axis was the better choice):
Why?

John (being very witty, smart, and loving a good ol’ play on words):
Exactly! Y!

Class:
*Laughs*

Teacher:
*Doesn’t get it*

I apologize, it’s kinda hard to convey the humor of the situation over the internet, but a quick explanation is that when the teacher asked “Why?”, John just pretended she said “Y”. See? Funny! No? Sorry, it was funny in class, so there!