Category: Uncategorized and Video

Official Dracula Overture Remix Competition. One hundred dollar prize to the winner that does the winning remix using my Dracula Overture audio files. Winner will be decided by the RapDogs.com moderators.

Here’s details:
My Dracula Overture was premiered on February 10, 2007 at McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, WA. Here is a track of the vocals and also a track of the music soundtrack. Entry rules and any changes or additional info will be posted here on this page. More Dracula Overture information.

AUDIO DOWNLOADS FOR REMIX
1 – Original Askland Dracula Overture MP3 – Song Info
2 – Vocals Only MP3
3 – Music Soundtrack Only MP3

Tech Info
Song is 126 BPM. Key of F minor. Chord progression is Fm – Abm – C and also Fm – Abm – Bm – Dm

DRACULA REMIX COMPETITION RULES:

1. Deadline for submission is March 10th, 2007. Artists must post a link to their audio file by that date here: RapDogs.com Dracula Remix Submissions – To post a link you will need to open an account at RapDogs.com which is free. We are not responsible if you cannot get the link posted, so don’t wait til the last minute.
2. On submitting, artists give permission for me to post their audio file entry on my website whether they win or not.
3. The composer of the original, Conrad Askland, will also be entering the competition but is not eligible for the prize. If he wins, next in line will win prize money.
4. We will also have some public voting polls and those results will be made public, but cash prize is decided by the RapDogs moderators.
5. Winner can be paid via PayPal or by Cashier’s Check and must be verified through their member account at RapDogs.com – In other words, the winner will be notified through their member account at RapDogs.com for payment information. Make sure your entry is posted on the RapDogs.com thread from your account.
6. In their remix, artists may not use any samples they do not have clearance for. Do not steal other people’s material to use in the remix.
7. There are no artistic limitations to the remix. Artists may alter the original files and add according to their artistic vision.
8. Winner will be announced within a reasonable time after March 10th, 2007 (within a couple weeks) – And payment will be made in April 2007 providing artist has supplied payment contact info from their RapDogs.com account.

I have learned much in this life. Some that I have learned are things that I wish I hadn’t. That is my introduction to Haggis, the unearthly revenge of Scotsmen they call food.

Lutefisk is something I am proud of as a Norwegian. True, it’s entirely disgusting. But Lutefisk gives Norwegians something to talk about when news is slow. I would guess that somewhere in the history of Scotland there must have been one too many rainy days. Somewhere, someone who did not want to be known, created the first Haggis.

Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish. Although there are many recipes, it is normally made with the following ingredients: sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal’s stomach for approximately an hour.

I tried Haggis for the first time recently, or more accurately: Haggis tried me. I had been asked to direct some music for a Robert Burns dinner for the local Celtic Arts society (which was very fun, I even wrote some songs for the Burns dinner which you can find on my website here by searching for “Robert Burns music”.) The Master of Ceremonies for the Burns supper, Skye Richendrfer, asked one of our sopranos to lead the dinner guests in Auld Lang Syne and here is where our evening took a devlish turn: She innocently said, “Sure, I’d love to. As long as we can try some Haggis, I’ve never tried it.”

The words still echo a chill down my spine. We had no idea what we were in for.

If you cannot afford to buy authentic Haggis, let me explain to you how to make a substitute. Take a recipe for meatloaf and leave a chunk of that on your doorstep in the rain for a couple days. Make sure to invite creepy crawlies to nibble on it. Then leave it on your kitchen counter for a couple weeks. Next put it in your refrigerator and take it back out about two years later. That will be a close second.

But there’s an upside, and here’s where Haggis wins over the much loved Lutefisk. With Haggis you get to wash it down with Tequila and lime. If the Sons of Norway lodges would start serving Aquavit (Scandinavian Everclear) then we might have a fighting chance against the Scots.

I have eaten three things that are badges of courage: Haggis, Lutefisk and dog in South Korea. My Haggis badge I wear highest.

MODERN HAGGIS LORE

Haggis is an amusing subject for many people. Those who ask a Scotsman about it rarely get a straight answer. A common reply to the question “What is a haggis?” often goes along the following lines. “A haggis is a small three-legged Scottish Highland creature, which has the limbs on one side shorter than the other side. This means that it is well adapted to run around the hills at a steady altitude, without either ascending or descending. However a haggis can easily be caught by running around the hill in the opposite direction.” Surprisingly, this humorous myth is believed by many tourists, and thus they are shocked — and possibly disappointed — to hear the truth. See also sidehill gouger.

Many tourists are also duped (or nearly duped) by Scottish pranksters attempting to lead them on a ‘Wild Haggis Hunt’. The Scotsman newspaper’s web site runs an annual Haggis Hunt.

Haggis is also used in a sport called haggis hurling, throwing a haggis as far as possible. The present World Record for Haggis Hurling has been held by Alan Pettigrew for over 21 years. He threw a 1.5 lb Haggis an astonishing 180 feet, 10 inches on the island of Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond, in August 1984.

Fonzie jumps the shark

“Jumping the Shark” is a term that designates the tipping point for an idea having run it’s course and has run out of new ideas. It comes from the episode of Happy Days where Fonzie jumps the shark, a widely accepted all time low in television. Visit www.jumptheshark.com for more info or Google “jump the shark” and see the page on Wikipedia with lots of info on this relatively new term.

2007 Staff Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church

From left to right:

Michelle Hanna, Hank Alkema, Sheila Daut, Steve Weber, Andy Thor, Conrad Askland

Someone told me a couple days ago that they enjoyed this website here, especially all the insights into musical theater. Then they asked me “Is that what a blog is?”. I kind of bristled at this being called a blog. I do not write about cats. I write about all the very important issues of art, theology and science. But remembering my recent post on humility, I had to say “Yes, it’s a blog.” Of course with the qualifier that it’s really a repository for all the information I find while working on certain projects. That’s what I like to believe anyway.

What I enjoy most about about dynamic article based sites (web logs, or “blogs”) is the ability to archive information quickly while it’s on my mind. As soon as one project is finished the information is forgotten and I move on to the next. This site has been a great way to make that information available to others.

H. G. Wells, at the end of the 19th century, wrote about the need for a “world brain trust”. A place where all the knowledge in the world would be accessible by everyone at any time. Many consider this the first concept of what the internet is becoming. Blogs are part of the brain trust. When I need specific info on a small niche area, I usually find it now on a blog. And many narrow niche arrows I have written about, others use me as a reference.

I have run thousands of websites in the past and generated a lot of income on the web. But it’s only in the last year (with an active blog) that I have felt part of the global web team. Part of a team in that I now create information for others to an equal degree that I take information FROM others for my own use.

I haven’t heard many people talk about this, but the world is changing at a lightning speed in it’s understanding of many things. A “tipping point” is happening in areas of thought where in the past not all information was available to all people. Many myths are being exposed for what they are; mostly due to more information being available to study and compare.

To me, this is the most important event in my lifetime, and perhaps the most important of the last two thousand years. Do not underestimate the far reaching effects of this. Realize a great portion of the world is being re-educated in many areas all at the same time. I am sad that I will not be around in a hundred years to witness what new generations accomplish with all the global paradigm shifts in thinking currently taking place.

My contribution to further encourage this interchange was to equip my forum communities each with their own blogs on niche subjects. In addition to this website, we currently have about 100 community blogs running so each group can make their own information readily available. I will be expanding more on this in the coming year.

So, blog stats: This blog is currently in the top 60,000 blogs worldwide on technorati, has blocked over 6,000 spam messages and receives around 30,000 page views a month. Most popular subjects on my blog are translations of Latin text to English in classical music, information on Disney’s High School Musical, and some of my posts on how to fix particular problems with computer peripherals.

What the world is interested in hearing from me are not the subject matters I most passionately speak about. But that’s a lesson in itself too. And yes, this is my official self indulgent “bloggy cat-type post”.

 You’ve all been there. To the top. To the place where life is easier to see. Problems seem distant. Challenges seem possible. The place where spirits rise and troubles fall away.

Years ago I stood on the summit of Mount Ranier after a long climb over the glaciated shoulders of that great peak. On that clear day it appeared the whole world was below me. There was a sense of triumphalism partnered with awe. It was a great moment. And then … I descended. As spectacular as it was I realized no one was living on the peak. Everyone went down. 100 percent of all those who summitted also returned to the valley far below.

So it is for us all when life treats us to one of those occasional mountaintop events. They all end with a “coming down” time. That’s where I am this week following some time away last week, first, in the California desert where I visited with my parents and played golf in the warm sunshine, then at the National Pastors Convention in San Diego, and finally, over the weekend, with the Marines of Marine Aircraft Group 46 at MCAS Miramar north of San Diego. It was only a week but each day was fully well spent.

It’s true what is often said about spending time away from our regular routines. “It takes a week to wind down from it all.” As I re-enter life and ministry here I have often caught myself re-living moments from last week. A great tee shot (there was one), a speaker, a song, soaking up some sun, seeing old friends.

What I am beginning to understand about de-compressing is that there is no regular way to do it. In my case I stepped off the airplane into a drizzly late evening and took it from there. What else can we do? We go forward. We come down. We re-enter our routines and our relationships. And perhaps we are slightly changed by having been to the top of something, a mountain, our emotions, our mind, our God. So we come down different than when we went up. That, I suppose, is renewal. But coming down it doesn’t feel like renewal. It feels rougher, jagged and out of step.

The Bible speaks of how we are “transformed by the renewing of our minds” as we present ourselves to God. It strikes me this week that this life we live is chock full of renewing moments and it is possible that we are very often attempting to re-enter life as we have previously known it. We have a mountaintop time with our spouse or child but have to show up the next morning at work. The symphony touched us in way that truly transformed something within us, but the dishes are waiting at home. A speaker, maybe even a sermon, creates a new space in our hearts, a space for God, and now we have clean the garage. We are constantly going up mountains only to have to turn around and come down to where we live.

This week, as I come down again, I am discovering that the up and down of this life just might be the lesson I need the most. I love the peak experiences however I need to come to love how the peaks intersect with the valley and the slight transforming that is constantly at play in my life. Namely, that God doesn’t leave all the renewal work for the mountaintops. Much of it seems to happen upon re-entry as well.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley …” We all do at some point.

See You Sunday,

Steve Weber, pastor

ORSON WELLES

An actor told me today I have “an Orson Welles thing going on” and talk like him. So here’s an Orson montage.

There is an e-mail being circulated with a phone number to call to register cellphones on the National Do Not Call registry. The email proceeds to say that all cell phone numbers will be made public within a few days, so you need to hurry. That info appears to be bogus.

All phone numbers, land line or cell, can be registered online at www.DoNotCall.gov. It is free. You only have to enter a phone number and an email for authentication. It takes about 30 seconds to complete the entire process. Once registered, your phone number will stay on the “Do Not Call” list for 5 years.

It may take a few months, but once you are on the list those sales calls should disappear to almost nill. In some states you can take a company to court if they telemarket you three times. Automatic judgement in small claims court of $500.

Ave Maria Schubert Renee Fleeming

My compulsory entry for the latest birthday meme wave. (Go to Wikipedia, enter the month and day of your birth, but not the year, and pick 3 events, 2 bithdays, one death, and one holiday or observance).

For May 27th:

EVENTS

1328 – Philip VI is crowned King of France.

1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.

1924 – The Music Corporation of America (MCA) is founded.

BIRTHDAYS

1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (d. 1993)

1935 – Ramsey Lewis, American pianist

DEATH

1840 – Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1782)

HOLIDAY OR OBSERVANCE

Lag Ba’omer in Judaism (2005)