Week 11: November 4

Anyone remember when I posted about my crew job? I work on the orchestra set-up crew, which is (imho) the best job it is possible to get at SFCM. The hours are minimal and the pay far exceeds the amount of actual work you do. It’s straightforward, you’re part of a team and it’s not a desk job, which I would hate. But by far the greatest perk of this job arises from the fact that people tend to forget to take their pencils with them after rehearsals. This means that every rehearsal, at least one pencil gets left on a stand, meaning…..FREE PENCILS!!!! YAHOO!!!! And most of the crew members aren’t interested in pencils, so Sam and I get to split the pickings. 

My spoils from a day when Sam wasn't there

I haven’t dressed up for Halloween in years, but K really wanted to dress up as Minions (from Despicable Me), so last weekend we went shopping for costumes and face paint.

WIP shot

Super cute

Our trick-or-treating destination was Sea Cliff, a super rich neighbourhood. The object of the game was to find Robin Williams’ house and see if he was giving out candy. We found his house alright, but he wasn’t there, and the security guards were all out of glow sticks. Oh well – we still had a fantastic time, singing on the bus in harmony, like a barber shop quartet/trio. The Singing Minions of the SFCM Violin Department – that’s got a nice ring to it, hmmmm…….

Sorry I don't have a better picture, it was dark

BANANAAAAA!!!!!!!

We ran into other people dressed as Minions. How awesome is that???

N as Ludwig himself

On Saturday M, N and I mounted another expedition to GGP, specifically to the California Academy of Sciences, which was having a free day for downtown residents. Photography was prohibited at most of the exhibits, so I can’t show you most of the cool stuff we saw. I thought the most fascinating animal was the leafy sea dragon, which looked like a piece of swimming kelp. A close second was the coconut octopus, which drags coconut shells around with it and hides inside them when danger threatens. It is the only invertebrate known to use tools. We also saw a penguin feeding and went in an earthquake simulator. 

Penguins!

It's Dory!!

At the Fountain (that's also a cello piece, by the way)

Gorgeous day

This weekend was the second set of orchestra concerts. By far the highlight was Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances – I’ve never had to watch the conductor so much in my life. I actually know what he looks like now. It was really, really hard, but exhilarating, and so rewarding when we pulled it off well. 

I apologize for the late update. I’ll try to be better next week.

- Antisocial Violinist