a day in the life of piano monkey

britain is having the wettest summer since 1910 this year.  while yyz is grilling under fierce hot sun, with what seems to be a permanent grey sky saturated with rain, it's hard to imagine getting out there in shorts and dresses and frolicking with joy (well, suppose i didnt grow up with wellies and waterproofs as daily preparation).  fortunately, along with the few golden sunny days, there are plenty to do...  on a day off, minnows walked east, chinley to edale. at the end of every walk, of course, PUB STOP! that was my breakfast. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/13/old-nags-head-edale-derbyshire  three gens of gregory boys. after chinley church concert, we played: saint-saens piano trio no 2, ravel piece in form of habanera (w cor anglais), and dvorak quintet.  simple looking bread made with some 8 hours proofing, raymond blanc recipe from bbc iplayer. yum yum. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fougassefrenchflatbr_93233 ...

 staying at isle of glencoe hotel, driving up to fort william, as part of belated birthday mayhem, we did the harry potter train!  beautiful and full of midges. youch. scratch. blood. and the jacobite, which goes through amazing viaduct, better known as 'harry potter' bridge. it connects fort william-mallaig.  beautiful clear daytime with fish/chips lunch. weather turned crap as soon as we returned to f. william... http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/Jacobite_Details.html  deceptive beds?  chinley-edale walk, solo sojourn.   chinley churn-south head-jacob's ladder-edale. was wet. kinda lost. but did successfully finished it. was much nicer to do it with minnow a week later.  ethnic food is at premium price. making chinese potstickers at home, with homemade hot-water-dough skins!  short walkie to back of the house. typical monkey mindset during summer. snooze. ...

this year, i ended up having a slightly different birthday.  mom mentioned that i am rarely in yyz on my birthday and i automatically said: no way! yet, the calendar said... well, she's right! so i have decided to stay and spend the b day with fam then fly over to uk to have the self-designated unemployment summer holiday with minnow (which is slightly frustrating to politely refuse interesting work, thanks to government work restrictions)(but then, why should i be special? these international commercial regulations are complicated and often inflexible and i can only hope that there are good reasons for it). i suppose with everyone being busy at that time of the year- school has finished and people moved back to home/summer locations, etc., i myself was away from home, attending various festivals and music programs, or even just randomly travelling.  it's been almost ten years since i spent my last birthday in toronto.  how time flies- where did those years go? i sca...

end of semester, things are done and i am almost at rest point.  almost.  well, i am chasing after the very last payment.  it's not the easiest thing to chase/being chased after and i think it is a difficult situation. i wonder how it will all turn out, probably fine... AND IT DID TURN OUT FINE! yay. one of the things i will work on is always have a written record of a verbal contract.  if contacted through a phone call or text, i will always write back to through email.  phone calls have no trace and texts are too fussy.  but email, not only it leaves tracks, it can be accessed through many different medium.   in middle of busy april, i received a call for accompanying a difficult sonata, less than two weeks go- hey if she's been having a difficult time finding a pianist, i will do it!  at this point, somehow the crucial info of fee schedule was lost inbetween- in that weird quasi-real space between the phones.  we agreed on the ...

wee rabbit always sees the world a bit different from me. and he sees loads of beauty. from the distillery. as the semester is reaching its end, ive been lucky to gain some personal 'empty' space in my life.  though i do enjoy most aspects of my work in music, there are times when 60+ hrs/wk ends up spelling: go away.  though the best perk of it is to realize that once i can move away from it, i can really see how beautiful it really is. what is 'it?' i have a hard time defining what 'it' may be- to call it music would be too simple.  it is music, yes, but it's not just any music that lifts us the mortals out of the daily grind into something special.  and one has one's own preferred genre of music as well.  one day it may be the dark side of the moon. next day perhaps a bit of bluegrass.  perhaps it may be the reminiscence of musical experience- the very song your mother sang to you when you were so small that you were held lightly in he...

http://youtu.be/zhMC-aiLvmw today is mother's day in canada.  as an average blue collar family, we decided to get together at a local buffet lunch (eliminate conflicts of preferences, prices, all sorts of problems) (and it does not break the bank)- my older brother even brought his girl friend for the first family-wide meet (she has met my parents couple weeks ago i believe).  couple laughters, varied conversations, bit of disagreements, plenty of food, it was all good. mother's day is an interesting one.  as a child, whether young or older, one often forgets things about others, including mom. life is busy and things are in constant demand.  one 'must' progress at work and make 'better' for self.  success is important and one's own happiness seems be the supreme goal of the western world- at least in my generation. as result, we often find a big surprise in may- oops, mother's day! i almost forgot! perhaps, as artificial as it may be, without mot...

http://rantmonkeyrant.blogspot.ca/2012/02/canned-cocktail-wiener-found-in-walter.html i think the recent comment from the anonymous person is amusing enough to be separated and presented as a blog post. if you are in for some lengthy reading, please do go follow up the comments. in a nutshall, though the disclaimer does tell the uploaders that this is a personal blog and that should they find it distasteful, they should understand the challenging stuff is only intended for adults, some kiddie paladins cannot help themselves but to start point fingers.  alright, not so different from what i do here i suppose. the irony and great source of amusement for me is that anonymous does it in the way that it is self-reflecting and i thought it is quite difficult to put it any better for a comical effect:  you rude, passive (add an f word) person,  you better behave! see what (anonymous) did there? (a la craig ferguson) chuckle.  the world is a fun...

the big eye that watches- can you tell me where time went off without me? this month of april is still running away as fast as it can- i really miss having the time to think and write, to doodle and wait- till the inspiration strikes.  it's been forever ive wrote a blog (or rather, to finish a post)- and so many things have happened: minnow visit, visit up north to BAM! house, loads of work, budding students and forever learning monkey, the music that puts the spin into every step, the wee small pollen that itches the nose as the new leaves and flowers bloom out to the sky- i feel so desperate that i want to hold onto so many different things that whizzes by me- stop stop stop!  and these fire extinguishers were marching through school oneday, looking impressive in their red chrome uniforms  full-on flowers. no apology. no time for apology, they just went P O P new haircut. half cut, double price. justice..! as i have long days, the rabbits take care of one anoth...

it is middle of crazy recital season. by the end of this semester, i wouldve recorded at least 40 recitals.  i wouldve accompanied a few as pianist as well.  i have done some complicated or super simple backstaging works this semester and helped to produce numerous recording sessions.  and yeah, played on couple demos- whether for application purposes or teaching purpose. it is a funny thing, trying to make a living as a classical musician. especially if one forfeits teaching option.  i do miss teaching the tiger cubs though.  however, teaching isnt the right option for me at the moment, as i have booked another summer ticket to head across the puddle for an extended period of time.  all the different things i get to do, i think not only it helps to balance the books, it helps me to be a reasonable human being.  especially from what i have heard in the wind recently. this city has many pianists who earns through accompanying. some do it t...

*busker performing in pike place market. i bet he practices at home. this afternoon, 3rd floor lounge, faculty of music, university of toronto, a young guitarist is talking to his friend and  butchering the bach suite quite efficiently.  let's refocus on the fact that this is a lounge, not a practice room.  he's conversing with a friend: this is so hard (butcher), i donno, i think it may be alright (miss), man, bach was a genius (fail, tries again), and the 'music' continues. monkey: hey, i have a question. what is with you guys always practicing in the public space? dude: it's because we can, while others cant. m: so that means you should practice in public? d: well, yeah, why not? m: because it's a public space, you should practice in practice rooms. d: well, some people talk and do things here, don't they? m: you actually like practicing and blundering passage in public? d: well, how is it different from having conversations? m: you should not ...

past couple days been completely crazy- canada in march, pushing the mercury above 20'c. how did that happen? i have no idea, but seeing that the forecasters are auguring for dropping back to somewhat more reasonable temps (though depending on who you are looking up, the ranges vary from the low single digit to low teens), literally everyone has been out walking in the sun. with no jackets. no hats or mittens. even umbrellas, though the rainstorm has been promised (boo, it wouldve been a perfect ending to the day to have a proper spring night storm). and this week has been the week of sanity- finally catching up time. i did the taxes, went to see a brand new baby of friends, one of my great friend came to stay overnight, and with all the empty times (yet to have another completely free day though- i had one since i came back in january), i wondered why i dont have anyone to call to go have a pint with. oops. that's right. ive been working evenings the whole time. when peopl...

so many things have happened since last blogpost- i swear the little snippets of memories and events will be recounted and expanded, but meanwhile, i do have a recital tomorrow to play for, so i should plug self into bed. here are some photos i just cant help to post, as the weather has been absolutely glories. in midst of personal loss of dearest friend who sent her mother to the next gate, many young musicians with years of preparation under a one single focus moment called audition, sudden spring that graced the once-frozen land, the tigercubs who now studies with another piano teacher, minnow's brief visit, lovely trumpet lady putting together a great first solo recital, little kiddie who i dear care for getting through sludge of end-of-semester, all kinds. and though i have been defeated and elbowed into eyes, i do know that even the punchers didnt meant to get me on the eyes. haha. such is life. life is going to be alright. it doesnt have to be great now but over all, i d...

dear four little monkey-coached kiddies: i am so sorry i missed our lessons this week.  i tried my best to stay in shape to see you and share things, especially music, but my oral surgery is healing rather slowly and with such pain, i was not able to teach properly that evening. i thought about taking more medication and showing up to teach. yes, that would have been one way of showing my dedication to your music lessons.   however, i was not physically prepared and i could not take more medication as i took the maximum dosage prescribed. i wonder what this cancellation meant to me as well as you.  for me, i broke my words. things do happen in life and we all need to make adjustment, but it was a difficult decision to make for me- to make last minute change.  i wonder how you guys felt when you found out the lessons were cancelled- do tell me next week, i want to hear your opinions. perhaps we could think about each one’s commitment to one’s own ...

today, walter hall was hosting a special event for violists: heidi castleman masterclass. she teaches at juilliard and yes, i think it is quite exciting to play for a different teacher- you can take away so much with you, the inspiration, technical knowledge, a new emotional dimension, you name it. and i was confronted by a special person as well, just not as helpful, however impressive. walter hall is a busy place. and it's only a natural thing that students want to get in there to practice- it sounds good, it feels good and yes, there is shortage of space at busy times of the day in school. however, it is a performance hall and not a practice room, especially regarding the pianos. the piano technicians work very hard to keep the instruments to meet the heavy demands.  they come way before the students, to yield to the kiddies who want to practice. and yes, they do go home after a day's work.  and because many musical events take place in late evenings, it is important ...

i have THE best mother. though, she's got a bit of issue with time management.  her aim of doing her very best often means that she's out of time- so she always takes piece of her own time to give to someone else, or rather, to someone else's wish that may be trivial for them, but not to her. a passing comment may result in days of efforts, perhaps a sure surprise for the recipient, who was completely clueless.  i cant help but be exasperated at times, come on mom, they arent going to notice- why are you wasting time? you only go to work from 5am till 10pm- she simply says: it's never a waste. she also simply say: im dead tired. mother's a hearty stock, she's a real working donkey. she carries the weight of the loved ones in her heart, all the time. even the wee one who left this world a bit too untimely. i bet in recent chaos of granny heart fiasco, she cant help but to think the little marker on the ground, of her little one, who wouldve been all ove...

there's been much going on since the new year began: full-length chamber concert, return back flight to yyz, 3 recitals and mountains of music, new music festival backstaging, and yes, granny's wee heartattack. just like that, no space between heart and attack, all those 't's and 'a's are making it uneasy to look at. sharp, oblique and complicated. it involved much shift in logistics for everyone in the family- but thankfully, after a big test, she was cleared to return home, if a bit fragile. i think the priority should be focused on getting her strength together again- she can either come back stronger and keep marching happily to the end of her days, or dissolve into fine dusts, a paler version of her oldself.  i do not think she should necessarily live long. i think she should live up to the very last day with the most vi tality she can gather and process. wits. wishes. wants. all nice natural things as a living human being. we have been offered a in-hou...