Summer Lovin'

Hello readers - how are we today? I am doing just fine. The sun is shining and Sackville is quiet. I am just sitting here in my apartment working on music and other things while rocking out to the new Phoenix record.

*SIDEBAR: If you have not yet heard the new Phoenix record, you are missing out. Go start listening now!

Anyway, since Canada Day, which is where we last left off, things have been both busy and slow. My composition projects have been picking up speed, which is always very exciting! In recent weeks I have been creating sheet music for all of the songs from my musical I am writing. Soon I will have the entire score written down, which is really important. It has been a good process too because as I go back into the songs, I have been looking at the piano parts and the lyrics and making some significant improvements. My grant project is also going really well. I have three new songs that have come together in the last two weeks. They are all very different and I am really happy with them. My goal is to write somewhere between 7-10 by the end of the summer, so I think I am on my way to achieving this. Soon I will start sending out finished songs to some of my music student friends to see if they will perform them when classes starts back up again in September.

Even though the weather has been very spotty recently, I have been getting outside as much as I can. I have been playing Ultimate Frisbee twice a week with a group, and that is really fun. I have been getting much better at the game the more I play, and I think I may actually play with the team when the academic year starts. My friend Brandon and I have been going running at least once a week, and I have also been getting out on my bike.

The other night I went golfing with my friend Sean at the Amherst Golf Club. He had heard about this special they do every Wednesday. Basically, you get to start playing at 6:30pm and get as many holes in as you can before 8:30. At that point, you come back to the clubhouse with everyone else where you get a beer and are also entered in a draw for prizes. Now here's the best part: the whole thing costs only $5! The club does it to get more people out onto the course of all experience levels. It was really fun because there were people there who were really good, and others who had never played before. The attitude was really relaxed and fun. The Amherst course is much more complex than the Sackville course, but I actually played better there!

Over the last two weeks, Sackville has been busy with the annual Festival by the Marsh. This arts festival has been running for a few years now, and is a great thing for Sackville. There are many different events, including art shows, concerts, and play productions. The cornerstone of it every year is the Shakespeare play, which they perform outdoors by the Swan Pond. This year they did The Taming of the Shrew. A couple of my theatre friends were involved with the show, so of course I went. I had never seen this one before, so it was interesting for me. They did a really good job with the show. The visual design was incredible actually, and the acting performances were quite solid all around. I am not sure if Shrew is really one of my favourite Shakespeare comedies, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.

Coming up - not very much! I will just keep working away on these projects and such. I will also probably continue watching West Wing DVD sets, which I am now addicted to - geeky, yes I know. I will be heading back to Vancouver to visit family in August. Even though I do not leave for three weeks, I know it's going to come up really fast.

Also, I am going into Moncton tomorrow with some friends to see the latest Harry Potter movie. I am very excited!!!

I hope your summer is going well. If you have any questions about Mt. Allison, as always, please do not hesistate to ask.

Landon

lsbraverman@mta.ca