All Grown-Up but still a Composer

Violin Concerto Recordings

2012-02-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

They're all up:

http://www.hermescamacho.com/?page_id=543

Enjoy! (or at least try to)

Violin Concerto Premiere

2012-02-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

After all the hard work, with venerable composers Lane Harder, Joey Love, and Andy Davis, the premiere of our wind ensemble works was a complete success.

Who knew putting together an ensemble of 40 players and having them be able to make all the rehearsals would go so smoothly?!?!

Recordings for the Concerto for Violin and Wind Ensemble will be up soon...the performance was absolutely amazing, probably the best performance of my music, EVER. :)

Epic Niners Win

2012-01-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

What a great game. Alex Smith came through in the clutch--twice--to beat the New Orleans Saints at home, 36-32.

What a wild win. 17-0 to start. Than 17-14 for most of the game. Then 23-17. Then 24-23 Saints. Followed by an answer by the Niners to make it 29-24 (failed 2 pt conversion).

Then the Niners give up a well-covered play to Jimmy Graham to make it 32-29 with less than 2 minutes to go. A little Vernon Davis action, then a CLUTCH 14 yd. TD to Davis with 14 seconds remaining, reminiscent of the Steve Young to T.O. back in '98.

Great game, great memories, and our marriage (Jac is a Saints fan) still intact. :)

Most Adorable "Oh, Christmas Tree" EVER

2011-12-09T20:28:00.001-08:00

I dare you to find a more adorable rendition of "Oh, Christmas Tree" than performed by our 2 1/2 year-old nephew, Oliver.

A "Typical" Day for this unknown composer.

2011-12-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

I've nearly come to the end of my first semester not as a student (to which a good friend of mine pointed out that I should start organizing my life around a normal calendar year rather than an academic calendar) and I've come up a "typical" day in my life as a freelance (aka "unemployed" in the traditional sense) composer.

6:45am My alarm goes off for the first time. I don't know why it's still set for this time, I have nowhere to be. Jac is already up and getting ready for work. I suppose I get up so that my lazy ass gets out of bed before she heads off to work.

7:15am I actually get out of bed.

7:45am I eat half a granola bar, take my vitamins, allergy meds, and drink a bottle of water (First breakfast, like I'm a hobbit)...with Jac while watching the weather channel before switching it over to Mike and Mike on ESPN2.

8am Exercise! Yes, this is something new I've added to my daily activities. I'm nearly 30 and though I'm not terribly out of shape, neither am a Greek god (or am I...?). About an hour of cardio and lifting weights/resistance training.

9:15am Second Breakfast while watching...you guessed it...some ESPN2. My daily dose of the FirstTake show. It's my vice. Sports keep me sane and balances out out what I love to do. It's cheaper than a lot of other distractions...

I also setup my laptop in front of me to respond to emails, edit scores, look through scores/music, check for jobs, update my website, print scores, work on engraving projects, etc...anything that I can do while the TV is making noise in the background. I know this seems like a bad habit...and it kind of is...but it works for me. I can tune it out enough plus much of this is semi-mundane/mindless work anyway. This is also the time when I may work on a particular passage that may have been questionable the day before. At some point, I meander to my office and get a little writing done...or orchestrating...or sketching. Nothing too focused, yet...sort of warming my brain up for the afternoon.

Noonish I realize I still haven't showered. The odor is surprisingly underwhelming, but the cats have both retreated. Hmmmm...send one more email/check the one last article/find that one last website for info...

12:30pm Lunch (or leave for lunch). I'll usually meet Jac a couple times a week for lunch around 1pm...Panera is a regular place. Nothing like a little Bacon Turkey Bravo and a cup of Broccoli Cheddar to let you know that you're not concerned about your health.

1:30pm Off to 1 of 2 Starbucks I frequent during the week to get me out of the house for a chance of scenario and for some much needed caffeine. This is where I get the bulk of my focused work done. It's surprising how much composing can be done with Starbucks muzak in the background.

5pm Head home. My brain literally really hurts after more than a couple hours of composing straight, but I'm able to push it to 3 or more hours straight at a coffee shop and even more if when I really spread it out during the day. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but I'm just not one of the composers who can work on a piece for more than about 4 hours a day...the exception, of course comes if the piece is nearly finished and you're so locked in, you think 10 minutes have past and it's actually been nearly 2 hours. What's funny is that I used to spend roughly 10 hours at school 5 days a week from about 8am until 6pm) and I get MUCH MORE composing work completed in a short, focused afternoon.

5:30pm Compose a bit more, mostly touch-ups on what I've written or anything I let simmer for a little from early in the day. A sort of cool-down for the day.

630pm Cooking dinner. Yes, I love this. I now have the time to cook dinner more carefully and to make up some new dishes. Tonight it's chicken breasts seasoned with smoked paprika, kosher salt, pepper, garlic, and tarragon...side of mushrooms and broccoli with pasta sauteed in olive oil and seasonings. Salad to boot.

8pm After dinner, I'll write a little bit more depending on a variety of things or if it's been a particularly unproductive and frustrating day, I just turn my brain off and catch-up on one of a million recorded shows on our DVR.

10:30pm getting ready for bed. Yes, we have the prescribed bedtime of inactive senior citizens. Oh, well.

Revising is fun when it doesn't suck

2011-11-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last few weeks slowly revising and expanding the Concerto for Violin and Wind Ensemble. I let several months pass since it's completion in April because 1) I can work on it with fresher eyes and ears and 2) I've been able to forget the mental drain from the 4.5 months of intensive work on the piece.

It's been fun going back and tweaking and fixing things and adding bits and pieces. But the tediousness has sometimes been a bit frustrating, especially when I realized I've spent more than an hour on one short passage. But, I just remind myself that it's for the benefit of the piece, that it's a nice learning process for me, and that most of the time I'm actually excited to do it.

LeBron James is NOT the King

2011-10-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

An egregious error has been made: ESPN has named LeBron James as the #1 player in the NBA.

Are. You. Kidding. Me?!

No argument from me that LeBron is the most talented player. There's no question and anyone who disagrees is kidding themselves. He's too fast, too strong, too big. He has a decent jumper, decent range, great passer, and ball-handler.

But he is not the #1 player in the NBA.

One these guys is not like the others.

In order to be #1, a player needs to have greatness. When I think of greatness, names like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, the list goes on. I'll add Dwyane Wade to the mix, as well. What do all these players have in common? They were All-Star players at their positions, current or soon-to-be hall of famers, many of whom were MVPs (or multiple), had one or more championships, and most importantly, were CLUTCH PLAYERS.

Perhaps the greatest of all time.

I'll even excuse the lack of championships to be considered great. But not that so-called "clutch gene." The desire to not only want the ball in important moments but the ability to make the shot, the block, the steal, THE play to help the team win. LeBron does not possess that gene and people argued back-and-forth for the first 8 years of his playing career. But after his abysmal performance in the 2011 Finals, particularly in the 4th quarter, THE clutch quarter, he came up small, averaging 2 points in the 4th quarter for 4 straight games. That's unreal and that's not greatness.

Even more infuriating is that he's unquestionably the most talented player in the league and yet is unable to make the play in the clutch.

LeBron is top 10, maybe even top 5, but he's not #1. Give me Dwyane, give me Kobe, give me Kevin Durant. Don't give me LBJ in the 4th quarter.

Can't Bite My (Sports) Tongue

2011-10-18T18:28:00.001-07:00

I've tried to keep this blog as sports-free as possible (though I've failed on a few occasions) but I can't do it anymore, especially now that I have the time to actually better keep up.

CONGRATULATIONS to my 49ers and to the gritty HC Jim Harbaugh on their win at the vaunted *yes I said vaunted* Detroit Lions on Sunday. Forget the handshake, how about their record at 5-1? (Let's think about this, too: if not for some clutch play from Tony Romo, who IS a clutch player more often than not, they'd be undefeated). Way to go!

"Who's got it better than us?" NOBODY!!

8 Weeks In, Still Going Strong

2011-10-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

It's been 8 weeks since the start of the academic year at UT (and pretty much any other semester-based university) and my fears of being nostalgic have proven to be anything but.

I haven't had a break from school since kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN. That's 1987 folks. 13 years of primary and secondary school, 4 years of college, and 7 total years of graduate school, fall 2011 is my first Fall off since the fall of 1986.

It's been GREAT.

Only academia can make you think that leaving the house at 7am and getting back home after 7pm is normal if you're not a business person, attorney, physician, business owner, etc. That not going to school at all is absurd. That if you sleep in on a weekday, you should be flogged.

I'm getting more music written regularly than I ever have before. I have a modest line of commissions set up for the year and have a wonderful and brilliant wife who supports me spending my time writing. (In her words, most non-academic, entry-level jobs might annoy me and she'd have to listen to me complain about it every day. VERY TRUE. :)

I do miss teaching. A lot. I'm itching to teach again, the daily interaction with undergrads or grad students. But I don't miss the grading. I HATED the grading (but who doesn't, no?).

I'm looking forward to applying to another round of faculty positions around the country and get back in the groove, but if the last 8 weeks are any sort of indicator, I'm going to enjoy this academic year, much more than I had anticipated.

Wonderful Trip back from Scrippsies Reunion and Wedding

2011-09-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a trip out to Los Angeles to see our good friend Serena get married and to have our annual Scrippsies reunion. Most everyone was there and we had a blast hanging for a few days.

Also got a chance to see my old Long Beach pals Jessica and Shura but unfortunately traffic prevented me from visiting Cal State and Carolyn Bremer.

All and all, a nice weekend and a nice relief from the sweltering Texas weather. I was cold all three evenings!

Yet another Personal Best

2011-08-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

And I finally broke 90! Woo-hoo!!! (84 to be precise)

Europe, it goes without saying, was fantastic

2011-08-15T06:07:00.001-07:00

There's too much to mention from our 8 day trip to Europe, but it was awesome.

Visiting Paris for the first time and England for a second, we crammed as much as we could, seeing the Louvre (highlight!), Musee d'Orsay, the Pompodieu, Eiffel Tower, Cathedral de Notre Dame, Big Ben, Canterbury Cathedral, the Tower of London, etc. etc. etc.

The people were absolutely wonderful. (The French, I think, especially in the United States, get a bad rap.) I was also wonderfully amazed by the public transportation in both Paris and London. SOOOOO efficient and convenient.

And this was my favorite picture from our trip, courtesy of the Louvre:

And my illegal video from the Musee d'Orsay:

SYS-CMW 2011 Week II

2011-07-29T00:43:00.001-07:00

Another wonderful week of music making came to an end on Sunday. We had another great group of kids as part of the Sacramento Youth Symphony Chamber Music Workshop (week II), in its 22nd season!. What was especially nice with the group of assistant coaches this year was the addition of the Tatman twins, two of my favorite players from the workshop from the last several years.

The repertoire this year consisted of selected movements from Grieg's Holberg Suite, the always fun Hoedown from Copland's Rodeo, and a new piece commissioned by the workshop to continue our own composer-in-residence series by my good friend Zack Wilson, Swallow Falls. I was also happy and very honored to have been commissioned to write a piece for the very capable assistant coach sextet (who in previous years performed Brahms' first sextet, among other pieces).

The students and coaches worked as hard as always and us coaches had nice time inaugurating an annual mid-week happy hour!

Pics to come.

Best 9 yet!

2011-07-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

Shot a personal best 43 on the back 9 at Wildhorse to improve to my second personal best of 93 (had sort of a crap front 9).

Funny that at Wildhorse one of my worse scores happened the first time I played it (December 2010: 122) and my two best scores ever have happened in back to back weeks (July 19 and 26 2011, 92 and 93).

Yay for improvement on something that ultimately has no real bearing on my professional life (sigh)...

Back from Camp

2011-06-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Worked at week at Sierra Mountain Music Camp up in Nevada City, California. Haven't been there since 2003, when I was counselor. Came back this year as a staff member. All and all, had a nice time. Can't complain: got paid to hang out in the mountains for a week playing music with some wonderful kids, some of whom remembered me from when I was a camper.

Played Spicewood Springs Again

2011-06-04T22:16:00.001-07:00

That's three days of golf in a row, sort of an impromptu round/sunset rate with Wilson. Shot my best of the year, 96. A couple of pars on the back 9 brought my average for the back at bogey.

So...104 on Thursday
41 (par 30) on Friday
96 (par 72) today.

At least I'm getting better. A definite improvement over the last year or so. Last I played Spicewood (in December with Stanton), I shot close to or over 120. Almost 140 the last time I played Jimmy Clay!

Love my hometown

2011-06-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

Great Time with the Families visiting!!

2011-05-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

My parents and brother, Jac's parents, sister, cousin and our 2 nephews all came in to visit for our graduation and it was great to see everyone.

Got to play some golf with my dad and brother, parties, hangouts galore.

And So We Graduated Today

2011-05-21T16:56:00.001-07:00

Never thought I'd look this good in pink.

Last day of school

2011-05-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

The last day of school has come and gone, so I think I'd like to remember it by chronicling the days' events:

Traffic was great on the drive in. That's always a plus.

My good friend Cari gave me an awfully nice graduation gift of the Omnibus recordings of Leonard Bernstein. YES!!!!!

I got to help one last student with her homework while my cohorts were busy with about 10 other students...yay MUS 605B.

Lunch with my good friends from the theory hallway (best officemate in the world Christine, Emily, Jane, Alex, Scott) at Red River Cafe. How fitting; and what's more, I'll never forget the indigestion (and the cameo by the ever-elusive Lachlan Fife).

Pictures with Christine in our office...sad, but awesome (some pics below).

Greatest joke ever coupled with the discovery of the Barber piano sonata. What an awesome piece. Scott and Stanton will remember this scenario:

I'm plucking around on the piano in their office for a few moments then stop. All of a sudden, Scott says "well, that's annoying." A brief pause by me and I walk out, to the laughter of the office and the whole hallway, in the background Scott saying: "no, no! I wasn't talking about you...come back!" He was in fact remarking on how he couldn't find a recording of Barber Second Symphony on youtube. HILARIOUS.

Our first meeting as directors of "Threat Level Orange" or "Zilker Oad Project" (real name to be decided), with Lane and Stanton.

Beers at Crown and Anchor with the hilarious Josh Shank, Max, Paul Marbach, Stanton, Alex and Scott.

Finally, closed out the evening with a great performance of Beethoven's 7th and other works (including the fantastic solo work of Letitia Jap on Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole) by the UTSO.

Busy, fun-filled, sad, but great last day of school. CHEERS!!

ps...topped it off with my brilliant and patient wife Jac at home, watching the Lakers lose to the Mavs in game 3 of the NBA Playoffs Second Round (Mavs lead 3-0) and a little bit of Iron Chef America, battle Wreckfish.

My Defense was on Friday...

2011-04-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

And I passed!!! Which means, this blog is not for not, and I will actually graduate this year!

Sad News

2011-04-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

Daniel Catan, world-renowned composer of opera music and all-around nice guy, died last weekend in his sleep.

Prof. Catan was also a visiting professor at UT this semester, serving as both Composer-in-Residence with the Butler Opera Center (they performed "Rappaccini's Daughter" in February) and filling in for Yevgeniy while he is on sabbatical in New York.

Though I didn't get a chance to study with him, I was fortunate enough to have been present at several talks he gave in composition forum about writing for opera. Really nice man and a brilliant composer and gentleman.

Dissertation Complete?

2011-04-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

With the defense just days away, I just finished putting the final touches on the written document (bleh) and the orchestrations (double bleh).

Here's hoping that my Last Year doesn't go into its third year...

Violin Concerto Premiere

2011-04-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm now a few days removed from the premiere of the 2nd and 3rd movements (and cadenza) of the Violin Concerto and I'm still blown away by the amazing musicianship and hard work of the soloist and all the performers! Speechless, still.

Below is the video from the CLUTCH concert on April 6.

Just over a month...

2011-03-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Until my dissertation defense. I also realized that it's been almost a month since I last posted. Seriously, I thought it had only been a couple weeks.

March 1 - performance of MOVE with the UTUO was awesome (video to be posted soon)

March 6 -- birthday bash...great!

March 10-15 -- went home for a quick mini vacation to see the family and it was great.

March 14 -- the music for the concerto completed. (yay)

And yet another re-post of this awesome video:

D-Day

2011-02-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

It may not be as epic and important as storming the beaches of Normandy, but in my small, insignificant little musical world, the date is set.

Friday, April 22, 2-4pm. The dissertation will be defended.

Let's make it official

2011-02-20T09:37:00.001-08:00

My wonderful and brilliant wife, Jac, is the first Dr. in our house, as of Tuesday, February 15. Way to go, Dr. Wiggins-Camacho!!! (no, that was not meant to rhyme). Congratulations -- I'm terribly proud and almost as jealous of you!!!! ;)

Caption: I'm pretty sure I said something I wasn't supposed to say when I took this picture (hint: that's acid in the bottle she's shaking at me.)

You Can Always Count on Your Friends

2011-02-18T17:40:00.001-08:00

Holy Crap

2011-02-11T12:42:00.001-08:00

The Art of Rehearsal

2011-02-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I had the chance to lead the UT University Orchestra in rehearsals of my piece (M O V E for orchestra) and Shoshoni Peak by Steve Snowden, both to be performed on the March 1 concert.

I've been fortunate enough to have been on the faculty of the Sacramento Youth Symphony Chamber Music Workshop for the last 10 years. Between that gig and the numerous performances of new music in the last 4 years, I've had the chance to build up rehearsal experience.

The most important thing I've learned? Keep the big picture in mind the whole time and know how much to nit-pick and when. I use the following analogy to describe some bad rehearsal technique: someone trying to perfect the frosting and get it perfect -- before the cake is baked. So, it may not be perfect, but get as much out of the group at THAT rehearsal as you can. Be productive and LET THEM PLAY. Run the piece as much as you can. The more they do, the better. Don't focus on perfect phrasing if it's out of tune, or worse, not rhythmically correct. Don't work on the perfect entrance or the perfect dynamic until the piece makes sense to them.

It was the first full rehearsal of my piece and I only had 30 minutes with the full complement, but we were able to get through the piece...twice. I rehearsed just enough for them to get he picture and to know what they need to practice. Focused on tempo and repeated over and over "we'll fix those notes later," suggesting that 1) I trust them enough to fix their own mistakes outside of rehearsal and 2) that there are notes that need to be fixed. We ran the whole piece from start to finish at the end of the rehearsal and, of course, it wasn't perfect, but they got to hear the piece as a whole and get a better sense of how the piece flows, how the music all relates to each other, how all the parts fit, and most importantly, they get a chance to know what to work on. Nothing worse than "supervised individual practice as a group."

Anyways, not to say I've perfected my rehearsal technique...far from it. Still have got lots to learn. But at least it seems I'm on the right track...

So, to review...

1) Let them play and get a feel for the piece as a whole.
2) Goals for any given rehearsal should start broad and become more detailed as the rehearsal or subsequent rehearsals progress...a lot of things will get fixed on its own through repetition. If done properly, they won't "practice mistakes."
3) Focus on rhythm and articulation, dynamics, and intonation first and foremost. Phrasing, character, and some of the other more subtle things get better if the above four things (in order) are perfected.
4) Allow things to fix themselves (initially)...see "let them play" above.
5) Keep instructions clear, short, and sweet. Don't say "this should like an alpine mountain" when "it needs to be softer" or "more legato, less space in between each note" is clearer and to the point.
6) Don't say "good" unless it actually is good.
7) Congratulate and compliment when warranted.
8) Always be aware of the time and adjust rehearsal as necessary.
9) Don't be afraid to tell players that it didn't sound good (saves time and they often appreciate the professionalism of "it's behind" or "pitches are quite locking in...you're tending to be sharp or flat," etc.).
10) Keep the rehearsal interesting - don't focus on one group of instruments too much, involve all the players as much as you can, and KEEP THEM PLAYING! PLAY PLAY PLAY!!!

Super Bowl XLV Champions

2011-02-06T20:19:00.001-08:00

The Lombardi trophy is heading back to Green Bay. Congrats, Packers...and congratulations to Aaron Rodgers (who should've been losing with the 49ers!...)

M O V E for Orchestra Premiere

2011-02-05T07:16:00.001-08:00

Last night was a great success! The strings nailed the rhythms that were giving them a bit of trouble before and it went practically flawlessly (please excuse this terribly awkward sentence). The remainder of the program was absolutely fantastic, which included the rip-roaring Schumann Konzertstuck (featuring UT professor of horn, Patrick Hughes and 3 of his fabulous grad students), the beautiful Respighi Adagio con variazioni for cello and orchestra (which I'd never heard before, played wonderfully by recent UT grad, Liz Lee), and Strauss' epic Death and Transfiguration, complete with Superman theme.

I was stupid and didn't bring a video camera or take pictures and the recording is not yet ready, so instead I'll simply re-post one of my favorite youtube videos below.

Congratulations all around to Wes Schulz and the 2010 American Prize-winning Texas Chamber Group Orchestra!!

Who wants to live in Portland, anyway?

2011-02-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

I'm bummed a bit, but actually a little more baffled by the wording of this rejection letter. I understand what they're trying to say, but it's almost like that they're not sure why I don't have an interview...oh well.

Everyone's a critic

2011-01-31T13:39:00.001-08:00

Made the "mistake" of posting a simple, straight-forward and mostly sarcastic comment about how a flute solo is not appropriate when writing a piece about The Gates of Hell (after Rodin's sculpture).

Here was the ensuing facebook escapade:

Thanks for listening, Milton. RIP.

2011-01-30T07:47:00.000-08:00

It was funny to see all the RIP Milton Babbitt status updates on my composer and music friends' facebook profiles yesterday. Obviously not haha, but after all the negative things we may have said about the man's music, there was a definite sadness in everyone upon learning of his passing early Saturday morning. Nothing but respect and admiration for his contributions to music and, in particular, avant-garde music in the United States.

And that's how it should be.

Thanks for listening, Milton. RIP.

The AP Story here

Composer DOUBLE Fail

2011-01-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

In honor of my friend's blog, Jenn Jolley, who's series of Composer Fails (30 fails by the time she hits 30 yrs) is sheer self-deprecating genius, I've decided to post what she might consider a double fail.

One of the places that I applied for a job rejected me outright back in December...but to *make absolute sure* that I knew that I was no longer considered for the position, they sent me this via email about a week ago (to protect the innocent, the name of said school has been blotted out):

The letter seems straightforward and boring enough, so what's the big deal? On second thought, I came to the following conclusion -- The first rejection, especially coming after just under 2 weeks of submitting the application, basically said "you're sooooo not right for the job." This second letter adds to the first by saying also "We hate your face."

Sheesh. Why do I suddenly feel like Billy Madison in this scene?:

Really Have Gotten into this duo

2011-01-26T15:13:00.001-08:00

Pomplamoose (playing "Expiration Date")

(Hint: You've seen them in the rash of Hyundai Christmas Commercials that just aired)

First week of my last semester

2011-01-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

It's about time. I was starting to become the music grad school equivalent of this guy:

Except for everything that made that movie a raunchy flick. So instead of unlimited boos, sex, and drunken parties, replace with unlimited papers to grade, the need for boos, and late nights writing music and grading papers. Who'd watch that movie? (did I mention grading papers?)

Still need to get into a groove, but have now taught 2 of the orchestration courses for the semester. It's strange lecturing on something other than theory, but at least I know it already.

But...I still don't have my materials! CD, Textbook, and workbook still hasn't arrived, but finally will on Monday. Luckily, I was able to procure a textbook and things for the first week and create the syllabus with little trouble.

Ah, the joys of academia.

Here's to a great last semester in school. EVER.

The Feats of Incovenience Composers Go Through

2011-01-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

...for something that ultimately may not be chosen!

The Symphony in C has an annual competition for "young" composers (really meaning anyone under 30...shouldn't they increase this number to at least 35 or 40?). The due date was this past Saturday.

One concession: Naturally, most composers wait until the last minute to submit anything because, let's be honest...it's in our nature. I feel I've improved upon this over the last few years by "tricking" myself into doing something last minute by moving the date a few days earlier. This is more useful for writing music so that I don't lose that edge (I use this word loosely) the music has when forced to write on instincts. But for postmark dates and other mailings, it's just meant to overcome laziness/procrastination.

I meant to send out the package on Thursday (2 days before postmark), but completely forgot until Saturday (day of postmark) around noon.

Printed out 2 scores on legal size paper. No problem. But I didn't have legal size hard covers. Formatted them on 11x17 hardcovers then printed...so far, so good. A sample part needed to be made and I decided to try it out on 10x13 instead of my usual 11x14...still no problem. Just everything needed to be cut. Needed blank CDs...at school. Needed binding supplies...at school. So at about 3:30pm, around 90 minutes before the post office's last pickup, we headed into Austin.

Ran into traffic...duh. Got to school at 4:07. Made the CDs and bound the scores...but the paper cutter won't fit paper larger than 12 inches vertical. Whoops. Off to Kinkos. 4:30pm we get it cut but realized I left my bindings and pliers at school. Purchased some at kinkos for a buck (highway robbery). Cut everything and off to the post office.

5pm...we make it just in time, but I completely forgot to include an SASE. Dumb on my part. We drive out to the last pickup area (turns out to be the central Austin Post Office) before 8pm...finally get everything sorted. It's now 6pm.

It all gets in and postmarked on the correct day, but a lot of it has less to do with procrastination and just being dumb/bad luck on my part. Lesson learned? Not likely.

Haven't seen this in 10 years...

2011-01-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

George Lucas' inspiration for Star Wars...

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

If everything pans out, this will be the most epic of semesters.

First up: the premiere and then subsequent second performance of M O V E, by the brilliant Wes Schulz and Alejandro Guittierez, first with the Texas Chamber Group and then the University of Texas University Orchestra (UTUO).

Come see the premiere on February 3 at 7:30pm at Concordia University in Austin, Texas.

Home for the Holidays

2010-12-28T06:37:00.000-08:00

The semester ended relatively easily. No, seriously. I didn't get nearly as much completed this fall as I would have liked, but teaching was successful overall (and the students all seemed to have enjoyed my class, based on course surveys) and I did get almost 30 minutes of music completed and performed, with a bit more still underway.

But now, we're home, back in Davis, where it never fails to surprise me (or Jac, for that matter), how great it is to come back every time. Seeing family, friends, new babies, our growing nephews, our favorite places, favorite food. If you've been as lucky as we have been, growing up somewhere that in retrospect is not just good, but great, nothing can replace the nostalgia you get from driving down a street or going to a park or even shopping at a store and being able to remember when you were a lot younger and far less wiser. Love Austin and loved Boulder, don't get me wrong, but nothing beats that, at least not to us.

Christmas has past and was great, New Year's coming up and even though we're both dissertating, it's nice to be home.

Our First Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T17:54:00.000-08:00

Pictures coming soon, but our first Thanksgiving not back home in California was a blast.

The turkey was moist and there was plenty of food...and plenty of people. Even the esteemed Yevgeniy Sharlat made it out!

The only thing that could have gone better is if Texas had beaten A&M, but alas, the worst season in Mack's career as the Longhorns' head coach was capped off with a loss to dem Aggies. Oh, well.

I'm funded!!!

2010-11-13T13:15:00.001-08:00

For my last semester, the funding came through for me to teach Orchestration and Instrumentation at UT. Woo-hoo!!!

Now, if only I can find a job...

SI Cover of San Francisco Giants World Series Win

2010-11-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

The Giants Win the World Series!!!

2010-11-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

It's a great feeling to watch my team, the San Francisco Giants, beat a fantastic team like the Texas Rangers, against the best pitcher in the playoffs over the last two years, in a year where no one believed in the Giants.

No one believed they would win win a wild card spot let alone, ultimately, the NL West.

Many believed they wouldn't get out of the first round, which they won 3-1.

Most believed they had no shot against the pitching and hitting of the Phillies. They won 4-2.

No one thought they would beat the Rangers, the best hitting team in the league with a fantastic starting staff, led by the (seemingly) unhittable Cliff Lee. They win the series 4-1.

Congratulations, San Francisco. In a year where no one believed in you, it goes to show that the old adage of believing in yourself was more than enough to take to the end...with the help of of the fans! Even the most pessimistic of the fans believed in this team, the self-described ragtag band of misfits and castoffs. Great pitching, clutch hitting, and heart is all you need.

CLUTCH Premiere

2010-10-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

So it's almost 2 weeks removed from the premiere of a new piece for 2 sopranos and 9 players at our first CLUTCH New Music Series and I think it's far enough away from the performance for me to make a relatively solid opinion: I think I liked it.

I'll have a youtube video of the piece up eventually, both here and on the website.

Jac's Surprise Party

2010-10-16T21:02:00.001-07:00

Was a huge success. She had no idea that it was happening (especially since it was 2 weeks after her actual birthday). Many, many thanks to everyone who helped out, especially June and Bonnie for keeping her distracted and away from the house and Emily, Cari, and Jody for all the prep before the party.

A video of the actual surprise to come soon...

Greatest Conducting Video of All Time

2010-09-14T13:54:00.001-07:00

3 weeks into the semester...

2010-09-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

...and I'm only mildly drowning in work. But, keeping up just fine and still writing music.

Now to actually get substantive work on that dissertation.

Go Niners (please don't suck this week like you did on Sunday).

Really, really this time

2010-08-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

The beginning of my LAST YEAR AS A STUDENT.

I also realized that this was my 11th year starting school after high school. Eeep. It's like I'm a sophomore in high school all over again.

My reaction:

Golf

2010-08-21T12:35:00.001-07:00

Took my buddy Zack Stanton for some golf at Roy Kizer (btw, one of the best public courses I've been on) for his birthday on Tuesday...my score was a modest 109, but it should have been sub-100 (mid-90s) if it weren't for all the stupid 3 putts. But, at least I'm striking the ball better now...just got to sink those putts!

We'll be playing again on Wednesday at Riverside Golf Course with our other composer friend, Zack Wilson...who, btw, JUST started playing golf in May. Already a bogey golfer. It sickens me.

SYS-CMW Week II

2010-08-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

Second great week of SYS-CMW 2010. This year, we had guest composer (and good friend) Zack Stanton join us for the premiere of the work we commissioned, Ascend. On Monday, we sounded horrible. On Wednesday I sent them home with no dinner. On Thursday morning (Zack's first day in California and first time hearing us perform), I was somewhat annoyed and embarrassed because somehow we sounded even worse...by Thursday afternoon, with a little yelling and personal threats (PG-rated) from me and a run-through with faculty assisting, the piece actually started to sound good. By the first of three concerts, starting on Friday, I was thoroughly amazed at how good the orchestra sounded and it only got better from there. I hope Zack felt the same way!

Also special to the 21st year of the Sacramento Youth Symphony Chamber Music Workshop was the addition of 8 students from Jinan, China, as part of the Jinan-Sacramento exchange program. (forced me to learn a little Mandarin for rehearsals!)

The repertoire this year for the orchestra included Zack Stanton's Ascend, an arrangement of the "Prelude and Intermezzo" from Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, and Dvorak's Serenade for Strings. In addition, we had chamber group performances of string quartets, piano quintets, trios, and sextets by Brahms, Dvorak, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Strauss. A lot of repertoire for one week's worth of rehearsals!

Below, some pics from yet another great week.

Faculty lunch on Friday (last day of the workshop)

Little did I know they would impress me the next day!

The kids from Jinan China with their director and Susan.

After the Thursday evening performances (Brahms, Strauss, Mendelssohn)

With Visiting Guest Composer, Zack Stanton and Director, Susan Lamb Cook

And with the Jinan Director

With the assistant coaches!

With some of the senior participants...GREAT players!

A hodge-podge

The full workshop: 70 participants, 16 faculty coaches and assistant coaches

Brett Favre decides to retire...yet, again.

2010-08-04T08:37:00.001-07:00

Stay tuned over the next few days when he "surprisingly" comes out of retirement 20 million dollars richer with the Vikings.

Bottom line, with an uncapped year coming up, Favre's offer from the Vikings for a one year tender of $13 millions is not nearly as enticing as the $20 million he could from the Vikings when they realize there won't be a cap penalty for such a contract.

STAY. TUNED.

Wow: Epic Orchestra Fail

2010-07-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

4th Annual Prawn-a-Thon and the results are in...

2010-07-25T17:37:00.001-07:00

This year's contestants again are Ding How (former 2-time champion), Jade Garden (last year's champ), Wok of Flame, Hunan, and House of Chang. Ding How in my opinion was robbed last year and I went in confident that they would reclaim the title. But...

...the Honey Walnut Prawns winner this year is:

Jade Garden.

The new category this year was Broccoli Beef and the winner is:

Jade Garden.

WAIT one second though. It turned out a few days later that there was a mix-up in the pre-sorting of the boxes. What we thought was the Jade Garden purchase actually was the Ding How bag. So the rightful winner (back in its rightful place) this year is

DING HOW!!! Back on top.

SYS-CMW Week I

2010-07-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

SYS-CMW Week I came and went. As always, it was awesome! The prep kids I think were the best we've had since we started this program 5 years ago and we had yet another great group of mentors. For Westminster concert, we performed baroque concertos: Corelli Concerto in D Major for 2 violins (Claire Tatman and Ray Anthony Trujillo), Telemann Viola Concerto (Amber Dayton then Sarah Tatman), an arrangment of a Cello Sonata by Vivaldi (Youjin Ko then Matt Lineman)(, and the great Bach Concerto for 2 Violins (Ariana Fong and Nicole Hwang, Mutsuko Tatman and Claire Tatman, Ray Anthony and Me).

Below are some pics from the week (also, that Friday the Chinese kids from Jinan arrived at the BBQ, where we also made Ray Anthony promise to sing in front of the orchestra if he burned any of the burgers...which he did...but didn't follow through!)

Sad Day

2010-07-21T07:12:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry to say that the poor little abandoned kitten that we ended up adopting and Jac took such great care of passed away yesterday afternoon. He was only barely six weeks old, and all of us are pretty sure that his mother abandoned him because she knew he was sickly. But, the kitten, whom we named Yoda because of his flat ears, made the most of his short life making everyone happy around him who took care of him or simply met him (even me, who only got to see him for 2 hours before I left town and on video chat several times with Jac)...he even made poor Nigel think he was a mommy.

RIP Yoda Kitty, you will be missed by everyone who loved you, which was everyone who knew you.

Home for the Summer

2010-07-20T06:55:00.001-07:00

I'm back home in Davis for a chunk of the summer (shorter than usual) to visit family and to work at SYS-CMW 2010 (my 10th year!)

And some pics from Jac:

Whoa, haven't posted in a while...

2010-07-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well, let's see: July 4th was awesome as usual. Mostly Paulo's friends this year, but Foe, James, Aliotsy and his wife Hanan (above), Nikki, Foe's new girlfriend and me and Jac were there. Had a great time playing volleyball and tossing the football around a bit. Fireworks at Holmes Jr. High again.

GOAL!!!!!!!!

2010-06-23T15:22:00.001-07:00

USA wins Group C with an electrifying goal by Landon Donovan 1 minute into stoppage time against Algeria!

Full Story Here:

USA scored a dramatic injury-time winner in Pretoria to secure a 1-0 victory that sees them qualify for the Round of 16 as winners of Group C. It looked as if the USA would be going home early after they missed a number of openings with Algerian goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi in stubborn form.

USA were sitting in third place as the 90 minute-mark ticked by but everything changed in the blink of an eye as Landon Donovan led one last attack. Jozy Altidore squared the ball into the danger zone, where M'Bolhi beat it away, but Donovan was able to latch onto the loose ball and passed it into an empty net, before being submerged among a sea of white shirts. It was the least Bob Bradley's team deserved, having also had a Clint Dempsey effort disallowed for offside, struck a post and seen Jozy Altidore pass up a glorious opening. Frustration for Algeria was evident as captain Anther Yahia was sent off in the dying seconds for a second yellow card.

The African side, who also needed to win to give themselves a chance of going through, made the more positive start with Karim Matmour unleashing an attempt on goal in the opening seconds before Rafik Djebbour aimed a hooked shot against the crossbar. It was a decent attempt from the centre-forward, who took the ball on his chest, but the woodwork came to USA's rescue.

Djebbour tried again shortly after, from a wider angle, but his drive was always heading wide. The Americans answered in kind, with Clint Dempsey and Herculez Gomez - one of three changes in Bradley's line-up - failing to keep their efforts on target.

It was an open, entertaining tussle, reflecting both sides' need to win the game. Gradually, USA were beginning to dominate possession and create openings. In the 21st minute, they had the ball in the back of the net but their joy was quickly extinguished when Dempsey was ruled offside, as he applied the final touch after Gomez's shot was diverted to him.

That, at least, encouraged Bradley's team to think a breakthrough might not be far away, and they kept pouring forward. Donovan slid a lovely ball into Dempsey but Mbolhi did well to smother it. Two minutes later, the Americans were back to cause more panic in the Algeria penalty area. Bradley set up Donovan and when he couldn't turn it home the ball fell nicely for Jozy Altidore, but a heavy swing of his right boot sent the ball careering into the seats behind the goal.

For their part, the African side looked dangerous whenever Nadir Belhadj or Karim Ziani were on the ball. At the end of the first half, Ziani cut in from the left to position himself for the shot but was unable to keep it on target.

USA were cursing their luck again in the second half as Dempsey followed up after Altidore had made ground with a strong run. The Fulham forward shaped a bending shot with his right that came back off the post, then gathered the rebound, only to shoot wide with his left foot with the goalkeeper still scrambling into position.

Both sides had let-offs in the 68th minute. Mbolhi came to Algeria's rescue again, parrying a close-range header from substitute Edson Buddle before jumping on the loose ball. The Africans immediately went down the other end, where a decent scoring chance for Ziani went the wrong side of the upright. Chances kept coming at either end and it came down to Donovan to at last make one count.

Great Article from Chip Brown and Orangebloods.com

2010-06-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1094753

How the Big 12 came back to life

Chip Brown
Orangebloods.com Columnist

Talk about it in Inside the 40 Acres
The Big 12 was dead. Gone. No pulse.

The funerals were planned in Lubbock and Austin on Tuesday. And again in Norman and Stillwater on Wednesday. Texas A&M would show its last respects later in the week, when it pushed off for Birmingham, Ala., to pop corks with SEC commissioner Mike Slive.

Mack Brown and Texas were headed for the Pac-10 on Friday and were back in the Big 12 two days later.
The Big 12 was so dead, the surviving family - Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor - did things you only promise to a dead person. Things you probably don't ever expect to have to pay - like promising the $35 million to $40 million in buyout penalties from Nebraska and Colorado to Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

(Everyone wants to know how those three get to $20 million guaranteed in the new Big 12-Lite? That's how.)

But let's go back and revisit how a corpse not only regains a heartbeat but goes out and wins a 400-meter race in record time four days after receiving a toe tag.

Wednesday, June 9 - Orangebloods.com reports, according to a source close to the Nebraska Board of Regents, that the Cornhuskers are going to the Big Ten and will make a formal announcement two days later on Friday.

I'm driving home from a live remote radio show and call one of my sources at UT. I'm told president William Powers and athletic director DeLoss Dodds have gathered the coaches at UT and tell them, "We've done all we can to save the Big 12 but were unsuccessful."

A plan to join the Pac-16 is basically laid out.

Thursday, June 10 - The Pac-10 announces it is adding Colorado. Orangebloods.com reports that Nebraska will announce on Friday that it is headed to the Big Ten. And OB also reports that Texas A&M is seriously considering the Southeastern Conference and may be put on the clock to respond to its Pac-10 invitation.

This is the first time it's becoming apparent that Texas A&M might not play ball with the other Big 12 teams being invited to the Pac-10. But, according to top sources, Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne is basically assuring Texas that the Aggies will join Texas in the Pac-10. So Texas feels like the Aggies will come around.

Friday, June 11 - Nebraska bolts the Big 12 for the Big Ten and throws Missouri and Texas under the bus in the process. Colorado holds a press conference with Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott saying the Buffaloes are headed west.

Sources would later say Colorado panicked at this point because the Buffaloes thought they needed to act more quickly than the others because Baylor might be moving in on their invitation to the Pac-10. (Now, Colorado owes $15 million in buyout penalties to the Big 12 that it can't afford.)

Texas schedules a regents meeting for Tuesday at 11 a.m. This meeting is to announce that the Longhorns are going to the Pac-10. Texas Tech officials post a regents meeting for Tuesday as well. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State post regents meetings for Wednesday. All with the expectation of announcing they are heading west to the Pac-10.

Orangebloods.com reports that all four schools (Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and OU) have confirmed they are heading to the Pac-10 with announcements due after the weekend.

Saturday, June 12 - The focus shifts to College Station. Mike Slive, the Southeastern Conference commissioner, is in College Station to visit with A&M officials. But A&M athletic director Bill Byrne is nowhere to be found. He's at a family reunion in Idaho.

Suddenly Texas' best source for information from A&M is in doubt. How connected is he to the situation?

According to two of the best sources for Orangebloods.com throughout the Big 12 Missile Crisis, Texas A&M has a vote of at least 6-3 to go to the SEC, and we report that.

Other sources around the Big 12 are starting to say Texas A&M is waiting for Texas to hang itself at the press conference on Tuesday before the Aggies announce their departure for the SEC.

Athletic director DeLoss Dodds and UT women's athletic director Chris Plonsky smell the rat: Texas is going to get blamed for breaking up the Big 12 AND for ripping up the 100-year rivalry with Texas A&M. The Aggies aren't going to the Pac-10. The Aggies aren't budging.

A shot of the president's box at the Texas-TCU NCAA Super Regional baseball game on Saturday tells it all. There was Powers, a Cal graduate who had convinced the Texas Board of Regents the Pac-10 was the right move for academic and athletic reasons, had Plonsky over his left shoulder, leaning into his ear. Dodds was casual and calm with Mack Brown to Dodds' left.

I would joke with Brown on Tuesday that there had to be more going on in that picture than watching baseball. Mack Brown smiled and said, "Nope, just cheering on Texas to beat TCU."

Meanwhile, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State's presidents and athletic directors meet with Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott in Oklahoma City.

Texas A&M AD Bill Byrne was at a family reunion in Idaho when SEC commissioner Mike Slive was in College Station on Saturday.
Sunday, June 13 - Texas is starting to get the sense A&M is not turning back from the SEC. That any information it got from Byrne is useless at this point, according to sources. Gene Stallings, A&M System chancellor Mike McKinney and other A&M regents led by Morris Foster, a former ExxonMobil executive, are leading the Aggies toward the SEC.

The notion of separating from Texas is starting to feel invigorating to the Aggie power brokers. Foster likes the idea of A&M being the top research insitution in the SEC. Stallings wants A&M football to connect with history shared by Alabama (Bear Bryant coaching at A&M before winning six national titles at Bama).

And McKinney is ready to collect the paychecks of at least $17.4 million to help get the Ags out of the $16 million hole the athletic department is in.

With the Big 12's obituary seemingly imminent, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe secures assurances from ABC/ESPN that it will honor its current contract with the Big 12 through 2016 even if the league is 10 members and without a conference championship game. Meaning, all of Colorado's and Nebraska's share of the TV revenue as well as the money from the championship game would now be divided between the 10 schools.

The five schools who appeared to be the pall bearers for the Big 12 - Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor - make a commitment to hand over their share of the $35 million to $40 million in penalties to be paid by Nebraska and Colorado to Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

Now, those three schools are guaranteed to start making $20 million immediately. No waiting. No fuss no muss - $20 million.

That number is better than the payout of the SEC ($17.4 million) for Texas A&M. It also is better than the Pac-10, which initially sold the Big 12 schools on a number of $20 million starting in 2012, but later said it might take a year or two to scale to $20 million, according to sources. The initial number might be closer to $17 million in 2012 and $20 million by 2013 or 2014. So suddenly Texas is better off by $3 million with no waiting.

Larry Scott and Pac-10 chief operating officer Kevin Weiberg fly from Oklahoma City to College Station Sunday morning. A meeting between Scott, Weiberg and A&M president R. Bowen Loftin and a couple regents is short and not so sweet. Texas A&M tells the Pac-10 officials they are not ready to accept an invitation. The Pac-10, which is actively falling in love with Kansas, takes this as a refused invitation.

Scott and Weiberg fly from College Station to Lubbock and are met with a king's welcome. If Tech's board of regents could have accepted a bid to the Pac-10 right then and there, they would have. Scott and Weiberg leave Lubbock feeling like they've got Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Tech. All they need now is Texas, and they can figure out the rest (sub Kansas for Texas A&M).

But by the time Scott and Weiberg get to Austin on Sunday night, DeLoss Dodds and Chris Plonsky are already feeling queasy about everything, according to sources.

Dodds and Plonsky are already anticipating that Texas is going to get blamed for ripping up the Big 12, for tearing apart the rivalry with Texas A&M and for agreeing to a deal with the Pac-10 that is not as financially sound as the one now facing them thanks to Dan Beebe's hustling of ABC/ESPN and the generostiy of the Desperate Five in the Big 12 (Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor).

Texas knows with the $20 million guarantee and the ability to launch its own network in the Big 12, the Longhorns could be pulling in between $23 million and $25 million in no time. They'd be the richest school in the BCS in terms of TV revenue. And that total could scale if the Longhorn Network was a success and surpassed its consultants early projections of $3 million to $5 million per year.

And Scott and Weiberg made one critical mistake in the courtship of the Big 12. Other than its somewhat foggy math that a 16-team Pac-10 could readily get to $20 million in TV revenue per school, they wanted to substitute Kansas for Oklahoma State late in the process, according to multiple sources in the Big 12.

Texas was really starting to feel queasy now, sources said. UT officials knew deep down Texas A&M wasn't coming to the Pac-10, despite Bill Byrne's assurances, according to sources. And now Scott and Weiberg were looking to dump Oklahoma State in favor of Kansas. If A&M was a no-show, the Pac-10 would add Utah. Scott was looking to add new TV markets, not stick to the deal that was agreed upon a few days earlier.

According to sources who talked to me Tuesday (two days after the fact), Dodds and Plonsky couldn't stop thinking about all the negatives. And now they were dealing with a wheeler-dealer Pac-10 commissioner who wanted to sub out Boone Pickens' Cowboys for the chance to grab new households in Kansas, Missouri and middle America.

Dodds had given Oklahoma State his word they would be part of the group headed west. Now, the Pac-10 wanted to do some late rearranging. Dodds didn't feel good about it, sources said Tuesday. Now, Dodds and Plonsky had to convince Powers that the Beebe Plan was the best plan.

Powers had convinced the board of regents the Pac-10 was the answer if Nebraska came out of the league, according to the sources who talked on Tuesday.

(Powers had such a strong relationship with Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman that in his mind the conference was toast without Nebraska in the league.)

I made routine calls to my sources across the Big 12 Sunday night and got one response at 10:40 p.m. CT in a text message that said, "Texas may be changing course. Look into it."

When Texas A&M didn't waver from the SEC, DeLoss Dodds helped steer UT back to the Big 12 table.
I tried to reach more sources. But it was late. I couldn't sleep at all that night. I just kept scanning other media outlets' web sites to see if they had the news. Nothing. I still couldn't sleep. I fell asleep for a couple hours - from about 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. CT - on the couch in my kids' play room. I took over that room the previous two weeks because it has a TV in it, and I needed a place where I could work and keep one eye on my laptop and one eye on ESPN News.

Monday, June 14 - How early is too early to call a source?

In this case, it's never too early. I was carpet-bombing every source I had in the story thus far to find out if Texas was changing course.

At 8 a.m., another top source in this story told me Texas was not only changing course, it was almost ready to commit to a remodeled Big 12.

Bingo.

I cobbled a story together about how Texas had gone from nearly being signed, sealed, delivered to the West Coast to racing back to the Big 12 dinner table to see if there was any food.

I popped my story on Orangebloods.com at 8:36 a.m. and began Twittering furiously to draw attention to it. I got up to run to Starbucks for an iced, venti, Chai latte and by the time I got back home, Joe Schad of ESPN was saying in a story on ESPN.com and on television that Beebe's plan had "zero" chance for survival, according to four sources.

Gulp.

I knew ABC/ESPN was involved in the Beebe Plan. So my immediate thought was Schad knew something I didn't because he had walked down the hall in Bristol and talked to some TV executive. What if The Worldwide Leader had pulled its assurances off the table? Did Schad learn ABC/ESPN had pulled the rug out from under the Beebe plan?

I started texting my sources immediately, wondering if even they knew about some new wrinkle to the story. Then, I got a text back saying, "No worries. The train is still on the tracks."

I Twittered to my now 12,000 followers, "I'm not backing off my story."

And then all the other texts and calls I'd sent out started responding. Texas A&M was at the table and seemingly on board. So was OU. I already knew the Desperate Five were on board. And I knew Texas Tech and Oklahoma State weren't going to do anything without Texas, OU and Texas A&M.

(Although Texas Tech's regents put that to the test on Tuesday, waiting to agree to the Huck Finn blood oath to be a happy camper in the Big 12-Lite until about 3:30 p.m. CT).

All my sources started weighing in, saying the deal to rescue the Big 12-Lite was almost done. By 4 p.m. CT, I had confirmation from all my top sources the deal was done. Then, a regents meeting scheduled for Tuesday was canceled in favor of a press conference at Texas at 10 a.m. CT. A teleconference with Beebe was scheduled for 11 a.m. CT.

Tuesday, June 15 - We learn from the Texas and Beebe media conferences and some more reporting from sources that ABC/ESPN basically protected its investments and held off college realignment by allowing the 10 schools in the Big 12 to keep all the money ABC/ESPN agreed to pay the league through 2016 when it had 12 members and a conference championship game.

Why would ABC/ESPN agree to such a bad deal? I'm convinced because it didn't want to see Texas and Oklahoma disappear to the Pac-16 conference network likely to be run by Fox. ABC/ESPN, in my opinion, also saw the possibility of realignment coming if the Big 12 fell apart, and that could have led to remodeling the SEC and ACC, conferences in which ABC/ESPN has more than $4 billion tied up in TV contracts.

If the SEC expands by four or the ACC gets picked apart and then remodeled in some merger with the Big East, ABC/ESPN likely has to renegotiate those deals, possibly for more than the $4 billion it had already committed.

So why not just honor the deal it had struck with the Big 12 despite losing two teams and a conference championship game? By comparison it was a relative pittance to keep Texas and Oklahoma away from Fox and protect its investments in the SEC and ACC.

Texas became the first to blink, backing away from its Pac-10 invitation and reaching out to Texas A&M at the bargaining table. Credit both the Aggies and the Longhorns for realizing the time wasn't right to break up a 100-year rivalry that even includes mentions of each school in the other's fight song.

In the end, the Big 12 is not a better football league than it was less than a week ago. It's a better basketball league (an 18-game conference schedule means Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri now play Texas and A&M home and home).

But the principals in the deal walk away feeling better about the knowns than what seemed like some elusive answers about the unknowns.

THE WINNERS:

TEXAS A&M - Aggies' athletics are $16 million in debt and are one big dysfunctional family (How else do you explain Bill Byrne at a family reunion in Idaho when the Ags are contemplating their most important moment in the last 100 years?).

Say what you want about Gene Stallings and A&M system chancellor Mike McKinney zeroing in on the SEC, they didn't waver, and it finally got to Texas.

As UT officials began having doubts about the Pac-10 deal, the Longhorns didn't want to be seen as the drivers in ripping apart the Big 12 and a 100-year rivalry with the Aggies.

UT officials ultimately blinked first and said they'd go back to the table for the Beebe Plan if A&M would. The Aggies did and walked away with $20 million guaranteed - the same as Texas and OU - because it had a real suitor. Not bad for a destitute, non-performing football program for most of the past decade.

ABC/ESPN - On its face, it looks like the Worldwide Leader is getting taken to the cleaners by continuing to pay the Big 12 for the next seven years as if it's a 12-member league with a conference championship game (even though it's a 10-member league with no title game).

But ABC/ESPN isn't out any more money, and it protected its interest in several areas (UT and OU don't go to Fox as part of the Pac-16 conference network; the SEC and ACC likely don't expand; Notre Dame remains an independent; and college realignment is averted for at least seven more years.)

DAN BEEBE - Put in a bad spot from the beginning as Big 12 commissioner because he inherited staggered TV contracts (the cable deal with Fox expires in 2012, while its network deal with ABC/ESPN expires in 2016), Beebe went to ABC/ESPN, asked them to honor a bad contract and got a dysfunctional family back to the table.

That's not easy. Think of all the rancor in this league (starting with Missouri's open flirtation with the Big Ten, which launched the "instability" in the league a year ago). And now think of the money pouring into a league with no championship game and only 10 members (or only 2 members depending on your count - Texas and OU. Come on Tech, A&M and anyone from the old Big 12 North).

Beebe came up with the Beebe Plan, and it saved a league that was always the most likely candidate to get picked apart and possibly trigger realignment. This was no easy sales job, considering all the conversations between his member schools and other conferences. Dan Beebe comes out a huge winner in this.

TEXAS - The Longhorns walked away from a deal with the Pac-10 they were losing confidence in; preserved their 100-year rivalry with A&M; AND walk away with the chance to make between $23 million and $25 million in TV revenue thanks to its own network (and maybe more).

And don't forget the easier path to a national title game (without a conference title game).

THE DESPERATE FIVE - The decision by Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor to pool their share of the Nebraska/Colorado penalty money ($35 million to $40 million) and give it to OU, Texas A&M and Texas costs these five in the short-term. But it worked. They helped save the conference, and now they are going to earn between $14 million and $17 million each going forward.

THE LOSERS

COLORADO - The Buffaloes can spin this any way they want, but they effectively gambled and lost. They got out ahead of the posse on Friday, hoping to cut off Baylor from trying to wrangle its invitation to the Pac-10, according to sources. The Buffs believed Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech were unshakable to the Pac-10, thus anticipating the Big 12 would crumble, so there would be no one left to collect the Buffs' buyout penalties. Now, there are 10 schools gladly waiting to line their pockets with $15 million the Buffs' can't afford to pay. (CU couldn't afford to pay Dan Hawkins' $3 million buyout last year. Gulp.)

THE FANS - Fans of the Big 12 lose one of the great, tradition-laden programs in the history of college football (Nebraska), and they will lose a conference championship game at Jerryworld in the near future. Fans with ties to most of the Big 12 South also miss out on road trips to Scottsdale, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene and Seattle in favor of trips to Ames, Iowa; Manhattan, Kan.; and Columbia, Mo. OK, I'll stop now while I'm behind ...

TEXAS TECH - The Red Raiders probably have a legit gripe about not being included in the payout from the Desperate Five. After all, Tech has been in the Top Two in the last two years, while Texas A&M has been sucking wind for most of the past decade. So the thought of Tech making $14 million to $17 million when Texas A&M is poised to rake in $20 million has to burn like acid reflux.

The Tech regents wanted to make the rest of the Big 12-Lite feel their pain, so they didn't agree to sign the Huck Finn blood oath to be a happy camper in the Big 12 on Sunday, opting to make everyone wait until 3 p.m. on Monday. Tommy Tuberville will have a winner on the field soon, so the Red Raiders will pop some Tums and get over this ... eventually.

Orangebloods.com broke the story about the Pac-10 possibly raiding half the Big 12 on June 3. The next 12 days threatened to change the direction of college athletics forever. Against maybe all odds, the Big 12 Missile Crisis ended with diverging forces standing down.

If Texas A&M decided to go with Texas to the Pac-10, we might have had complete upheaval and the beginning of massive college realignment, resulting in four, 16-team mega conferences. As it stands now, realignment appears to have been averted for at least the next seven years (until the ABC/ESPN contract expires).

For now, these will live on as the 12 days that could have changed the course of college athletics ... but didn't.

Big "12" Blow-Up...or not...

2010-06-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

The following question was posed on ESPN yesterday and I thought I would put in my two cents: Was the move by Texas to stay in the Big “12” Smart or Dumb?

For The University of Texas, it was a very, very smart move, from both the business and athletic side of things. Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe convinced President Bill Powers and the Longhorn powers-that-be that they could double their yearly television revenue to over $19 million per year, plus an additional $3-5 million if they started their own network, something they wouldn’t have been able to do in the Pac-16.

The biggie: ABC/ESPN helped to solidify the deal by guaranteeing the money from the remainder of the current contract expiring in 2016. In other words, they’ll still receive the money that was originally divvied up between 12 schools plus the cash from the now defunct Big 12 Championship game. They didn’t want to see Texas and Oklahoma go to the Pac-10 where Fox held the rights to the Pac-10 TV viewership. ABC/ESPN didn’t want to lose Texas and Oklahoma so they agreed to Dan Beebe’s proposal (which on paper looks terrible business-wise for the network). Perhaps the upholding of the 2016 contract was the real key in all the chaos.

The perception of Texas as a national powerhouse school has been further solidified by this whole ordeal. Think about it: the fact that it seemed that Texas “controlled” the fates of Oklahoma (another powerhouse), Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Colorado (who remains in the Pac-10) goes to show how much clout The University of Texas carries. That the other 5 schools were willing to follow Texas anywhere and the Pac-10 was more than happy to accommodate says a lot.

And though reports from Orangebloods.com/Chip Brown (who just made a career for himself on the national stage) said that Texas A&M threatening to defect to the SEC had a hand in killing the Pac-16, it should be noted that if Dan Beebe couldn’t come up with the money (again note the ABC/ESPN deal through 2016), Texas probably would have eventually bolted for the more lucrative Pac-10 and its markets. Sure, maybe A&M would have stubbornly and naively left for the SEC, but there’s no reason the rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M couldn’t have continued. It didn’t hurt OU when they were in the Big 8 for the first 60 years or so of the Texas/OU rivalry. I think if Texas had called A&M on their bluff, they would have come to their senses and joined Texas in the Pac-16 anyway, knowing they wouldn’t be able to compete with the SEC on the field and with Pac-16 and SEC recruiting-wise. But alas, we’ll never really know.

In terms of Football recruiting, this was also a win for Texas. They already carry a lot of weight in the state of Texas and keeping things close to home (and now even closer without Colorado and Nebraska) helps immensely in recruiting Texas kids with parents who want to see their kid play at home and away, something that would have been harder on trips to Washington or Oregon.

Texas has also pretty much guaranteed themselves a shot at the BCS Championship year-in and year-out. On consistent basis with the program Texas has already established, the only game they really will have to worry about in any given year will be the OU/Texas game in Dallas. That’s it. No more worries of a Big 12 Conference Championship game (which none of the coaches, including Mack Brown and Bob Stoops liked anyway), just a 9 game round robin in conference and cupcake out-of-conference games, with the occasional high-stakes out-of-conference game like Ohio State a few years back.

However, as a college football fan, I would have to believe that we lost. Big. Now we don’t get the excitement of seeing Texas continue to play not only Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M, but also USC, UCLA, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State and rising programs in Washington and Arizona. SEC fans will continue to call the Big 12 soft and deservedly so: just compare the two conferences. The Pac-16 would have provided for consistent exciting games throughout the season, much like the SEC.

I also think the formation of the Pac-16 would have prompted the formation of a few more super conferences. Perhaps the ACC would have poached Big East powerhouses Cincinnati and West Virgina along with improving teams like Pitt and UConn to form their own super-conferences, possibly even adding defunct-Big 12 teams or (gasp) Notre Dame. The formation of super-conferences would have prompted a hastening to something that most fans want to see: a college football playoff or at least a plus-one game. Bigger conferences with a multitude of good teams creates the greater likelihood of one or two-loss teams (see 3 of the last 4 SEC teams winning the BCS Championship). If conferences such as the Mountain West and WAC continue to push undefeated teams not making it to the championship game, how long would it be before the uproar reaches Horseshoe-like decibel levels if the BCS games features two one-loss teams from bigger conferences?

Bottom-line, Texas as a business came out on top, along with the rest of the Big 12. Utah came out a winner as well, since they’re taking up the 12th opening in the new Pac-12. The only real losers are Boise State—who are only slightly better off after joining the Mountain West now that Utah is bolting—and the fans. Who knows, though…Dan Beebe may have only been able to delay the inevitable and Pac-10 Commish Larry Scott (who, by the way, is only in his first year at the helm) looks like a genius for even being able to almost create conference chaos.

As a fan, 2016 can’t come soon enough.

The Scrippsies Visit!

2010-06-14T15:11:00.001-07:00

We had a great time having most of our best friends from college come and hang out for the weekend...here are a few photos of the trip and one very strange video.

Waiting for the Kayaks and wondering if this was a good idea (it was fun, but our arms hurt
for a while afterwards)

Marshmallows over the open...gas stove?

Hats in San Antonio...

This is ridiculous!

2010-06-11T22:52:00.001-07:00

Nigel vs. the Cats

2010-06-11T02:13:00.001-07:00

Staring contest between Nigel and one of the neighborhood cats (notice also the kittens in the background).

I think Nigel won.

Bingo

2010-05-31T08:06:00.001-07:00

I think this perfectly sums up what LOST was all about.

LOST Finale and Happy Anniversary

2010-05-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

LOST finally comes to an almost painstakingly long conclusion tonight on ABC. What becomes of the Island? Will they defeat Smock? Is Ben a bad guy again? What happens with the alternate reality LOST folks?

Below is a link to one of my favorite youtube videos about LOST presented by probably my favorite actor/character on LOST, Jorge Garcia (aka Hurley/Hugo). As of today, this link still works for "Top Ten Signs You're Obsessed with LOST.

And also:

In other news, it's my parents' 29th anniversary today. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

BTW

2010-05-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

I'm funded next fall and optimistically, next spring as well. And yes, this truly will be my last year as a student. Like, for real this time.

So my brother graduated today (or rather, yesterday)

2010-05-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

Yet another Camacho with an arts/letters master's degree. Hooray beer!

That's him next to my finger.

Why Does Everyone Ignore Tempo Markings?

2010-05-14T15:10:00.001-07:00

I've going through this year's rep for SYS-CMW and it seems that no one wants to believe the composer and their marking. Should there be some flexibility with regard to rubato within a tempo? Sure! If it's 60 instead of 62 or 58 is that a big deal? Not really. But to go dotted half-note at 56 when marked 70 is too big of a difference, especially in a waltz!

In the scherzo movement, there are egregious tempo modifications where the composer hasn't indicated any. What should feel like an exciting fast movement throughout feels split unnecessarily into several sections that sound much slower than simply "taking a little more time for lyrical sections."

But when it's marked dotted half-note equals 52, please don't take it at 40. Or if a valse feels more like a slow minuet, you lose the feeling of the piece. It clearly reads 70 to the dotted half, but most conductors will take it closer to 56! Unbelievable! Too many conductors I've found in the scherzo movement of the Dvorak take the coda several clicks under tempo when there is no marking for such a drastic change. A reading of tranquillo doesn't justify taking the tempo from quarter equals 132 to roughly quarter equals 84!

Had to get that off my chest...I guarantee you I will be taking the tempi as marked.

So...got a new Mac

2010-05-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

My ol' faithful Dell laptop was beginning to do weird things and error messages kept popping up saying "error 28800440583133.dll: I'm too old for this" and instead of waiting for it to just die at the worst time possible, I went ahead and upgraded. Only way to run Cubase and Sibelius 6...if I never needed to upgrade, I think I would be able to use my Dell forever.

To be a Band Composer

2010-04-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

This used to be insulting, but now it's far from it (at least in my opinion).

Point of fact:

John Adams, probably today's most performed living composer, had 50 total performances of all of his orchestral works. John Mackey, a fast-rising young composer had 70 performances that same year...for one band piece.

Great wind bands will sound just as good if not better than their orchestral counterparts at the same school.

Average hours spent on a new orchestral work by a professional orchestra: 2 hours (at best). Hours spent on a new band work: 15 or more. (These are just estimates, but the point is a wind ensemble will actually carefully rehearse a work by a contemporary composer).

The wind band repertoire is starving for new music.

The wind band is not the snob orchestras can be about music. Or at least the expectations for a wind ensemble work is not nearly as snobby as it is for orchestral music.

Bottom line, I don't think we should stop writing orchestral music, but I do think the wind ensemble is still highly underrated. And can sound GREAT.

Congrats to Jennifer Higdon

2010-04-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

For winning the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for her Violin Concerto, with probably my favorite violinist currently, Hilary Hahn, as soloist!!

Higdon Wins 2010 Pulitzer Prize

I QUIT SCHOOL

2010-04-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

Marched right over to the Graduate Office and told them "I've had enough" and submitted my official request to withdraw form.

Oh, well, 11 years post-high school education down the drain, but man do I feel free.

Now I wonder what I'll do next...

Forgot to post this...my First Par!

2010-03-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

It's the one that's circled. It says 4, I promise (and it was a par 4...you ever seen a par 3 270???)

GAMMA-UT 2010!

2010-03-28T07:34:00.001-07:00

Was a resounding success! Great presentations from our guests and our Keynote Speaker, Suzanne Cusick.

Wonderful night of music by our guest composers, Ben Taylor, Ian Munro, Elliott Bark, Ross Griffey, Clint Needham, Stefan Cadra and (our local) Ian Dicke!

For the details of what went on, click here (until 2011):

http://gammaut.music.utexas.edu/GAMMAUT/GAMMA-UT.html

The Truth About Graduate School

2010-03-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

Nigel and his remote

2010-03-19T09:48:00.001-07:00

Best text of the day:

2010-03-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

"Happy Birthday Hermes! All of us at Dental Health of Boulder wish you a happy birthday. DO NOT REPLY"

As promised...

2010-03-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

...the video from the CLUTCH Concert on February 22.

Jim from Cautionary Tales for Children, music by Steve Snowden

Jim, Who ran away from his Nurse, and was eaten by a Lion from Steven Snowden on Vimeo.

Last Monday's CLUTCH Concert

2010-03-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Concert went off really well, which is great since we had a nice crop of prospective MM and DMA composers visiting that day.

I helped Steve Snowden out a bit by conducting through the first of several Cautionary Tales for Children..."Jim, who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a lion." What great piece and Steve himself sang the baritone part. Visit stevensnowden.com to check out the audio recording and video.

In the words of Ian Dicke, venerable composer and good friend, "I was proud of UT (that night)." Great showing all around...job well done!!!

Recent House Pics

2010-02-20T12:51:00.001-08:00

Well, we had the Super Bowl party almost two weeks ago and we were able to get a good chunk of the house completed. Here are some recent pics of the kitchen and the living room. Still a ways to go, but we've done a lot in barely 6 weeks!

New Stove:

New Microwave over the stove:

New Dishwasher:

View of kitchen thus far:

Fireplace/living room with our painted red wall (and of course, the giraffe in the center)

Barely a week into the new semester...

2010-01-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

...and everything feels strangely odd. Must be the realization that I'm getting closer to graduating and the real world.

Or maybe it's just the cedar pollen.

Oh, and it turns out I have asthma again. Go figure.

Texas vs. Alabama

2010-01-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

Now that I've had a few days to get over the disappointing loss, I thought I would make a few logical and objective comments and observations regarding the 2010 National Championship game.

First, all credit to Alabama. The woulda/coulda/shoulda game goes both ways, but it's difficult to imagine that Alabama would have come out that dead-legged in the second half if the lead were much less than 18 points. It's clear that Saban decided to play it more conservatively and just eat some clock in the 3rd quarter, which contributed in part to Texas' comeback. I'm not so sure Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll, Les Miles, or Mack Brown would have necessarily done the same, but we'll never know.

Second, Alabama's National Championship is not tainted. As much as I would like to think that it is in part because Texas lost it's star quarterback, the center of the offense and emotional leader, Alabama made the plays on defense when needed. Despite not having more than one sack the entire game, that sack ended Texas' comeback with 3:07 left in the game. They swarmed Garrett Gilbert and DJ Monroe into coughing off the normally safe shuttle pass and turned their 300 pound d-lineman into the biggest running back in college football, if only for a few seconds, shedding the poor Gilbert and a lineman trying to make a low tackle.

Third, Texas has a lot to look forward to next year. A lot.
-- Texas' incoming recruiting class is again tops in the nation and though they're losing Sergio Kindle, Lamarr Houston, and Roderick Muckelroy, Mack has commitments from the top linebacker and defensive tackle prospects in the nation. And with Pete Carroll leaving USC, already a small number of top-flight recruits are de-committing, a few notable were heavily recruited by Texas.
-- DJ Monroe, Malcolm Williams, Marquise Goodwin and others will be back and there are several, ridiculously athletic players red-shirting this year who will be playing next season.
-- Finally, Garrett Gilbert. A true freshman with only 26 snaps in garbage duty before the national championship grew-up right before the eyes of the whole country. He almost went down in college football history as the true freshman who hadn't started (and by the way, didn't start the NC game, either) that led Texas to an improbable comeback over a vaunted and favored Alabama defense. First game jitters, Red River Rivalry, and big away games probably won't affect Gilbert in the way last Thursday's game did. He'll shake it off and say "you want nervous, try filling in for a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist 5 plays into the National Championship against Nick Saban. And some big scary players. This ain't nothin'."

Fourth, I don't want to hear SEC fans chanting dominance, at least not this year. The final score was 37-21. 6 of those points came when the game was basically in hand with less than 2 minutes left. Another 7 came after the sack on Gilbert put the ball on the 3 yard line with the best running back in the country carrying the rock. Bama allowed 15 unanswered points to a true freshman quarterback who hadn't taken any meaningful snaps all season and to a group of wide receivers dropping balls left and right. Colt McCoy came out of the game 5 plays into the game and the Bama quarterback had a less than stellar outing, completing only two passes to receivers. (Here's a stat for you: Colt McCoy's QB rating for the game: 137.80. Greg McElroy's: 98.80. Go figure). Bama made the plays, but they were no way dominant. Not that night, not against Texas.

Fifth, I'm tired of hearing fans of schools in the SEC who haven't won a BCS bowl game chanting in favor of the SEC and wearing the SEC patch with pride. So if you're not a fan of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, or LSU, guess what: you're team has not contributed to the SEC's dominance in the BCS. Sorry, that's a fact. Still think it's odd SEC fans root for other SEC teams. Could you ever imagine Ohio State rooting for Michigan? Or UNC rooting for Duke? Or UCLA rooting for USC? Stanford for Cal? Eagles for the Cowboys? Giants for the Eagles? Seems odd to me.

Finally, the bottom line is that Alabama won and Texas lost. McCoy was out, but Gilbert played well enough and had some key balls dropped in endzones or lost for fumbles. Imagine if Malcolm Wiliams had caught the ball in the endzone or if Kirkendoll wasn't caught in an illegal formation early in the game or Monroe (or Mack Brown) hadn't botched the shuffle-pass near the end of the first half. The way the defense was playing, it could have just as easily been 17-14 at the half instead of 24-6. What a different game that would have been. But again, it could be said that Bama would have played harder and meaner in the 3rd quarter and Texas may have ended up losing 45 - 17. Add to it that Texas finally realizes in the worst possible way why a running game is so important. If Texas were able to run the ball, a lot less pressure would have been put on the shoulders of a true freshman quarterback. Who knows. Nobody really will. And it is somewhat assuring in some strange way to know that a lot of the nation thought Colt would have made a difference and that losing him that early in the game, win or loss, ruined the Championship game for them. The best players weren't all out on the field that day. And if there was one player that Texas couldn't afford to lose, it was Colt McCoy. Would have felt the same way if Bama had lost McElroy. Or if Florida had lost Tebow. You saw what happened when Sam Bradford went down. You can't lost your signal caller. And I don't want to hear the argument that they don't play on defense. That doesn't matter. The defense is only as good as their offense and vice versa. I defense can't score all your points (save for maybe the 2000 Baltimore Ravens) and your offense can only score so much until the defense needs to make a stop.

Bama lost Mark Ingram for a long while, but last I checked, he scored the game-sealing touchdown and they still rushed over 200 yards against a good Texas run defense. Oh, and that Trent Richardson is a pretty good back, too!

Fans of the Longhorns should hold their head up and take pride in knowing that despite everything, they held their own. Texas fought continued to fight hard and didn't give up but just came up a couple plays short of a miracle.

The Alabama Crimson Tide made all the plays they needed.

Happy Belated New Year!!

2010-01-06T12:28:00.001-08:00

Things have been way too busy since we got back on the 29th. We've been moving in to the house slowly and making all the improvements we said we would make (fixtures mostly). I have to say it makes a big difference how much nicer a place looks with updated door knobs, lights, and other fixtures.

Oh, by the way...

2009-12-24T17:50:00.003-08:00

...we closed on the house!!! It's officially ours, as of December 18!!!

Found an old picture of Nigel

2009-12-24T16:58:00.000-08:00

The day we brought him home.

Here he is now:

What the heck happened??

It's nice to be home for Christmas

2009-12-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Chillin with the fam, good friends, and northern California winter!

Texas is in!

2009-12-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

Texas squeaked by with probably the worst win I've seen in a long time versus Nebraska, to play Alabama in the BCS National Championship at the Rose Bowl on January 7.

My general thoughts: I hope that everyone lauds and praises the greatness of Alabama and that Mark Ingram wins the Heisman trophy. The less attention Texas gets and the more "this is in the bag" kind of talk Alabama gets, the better it will be for the Longhorns, because Alabama is NASTY GOOD. If some pressure can be taken off by "awarding" the Crimson Tide the trophy before the game is played, it could bode better for Texas. Nothing like a pissed-off team coming into a game where no one is giving them a chance. Chips on shoulders have a way of making games interesting.

Some examples of upset wins:
2005 BCS Championship, Texas vs. USC. USC deemed the "greatest team of all time" by ESPN through a series of fictional matchups against past great teams.

Final Score: 41-38, Texas.

2006 BCS Championship, Florida vs. Ohio State. OSU was the only undefeated team and Florida just edged out a number of 1 loss teams for the chance to lose to the Buckeyes (USC would have gotten in if they hadn't blown it against UCLA in the last week).

Final Score: 41-14, Florida.

What happened to Jac's arm?!?!?!

2009-12-07T08:52:00.001-08:00

My parents' Christmas Tree

2009-11-28T20:40:00.001-08:00

So sad...

That's better.

Late Fall in Northern California

2009-11-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

Jac and I out for a stroll on a great late November morning (two days after Thanksgiving).

BIG NEWS

2009-11-22T20:36:00.001-08:00

We bought a house!!!

Awesome/Funny Fantasy Football Ad

2009-11-20T07:06:00.000-08:00

Oh What a Time

2009-11-16T05:01:00.000-08:00

"Cari" and Richie Diamond sing for their lives...

What better way to spend a Saturday night than watching three dudes sing ballads from Dirty Dancing?

_____

Jac is a Saint

2009-11-15T06:55:00.001-08:00

Literally, a Saint:

It's okay, just as long as it's not Drew Brees' jersey.

Nooooooooo! Turncoat!!!

Alas, I've come to accept that Jac will never be a fully-fledged Niner fan, but there are many more teams worst to root for than the Aints. Like the Raiders. Or the Cowboys. Gross.

Our Anniversary Trip to San Antonio

2009-11-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

Since our actual 5th Wedding Anniversary was in the middle of too many crazy things, we decided to celebrate it on a weekend where we would be at least a little less busy. The weekend of November 6-8 we booked a nice hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

The hotel was great but the food was outstanding, as you can see below. It was a nice and relaxing trip.

One of the best chimichangas I've EVER had (at the Rio Rio)

Looks funny, but this was delicious, made in front of Guacamole at Boudro's.

This was also at Boudro's...a tasty Prickly Pear Margarita. Yum.

La Boheme, but first...

2009-11-12T14:33:00.000-08:00

...dinner. Do I have the greatest wife in the world, or what?

Seriously, the food was decent. Really. It was. Really.

Halloween Madness...

2009-11-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

...or just interesting costumes.