Intertribal Drummers

At CSUSM on Tuesday, September 19, 2007, the Intertribal Drummers performed on our campus to help celebrate California Indian Day. The Intertribal Drummers include members from local Tribes as well as tribes from throughout the United States. They have been playing together for more than a decade and bring the spiritual traditions of their tribes to their playing.

I really enjoyed this performance, although it was very different than any other kind of music performance I have seen, they performed with such passion and spirituality.

My VSAR 302 class went there to take photographs of them playing so they can post them on their website. It was very interesting to view this performance through a lens cap, I saw things that no one else would of scene. I had to view this performance in a very creative way in order for my photographs to come out well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Intertribal Drummers and I would love to see them again.

Troika Ranch

On Wednesday, October 3, 2007, Dawn Stoppietllo of Troika Ranch, came and visited my VPA 302 class. Dawn and her partner Mark Coniglio started this project called Troika Ranch, which represents the three mediums of art they work with, music, dance, and technology. For nearly twenty years, Dawn has created choreography for bodies interfaced to computers through different systems, one being called the mini dancer. The mini dancer is a device that Mark invented after seeing drummers use a device that produced sound when a stick was waved in the air. He took that concept and made a similar device to wear on the body to would produce sound as the body moved. This group had content-driven mediated performances that were shown to us.

Throughout the two and a half hour lecture and viewing of their past performances, Dawn took us through the past twenty years of her and her companies life and showed us how they grew into the company they are today. She also made me realize that passion is the number one, most important feeling to have in art making. This group has a passion to learn, create and make better. They have a drive to create powerful pieces that will touch other people. I was very motivated after watching all of their pieces and hearing Dawn speak. Great performance.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

On Saturday, September 15, 2007, my step dad and I took my mom to go see the Dead Sea Scrolls, in Balboa Park, for her birthday. Out of all the times that I had been to the Natural History Museum, I have never been through so much security. These findings of the Scrolls are so precious and valuable.

After we got into the museum, before the exhibit leads you downstairs to actually see the scrolls, there are huge, colorful photographs of Israel and Jordan, where the scrolls were found and of the towns and animal life nearby. These images where breathtaking and a great lead into seeing the actual scrolls. "Tracing the scrolls and their meaning through time, the exhibition connects the ancient world to the modern. The Dead Sea Scrolls - objects of great mystery, intrigue and significance - are widely acknowledged to be among the greatest archaeological treasures ever discovered." Dead Sea Srolls, presented by Joan and Irwin Jacobs, www.sdnhm.org/scrolls

Once downstairs, we were given these ear pieces to give us a guided tour of each item of display. Each scroll had its own story. It was amazing to see this history being found and displayed for us to see. I would recommend anyone to see this exhibit. It is very well worth it.

These never-before-exhibited ancient Hebrew codices from the Russian National Library, medieval manuscripts from the British National Library, and stunning modern interpretations of the texts

San Diego Music Awards

On September 17, 2007, I went to the San Diego Music Awards at Viejas Casino. My boyfriends band, Arm the Angels, was nominated for best Alternative Rock band. Also, two of my other friends bands, The Transit War and Spell Toronto were nominated for Best Rock Album. Unfortunately, none of the bands won the awards. They were all very disappointed, but there is always next year.

I really enjoy the San Diego Music Awards. I have been there several times and it is always so interesting to see all the different types of bands and musicians of San Diego all together. I love the celebration of these talented musicians. There are so many talented people in this world and it makes me sad how the media glorifies all of these singers and band members who are being arrested again or going to rehab or had another hit and run. Music should be about passion, drive, talent, ambition, and sound.

San Diego has always had a great music scene and I hope it shall continue. There were a few bands that I had never heard of that I really enjoyed that night during their performance: Lady Dottie & and the Diamonds and The Real SeanJon.

Lady Dottie & and the Diamonds were a blues band that performed two songs to open up the show with. I really enjoyed their sound and Dottie's unique and powerful voice filled the air. They had a classic blues sound with a twist of their own. They ended up winning best Blues Band. The Real SeanJon was a band combining Sean from Nickle Creek, which is a country band, and Jon from Switchfoot, which is an alternative Christian band. I really, really enjoyed this performance because I am an extreme fan of both of these bands and I felt that the combination and talent that these two men brought to their new project worked well together. They were very well received by the crowd. They also won their award they were nominated for; they were very well deserving of it.

Overall, it was a very successful night, except for the cold, and I cannot wait for next year.