Miriam Parkinson

When I looked at the date the other day, I was rather startled to discover that it was April. Yes, I know a little behind the curveball; but nevertheless, In my state of confusion, you know ‘where did the year go,’ ‘what has it amounted to’ that sort of thing, I had a little look through my archives and discovered that today is my blogs one year anniversary. Hooray!

I started out blogging intending to post my wisdom (check), recipes?!? and random thoughts (double check). I really had no idea what blogging would amount to. I was only doing it because Cam and Rich made me feel guilty in their rant about how everyone should have a blog, contribution to society etc. Now, I’m involved in a community. A community which is full of intelligent, articulate and altogether wonderful people.

I’m more confident, I’m more aware of current affairs, my writing skills haven’t diminished quite as much as they would have, had I not been writing all this time.

So thankyou to everyone for putting up with the less than consistent style and content of my writing. Thanks to everyone who commented, or gave me advice. Thanks particularly to Cam and Rich for getting me into this, and to Urbaer, Scienta, and everyone else who have dropped the occasional comment.

Its been a couple of days and the more cohesive post that I promised hasn’t surfaced; however, Colin and I have been having a couple of chats about MODM (Melbourne Online Digital Media) and where it could go so there is potential for some form of useful contribution in the future.

Cam, was clearly going to a different party to the one I was… Or perhaps it’s just that my poor mind (which I must admit is fairly suggestible) was so shocked by what was going on around me that it just blocked it out and made something else up to fill the gap.
btw Cam, Colin and I are not ‘just bloggers’, firstly Colin isn’t a blogger at all; more importantly we have a couple of projects in the works, ready to get properly started as soon as this confounded university semester is finished.

The blogging is just an outlet for my otherwise completely unutilised writing skills which, interestingly, seem to be diminishing at rate which is inversely proportional to the frequency at which I read Douglas Adams. Who would have thought that everything I know about writing I learned from HHGG.

Back on topic, I think there is some real potential for a bit of useful networking, support, advice etc with this MODM community. I look forward to seeing where we take it in the future.

1. Elgar, Cello Concerto in E Minor – Jacqueline Du Pre.
   I started to play the cello when I was seven, and from the first moment I picked it up I had a love/hate relationship with it. I’d wanted to play the violin but when I walked into the Canberra School of Music with my mother to speak to the violin teacher she took one look at my hands and said “No, fingers are too long. Cello”
   However, I found that when I sat down to play the cello every bit of energy and passion I had to give poured out through the cello. I had a startling talent, but as with everything it doesn’t amount for much when you don’t put work into it and it was the first thing that I would push aside during my depressive stages. So now, at 20, I’m all talent, no skill. The cello is like an extension of my body, my playing is instinctual, I can move without effort, but I can’t dance.Jacqueline Du Pre, was arguably the greatest cellist of all time. She was a passionate woman and you can hear that passion in every note she plays. Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor is possibly her best, certainly her most famous recording. I challenge you to listen to it without falling in love with the cello. I can barely listen to it without crying.
2. Vivaldi, “L’estro armonico” No. 10 (Concerto for Four Violins and a Cello)
   This is a piece which never fails to cheer me up. Its such a vibrant and exciting work. I had the pleasure of performing this during my HSC year with my string quartet and a couple of borrowed additional violinists. It’s truly inspiring and should be on everyone’s ‘music for thinking’ playlists.
3. Corelli, Concerto Grosso in G minor (Christmas Concerto)
   Again from my string quartet days. This was my favorite piece to perform. It has a fun and prominent cello part. I loved the fact that I got a chance to shine rather than just playing walking basses all the time. It brings back great memories; in fact, when I listen to it I usually end up closing my eyes and playing it in my head.
4. Chopin, Nocturne in E Minor, Op 72
   One of my favorite pieces to play on the piano. I don’t have a piano in Melbourne and its the first time in my life that I’ve been without one. I miss it a lot. It was always the best outlet for any frustrations or sadness. I’ve been known to play an mp3 of this, close my eyes and play the imaginary piano on my desk… sad, I know!
5. Rachmaninoff, Prelude in C sharp Minor
   When I was a kid, after I’d go to bed my dad would play the piano. This was my favorite piece that he played. I’d often creep into the corridor to listen to it better. Dad’s not really one to show his emotions but he plays the piano with passion and Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C sharp minor is a very passionate work.
6. Widor, Toccata from Organ Symphony no 5
   I’ve always loved the drama and grandiosity of the organ and this is the piece of music I most wanted to play. I learned the organ for a couple of years but I never got anywhere near good enough to play it. It’s still my favorite organ work.
7. Satie, Gymnopedie 1
   The first piece I learned to play on the piano was Satie’s Gymnopedie 1. Dad always used to play it and when I was around twelve I sat down at the piano and thought “I’ll give it a go”. When mum came home from work I proudly played her the first half of it. She called up to arrange piano lessons the next day.
8. Allegri, Miserere
   I have a long history with this work. I first learned the soprano solo for the Allegri Miserere when I was ten as an audition piece for Gondwana Voices, a choir comprised of 50 young singers from around Australia. Later, I sang it in a concert put together for a friend of my mother’s who was dying of cancer, and then performed it at his funeral. It is an amazing work, the kind of music that sends shivers down your spine every time you listen to it.
9. Purcell, Funeral Music for Queen Mary
   If you haven’t heard Purcell’s, Funeral Music for Queen Mary, and in particular the march, then I recommend that you stop reading now and get yourself a copy. I’ve performed this a couple of times and having the brass section just in front of me playing the funeral march is just spectacular. When I first heard it I immediately thought that I wanted it to be played at my funeral. I now realize that its probably a little over the top for someone like me but I love it nevertheless.
10. Purcell, Dido and Aeneas
    I had the honor of playing Dido in a school production of Dido and Aeneas and it is a fantastic work. Originally written for a girls school of ballet and the performing arts, its based on the Aeneid and has all the drama you would expect from a work with such heritage.
    

I was going to try to put these in some kind of order but I can’t find one. Jacqueline Du Pre’s recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor is definitely number one though. So I guess this is mostly a personalized idiots guide to classical music. A handful of classical works to check out that have my own personal seal of approval, whatever that’s worth

Just got home after the MODM drinks night. Had a fabulous time as I always seem to with the Cam, Urbaer, Scienta etc group. I’ll post something more cohesive in the morning, but thanks to everybody and I wholeheartedly support any proposition for future MODM drinkies nights.

For the past week uni has been one late night frantically finishing an assignment after another. Fortunately (for a couple of weeks anyway) the worst of it is over. So I may actually be able to fit some blogging into my demanding schedule.

I’ve been trying to work out what the purpose of my blog is. At the moment its pretty much a series of opinion pieces strung together with a whole lot of minor updates to my life and lets be frank, my life isn’t particularly interesting to anyone outside my immediate family and friendship group and I tend to live in the hope that no one in my family will google me.

I just can’t think of anything specific I have to offer to the universe at the moment. I can think of stuff I might have to offer in the future but not right now. So I guess I will go on with using blogging as an outlet for my otherwise totally unutilised writing skills and hope that some pearls of wisdom emerge to help someone out.

I am very happy to inform everyone that I have finally killed a really particularly annoying bug that was killing my programming assignment.

It was one of those bugs that turns up and bothers you just when you’re starting to feel really pleased with yourself, and the stellar job you’ve done on the program so far. This particular bug decided to jump out at me and ruin my day just as I added the finishing touch to the assignment. The problem was the deceptively simple requirement that the program should have a nice little ‘Would you like to enter another route (Y/N)’ at the end. Yes ladies and gentlemen, all this particular part of the program had to do was ask for an input and start over if you indicated Y.

The problem lay in the fact that whilst the program ran through fine the first time it would skip the first input the second time around if you selected ‘Y’ (it exited fine if ‘N’). I was, of course, programming in C++ and I fixed the problem by replacing cin.getline(restart, 2) with cin.getline(restart, 2, ‘\n’) which (correct me if I’m wrong) is strictly speaking THE SAME THING!!! Anyway, problem solved, no suddenly empty inputs, program no longer chucking a skitz and crashing. Hooray!

To those who don’t program I can’t express to you how annoying it is to get to the end of a project and then have something really stupidly simple screw you up. Its sort of like winning a marathon only to be disqualified because you forgot how to walk when it came to the receiving your accolades bit. So having proven that walking is the same as running only slower I have fixed my problem and vastly improved my mood.

More importantly I have discovered that ‘Mark Leung’s Crazy Computer Bug’ makes a surprisingly accurate reenactment of those bugs that sneak up on you when you least expect it… Only its never made me want to throw my computer out the window or cry.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUCZJVJ_M8o]

As a special treat to everyone, and because I’m feeling nostalgic about my singing days, here is a recording of me singing the aria ‘Ah Belinda, I am pressed’ from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
Its a bit of a dodgy recording but its the best I have. Its taken off the DVD of a school production where I played Dido. I hope you like it

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