Driss-A-Blog

Today was significantly more sane. We broke up into groups again, and this time I had some music that looked like it was in C, had Cs in it, and actually was just 1s, 5s and 6s with a few 3s and one lone 7. Reasonable.

We did a practice run of some of what we did in front of everyone. It's humbling to be able to do two pieces and then have some other groups do half-a-dozen incredible ones.

I'm in a small group doing I Don't Know Why, and this is going to be a bit nasty. A few too many accidentals for my taste.

Posted by Avi at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The staff divided up the students by sight-reading ability, and they announced the groupings this morning. I went upstairs to find my group.

I got the music, and looked at the signature. One flat meant key of F major. No F in sight, though. We sang it for a while, and I got a bit confused. So I asked what was up.

“There's one flat in the signature, so that's the key of F, right?”
I got a weak smile back. “No, this is Dorian.”
“Oh.”

read more of Western Wind, Day 2 »

Posted by Avi at 9:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello from gorgeous Northampton, MA, from deep in the dorms of Smith College.

It all started back with Eshet Chayil and Nashir. We were going to perform an Eshet Chayil, half an hour long, with six movements. As I looked through it, there were several tenor solos. As we got further in, I got excited that I might be able to get a solo.

It was not to be. Ben informed me that there was a professional coming in to take the solos. A professional whose group offered classes, and that I might be interested in taking those classes.

The tenor: Todd Frizzell. The group: The Western Wind.

read more of Western Wind, Day 1 »

Posted by Avi at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

More on the SCOTUSblog.

Whoo!

Posted by Avi at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ransom note subway sign


Originally uploaded by AviDrissman

Posted by Avi at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

From a little question from my accountant, and a phone call from a friend, has come the decision to run the Free Press Marathon on October 19 this year. I checked out the website and apparently I can run for a cause!

I have decided to run, and fundraise, for Gilda's Club-Metro Detroit (my best friend is currently fighting, and winning against, her breast cancer). My personal fundraising goal is $1,000.00 (I figure it's attainable due to the time). If you'd like to help me reach my goal (no matter how big or small a donation), please visit my fundraising page!

Thank you and I'll keep you all updated! Training starts in THREE weeks :).

Posted by Talya at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

What is a "martyr"? Plainly stated, it's a person who dies for G-d. Judaism does not ask for martyrs. We're generally told (except for three specific instances) to live for G-d and keep the commandments and not to die for G-d. But sometimes we're not given a choice, and the choice is made for us.

read more of True Martyrs »

Posted by Shira at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Here we are, commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day a week before celebrating Israel's 60th birthday. This is the day where we bring out the Holocaust survivors to listen to their stories of survival and victimhood. This is the day we sit around wondering what went wrong in Europe and mumbling to ourselves "Never Again".

read more of Never Again - The Empty Mantra »

Posted by Shira at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lessig posts about the writers' strike. A writer claims it wasn't about royalties at all, but about copyright issues. (PDF, but worth it.)

Posted by Avi at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm writing a little app using Core Data for storage (no, not NSPersistentDocument-based). Trying to write the store out, but when I call -[NSManagedObjectContext save:] I get an error. Great! What is it?

Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=134030 UserInfo=0x16a0fce0 “An error occurred while saving.”

Oh, that's so helpful. Thanks, Cocoa.

Edit: Yes, there is userInfo:

<CFDictionary 0x16923db0 [0xa03f61a0]>{type = immutable, count = 1, capacity = 3, pairs = (
2 : <CFString 0xa04222b8 [0xa03f61a0]>{contents = “NSUnderlyingException”} = An error occurred while converting metadata to a property list: Property list invalid for format
)}

That actually is helpful. Thanks, Cocoa.

Posted by Avi at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)