ceallagh

June 4, 2007

2007-06-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

I attended three days of the Star Wars Celebration IV held last weekend at the LA Convention Center.

I was privileged (I paid the $) to meet and have my photo taken with Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia). I also received a signed picture of each.

The Mayor of Los Angeles was there.

As was Nacho Libre, cleverly disguised as a stormtrooper.

And some other important figures, such as Foamtrooper:

Tim went with me one day and purchased some art from Tsuneo Sanda.

Boba Fett was there with his prize.

As well as Jabba the Hutt and his "prize."

We saw a real landspeeder and an X-wing.

And a real Honda "A-Wing" (notice the R2-D2 on the back)

My friend Cynthia went with me one day.

As did my friend Han Solo.

McQuarrie concept Boba Fett. Cool costume.

May 5, 2007

2007-05-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Tim and I went up to Santa Barbara today for the 2007 Bimmerfest. It was beautiful up there and we had a good time checking out all the souped up Bimmers.

My messy room. I've since cleaned it.

Santa Claus Lane in Santa Barbara.

Old-fashioned bicycle we saw in Santa Barbara.

Here's a pig named "Neil" next door to some students of mine in Sierra Madre.

Sarah and Marci.

More Bimmerfest:

Not 76 Gas Station, but 77! (Look closely)

Here's my car, '95 840ci: 282 hp 32-valve dohc 4.0 aluminum V8

And Tim's cruise ship, the Carnival Pride

April 20, 2007

2007-04-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

Darth Vader does have a sense of humor:

Finally, I was able to capture some pretty good parrot footage.

This one is even better:

Here's my dad up Kinneloa Canyon taking a picture of a peacock.

Jenna playing at the Santa Anita Mall. (Leslie's youngest daughter)

Another songbird outside my classroom at USC.

March 19, 2007

2007-03-19T20:09:00.001-07:00

34 years ago today, my mother was 30......and I was born. Lucky parents. Today I took some video to kind of document the day.

Here is an R2D2 mailbox across from USC at the Shrine Auditorium.

On the drive home:

"Orange lights"

Some parrots from my roof:

March 12, 2007

2007-03-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

It will reach 90 degrees today. Our "winter" was very short this year. However, there is relief in sight:

Here are some vids of birds outside my classroom at SC. Don't know what kind yet, but it sounds like a jungle.

February 20, 2007

2007-02-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. And I even saw parrots out Eric's window yesterday, but my camera wasn't charged up. I will get footage, though; they've been around here in the mornings quite a bit lately.

Anyway, I have a new piano student. Here is some footage:

I played at an interesting funeral the other week. I got a call from Inglewood Cemetery needing a pianist the next morning for the funeral of the mother of Warren Christopher, Secretary of State before Colin Powell. So I drove out there the next morning and went inside this giant mausoleum with high, cold marble walls and a ceiling composed completely of stained glass. At the end of the main entrance was a little area with the casket and maybe 30 chairs. On the side was a little keyboard hooked up to a standing speaker; no pedal, music stand or bench. So I scrounged up a chair and put the music in my lap and began to play prelude. The USC fight song had been requested because the Christophers are big Trojan fans but I was unwilling to play it unless Mr. Christopher actually came over and requested it in person. Anyway, it was a very short service and I was out of there in 40 minutes.

For any Zelda fans:

January 11, 2007

2007-01-11T09:37:00.001-08:00

Dell is the way to go. I purchased an external hard drive in early December and it burnt my motherboard. I contacted Dell and they replaced it without any questions. They even shipped it for me and my computer isn't even under warranty anymore. Now everything is up and running again.

We had a great time at Disneyland.

My friends, including Ugly Betty, and I at the Rose Parade.

Star Wars at the Rose Parade!

Go Trojans!

December 3, 2006

2006-12-03T21:51:00.000-08:00

This morning I went to the Pasadena Ward for Church and then drove to USC and played my piano jury (probably my last one) and then accompanied Giorgi on his jury and then went back to Pasadena and observed Deanne rehearsing her choir (for my conducting class) and then sang in the choir in their performance before the First Presidency Christmas Devotional Broadcast and then recorded 8 vocal works for Caralee to help her prepare for her jury coming up and finally went home at 8:30 and ate chuck roast and spuds with steamed broccoli and Rhodes Texas Rolls and a couple Oreo cookies with red filling!

I am truly in awe of the leadership of the Church. We are so blessed to have righteous, inspired and up-to-date men as oracles of Christ with the power to lead us in the right direction. We can put our trust in them and be assured that they will never lead us astray. We should focus on the Brethren. I should focus on the Brethren, for their words are the words of the Lord, the words of peace and salvation.
"For unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times." D&C 112:30

December 2, 2006

2006-12-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

USC vs UCLA today at the Rose Bowl. Tommy Trojan is wrapped up to keep him safe from would-be pranksters.

A beautiful California sunset over the San Gabriels taken from the backyard of a student in Kinneloa Canyon.

My recharging station. My home away from home. A safe haven in a wilderness of Democrats.

I came home the other day to a family of deer: a buck, a doe and a fawn.

November 24, 2006

2006-11-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

Things I'm thankful for (in no particular order)

1) Star Wars, (only Episodes IV-VI)

2) Thanksgiving food and because I'm fat.

3) Seeing a camel on my street. (Look down the driveway very carefully)

4) My family: Mom, Dad, Leslie, Troy, Hailey, Hannah, Jenna, Grandpa, Karen, Lora, Theresa, Judy and their families and everyone else.

5) My friends. Let's see there's....hmm....well....just all of my friends.
(jk)

6) USA and the GOP

7) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and our incredible prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, who has been a great blessing to this Church and to the world for 96 years now.

8) Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice, without which life would truthfully be pointless.

9) Speed talkers.

10) MUSIC. This year I would like to give thanks to Rachmaninoff.

November 15, 2006

2006-11-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

I've been too busy lately to be able to post anything, but today I attended a masterclass given by the legendary Earl Wild at USC. He was born in 1915 and has had an extraordinary career. It was an interesting masterclass; he told everyone that played to use much more pedal. I was asked to play for the masterclass a month ago, but, as it turns out, he wasn't familiar with the pieces I had to offer and, since his eyesight is failing, I was denied the opportunity. That's ok. I usually play every time there is a masterclass and I didn't mind just observing this time.

Wild playing Rachmaninoff, a transcription of "The Little Island."

Here he is playing Liszt.

Here he is in an interview discussing his career and the playing of Rachmaninoff and others.

It has been as hot as.... in November! I'm sick of it. Here are a few clips from heaven:

November 1, 2006

2006-11-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

When I was a wee lad I watched the Electric Company on TV. My favorite part was Spider Man. Here is a short clip (including narration by Morgan Freeman!)

Here's another nostalgic moment: THE NUMBER SONG!

And, of course, I need to add a trailer from one of the best movies of all time:
THE BLACK HOLE

Youtube is...incredible.

October 29, 2006

2006-10-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

Life is on fast forward. Days become hours and hours only minutes. A year went by in a month and last week seems like yesterday. I think our planet must have changed its orbital track. Last night I helped Eric set up a station (called "The Death Star") in someones garage in Glendora and we used a projector to play the movie and dressed up. It was a Halloween Young Singles "Live Clue" party and a lot of fun.

Here's Eric as Obi-wan Kenobi:

And me as Boba Fett:

I held a Halloween recital for my students at the Norman's on Saturday, but forgot to take pictures. Here is one of my students, though, that did play. Her name is Katherine Lund.

Kind of a long video of a bunch of us playing Settlers, but you gotta listen to Allison do her Chewbacca and Chimp (Orangutan?) impressions. Posted in honor of Allison and Ted's recent engagement!

October 25, 2006

2006-10-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

My grandfather, Henry C. Teeples, will turn 94 this Friday. I contacted the White House sixth months ago (email) and they will be sending him a birthday card. They will do it for anyone over 80. Check out http://www.whitehouse.gov/greeting/

Dan said I could only post 30 seconds of the movie (USC rules). So, I will, as soon as I get the DVD. I had to sign a release form today.

Here is a photo of me (the fat one on the right) with Dr. Stewart Gordon, my piano teacher, after his recital a few weeks ago in which he performed, among other things, Crumb's Makrokosmos, with all of the chains, whistles, and eerie ghost sounds.

October 20, 2006

2006-10-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

I'll tell the story of my first film scoring session. One day in September, I was on the SC campus and thought, "I need to find Dan Johnson and see if would like me to score a film." Dan Johnson is a student director at SC and used to be my piano student. I hadn't seen him in a year, but no sooner had I thought of him than I ran into him and he said, "Kelly! I was looking for you hoping to find you. Would you consider scoring a short film I'm working on for class?" So, he later sent me a script and then I received an almost finished copy of the movie (without sound) on Tuesday night of last week. I wrote the music and hired (limited budget) one violinist, one cellist, and one oboist (with hopes to overdub and get a more "orchestral" sound). We were scheduled to record the music in the Spielberg sound stage at 7am Sunday. At 9pm Saturday night, my cellist called me and said that he had been in an accident on the freeway coming home from San Diego and his car was totalled and he was stuck in San Juan Capistrano and AAA was coming to get him and his car. I quickly emailed all of the USC cellists and fortunately was able to get someone willing to come. (There's another story there...)

The recording went well and we'll attend the screening this coming Sunday evening. Pretty fun experience and I hope to do more.

I'll add photos later on. And maybe the movie itself if Dan lets me...

Friday the 13th of October, 2006

2006-10-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

No time for posts right now, but I had to include this awesome new bird discovered in Colombia, named the Yariguíes brush finch after an Indian tribe from the mountaineous area where the bird was caught (and released after taking blood samples).

I see a big mural at the train station every morning and afternoon. This guy sure has a familiar face.

October 4, 2006

2006-10-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

This is my niece, Jenna.

This is her father.

And Lovely Hannah.

With Hailey.

October 1, 2006

2006-10-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

A good entry is on its way. I have 50 private students plus MPKS 350a which I teach at SC three days a week plus two courses I'm taking plus practicing and private lessons and I'm a studio ta.

In the meantime, starwarz.com has some very interesting deleted Star Wars footage.
Here are some interesting samples:

And one from "Empire"

September 20, 2006

2006-09-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

The Goodyear blimp was flying over Pasadena this afternoon. I went to Target and asked a sales associate where I might find the shoe polish and she got this puzzled look on her face and, you won't believe it but I knew it was coming, she said, and I quote, "Shoe polich, what is that?"

Now, I didn't say shoe polich, but that was how she pronounced polish. The fact that she had no idea what shoe polish is (or polich) is disturbing me more and more the longer I reflect on it. However, that wasn't the end of my search for shoe polish at Tarjay. I found another sales associate and asked her where I might find the shoe polish. "Shoe polish? I don't think we carry that."

Needless to say, I was in a hurry but found the shoe polish on my own and, after picking up a couple Star Wars action figures and some way overpriced hair pomade, was on my way.

I've been to busy to do my homework on the new calendar, but I've done some research and found some highly interesting studies. More to come soon.

September 17, 2006

2006-09-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I played the piano at an award ceremony in Alhambra. It was at the LDS chapel (built in the 30's; first one built in San Gabriel Valley) and President Lowry and President Harrick from the Stake were there to present the 2006 Family Award to Paul Talbot, former mayor and city councilman. They gave him a nice statuette of a family, several certificates/awards from the Church, the city, the county, etc and a family history packet with information on his and his wife's family lines.

The weather finally cooled down a little bit and people are wearing jackets and sweaters already. It dropped all the way to 78 degrees the other day!

I've decided it is time we instituted a new day between Sunday and Monday. I worked way too hard this week and, although I love what I do, am convinced that we need one more non-work day. So, I am proposing that we institute "Funday" as the eighth day. Granted, the establishment of such a day will require substantial reworking of infrustructure, but I've thought about that, too. Here's how it might work: 8 days a week is 52 too many days for a year of 365, which we should obviously adhere to considering seasons, etc. Therefore, we implement a sort of "equal tempering" to the system, just as we have for the Gregorian calendar. (Observe the different number of days in each month and leap year). I will work out a model and submit it as a viable yet necessary improvement over the current system.

By the way, my good piano friend, Angela, noticed the other day that my phone number has four 2s, three 6s, two 0s, and one 1.

September 10, 2006

2006-09-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met Al Lerner because he happened to be visiting his granddaughter whom I was teaching a piano lesson for the first time. This guy knew Art Tatum very well and toured as a jazz pianist his whole life, much of it with Harry James. Hal Leonard publishes a couple jazz books of his and he gave me a CD on my way out. Fantastic playing.

I went to SC last night and heard Dennis Thurmond perform a recital entitled "400 years of Improvisation" in which he improvised on themes by Gesualdo, Bach, CPE Bach, Liszt, Ravel and Debussy, Monk, and others.

I also taught an amazing student. He started in November (age 4) and now is playing Bach Minuets and Bartok early piano works.

A cool tree (Banyan?) at USC.

September 6, 2006

2006-09-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

I guess the best part about taking public transportation is avoiding the foul mood that comes over me as I resist screaming obsenities at all of the stupid drivers, including illegals. (It's much more pleasant to sit with them on a train.) Anyway, I'm getting pretty good at guessing the age, race, sex and general IQ of most drivers by their driving patterns now. For example...well, maybe I better not go there.

this is awesome

September 3, 2006

2006-09-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

This year, Sweden officially adopted 'W' as the 29th letter of its alphabet. In Swedish, 'W' is double V, as it is in Spanish and probably many other languages. Before 2006, it was always considered a variant of 'V' in Sweden. In English, we say double U even though we write a double V. That has to do with the runic wynn and complicated history. However, it is interesting to note that 'W' is the only English letter of more than one syllable, "LMNOP" notwithstanding. And, according to Wikipedia, "this gives the nine-syllable initialism www the irony of being an abbreviation that takes more syllables to say than the unabbreviated form."

Tune in to AM 570 in the evenings and listen to the Phil Hendrie Show. I've never heard someone say "WWW" that fast. Try it.

Adam the piano student by day, Merlin the Magician by night.

Merlin, boogie board, and side-kick big brother, Sean.

September 1, 2006

2006-09-01T17:39:00.002-07:00

Downtown LA at 6:52am.

Tommy Trojan says "Fight On!"

Two incredible piano students: Daniel and Michelle.

August 31, 2006

2006-08-31T17:04:00.000-07:00

This is a piece of "art" on the campus of USC. I won't repeat what Leslie said this magnificent work of inspiration reminds her of. I read an article in the paper today about Boingboing.net and then went to Choral Conducting class where we practiced conducting in 1. Guess what we had to say as our arms were dropping on each "1" : "Boing, boing, boing...." Talk about serendipity. Or don't talk about it, I don't care.

By the way, I was going to name my blog site "Terbium," which is a silver "rare earth" metal soft enough to cut with a knife and is atomic number 65, which happens to be the sum of the integers which correspond to the letters of my name, Kelly, given that A=1, etc., but it was already taken. We now know, by the way, that so-called "rare earth" elements are really not that rare at all. But people thought they were when they named them that.

I found another interesting site about the history of my name. http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/Ke/Kelly.html

August 30, 2006

2006-08-30T17:20:00.001-07:00

I'm going to try another train video test. Last two didn't seem to work.

August 29, 2006

2006-08-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

No photos today. Actually, I did take a couple good ones. I'll post them tomorrow. This blog is intended to be a sort of journal. I'm not worrying about the form or frequency, although I do hope that it will become rather routine to publish something at least every other day or so. Events of note: The tram from Union Station to USC was packed to the hilt (reminded me of the buses in Colombia) and as it turned out I had to stand. My main piano professor, Dr. Gordon, was on the same tram. The rest of the day was pretty normal, although I did have an interesting conversation with Glen Bennett about looters, illegal immigrants, and socialism.

August 28, 2006

2006-08-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

The cookie wanted to bite off the cranium of the infamous Atomic Pirate.

My peeps and 'Peaches'

Marci: "I'll give you a sheep for two books."
Eric: "Help me help you."
Tamar: "You're going to place there? I was going to place there, but I could see it would be a bad choice."
Mike: "I've been playing Settlers since I was 3."
Gina: "Woohoo I built a settlement!"
Ted: "Every time a 6 is rolled, we both reach for the same cards and Allison touches me like 80 times!"
Allison: "WAAAAHHAAAAHAAAHAAA!!!"
Kelly: zzzzzzzzz

The Goldline 6:13am.

8:00 class; missing a few sleepyheads.

August 26, 2006

2006-08-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

Ceallagh is a variant of the Gaelic Ceallach which means "war," "strife," or "bright-headed."
Here is what others had to say about it:

"KELLY and it's variations is the 2nd most common of the Irish surnames. From the Gaellic O'Ceallaigh or Ceallaigh, meaning bright-headed. County Galway and county Meade are the main areas for this surname.
Surnames and Variants: Kelley, Kelly http://www.surnameweb.org/scripts/data/database.cgi?file=swlink&report=norigin&surname=Kelly

common Irish surname, from O.Ir. ceallach "war." As a type of pool played with 15 balls, it is attested from 1898. Kelly green first recorded 1936
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Kelly

The boy's and girl's name Kelly is pronounced KEL-ee. It is of Irish and Gaelic origin, and its meaning is "descendant of Ceallach." Transferred use of the surname. Originally an Anglicized form of the male name Ceallach, possibly meaning "bright-headed", "strife", or "church, monastery." http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Kelly

The meaning of Kelly
Origin: Gaelic
Meaning: Warrior.
Origin: Irish
Meaning: War. Lively. Aggressive. An Irish surname that has only been used as a first name (either gender) in the latter half of the 20th century.
Origin: Scottish
Meaning: Wood. Surname and place name that has only been used as a first name (either gender) in the latter half of the 20th century.
Origin: Teutonic
Meaning: Born on the farm during the spring.
http://www.andythenamebender.com/name-meanings/Kelly.htm

Anyway, I wanted an easy and clever blog name, but Kelly, KellyKelly, KellyKellyKelly, and KellyKellyKellyKelly were all taken.....no, I didn't try Kelly,Kelly,Kelly,Kelly,Kelly. Actually, the word Gaelic might itself be related to Kelly through Ceallach.??

Received Rachmaninoff's Complete RCA Recordings today in the mail. Just listened to him playing Beethoven with Kriesler. Amazing. Even with the relatively poor sound quality, his tone is so beautiful and his phrasing and sense of timing never cease to blow me away.

Tomorrow I'll learn how to post photos/movies.