December 2 - Clearly Stoned Again

Orchestrate through page 9 of Samson and Delilah (The Frank Judges): VI. Downfall (Abimelech), then to DVC with the fog clearing,



where Dustin (a short lecture on chord derivations from synthetic scales, such as Mode 3 of Melodic Minor -- i.e. scale starting on the Me of said collection), Francisco



(dictation on Bedrich Smetana's The Moldau, and John (interesting chord progression featuring inverted stacked chords, derived from one of his own pieces, intriguingly dovetailing with the Smetana) hold forth.



Back home again with fog clearing again (petrol at $1.71 in Cordelia, photo actually from yesterday in the Sulfur Springs Mountains on I-80) to put musical examples on markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com re Steve Reich and Philip Glass, and collect videos, then return for the evening class, with music from PG through John Adams, David Bowie, and Elton John.


Light out, again in the fog, to Left Bank with Owen and Doug, returning yet again again in clearing dead of night (shot, such as it is, from November 12)

December 1 - The Light Gleams for an Instant

Up very early, through the fog dissipating in the Sulfur Springs Mountains, to take the car for routine maintenance, wondering how long a 2002 Toyota Echo with 285,000 miles can hold up.



Return home past ever-evolving fog-nuanced landscapes,



to orchestrate several more pages of Samson and Delilah: V. Disorientation. Then off to DVC, where Sean, Dustin, and Neill (with an honorary mention to Sheyda for helping out) are at bat for dictation, with a video game song (the former) and original composition (Dustin). Work on a composition with Luis and board harmony possiblilites for John after, followed by lab recording S&D: III, IV, and part of V.



Foggy all day in Pleasant Hill; head back over the San Pablo wetlands under clearly impressive skies to pick up car (brakes still O.K.)



and return to Harriet, finishing orchestration of Samson: V, and beginning that of VI. Downfall.