Whoa! Whoa! It’s a post!
All right, so the site is still wonky, and I haven’t talked to Mike in a few days, but I drew a comic for today!

I’m a little sad Tribute Week is over, it was my favourite. Especially the “A Softer World” and “Bunny” tributes. Tribute Week = Much Fun.

The archives are (slowly) getting reloaded. It takes a lot of effort, yo! I have to upload them, and create a post, and add the alt-text, and hit ‘publish’ and then resize…
It’s a pain. And it’s all Mike’s fault. *glares at Mike*

Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!
–Ren

I suppose I should update this thing?

So you’ll notice, maybe, that the ComicPress page has become the front page. This is supposed to make things easier for everyone involved, so I hope it does its job. Hopefully, Kristen’s comics will be up soon, and filed under their own category so they’re easier to find.

We’re still working on site design.

I finally got around to linking to this site on the Oboe BBoard, but either no one has visited, or they all think I’m an idiot.
Or I just have no way of knowing. Probably for the best!
Anyway, working on stuff. Drawing comics. The ideas will probably get lamer and lamer until September when I start going to masterclasses again.

All the beast,
Ren

Okay, okay. So the comic was pretty biased. But I *did* think about it for a while, and some of the instruments were granted a higher or lower spot than was my first inclination. So here’s my explanation.

The flute: Oh, lowest of the low. This one is totally and entirely personal bias. I know lots of really cool flutists, but I continue to dislike the sound of their instrument. Oh well?

The tuba: There’s nothing to be said for this one. I like the sound better than the flute, but there is just…nothing sexy about a tuba. Nothing.

The saxophone: I actually like the sound of the sax less than the flute. However, it’s impossible to overlook jazz sax. So.

The trumpet: It’s just not sexy. Sorry! Although, Zach Condon from Beirut gave it a bit of a boost. There *have* been sexy trumpetists.

The violin: I, somewhat guiltily, fall asleep when I go to violin-centric concerts. Except for Owen Pallett/Andrew Bird/Patrick Wolf. If all violining sounded like any of them it would be right up there with the ‘cello.

The trombone: I like the sound, I really do. It’s just that I don’t know many sexy trombonists.

The clarinet: You’d think this would be lower, according to my insanely biased and stupid standards. But it’s so pretty! Totally overrides everything else.

The piano: This one can be sexy or not depending on who’s playing and what they’re playing. This is why it’s in the middle.

The tambourine: Stereotypically sexy, but I just…I’m not a big fan.

The bass guitar: Awesome. I miss my bass so much.

The french horn: My third favourite orchestra sound. I have a tendency to get a stupid grin on my face (only in rehearsals!) when they have great soli/lines.

The oboe: Sound + Awesome + Hard = Sexy

The ‘cello: How is anything sexier than the ‘cello? I can sit and listen to cello concertos for ages, where I’d have fallen asleep near the beginning for a violin. Why? No one knows. Gah. I want to be a cellist in my next life.

The maracas: Okay, okay. You caught me. This whole scale is tongue-in-cheek. Seriously though! What’s sexier than maracas?

Sometimes it feels like all I do is work.

I am, on the other hand, looking forward to getting a solid 8-or-9 hours of sleep tonight. YES.

The next comic is going to be full of puns. And Meg Ryan. And probably anthropomorphic reeds. Everybody loves anthropomorphic reeds! But take note: it is Heather’s fault.

Now I am off to wash dishes and sleep. Urgh.
Love,
Ren

And now I’m playing on Jim’s oboe-to-lend-students-when-their-oboes-are-broken. It has a plastic top joint, and has been dubbed “Plastic Fantastic” by the studio. Classy! But it is not nice that I have to take my oboe to Gary Armstrong’s. I should call him, coincidentally, and make an appointment for Monday. Hm hoom.

Even if *cough*Jim*cough* snapped a spring on Theophilus yesterday, I got a lot done! Made a couple of reeds…gouged and shaped quite a lot of cane, tied some blanks…and! I got to buy an old water stone of Jim’s (which is apparently fantastic) AND a burnishing rod which is pretty much the most amazing freaking thing EVER. My knives are sharp! I am happy when my knives are sharp.

I highly recommend them things.

Bad point of gouging cane yesterday: I had to use the school’s old planer, because Graham has cleaned all of his stuff out of the studio (I’ve never seen it look so clean, ever), and he took his pregouger with him. I’m thinking it would be a good investment to get one. Price ranges? $73.00 at Midwest Musical Imports, $100.00 at Forrests Music, $84.95 at Weber Reeds.

If any oboists read this, do you know where else I could look?

I hope you like today’s comic. It might be a little obscure if you are unaware of Meg Ryan movies.
Her romantic comedies are one of my very, very guilty pleasures.

Much love,
Ren

Stars are coming to the Starlight on September 4th! I am way, way, way excited. I went to the Orange Monkey yesterday–for my first time ever–to buy tickets for me and three friends. There was *one* left. I bought it. I am going to Encore Records today to buy the other three. Ack! But hurray! Stars!

I started listening to them a surprisingly short while ago, when they put out Do You Trust Your Friends? a totally-freaking-amazing remix album (of Set Yourself On Fire”). I started listening to that because my favourite artist, Final Fantasy did a remix of “Your Ex-Lover is Dead”. It is lovely. So is the rest of that album. Stars tend to write melodic-pop, which is easy to ignore because it’s somewhat mundane. “Do You Trust Your Friends” was an eye-opener to the actual nature of the songwriting, and it’s incredibly cool to compare the remixes to the originals. And, like I said, I have a whole new appreciation for those originals.
Stars’ new album, In Our Bedroom After the War” is out on iTunes and Zunior, but not in actual record/cd form just yet. (I’ve been reading conflicting reasons for the digital pre-release-thing. One reason is “Stars is recognizing digital music as a new medium”. The other is “there was a leak anyway”. Maybe both!)

Anyway. I like the album. But I’m not…I’m not a huge fan of Torquil Campbell’s voice. Or maybe it’s his oddly assumed singing accent. It doesn’t sit right with me. It’s better, though, with Amy Millan. She’s awesome. Highlight tracks currently: “Personal” and “Take Me To the Riot”.

Erm…oboe stuff. I got this email from Jim this morning:

Hi Esther,
I’m building pregougers in September. They will be La Creme De La Creme. They will be combination pregouger/guillotine. I have a planer in my studio that you can use. I’ll call [WLU secretary] on Monday and tell her that you’ll be coming by to ask to get into my studio. She will escort you to my room and you can pick up one off my desk. There are 2 of them there.
Best,
Jim

Holy excited about Extra-Special Pregouger, Batman! YES!

Glove,
Ren

You wouldn’t like me when I play recitals.

I guess it went okay, all things considered. I’ll admit I would’ve preferred to rehearse with Eric on Monday or Tuesday…two hours of rehearsal, one hour off, play recital…it was harsh. The back of my throat felt like it was dying, and kept refusing air…I don’t know how to describe that in technical terms? I guess it means I wasn’t supporting properly, or something.

Anyway, I screwed up–but only really at the ends of the Telemann and ‘Arethusa’–both times after playing straight for +10 minutes–when that crazy throat thing happened. Goddamn.
Man, I was exhausted after that…and then, dinner with family…I should be dead. No, really, I should be.

But! Jane got us tickets to go see the NAO play Mahler 8: “Symphony of a Thousand”. It was awesome! And I was so, so, proud of Jane! It sounded fantastic. I’ve always loved Jane’s tone. Jane, I wanna play like you! (Walk like you…talk like you…shoo be doo…)

Side note: I would be utterly alarmed at Carey Ebli had I not been to a masterclass with him/been warned by Jim pre-that-masterclass. Holy faces, Batman!

And now I’m off to get my passport photo taken! Yay?
-Ren

Here is an article that talks about something similar to my throaty-madness at the recital. I suppose cases are different–but this sounds very, very similar to what happened to me near the end of high school, at quintet gigs. I think it comes after playing continuously…I’ve never experienced it in an ensemble concert or anything, or even in a lesson. The teacher who accompanied us to the gigs often got concerned, I recall. It started out as a sort of whistling, and as I attempted to repress it, turned into more of a sustained snort…pretty gross, and uncomfortable, and eventually painful, as I would be trying to continue putting air through my instrument.

I’m thinking at the recital I was closing off the nasal passage almost completely, but in a somewhat unnatural way, trying to keep going…(I was in the middle of a piece, for chrissakes!) so it turned ridiculous.

Anyway, thanks to Joel for messaging me and being all, “Is this what it was like?” and I definitely screwed up my description, but you’re totally right, Joel. That’s it. Nice to know I’m not alone in the world.

Now: what to do? This article (scroll down to the woodwind section, under “Otolaryngologic Disorders”), it suggests that “Rest and palatal exercises have been used to treat stress velopharyngeal insufficiency, though surgical options can include endoscopic posterior pharyngeal augmentation with Teflon injection or a surgically created pharyngeal flap.” Nyarrrrgh. I think we’ll try the rest/palatal exercises. Palatal exercises? Would that entail saying “Ah, Ah. Aaaaah…Ah!” in different ways?

Anyway, I’ll keep investigating.

Today: gouged cane, but I think there’s something up with the gouger, the pieces came off quite thick…scrape a few reeds, following Katrina-law carefully, but the sides keep coming open, and I’ve got no idea what to do. Try again, I guess. Heather thinks it might be the gouge. I’m hopeful that it’s not just me.

I think that’s it. If anyone can find me some more info on this SVI dealy, or has personal experience, that would be super-fantastic!

Love y’all,
Ren

I am going back to school in a couple of weeks. I don’t know how I feel about that. Should I be excited? Apprehensive? I’m only going into my second year, but we have no seniors…just Heather and Kristen. So technically, I’m in the second tier of seniority, and it is Freaking Me Out.

Today I explored the websites of some of the webcomics I like. They are all linked on that there side panel if you would like to see them. And there is a description of each in the alt-texts. I also went to the Passport Canada office in downtown Kitchener and gave them all of my forms and my mob-gangster-I-am-going-to-kill-you-so-watch-out passport pictures. It cost me $87. I had time before my transfer ran out, so I wandered around downtown…Kitchener is sketchy. Waterloo is superclassy in comparison. I found a used bookstore that was hiding all of its good literature and kids’ books at the back of the store. I bought some. I shouldn’t have, but I think I’m addicted to buying books. I need to find a place for my other bookshelf, too, since there are books stacked in multiple piles on the floor. This is Not A Good Thing.

Anyway. Ensemble auditions are scheduled for the 6th of September, and I’ve pretty much resigned myself to something crappy. Wind Ensemble? Daaaaaamnnnniitt. Maybe I should be in choir instead? What do you think?

Here is a picture of me working at my friend Hammer’s company. My other friend Cow made it.

B is for Beethoven’s Third and Brahms’ Violin Concerto.
C is for Cracking reeds, and cane, and also for being Cracked out.
D is for DAMN
E is for Ensembles, as in “which one will I make?” and also Excerpts, as in “Urgh, Excerpts.”
F is for Flappy reed-sides, which are currently the bane of my existence.
G is for Gilbert -1, the make of my shaper tip, which is missing an ear, which I think is why my sides are flappy. So I borrowed Lora’s today. G is also for Gouger, and I think the studio’s is broken. Maybe Heather will let me use hers?
H is for HALP.
I is for Insecurity.
J is for Justin! Who is coming back tomorrow.
K is for Kristen, who will be posting comics regularly soon!
L is for Leaking, which is what several of the blanks that formerly sealed are now doing.
M is for Masterclass, the Reed Jail of Saturday, and the auditions prep tomorrow.
N is for Numchuks, like the pair I wish I had.
O is for O-Week, the reason thousands of first years are wandering around campus.
P is for Pulchinella, as in Serenata, as in Stravinsky. As in low C’s.
Q is for Questions like “What if they’re all better than me?”
R is for Reeds. And how none of mine sound good. And how I think I’m doomed because of it.
S is for Shostakovich and Super long phrases.
T is for Time, the four hours I spent in the studio.
U is for Undermining all of my hopes and dreams.
V is for Very Very Very nervous.
W is for Water, as in my new stone.
X is for Xi, a very useful combination in Scrabble.
Y is for Yellow, the thread I haven’t used in a while.
Z is for ZURGH I’m not ready for this year to start!

Enjoy the comic.

EDIT: Did I tell you? Mike showed me a chart of hits, and we had about 400 unique visitors in August! That is CRAZY you guys! Crazy AWESOME!