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Though it took me half a lifetime, I have painted my own paradise, and now I am finally starting to enjoy it. Very soon, I will return to flying aircraft on the weekends, and as soon as I repair or replace my piano, I'll find time for practicing music as well. I have chosen a hopeful repertoire for 2007, printed below. It's just a fun program to look forward to, even though I only chose portions of the larger works. If I find a little extra time and a willing clarinetist for all the duets in this list, maybe I can sneak in a concert sometime during next summer!
2007 Repertoire
Clarinet duets:
John Bilotta: Heart's Desire, for Clarinet and Piano
Herbert Howells: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, 1st movement
Eric Ewazen: Ballad for Clarinet and Piano
W.M. Mozart: Clarinet Concerto In A Major, arranged for clarinet and piano
Piano solo:
John Bilotta: Madison Sketchbook, Sets 1 and 2
Sergei Prokofiev: Waltz, Op. 112, No. 4 (Cinderella's Departure for the Ball)
Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dances for solo piano, nos. 1, 5, and 7
Alexander Scriabin: Piano Sonata #6 in G Major, Op. 62
Oblivion Geek Corner
The title of this entry actually refers to a particular phase in the PC game Oblivion, late in the main storyline, where you must traipse around a utopic landscape, find the bad dude, fight the bastard, then finally snatch a trinket from him after you turn him. "Turn" is just a very polite way of saying DESTROY. So far, I have found this to be the most visually stunning portion of the game. Several times I caught myself just stopping and staring at the sky and trees with my jaw wide open, while monsters and demons of every hue are charging toward me.
This part of the game has a very peculiar feature: Suddenly, the game has become very homoerotic. Scattered about this paradise are men with adonis bodies, dressed in only a loincloth, who are fleeing the same monsters that are banging up my armor. Suspiciously, the men were created by the bad dude purely for the entertainment of the monsters. It's the funniest thing to watch a hulking frost giant chasing a hot circuit boy through an orchard of Japanese maple trees.
OK, You can't tell me that at least some of Oblivion's game developers aren't gay, and this isn't the first time in the game that I've seen stuff like this. Here's a few screenshots of the painted paradise, including one with the fleeing adonises, where I thought I'd join the fun and take off all of my armor, just to see what would happen. 
 | | A Picture Perfect Battlefield |
 | | Look, New Armor |
 | | See, I Can Be Naughty Too |
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(By Daniel Culveyhouse | No comments yet | comment here)
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Finally, now that the news is out, I am able to make my personal announcement. Enjoy the prose I wrote below, perhaps my first attempt at poetic justice!
As sure as the sun rises, this year is my grand finale.
After working for three failed startups, I publicly declare;
The most inviting giant in Silicon Valley
Has our small company walking on air.
They acquired our startup... that tiny company and me.
Reminding me that I am a soldier, wherever I may be.
Our hard work, our passion, and especially our accord,
Our new parent has recognized, and given us our reward.
We integrated seamlessly, all of us and our finesse;
I know that without a doubt, each of us deserve our success.
I struggled in my earlier years to find meaning to life.
In Chicago, where my skin thickened year after year of strife.
There I endured the oppression of society
As a gay male gasping for equality.
I moved to California and hacked a trail
Through a bizarre landscape of drug addicts, hookups, and email.
An economic slump and terrorist attack challenged my resolution;
While a tainted job market tested by constitution.
Though a fish out of water, I remained on this ravaged coast;
While others fled, when I needed them the most.
I held on to hope year after year,
And bore the brunt of hardship as a souvenir.
Somewhere along that path, I learned my own happiness;
To love myself and rediscover my finesse.
That philsophy made me a 21st century pioneer,
And here I am now, an Intuit engineer.
But to my friends most dear,
To those who learned from me,
To those who inspired me,
To those who loved me,
And to those angels who protected me,
I am eternally grateful;
As you have helped me learn of life and victory.
For those antagonists in my life,
Those detestable drug addicts,
Those naysayers,
Those nattering nabobs,
Those vile bigots,
Those opponents in court by their own hatred driven,
Those psychos who unleashed their worst evil:
You have failed.
But you are all forgiven.
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(By Daniel Culveyhouse | See the 1 comment | comment here)
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