JASON MARSHALL JOHNSON: July 2008 Archives
I've had a lot of time on my hands these past few days. Funny what a 'vacation' can bring you. Of course, this vacation is about two very important things: Grad School visits and Baseball. I set up visits with the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan about a month ago to kick start my search, I couldn't be happier with the responses I have gotten. I took my UI visit yesterday, things were very personal and one on one oriented. I got a personal tour from a very friendly staff member, sat down with a few professors, and learned about the UCUI GSLIS program. University of Michigan SI kicks off in about 9 hours promising about 4-5 hours of activities and meetings. Needless to say, I'm excited. In between the visits I have some baseball games (at new stadiums!) scheduled. I went to my first White Sox game, I'm returning to Comerica Park in Detroit, and will make my first stop at Milwaukee's Miller Park over the coming days! This trip marks 22 major league stadiums down!
As I said I have been granted some free time and this evening I ventured over to my good friend Cole Camplese's blog. A few days ago he posted some thoughts on Apple's new App Store and made a plea for a mobile version of iTunesU. I have shared the same sentiments regarding the need for mobile iTunesU for a few months now. I truly believe that it completes the circuit for distribution of educational content and material. Cole's post also got me thinking about a more creative idea I had for creating an icon for the mobile iTunesU space.
So, re-energized, I fired up Photoshop and went to work creating my version of mobile iTunesU. Here is a working draft of my PSU specific icon. I couldn't find a good custom shape of a school, but my idea was to have a Parthenon-esk center icon for a generic version of the icon.
What else? Ah yes, NEW MUSIC. Today I was watching a Target commercial and heard a very simple, yes intoxicating saxophone line in the background. Immediately, I fired up google and had the song downloading on my iPhone. The song is called Calabria by Enur and I can't stop listening to it. What makes me sick is that the line is so easy; its just a simple E-Flat minor progression, something you could write in seconds after a little music theory training. Go download one of the versions from iTunes, there are several and some are iTunesPlus. Personally, I chose the 2007 Club Mix.
"I'm not an online gamer, I never have and console wise I probably never will be". That would have been my definitive statement regarding recreational gaming habits up until this evening (morning). Around midnight, I waltzed down to the local gamestop to pick up my copy of NCAA 2009 (along with the likes of Ollie Ogbu and Derrick Williams). The second I got home I popped my new disk in and for testing purposes only, I tried to connect to the PSN. Immediately I was connected and had a player waiting to square off against me. It was at that moment that I took the plunge.
Around the start of the fourth quarter, down 38-28 my opponent had what I can only assume was an unfortunate drop in his connection. Despite a rather hollow victory for my Nittany Lions over #5 Florida I was impressed with the minimal effort that I had to go about using the PSN service. The price of Xbox Live had always driven me away from gaming online, but the price of free goes a long way.
So if you enjoy a good game of NCAA Football, add psujj to your list. I promise my connection wont mysteriously disappear.
This is becoming a recurring theme. I'll get excited about a new piece of technology, a new app, etc and it gets my blogging juices flowing. However, the enthusiasm always seems to hit the proverbial mid-semester roadblock. Is it a crime to say that education sometimes gets in the way of things I would like to do on a more regular basis? It is no secret that I would trade the 20+ credit semesters for the chance to go backpacking for a month in Central Pennsylvania. Nearly 3.5 years removed, it is difficult to imagine what I did with all of my spare time as I coasted through high school. Recently, I've been looking for a project, something that I can work on and perhaps share digitally. I think I have my answer.
A few months ago I learned about the Educational Gaming Commons at Penn State. Essentially, the plan is to provide a physical space that embraces gaming in academia. I talked with the staff working on the project at the 2008 TLT Symposium and I learned that they had a significant interest in the Guitar Hero and Rockband games. At that moment something clicked in my head; People didn't just care about music, they wanted it to be part of their lives, they wanted to feel connected to it! Since then, we've talked a fair amount about trying to get Penn State Musicians into the Gaming Commons to use the facilities. There are some interesting possibilities there, but as I said earlier, I needed a self-project.
This Fall I will be giving a Senior music recital at Penn State. If there is one thing that I will take away from college it is that one needs to be engaged on multiple fronts to have success. It is one thing to prepare in the practice room, but what if I engage myself in other ways? What if I write?
And so my friends I bring you "Euphonium Hero". A recital that currently had no date, a loose program, and a blogger. One of the things I would like to share here will be music that I am writing in Logic to accompany me as I play my rendition of Øystein Baadsvik's "Fnugg". Fnugg is an extremely innovative piece that has generated somewhat of a youtube following outside of the Tuba community.
Of course, this wont turn into the musical blog, I still plan on keeping a technology driven focus. Hopefully, music will be the force that keeps me on track.
As for Fnugg, have a look for yourself if you like, it is rather wild (if you're in to instant gratification jump to 2:55).
Continue reading Music: Re-Energizing my Digital Presence.
