The Michael Swayne Story V: King of his Castle

Right now I am listening to/watching the fifth episode of China's "Clash of the Choirs". They started the program with the judges/coaches of the show performing a Mandarin version of "Gangnam Style". Then a broadway style choir scored 67 points and lost to the tribal choir's score of 150 points. Now, a Pop style choir is performing a theatrical version of "Beat It" and will be going up a Central China tribal choir. The Beat It choir won their face off

The last performance featured instrumental accompaniment. One of my favorite Chinese instruments is the erhu.



The first time I heard one being played was when I watched a concert on CCTV-9 featuring soprano Tan Jing. Anyway, seeing one being played tonight made me want to own one. I went over to eBay and found one that had a low asking price. The auction doesn't end until next week, but I am the highest bidder right now.

You may be asking if I am out of my mind. I mean, this is a Chinese musical instrument. You don't normally come across erhu players on the street. But like most learning experiences, I am quick to learn. During my junior year of high school, I was asked to perform in our school's theater play that had a violin playing waiter. I was on Yearbook staff at the time, and only had a few weeks to practice the part. And to make my part more believable, I learned to play a song on the violin. Then after the show, I tripped and broke the neck of the violin. But the point is, that I was able to learn how to play a song on the violin in only a few weeks. The person who originally was going to play the part was going to fake it with a recording. Now, I am possibly going to have the chance to have an instrument I've wanted to see in person for the last six years.

And chances are I may win the auction. There can't be that many people wanting an erhu at the same time I am wanting one. If I don't win, no worries. I can always bid on another one, or instead bid on a pipa (my second favorite Chinese instrument).

As the title of this entry suggests, I managed to find two pages when I played Slender today. And once again, the thought of being caught by SlenderMan forced me to quit playing. My strategy today was to have Spotify playing my favorite happy songs so I wouldn't get spooked by the noises. It worked for a while. I nearly managed to find the third page. However, Kpop wasn't able to muffle the sound of my heart beating in my chest. As each second went by, my heart beat faster and louder. I walked through that big concrete cylinder because there was always a page in there. I couldn't find it, and I was too afraid to make the character turn around. So, I quit...again.

Maybe next time.

I also started playing Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light today. It is alright so far. I have unlocked the Wayfarer crown. I am right where the party breaks up into two groups. I really liked how the first boss looked. Pretty spiffy-looking dragon.

I am finally all caught up in How I Met Your Mother episodes. I like the way the show has gotten to this point. I watched the anime Demon King Daimao. I liked it as well.

I still have 6 pieces of birthday cake left, and one piece of apple pie. I had cake and pie for dinner, because I need to get rid of it before it goes bad. And because I didn't want to eat deer burger for dinner. I like deer meat when it is in my spaghetti sauce, but I don't like it in burger form. There aren't enough condiments I can put on it to get rid of the taste. But when it is slow cooked in spaghetti sauce, it tastes great to me.

Well, I am off to bed. I hope to see you around the forums, and until then...

Later!

Michael