David Grimmett dot com

School’s over for another year. No. Wait. School’s over, and this was my last year! I have now completed my Bachelors Degree In what? you ask? Piano Performance.

What can you do with a degree in piano performance?

• Teach piano.
• Perform
• Work as a collaborative pianist.

But do I want to do any of these? No. I think I may go insane teaching piano day in and day out, so I may teach a few students on the side, but not as a full job. Will I perform? It’s fun, but it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and the biggest part is, luck, being at the right place at the right time, having the right person hear you play and then get you gigs. Also, I really don’t have the dedication to practice the 8-10 hours a day to be a top performer. This leaves one option left. Collaborative pianist, the world of the collaborative pianist is growing rapidly right now, but again, I’m not sure I have the dedication to learn and practice all that music.

So, why did I do my degree?? Well, after high school, I didn’t know what to study, I loved music, and thought why not continue with piano? I had completed a few diplomas, and the next level I could move on to was a bachelors degree. So off I went. 3 years into it, I began to think more about my career options, and realized that music was not what I wanted to be in, however, I had gone far enough, that I decided to stick it out and complete it.

That is now completed, and can now get on with life, which brings me great excitement

As I mentioned in a previous post, I attended the Vancouver International Auto Show.

I think, however, over the past few years, I have gotten less and less out of the stock cars, and more and more into the modified cars. There are some new cars that excite me, like the Audi R8 pictured above, and the Dodge Challenger pictured below.

But a lot of the cars and trucks these days don’t get me going. I don’t like the look of the new Dodge caravans, and durangos, or the new Ford lineup. The volvo’s look the same, as do the mini’s and VW’s. Recently I find myself more into the older cars, redone, modified, restored, and I am looking forward to the summer days when show and shines are a weekend regular.

To see more pictures, please go to the pictures portion of the website.

I’m not sure if you know, but CBC has recently made cutbacks. Cutbacks include changes to the CBC 2 Radio station, and the disbandment of the 70 year old CBC Radio Orchestra.

Watch a video here to learn what’s happening.

Here is a copy of an email I got with information on various protests that are happening across Canada.

This email is to inform you of “A National Day of Action to save CBC Radio 2 and the CBC Radio Orchestra” taking place on April 11 in major cities across Canada, mainly in front of CBC buildings. There are over 15,000 Canadians involved in this grassroots movement.

Please relay Friday’s nationwide rally information to your groups, students, friends, family, fellow musicians, and whomever you think is interested. Forward this email to your contacts too.

They will be short, but very energetic rallies. Bring signs and songs! Tell your local media!

Full list of rallies happening in sync across Canada on Friday April 11

Victoria
9am Pacific: Victoria: 1025 Pandora Avenue
Contact: Cecilia Porter - ceciliap@uvic.ca

Vancouver

9am Pacific: Vancouver: 775 Cambie Street
Contacts: David Taylor Gill - dtg1@sfu.ca
Jocelyn Morlock – jocelynmorlock@yahoo.ca
John Oliver – joliver1@earsay.com
Michael Vincent – info@michaelvincent.ca

Calgary

10am Mountain: Calgary: 1724 Westmount Blvd. NW
Contact - Andrew Nowry Andrewnowry@gmail.com
Darren Young - silentearth66@hotmail.com

Edmonton

10am Mountain: Edmonton: 23 Edmonton City Centre, 10062-102nd Avenue
Contacts - Scott Bursey - scottbursey@gmail.com
John Brough – jsbrough@shaw.ca
Peter McGillivray radio2@petermcgillivray.com

Saskatoon

10am Sask: Saskatoon: CBC 144 2nd Ave South
Contacts: Karen Mak hop_rocks@hotmail.com
Lorraine McGrath Khachtourians
Brendan McLean - bjm384@mail.usask.ca

Regina

10am Sask: Regina: 2440 Broad Street
No contact yet

Winnipeg

11am Central: Winnipeg: 541 Portage Avenue
Contact: Jonathan Klassen - jklasse@gmail.com

Toronto

12pm Eastern: Toronto: 250 Front Street West
Contacts: James Baldwin jamesmichaelbaldwin@rogers.com
Chris Foley chris@collaborativepiano.com
Kathleen Rudolph Jkrudolph5@aol.com
Julia Mah - fairside61@hotmail.com

London

12pm Eastern: London, ON: 208 Piccadilly Street
Contact: Forrest Pass - fpass@uwo.ca
Durval Cesetti - durval.cesetti.cbcprotestlondon@gmail.com

Ottawa

12pm Eastern: Ottawa: 181 Queen Street, Ottawa - Meeting at Sparks Street entrance
Contact: James Wooten - cbcradiotwoandme@hotmail.com
Gary Hayes - cansona@rogers.com

Montreal

12pm Eastern: Montreal: 1400 Rene Levesque East
Contact-Alexandra Fol - alexandra.fol@mail.mcgill.ca
Emily Gray - contra_alto@hotmail.com
Michael Shannon - michael.shannon@mail.mcgill.ca

Saint John

1pm Atlantic: Saint John: 560 Main Street
No contact yet

Halifax

1pm Atlantic: Halifax: 1601 South Park
Contact: Christian Stalley - cspstudio@yahoo.ca
Stephanie Moore - st886157@dal.ca
Janet Brush - thunderbug22003@yahoo.ca

Charlottetown

1pm Atlantic: Charlottetown: 430 University Avenue
Contact Kate Huston - drummingdiva@hotmail.com

St John

1pm AST: Saint John: 560 Main Street
No contact yet

Newfoundland

1:30pm Newfoundland: St John’s: 25 Henry Street
Contact: Heather Joyce - livingabundance@hotmail.com

For more rally details, please visit one of these websites:
http://michaelvincent.ca/Newsblog/?p=71
http://savecbcorchestra.com/2008/04/05/cbc-national-day-of-action/
For more information on the movement, please visit composer John Oliver’s comprehensive site:
http://standonguardforcbcradio.earsay.com/?cat=5

I am in the middle of a busy little bit of life, and although it’s full, I’m thinking up posts to write!  Here is what is coming up!

• Yesterday I took in the Super Ironman Finals of Storm the Wall, a small report and a video will be posted soon
• Tonight I am going to the Vancouver International Auto Show, I’ll share my thoughts and pictures with you all
• I’m playing with my new toy, my Nikon D80 and intend on writing a review on it, why I chose it, why I like it, and share my experiences with my photography course that I am taking.

Stay tuned!!