David Grimmett dot com

School’s Over

David — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:18:30 +0000

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

Vancouver International Auto Show 2008

David — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:06:40 +0000

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.

Save the CBC Orchestra!

David — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:17:54 +0000

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

Stay Tuned!!

David — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:26:42 +0000

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!!

April Fools!!

David — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:51:52 +0000

Did you get fooled today?? Check out some of the blogs that posted April fools jokes.

Apparently lots of people didn’t quite enjoy the John Chow one. Apparently they haven’t been around the internet that long. John Chow explains how to deal with it in his article How To Get Out of a Rick Roll.

Did you post a joke on your site? I didn’t have time to come up with one for mine.

German Garage

David — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 01:50:53 +0000

Talk about German efficiency! The two photos below were taken at a new parking garage in Munich . The actual space that the facility occupies is approximately only 20% of a comparable facility with the traditional design that is used primarily in the U.S Not only is the German structure less expensive to build, but vehicles are also retrieved in less time and without the potential risk of being damaged by an attendant.

Nikon D80

David — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:42:49 +0000

I made a big purchase the other day, I bought a Nikon D80. I have been looking for a digital SLR for a while now, and I finally decided on making the move. I tried several different makes, and I ended up spending the little bit extra for the Nikon.

I am going to do a more comprehensive review of it after I have played with it a bit. For now, I am just super excited to have my own camera.

Nikon D80

Summer is on it’s way?

David — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:42:30 +0000

I have been getting quite excited about summer recently. Summer is probably my favorite season, and I’m stoked for this summer.

For me, summer is a time of play and good times. I love water sports, love camping, and I love the warm weather and the sun. Sure, I love snow, I’m an avid snowboarder, and I do enjoy other winter sports. But there is something about the summer that is just so much better. I like the fact that in the evening, you can just go for a walk without freezing off your backside.

Long story short, I’m getting really excited about summer!! The funny part is, it snowed in Vancouver yesterday! It’s almost April and it’s cold enough that snow can fall. Needless to say, the weather confuses me, but I still dream of summer, which seems closer and closer each day. But maybe that’s just in my mind, as I think about it too often.

Grouse Mountain Y2Play

David — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:36:14 +0000

The Grouse Mountain Y2Play pass has just gone on sale. For those of you who are not familiar with this pass, it is a seasons pass for the 2008-2009 season, but you can start using it from the time you buy it for the rest of the 2007-2008 season. It is also at an extremely reasonable price, at approximately $300, as apposed to the full price for a regular seasons pass at approximately $800.

Grouse may not be the best of the local mountains, but it is accessible, and for this price, it’s a good deal. At $47 for a days pass, you have to go up 7 times over the next year and a bit to make it worth your money. Currently there is still about 500cm of snow up there, so lots of boarding and skiing left in this season!!

Check it out on the Grouse Mountain Website.

Happy Valentine’s Day

David — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:26:42 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day to all! It’s another hallmark holiday, and for me, it’s just another day, because I currently don’t have a significant other. But my friend and I thought, why not do something fun!

We asked a few of our friend’s parents to leave spare keys out for us. And starting this morning, at about 2:30am, we had breakfast, and set out to fill their cars completely full with balloons, cut out hearts, chocolate kisses, and other random valentine’s paraphernalia. Both of the girls are single, so they weren’t expecting anything, and will probably be a little bit surprised when they go out to their cars this morning.

What did you do for Valentine’s day?