GOODBYE 2013 HELLO 2014

With the old year leaving, I thought it would be good to get one last post in 2013. This year has been a great year and it is time for the year review.

January: Nothing really happened in January, one of my dull months of the year. It is sad to say though because I had a great year and it did not start of well.

February: This is where my year starts going well. My family and I went on a weekend trip to the lovely Mt. Sunapee, in New Hampshire. I got a nice picture of the lake from the top of the mountain.

I believe the height of the mountain was 2,726 feet above see level. It was a nice change form my normal Nashoba Valley Ski Area.

March:  Ah March, the weather getting warmer, spring around the corner. And yet, my great accomplishment of the month was sitting inside and doing nothing. (I promise it gets better, in the summer and fall months.)

April: April was full of joy and sadness. We know of the Marathon bombings. But on the bright side, I learned how change the oil in my car. 

May: One of my favorite months, not to hot, yet not to cold. I went to prom. 

The band had its spring concert.

Just before we went on to perform,we were goofing off. This was the concert where we played one of my favorite pieces, An American Elegy. It was so beautiful. 

With the warmer weather came a warmer me.

June: A lot happened in June. I got a job at a radio station.

There I learned how to, edit clips from the air. And the best thing I learned, was how to produce a radio show, trust me when I say this, it is hard. You have to do a million different things at once.

Also in June came an exciting moment in my life. My first Red Sox game in the USA.

HERE IT COMES, FORM THE LOWELL MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, IN LOWELL MASSACHUSETTS. TV'S MOST EXCITING HOUR. ITS THE PRICE IS RIGHT...on tour.

I was in the audience of one of my favorite game shows. And I nearly got called to play a game. I even got a game tag.

July: A few days after the Price is right I went to my second Red Sox game. This time with my family. You see my mother bought tickets to go from her alma mater.

They won that game. It was great. We had great seats, the weather held up. It was a nice night.

A few weeks after the fourth, my friend and I took a day and went to the beach. Boy was it hot out. It was so hot I needed extra coverage.

July quickly turned into August and summer was almost over.

August: The month I most look forward to. You see every year for the past ten years, my family and I have gone to a little dude ranch in upstate New York. The place is called Thousand (1000) Acres.  We have been going with the same people for ten years. They are like a second family I get to see. One week a year. I love going to this place. Although, everybody who goes this week has said, "It is not the place, it is the people. " It truly is the people, we all have a special bond. 

September: Crunch time for the Red Sox and a big birthday for myself. I turned eighteen, nineteen days into the month. And what a way to celebrate it. I got some scratch tickets and won $50. Haven't won since. but whatever.  Senior year was under way and the marching band had commenced. That is what I lived for. Friday nights going to football games, having fun with the band. I have no ides what I will do next year if I go to a school without a football team. It will just be emptiness. This has been apart of my life for four years. I didn't want it to end. But sadly all good things must come to an end.

October: This month brought a second place band back to Lowell High. For the first time in school history, the band came in second place at Nesba Finals. We had a great show. It was a great season, and I will not forget this ever. This was the month as well where I became an anchor on the Red raider Report. That was a fun experience and that is what I hope to be doing some day. Reading the news. Being on the radio or tv.

November: Not much happened in November. Thanksgiving, that's about it.

December: The year is ending and the best news came. (Look at my last blog post.) That is right I got a part in the school musical. I am Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. I also had my last winter concert at the high school. It is sad but closure is a part of life.

The year has come to an end I am proud of what happened this past year. All of those choices that I made have all been good and they all had a positive impact on me. 2013 has been good to me and good to us. We are still alive. But as 2014 approaches and when we wake up tomorrow. We won't feel different. We will still be the same people. I will still be Andrew Clark. A new year doesn't mean a new life, it means a new beginning. 

Have a Happy New Year Everybody!

Divine,Fierstein,Ball,Ashley,Travolta and now Clark

All these names have one thing in common. These names have all played Edna Turnblad, in Hairspray. Yes that is right. I got the part of Edna in the musical hairspray. I got my script today.

I am so excited that I got, the part I auditioned for. I cannot wait for the show to happen. It will be sometime in the spring, so Stay tuned for more.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. (11)

Every where you go, there's a tree in downtown, one in my home as well.

And christmas cards are going out in the mail.

One of my most favorite times of the year. The movies, the family, the gifts, it all makes what the holidays fun. I always have this tradition on Christmas, where I and my family watch Christmas movies from when we open our gifts, until we have to eat dinner. The bottom right picture of the card is my favorite. That is me soloing on the trumpet. My mother picked a good picture to put on the card this year. I cannot wait to see what she will use for next year. I also can't wait for next year. I don't like the fact that the season ends so soon. Well, New Years here I come.

Did You Know I Was a Bowling Champion? (10)

Yes, yes when I was a freshmen in high school, I took up bowling on Saturday mornings. I wasn't very good. Well that is from my point of view. I won a few trophies my first year.

 

I won the city tournament with my buddy Brandon. We were the city doubles champions. We were the underdogs two.  It did help that I had a high handicap, but we still one. It was my best game I had ever played. I couldn't believe that we had won. The team we beat, should have won, one of them came close to a perfect game, he had 275 out of a total 300 possible points.  A few months later the season ended and my regular season four man team won our division.

Thanks to my now buddy Alex, we took the division at the Brunswick Lanes in Lowell. That was my first season as a bowler. I only played one season due to the unexpected knee injury, that took me out for over a year. So I can say that my first season as a bowler was a good one. It was fun while it lasted, but I don't think I want to do it again. 

I Am Taking Away Your Sound. (9)

Over the past few weeks my Digital Media teacher has given the class a project. The project is very simple, we have to recreate the sound in the film, but we cannot use the original sound. She dumped the sound out of two scenes from movie scenes. One scene was form Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and the other was from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Because of my hatred for Lord of the Rings it was an obvious choice. Here is the original scene.

After just a week this is what I have.

I know it is not done, but give three days to a week and i think it will be done. Truly I had no idea how important sound was to a film. I realize now that I do not take sound for nothing anymore. It is vital to a film. People can only look at one thing at a time, but can hear up to four or five things at once. I made all of these sounds by the way. I did not get anything off of youtube. Except the song, everything else was made by me. Sound is important to life only because we can interpret it. We cannot interpret pictures without a description. With a movie, the description is the sound. I made this video using Garage Band on my laptop at home and the Macs at school. Trust me when I say this the final product will be great.

Spontaneity (8)

Spontaneity: The state of being spontaneous.

On Friday November 22, 2013 the Lowell High School Band held their traditional movie night to close out the marching band season. The selection of the movie was Monsters University. Movie started around 4:30 pm and it was one of the funniest movies PIXAR has made in a while. I am telling you it was fantastic. the movie ended around eight-ish. (With a stop for food in the middle.) But that is not the story here. The real story comes with the spontaneous action that happened after the movie. Some of the seniors in the band (myself included) decided to go see a movie at the Showcase theater in Lowell. We elected to see Bad Grandpa.

This was a hysterical movie, in that Johnny Knoxville was a pure comedic genius. His pranks he pulled on the public were just outrageous. I could not stop laughing. The movie was fantastic. I guess the moral of the story is do not worry about what is going on in the now. Just go with an idea and run away with it. Being spontaneous can be absolutely fun with no regrets. If you act in the now and you are having a good time. The future won't matter. There will be no regrets about the past. I left that theater felling better than I had in weeks. All because of the spontaneous act I made to just live. It was worth the $11.25 to go see. I have now figured out I need to be a little more spontaneous with my life and I will not regret it.

Are You Lost? (7)

On this night. On this night. On this very cold night, November 17th 2013. I went and saw the fantastic Trans-Siberian-Orchestra. The performed at the very nice Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Out in front of the arena.

The show was entitled, Trans-Siberian-Orchestra: The Lost Christmas Eve. I arrived at the arena with my two aunts at around 2:30. The Show started at 3:00. I had time to rome around and see what was going on. When I got back to my seat my aunt had bought a program

The program

And she bought me a concert tee shirt.

The shirt.

The show started and let me tell you I was not disappointed. It was really fantastic. I recommend everyone go and see them live. The clash between rock music and classical music makes this a very entertaining program. The show started and it was a story. It was about a little girl who was lost without a family on the eve of this holiday. One quote stuck with me though. "Hope is not lost, it just goes to sleep and needs to be woken up." I will say the show had very unique and interesting light show, in that, there were all these crazy combinations of the colors of the lights that enhanced the show. The pyrotechnics did not disappoint either. For most of the songs that were performed they included fire. The fire was so intense that every down beat of the song, the fire had a quick burst of energy. That being said sitting near the back of the arena I felt the warmth of the fire when the burst of energy happened. I was and still am surprised that no one got hurt.

If you have not seen them yet, it is worth the money to go and watch them play for two and half hours. They did not take a break. They just kept playing. The intensity of the place was through the roof. And they did this twice. Once at three and again at seven. They are a hardcore band, and their music was fantastic. It was an extravagant day, and I would love to see them again.

A Weekend Away With the Orange Men (6)

On Friday November 8th, school ended and it was time to leave for Syracuse, New York. It was planned that I would visit the campus of Syracuse University. My family and myself left Lowell at 3:00

Source:Me(Rourke Bridge)

pm and headed towards New York.

I ended up falling asleep for about two hours and when I woke up we were at the Lee Plaza and stopped for dinner. McDonalds was the only option. It was gross. Another two hours passed and the family car need gas. So we stopped at a rest stop in New York.

Soon after we came to our hotel in a town outside of Syracuse.

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It was time to go to sleep for the night. Friday turned into Saturday and it was time to visit the campus of Syracuse University. We got there at 8:00 in the morning and the day began. We were greeted by a creepy looking Manor.

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They day moved on and we were headed to lunch and I have to saw it was good for college food. After lunch and we looked around the university.

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I even got my own sweatshirt.

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Then we headed to what I was waiting for. A presentation of Visual Story Telling. Or in simple terms, animation. The professor showed us two clips. One a disney short film but the other was one of the first animations ever.

Cool fact about this movie, it took 10,000 hand drawn drawings and about six months to complete and it was done for a bet. After the movie, the professor brought up that the character, Gertie can be thought as a fun but mischievous dog. When it was all said and done we went to the NewHouse college. This is Syracuse's communications college, which I would like to go into. It was worth the three day trip up to New York. I had fun at the University. I would like to go here someday.

November 5th (5)

Why is November 5th an important date? Well not only did I get to vote in my first election today.

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But also I got the new Call of Duty for the PS3.

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I was so excited, I knew it was going to be a good day. So I went to pick the game up after I voted. I got home and lost track of the time. I got home around 12:30 and before I knew it, it was 7:00 pm. now I am terrible at Call of Duty, but I kept playing. I just loved it so much, that I couldn't stop. And when my eyes could no longer take it, I had to stop for the night. Knowing that right now it is calling me, to play for another hour, but one hour turns into six and then i am tired for school. So better stop then than now.

Yet Another Marching Band Story. (4)

This past Sunday was MICCA Finals in Lowell,MA. It was my last one. I knew going into it that it would be a very long day. Between competing and helping the band parents serving food for everyone else. It all started at seven in the morning. My mother was nice and bought me Dunkins.

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 We reached Cawley Stadium at 7:30 and the fun began. I helped prepare the food.  And trust me when I say this there was a lot of food. I had practice at 10 am, but silly me had forgotten his marching shoes. So I raced home and grabbed them. I even looked stressed out.

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 11:45 came around and Lowell High was going on at 12:15. We finished our warm ups and headed to OUR turf. Then we played our show. WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE/ PIANO MAN. MY LIFE/ ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG. AIR. And finally JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. We finished  our show and we went back to get changed except for a select few seniors. They got to go onto the field for the awards.

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It was good we got three stars in all of the categories, but ended the day with a bronze medal. It was after 2:30 when I finally got out of my uniform, and went helped the band parents with the food. Time just flew by. Soon it was 6:00 and the day was nearly done. When we finished we had a lot of garbage.

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That was just the pizza boxes. We had a lot of left over drinks as well.

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Most of the drinks we sold, but not these. The day was almost complete. But we in the Lowell High band have an unusual tradition. To end the night we do what is called a field roll. What we do is get on of the goal lines, lie down like a log, and roll to the other goal line. When we get to the other goal line we have to get up and run back to the first goal line. It is truly a lot of fun. So that has ended my four year run with MICCA.  It has been a great marching band year, and I am going to miss these days. I don't know what I will do with my life afterward. It has been so routine these past four years. I guess there would be an empty feeling. I don't know.  It has been a fun four years, seeing that we could almost be state champions on Saturday Nov., 2nd at my last NESBA finals. That would be cool.

GO...,GO U...,GO UMASS.., GO U MASS, HEY!!!(3)

Saturday was one of the best days in the marching band season. It was the annual University of Massachusetts Amherst  BAND DAY!! It took place at the one, the only Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.



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With practice beginning at 10 am, I knew it would be a long day ahead of me. The theme for this year was the music from the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was one of the best Band Days I have been to. Practice ended around 12:45 in the afternoon, with kickoff at 3:00 pm. By that point I was getting very, very hungry. I knew that there was a Five Guys Burgers and Fries up at Patriots Place. But when I got there, there was a line through the door. I only had a limited amount of time so I went across the mall and saw this place.

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I had two of the best slices of Buffalo Chicken Pizza ever. Fresh out of the oven. Oh, it was as Willy Wonka would say "scrumdiddlyumptious."

My lunch hour was over and it was now 1:45, I had fifteen minutes to get ready and get in line for the game.




Source:Me(This is me hurrying up because I was late.)

It was now 2 pm and the line to get in was huge, there were 3,000 band kids from every New England State and New York there just to play some music.

Source:Me(That is just 1/4 of the people waiting to get inside the stadium.)

I got inside and I had one of the best seats in the house.

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The game started and UMASS deferred to the second half.

The first quarter ended and it was almost time for the moment of glory. With only 7:35 seconds left in the half, the students made there way down to get ready to go on the field. The half ended and we all looked like mad men trying to get to our spots, then it all started.

Thanks to Jon DiPrima the man who took this video who I think took the best one. He has the right angle and everything.  So thanks again Jon.

Halftime ended, and the game continued. UMASS won the game 17-10 against Miami(OH). And the day was almost complete. It wouldn't be a day if UMASS didn't do their traditional 5th Quarter performance. The show ended and they closed the way the close every show.

Thanks to the person who wasn't named on the youtube channel for taking this video. I have been going to Band Day for five years now, I cried when this came up, they were tears of joy and sadness, knowing it will be the last time I will see the band at Band Day, but also because of how much I have grown, knowing the traditions that the band has. This song shows closure, which I got on Saturday.My Way by Frank Sinatra, is always played at the end of their performances.

  These past five years have been a blast, these are the memories I will take the grave. I knew when I heard this song, I was ending a part of high school, that I always loved.

Here we go again!!!(2)

 Thank You, to Niki Tsongas who knows what she is doing down in Washington. She sent out this tweet on Saturday.

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Although I think she may be wrong, that the GOP wants to shut it down. I also think she is partly right. She knows that Obamacare is a good idea for the nation, that  everyone should have the right to have basic health care. She is not looking at it from the  right point of view, yes the republicans want to stop this, but from our friends in the senate Mr. Markey  and Ms. Warren don't seem to care at all. Here are some quotes from their twitter feed.

Ed Markey- 
                "ICYMI: Ed to be chair of U.S. Senate Climate change Clearinghouse; continue work combatting dangers of global warming."

                        "Congrats @RedSox  on making postseason!"



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The problem I have here is this is the guy we sent down to vote represent us, has ruined  our voice in DC, he voted present on the case of should we invade Syria? Present really!  What happens when something bigger is happening at home, are you going to vote present on this as well,  You cannot do that, it is more important that a yes or a no comes out of your mouth,  on this situation. Plus who writes in the third person, not this guy. It is weird that you did that. But at least you made a little attempt to show us that you care, your partner in crime on the other hand didn't seem to do that.

Elizabeth Warren-
                "Holly Petraeus (@CFPBMilitary), @nikiinthehouse, @coleynee, (@MASSDVS) & I met #vets & #milfam in Boston, Lowell today."

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I am not even going to quote her next two tweets, they have nothing to do with the shutdown.

This saddens me when our own senators can't even put something out there in social media  concerning more about this shutdown that will effect everyone's life. So when people say "It is the republicans that is stopping this from happening."  It really is not, it is  everyone who is not putting enough effort to try and stop this. Markey and Warren are not putting enough effort,  they don't care it seems. And with Ed's past voting on something very serious, I expect the same for this problem, with the same answer. A "present” vote. That won't help us nor will it help Mr. Markey. Not right, but left.

My 18th Birthday(1)

   Well, today is my 18th birthday and I feel pretty excited. My day was no different than yesterday, except I am one year older. My mom even got cake today.

                                                  Even though it is eaten it still says Happy Birthday Andrew! It is my favorite flavor Chocolate.

She also got me my favorite ice cream,

                My second favorite is Mint chocolate chip. All was good, but prior to my birthday, President Obama sent this tweet out to the world.

                                                    What does the president want me to do, call my senators, one who says present  and one who doesn't know what she is doing? Hi Mr. President I just turned 18, do you really think the two senators who don't do anything are actually going to listen to an 18 year old, who doesn't know how to vote( Although I am a democrat). The people of congress are forgetting that we as citizens don't work for them, they work for us. So yeah maybe a phone call will work, but again I'm 18, I am new to the market. I mean who cares, the right has tried to repal Obamacare 37 times. THEY ARE 0-37!!!!  Let them go for it again, it will only embarass them more. So again Mr. President I ask, what do you want me to do?  So a great way to enter into the political world is tell my represenatives, No, there is only three that represent me. It would make a big difference if they all could just talk it out, but that is not what the right will do, they want what they want and won't stop until they get it, I mean they have tried 37 times, so let them keep trying, they won't get anywhere. Not right, but left.