The Dangers of Dog Toys

Dead Zebra Toy

When dog toys contain "Supervise your dog and check toys regularly," on the label, take it seriously.

Some toys can pose a choking hazard to pets. Others may cut them; nd in the case of Maestro's neighing zebra, I bet battery fluid would cause stomach problems.

After less than 24 hours, the noisemaker broke. This is what I pulled out. Thankfully, the unit was in a little sac inside the toy.

Broken Dog Toy

Not to worry, Maestro was unharmed. As soon as the noisemaker cracked, it was taken away.

Interview with CA Edington of Virtual Choir 3.0

When I was with Suite101, I interviewed CA Edington from Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 3.0 to discuss musical traditions, life in Japan and Virtual Choir.

CA Edington of Sapporo, Japan, recorded the Soprano 4 part to Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 3 project: “Water Night” from Whitacre's Grammy-winning album, Light & Gold. This huge multi-track project received a total of 3,746 videos from amateur and professional singers worldwide. The audio and video was cleaned on each submission before they were incorporated together.

Ms. Edington sat down with Suite101 on April 14 and 28, 2012 via Skype to discuss Eric Whitacre's music, life in Japan and Virtual Choir.

CA Edington on Musical Traditions

CA grew up in a very musical family around upstate New York. “Everybody would go to my grandparents' house at Christmas,” she recalled. “It was in a small town in Ohio and they had a huge house. We would all stay there for two or three days, and the piano was never empty.”

Christmas carols were unique. “Christmas morning, we would all gather around the tree and before we opened the presents, we would sing a carol in four-part harmony. I thought this was a tradition that was carried on everywhere, in every family. I didn't realize it was just us,” she added with a laugh.

CA Edington on Living and Singing in Japan

CA Edington moved to Japan in 1982 and hasn't looked back since. “I wanted to be in another culture, not just visit. I wanted it to be another culture that's very different from the US.” CA works as an English teacher, proofreader, narrator and transcriber in Sapporo.

CA has nothing but warm things to say about her adopted home. “The city of Sapporo is such an easy city to get around, compared with a lot of places in Japan because it is only a little over 100 years old. The public transportation is fantastic here. I live near a gorgeous park. I can walk through that park anytime of day or night and feel completely safe.”

One of the draws to Sapporo for CA is the vibrant arts community. “Music is very big here,” she said. “There are a lot of choral competitions. There are so many choruses, I don't even know how many.”

Sapporo also boasts The Pacific Music Festival, which was founded by Leonard Bernstein in 1990. “He founded it here in Sapporo. Young musicians come from all over the world for a month to study and perform here in Sapporo.”

CA was one of the first members of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra Chorus. “It just got started about five years ago,” she recalled. “A student knew about the auditions and she got the audition papers for me and I thought, “Oh. I'll just fill them out.” I was in another chorus, a pretty high level chorus that does mainly classical music and I was very happy in that chorus. I thought, “I'll just try out,” and I went and tried out. Actually, there were about six people from my chorus, six other women and a couple of the men who tried out as well.”

The audition process took place in several stages. “First, we had to do sight reading. I mean cold. We got the piece and got to look at it for 30 seconds and then we had to go in and sing it. The next stage of the audition process was to sing an excerpt from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Getting accepted was a pleasant surprise. “Fast forward to a month later. The class that had recommended that I join the chorus was just finishing up. I went across the hall and found a letter from the symphony. I opened it and I couldn't exactly understand what it was saying.” With a laugh, she added, “So I took it over to my class members and they read it and said, “CA you got in!””

After a moment's reflection, she added. “I wasn't sure whether they would accept me or not, but I've been very accepted. What I love about the chorus is that I'm not a gaijin [non-Japanese] in the chorus. I'm a soprano.”

CA Edington Discusses Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

CA learned about Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir shortly after VC2: “Sleep”, so she had to wait for almost another year to participate in VC3. “I thought 'OK, I'll learn the piece in a couple of days and record it and then that'll be it.' Well, I didn't start until the middle of January and what I discovered was that it was going to be much more challenging than I had thought; especially since I chose Soprano 4.”

She can laugh easily now about some of the challenges she experienced. “Then I'm ready for recording, right before the deadline. I mean, a day or two and there was trouble! I kept getting error messages and then discovered – because I was on the Facebook site and also checking the website – that others were having technical problems.”

Another issue was staggering the breath. “When you're with a chorus you stagger your breath with the person around but here you are singing alone and where do you stagger the breath?” She decided to check some of the other Virtual Choir submissions. “I don't think I heard anyone who got all the way through “soul” the final word, without taking a breath; so then I felt more relaxed about it.”

In the end, it all worked out. “I don't even know how the technicians work that out. To me, that's amazing, but I suppose once you get 3,500 plus voices together, it's not that noticeable who's taking a breath where.”

CA Edington on Eric Whitacre's Music and the “Water Night” Premiere

CA was moved when VC3: "Water Night" and Water Night the album premièred on April 2, 2012. “When that blue screen came up and the faces started – even talking about it right now, I'm getting chills. Just chills,” she recalled. “Of course, I was riveted, not just because I had participated in it, but because the whole concept and the piece and Eric himself are all – I don't want to use the word “amazing”. That's overused. I can't find a word that describes it entirely. It gave me chills. Pleasant chills. Good chills.”

Like many Whitacre fans, Eric Whitacre's music holds a special place in CA's heart. “It transports me when I hear it. It's so complex and at the same time, so simple. How he gets all those notes in there and how they end up sounding so together, I have no idea. The man is a genius and he is the kind of genius that is just so rare.”

Originally published June 12, 2012.  All rights reserved by Rhona-Mae Arca.

Time Saving Technique Practice Idea

Are you stuck between studying for tests and logging in much needed time on practicing technique? Try this idea that came up during one of my lessons last week:

This student is working on his Grade 8 piano technique. Four octave scales - woohoo?

He played d harmonic minor for the first octave and d melodic minor for the second by accident. Then, I had him play D major for the first octave, d natural minor for the second octave...you get the idea.

Basically in one pass, you practice all the scales you need to know for a traditional music exam. However, to actually hear any improvement, you'll have to play it this way more than once. More than twice.

You can change things up of course. Try this on all the minors (natural, harmonic, melodic, jazz). Or be bold and try these on some of the jazz scales.

The bottom of the white board refers to an idea I think has already been mentioned. Play the ascending scale one way (e.g., major), and the descending scale another way (e.g. harmonic minor).

You have to be awake to do this kind of practice. Well really, we should be all striving for mindful practice anyway...right?

Seraphic Singles Book Review

Dorothy Cummings delivers humorous insights and tips to Catholic singles as they navigate the Catholic dating scene and search for happiness.

Being single is tough. However, for traditional Catholic singles, there are additional challenges. “For sincerely Catholic women as for women of most faiths,” writes author Dorothy Cummings, “the state of “single blessedness” is something a lot more serious, a lot more real, than the sugary fantasies of Sex and the City.”

Since 2006, Dorothy Cummings has shared her adventures, challenges and insights on the dating scene as a single, Catholic woman on her blog, Seraphic Singles. She has attracted readers from around the world. Her insights are compiled in her book, Seraphic Singles: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Single Life.

What is a Seraphic Single?

According to Cummings, being a “seraphic single” relates to loving the single life. After reading St. Paul's writings on the single life, she concluded that “if one were called by God to remain single, whether temporarily or permanently, then one should be as cheerfully accepting of God's will as possible.”

Cummings shares her discoveries and revelations about “single blessedness” throughout the book. She reminds readers that there is no better time in history and no better place than the western world to be a single woman. Cummings shares her Top Ten Great Things About Being Single, from not being nagged as much as married folk, to being able to make life changing decisions without having to ask someone for permission. The prevailing theme is that it is OK to be single.

A Catholic's Rules for Dating

While navigating the dating scene, Cummings developed “A Catholic's Rules for Dating”. These are:

• Know yourself.

• Be consistent.

• Be just.

• Be careful.

• Be chaste.

• Keep your spiritual director or confessor in the loop.

• Be loyal.

• Listen to your friends.

• Be brave.

• Pray that God's loving will be done.

Cummings reminds readers that God wants us – single, married or otherwise committed – to be happy. “Don't date someone because you should; date him because you want to.”

Journeys in Dating and Courtship

According to Cummings, there is a clear distinction between dating and courtship.“ Dating is what people do because they are lonely,” she wrote. “Courtship is what people do because one or both are falling in love.”

Cummings touches upon important lessons and advice regarding online dating, local dating and courtship. She covers topics such as:

• No Sex in the City

• Who Pays on a Date?

• Maybe I'm Too Smart

• Kind you are attracted to vs. the kind you get a crush on

• Loneliness Happens

Cummings knows just what we single folk are going through – because she's been there. Her description of the loneliness singles feel resonates strongly with readers. “The loneliness of Friday night when you are all dressed up and have nowhere to go...The loneliness of listening to a humming fridge in the dark...”

Seraphic Singles offers insights into being single and being a traditional single Catholic. It provides lessons and dating advice for all types of “Searching Singles”, delivered with Cummings' charm, wit and upbeat writing style. The book is a delightful read (and re-read).

“My advice to Searching Singles everywhere is to give up the search,” she wrote. “Don't sit around missing out because you are single. There are people to meet and things to see.” Enjoy the life you have now.

About Author Dorothy Cummings

Dorothy Cummings McLean is a Canadian writer who earned her Masters in English Literature from the University of Toronto and a Masters in Divinity from Regis College. Cummings also spent two years at Boston College working on her doctoral studies in theology.

Cummings writes for the Catholic Register and Novalis Publications. Seraphic Singles is published in the US as The Closet's All Mine: From a Seraphic Single. Since publishing Seraphic Singles, Cummings has married. She now lives and works in Scotland. Her blog Seraphic Singles continues to attract new readers. She has also started a new blog detailing her adventures in Scotland, called, Seraphic Goes to Scotland.

Challenging My Real Time Listening Comprehension

Sensei and her teaching assistants have started to play CD's containing Japanese conversations in real time. Our task has been to see just how much we can pick out. The answer? Not much.

Nothing makes it so blatantly clear just how far we have to climb than listening to that CD. It made it obvious just how much sensei and her assistants have slowed down their speech for us.

On the first pass, we caught the odd word. By the third pass, we were able to catch phrases - so long as the CD was paused after each phrase!

The question now becomes, "How to practice this at home during the week?" Here are a few ideas that sensei, my classmates and I have come up with:

• listen to Japanese radio shows

• listen to Japanese music

• watch Japanese shows - raw, or without looking at the subtitles

The trick is to listen to the track several times, to see if you can pick out a little bit more each time. むずかしい です ね？