How are those New Years resolutions holding up, people?

I don’t make any, so I can’t offer you my own answer, but I can say that this has already been a year of new beginnings for me — and it’s only been half a month! After a 5 year pause, I’ve finally taken up my Kung Fu training again which is making me feel very good and physically refreshed. I did 7 years leading up into my highschool years and then the studio closed, so I’ve been waiting ever since to find a new place that I like…I think this one is it.

In musical news, I’ve been gifted with a marvelous opportunity by the wonderful GCFC (Guild of Canadian Film Composers). They’ve set up a partnership program between them and the CFC wherein a number of applicants (composers) are paired up with emerging directors from the CFC (Canadian Film Centre) every year to score a small exercise and have it performed and recorded with a live orchestra! This year, I was among the 4 chosen from across Canada to participate, and am absolutely thrilled to be working on a wonderful and dramatic segment of film. I had my spotting session with the director yesterday afternoon and have promptly buried my nose in the footage to begin immersing myself in it. I figured that I should let the world know though before hiding away in the studio again…so here’s me sharing what is truly an amazing opportunity for which I am very grateful to the GCFC.

I cannot actually show the video, but once the score is written and recorded, you can bet that the audio will be up on my demo reel for your listening enjoyment. Expect something minimalistic and challenging…the film is pretty intense stuff!

Another interesting development is that I am mourning the loss of my old phone. The wonderful Samsung E747F that served me so well for two years has finally keeled over and died — after a prolonged period of erratic behaviour, decreasing battery life, and other strange manifestations of senility. Indulgence is a good cure for grief, and so I indulged…which is to say that I’m now the happy owner of an iPhone. Actually, I had to leave my old service provider and switch to a new one just to be able to get it without paying an arm and my firstborn child (long story short: apparently service loyalty is not as valuable as I expected…). In any case, I have been enjoying the myriad bounties of the App Store and the fun and friendly interface of the phone. If you were planning on getting in touch but didn’t up until now, please reconsider — give me a call! I’m always happy to hear from people and it’s an excuse to use all the free minutes I get this month with the new phone.

…But I will never forget you, dear Samsung.

Also: my review of Brothers, by Thomas Newman, went up on Tracksounds so you are welcome to check it out. If you’re interested in my views on more scores, make sure to look back in the archives too, there’ve been a bunch of other reviews that I didn’t post about here.

Anyhow, it’s back to the manuscript for me — I’ll check in soon!