4 October 2012 (Thursday)

Today was the first class of the Fall Quarter, after a number of weeks break after Summer Quarter. I had no idea how many people would show up for this first class, on a new day in a new location.  

In the end 5 students came: 2 students from last quarter, 2 new students, and 1 American who is learning Chinese.

There was some general conversation as students arrived. I asked the returning students about their travels during the break. I must say, the international students see more of the United States than even I, an American, have seen!

I mentioned that there is a new band from Seattle with some famous people from other bands called Walking Papers (Facebook site) and they are playing a show Friday night to celebrate their new (1st) cd.  As an example of their music I showed part of a live concert they played this summer.  I have seen them twice and like them a lot.  They are hard-rock, so you have to like that kind of music. Unfortunately I can't go to the show on Friday night because I will be in a seminar all weekend long.

Now we got to know a bit more about what kind of music the students in the class like.  First up was "Afterglow, featuring Soundmouse" (video, lyrics) by Phaeleh (Facebook page). The student who chose this said he likes how atmospheric this song is, how it puts him in a different state of mind. We talked about how music can color the day's atmosphere, beyond just the weather (ex. sunny, cloudy, rainy).

 
I asked one of the new students for an example of what kind of music she likes.  She plays piano herself so likes piano music, but said for pop music she likes *all* of Bruno Mars's songs.

As an example of a Bruno Mars song she chose Marry You. I asked if she had ever seen the famous video where the guy in Portland, OR, asks his girlfriend to marry him by getting all his friends to dance to this song (video, lyrics, song info). She hadn't seen that video before, so I showed it to the class. It's a classic.

Inspired by the guy putting so much effort into asking his girlfriend to ask him to marry him I asked the women in the class if men are romantic. Overall they said "No, men are not romantic". Come on guys, step it up! One thing all the women agreed on is that they like chocolate, so there's a first step for you!

One of the other new students likes to play guitar himself.  I mentioned that there is a hot new guitar player from Seattle named Ayron Jones (website), who is playing Friday and Saturday nights this weekend.  As an example of Ayron's music I played a live clip (video).

Next I asked the two returning students who had travelled during the break what their theme songs from their trips were. 

They had both been to New York City and it turns out that for both of them their "theme songs" for their trip had to do with New York:

"Empire State Of Mind" (video, lyrics, song info) by Jay-Z (info).

And "Somewhere In Brooklyn" (video, lyrics, song info) by Bruno Mars (info).


At this point we had to end class because they were closing the room. It was a fun conversation today!