Stevens Admissions: Mike's Blog

Happy Birthday America!

Here we are in the second full month of summer. Although I wasn't able to attend what I'm sure was an awesome fireworks display on the Hudson River at Stevens, I did attend a backyard pyrotechnical show (of questionable legality). 

I also finally bought The Rest Is Noise, a book about Twentieth-Century music. Rather than analyzing the pieces, or writing mini-biographies, the author Alex Ross offers a look at the political and social events that shaped the music and vice-versa. The book covers a lot of ground, both classical and popular. He begins with the stories of Salome and Parsifal, and ends with a section on the Beatles and the Velvet Underground.

While reading the book, I've been trying to get some of my material up on YouTube for my friends to listen to. All I've got up so far is my final from the past semester's Contemporary Theory class. You can check it out here if you're interested.

I'm close to finishing the first phase of my research project. I'm really pumped to start writing. I'm getting a lot of inspiration from the pieces in The Rest Is Noise, and one of my favorite artists, Vladimir Kush. I think the first piece I'm going to write is going to be based on this painting:

Summer! Slow Down!

Wow. I can't believe we're at the end of June. Summer is officially here, though the weather is still confused. I'm really hoping for a nice sunny day soon. Enough is enough with this rain!

I've been working diligently on my summer research. I'm thankfully learning a lot about advanced orchestration and sequencing. I'm also gearing up to start writing my own songs. I'm taking some time to get some pre-production in. I'm listening to a lot of great composers and looking for outside inspiration. I'm a big fan of program music (pieces based on something non-musical). So I'm looking for good artwork to write to. I'm also watching movies with really creative soundtracks. My favorite so far is Wall-E. It's a great example of combining electronic samples with an orchestra.

This week I started rehearsing for the Matawan Theater Alumni Association's fundraiser-show. I'm playing piano in the pit band, something I haven't done in a looooong time. I'm a little rusty, but I'm hoping to use the opportunity to actually get myself to practice. I really wish I played more...

Other than that, I've continued reading. Read VALIS last week. Very weird. Pretty good. It has a lot of references to non-mainstream aspects of various religions, and its about a schizophrenic man, which is reflected in the writing.

It's Been a While

This summer is flying by. I remember back in mid-May, I was sitting around with my friends, trying to think of what we could possibly do on such a gorgeous day. Next thing I know, I'm sitting in my house in June, and it's FREEZING! I don't know what is going on with the weather, but I hope it gets consistently nice soon.

    I've  been keeping busy this summer. I've vowed to beat my book-reading record from last year's nine. I'm already two in. I finished Moby-Dick, which was almost a chore. Great story but I could do without the detailed and almost-overly-romantic descriptions of whaling equipment. I do think it's important to read some classics though. From there I moved on to Things Fall Apart, a much shorter novel that tells the story of an African tribal man's fall, followed by the destruction of his civilization by European missionaries. I loved the symbolism and the social and religious commentary. It is also a great introduction to African fiction, an area that I will be coming back to. Up next is Everything That Rises Must Converge, a collection of short stories by Flannery O'Connor. I was introduced to the book through Lost. Apparently after the season finale aired, sales of this book absolutely skyrocketed on Amazon. Gotta get in on the band wagon!

    Another thing I'd like to do is see all the great movies that are coming out this summer. So far, it's been a little disappointing. Terminator Salvation was cool and entertaining but fell very short of my expectations. Land of the Lost - moments of hilarity mixed with many more moments of utter stupidity. I'm a fan of the stupid-funny comedy, but this was just too much at times. I guess it just wasn't worth the $10.50 I spent. I'm never paying for another movie again! Luckily I have the Optimum Rewards Card, which gives me free movies on Tuesdays! I've used it to see Up, which was very good. Very intense for a family movie. Just a little worried about those talking dogs...they kind of remind me too much of failed Disney movies. I hope Pixar isn't moving into that direction (Toy Story 3 is next...please please please be good). Star Trek was pretty awesome too. It was the first Trek thing I've ever seen, and I don't know if it lived up to the rest of the franchise but I think it's an imaginative start. They can do anything they want next!

    Quick aside - I've given up on television. There are two good shows on: Lost and The Mis-Adventures of Flapjack. Mostly everything else is trash (and Flapjack is pretty stupid too, but just reminds me of a time when SpongeBob SquarePants was actually enjoyable).

    I've also been working hard on my Scholars Research. I'm really excited this summer to be working with people who are very involved in the composition side of the industry. I'm learning a lot about what there is to actually do...it's more than just writing songs. Right now, I'm focusing on sequencing a song for my advisor, which in turn allows me to beta test a new sound library. It's the first time I've ever done either. Sequencing, I've learned, is taking the MIDI data generated from a notation program and manipulating it into something that sounds very realistic. I've been re-recording a lot of the instrument parts and mixing the sounds so that the piece is much more human.

    So, there's lots of stuff happening this summer. Carlos Alomar read my palm and told me that something big was happening RIGHT NOW! I've never really invested much faith in black magic, but time will tell if he's right.

Into the Unknown!

I've made a decision this year to be more active and enjoy the outdoors more. This weekend I traveled 26 miles down the Delaware River in a canoe. I saw some beautiful things and some pretty gross things. Also, I saw a beaver. I never thought that I would ever catch a glimpse of this mythic beast, but there one was swimming right next to my canoe.

The best part of the trip was being the third person in a two-man canoe. I didn't have to paddle the entire time! And I got to soak up the scenery. Unfortunately, the bottom of a canoe is generally very wet. But we got to rotate so I could give the other guys a break. To make a long story short, we made it in one piece. Only one of our twelve boat fleet tipped over...and I was NOT in it.


In a completely unrelated story, I've been reading these interesting articles about the internet. If you're one of the not-so-tech-savvy Stevens students, you might find it interesting too.

A Long, Exciting Week

Last week was pretty busy here at Stevens. Our annual Spring semester fun-fest, Boken, was launched on Wednesday. The theme this year was Bokenopoly, complete with Bokenopoly Bucks, Bankers, Community Chest cards - you name it. There were Water Works, Casino Night, a Relaxation Lounge, comedian, bands, and best of all, the Carnival!

The carnival on Saturday was complete with rides, animal races, games, churros, and of course, funnel cake. Students played games to win Bokenopoly money to buy raffle tickets with. I had so many ticekts but still didn't win that Wii! Maybe next year...

Also on Saturday, I was involved with Verge. Verge is the new name for Combustion, the Art and Music Tech exhibition here on campus. This year Verge was held in the library, and my friend and I were invited to provide background music and ambient noise for the event. The artwork was amazing (and so was the turnout). It was nice to see such an appreciation for the art and music departments here!

I drew this at the Corn Dog Drawing Competition at the Relaxation Lounge, hosted by RedShift.

And here are me, Chris Chalmers, and his peddles jamming in the library at Verge.

Spring Is Finally Here

Yesterday and today were the first really enjoyable warm days. Unfortunately, I developed a cold earlier this week and it got so bad yesterday that I couldn't even taste my Jersey Devil Burrito.  Luckily I was able to enjoy both a giant slice from Benny's and a huge pile of Cluck U BBQ Chicken.

This week has been a little hectic. Everything's winding down, which means finals! Most of my classes have final projects rather than exams, which relieves studying but is still a lot of work. For Contemporary Theory I have to compose two pieces, and one is a Serialist piece. For those of you who don't know, Serialism is the final frontier for modern music. Its pretty intense stuff, with a lot of basic math involved in the setup.

Last but CERTAINLY not least, GOOD LUCK to the Devils tonight! I won't be able to watch the game because I'll be at work, but I'll be watching in spirit!

Movie Night

On Tuesday, the SGA Movie Committee hosted a preview of Observe and Report, the latest Seth Rogen comedy. It was pretty hilarious, and the best part was that it was FREE!

The Movie Committee has been hosting a pretty decent amount of free previews since, as I remember, last year when they showed Dan in Real Life. There has constantly been a pretty good turn out to these previews, so I think they should be keeping them coming. In addition to the free previews, the Movie Committee shows a different recent movie every week for a mere $2! Check out the schedule in the link to see what's coming up for the rest of the semester.

What to Do!?!?

Summer is rapidly approaching. Now is the time to think about summer research; scholars and I believe Technogenesis proposals are due in next week! To be honest, it is rather difficult for me as a Music Composition major to come up with a suitable research topic. Last summer, I worked on a music library for College of Arts and Letters. The library is so close to being presentable! I do know that the first part of my research will be continuing my work in this area. I hope to be eventually write something as part of my research, though if it doesn't go in that direction there's no reason I can't write on my own.

My first summer, I worked on radio research. This was really fascinating to me. I had no idea how that market worked, but then I was able to sit in on the WPLJ music director's meeting with potential clients. It gave me great insight into an important part of the music business. I also worked closely with Castle Point Records, promoting their landmark release Delusions of Grandeur.

Now is also the time to make our schedules. After conquering my 21 credits this semester, I plan on taking a slightly easier path in the fall. After all, I've taken 99% of my required classes. I only need to take a few upper level humanities classes (which I would be taking anyway). I've decided that I'm not going to slack off senior year and instead take classes in other subjects that interest me. I'll hopefully be taking my first art class since digital photography my sophomore year in high school: Intro to Principles of Two-Dimensional Form. And in the spring I am really hoping to take the Introduction to Astrophysics class. There are many classes that I didn't have time for in the past that I would love to take at Stevens.

Week in Review

Last week my fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa (better known as Piskies on campus), hosted a car smash. Students paid five dollars for three hits with a baseball bat or sledge hammer (and a battering ram at one point) to a sedan that was in pretty good condition before the festivities began. The event was a fundraiser for the Peace Corps, which alumni Eric Eisenhardt is involved with in Kenya. We raised a great amount of money. Thanks for coming out, and congratulations to Andrew Micallef for doing such a great job setting it all up.

PSK Brother Scott Snyder weilds the battering ram.


On Saturday I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a mini-scavenger hunt for a class I am taking, the Golden Age of Athens. The Greek and Roman sculpture there was amazing, but unfortunately I did not have much time to see anything else. The Met is a great museum to check out if you ever get the chance!

The White Room in the Met


On Sunday, I saw Jersey Boys, courtesy of the Entertainment Committee. While I am familiar with a lot of the Four Seasons's material, I knew almost nothing of the band's story. The show was great, both information-wise and musically. The actor playing Frankie Valli was ridiculously talented. It was probably one of the best musicals I've seen. I really liked that they didn't just build a story around the songs, like Across the Universe. I guess its just a different way of telling a story, but I think its a better way!

Pictures of Disney

As promised, here are some pictures we took at Walt Disney World.

This was after my favorite ride, Maelstom, in the Norway Pavilion at EPCOT. If you've been on the ride, you know why it's so awesome!

Here, Walt Disney showed me his plans for world domination. Or something like that. It was towards the end of the trip: I was tired!

The Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom was ridiculous. Huge and full of animal carvings. What more could you ask of a tree?

After riding Jungle Cruise 3125 times in Magic Kingdom, I finally saw some real elephants on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. Plus some white and black rhinos, lions, giraffes, ostriches...so great.

I think this is a pretty solid picture of Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom. That line coming out from the highest tower is there in case the ridiculous fireworks show drives anyone to jump out of the tower.

Splash Mountain was another favorite of mine. As you can see, I was very excited to get back on it.

Last but not least, the glorious Space Mountain. I took this picture while riding the Tomorrow Land Transit Authority, and it kind of creeped me out when it went through Space Mountain. It's an awesome ride but it's, well, creepy.

So there's a few highlights from my Spring Break. Check back next week, when I'll write about smashing cars and Greek mythology.