In Defense of Band: A Flute Players Manifesto

Band. What comes to your mind? A pop or rock idol singing on the stage when you so recently went to their concert? Maybe. But a school band? Probably a bunch of nerds spitting into over sized instruments playing classical music played Mozart or Bach. If you even know who they are. The truth is that band can be somewhat "cool". We play all kinds of music in band. Talk to anyone in band and I can almost guarantee that they will say that their instrument is hard to play. I my mind music is essential to the soul. All of those movies you watch have background music to them which makes the movie more dramatic or romantic. Who composes that music you ask? Band players. Or at least, started out as band players, and then became orchestra conductors and music composers.
Much of the music we play in band is from popular movies, like Titanic. Yes, I know, Its pretty amazing. Last year the high school band played "My Heart Will Go On", and other pieces from the movie. The wind ensemble(which I'm proud to say I was invited to) played Pirates of the Carribean. Yeah it was awesome. We will probably play music from more popular movies this year too.
Playing the flute is not an easy job. There is about fifty fingerings, a certain way to blow into the flute depending on what kind of pitch you want, tuning(the nightmare), learning where the notes are on the music and finding the corresponding fingerings to them, and doing all this while paying attention to the conductor and not getting out of beat. Not to mention that I can't see what I am doing. And I am a beginner on the flute too. As you get more experienced, more things come along, like blending, listening to the other band members, and demanding pressure on you on stage as you stand for your solo. Any instrument is hard to play. When I was in fifth grade, Mr. Taranto sent out invitations to go to an "instrument petting zoo". I have always wanted to learn to play the flute, and this was my chance. I got there and they let me blow into the flute. He said that i would be a good flute player. I was so exited! We had a lot of students in band at first, at least thirty, but over time people dropped out and only twelve were left in the class of 2016 band. I am the only flute player. Band is not an easy thing just for nerds who can't play sports. I am also on the swim team. Don't judge a band by its cover. :)         

The princess bride

I have just gotten The Princess Bride by William Goldman today at the library.  I haven't started the actual story yet, just the introduction sections. I have seen the movie and I can't wait to get started. I'm hoping that it will also include extra things not in the movie, like the zoo of death. My friend Wendy really liked the book, and if Wendy likes it, I know I will like it. The author tells in the introduction how many steps it took to become a writer and write the last chapter Buttercup's Baby.
So far its been a really good book. I like the way the author writes about his personal experience with The Princess Bride and goes into detail about researching the story and being on the movie set. Maybe he could've gotten to the story faster though. Anyway, I am really looking forward to the book. <3

In Defense of Food Review

I didn't really like the book, "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. It is very boring, being more of an adventurous book kinda girl myself, and I didn't think even for the topic, it didn't need to go so deeply into food history and focus more on the present day.  It repeated many things already written and it sometimes contradicted them. It also used many words that weren't needed. I try to be as open-minded as possible and I hate to give things bad reviews but it was just too much. It felt like the writer was just forcing all the information into you. It wasn't my kind of book, and some people might like it (if your the nutrition freak). The third part should've been the longest part, when in fact, it was the shortest.That are my thoughts on the book, anyway. <3  

First Blog

Hey! Emma F. here! This is my first blog for the year and I will be posting at leat once a week. I
think that we are going to have a great year in english class! :)