Andy's Journal

Football Update
I am now back in Ann Arbor. I got back on Saturday with no travel problems. The Giants played on Thanksgiving and got killed by the Denver Broncos. The final score was 26-6. I don't know what has happened to them. They played so well at the beginning of the season and now they are complete shit. I know they have had some key injuries, such as cornerback Aaron Ross, but that shouldn't produce such a huge downward spiral. They are now 6-5 on the year. The Jets beat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday by a score of 17-6 and are now 5-6 on the year. Not a good year for football in NY!

Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that you are all having a good time!

Home
I got home to Binghamton, NY yesterday. It's the first time I have been home for Thanksgiving in a couple years. It will be good to spend the holiday with my family. My mom and dad are here and my sister and her boyfriend are coming tomorrow. My brother has to work and can't come home and my grandparents are at my uncle's house in NJ. It is nice to have a break from school as I was really burning out from practicing so much.

Wedding
I went to my friend Stephanie's wedding Saturday night. Stephanie is the sister of Heather who I have previously posted about here. They both got master's degrees in organ here at UM. They are both Chaldean and the wedding was at the Chaldean church. The organ was horrible electric Allen organ. I had never been to a Chaldean wedding before. A lot of things were different from Western Rite Catholicism. They chanted a lot in Aramaic and I didn't understand a word! It was a very nice wedding and I like her husband, Jim, a lot. When they said "in sickness and in health, till death do us part", I couldn't help but remember watching Marilyn Mason go through those parts of the marriage. It was the second time she's been widowed, so she knows damn well what those words really mean. I'm sure that if I every get married I will again think of her and Professor Bill as I say those words. I went to the beginning of the reception, but it got late (the wedding was at 6pm and the reception at 8pm) and I had too much to do in Ann Arbor and had to leave. I felt kind of uncomfortable anyway, because almost everyone there was her Chaldean friends and I didn't know any of them. I wouldn't have missed it no matter what and was glad that I went as Stephanie and Heather have been two of my best friends here at Michigan.

Football Update
I attended the Michigan/Ohio St. game yesterday. It was nuts as usual. There were some Ohio St. fans sitting in the student section. Some Michigan students obviously sold them their tickets. There were a couple of Michigan students who were ALL OVER them. They kept yelling "Fuck you! You fuckin' pussies! You're a fuckin' faggot!" And there was one girl with an Ohio St. shirt on and they yelled at her too: "You're a slut! You're a bitch!" The Ohio St. group hardy said anything in return. Finally, one of them yelled something back and I saw the usher talking to them. I made sure to tell the usher that they weren't the problem. He said he knew and that they were watching the Michigan students who were yelling at them and that he was just telling the Ohio St. fans to ignore them. As much as I hate OSU, I couldn't sit there and let the guy take the fall and maybe get kicked out for yelling one thing when it was the Michigan kids that were the problem. The usher said he said to the Michigan students were was cursing: "I have my wife and kid here and you are talking like a Marine! Now either knock it off or get the hell out of here!" The ushers do a good job. In Columbus, they would automatically blame the Michigan people, but not here. Once the usher told the kids to knock it off, they stopped. As far as the game, Michigan defense played much better and they only lost 21-10. 7 of those points were score when Tate Forcier fumbled at the goal line, so the defense only gave up 14 points. The offense turned the ball over 5 times and THAT was why they lost. Michigan finishes the season at 5-7 and won't go to a bowl game. People are calling for Dick-Rod's head, but it is too early to fire him. He's only been here for two years and doesn't have all of his own recruits yet. The administration agrees and says that he will be back next year. The only way he will get canned before next season is if an investigation into whether he exceeded the limits for practice hours per week yields sanctions as UM won't tolerate that crap.

In the NFL, the NY Giants finally won again. They beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-31 in overtime. The Jets got walloped by the Patriots by a score of 31-14.

Jeremy David Tarrant Recital
I attended my friend Jeremy's organ recital tonight at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Detroit, where he is director of music. He played music by Bauverlet-Charpentier, Brahms, and Bach, but the highlight was a complete performance of Charles-Marie Widor's Organ Symphonie VII. This is a wonderful piece that doesn't get played often and Jeremy did a magnificent job with it. I found myself thinking of out former teacher, Robert Glasgow, many times. Bob specialized in French romantic music and played this piece himself. Jeremy used the latest of Widor's except for the 5th movement, Lento, for which he used the earliest version. I have heard the later versions of this movement and they are almost a completely different piece! Some pieces Widor barely changed at all between versions, but this one he turned upside down. Jeremy thought that the earlier version of this movement was better and I agree. It was divine. It was great to see Jeremy and hear his incredible playing. I am very glad I made the hour drive.

P.S. I got tailgated by a state trooper on the way home! I thought he was maybe gonna pull me over even though I was doing 65 in a 70, but he passed me when I switched lanes! Even though I was 5 MPH under the limit, a COP should not be tailgating!

Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic came to town tonight and gave a stunning concert. Sir Simon Rattle was the Conductor. The program consisted of Brahms Symphonies 3 and 4 and a Schoenberg piece. As I have mentioned before, Brahms is one of my favorite composers, so I was very excited for this concert. It was absolutely incredible. Rattle was incredible in conducting the 2 Brahms symphonies from memory and the orchestra was top-notch. It's one of the best in the world. I sat in the very front row behind the conductor. He even said some thing to the principal 2nd violinist in the middle of Brahms 3, but it was in German, so I couldn't understand it. The Concert Master said jokingly to us in the front row before the Schoenberg: "Say Bravo no matter what happens!" What happened was great! The solo wind players were out of this world. The principal horn player didn't crack once! The principal clarinetist name was Wenzel Fuchs! He must get laughed at everywhere he goes in the U.S.! I hope he speaks English so that he at least knows why people are laughing at him, because there is nothing worse than being laughed at and not knowing why. Despite his name, his playing was amazing too. There aren't many women in the orchestra as is the case with most European orchestra and none of the women that were in it were in principal positions except the harp player. It was a concert that brought tears to my eyes at times and one that I'm sure to remember for the rest of my life.

Birthday
Happy 62nd Birthday to my father Joseph Meagher. I called him today and wished him a happy birthday. I thank tim for always being so supportive of my career in music. I couldn't have done any of this without his support and that that I will always be indebted to him. I'm sure my mom will do something for him and I hope he has a great day!

Ann Arbor Symphony COncert
I went to the AASO concert on Saturday night, because Anton Nel, who used to teach here at UMich, was playing Brahms Piano Concerto No.2. Brahms is one of my absolute favorite composers and I love this piece, so I didn't want to miss it. Anton Nel is also a big name performer and I'd never heard him play. The first half of the concert consisted of Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes and Bizet's Symphony. Conductor Arie Lipsky's interpretations were excellent, but the orchestra had some intonation issues in both pieces. The second half was the Brahms. Nel had some minor issues and banged at some points in the first movement. The second movement was pretty good. The third movement is beautiful, but the principal cellist ruined it for me. There is a huge cello solo and she didn't play one note in tune! It was killing me! The fourth movement was the best performed of the entire piece. While the cellist was not good, the horn also plays a large role in the piece and the horn player was very good. Anton well was excellent too and he played one encore. It was Lizst's transcription of Schumann's song Widmung. He sound was beautiful, but he played it too fast as far as I was concerned. In fact, it was the fastest that I'd ever heard the piece played! Over all it was an excellent concert and well worth my time.

Michigan got killed in football at Wisconsin by a score of 45-24. They were so bad that they don't even get their own entry today! They have to beat Ohio St. this weekend or they don't go to a bowl game. The NY Jets lost and the Giants had the week off. The story in the NFL was the Patriots. They were leading the Indianapolis Colts in the 4th quarter by a score of 34-28, when Bill Bellichik went for it on 4th down from his own 28 yard line. They didn't get the first down and Indy took over and scored a TD to win. What the hell was he thinking?! He should have punted and made them go 70 yards for the touchdown instead of 28 yards. He either had no confidence in his defense or he was out of his mind. He was getting KILLED on sports talk radio today for it. I hate the Patriots, so I am loving this. I, of course, sent Fat Barry a text message giving him shit.

Le Nozze di Figaro
Last night, I saw the above opera here at UMich. I had seen in once before several years ago in Binghamton, but wanted to see it again because I had friends in it and it is one of the great operas. Director of Orchestras Kenneth Kiesler conducted the performance and it was an excellent production. The only big mistake was that they brought the curtain down at the end before the cast was done singing! Whomever did that really fucked up! It was an unacceptable mistake. This was the most well-received opera by the audience that I have seen here at Michigan and I really enjoyed it myself as well. It's the most I have enjoyed an opera in a long time.

Football
It was another bad weekend for my football teams. UMich looked good at first and led Purdue by a score of 24-10 at halftime, but the defense, which has plagued us all season, gave in again and Purdue came back. Michigan had a chance to tie the game at the end, but missed a 2 point conversion and lost by a score of 38-36. Tate Forcier and the offense were good again, but the defense was awful. Dick-Rod is getting killed on the radio shows today, but I think it is too early to declare him a failure and fire him. He has only been here two years and only half the team are his recruits. You really have to wait until all four classes are his recruits to judge. Michigan is now 5-5.

The NY Giants were equally bad, losing their 4th straight game to the San Diego Chargers by a score of 21-20. They had a first and goal after a turnover and couldn't punch it in and had to settle for a field goal. You gotta cash that shit in! They are now 5-4 and their season is slipping away. They had better get it together fast or they will be looking to next year.

World Series, Game 6
BALL GAME OVER!!! WORLD SERIES OVER!!! YANKEES WIN!!! THEEEEEEEEEEE YANKEEES WIN!!!!
The Yankees won there record 27th World Series Championship with a 7-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 6 to win the series 4 games to 2! Hideki Matsui had 6 RBIs with a 2-run home run, a 2-run double, and a 2-run single. He won the series MVP and becomes the first designated hitter to ever do so. He is also the first Japanese player to win a World Series. Andy Pettitte pitched great and the Yanks lit up Pedro Martinez. The Yanks are still your daddy Pedro! C.C. Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez, who had been playoff dogs in their careers until this year, finally got the monkeys off their backs. Sadly, owner George Steinbrenner wasn't there again and watched the game at home. This one's for you George! It is the 5th championship for Posada, Jeter, Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera, who closed out the game. I am thrilled about this and the asshole Philly fans at the bar can kiss my ass. Those pussies left once the Yanks got up big. Fuck the Red Sox fans too! The Yanks will always be the best!

Erven's Funeral
There were two funerals for Erven. The first was Saturday in Ann Arbor. It was a viewing and small service. There was a good crowd and several people spoke, including myself and Marilyn Mason. Last night, we had a funeral up as Martin Luther Chapel in East Lansing, where Erven was the organist. I played the service on their 2 manual Schlicker organ. It was a very nice instrument and Helmut Schick, Erven's dear friend, and organ technician got it all tuned up. Erven's daughter Fran and a friend of hers played violins. I played two pieces that were for Erven. One was the first Kyrie from Clavierubung by Bach which he specifically said that he liked when I played it as an encore on my first doctoral recital. The second was Erven's Harmonization of Veni Creator Spiritu, which he gave to me. I made copies and gave them to his 3 children as well as left one for the church. The congregational singing was incredible there. There was a huge crowd. They obviously really appreciated him at that church. The pastor is going to continue to work on getting the hymnal published that Erven was working on at his death. It was a very moving tribute to my landlord and friend whom I will miss dearly. R.I.P. Erven.

World Series, Game 5
The Yanks lost game 5. I expected that they would because they were facing Cliff Lee, who has been unhittable, on the road. The Yanks did score some runs, but their pitcher, A.J. Burnett was garbage. He gave up a 3 run home run to Chase Utley in the first and the Phillies jumped out to a 6-1 lead. The Yanks scored another run in the 6th, but the Phillies increased their lead to 8-2 in the 7th with two home runs, one again by Chase Utley. Utley has now hit 5 home runs in the World Series, which ties a record. The Yanks need to stop pitching to him since the guy behind him Ryan Howard has tied a World Series record with 12 strikeouts. The Yanks scored 3 runs in the 8th and 1 in the 9th, but ultimately fell short by a final score of 8-6. Now they go back to NY for the final two games of the series. While I don't think the series is over, I am pretty confident as I don't think the Yanks will lose two at home. I know that they did just that in 2004 when they blew a 3-0 series lead to the Red Sox, but that was a different group of players, most of whom are now gone. And A-Rod has finally started to hit in the playoffs. Game 6 is tomorrow with Andy Pettitte on the mound for the Yanks. I sure hope that they win as a Game 7 would make me really nervous.

World Series, Game 4
Yankees Win!!! Theeeeeee YAnkees Win!! It was a close game in Philly. The Yankees took an early 2-0 lead, but the Phillies battled back to tie it. The Yankees took a 4-2 lead on in the 5th, but Philly hit two home runs, one with 2 outs in the 8th to tie it. In the top of the 9th, the Yankees had an incredible rally off of closer Brad Lidge. He had two outs and two strikes when Johnny Damon got on base. Then with Mark Teixeia batting and the shift on, Damon stole second and third baseman Pedro Feliz was caught napping and didn't get back to cover 3rd and Damon easily took 3rd. After Teixeira was hit by a pitch, A-Rod got an RBI hit and Posada drove in two runs. Mariano Rivera close it out for a 7-4. It was one of the greatest games I have ever seen. The Yanks can win it all tonight in Game 5 in Philly!

World, Series, Game 3
Yankees Win!! Theeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win!! It didn't start well, but the Yankees pulled out a win in Game 4 in Philly. In the first three innings, they Yanks didn't even have a baserunner and Andy Pettitte was shaky on the mound. Pettitte kept falling behind in the count and giving up big hits and the score was 3-0 Philadelphia after 3. I was very worried and pissed at Pettitte for not throwing strikes. The Yanks bats finally woke up in the 4th when Alex Rodriguez hit a controversial home run. The fly ball to left hit a camera that was jutting over the wall into the field of play. The umps had agreed before the game that if that happened it would be a home run. However, the ump didn't see it clearly and called it a ground rule double. They are allowed to look at replays for home runs fair or foul and in or out of the park, so they looked and called it a home run. It was the first ever use of instant replay in a postseason game. The only mistake was that they discussed the camera before the game, so I don't know why they didn't make them move it so that it wouldn't be an issue. It will be moved for tonight's game four. The Yankees scored 3 runs in the 5th to take a 5-3 lead and never looked back. The bullpen even got it's mojo back and pitched very well with the exception of a home run that Phil Hughes gave up in the 9th before Mariano Rivera came on and got the final two outs on 5 pitches to secure an 8-5 win. Pettitte even settled down after the first three innings. The Yanks now lead the series 2 games to 1. Game 4 tonight in Philly.

My football teams got smoked. Michigan lost 38-13 to Illinois. They are now 5-4 and have clearly come back to earth. There is still an improvement from last year, however. The NY Giants got smoked by a score of 40-17 by the Philadelphia Eagles. That is 3 losses in a row and they are now 5-3. I don't know what has happened to them. The NY Jets lost by a score of 30-25 to the Miami Dolphins. They also appear to have fallen back to earth.

World Series, Game 2
Yankees Win!! Theeeeeeeeee Yankees Win!!! The Yankees won Game 2 by a score of 3-1. hideki Matsui and Mark Teixeira both broke out of slumps and hit homeruns. A.J. Burnett also pitched lights out. Pedro Martinez pitched well for the Phils but Burnett outdueled him. It was a game that the Yank HAD to win. Now the series is tied at a game apiece and Game 3 is tomorrow in Philly.

World Series, Game 1
I was hoping that the Yanks could cheer me up, but they laid a major egg and lost 6-1 to the Phillies in the opening game at Yankee Stadium. Cliff Lee pitched brilliantly. Only Derek Jeter, who went 3 for 4, really hit him. He pitched a complete game. Hidecki Matsui made a major baserunning mistake. After getting on base, the next batter popped out and he got doubled off at first base when he didn't bother to go back to first. What the fuck were you thinking Hidecki! THat kind of mistake is unfuckingacceptable for a Major League player in the World Series. I think he should be benched as he hasn't hit worth a shit either. Chase Utley hit two homeruns off C.C. Sofathia, which were the only runs that he gave up. He joined Babe Ruth as the only left-handed hitters to hit two home runs in a World Series game against a left-handed pitcher. I love Utley because when the Phillies won the World Series last year he said "World Fuckin' Champions" with the TV microphones on! The Yanks bullpen was complete garbage when C.C. left the game. With the exceotion of Domaso Marte, who was effective, they all sucked. They kept falling behind in counts and giving up hits. C.C. didn't throw first pitch strikes either and this certainly contributed to Utley's HRs. Note to Yankee Pitchers: You have to throw the fuckin' ball over the fuckin' plate and get ahead in the fuckin' count! As you can tell, I am really pissed about this game, because I was so hoping for something to cheer me up after such a sad week (Erven hadn't died yet when game ended, but I knew he was going to go within days, so I was very sad even then). Hopefully, they will fare better in Game 2 tonight against nemesis Pedro Martinez.

In Memoriam Erven Thoma
My landlord and former Marilyn Mason student, Erven Thoma, passed away this morning from pancreatic cancer at age 73. I am very saddened as Erven was a good friend and gave me a very good deal on rent. He was diagnosed a little over a month ago and the disease progressed very quickly. At least he didn't have to suffer much. I took Marilyn Mason to see him one last time last night. This must be very difficult for her as she lost her husband about 2 months ago and now has another student predecease her. She has outlived several other students or hers and it always makes her very upset. I am slated to play his funeral which will take place at the church where he was the organist sometime in the future. The church music world also lost the great improvisor Paul Manz, who died yesterday at the age of 90. It has definitely been a sad couple of days.

American League Champions
Ball Game Over! American League Championship Series Over! Yankees Win!!! Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win!!! The Yanks beat the Angels 5-2 to win the series 4 games to 2!!! It is their first pennant since 2003. It am sooo psyched. It brought tears to my eyes to see them win and see all of the happy players get interviewed. The only sad part was that owner George Steinbrenner was not well enough to be there. I missed seeing him break down into tears during the post game interviews like he usually does after the Yankees win a pennant or World Series. The good news is that his son Hal said that George will be at Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday in NY against the Philadelphia Phillies. I know that George can be a pain sometimes and he has made a lot of questionable moves in recent years, but the Yankees would never have won all of the championships and pennants that I have seen them win without his willingness to pay big money for the best players. Several other teams such as the a Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates are currently stuck with cheap bastard owners and haven't won diddly poo in recent years. And I don't by this big market/small market controversy either. It's true that the Yanks bring in more revenue than other teams, but all of these owners are rich as fuck or they couldn't afford to buy a team. Some of them are just to cheap to spend the money that they have. And if the DID spend money, their revenues would go up. If their teams won, they would sell more tickets, more people would watch and listen to the games, which makes ratings go up, and thus creates revenue, and they would sell more merchandise. Baseball is like any business in that you have to spend money to make money. Anyway, I will always appreciate George's financial support for the Yanks and look forward to watching them and seeing him in the World Series.

The NY Giants played last night too and lost at home to the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 24-17. They simply turned the ball over too many times. The NY Jets lambasted the woeful Oakland Raiders by a score of 38-0. The Jets are 4-3 and Giants are 5-2 on the season. Michigan's football team got destroyed by Penn St 35-10. This was not a surprise as Penn State is a much better team. The Wolverines are 5-3 on the year.

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