Compline at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC—11.28.2010

Compline at Chapel of the Cross.

We've been using the Order for Compline, as set by David Hurd.

Here are our little additions:

Ecce concipiens (Jacob Gallus (Handl))
Psalms 31 and 134 (chanted to Tone 8)
Hymn: Creator of the stars of night (CREATOR ALME SIDERUM)
Lord's Prayer (Robert Stone)
Nunc Dimittis (fauxbourdon, H. Willan)
Alma Redemptoris Mater (Marian antiphon right after the Dismissal)
Ave Maria (Tomas Luis de Victoria)
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (JG Walther)

Van was away for Thanksgiving, and Lewis had taken the director's reigns for the evening. He did a great job.

Initially, he had planned not to have an organ voluntary. I asked him would that be the policy during Advent? He said not necessarily; he just hadn't thought to ask someone to play the organ for afters. I told him I had been playing a certain setting of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme all day, so I might as well play it here, too. So, with a minute before the service was to start, Lewis requested that I play, and I accepted. And at the end of the service, I received lots of compliments over how I played the piece, in addition to Lewis' undying thanks. ;)

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Van is seeking suggestions for the post-Compline organ improvisations. Feel free to send him your suggestions via the comm box below (or if you're reading this in Facebook, leave a comment). Even better, if you're Facebook friends with Van, either PM him or write on his wall your suggestions. :)

28 November - First Sunday of Advent

Advent Wreath from Curt Jester

Happy Advent, everyone! Now here are my lists from last Sunday.

It was nice to just be a Person In the Pew (PIP) for the 7.45 am Mass at Immaculate Conception Church. I missed out on the prelude and Opening Hymn since I came in late. Since I'm a cantor, I get the hymn lists anyway. As usual, the numbers come out of GIA's Gather Comprehensive 1994 (green cover):

Sunday 7.45 am Mass: First Sunday of Advent
Opening Hymn: 323, Come, O long expected Jesus (STUTTGART)
Kyrie: Misa Luna
Psalm: 120, Psalm 122 (Joncas)
Gospel Acclamation: 263 (Hughes Alleluia in C)
Off: 335, Wake, O wake and sleep no longer (WACHET AUF)
Sanctus, Mem. Accl., Amen: 300, 301, 302; Land of Rest Mass
Agnus Dei: Misa Luna
Communion Hymn: 328, My soul in stillness waits (Haugen)
Postlude: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 645; JS Bach)

This was the first time I heard the Misa Luna settings. Upon initial listening... the Kyrie sounded okay, I guess. The Agnus Dei, not so much. I know this parish loves bilingual settings, but honestly? That was the most congregational unfriendly setting of the Agnus Dei I have ever heard in my life! Not to mention, the words are not licit. No one, absolutely no one was singing it! It was made even worse by the fact that there were no booklets at hand that had this music printed in it. I mean, honestly: if Catholics want people to sing during the Mass, give them more singable music than this!

/rant

Well, I should just sit down, shut it, and bear it. Guess who plays the 7.45 am Mass this Sunday? Yup, you guessed it. Me.

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St. Joseph's Episcopal Church where I played the usual 10.30 am service. As usual, the numbers are out of The Hymnal 1982.

First Sunday of Advent: Holy Eucharist Rite I
Prelude: Improvisation on Veni, veni, Emmanuel
Processional Hymn: 57, Lo! he comes, with clouds descending (HELMSLEY)
Kyrie: S-91 Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena (Willan)
Psalm: Psalm 122 (Plainsong, Tone VIII.1)
Sequence Hymn: 11, Awake, my soul, and with the sun (MORNING HYMN)
Offertory Hymn: 68, Rejoice! rejoice, believers (LLANGLOFFAN)
Sanctus: S-114, Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena (Willan)
Lord's Prayer: chanted (S-119 in Hymnal 1982)
Fraction Anthem: S-158, Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena (Willan)
Communion Chant: Eat this bread, drink this cup (Taizé)
Recessional Hymn: 61, 'Sleepers, wake!' A voice astounds us (WACHET AUF)
Postlude: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (JG Walther)

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This was a marathon day for me. Because the usual pianist went home for the Thanksgiving break, I played the 4:00 pm service for Carol Woods, which is organised by Chapel of the Cross. The music list would generally resemble the 8.00 am summer morning Rite I services.

The music list:

First Sunday of Advent: Holy Eucharist Rite I
Prelude: Improvisation on Veni, veni, Emmanuel
Processional Hymn: 59, Hark, a thrilling voice is sounding (MERTON)
Psalm: Psalm 122 (recited)
Sequence Hymn: 53, Once he came in blessing (GOTTES SOHN IST KOMMEN)
Offertory Hymn: 56, O come, O come, Emmanuel (vs. 1-2; VENI, VENI, EMMANUEL)
Communion Voluntary: Variations on Werde munter (J. G. Walther)
Recessional Hymn: 66, Come, thou long expected Jesus (STUTTGART)
Postlude: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (JG Walther)

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The marathon continued.

I drew the organist's duties at the 5.15 pm service at Chapel of the Cross.

First Sunday of Advent: Holy Eucharist Rite II
Prelude: Improvisation on Veni, veni, Emmanuel
Processional Hymn: 59, Hark, a thrilling voice is sounding (MERTON)
Hymn at the Lighting of the Advent Wreath: 56, O come, O come, Emmanuel (vs. 1-2; VENI, VENI, EMMANUEL)
Psalm: Psalm 122 (recited)
Sequence Hymn: 53, Once he came in blessing (GOTTES SOHN IST KOMMEN)
Offertory Hymn: 336, Come with us, O blessed Jesus (WERDE MUNTER)
Sanctus: S-125, Community Mass (Proulx)
Communion Voluntary: Variations on Werde munter (J. G. Walther)
Recessional Hymn: 66, Come, thou long expected Jesus (STUTTGART)
Postlude: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (JG Walther)

I came rushing in at 5.05 pm only to be met by the presiding priest, who said the service was moving to the church because the chapel was an icebox. I knew it was cold in there; my fingers and feet felt really sluggish when I was practicing earlier. I was asked if I would be able to handle the Kleuker. I wonder if the huge smile on my face said anything. Was I happy to play the Kleuker during the service? Heck, yeah! :D

The only thing I regretted was not having had a chance to decide on registration for my pieces. Luckily, I figured out that Memory Level 1 contained pre-set pistons that would work for service music playing.

And it felt really, really good on this console. I was playing so much better during the service than the hack job I was doing whilst practicing in the frozen chapel.

I ended up getting tons of mileage out of the Walther setting of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. I'll explain why in the Compline post. :)

Compline at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC—11.21.2010

Compline at Chapel of the Cross.

We've been using the Order for Compline, as set by David Hurd.

Here are our little additions:

Let my prayer come up into Thy presence (Henry Purcell)
Psalms 91 (chanted to Tone 8)
Hymn: Christ, mighty Saviour (CHRISTE, LUX MUNDI, plainsong Mode 7)
In manus tuas (Sheppard; sung in addition to "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit ...)
Lord's Prayer (Robert Stone)
Nunc Dimittis from Short Service (O. Gibbons)
Salve Regina (Marian antiphon right after the Dismissal)
Ave Maria (Tomas Luis de Victoria)
Alleluias sereins d'une âme que désire le ciel from L'Ascension
(Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)), Brian Coggins, organ

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Van is seeking suggestions for the post-Compline organ improvisations. Feel free to send him your suggestions via the comm box below (or if you're reading this in Facebook, leave a comment). Even better, if you're Facebook friends with Van, either PM him or write on his wall your suggestions. :)Compline at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC—11.14.2010

21 November – Last Sunday after Pentecost – Christ the King – Proper 29

Oh, how behind am I? Let me count the ways...

I am not backdating this post, mainly because I said I'd be posting a couple of weeks' worth of them.

So here is one of them.

St. Joseph's Episcopal Church where I played the usual 10.30 am service. As usual, the numbers are out of The Hymnal 1982.

Last Sunday after Pentecost – Christ the King: Holy Eucharist Rite II
Prelude: Adagio-(Allegro), Voluntary in e minor (Op. 7, No. 7; J. Stanley)
Processional Hymn: 494, Crown him with many crowns (DIADEMATA)
Gloria: S-277, New Plainsong (Hurd)
Canticle 16: 444, Blessed be the God of Israel (THORNBURY)
Sequence Hymn: 495, Hail, thou once despised Jesus! (IN BABILONE)
Offertory Hymn: 460, Alleluia! sing to Jesus! (HYFRYDOL)
Sanctus: S-125, Community Mass (Proulx)
Lord's Prayer: chanted (S-119 in Hymnal 1982)
Fraction Anthem: S-167, The disciples knew the Lord Jesus (M. Martens; Mode 6)
Communion Anthem: Christ is the world’s true Light (WK Stanton)
Recessional Hymn: 544, Jesus shall reign where'er the sun (DUKE STREET)
Postlude: Largo Staccato-Vivace, Voluntary in G (Op. 7, No. 9; J. Stanley)

NaBloPoMo—made it to the finish!

Well, hello, November 30! And with that, I've managed to write at least one blog post for every month in November! Admittedly, when I decided to do this, I didn't think I'd make it this far. But somehow, I managed.

I won't commit to December, however, because of how busy life can be for one who works in the church. Ask me again in Janaury, however.

So I can hear you asking me: "Lyn, why do you have a picture of water on this post?" When I came into work this morning, I noticed that Main Street was closed. I assumed it was part of the ever-pervasive construction that's going on in downtown Durham. But no... I was told there was a water main break further down Main Street and that, as a precaution, the water was shut off in businesses along Main Street. So we were without water for most of the day.

I immediately felt badly for the volunteer downstairs. She is 90 years old, and the prospect of having no bathrooms nearby must have been daunting for her. I know I had a difficult time... I finally gave up and rushed home at 3.00 pm with promises that I would be back within the hour.

It made me realise that water was one of those things we take for granted. What about the homeless, and I'm thinking specifically of those who live on "The Hill" near Ninth Street. They don't have easy bathroom facilities. What if they want to wash up?

Humans can survive without food for 4-6 weeks without food. However, the survival time drops to days without water. I was so happy to be at home, basking in the spray of water in the shower.

Photo credits: Photographer: Ian Britton; Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License, FreeFoto FREE USE license.

Barrelling through to the end of November

Wow. The 29th day of November is coming to a close, and somehow... somehow, I managed to write at least one blogpost every day. There were times when I thought I had absolutely nothing to say, and the next thing I know, I've written a heap and still have more to go after that.

Some of my friends, who are participating in NaNoWriMo, have reached the minimum 50,000 words, which is quite the accomplishment. Congratulations, friends, for reaching such a milestone! :)

I am feeling tired and will probably call it a night early tonight. I know, it's quite a concept, this thought of sleeping before 11.00 pm. Hopefully I will have something more for you on the very last day of the month.

Too tired. :(

I'm too tired to blog tonight. I was at five services and played at four of them. I'll write my impressions tomorrow, plus I'll provide two weeks worth of music lists.

It's that time of the year: Advent. A new church year. And when January comes around, it will mark my third year at St. Joseph's. Wow. I can actually have a set of music I can refer back to since this is now Year A of the Lectionary. Actually, it works well for Simbang Gabi as well. Much to my delight, I didn't have to do anything different to a setting of Psalm 71 I did three years ago. And that's a good thing in my book.

The Curt Jester's Advent Wreath is making its reappearance! I'll also re-add it back to this blog when I have more energy tomorrow.

My brother also celebrated his Birthday-Before-The-Milestone today. Enjoy the last of your thirties, Jojo. Forties are a good decade. :)

A Potter Reflection

I was just thinking back to the days when I didn't know anything about the Harry Potter series. The only thing I knew of it was that it was causing children young and old to turn to reading, which was a good thing. I recently heard of a couple of people in the Harry Potter fandom who can honestly credit the Potter series with inspiring their Muses, and they are either currently, or soon-to-be-published authors of their own original fiction. I think it's a wonderful thing.

Once upon a time, when I was doing way more creative writing, I was influenced by Star Wars, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Battlestar Galactica. (Am I dating myself with these?) A lot of what I wrote reflected very strongly my interest in these sci-fi shows. My work was never published; I was 13 or 14 when I wrote most of my stories.

Now, whenever I feel the inclination, I write short stories. I do have an outline for an o-fic in mind, and I've posted some snippets of thoughts on this particular blog at least a couple of years ago. I haven't picked up that writing, but perhaps if the Muse is willing, I'll revisit it again.

Back to Potter: I would love to see it in 3D. Perhaps sometime within the next couple of weeks, I'll have a look.

I think I will have an early night tonight. I just remembered that I did not post my music lists from last week. I'll post them but probably will not back-date them... at least, not during these last few days of November.

Happy Advent, and Happy New Church Year!

ps: I've been checking the Curt Jester's page... apparently, the advent wreath graphic isn't up yet. If it comes up, I'll re-add the script for that in the top right-hand corner of this blog...

Secrets of Harry Potter Episode #62: Deathly Hallows Part I Movie Review

Episode #62 of The Secrets of Harry Potter is up and available. You may listen to Episode 62 here or subscribe via iTunes.

Ariadna, Jim, Lyn, and Maria analyze and discuss the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. The first quarter of this episode contains our spoiler-free impressions of the film. However, we do warn you that there are spoilers galore in the last three-quarters of this episode, so you might want to see the film first before you listen to this!

Help us spread the word about this podcast by posting a review on iTunes!

If you want to interact with the host and his cohorts, feel free to leave a comment on the Secrets of Harry Potter page over at the SQPN community page.

You can also find us on Facebook. Please like us there! :)

You may also send us feedback on harrypotter [a t.] sqpn [dot] com or leave voice feedback on +1 206 202 4455.

Don't forget our canon-readthrough, which we've been doing on Tuesdays at around 4.30 pm CST/5.30 pm EST/2230 GMT. Please join us at SQPN Live (ignore/mute the uStream) to chat. We have been discussing Chamber of Secrets.

Enjoy! And please let me know what you think of it. :)

Thankful Thursday

Think I'm coming down under the wire, much?

It was nice to spend the day relaxing. I 'borrowed' a friend's kitchen, and we made green bean casserole (his favourite) and sweet potato casserole. Both recipes were really easy. The green bean casserole used an 8 oz. package of frozen green beans, 3/4 c milk, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, and french-fried onions. That's it. I added a bit of paprika, mustard powder, and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce to the milk/cream of mushroom mixture for added flavour. All were mixed, placed in a baking dish, then baked for 30 minutes. Then I removed the dish, added more french-fried onions, then placed back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

The sweet potato casserole was even easier. I took 3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, cut them into cubes, and boiled in them in salted water for 20 minutes. After draining them, I returned them to the pot and mashed them with 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 3/4 c brown sugar. After placing them in a baking dish, I put a layer of mini marshmallows, put the whole thing in an oven and baked for 10 minutes.

It was a relief that both dishes required the oven to be at 350 deg. F. That made life a little easier. :)

Here's a picture of the sweet potato casserole. (I'd forgotten to take a picture of the green bean casserole.)

I had made these for a church potluck. As I wrote on Fr. Roderick's Facebook page, we had turkey, collard greens, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potato and gravy, twice-baked potatoes, cocktail sausages in ketchup sauce... Some sort of squash casserole... And that doesn't even include dessert! Pumpkin and apple pies, some sort of sweet raisin-cinnamon bread, gingerbread house, some sort of Norwegian flatbread you have with butter, brown sugar and caster sugar, and the ubiquitous cherry gelatin.

The meal was shared with the homeless people who live on the grounds. They were very, very thankful for the abundance of food, and they were also very thankful that we were generous to share it with them.

A friend of mine was quite affected by the beginning lines of Psalm 72 (quoted from the New American Bible:

O God, give your judgment to the king; your justice to the son of kings; That he may govern your people with justice, your oppressed with right judgment, that the mountains may yield their bounty for the people, and the hills great abundance, that he may defend the oppressed among the people, save the poor and crush the oppressor (Ps. 72:2-4).

He was formerly homeless, and he remembered the trauma of having lived out on the streets. It made him very thankful that he is where he is now: in a house with a job he loves.

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I had to go into the office briefly to retrieve a few music files since there was a requests for the hymns for Sunday. Since a good chunk of my choir will be away on Sunday, I decided to find something Taizé for Communion. I wanted something that might be appropriate for Advent, like maybe something to do with Sleepers Awake or some such thing like that. No such luck. So I chose the next best thing: "Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry..." I think I'll have enough choristers that, if I sing whilst playing, we'll be able to do some sort of harmony.

Anyway, as I was leaving the office, I drove along the Downtown Loop and noticed they had already turned on all the outdoor lighting. I figured this was the best time to capture pictures of it: when there are no cars out and about.

I will leave you with the pictures of the lights along the Downtown Loop:

Zen

What? No Wordless Wednesday? To be honest, I had forgotten today was Wednesday, and I didn't take any pictures. Besides, I was getting a bit tired of the Fall pictures anyway.

Zen. I needed plenty of that today. Thanks to my friend, JunoMagic, I got that in the form of a website that offers free nature sounds. You have your choice of animal sounds (birds, cats, etc.) or sounds of natural phenomena (rain, waterfall, beach, etc.). Right now, I have the sound of rain and thunder, along with the crickets and the grasshoppers. Pure bliss. Click here to check it out.

Social Media. Much has been said about social media and the role it plays in our lives. I'm certainly immersed in it... I spend a lot of time with Facebook and Twitter. I'm also a part of a couple of on-line communities as well. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of spending time with the SQPN community when the Catholic Pilot, Captain Jeff, tweeted that he was testing a live setup on his Catholic Pilot Live page and wanted us to come over help him. It was fun chatting with people there whilst preparing an outline for a recording of Secrets of Harry Potter. I can honestly say that I count members of the SQPN community as my dearest friends, and I'm very happy to be a part of it.

I'm also involved with the Harry Potter fandom. Last night, a group of us hung out in a virtual living room. Some of us were content to be silent in the room while others were happy to share their virtual drinks and snacks with the others. A few of the girls are also participating in NaNoWriMo, so it was nice to be able to cheer them on as they wrote. We usually gather in a chatroom on Fridays and Saturdays, where we chat about everything and nothing, and on Saturday nights, we even get to do a bit of writing as well. We challenge each other with prompts, and a short story is written in response to the prompt. Occasionally, certain conditions are placed, e.g. no adverbs, no adjectives, no 'that', no commas, limit to 100 words, etc. It's a lot of fun, and it's a great way to practice creative writing.

Music. Earlier tonight, I had the opportunity to watch raw video that was taken of the Hymn Festival in which I participated a week and a half ago. That was pretty neat to watch. My friend wanted me, in particular, to watch the massed choir singing the piece I directed: the Hal Hopson arrangement of Dona Nobis Pacem. I was really happy with the way it turned out; the choirs did a fantastic job! People thought we had rehearsed that piece for weeks. In actuality, most of the choristers saw it for the first time at the dress rehearsal the day before. However, Dona Nobis Pacem is a well-known traditional canon (think "Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream"...) and it was pretty easy to pick up. They even handled my reconstructed SAB Amen very well. I thought I looked like a dork at the piano, but my friend told me that the exaggerated motions I made with my head was exactly what a choir needs to see when the choir director is conducting from the console or keyboard.

Okay. I'll take his word for it. He's certainly been at it way longer than I have, anyway.

I'll just go back to enjoying the nature sounds. For those of you celebrating it: Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday Thoughts

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just two days away. Where has the time gone?

Anyway... the Secrets of Harry Potter panel have just finished recording what will be Episode #62. Now that we've all watched Deathly Hallows Part 1, we were able to come together and discuss it. We started off with general impressions of the film, and then after a pause (in which Jim will insert one of the trailers), we dive into a scene-by-scene review of the film. It was fun to record this with Jim, Ariadna, and Maria. Yes, Maria. She took some time off from her NaNoWriMo activities to record this episode with us. We were all very happy about that. It was a good conversation, and I'm looking forward to hearing the finished product.

On to more serious stuff. I just heard about the miners in New Zealand. It's such a tragedy: all 29 miners were confirmed dead. They ranged in age from 17 to 62. Air that had been released when drilling into the mine had contained high levels of carbon monoxide and methane gases. Naturally, after the miracle of the miners' rescues in Chile, there was high hopes that this situation in New Zealand would have a similar outcome. Let us send our thoughts and prayers to victims and to their families.

The Apple of my Monday...

Okay, okay, so my audio post yesterday was a bit of a cop-out. So today, I will provide words, or a look into that tangled web known as my brain.

So Apple came out with iOS 4.2 for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. I decided to download the new OS... figured why not, nothing to lose, and it will need to be updated anyway.

I had no problems doing it; iTunes did it all for me. All I had to do was click to agree to this, that, and the other thing. The installation was painless... and when it was done, much to my delight, my formerly favourite app, ProHDR, was working again! (It had been crashing on me consistently, which disappointed me because there were so many wonderful scenes I could have photographed, but missed because the app kept crashing on me...)

I didn't check my other problematic app (Passometer) that I never got to work because it crashed on me every time I tried to use it... it makes me wonder if a simple thing like an OS upgrade would fix that problem, as well.

I managed to catch up on tasks I had to push to the side: updating the Durham-Chapel Hill AGO webpage and Facebook page, doing a couple of stories in the TPP queue, putting up a Facebook events page for the upcoming Simbang Gabi Mass... I think I can go to sleep happy. :)

One last thing: today, November 22, is the Feast day of St. Cecilia. She is the patron saint of musicians and church music, and it was said that as she was dying a martyr's death, she was singing to God. She is often depicted playing an organ or some other musical instrument.

Happy St. Cecilia day to my fellow musicians and to my choristers! :)

Audioboo: Singing with the NC Pinoy Choir

If I did this right, my Audioboo should embed here. Oi, that's blogging, right?

~blinks hopefully~

It was worth the wait...

I saw Deathly Hallows Part 1 this morning with Jerome. Surprisingly, there weren't that many people in the cinema when we watched it. We were at the Lumina in Chapel Hill, and they were showing it on seven screens. But still... with all the hype, I would have expected more people to be there.

I won't give anything away, but I will say this. Since when do they run actual commercials before the previews? We were subjected to about 12 minutes of commercials this morning. It got rather tedious: cars, video games, cologne, Coast Guard, Wal-Mart...

Then finally the previews for Cowboys and Aliens (looks interesting), Voyage of the Dawn Trader (I must have been living under a rock: Chronicles of Narnia is now on film?), Green Lantern (not so much interesting), Yogi Bear, and Red Riding Hood.

Then and only then did the film start.

I hope to record impressions of this film with my fellow Secrets of Harry Potter panel members soon. I'm also hoping to be able to see it a second time before doing so...

Stay tuned. :)

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this screen cap. Before I left to meet Jerome in Chapel Hill, Fr. Roderick was unpacking his Star Wars memorabilia. I had mentioned Warwick Davis was on Twitter, and Fr. Roderick said he had met Warwick Davis during one of those Star Wars cons he had attended back in the day. So that inspired him to bring down his three boxes full of Star Wars stuff. This one I had missed, but went back later to watch the uStream video (and I'm glad he recorded it. :) )

"Drink... or drink not. There is no straw."

Good Things Friday, 11.19.2010

My Good Things Friday list for today:

• It's a beautiful Fall day.
• The children from the Day School were outside, enjoying their inflatable jumper, and you can hear them screaming happily.
• I've finally finished editing and coding the most recent issue of the TarHelium, the newsletter for the North Carolina section of the American Chemical Society. Click here to read it. :)
• Advent is coming. There is a lot of really good music to choose from. It's also a moment of preparation: preparing for He who is to come. The countdown to Christmas has been on-going in the Philippines (since the beginning of October, if I'm not mistaken), and the Filipino community here in central North Carolina is doing their bit in the preparations. We'll be meeting for another organisational meeting for Simbang Gabi. We only do one of the nine Masses, which will take place on Friday, December 17. It should be a wonderful time of being together for Mass and for fellowship for afters.

This should be a more relaxing weekend for me. I'll be seeing Deathly Hallows tomorrow morning, and I am very much looking forward to it! More later. :)

My desktop at work :)

Deathly Hallows!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I will be opening in the East Coast a little under 90 minutes from now. One of my choristers will be seeing the midnight showing tonight. She came to choir practice wearing her Hogwarts shirt. When she's not singing in my choir, she teaches high school chemistry, and told me she should have dressed as Snape in class today. My co-panelists with the Secrets of Harry Potter podcast, Jim and Maria, will be going to the midnight showings in their cities as well. I'll be going on Saturday with Jerome B., and I'm looking forward to it. (I haven't heard from Bob or Fr. Roderick as to when they're going to plan to see it, but I know Fr. Roderick is planning on a trip to the US next week... hopefully, he'll have time to see it whilst in the States.)

I'll admit—there were parts of the book I wasn't keen on. (For example, the camping trip that would never end, and I hated hated hated the Epilogue...) However, I am curious to see how it was filmed. I heard the actors' performances were top-notch, and that an animation used to illustrate the story of the Three Brothers as Hermione was narrating was a highlight. I know I'd need to separate book canon from film canon... and hopefully, it won't detract from enjoyment of the film.

I know I'll be taking notes whilst watching the film... either that, or I might end up watching it a few times before recording the podcast with my fellow panel members. :)

Enjoy the film, those of you who will be watching it! I'd be curious to know your reactions to it.

Wordless Wednesday

Compline at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC—11.14.2010

Compline at Chapel of the Cross.

We've been using the Order for Compline, as set by David Hurd.

Here are our little additions:

Domine fac mecum (Thomas Morley)
Psalms 4/31 (chanted to Tone 8)
Hymn: Christ, mighty Saviour (CHRISTE, LUX MUNDI, plainsong Mode 7)
Lord's Prayer (Robert Stone)
Nunc Dimittis from Short Service (O. Gibbons)
Salve Regina (Marian antiphon right after the Dismissal)
Ave Maria (Josquin Desprez)
Organ improvisation by the abfab Van Quinn on Salve Regina

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Van is seeking suggestions for the post-Compline organ improvisations. Feel free to send him your suggestions via the comm box below (or if you're reading this in Facebook, leave a comment). Even better, if you're Facebook friends with Van, either PM him or write on his wall your suggestions. :)