One last knee update

I know I've held you all on the seat of your chairs (ok, so there aren't that many of you, and you probably did not stay on the same chair for several weeks) but I finally have an update regarding my recent knee questions. Actually I've had the update for a week, but a combination of business, laziness, and forgetfulness kept me from posting.

There is some good news, and there is some bad news. The good news is that I do not have to get any further surgeries. None of the removed tissue has grown back, and there is nothing out of the ordinary except for more scar tissue than usual-- which I could have told you anyways since they cut to the point where bending the knee pretty much tried to open the wound for a few weeks. The bad news is that I need to do some more physical therapy (completely on my own with no follow-up) and that the nerve damage likely will never entirely heal. It has improved a lot in the last few months, but not entirely. I am still tender when I am on all fours, but it is bearable now.

Short Recap of Parents' visit to Korea

It has been such a busy (but fun) week since my parents arrived! They got here on my birthday, but we didn't do much because it was late and for them it was early in the morning, not early evening, but the following day we went to Lotte World, Korea's cheaper rip-off of Disney World, also the largest indoor amusement park in the world. It has an outdoor section too, but we only went on one ride there because of the rain, though that ride was easily one of the best I've ever been on.

The next day we went to a palace. It was Palace #3 out of 5, and I had meant to take them to #2 right next to it, but it turned out to be a fortunate mistake because during that same day, #2 had no tours, and #3 had one in English right as we arrived. The tours really do make a huge difference in the experience.

On Friday I had to work so they went out on their own and relaxed, and then my mom went to Deanna's bridal shower while my dad and I went up to Camp Casey for some crab legs. Saturday I worked again so Mom and Dad went to see Young Mi down in Seoul, but I spent time with them on Sunday and Monday. Sunday was church, and I spoke in the evening service. It was really really short, though in my defense, the songs ended five minutes earlier than usual, so I wasn't as short as it looked! Though it was still really short anyways... On Monday we tried to go to Seoul Tower and the War Memorial museum, but the museum was closed for Monday, and it was raining, so the Tower was not a good idea. Mom and Dad are going to see Young Mi again today though, and so either today or tomorrow they will try to fit those back in!

Taxes and Guitars

I have had a very productive weekend so far. I had Friday off, and I used it to go up to Camp Casey... once I had the self-control to actually get out of bed. While up there I picked up my new glasses and filed my taxes at the free tax center. Considering that I get all my state taxes back, that was a very good feeling! I haven't saved as much money the past two or three months, but now my bank account forgives me.

Today, Deanna left for Malaysia for a few days during Spring Break. I won't get to see her until thursday, so I am taking advantage of the time alone by spending more time at the gym and trying to eat better. I went to the gym this morning (yes, I actually DID get up at 9:00 on a saturday) and plan on going Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as well. Later today, after Oregon State's final game of the season, I am going to go to Yongsan and look for a tire tube for my bike and also see if the full-band version of Guitar Hero III is at the PX for the Wii. I want the drums, the mic, and a second guitar! I have two versions of Guitar Hero, but since it comes with the band setup, one more wouldn't hurt!

Some surgery complications?

I went to the physical therapist today. I went to the doctor last week because my knee has been bothering me much more than usual in the past month or two after I tweaked it while wearing all my heavy gear and trying to sit down on a very low seat.

When I got to the doctor and got through explaining the pain and my medical history related to the knee (took some time to get that fully explained!), she looked at it a bit. She could tell something was not right, and the spot that I told her hurts the most had something in it that she could feel, almost as if there was a piece of loose bone moving around, or a vein rolling when you press on it. It wasn't either of those, but I don't know how else to describe it.

After trying several of the "tests" on my knee that she knew, she was able to conclude that the problem was not muscular, or at least not in any of the major muscles, as I had great muscle strength and felt no pain in doing various exercises, so she brought in the other (more experienced) doctor to take a look at it. (On a side note, he is the doctor that first referred me to the army hospital that sent me to San Diego.) He came to the same conclusion, and they told me to go ahead and schedule an MRI for it so they could have a reference, becuase the only images they had to look at were pre-surgery. They told me a couple of things that it might be, though I don't remember what it was called, just that it is similar to if some extra scar tissue had grown and was getting in the way. If that is the case, some minor surgery might be done, though that would likely be orthoscopic and could be done here in Korea with a short recovery time, but at this point it is still a guessing game. It is also likely to be related to my first surgery, though the MRI will tell them if that is the case.

In the meantime, I am not supposed to wear my heavy gear or lift anything heavy, so I should be ok for now. I can walk just fine, though sometimes it is hard to sit down or go up stairs.

I should have the MRI scheduled by monday of next week, but I won't know more until after it is done, probably in two or three weeks depending on their schedule.

Rant on David Letterman

I really do not like David Letterman. Often while I am getting ready for bed, I will turn on my TV and watch a late night show. It isn't too late for me because of the channel it is on and mixed up timezones, and it is a fun way to end the day sometimes. Lately though, the show has often been David Letterman. I had seen Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien a lot and love their shows, and I've seen Letterman before, but until recently I didn't remember much about him other than that he was Leno's CBS opposite. After watching him more recently I have come to a conclusion that Letterman is not only unnecessarily crude, but isn't even all that funny. He uses the same gag over and over and then tries to make it funny with a Conan-style motion with his arms, amplified by his stuck-up band's noise. Paul Shaffer, his "Kevin" or "Max," thinks he is a lot funnier than he really is and thinks he is a better musician than he really is... it just drives me nuts! It is just sad when I can predict ahead of time if Rush Limbaugh or the GOP is going to be the target of his joke before he reaches the punchline-- he has gotten way too predictable.

I remember hearing for the first time that Letterman used to belong to NBC, and how they made a huge mistake in not fighting to keep him away from CBS, but now I'm not too sure. I think they did themselves a favor. They may have lost money, but they more than gained in a moral victory by dumping the fake talent.

Recording, Day Two

Day Two of the recording was much better than Day One. As I mentioned before, playing by ourselves is a lot less stressful.

We started the morning with a Korean Folksong medley. It didn't go the best because of some instrument malfunctions on the oboe, but we made do, and did a couple of takes with a trumpet using a straight mute instead of the oboe as a contingency. After the medley was done, we moved on to Inchon, a piece commemorating the Korean war and the services of the composer's father in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. Yes, I said "wars" instead of "conflicts." I don't care about the politically correct definition of things, especially since the definition is "a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air."

After Inchon we had lunch before coming back to record a Korean song about longing for a mountain in North Korea... kind of like if the USA was split in half, and one half had a song about wishing they could see Niagra Falls just one more time. By that time, the oboe was in a better condition, so we redid the medley a few more times with the oboe. By that time we had a long break while some people did solo sections and/or a small amount of dubbing due to either mistakes or lack of personel, and I started a game of Phase 10. (We had already played Apples to Apples earlier in the day.) Midway through the game, though, I got called back into the recording room because while my short solo had been fine in the recording, the section it leads into needed to be redone, and as there was no break between mine and the solo after, I was still needed. It went fine, though I am glad it is over as it was the type of solo that looks like it wouldn't be that hard, but is one of the more challenging parts I've ever played. It is deceptively hard because of the intervals needed, the rhythm (or lack of it with the implied tempo change), and exposure at a point in which the player has no spot to breathe. Needless to say, while I am glad I had the part, I don't long to play it again-- three times is enough. (Music in May-- High School honor band, Army concert, and now an Army CD).

Tomorrow we get back into the thick of things, but the hardest part for me is now over as I get to enjoy the rest of the week of recording.

Out of the Morning Calm

This week at work we are finishing the recording of our CD: "Out of the Morning Calm." This is the second CD project I've done here at the 2nd Infantry Division Band, and I think it is (for the most part) the better of the two. I feel more prepared for the pieces, and I think the band is too. Also, this year our guest groups were better. Last year we had the Uijeongbu Junior Symphony Orchestra... a nice gesture in the name of community relations. Unfortunately, while the introduction to "America the Beautiful" was beautiful, the violins seemingly decided to all go a quarter step flat all at once when the verse started, leaving the ears in pain as you try not to wince. They were good kids, and there were some phenominal musicians, but the first half of that track was not a good representation of our musical abilities.

This year, we have the Uijeongbu Philharmonic Symphonic Orchestra, or something like that. I don't remember the exact name, just that they use two descriptive words in their name rather than deciding not to be redundant. They were a decent group-- same organization, but the adults instead. There were still some intonation issues, but not nearly as pronounced. The orchestra had no string basses, but that was not an issue as our own low brass managed to fill the lower registers just fine on their own. There were also a handful of highschool students that were on the same level as the orchestra last year, but since they were few and far between, the good ones blended and the not-so-good ones were covered up enough. What really was awesome though was the Uijeongbu City Choir! Again, I'm not sure of their actual name, but that might be it. They sung in two pieces, but by far the best was the Korean National Anthem. Hearing it with that full choir and our band accented by an orchestra was simply amazing!

Tomorrow we begin the portion of the recording with just us. I feel confident; the only part I am nervous about is a very short solo, mainly because while still figuring out how I was going to do part of it, I got a comment from my commander to get it fixed, and it sort of put a mental stress point in there for me that freaks me out whenever I play it. The last note tends to sound really wobbly sometimes because not only am I out of air by that point, but my heart is beating too hard to keep it steady! I will do fine though. If not, we'll just do another take, so it is not the end of the world.

In the small group portion of my recording, I am with the Woodwind Quintet. Last year we had no oboe so we used two flutes, and I had some of the best tone of my life. This year, we have the proper quintet, but I have a boring part that is entirely up-beats, but I can't complain too much because that also means that I didn't have to spend valuable time working on any tough sections in my practice time.

It will be a packed few days as we go to KBS studios, full of a packed recording schedule, as well as lots of down time as other groups are recording.