Review | Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Pyotr (Peter) Il'yich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia in 1840 and died in 1893. He was a prolific composer of the Romantic Period. First, let us clear up that romantic music is not necessarily concerned with love and is definitely not what you hear when on a date in a candle-lit restaurant with dusty-red drapes, overlooking the the night-life of Paris with the best view of the Eiffel Tower. Romantic music, however, often contains notions of love, but it is not a marked characteristic.

Some notable characteristics of the Romantic Era include extremely personalized works (in all arts), alterations and expansions of existing forms in order to meet the needs of the artist and thus making the works more expressive, increased nationalistic and patriotic feelings and thus expression thereof, and the integration of all of the art-forms.

Tchaikovsky was commissioned to compose his 1812 Overture to form part of the Moscow Art and Industry Exhibition of 1882. So, why the number 1812, or what happened in that year? 1812 is the year that Napoleon invaded Russia. The most most notable confrontation is the Battle of Borodino. This is possibly the worst decision that Napoleon ever made. He marched his army of roughly 50000 men into Russia to invade and conquer the country and its colonies. This happened in the Russian winter. When they eventually reached Moscow, the army was greatly fatigued, and this was only to find the Russian capital burnt down and deserted. They had no choice but to retreat. As they were nearing the border of Russia, they were ambushed by the Russian army. By the end of the battle, the French were left with 5000 soldiers.

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is a musical representation of the battle explained above, albeit quite crudely.It is in the key of E-flat major, and and is numbered opus 49. The most notable aspect of this piece is the use of cannons as a 'musical instrument.' Parts of this work are very famous and are often used in the advertising and film industries. The music expresses the triumph and might of Russia in the perspective of Tchaikovsky, a proud Russian. The music is very nationalistic, making use of some Russian folk music and God Save The Tsar, the Russian national anthem of the time.

I really like the 1812 Overture. Tchaikovsky is one of my favorite composers, and I am beginning to realize that romantic music may be my favorite. Even an inexperienced music listener can feel the emotion in the music. At the moment, I am more interested in the more exciting instrumental music, so this may be a contributing factor to why I like this piece so much.

I consider myself to be very young and inexperienced, but I do know a bit. In this light, don't take my opinions as fact, rather research and listen more until you can form your own.

By: Muhammad A`feef Omar

Christina Val

Things have been so hectic lately that I haven’t had much time for keeping up with my emails, social media and so on. Though, I suppose, bitching about the Uro block, shrugging off Endo and grimacing at Repro will not get me anywhere. That said, Christina, I did receive your message. And when I finally had a free moment to reply, I was saddened to learn that your account had been deactivated. Since then, I’ve had no way of contacting you… until I came up with this idea, in the hope that you may see this post.

Had I been able to reply, I would have told you how proud of you I am, though I have no right to be. I hope that you enjoy your time off, and are granted everything you wish for. As we may not speak again, I want to wish you the very best of luck going forward, and to tell you that I believe you will excel in whatever it is you decide to do next. Know that I have faith in you, I support you, and I am rooting for you all the way. J

I suppose this will be a farewell then. Voorspoed, liewe maat. J

May you always “Live well and prosper.”

                                                                -MustangChick03 J <3

2014/10/08

On My Nightstand | A triple threat

I cannot take credit for this.
I found this image on Weheartit.com

From time to time, I’m going to be doing these posts on the books in my life. Now, I am a medical student, so my reading list remains epically long and unrequited for quite some time. This means that a dedicated stream for an “On my Nightstand” blog is rather silly; I’ll just fill all of you in here- whether you want to know or not. J

Currently on my proverbial nightstand [proverbial in the sense that it is, unfortunately, an electronic copy] is War and Peace, by the great Leo Tolstoy himself. 20 chapters in and all I have to show for it is a measly seventy-something pages. I feel like I’ve been reading it forever, which I suppose I have… >.< The highly convoluted English makes it a challenging read, but that, paired with the peppering of Russian, French and even Italian phrases [I kid you not], is precisely what makes it so intriguing. I find myself rather enjoying the book. Just yesterday, I was standing sentry over my sweet corn cookies while they fried, so completely engrossed in the book [I fear the Count may well be dying- I have not as yet reached that point], that I nearly burnt my poor cookies! -_-

There are so many characters of whom I am unsure- are they intrinsically shy and secretive, or are they simply sneaky bastards? But there are some of them who bring a certain joy to the reader, at the mere mention of their names; darling Pierre, for example. J Of course, I shall do a proper review once I actually finish the book. Though I have a feeling I may well be living in that world for quite some time after I snap it shut, so to speak. This sort of thing always happens with a good book. J

Also upon my proverbial nightstand [for I cannot read just one book at a time] is Dan Brown’s latest offering, Inferno.

Having just finished the tenth book in the Blackdagger Brotherhood series [barring the R-rated bits, I quite like the storyline- so sue me. It’s sort of a guilty pleasure of mine, no pun intended.], I am not far at all. When I say “just finished”, I mean yesterday. And then it took me all of ten minutes browsing my virtual library to pick a replacement.

I will, however, say that I have thoroughly enjoyed his previous offerings. And by the looks of things, Inferno seems rather promising. A fan of Dante’s work as well, I do hope this book lives up to my expectations.

The third book in this triple threat is actually, literally on my nightstand: The Last Don, by Mario Puzo. There are few greater feelings than opening a novel for the first time, or closing it for the last. In the age of electronics, pdf’s and word documents prevail, but nothing will ever be able to replace a good, old-fashioned paperback. J You may know Mario Puzo’s name as being that of The Godfather’s author- he is on in the same. And The Last Don has a similar tone to it, I believe. For now, all I know of the book is that Don Clericuzio wishes to retire. Whether he’ll succeed in his final plans or not remains to be seen…

Lastly, I suppose I cannot discuss the state of my “Nightstand” without mentioning Talley and O’Connor. Yeah, it’s a textbook. *siiigh…* This one will remain on my nightstand, I expect, for years to come. It’s basically a pretty badass guide to being a pretty badass intern. And at Stellies, we’re hospital hopping from as early as second year; so one can appreciate how valuable it is. As it stands, I have an appointment for a hospital “sesh” as soon as I go back. >.< [“My holidays aren’t even over yet!” she cried indignantly.]

Well, I hope the rest of you are having a helluva good time, on your epically long midyear vacs- or, for my MD peeps, what’s left of this epically short one. Happy reading, everyone! =)

2014/07/03

Livin' on a Prayer

With two exams down, and just one more to go, Bon Jovi’s smash hit seems particularly apt.

First of all, if you don’t know the song; that’s too bad- it’s quite cool. Second of all, if you don’t know who Bon Jovi is… Well, shame on you. J

The thing about midyears in MBChB II is that they’re more like finals really. Provided you pass, you will never have to touch those files again. [Clinical work notwithstanding, of course.] So you write these exams and then it’s over. You leave the Resp, Cardio and Gastro blocks behind.

And this is all good and well, except for one thing. Allowances are made for only 2 working days between exams. We got lucky with resp, in that it there was a weekend between the two days. And Cardio is going to be quite nice, because we have a weekend and a public holiday as well. But Gastro was a real SOB. And I don’t mean “shortness of breath”. J

Two days to study 8 weeks worth of work? Impossible. As you can imagine, a lot was left out of the studying process. Scratch that. It was a cramming process. >.<

I’ve been going to bed at around 2:30am every night, due to the sheer amount of work. And when I do eventually get there, my sleep is sorely lacking in quality. Last week I spoke of being chronically tired. That doesn’t even compare to this. And I don’t even want to imagine what our interning years are going to be like!

It’s at times like these that the iconic lyrics come to mind.

“Oh, we’re halfway there. Oh, living on a prayer. Take my hand.

We’ll make it out there. Oh, living on a prayer.”

Truly, one feels like the only you’ll pass is on a hope and prayer.

Because, when you’ve barely slept and haven’t covered even half the work, how else can you pass?

Well. If that wasn’t depressing… >.< Cardio is up next, and this block is my favourite. So, hopefully, I’ll be able to atone for the less than satisfactory performances in the first two exams.

Good luck to all my homepeeps! My we all pass all our exams- the first time around! J

P.S. Happy birthday, Shabnam ‘Shibzie’ Hoosen. Have a wonderful day! <3

2014/06/14

Awkward Hugs

They’re just the worst. I can’t be the only one who feels this way.

This post was inspired by the results of a friend’s procrastination. Amy/Ay-Jay Fudgles is one hell of a rockstar, and here’s what she came up with [I may have edited here and there, but all credit goes to her]:

This is not quite the hug described, but it is too adorable for words.

How to perfect the high-low hug:
1. Lean toward your left when going in for the hug ( I just find the right side awkward)
2. Lift your right arm, indicating to the person that you're going over their shoulder- that way, if you are fun-sized (like me), they will bend lower than initially planned (it’s subconscious really).
3. Keep the left arm low .
4. At this point you should be in the hug already... right arm over the person's shoulder with your palm open just below the neck (be careful not to go too high- you might strangle the person and believe me its awkward A.F) as if reaching for the other shoulder...with the left hand (now situated across the lower back) open... this creates a firm and engulfing hold... now center your hand- wrist parrallel to the spine and gently stroke/rub the person's back (be pressure conscious- you will be able to tell the layers of clothing... use it as a guide)
5. I usually think of something cute or something I like about the person... I often add my weirdness to it- e.g. 'Seeing you smile makes my soul laugh’, ‘you are such a beautiful person, I wanna punch you- no one should be this amazing'... if it’s a stranger or merely an acquaintance, I’d think of something like 'you are special', 'I see you- you don’t have to act like I didn’t notice you'... please make sure that you THINK it and not say it (unless you and the person are on that level)... it makes the hug come to life and gives it meaning (at least to me).
How long you need to hold is dependent on the level of comfort.... I usually don’t care- and hold on to the point where it gets awkward... if you find yourself in this situation- say it’s awkward but don’t let go for another few seconds!
Note: if you're a girl hugging a guy... keep in mind that he is a guy and make sure you KEEP YOUR DISTANCE!!!!!! [I CANNOT STRESS THIS MORE!]

Thank you for that, Amez. It’s unbelievable how many people don’t know how to give a decent hug. >.< Also, “keep your distance” just cracked me up! =P

Happy hugging, everyone! J

2014/05/30

40 winks

I recently met a few more first years, and it was quite an interesting conversation.

The new lecture halls were opened for use at the beginning of this month, and we were chatting about how amazing it all is. Because, get this, the first years got to move in there. Not the fifth years, or even us second years. No, the littlest of the lot get to use the new facilities first.

So these little first years were complaining about how the seats are just far enough apart that you can’t comfortably lean on your friend’s shoulder- without feeling like you’re about the fall through the cracks, so to speak. “You can’t lie on them because it’s too far. It’s not comfortable to sleep with your head on the desk. I can’t sleep sitting upright! It’s horrible! Pluuus…! The lecturers can see you, and it just seems rude to sleep in front of them. Also the class is really loud…”

On and on they went. Until I responded with a, “You can’t fall asleep in class? You. Will. Learn.”

And it’s true. I feel worn out all the time; chronically exhausted, as I like to call it. Sometimes things get to be a bit much, and a nap in the middle of a particularly boring lecture never hurt anyone. In fact, I wake up feeling pretty good. But then again, I do something those first years have yet to discover…

During the clinical part of our blocks, few people actually turn up for the lectures, so there are plenty of open seats. As my very good friend, Anthea Lakay, likes to say, “Laziness makes you clever.” [A sneaky sort of clever, that is.] My sneaky plan? I lie down across the empty seats, and catch a pretty decent nap. J

We don’t always have time to sleep, especially now that midyears are rolling around. So when you have a few minutes, you [and by you, I mean me] basically pass out. Did I mention you’ll sleep anywhere even remotely comfortable? Every minute of shuteye helps. It truly does.

2014/05/30

What a day

Today was… well, to say insane would be putting it mildly.

This morning, we wrote a one hour Physiology paper on the cardiovascular system. Then my group, the second group that is, would be on lockdown for the following two hours, while group 1 wrote the ECG test in Gergs. I say lockdown because we were pretty much being treated as prisoners: No electronic devices, the noise level had to be kept down and even bathroom breaks were supervised. I kid you not; one of the invigilators accompany you.

That was the plan. But we all know that plans don’t work out the way we want.

Shortly after 12, Prof Paige walks in, asking us not to crucify him- it’s not his fault and he’s mighty upset about it too. Well hell, we thought, what now?

Gergs double-booked. And we had to wait another 2 hours before we could head up and write our ECG test. At that point, it felt too late to study, I was hungry, and went way past angry and straight into I-actually-don’t-give-a territory.

In short, group 2 spent 4 hours on lockdown. All because the Gergs staff didn’t have their admin straight, and they wanted to prevent us from obtaining inside info about the test.

So yeah, all in all, a fantastic day. [Picture me rolling my eyes and then pulling a gag face.]

Lastly, I’d like to wish Mazzie a very happy birthday. Or, as Kayla so aptly put it, “Happy second decade!”

2014/03/24

Close Shave

Not too long ago, I had a chat with a sixteen year old. And oh my, I feel old.

One of her friends walked by and she made the comment that she’d rather he shaved his beard. Curious as ever, I turned around to catch a glimpse of this fella. I kid you not, he was barely rocking stubble.

Needless to say, we argued back and forth about whether males should shave or not. Personally, I reckon a beard increases a male’s handsomeness at least tenfold. She completely disagrees. To be totally honest, I didn’t understand it at first. But then I remembered that, back when I was in grade 10- as she currently is- I felt the same way: Males look better clean-shaven.

Wrong. There’s just something extremely attractive about a male with a beard. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking a mile long or unkempt and unruly. I’m talking about a well-groomed, neatly trimmed beard. Decent.

It seems one’s taste and what one perceives as attractive or not, changes as one matures. But perhaps there’s more to it. My closing argument [I swear I felt like an old person] was that she’d understand when she was older. Of course, she denied it. Duh. What was I expecting? My mother readily agreed with me, though that shouldn’t have been news- my dad’s had a beard since… before my time. J But what really surprise me was the fact that her own mother agreed.

I prefer a male with a beard, rather than without it. Quite a few [pretty much all] of my [female] friends agree. Is it just us, or is it a thing? Does one naturally tend toward the more rugged, manly appearance as one grows older? Or are we, and by ‘we’ I mean me, just strange creatures?

I’d love to hear your input on this. Just for interest’s sake. Be sure to comment! J

2014/03/11

Resolve

I’ve finally figured out my New Year’s resolutions. J

Okay, so they’re more like March resolutions for the rest of the year. Buuut the point is I’ve made them.

This year, I resolve to:

©      Read at least of Mark Twain’s works.

©      Get active, get fit, and get those abs I’ve been wishing for.

©      As far as academics go; don’t fail.

©      Play guitar more often, and actually learn new songs.

Yeah, I think that about covers it for now.

I’ve actually gotten off to a great start on all accounts, except the first. I’m hunting for his stuff. Desperately.

Oooh, a quick aside: I broke a personal record this weekend, when I read Divergent, by Veronica Roth, in less than 3 days. Yeah, I am proud of that admission. J

I’m off to another lecture now. Have a great day, y’all!

2014/03/05

This and that

Since the end of my Resp block, many things have happened.

I suppose I should start off by mentioning my end-of-block weekend. Mine was a really chilled. Back when Resp started, we made huge plans to go out and have fun and just not be at home. But when the time came, I kept my plans simple: Play guitar, write, work out, and sleep, sleep, sleep.

Baby 2.0
Photograph taken by myself

While I spent some quality time with Baby 2.0 [I swear he really needs a new name. suggestions may or may not be appreciated- depending on how I feel at the time.], I admittedly wrote less than I’d have liked. I did, however, mange to get in tons of sleep and two solid work outs.

I also spent some time working, where I decided to bust out my Xhosa-speaking skills. Needless to say I was met with many amused and smiling faces. However, there was one woman in particular who insisted in responding in English. Yeah, I needed a moment to recover from that one. >.<

Name badge, Cardio study guide, laptop and phone.
I'm totally prepared.
Psssht, yeah right. >.<

Monday morning we were back at the grindstone once again. Cardio started last week, and let me tell you, it’s been hectic. Between dissections, lectures and more hospital visits, I’m just about worn through. As I mentioned before, going to hospital is amazing, albeit semi-depressing, but lectures are boring. Also, I’d always assumed I’d enjoy dissections, but it’s completely lost its allure. It takes a lot out of you, but it can still be fun. I recall our very first cardio dissection: Chris, Haley [yes, the same Haley from my hospital group], and Ofentse were opening up and unpacking our cadaver, the lovely Mrs Jones. [The name has been changed to protect the identity of the deceased. I’ve always wanted to say something to that effect, although, in all seriousness, we don’t know her real name.] Leendert and I were watching this, while a very unsuspecting Kathleen read the instructions for that day’s dissection. Unsuspecting, you ask. Not two minutes in and both lungs go flying at her. For no particular reason. Of course, I began laughing almost hysterically- out of pure shock. It was as if the lungs just flew at her. In hindsight, it was slightly creepy…

Doctor's coat- I feel legit.
[Yeah, that's Baby in the background.]

Study, study, study.
Fun, fun, fun. >.<

That’s basically what I’ve been up to these past few days. Well, that and studying. >.<

Jadri Conradie, with his adorable nephew.

Today is also Osler’s awesome Primarius’ birthday, so I’d like to wish Jadri Conradie [one of the awesomest- yes, I just said that- males I know] a very happy birthday. Have a great one, buddy. J

Well, folks, I’m afraid that’s all we have time for. Tune in again next week for another episode of *cue dramatic music* Thoughts of a mentally unstable medical student. J

2014/03/04

The girl in the white coat

Apart from that being the blog of a friend of mine [Read Nicole Spence’s blogs at www.thegirlinthewhitecoat.blogspot.com ], it serves as a description of my day.

Today was… pretty incredible. It was the first time I donned my white doctor’s coat and went to hospital. Although we didn’t do anything, it was quite the experience. As I’ve said before, the coat gives one a somewhat perverse sense of power. And, I won’t lie, some people look at your with something close to admiration- not that we’ve done anything in our short lives to deserve it.

We spent an hour with our registrar, Dr Elmo Pretorius, who took us through the general examination. There exists a wealth of knowledge in those who have gone before us, and this was particularly evident today. It seems as though we’ve only been at it for a short time, but to be able to walk into a hospital ward and understand at least part of the medical jargon makes one realize just how much we have learnt.

The MBChB 2018 class was split up into groups of 8 members each, for these hospital sessions. Apart from myself, my group consists of: Stian “Sports and TV are what I like” Nieuwoudt, El-Marie “Animal Lover” Gallant, Firdows “they call me Death Star” Gamieldien, Duval “Oh yeah. I can sing” Geddie, Jacques “I’m a sea person” Geldenhuys, Lee “I only wear Addidas shoes” Murdock, and Haley “I smuggled a hamster into my res room for an entire year” October. That’s how they introduced themselves- I am so serious right now. Well, they didn’t put their one-interesting-thing-about-me fact in between their names and surnames, but I’m sure you get the gist.

Introductions aside, I’m quite happy with my group- peculiar lot that we are. I’m just excited to go back to the hospital and actually do stuff.

P.S. Our patient was a confounding case, and neither Doc Pretorius nor the consultants know what is wrong with her. Yet. But I’ll be sure to keep you guys posted. Well, it is getting late, I’m beat, and I really should be studying for my end-of-block next Friday.

Ciao ciao. And remember to keep monitoring that pulse!

Xoxo

12 February 2014

Vensters 2014

Once again, it has been ages since I’ve last blogged about anything. And not for lack of content either. I’ve been quite busy.

Shortly after my last post, my family and I went away on holiday. Epic as it was, that week should have had an entire blog dedicated to it, but alas. It does not.

Also, in my previous blog, I mentioned that I was anxious for second year to begin. I take that back. Kind of. There is just so much work to be done! By the time the first years started, not only had we been back for 3 weeks, but had already written our pre-clinical test.

But this is about Vensters, the single most looked-forward-to event of first year orientation. They put on street shows all over main campus and, for just R15, one gets access to every single one. It was an incredible night, one that brought back a multitude of memories from my own time performing at Vensters. My friends and I traipsed around the campus, singing and dancing like the unstable characters we are. I saw my cousin Ghaalib briefly, got bulldozed by Laylah [Read her blogs: www.theethrealdeal.com ], and, to my absolute wonderment, ran into an old friend. Suffice it to say I did not expect to see him there, but it was nonetheless fantastic seeing Micky again.

So much went down that night. More than once, we ended up lying in the road, just staring up at the stars, unable to move much. We laughed and laughed at jokes that weren’t even funny. Mohammed and I had an argument [all in good humour], things were said a little too loudly, and Taufeeq and Adam got the wrong idea. We made a point of not explaining it. Have a little fun, they say. J Also, a very happy 20^th birthday to Khalid Mohamed ‘Poppie’ ‘Pops’ ‘Popsicle’ ‘you-have-too-many-nicknames-to-remember’ Pohplonker.

Although I only got home at 2am, and got very little sleep before I had to be up and head off to take care of some business, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So thank you, to everyone who made Friday night so absolutely epic, whether you were mentioned by name or not. Also, to the rest of the crew, who could unfortunately not make it, we really missed you.

Here’s to a crazy year ahead, and many more awesome nights like this! =) <3

2 February 2014