I’m about half done with the orchestration on “Lone Star Polka.” I cut a big chunk out last night, and now I can’t tell if I made it a little too short. The piece was in a big A-B-A form — actually, sonata form, according to Newman — but now that I’ve cut so much from the end, the last “A” section is more of a coda. I’ve listened to it so many times both ways that it’s become the equivalent of repeating a word over and over again — it ends up sounding like gibberish both ways.

The “A” section has two main tunes — an A and a B, we’ll call them. In the original version, the recap at the end presented the mini A-B-A one last time. (He was right. It really was Sonata Form.) In the edit, B is gone, so now it’s basically just A-A!!!! (That’s me shouting “A” one last time.) The new version has a lot more joementum, but I’m hoping it’s not too abrupt.

PalmOne is now selling the GSM Treo 650. Cingular has a good price, but you have to sign a 2-year contract, and Cingular’s data plans are way overpriced. They’re so expensive – starting at $40/month – that I’d lose the benefit of their cheaper phone in less than a year. I’m considering buying the full-priced, unlocked phone, just to stick with T-Mobile because they’re cheap, but I’m torn. Thoughts? Any Cingular users out there who love their service? I sure wish Verizon would start carrying good phones…

Yesterday, I got a recording of the Eastman Wind Ensemble’s performance of “Redline Tango” from last week. Man. I expected them to sound good, but wow. Saying they’re a hell of an ensemble is quite an understatement.

That’s all for now. I need to head to the park for my run before I end up just crashing on the sofa in front of the TV.