Author Archives: Joseph Antonioli

Senior Curricular Innovation Specialist

Root7 Launches Exit 1

The first track off Root7’s debut album “Exit 1.” Purchase the full album on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/root7/1269451241

Title: Blown Away
Performed by: Root7
Solo: Kayla James
Original Artist: Carrie Underwood
Songwriters: Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear
Arrangement: Joe Antonioli
Audio Engineer: Luke Young, Meadowlark Studios
Videographer: Scott Barber Film
Release Date: June 2017

Reflections on New Realities and #NMC16

The Oculus is set up and ready to go. To prepare for this momentous occasion I attended a pre- NMC Summer Conference workshop on Virtual Reality and the Future of Learning. Maya Georgiva, from New York University, and Emory Criag, from College of New Rochelle, presented a thorough and engaging overview of the new realities that will influence the academic cyberinfrastructure. The workshop and the conference prompted a lot of thoughts and questions.  For instance…

What is the difference between augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality?

From Wikipedia “Augmented reality (AR) is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.”

My interpretation is that this reality occurs when digital information has a connection with physical space. For instance, portal information is only available when a player moves to coordinates in a real location.

Another example is Pranav Mistry’s Sixth Sense, where are camera picks up information in physical space and projects related digital information.

From Wikipedia: “Virtual reality or virtual realities (VR), also known as immersive multimedia or computer-simulated reality, is a computer technology that replicates an environment, real or imagined, and simulates a user’s physical presence and environment to allow for user interaction. “

Immersive is the key word, the majority of the sensory information has been created, most often digitally. The participant is surrounded by the virtual world, they experience very little from the physical space. Star Trek’s Holodeck would be considered an advanced version of vr.

For now we will need devices like the Oculus, so that we can be saved from aliens by a bunny, or be eaten by a T-Rex.

From Wikipedia “Mixed reality (MR), sometimes referred to as hybrid reality,[1] is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time.”

The top of the Wikipedia article suggests that MR should be merged with AR. Based on explanations or MR I could see  it as a subset of AR, although I may rethink this if we start thinking about MR as including the features to bring you back and forth between AR and VR, much like Microsoft’s preview here.

Quick scholarship and music crossover

Novice musicians can make good music by learning the score, note-for-note, measure-by-measure, and performing it accurately, but great music is created when they listen to the other performers and create a conversation that goes beyond the notation. The same can be said for scholarship, where ideas are shared with melodies and counter-melodies, tight and complex harmonies, and pushed through the process of dissonance and resolution. Every performance builds on the last, creating an ongoing conversation to build knowledge and meaning.

Arranging Party

Midlife Dissonance

I am taking a break at the arranging party, letting the pixels dry on the digital scores. This is part of the process: get everything down before going returning and placing everything in an order that tells the musical story. It is essential for a clear eye and a fresh look.

I am surrounded by others who are diligently working on their own scores. The group has arrived at a point where everyone wants to invest their time contributing to our repertoire, this keeps our sets eclectic and interesting. The silence is broken up by questions about voicing and the software (most are using Musescore while I work with Finale). This is an activity I’ve been longing to return to since spending 3 days with 5 other arrangers in San Francisco about 13 years ago. It has taken some time to get Root7 to make this a part of our activities, a little over ten years since the group formed.

Finding people in Vermont who have the same passion for all-vocal music has been a challenge. Most singers want to front a band or hide their voice in a choir. Phish and the Von Trapp family aside, the Green Mountain State is not a place that draws people who want to make a living in music. We have full time jobs and more, living with a mantra of “Moonlight in Vermont or starve,” making it hard for busy people to dedicate their free time to a hobby. I feel lucky to have found a group of people who are committed and passionate enough to make singing and participating in an a cappella group a priority.

The mid-life point is coming up, so these past few years I’ve been thinking a lot about what the second half should look like. This has included reaching back and rediscovering the activities I have enjoyed the most, and find ways to do them more often. To do more of something requires doing less of other things.

25 years ago I was handed a photocopied sheet of contact information for college acappella groups and asked to come up with a tour schedule for the UVM TopCats Spring Break Tour. This was my introduction to CASA, The Contemporary A Cappella Society, a non-profit devoted to building the a cappella community. At this point in time it was a yearly list of groups who were looking to sing at other colleges, or who wanted groups to visit their campus. Most groups knew a handful of other groups in their geographic area, this list expanded the networks and allowed me to construct a tour that went down the east coast to Duke, southwest to Tulane, around the gulf for a few days in Fort Lauderdale, then up to the University of Virginia before returning home to Vermont.

CASA continued to expand the list, including professional groups who were looking to expand their own networks. The list was included in the CAN, changing from the Collegiate A Cappella Newsletter to the Contemporary A Cappella Newsletter, a somewhat quarterly publication that included news and adds. I became a member before graduating, thinking that the benefits would support some a cappella adventures I had planned. This led me to RMAC, a newsgroup devoted to the art. The online exchanges were my community, people outside my local geography who cared about the art form. I became friends with people I had never met face to face, people I still consider friends today.

At the turn of the century CASA was looking to redesign their website, and I offered to lend what skill I had to the project. As the stock market crashed other people on the project returned to work, until I was the last one. The new site launched in 2001, and I remember thinking 1,200+ pages was a lot (Middlebury has over half a million in its public web presence). Shortly after the launch I was invited to join the board of directors, and during my first meeting I was asked to be president.

That lasted one year. CASA had been built by inviting anyone who was doing something interesting with a cappella to join, if they were doing it well they were asked to be a board member. The group of directors was a sounding board for each other, offering help where we could , but mostly offering advice. I cherish the experience, being able to have conversations with some of the most creative and intelligent people. Unfortunately I had to leave after a year, my time was devoted to my family and transitioning from banking to a career n technology.

A few years later I was invited back to the board. Again I felt surrounded by smart and talented people that challenged me. CASA was moving towards an organization that was taking the collage of programs and making them work together. Many of those people have since started their own successful organizations and projects, and I often wonder if they understood what kind of history they were making while they were building it.

It has been ten years since I returned, and this January I attended my last CASA board meeting. It is something I had planned on doing for a while, there are opportunities for me on the horizon that I need to make space for. The current board is a continuation of the ability to attract incredible people, not the least is Shane Ardell who has already made incredible contributions to the events and technology programs.

It feels odd to take a step back from something that has been a part of my life for so long, something that has contributed to my personal growth and success. I am experiencing this day with Root7, surrounded by music creation, in some part due to my time with CASA. There is some comfort in knowing that I am leaving at a time where there are still good people in the leadership positions.

I plan on maintaining my membership and attending events. Root7 attended BOSS last year, we plan to do so again this year. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be performing some of the music we are crafting at this moment.

Charging Station

Getting Around is Getting Easier

Before the holiday break, Middlebury installed an ev charging station on Hillcrest Rd., near the Franklin Environmental Center. The station has two ports, and is part of the NRG EVGo network from Green Mountain Power.

The Mill Street charging station has also switched to the EVGo plan, moving away from ChargePoint.The stations are equidistant from my office in the Davis Library, meaning that my choice of charging station is determined by whether I feel like walking up or down the hill at a certain time of day. The extras capacity within walking distance does mean that I do not have to worry about whether there is a free station nearby.

Both EVGo and ChargePoint are needed, since the Planning Commission and some charging stations in Burlington that I use still require ChargePoint. the swipe cards are easy enough to store with credit-card sizes and keychain options.

18 months into the lease it is becoming easier to have an ev (my kids call her “Evie”) in Vermont. Kudos and thanks to Middlebury for including this in the sustainability initiatives.

Adams Apple Orchard and Farm Market

Apple Tree Care

apple tree propped up

apple tree propped up

This summer, a friend and colleague asked for advice on how to take care of an apple tree that was leaning, possibly due to the amount of precipitation we had. After a few back-and-forths I mentioned that this should be a post, and now I am finally getting around to it.

My wife’s family owns Adams Apple Orchard and Farm Market, where they have grown more than 900 apple trees since the early 1970s. They grow dwarf trees, mostly Macintosh, and focus on pick-your-own. Personally, I am a Honeycrisp lover, which I am told takes three times the effort for one third the fruit because it is so heavy with water.

This is all to say that the information on this page is not coming from me, it is from answers to questions asked of my wife and father-in-law, and participating in dinnertime conversations.

 

Questions from Bryan: what should one do about an apple tree that’s leaning to one side? Should I tie it to a stake to pull it back to vertical, or prop it up with a brace?

Answer: The tree is relatively tall for the trunk that supports it.  I think it would be beneficial to also stake it as it might be unbalanced and/or top-heavy once the fruit matures. It might be helpful to prune some height off the tree next winter.

Question on staking: Should I put down several 4′ stakes and tie ’em to the tree with twine?

Answer: You may want to use 3-4 stakes around the tree to straighten it evenly and reduce stress points. See the video below for more instructions:

Question on pruning: Only in the winter?

Answer: The best time to prune apple trees is in late winter or early spring before any new growth starts and it is easier to see what you are doing without the foliage.

Question on height: How high should the maximum be 10′?

Answer: The max height depends on the diameter of the truck and what kind of tree you have. There are different standards for standard, dwarf and semi-dwarf trees. Try to get a ball-shape, similar to what you see in illustrations, so that there is an even diameter around the tree. Favor keeping nodes that have three branches.

Practical answer from Farmer John: If you want to pick fruit from your tree, don’t let it grow any taller than you can reach. If you have an 8′ ladder, don’t let it grow taller than 10′. NOTE: you want a sensible answer, ask a farmer.

Question on nodes: Does “node” mean a branch emanating from the trunk?

Answer: A “node” is anywhere the branches split, it can be off the main trunk or anywhere along the hierarchy of branches. This helps with the balance and the look. So favor nodes with three branches coming out.

 

Lemon TreeIn addition to sharing advice, I am taking it while growing a lemon and a lime tree in my office. Who knew you could grow citrus in a climate-controlled library.

At the charging station

Frozen Voltage: Commuting in Vermont with an EV

During this time of year I enter night a bit further north every day during the commute. Daylight extends its stay, until I eventually arrive home without my headlights on. It is the toughest time of year to be driving late in the evening, then returning early in the morning.

I have been traveling the route between Williston and Middlebury for almost nine years. As of this February I will have gone south on Brownell to Route 16, then Silver St. to Bristol Rd. and back again a couple thousand times. The final 15-20 miles has changed a few times, changing the connection to Route 7 from River Rd. to Town Hill, currently I am picking up Route 17 by traveling from Hardscrabble Rd to Sawyer Rd. Most of the time I am going the opposite direction of traffic, but the occasional honey-wagon can stretch the 45 minute drive to over an hour.

Three cars have seen the majority of this routine. On the first day of the commute I was driving an emerald green 2001 Saturn SL. The car handled the travel well, and got very good gas mileage. There were a few times, mostly at night while the snow was falling, that the car would slide towards the edge of the road, and I felt that I would slip into a snowbank five miles from the nearest help. I wanted to make the commute safer, so I went looking for a heavier car and found a 2008 Mercedes R350 with 17,000 miles and at half the listed retail. The car was a tank that got me to and from work in some very crazy snow storms.

The crossover was too much car most of the year. Living in Vermont develops a respect for the environment, so while I felt safe in the winter I cringed at the impact of my behemoth on wheels. Gas prices were rising and the car was due for a major breakdown (the warranty was up), so it was time to make a change.

So why get an electric car?

I was visiting friends and colleagues on the west coast during the summer of 2014. One of them gave me a ride in his Nissan Leaf, and the first thing that struck me was the lack of noise. No rumble from the engine, only a high whir from the motor and the sound of the tires on the road. The car reduced noise as well as air pollution, and made it easier to listen to my a cappella tracks in my iTunes library.

It was a shock the first time I stopped at an intersection, no noise or vibration, as if I had stalled the family stick-shift while I was learning to drive. This took some getting used to.

Regenerative braking uses the motor as a generator to return energy to the battery. It is an interesting feeling to know that I can return fuel to the tank by using the car. Try that with a gas-powered vehicle.

Gas prices were over $3.50 per gallon at the time I was looking to buy, at 20mpg it would cost $14 for the round trip each day. It currently costs about $2.80 to recharge the car battery from 0, giving it a range of about 100 miles. Even with prices for gas at about $2.50 at the time I am writing this, I am still saving about 75%. 

Armed with a good environmental feeling and some budget relief, I headed into the fall feeling lighter.

Reading the range

Reading the range

I became more aware of my energy use. Everytime I turned on the radio or fan I would wonder how much of the battery capacity I was using. It turned out that I could travel to and from Middlebury and still have about 20% capacity. This felt like a good cushion.

The next challenge was whether there would be enough time between when I arrived home until I left for work again the next morning to charge the car. I was able to go two days without an extra charge, which was easily accommodated by using the charging station at the Addison County Regional Planning Commission while getting lunch at Green Peppers.

Then winter arrived.

There are a few things that impact the EV during the winter. Heavier tires mean that the car has to move more weight, and the battery has a reduced ability to produce charge when it is cold. Just turning on the heat drops the range by 15% in the dashboard.

At the charging station

At the charging station

When the temperature drops between 32° and 0°F, I’ve noticed that the range drops by about 40%. When it drops below 0°F to -15°F I notice that the range is cut in half.

Knowing that the charge is severely reduced means that it will have to be charged in Middlebury every day. The closest charging station is Mill St., which has four chargers near the entrance to a commuter lot. On most days the half-mile walk to the Davis Family Library would be pleasant, but it becomes nasty when you discover the wind whipping across the lawn in front of Twilight and down Weybridge St. as you climb out of Frog Hollow. Your breath starts to burn on the coldest days before you reach Storrs Ave. Luckily these days are rare, even in Vermont, and I have compassionate colleagues who take pity on me and give me a lift on the worst days.

The ride, itself, is comfortable and feels secure. The battery takes up a lot of area along the floorboard and sits in the center of the car, reducing the sliding pendulum effect when front or rear tires hit a slick spot. It weighs about 1,000 pounds more than the Saturn did, helping it to hug the available pavement. The car can be started while plugged in, meaning you can warm it up without using up the range.

Recommendation

I would recommend the Nissan Leaf, even for winter driving, with a few caveats.

We are a three car family, I would not have purchased the Leaf it was going to be my only car. The range on the battery means that I would have to stop 3-4 times between my house and Boston, MA, and that assumes that there are enough charging stations along the route. Our Honda Pilot or CRV would be better suited for road trips and the severest of weather conditions.

The technology is changing rapidly. There are rumors that Nissan has a 250 mile battery, Tesla is getting close to 300 and is looking to expand to 400 miles. New Leafs have a solar panel on the rear spoiler to charge some features of the car. Leasing is a better option during this stage in the technology’s development.

There are home-chargers that will hook up to a 220v outlet, similar to what you plug your dryer into. The dealer quoted us about $1200, but we found a GE model for about $750 that is working just fine.

I will keep posting about my experience with the electric car on Facebook and Twitter, and if I generate enough content will pull it all together for a future post. Until then, I am going to continue to enjoy my less-distorted music two hours a day, five times a week, as the scenery changes from white to green.

Just the Way You Are

“Mommy, Daddy… I am different.”

Music started with a pickup and a down beat.

“And I learn different.”

The key signature had not been established, but the melody line had a direction.

“And I learn different than the teachers are teaching.”

“And I know I know this because the teachers talk to me as if I should know something, but I don’t.”

Beautiful self-aware dissonance is created.

“So what I want to do is get all of my teachers in a room and talk so they can teach to me in a way that matches how I learn.

“Hail to the Chief” had never sounded so bold.

 

In 2012, our youngest daughter was in 6th grade. She had always been an amazing storyteller, bringing rich detail and creativity to her audience. Academically she was above average, but for some reason she was having problems this year. I remember feeling an amazing sense of pride after listening to her statement of the issue and a call-to-action to resolve it.

We asked for more details, and she told us stories of missing papers and not understanding directions. There were times where she felt that she did not fit in with her classmates.

So now what? We had an opening verse and a chorus, but the song had to go further. There was a slim-to-none chance that we could do as she had requested, if only our school systems could devote that much attention to any one student, especially one that was doing well.

 

This is the opening for the third chapter for the 10K Maniacs assignment, about how my daughter brought us on a journey to learn about how she sees the world, and the people that helped us along the way. Title of the post comes from the Billy Joel song:

Just Write by Sean MacEntee

These Are Days

This fall begins the next phase of my professional development journey. I will be pursuing an MEd in Interdisciplinary Studies at UVM, my undergraduate alma mater. The flexibility of this program, as well as the proximity, feels like a good fit.

The first course I will be taking is Scholarly Personal Narrative Writing, co-led by the director of the program, Dr. Robert Nash, and Sydnee Viray. Last week we had our first class, an introduction to the course and an enjoyable getting-to-know-you conversation that modeled the code of conduct outlined in the syllabus. Robert and Sydnee’s deliveries complimented each other very well, and my fellow students represented a broad range of interesting backgrounds and experiences. This seems like the perfect stew for engaging interaction, we shall see what happens as the pot is stirred.

I’ll admit I feel anxious when I look at the syllabus and see “Write a minimum 10,000-word manuscript…” While my friends were writing 30-80k thesis papers, I was learning songs in four different languages for recitals (my friends insisted that they preferred the papers). I question whether I can pull together that many words in one piece and make them sound coherent, let alone interesting enough for someone else to read.

The first assignment was to read the first half of Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.”1 I found Anne’s writing genuine and compassionate, as if she is a companion taking you down a path. She encourages the reader to explore the small, hidden, connected trails while still moving in a forward direction. She has a fascinating way of sharing the realities of writing, each one is a candid story on their own. When Anne has an idea that has the potential to make it into a story, she writes it down on an index card that she keep folded in half, lengthwise, in her pocket. I wonder if I could do something similar with my iPhone, we will see how it goes. For now, I’ll jot down some ideas in this post, topics that keep coming up in my mind recently and may be ripe with good material.

 

Family & Relationships

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve told the “how I met your mother” story. Both of my parents demonstrated a desire to contribute beyond the job, whether it was building a Babe Ruth league or leading cancer support groups. The somber (relatives passing, my parent’s divorce) and the joyous (birth of our daughters, vacations) all seem worthy of written words.

I’ve also had the privilege of meeting, and doing things, with very creative and intelligent people. The occupation and vocation hold memories that could use some increased resolution.

 

Music

Will my approach and experience with writing be the same as it is with creating music? Will the process of creating a piece be more satisfying than the publication? Will I fall prey to a formula, then become inspired by another point of view that reinvigorates my interest?

 

The Commute

Middlebury is an incredible place to work, filled with brilliant quirky people who share their passion with very motivated students. There is always something going on, Summer Language Schools, J-term classes, MiddCORE, MIL, and the list goes on.If I could change anything about my job it would be the commute, a 38 mile route through the valley that happens twice a day. The landscape is beautiful, and there is something to be said for being able to listen to your own music for a long period of time. There has also been a recent spike in the enjoyment level with the purchase of a Nissan Leaf.

A colleague of mine was doing a similar commute, and during my first summer at Middlebury she said something that has always stuck with me. “You never feel like you are a part of either community.” At the time I was feeling that I was just extending my existing community down Rt. 7, broadening my circle. As I walked from the Gutterson Field House to my class in Living & Learning B last week, memories of what it was like working in the same place where you lived resurfaced. Writing may help me reconcile these thoughts.

The hope is that as the class progresses these topics will become targeted and worthy of a reader’s time. For now the journey starts with a 771 word post.

 

The title is a hopeful song by 10,000 Maniacs, which sums up how I am feeling about this paper.

1 Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, First Anchor Books, 1995.
“Just Write” by Sean MacEntee