Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
I know it's been a while...
Alright, so here we go again...
This should have been posted a week ago, but I'll try to rip it from my rapidly decaying memory
Went to a fundraiser at a Catholic high school the other weekend. THe school opens its door the adults in the community and they can wander the halls, listen to live music, eat, drink lots of alcohol and gamble. You know, good Christian values stuff... anyway, we've done this a few times over the years and we've always been, let's say, impressed by the student show (a musical revue) every year. This year was no exception, it was jaw dropping in its insanity. The theme seemed to be 'love throughout the year' or some such thing. He is my recollection, month by month...
September - guy standing center stage looks vaguely familiar from a previous years show. Very eager. Wearing a skin tight white t-shirt. Has either a very dark 3rd nipple, or a huge mole on his chest. Can't remember the song that was sung.
October - we're outside a slum bar. Guy plays sax moderately well, sings passable. Don't know the song, he's apparently pining for the hooker in the bar window (Catholic high school remember). Next song is Van Morrison's "Moondance" - mic dies after the second word this section becomes lip-synced kareoke. There may be another song/dance number in here. Then, of course, "Thriller" which is the most romantic song ever written. (again Catholic school)
November - things start getting a little weird. A Thanksgiving celebration! Stage left, pigrims. Center stage, Native Americans - well, lets just call them the most sterotypical 'Indians' you can imagine. Stage right, cowboys (of course!). What song? The cowboys and indians sing "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" while the Pilgrims nod along. (again, Catholic school) Yes, the cowboys and indians getting together to sing: "Well I wouldnt trade my life for diamonds and jewels/I never was one of them money hungry fools." I just about died. It was like an Americana fever dream...
December - want to remind you once again, Catholic school. How is Christmas celebrated? With a little boy falling alseep under the tree and dreaming of girls dancing in their nightgowns. Yup.
January - can't remember. I think my mind was trying to wrap itself around the combination of the previous 3 months.
February - again, cannot remember. May have passed out from confusion.
March - Irish dancing. Why? The deep love of St. Pat's day of course. Also, the boy dancing looks like he's about 3 feet tall (a Leprechaun?)
April - we're going to the chapel, 'cuz everyone gets married in April. Also, apparently people dance around in raincoats (but don't sing "Singin' In the Rain")
May - all I remember is one kid on stage, buried WAAAY in the back, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was because he's a bit 'husky' and more than a little goofy looking. He is also the only person on stage that seems to understand the complete absurdity of things and is playing it justly. Completely overblown facial expressions, sheer goofy joy, not even really trying to cover up choreography mistakes - just letting it go and looking like the most talented person on stage because he gets it! While the ladies are all serious and overusing their shrill voices while swallowing the microphone and the boys are completely self-concious and more than a little wooden, this kid is free!!!
June - blackout
July - balls to the wall US pride, Yankee Doodle Dandy all leading to the climactic tap-dancing midgit Uncle Sam. Americana fever dream #2
August - to be honest I cannot remember if this was at the beginning or end of the show. It was that memorable.
That about sums it up. It's always a special little treat, but this one was extra special...
This should have been posted a week ago, but I'll try to rip it from my rapidly decaying memory
Went to a fundraiser at a Catholic high school the other weekend. THe school opens its door the adults in the community and they can wander the halls, listen to live music, eat, drink lots of alcohol and gamble. You know, good Christian values stuff... anyway, we've done this a few times over the years and we've always been, let's say, impressed by the student show (a musical revue) every year. This year was no exception, it was jaw dropping in its insanity. The theme seemed to be 'love throughout the year' or some such thing. He is my recollection, month by month...
September - guy standing center stage looks vaguely familiar from a previous years show. Very eager. Wearing a skin tight white t-shirt. Has either a very dark 3rd nipple, or a huge mole on his chest. Can't remember the song that was sung.
October - we're outside a slum bar. Guy plays sax moderately well, sings passable. Don't know the song, he's apparently pining for the hooker in the bar window (Catholic high school remember). Next song is Van Morrison's "Moondance" - mic dies after the second word this section becomes lip-synced kareoke. There may be another song/dance number in here. Then, of course, "Thriller" which is the most romantic song ever written. (again Catholic school)
November - things start getting a little weird. A Thanksgiving celebration! Stage left, pigrims. Center stage, Native Americans - well, lets just call them the most sterotypical 'Indians' you can imagine. Stage right, cowboys (of course!). What song? The cowboys and indians sing "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" while the Pilgrims nod along. (again, Catholic school) Yes, the cowboys and indians getting together to sing: "Well I wouldnt trade my life for diamonds and jewels/I never was one of them money hungry fools." I just about died. It was like an Americana fever dream...
December - want to remind you once again, Catholic school. How is Christmas celebrated? With a little boy falling alseep under the tree and dreaming of girls dancing in their nightgowns. Yup.
January - can't remember. I think my mind was trying to wrap itself around the combination of the previous 3 months.
February - again, cannot remember. May have passed out from confusion.
March - Irish dancing. Why? The deep love of St. Pat's day of course. Also, the boy dancing looks like he's about 3 feet tall (a Leprechaun?)
April - we're going to the chapel, 'cuz everyone gets married in April. Also, apparently people dance around in raincoats (but don't sing "Singin' In the Rain")
May - all I remember is one kid on stage, buried WAAAY in the back, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was because he's a bit 'husky' and more than a little goofy looking. He is also the only person on stage that seems to understand the complete absurdity of things and is playing it justly. Completely overblown facial expressions, sheer goofy joy, not even really trying to cover up choreography mistakes - just letting it go and looking like the most talented person on stage because he gets it! While the ladies are all serious and overusing their shrill voices while swallowing the microphone and the boys are completely self-concious and more than a little wooden, this kid is free!!!
June - blackout
July - balls to the wall US pride, Yankee Doodle Dandy all leading to the climactic tap-dancing midgit Uncle Sam. Americana fever dream #2
August - to be honest I cannot remember if this was at the beginning or end of the show. It was that memorable.
That about sums it up. It's always a special little treat, but this one was extra special...
Monday, February 2, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Multimedia message
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Belated Update
Of course, Zander is waking up now that I am typing this, so it will have to be brief. Photos have been uploaded on my Facebook page. enjoy them over there, some may find their way here soon, but that's a fairly relative "soon" judging by recent history.
Things have been crazy busy over here. Good crazy for the most part, but leaving me with little extra time or energy. Most recently we attended a friend's wedding, the following morning the shower at the hotel broke. I was literally holding the handle and all of its inner workings in my hand. All sorts of crap had broken. Don't know if you've ever had the joy of not being able to take a shower the morning after a long wedding celebration, but I'd vote against it... So I took a brid bath in the sink with a washcloth and then proceeded to take a long walk on an unseasonably hot day and got all sweaty and gross again because genius I are.
Zander also pulled a Jeckyl and Hyde this week when he spiked a 103 fever. I do not like sick toddlers. Anyway, that's it for now...
Things have been crazy busy over here. Good crazy for the most part, but leaving me with little extra time or energy. Most recently we attended a friend's wedding, the following morning the shower at the hotel broke. I was literally holding the handle and all of its inner workings in my hand. All sorts of crap had broken. Don't know if you've ever had the joy of not being able to take a shower the morning after a long wedding celebration, but I'd vote against it... So I took a brid bath in the sink with a washcloth and then proceeded to take a long walk on an unseasonably hot day and got all sweaty and gross again because genius I are.
Zander also pulled a Jeckyl and Hyde this week when he spiked a 103 fever. I do not like sick toddlers. Anyway, that's it for now...
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Random Thoughts This Weekend
1) Congratulations to Brad and Eileen on the birth of their daughter Lillian! Wishing you all the best!
2) To all the overweight, middle-aged men cutting their lawn shirtless on their riding mowers - stop it, you're scaring my son.
Okay, you're scaring me. It's like 75 degrees out, be a man and tough it out.
3) I'm fairly certain that a Girl Scout troop could do a better job of protecting Aaron Rodgers than the Green Bay offensive line. They'd probably tackle better than the defense as well. I would like to see the all-Girl Scout team idea instituted within the next few weeks.
4) Before a govenment declares war I think everyone involved in the decision should be forced to listen to Chromeo's "Bonafied Lovin" for 24 hours straight, then immediately decide.
5) Speaking of Chromeo, their Fancy Footwork album should similarly be used as a kind of music appreciation reprogramming. It's not that it's great, just a great bassline (Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week)
2) To all the overweight, middle-aged men cutting their lawn shirtless on their riding mowers - stop it, you're scaring my son.
Okay, you're scaring me. It's like 75 degrees out, be a man and tough it out.
3) I'm fairly certain that a Girl Scout troop could do a better job of protecting Aaron Rodgers than the Green Bay offensive line. They'd probably tackle better than the defense as well. I would like to see the all-Girl Scout team idea instituted within the next few weeks.
4) Before a govenment declares war I think everyone involved in the decision should be forced to listen to Chromeo's "Bonafied Lovin" for 24 hours straight, then immediately decide.
5) Speaking of Chromeo, their Fancy Footwork album should similarly be used as a kind of music appreciation reprogramming. It's not that it's great, just a great bassline (Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week)
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Last Night's Show
Saw Sigur Ros perform at the Chicago Theater last night. A little torn about the show overall. The band played very well, no denying it, but I wasn't terribly thrilled with the set list or the arrangements. It's strange, they have just released their brightest, most organic album, but the arrangements were MUCH darker than previous shows and very few songs from the new album were included in the show. Visually the show was a little flat as well, I'm not a big fan of projections of the band playing (especially when visuals have been so powerfully used in past shows). I think what was missing most, however, was their regular opening act and collaberators, Amiina. You don't really realize how important strings are to the arrangements of many of SR's songs until they are missing, and the lack of any back-up help is what really pushed the overall feel of the show into much darker territory than normal.
Like I said though, the band performed very well and there were several incredible moments. When the band finally got around to the new album's first single (Gobbledigook) as the closer of the set it was a truly joyous and transcendent moment witht the band and crowd wound up to giddy proportions (and a confetti explosion straight out of a Flaming Lips show). It was a stunning moment and really makes you wonder how much more could have been done with this show and their new material. I don't know if they trust the material live yet, or what, but it just really seems like a missed opportunity. It was a good show, it just seems like it could have been much more.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
More testing
Testing some more software right now, hopefully will simplify posting to the blog for me and all that jazz. More updating coming, no, really there is. I just gotta get some stuff straight first
Monday, August 18, 2008
Burn Update
Testing some Importing Functions
So, this is really just a test to make sure some stuff I was working on worked. You can go about your day and ignore this.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Zander is way too excited
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