I've been a bit ill lately. Cold season and all that. I'm drinking lots of tea and juice and eating soup, but the coughing and sniffling continues. Anyway, here are some news bits from the last couple weeks.
"Kevin Costner's Field of Knives," the latest show from Renob Control, is over'n done with. The show officially ended with our appearance in Miz Kittyz Parlour, a (very vaudevillian) variety show thing at the Imbibe. We went on after a jazz guitarist. No joke. Aaron, Danielle, Chad, Emerson and I did the best we possibly could considering we had no time to tech, no backstage or sidestage, and virtually no lighting control. But although we performed three of our strongest sketches, the clientel of the restaurant (mostly 40+), for the most part, just didn't seem to get it. Personally I'm not sore; those people are probably more attuned to the comedy of Bob Saget and The Golden Girls, so I wouldn't want them laughing at us anyway.
My birthday came and went, and my family blessed me with a POD and a new camera. My camera has an interesting setting that isolates single color tones, so I can take crazy pictures like this one:
My eyes aren't even green. Wacky!
One Wednesday, Joanie and I ventured to Eugene to catch a show by Little Girl, Big Spoon. The name is the alias of a tiny 17-year old named Michelle, who plays acoustic folk songs on a guitar almost bigger than herself. These days it's hard to throw a rock without hitting some high schooler playing dreadful emo songs on his or her acoustic guitar, but Michelle's music trascends all the wanna-be folk music and rises to a level of real, no-shit folk music. Her guitar playing is simple, hypnotic at times, and her use of a high-placed capo helps give her songs a distinct sound. Her voice has a tone that harmonizes with the guitar almost like a seventh string. The lyrics reflect on the kind of romantic troubles that all young people face, but they're written with a sense of clear-headed wisdom that you wouldn't expect her to have until years down the road. Whatever the formula, Little Girl Big Spoon's songs are effective, beautiful, and downright moving. Caws Pobi even covered one, but he did it more like an operatic sea-shanty, so it isn't beautiful or moving ("Lost Ships").
This little kid was dancing up a storm at the show. It didn't matter that she was playing sad songs on a guitar- this kid was hearing ABBA.
Caws's new album The Manticore is now finished. Contact me if you want one; Octavio and I even designed a little paper sleeve for it to go in, complete with track listing and liner notes.
And here is my rundown of some movies I've rented or seen lately:
-V for Vendetta - A rather idealistic, 1984-meets-Batman story featuring a London controlled by evil conservatives and a freedom fighter/terrorist who looks like a big puppet and talks like a douche. "Ah, the Count of Monte Cristo. My favourite film. Have you ever seen it?" Gay!
-Annie Hall - Woody Allen's first movie to have him playing Woody Allen. If you're one of those people who just wants to punch him in the face, don't see it. Otherwise, it's funny, cleverly written, and nicely acted.
-Return to Oz - Hey! Let's make a sequel to one of the greatest fantasy movies of all time, but let's make Dorothy younger, use shitty special effects, and throw in as many creepy, nightmarish creatures as we can think of! Because nothing says family film like a terrifying stop-motion stone man who will swallow your soul.
-The Wicker Man - A modern classic. Gets better every time you see it. Unless you're a devout Christian, in which case this is the worst movie ever. Filth!
-The Warriors - "First we start with a miracle. We've got The Saracens sitting next to the Jones Street Boys. We've got The Moonrunners right by the Vancourtland Rangers. ...Can you dig it?"
