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Monday, January 29, 2007 Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of DreamsThe Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams concert this past Saturday in Josiah (Lead/guitar/mandolin) was in fabulous ramble form. He was really into the spirit of play, the child inside seemed to want to burst out of him, and we were lucky enough to witness it. I think Josiah’s playfulness really flowed through to the rest of the band. Since we were so close to them being in the front row, we could hear that their monitors were picking up a local radio station between songs. I don’t think that anyone else in the audience could hear it though. Tink (Flute/Cello/Accordion/Theramin) mentioned it a couple of times, and they launched into “I Got You, Babe” along with the radio. Everyone in the audience was singing with them, and Sharkey was laughing so hard I’m surprised that he could sing. When we all got done screaming and applauding, Tink mentioned that they’d never done that one before. The next song was another from the radio, so we got an awesome bonus! Tony (Percussion) just jammed out. I don’t think that there is an ounce of that man’s body that isn’t in tune with all of the rhythms around him. Watching Tony play is always like watching poetry, but never quite so much as on Saturday night, it just seemed to flow out of him. There’s a voice with no name in the band …well, other than Gibson. Sharkey plays in such a way that the guitar actually sings. In trying to explain the concert to a friend, and the passion that he puts into the music, the only word I could come up with (and I had to make it up at that) was that his style is “Hendrixian,” and I don’t use Jimi’s name lightly. His talent is such that he makes it look effortless as his hands fly up and down the strings. Like with Tony, the give and take of the music as each instrument came to the fore, and then flowed back to support, was seamless. I really have a hard time when watching them, as opposed to just listening sometimes, because I can’t decide if I want to watch Tony or Sharkey, as they just seem to be so in sync. For this show, during the second set I scooted over so that I was sitting smack center stage, and I could really get to watch them both. I was just riveted, the way that the instruments communicate with each other. Tink was rockin’ out at this show. Anyone who thinks that you can’t jam on an accordion or cello has never watched Tink play. The inherent talent inside this magical woman is stunning. The love of the music and playing shines from her, and it was so much fun to watch her really interact with the audience and have her share in our joy. Chen was full of mischief, like his Dad, on Saturday. I got a great picture of Chen, Sharkey and Josiah together during the final encore. At one point when the radio was inspiring them *g* I really thought that he and Sharkey were about to start headbanging or hair flipping! They all have such joy in being together. I was talking to Josiah in December about Chen, and it struck me again at the Musically, the show was absolutely spectacular, but was really only part of it. The Spirit of these people, the love that they have for each other and for their audience is what has us all coming back and driving all over the country to see them. It’s that moment when they finish the show and Tony comes over and gives us all hugs and calls us by name. It’s when Sharkey makes a beeline for the teenagers and talks to them about music, or takes the kids up to the stage and shows them chords or what the pedals do (I’m gonna have to eavesdrop on that next show …), or ruffles a kid’s hair. It’s when Josiah’s face lights up when he sees you, and kisses your cheek, or when Tink takes time to talk with you when she’s running the Merchandise table even though she’s super busy. It’s the smile that Chen gets when he sees how his Dad looks at his Mom. They’re the kind of people that you can’t believe you have to part company with. You feel like they should be a part of your life every day, and their music is, but them …there’s a bit that’s empty in us when we know we won’t see good friends again for a few months, that’s how it is with the Circus. So yeah, that was our Saturday night. I had friends that couldn’t believe that I was going to travel 3+ hours and spend the night to hear someone that they’d never heard of in concert. Maybe I’ll get them to come with when I go to the Strawberry Music Festival in Thanks so much, you beautiful Slambovians, for helping the Child in all of us remember how to play. Labels: Fun, Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Music, Musings Friday, January 26, 2007 BrevityBrevity is my new favorite comic. It's very hard not to have everyone wondering what you're doing when you're screaming laughing in your cube ...  Thursday, January 25, 2007 Thursday Thirteen #5 1. Sit & Spin – wheeeeeeeeeeeeee some things never change. LOL 2. Operation – there was definitely something missing in that man’s anatomy …just sayin’. 3. Simon – Drove my Mother crazy with that thing. ;-) 4. Shrinky Dinks – I wonder just what we inhaled when those things were baking? 5. Stretch Octopus - Like Stretch Armstrong, but a purple Octopus 6. Easy Bake Oven – I can’t believe that they turned it into a microwave and made it Pink! 7. Fashion Plates - Anyone else have these? The tops and bottoms interchanged and you put a piece of paper over them and rubbed a crayon over it to make different outfits. 8. Lite Brite – I love that this is still available for kids! 9. Barbie – I’ll admit it, Dammit! 10. Colorforms – TOO much fun! 11. Baby Alive – Man did that food stuff that you had to mix up STINK! 12. Strawberry Shortcake – and all of her smelly friends … 13. Books – I know that they aren’t toys or games, but it wouldn’t be a recap of my favorite things as a kid without books. I had a deep closet in my room and all of my clothes (obviously) were short, so my Mom set up a library in there. I had a lamp and pillows and all of my books lining the edges of the closet. I would sit in there for hours and read. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants Labels: Blogging, Childhood, Thursday Thirteen Friday, January 19, 2007 My Amazing Tragic Hair Of 1986 / Mark Morford recalls his '80s glam-metal glory days in Los Angeles, tries not to screamClassic ...My Amazing Tragic Hair Of 1986 / Mark Morford recalls his '80s glam-metal glory days in Los Angeles, tries not to scream Thursday, January 18, 2007 Thursday Thirteen #4
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen ParticipantsLabels: Blogging, Environment, Thursday Thirteen Wednesday, January 10, 2007 What tarot card are you?Did this for fun. I like the kitty. *g*
You are The StarHope, expectation, Bright promises. The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one. What Tarot Card are You? Tag Labels: Blogging, Fun, Random Thoughts Tuesday, January 09, 2007 Self realizationsI realized on my drive into work today that I’m not living who I am, or rather who I’ve become. I’m still in that bizarre limbo of rediscovering who I was before I was married and who I’ve become with the growth I’ve had since.Just the fact that I was driving 25 miles one way, essentially using an entire gallon of gas to get to work and another to get back home, goes completely against my belief in conservation. The fact that I’ve been wasting that quantity of gasoline for almost 7 years when oil as a resource is dwindling is so irresponsible it’s shocking. Moving this spring will help with that considerably, but how I felt that sort of gluttony was acceptable for so long is beyond me. How did I let myself get so far away from who I am and what I believe to have allowed that to happen? I suppose that I can really only look forward. There’s not much that I can do to repair that damage, but it irks me that I let it go on for so long. I’ve also just got too much stuff. Stuff I don’t want or need, but have accumulated over the years. I was raised that if one is good 6 are better, but I really don’t think that it’s MY philosophy. I think it has been imposed upon me over the past 38 years and so drilled into my head that I’ve just ended up with this amazing surplus of stuff, and a reticence to eliminate it for fear that it’s something that I’ll need later. The fact that I’m overwhelmed every time that I walk into my apartment really is a clear indication to me that it’s time to purge the excess and start over. Or rather, not start that pattern again at all. Besides, the less stuff there is, the less stuff there is to clean and with the way I feel about cleaning, it can’t be anything but a good thing. I am an exceptionally social person, yet for years I’ve isolated myself 25 miles away from any kind of culture, people and activities. I’ve stopped doing any volunteer work, I rarely go to coffee shops or events, I have one really good friend locally, and two other people that I could go out with providing we did a lot of arranging beforehand. I used to be out every night doing something or other. I was surrounded by people, always doing something on the weekends, now I drive to town, drive back and sit on the computer. I wouldn’t trade the friendships that I’ve made online for anything, but for me to not have a social circle to experience life with is just so completely not like me it’s almost laughable. I do recognize that I was searching for this connection again with my online interactions, I’ve established a great network of friends around the world and I’ve worked with people at Quitnet.com for over 2 years. Getting to meet some of these folks in person has really been wonderful, but they aren’t here. They’re not people that I can call up and say “let’s go grab a coffee” or see a flick or check out who is playing where that night. I’m hoping that moving back up into “civilization” will help remedy a lot of this void. The drive really makes it hard to do a lot of things, and if I’m in town I hope I’ll get out more and start living life instead of just watching it go by on the monitor. I haven’t been on a stage in more years than I can count. Or in a classroom. It’s like I just died creatively. I did start writing again, but I haven’t picked that back up in almost a year. And HOW I got into a purely number crunching job is just beyond me. It was a logical move at the time, but to still be here 4½ years later? When I was working with vendors and handling product I was completely in my element. It’s as if my “settle for” way of life in my marriage spilled over into every aspect of my life, and once I started breaking out of that I couldn’t accept it in any aspect of my life any longer. Applying for the 2 positions that I did was a big step, and I don’t think when I applied that I realized just how much I needed to take on a different role. I just hope that I’m not setting myself up for disappointment again. A lot of this seems to center around moving back up to town. I don’t want these things to become another “I’ll do it when …” scenarios. Although, I’m absolutely moving, and there is a ton of prep to do before I can move, starting with the “Stuff” category. The more I pitch/donate/recycle the less I own and the less that I have to ultimately move. That’s probably the first step that I need to take, and I’ve planned out a lot of what I want to do to that end. Now it’s going though the motions and getting the work done. Once things are broken down into manageable bits, hopefully I won’t feel so overwhelmed about trying to get everything done at once looking at the whole, as opposed to the parts. I have plans to do some things with friends over the next couple of months, and I did apply for those jobs, so I suppose that I was already moving towards remedying a lot of what my concerns seem to be without having actually articulated them. I think I’ll be able to focus on reclaiming those traits that are mine now that I’ve taken the time to really identify them. Now if I could just finish writing that book … http://technorati.com/tag/AnniCat Labels: Life, Musings, Random Thoughts Sunday, January 07, 2007 The Garden Girl Site is Live!Labels: Environment, Peak Oil, Sustainable Living Thursday, January 04, 2007 Thursday Thirteen
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants Labels: Blogging, Thursday Thirteen Monday, January 01, 2007 Cerridwen Press New Year's PartyYou are cordially invited to join the authors of Cerridwen Press for a New Year's day FREE FOR ALL! Fun, excerpts, prizes and free downloads of books will be the order of the day when fourteen authors get together to entertain you.To participate, just click the link http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerridwenchat/?yguid=241583729 and join the readers list. Hope to see you there Jan. 1st, ready to rumble! |
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