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Tuesday, March 28, 2006 Sweet Home Chicago In some ways, it's funny to think that I live here now--I was in Chicago so much (usually also staying with Bryan, whose house I'm currently invading for the month until my lease starts) before I officially moved that it doesn't feel any different to have 80% of my stuff in the appropriate city. It's been a busy few days. On Saturday my brother, my mom, and I piled boxes all over Bryan's house; a half hour after we were done, I was leaving to meet up with friends and catch Nickel Creek's performance at Wheaton College. The band that opened, the Ditty Bops, have a rather terrible name, in my opinion, but they were amusing to catch live--they used more props than any other musical group I've seen. For example, before playing a song about pirates, the band donned black masks and the mandolin player "walked the plank" the entirety of the song, pulling out a toy gun at the end to shoot the guitarist. A song about people with inflated heads used four balloons and the singer breathed in the helium from Balloon #3 and sang like a Chipmunk for a verse (Balloon #1 was released into the air, Balloon #2 was popped with a giant knife, and Balloon #4 was released, sputtering, the two feet before it ran out of helium). They were musically tight and surprisingly perfect for dancing Charleston and lindy hop. Nickel Creek's performance suffered from sound/mixing problems that didn't resolve themselves until midway through the concert, but the band itself was solid. Chris, the mandolin player, flails (literally) too much, but he's an incredible musician. Overall, it was a great show, although I was tired from not getting any sleep the night before and all the moving and driving that day. Sunday night I caught a student performance of long-form improv at Improv Olympic. It's an intimate, warm venue, and some of the performers were excellent. Of the four groups, two were mediocre and two were quite good, though none were without flaws (stuttering, thinking too long about what to do next, ignoring the suggestions they solicited from the audience, failing to project in the small space, etc.). And tonight I went dancing. So it's been busy, but a wonderful way to inaugurate my tenure in the Windy City. ^ Top | 2:26 AM | | | 
Saturday, March 25, 2006 All Good Things... It's my last night in Ann Arbor, both my college town and the city I've lived in for the last seven years. In many ways, I'm glad to be leaving; it's time for a change, and Chicago is a wonderful city (not to mention the fact that I practically live there already). But this place has been a good home--I've grown a lot here, and I'll miss walking through the Diag on warm days with students sprawled on every available patch of green, the little forest inside a city known as the Arb, and conversations on philosophy while sipping lattes at Cafe Felix. I'll be back--if nothing else, I'll be touring here--and I won't wax too sentimental because honestly, I think I'd go crazy if I had to live here another year. But Ann Arbor is great, and I'll miss it. Tonight's show was more fun than I expected it would be--Aleks, a fellow lindy hopper and musician, was in town to interview prospective interns for his architecture firm, and he came out to Wyandotte with me. We jammed together on the one piano for a while before the show and it went so well that I asked him to play the last song of the night with me, my version of "Summertime" and "Wayfaring Stranger." And then we went dancing, where I got my goodbye jam circle, one blues song (Over the Rhine's "Lifelong Fling"--mmmm, it's one of my favorite songs to blues to, even though they're a folky band) and one lindy tune. And now for logistics: I'll be spending the rest of the night packing so I can drive to Chicago tomorrow morning. ^ Top | 1:04 AM | | |
Saturday, March 18, 2006 Continuing the train of geekdom, before my fun but sparsely-attended show on Thursday night, Ricke and I killed some time before my set by creating: The Top 10 Sci-Fi Dating Faux Pas 10. Beating a Wookie in any game. If you want to keep your arms, that is. 9. Wearing Spock ears to opening night of the new Star Wars movie. 8. Offering to buy DeLenn49 a glass of Romulan ale in the Babylon 5 chat room. 7. Complimenting your date on his stylish brown coat at a party on one of the Alliance core worlds. 6. Asking your shape-shifting boyfriend to impersonate Brad Pitt. 5. Trying to set up a blind date between your Cylon friend and Data--because they have "so much in common." 4. Introducing your date to her hologram. 3. Suggesting to your date that she should take some cues from those "hot Ferengi women." 2. Chiming in with your love for the "sci-fi masterpiece Xena: Warrior Princess" when your date talks about how much she likes Alien Nation. 1. Creating a list of SF dating faux pas. ^ Top | 12:05 AM | | |
Thursday, March 16, 2006 Trek Passions I'm not in the habit of posting AIM conversations, but this was too funny to pass up (edited for clarity). parsec96: Dawn! Perfect for you: http://www.trekpassions.com/ SaturnLeia (auto-reply) : [flipping through Simon's journal] Jayne: "Dear diary: Today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever." SaturnLeia: OMG parsec96: :D SaturnLeia: I don't know if this is scary or just funny. LOL, one of the top search terms is "female." parsec96: Sign up, I'm sure you'll get lots of responses! Did you check the "Browse by Group / Interests"? SaturnLeia: Yeah. I'm in Battlestar Galactica. Hilarious: "I like to think that Trek is an ideal way of life." parsec96: Well, gotta be going now, enjoy the Trekkies! ^ Top | 1:01 AM | | |
Tuesday, March 14, 2006 Video Linkage I thought we were a little overdue for some linkage, so here are some videos for your viewing pleasure (some are oldies but goodies, as the saying goes):
^ Top | 5:00 PM | | |
Sunday, March 12, 2006 Thoughts Scribbled During a Performance of Avant-Garde Music What defines music? What determines whether music does and doesn't deserve to be heard? To have public performance? Art inherently has meaning, begs for meaning--and when it is meaningless, that too is meaning. Nihilism. A performer has a responsibility to the audience. To what degree does the performer own the audience? To what degree does the audience own the performer? Intellectual. While one does not want to pander to an indiscriminate, unintelligent audience, there is a line between catering to the lowest common denominator and artistic pretension. Why do we believe that random-sounding noises are more intellectual, and therefore in some sense better, than country music? (Granted, I rather despise country.) To what degree does talent play a role? Is this pretension more permissible if the performers are capable, competent musicians, dancers, actors? How would one know? Is knowing the intention behind the "art" necessary to imbue it with value? What value does it have if there is little on an obvious, audience-discernable level? Delusions of grandeur. In improvised, "deep listening," what defines a "piece"? It's like doing piano exercises (but more random, less coherent). For an audience. Is it so much to ask for melody? For a line instead of chaotic texture? Is melodic music more poppy, less intellectual by nature? Are noises more intellectual than words, phrases beyond fragments? Fragments that form or imply coherent thought? A chasing after the wind. We all want to seem intelligent, but at what cost? Where does stewardship of talent fit in? The calling of the arts to engage, to question? What is music? What is art? Ken's poetry class, freshman year--on the first day: "What is poetry?" Definitions, ideas. By the end of the hour, all erased. Poetry is thus everything and nothing. Also devoid of meaning. Movement for movement's sake. Noise, sound for sound's sake? ^ Top | 10:19 PM | | |
Thursday, March 09, 2006 Survey Well, I'm back home for a week before pulling everything together--with any luck I'll be moving in two. On a totally different note, I don't normally fill these out, but Jane asked so nicely that I suppose I'll indulge her. Seven things to do before I die: 1. Explore Mayan, Greco-Roman (especially at Petra), and Egyptian ruins 2. Learn to play jazz and blues decently 3. Learn modern dance, hip hop, and tango 4. Learn Chinese, Spanish, and some Gaelic 5. Visit Ireland, Japan, China, and New Zealand 6. Publish a book 7. Finish most of my reading list Seven things I cannot do: 1. The splits 2. Enjoy mac and cheese, hot dogs, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 3. Speak Chinese 4. Cartwheels 5. Go bowling without having lots of gutterballs 6. Get up easily in the morning (even if I have ten hours of sleep) 7. Watch a film without analyzing it Seven things that attract me to my man (if I had one): His... 1. Dancing 2. Musicianship 3. Conversational skills 4. Leadership 5. Faith 6. Passion 7. Intellect Seven things I say: 1. What are you thinking? 2. Silly 3. Bye, kids! 4. Awww 5. According to CS Lewis... 6. It's like that episode of [insert SF show here]... 7. Want to dance? Seven books I love: 1. Return of the Prodigal Son: Henri Nouwen 2. Stories of Your Life: Ted Chiang 3. A Hundred Years of Solitude: Gabriel Garcia Marquez 4. The Giver: Lois Lowry 5. Imagine: Steve Turner 6. The Vision and the Vow: Pete Greig 7. The Lord of the Rings: JRR Tolkien Seven movies I like pretty well: 1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2. The Princess Bride 3. Star Wars (the original trilogy) 4. Lord of the Rings (the first was the best for a purist, the second cinematically) 5. Spirited Away 6. Star Trek: First Contact 7. The Triplets of Belleville ^ Top | 5:25 PM | | |
Friday, March 03, 2006 I'm going to Chicago, Chicago here I come. Well, it's official: my place in Ann Arbor has a subletter, so as soon as I find an apartment in Chicago, I'll be all set to move. Give me a month and I'll really be living in the Windy City, not just spending all my time there and paying rent in Michigan. I'm a little overdue for a change, though I expected it to take a couple more months. Yay! ^ Top | 8:14 PM | | |
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