Tipped Balances

On the last day of 2020, before the few people planning to be at work arrived on our floor, I put "Tik Tok" by Kesha on my iPod and then danced through every open office, hallway, breakroom, and conference room. Most of those rooms were vacant of even desks or other office detritus as the department that had occupied the space moved two months ago. 

It was a moment that felt slightly subversive and freeing.

I did it to celebrate and to also try to forget that it was my last day of employment for awhile. 

After being just shy of 12 years in my job, I was leaving with my return being left in the hands of a City Council that eliminated my position under the pretense that it was "temporary."

I texted a friend this morning whose 2020 could be best described as soul-trying, 

"Here's to a new year that hopefully is better balanced, or even tipped toward more happier moments if we can have wishes and dreams of that."

Life is a balance. It doesn't always work out the way we had planned because we simply cannot control everything. The best we can do is to live, love, and laugh. I'm absolutely kidding. Somewhat. Whoever thought to market that aspiration deserves their millions.

 A year ago I said to my husband that all we had was our integrity and we should live and work as such. It wasn't an attempt at a new year's resolution, but I feel we've achieved that. 

Toward the end of this year, the premise of dignity and being able to hold my head up high despite adversity is something that mattered. It's something I can do because of respecting how integrity matters. 

 I'm far from perfect and hope to never be because that sounds painfully boring. Here's hoping that while I can't control everything that I at least can continue to act in ways that help tip the balance toward the positive.

Happy New Year

There Are Some Bad People On The Rise

https://youtu.be/xrsOQyfxDtM

Rolling Hills Radio

Last April, I auditioned to be the announcer for the local, live-recorded radio show, Rolling Hills Radio. The former announcer, the most awesome Jason Sample, was stepping down after being part of the show since its inception. I hadn't done anything regularly on WRFA-LP in several years and thought it would be a cool way to get back into doing some on-air work in addition to getting to hear some great music every month.

Apparently I still had the vocal chops, as I've been with the show now since the end of April 2015. It's been quite a ride! Most people who know me know I'm an alt-rock kind of girl. I sure love my electric guitars and drums! At the same time, I also like some singer-songwriters and have been more open-minded when it came to other styles of music since I took History of American Pop Music as a freshman at Baldwin-Wallace (College) University.

Over the summer, the semi-annual Chautauqua Institution show featured Michael Gablicki from Rusted Root. Being able to be the Donna Pardo for this gig was the stuff of dreams. I had a damned hard time not fan-girling all over the stage as I sat feet away from the one of the guys responsible for providing the soundtrack to my senior year in high school through my early college years.

One of the other cool things about Rolling Hills Radio is the stories. I love hearing our host, Ken, draw out the stories from featured musicians about why they write, how they got started, and other fantastic tidbits.

Tonight I get to hear some more. Podcasts of all the shows are available on WRFA's website along with the link to where you can buy tickets to future shows too. Maybe I'll see some of you there sometime.

Carpool Karoke

My latest obsession/spirit animal is James Corden and his Carpool Karaoke sketches. Here's the latest one with Sia:

If it wasn't for YouTube, I'd never get to see this kind of fun stuff that comes out of Late Night TV. My night owl tendencies I had as a baby went dormant at some point and 10pm is my bedtime lately.

2014 Moratorium

It doesn't seem fair to do a moratorium in a year I'm still living in, if just for a few more hours, but I felt the urge to scribble a post.

2014 had a lot of good moments. It was a kind of relief from everything that had happened over the previous two years between Matt's mom dying and losing our dogs, Buddy and Zak.

Accomplishments: This one is not my own but I consider it a pretty major deal that Matt not only completed his Bachelor's Degree through Houghton College but he maintained a 4.0 the entire time!

Matt and I also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in July. It doesn't really seem like it has been 10 years!

Travel:

• Four-day trip to Washington D.C. in March to see our friends, Brian & Tim as well as getting to see M. (long time friend and shenanigans associate) and Brandy (Jamestown transplant)
• Overnight to Cleveland, OH in May to take part in an alumni orchestra rehearsal at Baldwin-Wallace under Dwight Oltman's baton one last time. Saw many old friends.
• 10th Wedding Anniversary trip to Burlington, VT with a day trip to Montreal in September to finally meet Maurice.
• plus numerous trips to Rochester, Buffalo, and Erie, PA.

Books: I read at least 15 books according to a scan of my Goodreads list in 2014, which is a marked increase from recent years.

Movies: Between Netflix, movies at The Reg, and our local theatre chain, we saw some good flicks including The Monuments Men, The Way Way Back, We Are The Best!, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Le Week-End, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Frozen, Mrs. Brown, A Single Man, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, The Trip, Funny Face, Slacker, New York, I Love You; Coffee & Cigarettes, Don Jon, Blue Is The Warmest Color, Geography Club, and The Interview.

Music: My top ten artists according to last.fm for 2014 have a lot of overlap when you consider that Johnny Marr and Morrissey both were part of The Smiths and Adam Schlesinger is writing/singing/performing songs for both Fountains Of Wayne and Ivy.

1. Fountains Of Wayne (132 plays)
2. U2 (126 plays)
3. Morrissey (99 plays)
4. Taylor Swift (62 plays)
5. The Smiths (59 plays)
6. Ladyhawk (52 plays)
7. Enya (51 plays)
8. XTC (48 plays)
9. Johnny Marr (47 plays)
10. Ivy (44 plays)

Violining: My violin was attached to my neck most of this Fall but for overall ensembles/concerts that I performed with this year, I offer this:

• March - "Annie Get Your Gun" at Falconer High School
• May - Jamestown Area Community Orchestra Spring concert at Jamestown High School
• October - Jamestown Area Community Orchestra Fall Concert
• November - "Les Miserables" at Jamestown Community College
• December - The Living Christmas Tree at First Covenant Church

Random Bits: I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in October and have been on medications since that seem to have stabilized my levels so far. Matt made the decision in 2014 to get Lasik surgery on his eyes, but that won't happen until 2015. We bought a fancy, new convection oven, 5-burner gas stove in December after another pecan pie filling failure on Thanksgiving. I also bought a Pono device after buying Neil Young's pitch hook/line/sinker. It really does have great sound quality although I will admit I'm still mad at Apple for discontinuing the iPod Classic as that probably would have been my music player replacement for my iPod Touch, which is old and doesn't hold nearly enough music for my liking.

Looking Ahead to 2015: Who knows what could happen? It's going to be a year of some change with my office being moved to City Hall, Matt being able to see without glasses, and the fact that it's an election year for our Mayor. I've never been a fan of resolutions because they're far too easy to break, but I'm hoping that we go into 2015 with an open mind and patience for what lies ahead.

History of Women Moving On

Yesterday I shared the History of Men Moving On. Today is for the ladies. The ones who have been wronged. The ones who will get back up again and sing their heart out in the shower or in the car when any one of these gems comes on their radio/iPod/satellite radio/Pandora/Spotify/etc. etc. etc.

History of Men Moving On

Here's a little something special for the day before Valentine's Day for all those guys whose hearts have been broken

The Love Tour Comes To Jamestown

Jim Brickman is bringing "The Love Tour" to Jamestown tonight at the Reg Lenna Civic Center.

I honestly hadn't heard of this Cleveland-native until people started talking about his tour coming to town. Turns out that SE-93 carries his syndicated show on Saturday mornings. The morning thing on a weekend could be why I've been in the dark. Anyway, to promo tonight's show Jim is on the air live with Morning Show Host Lee John until 9am.

I mention this because you might want to tune into 93.3 around 8am to listen when some special guests join him on air (cough cough the Mayor ahem ahem Matt). I don't see a way to listen to them online so this is aimed at the local folks.

Also, Matt and I will be slinging drinks tonight at the Reg, so say hello if you're at the show!

There Is Violins in "Annie Get Your Gun"

I did my first run through of the music with the pit ensemble for Falconer High School's production of "Annie Get Your Gun" last night. Initial ensemble run-throughs are always interesting because you're not only getting a chance to hear how your part fits in with everyone else but you also get to find out just how different some of your music markings are from the Conductor's score. The only issues that seemed to come up tonight were whether we were in 4/4 or 2/4 time since it wasn't always written in the instrumental part if the time signature had changed. Our conductor loved that one!

The fun thing about playing in musicals for high schools is that there are usually a couple students on in the ensemble. FHS's pit orchestra is hampered this year by a lot of would-be-pit members being part of the actual stage show. Still though, it was good to see the return of one of the flutists who had performed in the pit for "Cinderella" last year. As the students move up in grades, you can start to hear them grow as musicians both in confidence and musicality. 

This year's show will run the weekend of March 14-16th. Here are some numbers as done in the Broadway revival of the show.

Tipping The Hat To Summer 2012

While there are actual seasons blowing in and shining down, the constant pace of my life has hardly seen a break in years. But seasons come and go regardless of whether I'm occupied or not.

This summer..

- We hosted this year's "Cousins Weekend" which saw the arrival of cousins from Albany and Boston, aunt from Buffalo, and my parents from Rochester to our house. Somehow in just a weekend, we visited Southern Tier Brewing Company, Panama Rocks, Bemus Point, Chautauqua Institution, Forte, Lily Dale, and Dunkirk. It was a bit of a whirlwind for me as the host but I was so glad to see everyone!

- My parents came down to visit a couple times to help with some household improvements and to celebrate Father's Day. My grandmother came the latter visit and we had fun going to the Yassou! Festival and finding bargains at some of the local thrift shops.

- Matt and I worked on some household projects. The downstairs bathroom saw a makeover with the old vanity being ripped out, new flooring being put down, a new-to-us toilet being installed, new lighting, a pedestal sink, and wainscoting installed on the walls. The room still needs a final bit of wainscoting and a final paint job before accessory installation can happen.

- I finally got to see Fountains Of Wayne, for free even, as part of Buffalo's Thursdays In The Harbor. It was a wonderful show even though there were only a handful of us who were familiar with a greater range of their songs beyond "Stacy's Mom."

- The end of June included the arrival of a puppy in our lives: Sammy. Sammy is a German Shepard-Lab-Mix we adopted from Northern Chautauqua Canine Rescue. Matt says he's one of the best puppies he's ever had. The little guy is quite cute and quite a handful. I never had a puppy before so I was definitely not prepared for the lack of sleep, the time commitment, and the patience needed. Even so, I like having him around. He has a lot of the traits of Buddy to the point where we joke that Sammy is Buddy reincarnated. I didn't blog about Buddy dying back in April. I don't know if I ever will. I still miss him so much and probably always will.

- On the health front: Matt and I have been eating a diet that follows the Paleo Model. We were strict for the initial 30 days of the diet (started day after Mother's Day and continued until June 8th), but have relaxed to the point where 70 to 80% of our diet is paleo. The diet is a "real food" diet that is gluten free (no rice or corn even), legume free (no peanuts or soy), and dairy free. As it's anti-inflammatory, I've seen my rosacea calm down and I lost some of the stubborn weight (around 5 lbs) that had been hanging on for the last year despite all my exercise/calorie counting. Matt lost 16 pounds he had gained back after his big weight loss competition last year and saw his allergies settle down as well. I don't miss bread as much as I thought I would although lunch is a bit more complicated because there isn't the easy fall-back of sandwiches. Eating romaine wraps does get old. I also am not missing cheese as much as I thought I would either. That doesn't mean I haven't had a cheeseburger here and there over the last few months!

And forward...

- I submitted my resignation from my teaching gig at Infinity Visual & Performing Arts. Part of it is because I will have a rehearsal on Wednesday nights most of this Fall which would have made it impossible to teach the one day I'm available. Also, while I really enjoyed teaching and I liked the small group of students I had, sometimes you need to step back and refocus.

- Refocusing doesn't mean I've given up being busy. The rehearsals I will have are for JCC's production of "Legally Blonde" in November. It has been 3 seasons since I've done a musical at JCC and 2 years since I played in the pit for "Chicago" at Lucille Ball Little Theatre of Jamestown. It was time for a challenge of a familiar, but different variety.

- Busy also includes: Playing in a wedding this Saturday and enjoying Local Music Showcase, a couple trips to Rochester to celebrate my mom's birthday and my parent's 40th wedding anniversary, a Fiona Apple concert on October 9th, a Morrissey concert on October 19th, a Jamestown Community Orchestra concert on October 21st, three weekends of "Legally Blonde" performances, and Matt's 40th birthday. You'll need to check back in with me sometime in January before I have free time again, in other words.

Life Snippets

NKOTBSB

Nearly two weeks ago, I went to see super-boy-group, New Kids On The Block-Backstreet Boys, in Pittsburgh with Preppy Girl. She wrote an awesome account that I can't top. On the non-concert side, it was so much fun to hang out with PGirl and help her bust her IKEA and H&M virginity.

Movie Watching

We broke down and finally got the 1-DVD at a time option from Netflix to enhance our Netflix streaming. I'm really glad we did as I finally got to see (500) Days of Summer and The Social Network. Next is Up In The Air, followed by Thank You For Smoking, and then the Twilight movies. You can guess that Matt was a bit late at getting in his picks.


How Does Your Garden Grow?

I've continued working on the back garden and have some visible plants growing courtesy of my mom. One is a hosta and the two others I'm not sure about but one has a yellow flower and the other has a kind of greenish-yellow bud. I'm pretty excited that the gladiolas I planted are starting to send shoots up. Those will probably be the most dramatic flowers I've grown based on height alone. The front hill is shameful but I haven't had the time or money to rip everything up, plant new ground cover, and try to get it growing with something other than whatever weeds are there now. The next thing I'll have to tackle is the south side of the garage. There are some foundation issues over there (I know, it's never ending) that we'll need to take care of this Fall, but I want to get a swath of ferns out of the way so things can be assessed.

Radio Free

I've had a few people ask me how adjusting to life with out the news is going. I think I've gotten used to it aside from that occasional feeling like I should be doing something. The first week or so was hard because my brain was still hard-wired to be on the look-out for news stories I might need. I may have even cried a little. These days, I've found I like having that stretch of evening free. I've definitely tried to be more conscientious about getting stuff done around the house. I've read two books. As mentioned above, I've watched a few movies. I've also gone to bed early, sometimes just after 9pm depending on the day. There is still the feeling that something is missing.

It's Been One Week..

It's been one week since I stopped doing the news.

I'm feeling a little lost.

It's silly in a way.

So what have I been up to?

I gardened last Sunday. I cleaned up some of the house on Monday and had a Memorial Day hot dog dinner with Matt. I watched I Capture The Castle and New Waterford Girl.

Tuesday I finally saw Labyrinth for the first time since it was available on Netflix streaming.

Wednesday I had just one violin student and then I went to watch Matt play floor hockey. We went out with the team after to Applebee's for dinner and some drinks. It was the first time in awhile that I recall having a drink in the middle of the week with dinner, or before 10pm.

Thursday I attended the dress rehearsal for the Infinity group, Collective Groove, that I would be performing with on Friday. After dinner, Matt and I went to see Bridesmaids. I cried on the way home because the movie reminded me of how much I miss one of my friends who moved away.

Friday we ate dinner quick before attending the Infinity Performing & Visual Arts Showcase at the Reg Lenna Civic Center. I had my worst case of nerves in years complete with icy hands and dry throat. We dropped into Forte after for a glass of wine and slice of grand marnier cheesecake before going home.

Saturday we had a funeral in the morning for the father of our friends. He was a good man. After a quick trip to Wegmans, I took my mother in law to a bridal shower for her granddaughter/my niece. Matt had a hockey team party that night, so I sat down in the recliner and read all of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

Today I chatted online with my friend, Candy, who has had a marvelous weekend, before getting ready and meeting my friend, Heather, at Wegmans for coffee and grocery shopping.

There was a lot that went on this week. I did some things I might not have if I knew later on at night I would have to do the news. I felt like I should be a lot more simply because I didn't have that one thing hanging over my head.

I feel like I failed in a way.

Heather said she got some advice not that long ago that makes sense. That she just needs to be rather than worrying about setting goals. I think I just need to be for awhile. I need to figure this out. It's been a long time since I've had this kind of additional time back. It seems so very over dramatic to be going on like this, but the truth is that I just don't feel like myself. I've even had a hard time remembering what I used to do with myself in the days before I did the news. I also know I'm a much different person from then.

Matt says I don't deal well with change. I know I don't. I just don't like to hear it out loud because I tend to advocate pretty loudly if I see something that should be changed for others. Admittedly, even when it's a good change, it's still hard. The good thing is that I still make myself do it. I couldn't grow otherwise.

Elliptical Playlists

Back in January, I discovered that I actually like using the elliptical or arc trainer for exercise. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I'm in a lot better shape than the first time I tried to use an elliptical some years ago. It also helps that I now have an iPod with thousands of songs and dozens of playlists to help make the time go by and motivate me.

The first playlist I made, called "Elliptical Delusions," had a lot of pop stuff on it and I used it pretty regularly until this last week. A sampling of the music includes:
Stars - Fixed
Lady Gaga- Teeth
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name
Metric - Help I'm Alive
P!nk - Raise Your Glass
Basement Jaxx - Rendez-Vu
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - It Takes Two
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
Fergie - Fergalicious
Daft Punk - Technologic

The latest playlist, named "Elliptical Confusions," has less songs (first one had 3.4 hours of music) and comes in at 1.6 hours of music. I'll probably have to switch music out more frequently, but I found a lot of stuff I wanted to listen to just wasn't coming up.  Here are some of the songs on the list:
Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Daisy Chain For Satan
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
New Order - Vanishing Point
MNDR - Fade To Black
The Go! Team - Grip Like A Vice
Metallica - Of Wolf And Man
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss
ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

I've read a bit about how music can motivate you and I find it definitely is true for me. I think this is a big part of why I like Zumba. On that front, no plans to teach right now. Taking the certification class was a good experience, but finding time to get additional training is rather rough right now given that it's my busy season at work.

Icicle Dreams - Christmas 2010

I've already put together this holiday season's music mix which is kind of odd and possibly frightening if you know my past aversions to doing anything holiday-ish before Thanksgiving. I chalk it up to sorting through all our Christmas tree ornaments and decorations recently to why this mix came to be.

1. Weezer - We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. The Three Wise Men (XTC) - Thanks For Christmas
3. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You
4. Snow Patrol - When I Get Home For Christmas
5. The Autumns - She Whispers The Winter Snow
6. Stars - Winter Bones
7. Elk City - Deer Crossing
8. Glasvegas - A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like a Kiss)
9. Regina Spektor - 20 Years of Snow
10. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Mr. Heatmiser
11. The Format - Holly Jolly Christmas
12. Great Big Sea - Seven Joys Of Mary
13. Pink Martini - A Snow Globe Christmas

Theme this year is Christmas-themed music with some songs that merely mention snow/winter thrown in to round it out. I will mention that this is the first time that beloved/detested Mariah Carey song has found its way onto any holiday mix by me. Have you seen Love Actually?  Like love, Christmas IS all around us, or at least that's what all the retail establishments are hoping you believe. 

Happy (ridiculously early) Christmas.

When I Grow Up, I Want To Be...

I had the discussion with some friends not long ago about what we wanted to be "when we grew up." Of course, that always leads to the inevitable, "I'm still asking myself that question every day because I STILL haven't grown up!"

Even if you're fairly satisfied in your job, I think it's always good to look back at where you thought you would go in life and the dreams you had as a child. Consider it a lesson in grounding yourself, perhaps?

So my list of all the things I thought I could be was so varied that I thought it might be fun to list them all off:

1. Witch - Some of the first books I read on my own were about a little girl witch, Dorrie .I think I thought I could become a witch too and make potions to help people. It wasn't until years later that I learned that there were actual witches in this world
2. Artist - My mom signed me up for a variety of art classes through  Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery's Creative Workshop when I was younger.  Most of them involved some sort of water color painting and drawing.  There might have been one class where we made pottery items, but I could be confusing that with art class in middle school.  My mom was an enthusiastic supporter of some of the stuff I produced which I suppose led me to believe that maybe I could do that art thing.
3. Ghost Investigator - Before I became afraid of everything bloody, violent, and gory in films, tv, and books, I read many books about the paranormal.  After I exhausted the children's section of the library, I moved onto the rest of the library to find books with ghost stories and other horrors.  I think my idea about becoming a ghost investigator was primarily fueled by seeing Ghostbusters.
4. Meteorologist - Meteorologist Kevin Williams visited my school when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. He had footage of tornadoes and other weather phenomena.  It looked exciting and something I could
5. Archeologist - The Indiana Jones movies are solely to blame here although my parents did have a habit of taking me to every historic village they came across while on vacations.  I still love history.
6. Musician - Before the next notion came about, I decided that maybe I could be violinist professionally because how cool would it be to play violin in an orchestra and get paid for it??
7. Music Teacher - The performer idea track was derailed when the idea to become a music teacher was presented to me just before 8th grade.  I think it sounded reasonable and something I might like to do so I spent the next 6 years of my life dedicating my studies toward this goal.
8. Music Historian- Almost 3/4 of the way through my freshman year in college, I realized that maybe I didn't want to be a music teacher.  I loved music and thought perhaps the music history route was the way to go.  I even met with the music history department head at Baldwin-Wallace College to try to feel him out for what possible careers in that field could be.
9. Radio Music Director - Ultimately, I switched majors to broadcasting with thoughts that maybe I could be a music director for a radio station since I had so much fun doing it in high school.
10. Radio Programmer - That led to thinking maybe I could program a whole station.
11. Radio News Person - And then I took that news writing course my Junior year in college at Buffalo State and it was all over from there.

What were some of your dreams of what you wanted to be when you grew up?  How true did you remain to those dreams?

Pre-Labor Day Summer Wrap-Up

The unofficial end to summer is this weekend. I'm currently scanning RADAR and several weather websites in an attempt to divine whether we're going to get so much rain that the city's Labor Day Festival, which I help organize, has to be postponed until Monday. Fingers are crossed right now.

So what about the rest of this summer?

- We took a 4-day weekend to the Midwest. A stop in Chicago was made for dinner at Hop Leaf with friends. A fantastic party in Pontiac came next with a theme of "Video Games." I went as Princess Peach.

- Matt and I spent our 6th wedding anniversary in Hamilton, Ontario to see "Star Wars In Concert." It was a fabulous performance that we capped off by having dinner at La Bella Sicilia's which is where we held our rehearsal dinner. I also convinced Matt that we needed frozen custard from Fran Ceil's.

- We took in a lecture by Ed Kashi at Chautauqua Institution courtesy of our friends from Kodak who were there for Photography week.

- An evening of Bellini's and Ballet was had with friends at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.

- My two young violin students showed up regularly for the rest of the summer. I'm hoping they come back to the program this Fall.

- Matt scored tickets to see an Abba tribute band perform at Chautauqua Institution. It was surprisingly good and revived my appreciation for that Swedish pop band.

- I was asked to play violin in the pit orchestra for Lucille Ball Little Theatre's production of "Chicago" in October. Rehearsals started this past weekend.

- We met up with Len and Ali in Cleveland for the "Dog Days of Summer" at Great Lakes Brewing Company.  After admiring lots of people's dogs and having some food/beer, we headed downtown for more beverages at Flannery's.  Before heading back to Jamestown, we walked around downtown and I showed Ali and Len Tower City Mall.

- We celebrated Ali and Len's 10th wedding anniversary with them, family, and friends in the cool middle-of-nowhere log cabin where Len's mom and step-dad live.

- I earnestly started clearing out a lot of my clothes that don't fit or I haven't worn in awhile. I also started a consignment account at a local shop to try to sell some of things I no longer wanted.

The Fall, which eventually turns into my "slow time" at work, is shaping up to be rather busy. There's Labor Day Festival this Sunday (unless it gets rained out), Local Music Showcase, WRFA fundraiser at Southern Tier Brewing Company, my mom's 60th birthday, "Chicago," Jamestown Community Orchestra concert, Halloween Fun Fest, pierogi party, and when we get to November I'll finally get a 2-week vacation. Just doing my best to hang in there until then!

High School Musical - 2010 Edition

I put on a pair of dressier jeans that look just like another pair of dressier jeans I own this morning. At first, I thought it was the older pair because they were slightly loose on me. Then I realized it was the newer pair and that I must be experiencing the joy of "musical weight loss" already even though I had only been to one rehearsal.

I'm playing violin in the pit for Falconer High School's production of "Once Upon A Mattress." I rehearsed with just the pit last night as the cast wasn't quite ready to do a joint rehearsal. That will come in bits and pieces this Sunday for Tech Day. The pit members watched the cast run through parts of songs last night before we escaped to the band room to do our part.

I was glad to recognize a few faces from last year's production of "L'il Abner." One of the cool things about high school plays is that you get a chance to see how students change over their 4 years and hopefully grow into new parts. The kids who are playing in the pit band are great. They have a casual approach to rehearsals but clearly know their stuff. We lost a trumpet player to the part of the Minstrel in the play, so he is missed but the group still seems tight. I just need to make sure I nail my part since I'm all by myself.

Doing a musical this time of year involves a little bit of insanity, but I think I've found there's never a good time to play for a musical when you have a day job. This is a compensated gig, not that the money is important. I'd probably do it for free, but given how precious my free time is, I also have to know when to say no. Fortunately, I don't have to in this case.

Performances are in the Falconer High School auditorium on March 12, 13, and 14th. Not sure about times or ticket prices just yet. Should be a nice time!

OK Go's New Video and an Open Letter

Thoroughly enjoy the video below but please also take a moment to read this Open Letter from the Band.

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

Date Night At Labyrinth

Tiny B at Labyrinth Press Company. Matt and I came out to hear him wail on some songs for date night.

10,000 Maniacs Recorded for WRFA

10,000 Maniacs did a private unplugged and electric concert at Jamestown Community College last night. This concert was sponsored by and will air on WRFA at some point. It also was videotaped for promotional use. Either way it's a pretty cool way to spend a Saturday evening. We're guessing that given all the other picture taking and recording by audience members that stuff will eventually show up on YouTube. The fun part of it all is that they had the audience on the stage of the Scharmann Theatre with the band, so it created a very intimate setting.

Matt and I sat at the back of the stage next to percussion. It was a really cool vantage point given that most of the time you can't see what's going on in the back.

The set list which was broken up into an acoustic set followed by an electric set. Covers included a fantastic rendition of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," Bryan Ferry's "More Than This," and The Cure's "Just Like Heaven.":

Jeff Erickson on guitar.














Dennis Drew on keyboards and Mary Ramsey on violin and lead vocals: