Well, folks, it's happened again! Apparently I am impossible to read. I seem to baffle the teeming masses with surprising consistency - what's so confusing? Maybe it's the fact that I feel myself an open book, but the things I keep in and let out for tact or the comfortability of others sometimes seem to be set at random. Eh. I'm convinced you can't take people on anything but experience with them, and I doubt I'm any harder than anyone else. I just seem to hear it a lot.
For now, we'll just rest comfortably in the words of my friend T (not Mr. or Grand Master - this is a different guy) who warped what I think is Winston Churchill's WWII quote about Russia to say: "Girls are a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in *bacon (cuz I like bacon)."
Oh, yes. Tonight, I am that girl.
On an unrelated note (I assure you), my whole hall smells like beer.
*Not that kind of bacon. Geez.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
welcome to another round of Jazz with Olympus
from my notes on a scrap piece of paper, at a jazz club
Holy cow. That first growl of the 1st trumpet sent of choke of excitement up my throat.
That sax looks like it was just unearthed, it's so caked-over-looking! Those seem to be the most throaty ones ... their lead sax just gave the cutoff! Haha ... and they just introduced their headliner sax soloist as "an interesting combination of saxophone and person." A Thad Jones piece next. Their bassist JUST USED A BOW. Their pianist is wearing a newsboy-Uffish hat. This band is so CHILL ... but with chops. The trumpets are playing way the heck in these upper registers, but quietly. By the way, I'm having catfish in a jazz club. Snap. This food is amazing, but I'm kinda annoyed by the distraction it provides, haha. Their pianist is RAD. "In a Sentimental Mood." Man! I love ballads. This sax - it's cliche - but it croons. But the cymbals with the tinkling - but actually not all that high - piano gives it the perfect background. I can't believe I'm here.
"Monkey Business" - Thelonius Monk - most of these are arranged by the same guy, who must have had some Kenton influences on his ballads - I know, everything comes back to Kenton with me. I told D I was most at home at this other thing we went to a couple weeks ago - a really thoughtful play - but that was until now.
The band is really warming up now. Um, my fries are cold. Dang this fabulous music. What the heck is this circus-sounding thing in the middle? Ha! Laughed out loud. They introduced the chart "Inside Out" by saying, "I'm not going to say anything, just gonna let it speak for itself." Lay off the freaking highest note on the keyboard, HA! I love it. Holy cow, man, work that slide, why don't you, mr. trombone soloist? Fastest, cleanest maneuvering I've ever seen. I love these bone mutes. D says they're probably straight mutes. And, there goes the first clarinet solo. I love anything Benny Goodman-esque. Next song, "Splankie," by Basie. I saw Basie's band in concert back in high school. mmm. This one is starting out with a really sparse sax solo (the throaty one) (tenor). It's really interesting, actually. Now, he's getting a lot busier and slowly climbing higher in pitch, too, while the band gets stronger. Ohh man.
Next song: "Remember This." The pianist can't find his music ... "why don't you just play it?"-band member "come on, just give him back his part."-lead sax. Um, he is, actually. Going to just play it. He's gonna do the whole thing by ear. I imagine they've played it enough times that if he can just get the key, he'll be all right. I wonder if he'll solo - my bet's yes. Their bone soloist right now looks kinda like a bigger version of a guy I used to work with. Also, I wonder if the two British guys at the table behind us came drunk? Um, yay for the piano, by the way. Check one for me - I was right - his solo was short and rad. Now the soprano and bari saxes are soloing together! We had dueling guitars in high school, but this!
Last song: "Battle Royale," by Ellington. This bari sax just pulled off the "obnoxious low blare." Sweet - that's talent. A lot of beginners attempt that because it's obnoxious, and therefore funny, but I guess once you've been around for more than a year or two it gets old and becomes the mark of an inexperienced soloist. However, somehow, this guy just did it, but with enough sensitivity, tact, and musicality - his choice of where to use it didn't sound like chance and because he was out of ideas, which is the reason most beginners use it - it was imposing, but only to the degree he wanted it to be. Way to be, man. That's really talent.
HOORAY for that clarinet! This throaty sax I LOVE - he just did this triple-tonguing thing on the same note - yay. And, the end.
Sorry for the disjointedness, there. When everything comes at you at once, what can you do? Man. I tell you what. Made me wish a little for the length of the Maynard Ferguson concert, even though it was so intensely long at the time. Tonight was quality stuff. Also, to be cheesy, let's dedicate this post to those who should have been there tonight.
-olympus
Holy cow. That first growl of the 1st trumpet sent of choke of excitement up my throat.
That sax looks like it was just unearthed, it's so caked-over-looking! Those seem to be the most throaty ones ... their lead sax just gave the cutoff! Haha ... and they just introduced their headliner sax soloist as "an interesting combination of saxophone and person." A Thad Jones piece next. Their bassist JUST USED A BOW. Their pianist is wearing a newsboy-Uffish hat. This band is so CHILL ... but with chops. The trumpets are playing way the heck in these upper registers, but quietly. By the way, I'm having catfish in a jazz club. Snap. This food is amazing, but I'm kinda annoyed by the distraction it provides, haha. Their pianist is RAD. "In a Sentimental Mood." Man! I love ballads. This sax - it's cliche - but it croons. But the cymbals with the tinkling - but actually not all that high - piano gives it the perfect background. I can't believe I'm here.
"Monkey Business" - Thelonius Monk - most of these are arranged by the same guy, who must have had some Kenton influences on his ballads - I know, everything comes back to Kenton with me. I told D I was most at home at this other thing we went to a couple weeks ago - a really thoughtful play - but that was until now.
The band is really warming up now. Um, my fries are cold. Dang this fabulous music. What the heck is this circus-sounding thing in the middle? Ha! Laughed out loud. They introduced the chart "Inside Out" by saying, "I'm not going to say anything, just gonna let it speak for itself." Lay off the freaking highest note on the keyboard, HA! I love it. Holy cow, man, work that slide, why don't you, mr. trombone soloist? Fastest, cleanest maneuvering I've ever seen. I love these bone mutes. D says they're probably straight mutes. And, there goes the first clarinet solo. I love anything Benny Goodman-esque. Next song, "Splankie," by Basie. I saw Basie's band in concert back in high school. mmm. This one is starting out with a really sparse sax solo (the throaty one) (tenor). It's really interesting, actually. Now, he's getting a lot busier and slowly climbing higher in pitch, too, while the band gets stronger. Ohh man.
Next song: "Remember This." The pianist can't find his music ... "why don't you just play it?"-band member "come on, just give him back his part."-lead sax. Um, he is, actually. Going to just play it. He's gonna do the whole thing by ear. I imagine they've played it enough times that if he can just get the key, he'll be all right. I wonder if he'll solo - my bet's yes. Their bone soloist right now looks kinda like a bigger version of a guy I used to work with. Also, I wonder if the two British guys at the table behind us came drunk? Um, yay for the piano, by the way. Check one for me - I was right - his solo was short and rad. Now the soprano and bari saxes are soloing together! We had dueling guitars in high school, but this!
Last song: "Battle Royale," by Ellington. This bari sax just pulled off the "obnoxious low blare." Sweet - that's talent. A lot of beginners attempt that because it's obnoxious, and therefore funny, but I guess once you've been around for more than a year or two it gets old and becomes the mark of an inexperienced soloist. However, somehow, this guy just did it, but with enough sensitivity, tact, and musicality - his choice of where to use it didn't sound like chance and because he was out of ideas, which is the reason most beginners use it - it was imposing, but only to the degree he wanted it to be. Way to be, man. That's really talent.
HOORAY for that clarinet! This throaty sax I LOVE - he just did this triple-tonguing thing on the same note - yay. And, the end.
Sorry for the disjointedness, there. When everything comes at you at once, what can you do? Man. I tell you what. Made me wish a little for the length of the Maynard Ferguson concert, even though it was so intensely long at the time. Tonight was quality stuff. Also, to be cheesy, let's dedicate this post to those who should have been there tonight.
-olympus
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Player 2 has entered the game
Uffish: was it you that called to say you'd seen a zombie?
Olympus: Um, yes.Uffish: whaaaaaaaaaaaat?
Olympus: And, just to let you know, that's the best sentence anyone has spoken to me today.
Uffish: ha-HA!
I am the winner!
Olympus: Now, I will explain myself.
I saw a zombie. That is all.
Just kidding. but I was walking, and I passed this woman (this was before I passed the guy who was drinking out of a bag and singing The Temptations really loudly)
This really pale woman, I might add. I kind of smiled at her, and she just looked at me - woodenly, would be the best way to describe it - and her eyes were a little bloodshot, or so my memory thinksshe didn't smile back
she just sort of passed me.
So I called you to tell you about it.
And that is all.
Monday, June 11, 2007
modernizing
Yesterday on the subway, a group of us were singing "Kumbaya," and, being communications professionals, we decided it was time to modernize. Don't worry ...
Someone's blogging, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's blogging, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's blogging, Lord, kumbaya
Oh, Lord, kumbaya.
Yeah, that's copyrighted.
Someone's blogging, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's blogging, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's blogging, Lord, kumbaya
Oh, Lord, kumbaya.
Yeah, that's copyrighted.
Friday, June 8, 2007
your movie
Has anyone heard the silly Mormon myth about "in the millennium, everyone will watch a movie of your life and all your sins will be made public"?
In the Times and Seasons blog, there's a post about this with some fantastic comments. One comment:
In the Times and Seasons blog, there's a post about this with some fantastic comments. One comment:
...Whenever I have the opportunity to teach the youth I try to stick to the factual important stuff.
I remember the whole movie thing and how it was repeated over and over and over again in seminary. I remember being asked how that made me want to live my life by a certain seminary teacher, and by then I had had enough of this silly idea and replied, "I’d want it to be so interesting that the people watching it would say , ‘Man, that guy is SO going to hell. But I wish I could’ve had his life.’” Needless to say the teacher was not pleased. --ronito, 6-4-2007, 4:50 p.m.
And, here he is. (Although, I imagine, not "ronito.")
shut UP.
Sometimes it annoys me that the human mind is so busy. Sometimes I think I'd work better as a single-function machine.
i dream of ... what?
In case anyone was wondering, my responsibility dreams are gone and have been replaced, finally, with real dreams. Last night: I was in a ballroom class. We were doing paso. For some reason I was there unexpectedly (on my part, at least, I just stumbled upon the class), so they fitted me for some shoes right there. (I hadn't brought them on my internship, so I couldn't even go home and get them.) I was still getting fitted when (apparently this was a seaside class) a storm came up and waves started tossing the fitting room around. Me and the guy who was fitting me were trying to get to where the rest of the class was. Then, hello alarm!
Maybe this came from the fact that I ran into some people just out of a ballroom class, who were practicing the footwork for some tango figures on the subway platform yesterday.
Maybe this came from the fact that I ran into some people just out of a ballroom class, who were practicing the footwork for some tango figures on the subway platform yesterday.
Monday, June 4, 2007
What is it about this place that gets to claim so much?
I'm baffled over it, really. Over and over, in church meetings and wherever, people stand up and say things like, "If you've come to this city with a fractured testimony, you're in a dangerous place." or "I know it's hard living here, and it's easy to forget what you're supposed to be doing and get caught up." And that doesn't happen in other places?
What's so special about a city, that it thinks it can claim people like this? It's just a place. Just a bunch of people smashed into a bunch of buildings on a bunch of streets - in many ways, just like anywhere else.
The arrogance astounds me, but the whole world seems to be agreed upon it.
I'm baffled over it, really. Over and over, in church meetings and wherever, people stand up and say things like, "If you've come to this city with a fractured testimony, you're in a dangerous place." or "I know it's hard living here, and it's easy to forget what you're supposed to be doing and get caught up." And that doesn't happen in other places?
What's so special about a city, that it thinks it can claim people like this? It's just a place. Just a bunch of people smashed into a bunch of buildings on a bunch of streets - in many ways, just like anywhere else.
The arrogance astounds me, but the whole world seems to be agreed upon it.
Friday, June 1, 2007
bah hah hah
From the NYTimes:
Fred D. Thompson, in His Own Words:
Climate Change
"Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever. ... NASA says the Martian South Pole's 'ice cap' has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from Earth. If so, I guess Jupiter's caught the same cold because it's warming up too, like Pluto. This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, nonsignatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien S.U.V.-driving industrialists who run their air-conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle."
March 22, ABC Radio
Fred D. Thompson, in His Own Words:
Climate Change
"Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever. ... NASA says the Martian South Pole's 'ice cap' has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from Earth. If so, I guess Jupiter's caught the same cold because it's warming up too, like Pluto. This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, nonsignatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien S.U.V.-driving industrialists who run their air-conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle."
March 22, ABC Radio
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