Q: what did the fourth, forgotten wise man say?
A: "I thought we agreed.... NO GIFTS!"
Also please enjoy a marvellous variation on Noel.
Showing posts with label Uncle Bonsai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uncle Bonsai. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas Countdown ~ MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Merry Christmas or Happy Day Off Day (take your pick). Uncle Bonsai does a great song called "Doug's Greatest Christmas Ever," about how Doug's importance is elevated on Christmas by virtue of being the office Jew.
Q: what did the fourth, forgotten wise man say?
A: "I thought we agreed.... NO GIFTS!"
Also please enjoy a marvellous variation on Noel.
Q: what did the fourth, forgotten wise man say?
A: "I thought we agreed.... NO GIFTS!"
Also please enjoy a marvellous variation on Noel.
Monday, December 31, 2012
..And Concert Dressed (Part III)
(The poll is still open)
I hope y'all have someplace really dressy to go tonight and you pull out that sparkly gown you thought you'd never wear and get out.
Back on topic....
The Birchmere is general admission but not stadium seating ~ it has tables and they have a full menu. Doors open at 5, there's an outer room where you can go to the bar or just sit. Music hall doors open at 6 for dinner, and the show starts at 7:30. The tables generally seat 12. We were right in front of the central mike, at a table with two male/female couples and another couple of women. The man who took our tickets said "do you ladies want your hands stamped?" which we did. I wasn't sure if the restrooms were inside the stage area or in the bar area (it turns out the answer is "both").
The table was, starting at the stage: man 1, Charity, Meg, empty, empty, woman 2a. Across from woman 2a (and heading back to the stage) was woman 2b, empty, woman 3, man 3, empty, woman 1. The 1s, 2a and 2b, and 3s were together.
I don't hear well over background noise; Charity spoke with the woman who was diagonally across to her left a couple of times, and with her husband who sat at Charity's left. He offered us some of his onion strings; we declined. During intermission, I stepped out of my comfort zone again and when I saw the woman looking in our general direction started a conversation.
I need to work on my voice. It starts sorta almost acceptable but as I talk it gets worse. I wasn't that worried about it. No-one I spoke to or sat near commented, cared, changed tables, shunned us, flirted, or in any way seemed to have an opinion about the woman in the purple dress.
We were overdressed (Charity wore a wonderful red dress; the picture is before we left for the show) but there were a couple of very dressy dresses and a guy or two in a suit.
Dinner wasn't horribly expensive for a you-must-eat-our-food kind of place, which is nice. And the food was quite good. I had a barbecued brisket, Charity had a vegetarian pizza and we were both full and happy with our choices. Oh... when they were serving the food, the server was looking for "who ordered the ribs." I thought I heard the man across and to my right order them, so I asked if he ordered them, to give him a chance to grab them before they went back to the kitchen. He did, and I looked at the plate and said to him "I wish I had, too." He smiled, but we didn't converse other than that.
I also kidded with the waitress a bit when I was paying. I often do that when in drab, but not normally when dressed.
After the show, I bought two Uncle Bonsai CDs and I spoke to the members of the band a bit and had them sign the CDs ~ most of the audience came for Christine Lavin and many (like the woman at our table) knew nothing about Uncle Bonsai. I wanted them to know that someone knew their music and enjoyed it for a long time. They played a "Doug" song during their set and I told them I first heard them when they played "Doug At His Mom's" and they said it would be part of a five-part "Doug" series. Now there are twenty-three.
Two things I didn't do when I spoke with them.
One, I thought about telling the woman in the group with the silver velvety skirt and sparkly tights (Arni) that I loved her outfit. I forgot.
Two, well, I didn't think of this until the next day. After talking to the male member of the trio (Andrew), I shook his hand (daintily, I hope) and said "keep writing!" I wish I'd said "your music made me the man I am today!"
Maybe I should keep track of their new, upcoming songs. Maybe one will include Meg. :)
I hope y'all have someplace really dressy to go tonight and you pull out that sparkly gown you thought you'd never wear and get out.
Back on topic....
The Birchmere is general admission but not stadium seating ~ it has tables and they have a full menu. Doors open at 5, there's an outer room where you can go to the bar or just sit. Music hall doors open at 6 for dinner, and the show starts at 7:30. The tables generally seat 12. We were right in front of the central mike, at a table with two male/female couples and another couple of women. The man who took our tickets said "do you ladies want your hands stamped?" which we did. I wasn't sure if the restrooms were inside the stage area or in the bar area (it turns out the answer is "both").
The table was, starting at the stage: man 1, Charity, Meg, empty, empty, woman 2a. Across from woman 2a (and heading back to the stage) was woman 2b, empty, woman 3, man 3, empty, woman 1. The 1s, 2a and 2b, and 3s were together.
I don't hear well over background noise; Charity spoke with the woman who was diagonally across to her left a couple of times, and with her husband who sat at Charity's left. He offered us some of his onion strings; we declined. During intermission, I stepped out of my comfort zone again and when I saw the woman looking in our general direction started a conversation.
I need to work on my voice. It starts sorta almost acceptable but as I talk it gets worse. I wasn't that worried about it. No-one I spoke to or sat near commented, cared, changed tables, shunned us, flirted, or in any way seemed to have an opinion about the woman in the purple dress.
Dinner wasn't horribly expensive for a you-must-eat-our-food kind of place, which is nice. And the food was quite good. I had a barbecued brisket, Charity had a vegetarian pizza and we were both full and happy with our choices. Oh... when they were serving the food, the server was looking for "who ordered the ribs." I thought I heard the man across and to my right order them, so I asked if he ordered them, to give him a chance to grab them before they went back to the kitchen. He did, and I looked at the plate and said to him "I wish I had, too." He smiled, but we didn't converse other than that.
I also kidded with the waitress a bit when I was paying. I often do that when in drab, but not normally when dressed.
After the show, I bought two Uncle Bonsai CDs and I spoke to the members of the band a bit and had them sign the CDs ~ most of the audience came for Christine Lavin and many (like the woman at our table) knew nothing about Uncle Bonsai. I wanted them to know that someone knew their music and enjoyed it for a long time. They played a "Doug" song during their set and I told them I first heard them when they played "Doug At His Mom's" and they said it would be part of a five-part "Doug" series. Now there are twenty-three.
Two things I didn't do when I spoke with them.
One, I thought about telling the woman in the group with the silver velvety skirt and sparkly tights (Arni) that I loved her outfit. I forgot.
Two, well, I didn't think of this until the next day. After talking to the male member of the trio (Andrew), I shook his hand (daintily, I hope) and said "keep writing!" I wish I'd said "your music made me the man I am today!"
Maybe I should keep track of their new, upcoming songs. Maybe one will include Meg. :)
Friday, December 28, 2012
..And Concert Dressed (Part II)
(Please take the li'l quickie poll. The explanation is here.)
We were ready in plenty of time. The Birchmere is a local music hall that's been around for a long time. I avoided it in the past for three reasons: I heard parking was difficult, the neighborhood was iffy, and my wife and I could never decide on what to see. Our tastes were quite different.
A few years ago, the redid the venue and added on-site parking. A couple of years ago, we finally made it to the Birchmere. I can't recall what we saw there.
Christine Lavin and Uncle Bonsai were playing there last Sunday. Christine is a left-leaning folkie whose songs have a humourous twist. For instance, she has a song called "Regretting What I Said" wherein she apologises for wishing all sorts of bodily harm to come to her boyfriend because he decided to go on a (solo) ski trip without talking it over with her first. One of her albums is titled "Cold Pizza for Breakfast" wherein she discusses the merits of just that. "What Was I Thinking" describes her wearing a formal dress that she bought at the last minute that turned out to be awful, and letting her hairdresser try a new (perm) style on her ("what was I thinking? / I can't believe what I see / I look in the mirror / Art Garfunkel's looking back at me"), among other disastrous lapses in judgement. And I'd like to note that the song she usually calls "Regretting What I Said" is properly called "Regretting what I said to you when you called me at 11:00 on Friday morning to tell me that 1:00 Friday afternoon you were gonna leave your office, go downstairs, hail a cab, to go out to the airport, to catch a plane, to go skiing in the Alps for two weeks. Not that I wanted to go with you; I wasn't able to leave town, I'm not a very good skier, I couldn't expect you to pay my way, but after going out with you for three years, I don't like surprises. (And it's subtitled 'A Musical Apology')."
Uncle Bonsai consist of two women and one guy. He writes songs, plays guitar; the women sing (he joins on some songs). One of the songs they did was called "The Grim Parade" about how the kids in this family are lethal to pets; another was a "children's song" (and they air-quoted it as well) about all of the different monsters living in the house and how the kids should go to bed NOW.
So another outside comfort zone thing was going to a show where Meg Will Laugh. I know my laugh is not very feminine, but Meg deserved a night out. I'm ready for a comedy club now. Or the Fringe Festival.
Charity didn't know either artist but I passed he a bunch of songs and she agreed it would be fun to see. I think I can safely say we both enjoyed the show.
We were ready in plenty of time. The Birchmere is a local music hall that's been around for a long time. I avoided it in the past for three reasons: I heard parking was difficult, the neighborhood was iffy, and my wife and I could never decide on what to see. Our tastes were quite different.
A few years ago, the redid the venue and added on-site parking. A couple of years ago, we finally made it to the Birchmere. I can't recall what we saw there.
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| Purple Nails Too! |
Uncle Bonsai consist of two women and one guy. He writes songs, plays guitar; the women sing (he joins on some songs). One of the songs they did was called "The Grim Parade" about how the kids in this family are lethal to pets; another was a "children's song" (and they air-quoted it as well) about all of the different monsters living in the house and how the kids should go to bed NOW.
So another outside comfort zone thing was going to a show where Meg Will Laugh. I know my laugh is not very feminine, but Meg deserved a night out. I'm ready for a comedy club now. Or the Fringe Festival.
Charity didn't know either artist but I passed he a bunch of songs and she agreed it would be fun to see. I think I can safely say we both enjoyed the show.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
...And Concert Dressed (Part I)
(before I get to the meat of the post, Marian asked what songs Christine Lavin did. I don't recall them all, but she did Dan Fogelberg's Same Auld Lang Syne, I'm Glad He Can't Read My Mind, What Was I Thinking (with a new final verse about Mitt Romney), Christians and Pagans, Christmas Tree Story (a story she told her 3 year old niece many years ago), a strange version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, and more. She brought up her and Uncle Bonsai relatives for a final song (another offbeat 12 days of Christmas). She invited up Debbie Smith ~ she invites anyone local who was on the "Just One Angel" album. Debbie played a song to an Irish drum which she played beautifully and did a wonderful O Holy Night. Funny: she said she used to beg the pastor at her local church ~ I think it was United Methodist of Annandale ~ and someone jumped up and said "that was my mom!" Small world. And Christine finished her set by doing some baton twirling.)
I live in the bubble that is my comfort zone. I don't like to try new foods, my default response to a new situation is "no." I like what I'm used to.
It takes a conscious effort to pop that bubble. Even though I step outside of my comfort zone regularly as Meg, I stick to outfits that I know I like, makeup the way I've done it before, colours I feel are "traditional" if not always age-appropriate.
For instance, last time I was at the salon, my beautician started painting my toenails purple. (No fingers ~ I was in drab.) Although my default is also to accept the advice of women when it comes to fashion, cosmetics, jewelry, I said "I prefer red." She argued that purple was a more fall colour, but I insisted and I'm glad I did ~ I still have my red toenails and I get a little bit of pleasure every time I see them.
But Charity seems intent on breaking the bubble with startling regularity.
For the concert, we agreed on a purple dress that I've taken out several times but always put back in lieu of something else. I suggested purple tights, which she thought was OK. I was starting to like the brown boots but she said not with purple. Then she offered to do my fingernails. She suggested purple.
I didn't say no.
I'm glad I didn't say no. I LOVED my nails and hated to remove the polish later. (NOTE: I really wanted to leave the colour on for the next day at work and think I could have! Virtually no-one was there and if I had to, I could've (ugh) made up a story ("my little niece wanted to paint someone's nails and I was her last chance. She looked so sad when I said I had to take it off that I left it on." Or "my roomate likes it. Is it a big deal?" which is probably better but still a story).
She did my colours as well, and she gave my face a hint of purple (shadow, lips) that changed the way Meg looked in a way I also loved. Please let me know if I'm delusional or if this is a good look for me (little poll to the right ~ and my ego wouldn't let me add the obvious fourth choice!). And, yes, I understand "good" is relative.
I live in the bubble that is my comfort zone. I don't like to try new foods, my default response to a new situation is "no." I like what I'm used to.
It takes a conscious effort to pop that bubble. Even though I step outside of my comfort zone regularly as Meg, I stick to outfits that I know I like, makeup the way I've done it before, colours I feel are "traditional" if not always age-appropriate.
For instance, last time I was at the salon, my beautician started painting my toenails purple. (No fingers ~ I was in drab.) Although my default is also to accept the advice of women when it comes to fashion, cosmetics, jewelry, I said "I prefer red." She argued that purple was a more fall colour, but I insisted and I'm glad I did ~ I still have my red toenails and I get a little bit of pleasure every time I see them.
But Charity seems intent on breaking the bubble with startling regularity.
For the concert, we agreed on a purple dress that I've taken out several times but always put back in lieu of something else. I suggested purple tights, which she thought was OK. I was starting to like the brown boots but she said not with purple. Then she offered to do my fingernails. She suggested purple.I didn't say no.
I'm glad I didn't say no. I LOVED my nails and hated to remove the polish later. (NOTE: I really wanted to leave the colour on for the next day at work and think I could have! Virtually no-one was there and if I had to, I could've (ugh) made up a story ("my little niece wanted to paint someone's nails and I was her last chance. She looked so sad when I said I had to take it off that I left it on." Or "my roomate likes it. Is it a big deal?" which is probably better but still a story).
She did my colours as well, and she gave my face a hint of purple (shadow, lips) that changed the way Meg looked in a way I also loved. Please let me know if I'm delusional or if this is a good look for me (little poll to the right ~ and my ego wouldn't let me add the obvious fourth choice!). And, yes, I understand "good" is relative.
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