Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Half of what I say is meaningless
Far more than half, obviously, but I figured in light of the protest over the last post I'd pick a less obscure lyric for this one's title. It's Mostly Unrelated Thoughts With Bullet Points time again, kids! Yay and yay (and yay)!
- Monday night Matt and I played one of the most fun concerts we've played in our time as CST, made all the more fun by the fact that we fully expected it to be at best an okay show. We were playing for the Coralville Farmer's Market, which generally means a couple of people are actually watching but mostly you're providing background music for the shopping multitudes. So we didn't concern ourselves overmuch with details like determining a set list or showing up early to set up or run through anything; we were expecting a low-key hour and a half or so of running through some tunes.
Instead, though, the show turned into a little EWALU reunion by the Aquatic Center. By the time we were half an hour into our set there were 10 former EWALU staffers there, covering all the summers from '93 to '05 between them. Several people Matt and I hadn't seen for a very long time, too - if only for that it would have been a really fun evening. But on top of that we were playing for an audience that was (or at least seemed to be) really familiar with and into our music, and that's sort of an unusual treat for us; we're usually playing for a few close friends and several people who have no idea who we are. It's a lot of fun to have people singing along (and at least a couple of those attendant could have taken over vocal duties on most of our songs, I think). Sort of reminded me of the crowds at Legends when Storyhill would come to Waverly, although that's probably a bit over-hubristic. So thanks very much, if any of you concert-goers read this blog - the evening turned into quite a treat for Matt and I.
- Un-cool-ly, I was trying to sing the whole time through a badly scratchy throat that I've been dealing with for about three weeks now. If I had any symptoms other than coughing and voice raspitude I'd think I had bronchitis, but I'm sure it's just some sort of persistant cold probably exacerbated by fall allergies. It sucked immensely Monday night, though - my high range was a full fifth lower than it usually is and a lot of the CST repertoire requires me to use the far upper end of my vocal range. Yet another reason it was good the audience was already familiar with the music, I guess. By the end of the show I could barely talk. Then yesterday morning I had my full range back and I thought I'd come up with a new miracle cure - Having trouble with losing your voice? Force yourself to sing for two and a half hours anyway! But now it's as bad as it's ever been again, so apparently my career as a miracle cure inventor will need to wait a bit longer yet.
- Also un-cool-ly (indeed, far more un-cool-ly), for the last several months I've also had a great deal of trouble convincing my left hand that playing guitar is fun. Now, I'll admit that the left hand doesn't have a very glamorous job in the guitar-playing process. It doesn't get to actually make any noise or execute fancy flourishes like the right hand does, it just gets to press down thin metal wires, which is apparently unpleasant enough that it requires developing thick callouses to deal with. It starts out as the primary hand - beginning guitar players focus exclusively on the fretting hand - but eventually gets pushed back to secondary importance as the guitarist realizes that the right hand is the one actually making the music. So I'm not saying I don't empathize, but I think my left hand's passed beyond merely dissatisfied and into active rebellion and I find that uncool. For a while the hand was just fatiguing more quickly than it used to, but then it decided that wasn't a strong enough message and starting throwing in the occasional shooting pain across the back of the hand (only when I was playing guitar, though - apparently that's the thing that angers it most). Just this last summer it threw complete lock-ups into the mix, wherein my left fingers just sort of freeze for a while (that's only happened twice, thankfully). Now I certainly won't claim that the guitar-playing world at large would experience any sense of loss if I gave into my hand and stopped playing, but I sort of enjoy it so I hope that eventually my hand and I can come to some sort of accord. I've considered buying a left-handed guitar and learning to play that way to placate my left hand, but I'm afraid that would just make my right hand angry at me instead.
I hope Mom still never reads this blog...
- Allow me to point your attention again to the NEW LINKS over in the LinkyList on the right. I notice that no one has yet written a review for Folksinging or Second Whisper and that people are reading the CST forum but not chiming in (or starting threads - really, people, anything at all you'd like to talk about). C'mon - putting your opinions on the Internet is fun! Particularly I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Folksinging issue on the forum.
- This is a really well-written blog entry. I completely agree, Carrie. Hooray for the passing of summer weather!
- It wasn't all that long ago that it was very simple being a Hawkeye football and Cubs baseball fan. You entered the season prepared to take deep satisfaction in whatever the team was prepared to offer. "Well, we lost 9 games - but remember when we almost beat Michigan?" "No team in the history of the game blew more leads in the ninth inning than we did this season - but wasn't it fun to watch Sosa hit 66 home runs?" Now both teams have become teams that are expected to do well, and I find that emotionally problematic. The Cubs are having an entirely Cub-like season this year, but because they were supposed to have the best pitching staff in the Major Leagues and a save-the-world caliber manager and therefore win the National League Central and make it to the World Series I'm very disappointed in how the season's gone. Once upon a time Derrek Lee's breakout year would have been good enough for me. The Hawkeyes are being picked in at least the top fifteen by every poll that's been released, and therefore I'm already primed to be disappointed if they don't make it to (and win) another New Year's Day bowl game. Anyone have any suggestions for some consistently underachieving sports teams I can root for?
- And finally, an amusing anecdote from my workplace. The computers on the inpatient units at the UIHC are out in places on the floor where people often walk by and can see the screens, and apparently there was an issue recently where a patient's family member walked by a computer that had been left with a browser window open to some sort of women-in-swimwear-oriented website. They found that inappropriate and said as much to someone in the administration, and so in typical University fashion swift and decisive action was taken - a screen saver was put on all the computers reminding staff to (and I quote) "Restrict surfing to offensive or objectionable websites."
I search in vain for a closing quip to top that.
Comments:
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Sounds like you have got yourself a full-blown case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, my friend. My dad had it a couple of years ago - exactly the same symptoms, minus the guitar. Surgery fixed him right up... they untwisted and unplugged whatever it is that had gotten twisted and plugged, and he has full range of motion and no more pain in any of his fingers now.
And insurance paid for everything. :-)
And insurance paid for everything. :-)
Interesting... your most fun concert ever did not include me in the audience. I guess I should have expected this day would come. Not that I am surprised, I just didn't expect to be greeted with this news in such a public forum.
Hey. Words-in-my-mouth-putter. No, I'm basically entirely sure that you were at the show in Legends in the spring of '98 that still reigns (at least in my mind; I won't presume to speak for Hibby) as the Most Fun CST Show Ever. Monday night was sure a treat, though.
I concur, Charles. That show in Legends, packed full o' people, remains at the top of my list of favoritest shows. Our July 15 show at EWALU is right up there, too. I agree that Monday's show was a lot of fun, probably largely because we sort of expected it not to be...
Not that we thought it would be un-fun; we have fun singing and playing whether anyone is listening or not. We just didn't expect an actual audience, and instead got an excited, appreciative one. Whee!
Not that we thought it would be un-fun; we have fun singing and playing whether anyone is listening or not. We just didn't expect an actual audience, and instead got an excited, appreciative one. Whee!
It's "Julia" by the Beatles, from The Beatles. I can't believe I was the first person to comment on that. Now I must read the rest of the post to learn about this carpal tunnel episode.
# posted by 
: Thursday, August 25, 2005 9:06:00 AM
: Thursday, August 25, 2005 9:06:00 AM
Yes, Mark, that was me sticking out my tongue at Charlie. I pride myself on the maturity and sophistication of my blog comments. And he deserved it. :-)
"Julia" indeed (the only Beatles song whose title begins with a J). Good show, old bean.
Anonymous playing of the you are game is the very definition of uncool. Reveal yourself! You are!
Anonymous playing of the you are game is the very definition of uncool. Reveal yourself! You are!
Liar!
Main Entry: un·cool
Pronunciation: "&n-'kül
Function: adjective
1 : lacking in assurance
2 : failing to accord with the current styles (as of dress or behavior) of a particular group
Main Entry: un·cool
Pronunciation: "&n-'kül
Function: adjective
1 : lacking in assurance
2 : failing to accord with the current styles (as of dress or behavior) of a particular group
# posted by : Tuesday, September 13, 2005 12:50:00 PM
: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 12:50:00 PM
You wrote, "Anonymous playing of the you are game is the very definition of uncool." I checked the Merriam-Webster web site for the definition, which didn't jive with your claim. Ergo, you're a liar!
# posted by : Tuesday, September 13, 2005 2:29:00 PM
: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 2:29:00 PM
Ah. Fair enough; certainly the good folks at Merriam-Webster are qualified to speak authoritatively on uncoolness.
You're not going to reveal yourself, are you?
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You're not going to reveal yourself, are you?
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