Best Gig, Russell, Bleak House, Cranford, Blocks
Now that I’ve had my last Fireside Carolers gig of my first year, I can report that I plan on doing it again next year. For one thing, the time investment alone in learning the 50+ songs needs to be paid off. For another, I just love singing Christmas songs, and I really like the other folks in the group.
Saturday I participated in the shortest and best gig of the year for me. It was less than half an hour, but it was in a home, and we were a surprise for the guests. We sang to a room of appreciative and festive people, and if I might say, we sang brilliantly. I really wish I’d recorded it.
Sunday I was in my longest gig, singing at the Woodburn outlet stores for two hours, both in an octet and strolling with a quartet. It was a cool experience, but that house gig was just the kind of thing that really makes it worthwhile. Getting paid for it didn’t hurt, of course, but knowing we elevated the evening was even cooler.
It was a slow year, so I’m told, in terms of the number of gigs we had. At first, I was fine with this, because I thought it’d let me ease into things. But once I got into the swing of it, it was kind of a bummer that I didn’t get to sing more. There’s always next year, though.
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I’m not a rabid, crazy Survivor fan. I’ve even basically skipped a couple of seasons. But I know what I know. And I know Russell should’ve won last night. I’ve tried to see my way clear to Natalie winning, and I’m not saying she’s not at all deserving, because she was a beast in a couple of challenges, but Russell ruled this season. But I guess nobody should expect a Survivor jury to be objective.
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As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, we’re on a BBC trip right now. After thoroughly enjoying Little Dorrit, we took in Bleak House, which was written for the screen by the same writer as Dorrit.
On the whole, it was a good production. The acting was still terrific, and there were definitely memorable characters. But I definitely preferred Little Dorrit. In part, I think it’s because I loved the main two characters in it, and in Bleak House there was really only one character who provoked anything like the same affection.
(By the way, I was very impressed with Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlock. At times I actually had to remind myself she’s not English.)
One thing about Bleak House that we found distracting was the directing. There were so many fast cuts and weird sound effects during transitions. Not sure what the director was going for, but it didn’t always work. (The sound effects reminded me for all the world of the popping sound preceding the Flame Spurt in the Fire Swamp in The Princess Bride. And when you’re watching Dickens, you don’t necessarily want to be thinking of ROUSes. Just saying.)
I should dutifully point out that regardless of our impressions of the series, “Oh, my bones!” and “Shake me up, Judy!” have made it into the Heasley lexicon.
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So we enjoyed Bleak House, though it didn’t measure up to Little Dorrit. On the other hand, Cranford was simply wonderful. I loves me some Dame Judy Dench, so the production had some built-in Seth-appeal. (See what I did there? Seth-appeal. It’s the new Internet buzzword. Or not. But “baby fishmouth” is sweeping the nation. Now, did you recognize not one, but two When Harry Met Sally references there?)
I will say that Cranford is somewhat, shall we say, estrogeny? Which makes it fairly hilarious for a guy who grew up in a household with four women in it. Actually, it was entirely hilarious in a few places. “There’s lace at stake!” It was also profoundly sad in places, so I don’t recommend it if you’re averse to sad. But it’s not Summersby or anything, so don’t worry about it having a bad ending.
Oh, and if you haven’t heard of Alex Etel, you probably will in the future, because he’s an amazing child-actor. Just incredible.
I just found out there’s another Cranford series out there, so we’ll be taking that in just as soon as my Library Hold Request goes through.
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Somehow, we’ve resisted getting a game console system, even though it seems most folks have one. I can think of a few reasons.
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We have a computer, and we can always get games for it.
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I’d rather not spend the money.
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I really don’t need to want to play video games more, and I’d rather read.
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I never had one growing up. Uphill. Both ways!
On the other hand, it might be fun to play with the Pancake-Eating Son sometimes. But then I’m reminded that sometimes, it’s the simplest kind of interaction that works best.
The other day, Ethan and I got out the wooden blocks. We made the Taj Mahal. Or at least that’s what we called it. Then we took turns running a die-cast car through the bottom of it, seeing how long it would take before we accidently took out a key support member.
Sixteen minutes, by the way.
(Ethan also made the Eiffel Tower, which he called the France Tower. Pictures of our wooden block creations can be viewed over on the Fair Elaine’s daily picture gallery.)
And now the boy frequently asks to build stuff and knock it over. We have approximately a bazillion Legos, and he wants to build with wooden blocks. So I guess we won’t be getting that Wii anytime soon. I don’t grieve over this.
Potluck, Shopping in a Tux, Robbie the Reindeer
Another week, another Fireside Carolers report. This weekend I got to drive out to Camas, WA, in questionable weather. (Though not so questionable as the onslaught of local weather coverage had hoped predicted.) It was my first quartet gig, and it could hardly have been less intimidating. We were basically background music at a party, and only a few people seemed to really notice we were there. So we got to sing some of the more challenging pieces and not worry about if there were some rough spots. So it worked as a rehearsal of sorts.
Sunday, I sang in an octet for Potluck in the Park, and that was awesome. It’s one of our outreach events where we volunteer our time, and it’s definitely a worthy cause, providing some cheer while anyone who shows up gets a hot meal. The place was packed and both the volunteers at the potluck and those being served were very appreciative of us. What a privilege to be involved in this kind of event. (BTW, it’s every Sunday that Potluck in the Park is put on.)
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After both the Saturday and Sunday gigs, I did some shopping in a tux. It was part, “it’s on the way home,” and part social experiment. And here’s my conclusion from the experiment:
Non-whites are just more friendly and open.
Seriously, if I think back to all the people who made comments about how I looked, I think there was only one white person over eighteen who made a comment who wasn’t actually working in a shop I was in. And the folks working in the shops might be expected to chat up the customers a bit.
I did get a few questions, mostly from teenaged girls, about whether I was getting married. But mostly, it was non-whites who just came right out and told me I was lookin’ good. It made me want to make sure to shake off some of my own interpersonal inhibitions and pay a compliment when one’s called for, even if the target is a total stranger.
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Somehow, movie lines are funnier when spoken with British accents. Such is definitely the case with the animated film Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves of Fire. I should warn at the outset that there’s another version of the film in which the voices are provided by such luminaries as Ben Stiller and Britney Spears. Nothing against Ben Stiller (Dodgeball cracked me up), but I can’t imagine the American version is anything but dreadful.
The story, and there’s not much to it, but who cares, is that Robbie, son of the famous Rudolph, joins up with the sleigh team, much to the chagrin of Blitzen, who feels that Rudolph gets too much press that should rightly go to him.
He doesn’t think much of Robbie, either, and expresses his feelings to the rest of the crew in these terms:
“I say we…crush him! Grind him into dust! Then feed the remains of the dust to the wolves! Then…blow up the wolves!”
This has to be one of my favorite movie lines ever. And on that topic, perhaps I should lay out a few of my other faves. (Unattributed, so it’s a fun game to play at home. Movie/Character/Actor if you really want to show your skilz.)
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“Say…that’s a nice bike.”
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“Crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of their women.”
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“Man, now that’s a real shame when folks be throwin’ away a perfectly good white boy like that…”
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“Yeah, vision is highly overrated.”
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“Lane, I’ve been going to this high school for seven and a half years. I’m no dummy!”
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“Alright, we waste him. No offense.”
As a couple of hints, two lines are from the same film. Two other lines are from the same director, and he’s got a new film with blue people in it coming out soon.
Anyhow, the film was funny and silly. And done in stop-motion, Wallace and Gromit kind of animation. There was a bit of innuendo, so adults might want to preview before showing it to kiddos, although I think it’d mostly go over the heads of the younglings.
More Carolers, Little Dorrit, Music Theory, Sixty-seven
Another Monday, more Musings, more Carolers updates. I’ve now been out on two paying gigs with Fireside Carolers, and they both went pretty well. Actually, no song sounded anything like a train wreck, and I felt like I held my own.
They were both octet gigs, so I had to hold the first tenor part all by my lonesome.
Next weekend I get to sing in a quartet to a bunch of kids, which should be awesome, and then on Sunday I’ll be in an octet at Potluck in the Park (one of our Outreach –--unpaid--– events).
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I can’t remember who recommended Little Dorrit to us (the Fair Elaine informs me it was Heidi from Mt. Hope Chronicles), but we’re grateful for the tip.
If you’re at all into English Literature as Film (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, etc.), I’m passing the recommendation on. It’s a BBC production of the Charles Dickens book of the same name, and it’s something like 400 minutes long. (Much like the Colin Firth P&P.)
The story is interesting if not overly easy to follow at first, and the performances are uniformly brilliant. It’s variously sad, hilarious, touching, and mysterious. But the layers to the story and the characters are where it really shines. Few, if any, of the characters are merely what they seemed at first.
(My favorite character is Mr. Pancks, who steals every scene he’s in.)
I found the website for the production and tried to embed their trailer, but it no workee for me, so I’ll just send you there yourself. I’m not certain the trailer works in the U.S. though.
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It’s come to my attention that I know very little about Music Theory, and I’d like to bolster my lackluster knowledge. To that end, and probably not surprisingly, I’ve requested a few books on the subject from the Library.
Anybody out there who knows more than I do (and that’s a large number of people), feel free to recommend a resource for me. I’m also looking at taking a class or two if possible.
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And speaking of books, do I ever mention that I like to read? Well, as of yesterday, I’ve matched my all-time high in book consumption, at a cool sixty-seven books read this year, not counting audio-books.
Of course, I’ve actually only matched the number of titles read, not the actual number of pages read. Yes, because I’m just that geeky, I track not only the number of books, but the number of pages for each. Eventually I’ll need to put some kind of difficulty index in there, because three hundred pages of Koontz is not the same as three hundred pages of Grand Theological Title or Science Book Which Could’ve Been Thinner.
For now, though, I’m still five thousand pages shy of equaling the true record of 2005. My Bible read-through will fill in a third or so of those pages, upon its completion in the next few weeks. It’ll probably be close, but I’m not certain at all that I’ll make it.
MM: Carolers, Award, Recipes
Well, my first performance with Fireside Carolers went as well as I could’ve hoped. We did our free concert at the church that hosts our rehearsals, and I didn’t flub anything in a way that could’ve been noticed. The Fair Elaine snapped a picture of me singing, looking like I was maybe a wee bit tentative. Guilty. (She also posted some pictures from our Thanksgiving Weekend on her blog.)
Next weekend I get my first real Carolers experience, as I’ll be going out in an octet on Friday and Saturday. Today’s singing actually gave me a bit of a confidence boost.
Oh, and I think I looked pretty good in my tux. Is it weird that I have a tuxedo, but don’t own even so much as a sport jacket?
BTW, for anyone needing a budget tuxedo and living in or around Portland, head over to Mr. Formal Clearance Center on SE 7th in Portland.
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So, it’s weird enough having readers of my blog whom I don’t personally know. (Like the time the other Seth Heasley’s mom dropped by.)
It’s even stranger when they like my writing enough to lob an award at me. Yes, it’s true. My Orthodox reader, DebD (of Deb on the Run), has awarded me with the Superior Scribbler award.
It’s both an award and a meme. I don’t do much meme-ing, because I’ve just gotta be meme…heh. But I’ll do my best here. First, the rules:
- Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
- Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
- Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
- Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
- Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.
I’m fine with all these steps except for the first one. Because I simply don’t have that many Bloggy Friends that I don’t know personally. And I’d feel funny linking them, like there was a conflict of interest. So I feel that I should choose from people I’ve found online and started following.
But I haven’t done all that much of that. I’m more of a window shopper, and I know it’s wrong and all, but I click through to a lot of book review posts from Semicolon Blog’s Saturday Book Reviews, and I haven’t managed to look back at many of the authors’ non-book-review work. Except for DebD’s, and that’s because she’s posted interesting comments on my Theology Thursday ramblings.
In short, I know I must mend my ways and be a better blog commenter/follower.
But I’ll attempt to fulfill at least the spirit of the meme. I’m not planning on notifying all these folks, because a couple of them are already Big Time, so why would they care what I think?
JonV at Into the Darkness. I’ve known him since he was just a pup (Read: when he was twelve and not yet taller than me. And when he called me Mr. Heasley). Now he’s doing engineering work for the Mennonite Central Committee in Mozambique, and writing extremely verbose posts about his life there. I know I’m not really entitled to be proud of him, but I was the worship leader for the youth program way back then… (Yes, I know him personally, but he’s in Africa!!!)
Apostrophe Abuse. I’ve written quite a bit about the signs of the Apostrolypse on this here blog. But Apostrophe Abuse has pages and pages of evidence. It’s serious, folks.
Keith Law at Meadow Party. Baseball writer, food critic, book reviewer. Good work if you can get it (though I think he mostly gets paid for the baseball stuff). He inspires me to read more, and I already feel like I read a lot.
Amos at The Amateur Entymologist and Outside the Camp. His musings on English, as a non-native speaker, are always interesting. And while I don’t agree with his Calvinism, I still enjoy his theology thoughts on Outside the Camp. (BTW, I initially found him while searching “A While vs. Awhile”.)
Michael Brooks at Aetherwatch. I very much enjoyed his book, Thirteen Things that Don’t Make Sense last year. On his blog, he posts other such weirdities and his general musings.
Hey, I managed five awards! Whee!
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We had a great Thanksgiving feast, with actually a lot of vegetables. We had Marinated Vegetable Salad, which is a favorite of mine, and Roasted Carrots, Asparagus, and Brussels Sprouts.
Yes, Brussels Sprouts. Seriously. Actually, I’ve always liked them, but after reading about how much my niece and nephews enjoyed them, we had to try the recipe.
It’s a deep, dark, secret. Very complicated.
(Toss the veggies in olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Bake at 400-ish until done. Half-hour or so. Longer for the carrots, shorter for the asparagus.)
Yes, I used the word Recipes up in my title, so I should give a couple more away.
My sister made this killer Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole at Christmas last year, so we had to try it. (Layer sliced sweet potatoes with thinly sliced Granny Smith Apples, sprinkle some pecans over it, add some butter, orange juice, and brown sugar, and dust with cinnamon. Bake at 400-ish and take it out before it burns. Yes, it was a close call but still delicious.)
Well, we had leftovers of that dish, so I made Leftover Sweet Potato Casserole Pancakes!!!!
I threw the leftovers in the food processor (probably one and a half cups total after pureeing), then mixed in about a cup and a half of flour, a couple of eggs, a cup or so of soymilk, a tablespoon of baking powder, a dash of salt, and some orange zest, and threw it on the griddle.
Awesome! BTW, my opinions of apple desserts are well known and acknowledged by all as wrong. (Weirdly, they’re recorded in that post Other Seth’s mom commented on.)
But the Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole is seriously good, and the pancakes were, as My Son the Breakfast Appetite would say, “ridiclius.” Unfortunately, it only made eleven small pancakes, which is just not enough for five people including the Breakfast Appetite.
(BTW, I’ve been thinking I need a nickname for the Offspring, and I think I have it. The Breakfast Appetite just fits so perfectly. Or maybe The One Whose Spiritual Gift is Breakfast Eating. Or just the Breakfast Eater. Or Ethan the Breakfast Eater. Or maybe a Dances with Wolves-style name like Eats Many Pancakes. Votes? Suggestions?)
We also made from-the-hip Turkey Soup, using the leftover giblet stock and pan drippings that I didn’t turn into the world’s greatest gravy in the world. Yes, it’s perfectly acceptable to be redundant when talking about gravy. Especially when you’re a semi-veg family.
(Oh, the Turkey Soup recipe. Some of the amounts are approximate.)
- Some Turkey, chopped.
- A few carrots, chopped.
- Some celery, chopped.
- Some potatoes, chopped.
- An onion, executed in a food processor until dead, then kept on bread and water for two weeks, then beaten roundly with sticks. Please, someone get my clumsy literary reference…
- Garlic, a truckload, to taste.
- Leftover green beans (yes, we had those, too), chopped
- Spices of various kinds. One or more of the bay/basil/marjoram/thyme category.
Sauté the veggies in olive oil until you stop. Then add liquids. Like stock. Or gravy. Or a partial box of Pacific Foods Chicken Broth. (Add leftover mashed potatoes if you somehow managed to run out of gravy before potatoes. It’ll thicken the soup nicely.)
Add fresh cracked pepper and consume with leftover Non-Hockey-Puck Rolls.
Theology Thursday: Pain in the Offering
Bible Read-through update: I'm a bit off the schedule for covering the NT twice. I'm up to 1st Peter, and I really need to finish my first pass this month to stay on track. In the OT, I was severely derailed by the genealogies in 1 Chronicles (and by really not getting enough sleep).
I've been tossing around, in my own mind, this question: "Should I worry about reading the genealogies?" So far, my answer still comes back "Yes," even though I happen to know that a certain pastor who encourages Bible-reading skips them. Maybe I'm just a perfectionist when it comes to reading, and since the Bible counts as a book on my List of Fifty for the year, I don't want to say I read it unless I really read it.
And really, should a Bible read-through be easy? This morning I came across 1 Chronicles 21, the passage where the plague (sent as a judgment for David taking a census) stops, and David goes to the home of the location the plague stopped and tells the owner he wants to buy the building and offer sacrifices there. The owner, Araunah, offers to make the whole place a gift, and even to give David the cattle and grain for the offering. But David refuses, and has one of my favorite lines in the whole Bible:
I've written in the past that Bible reading is easy for me. It's an ingrained part of my morning routine, and it really doesn't take a particular effort on my part to do it. After all, I'm constantly reading something, so reading a particular thing is no big deal. Maybe the difficulty I'm having this year is God trying to tell me that he wants my offering to cost me something.
I think this goes for many areas of ministry, as well. When I sing at church, it takes time, it take rehearsal, and it causes me some nervousness. These are all costs, and they're generally asssumed to be negatives. But when I consider that some pain in an offering is a good thing, it changes the perspective somewhat.
I'm sure there are many other areas this would apply to, but I'm going to leave it at that for today.
Too Funny Tuesday: News in the Key of C
Yes, I neglected to Monday Morning Muse yesterday. I blame baseball. First game was fun, BTW.
But I just had a drive-by recommend I had to pass on. Pure genius. Rated PG for allowed-by-tv-but-still-bad language.
MMM: Busy, Sore, Blood
Things have been really busy lately. I've had to pretty much withdraw from singing at church, except for the low-time-commitment Sunday evening service. If I added in a Thursday rehearsal, I'd basically have something going after work every day but Friday.
Baseball is tending to consume my thoughts these days. And not watching baseball (to which there is no downside), but the coaching stuff. On the bright side, we've only got two practices left before games start. I'm hoping that games will be easier. Allow me that hope for now. I'll let you know in a week or so how silly the hope was.
My reading progress has been slow, as has my blogging. I skipped Theology Thursday for the first time in quite a stretch. If I'd had strong feelings about a topic, I might've still written it, but I came up empty and was okay with that. I started a Foney Friday but didn't get to finish it. And I've been completely neglecting the Handwasher Blog. (Although I do think the last post was awesome enough to last a couple of weeks.)
I did manage to finish a book I was reading to Ethan, but I've skipped my weekend New Testament reading for two weeks in a row now. Need to get back on that, or I'll have more trouble getting through it twice. And that would just be the end of the world.
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And then there's the tear-down-the-roof-over-the-patio-and-replace-it project. It's surprising how sore one can get from crawling around on hands and knees while trying not to put much weight on any one spot on the roof. I'm curious to see how my joints feel while running tomorrow.
My last run was lousy, and I blame it on having donated blood the day before.
By the way, have I nagged my loyal legions of readers lately to donate blood? It's really not a big deal. My pint-count is now forty-two! I'm not proud of it or anything. Forty-two. Did I mention that?
There...I did an actual blog post. And it looks a bit whiny to me. Oh well. Baby steps.
Foney Fridays: Pitch Imperfect
Local Choir Debates Pitch Security
PORTLAND, OR - A local choir is caught up in the midst of a major theological and musical controversy. The issue at hand is the security of a singer's pitch. The debate has been going on for several weeks and shows little sign of abating.
Three factions have arisen to give voice to three very different viewpoints. The first group calls itself Once On, Always On. The group's spokesperson, Gordon Tikket, had this to say:
"I know it may sound like some of us have lost pitch, but we made that important decision to have pitch. All our flatness of the past, present and future has been forgiven. If you had it once, you have it always, even though you may sound terrible."
Art Minion, speaking for the group known as Pitch Imperfect, replied:
"It's our responsibility to steward our pitch, and to examine ourselves to see that we've still got it. And when we fall short, we should try harder next time."
To this seemingly sensible reply, the third and most vociferous group (Perseverance of Pitch) replied, through spokesperson Cal Isstik:
"Pitch is a gift. If the director has not granted it to you, you don't have it and never will. Not everyone has it. But if you were elected to it, then in the end, you will have good pitch."
Asked why it is that the choir sometimes seems to, as a whole, lose pitch, Mr. Istick replied, "I think it's worth investigating whether those who lose their pitch ever had it in the first place."
Source: O.Handwasher
Too Funny Tuesdays: Something Different
I thought I might do another Danny Kaye post, since I consider him one of the funniest people ever. So I set out to find a video from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but I found something else. There's definitely humor involved, but I so appreciated the performance, I didn't really care if it was Too Funny or not.
What happens when you mix two masterful performers, in Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye? Well...this:
It made me smile. I have no idea what kind of preparation goes into something like this. I suspect very little. They're just that good.
MMM: 10 Minutes, 50 Physics Ideas, Not Water Drops, Black Socks
I've never been accused of being particularly punctual. I don't really like being late, and yet I tend to manage it anyway. So, I've rolled out a new plan. Leave 10 minutes early. Yep, I determine how much time I need to get somewhere on time, then tack on ten minutes. I just bring a book along, so if I end up early (perish the thought!), I just grab some quick reading time.
It works. I'm keepin' it.
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Book mini-review! I recently finished reading 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know, by Joanne Baker. The book is about 200 pages, which makes basically four pages per idea, and that's just the right number of pages and the right amount of information to keep it interesting without going into overload. Except the chapter on Quantum Mechanics. There's just little that can be done to make that interesting.
But if you've ever been interested to find out just a little about the Theory of Relativity or Nuclear Fission and Fusion, you'd get a lot out of this book. That is, you'd get a little about a lot. I used it for a bedtime book, because I knew I could read four pages and be done with a chapter. I'll admit I kept falling asleep while trying to read the Quantum chapter, but it was midnight, so it may have been more a function of my weariness than the content of the chapter. Or maybe not.
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I sang with the choir at church on Sunday, a decision which garnered me much ridicule from my coworkers (it happens when you leave your choir music out on a lab bench). Anyway...between services, one of the other men went outside and got rained on. Big time. He came back in completely drenched.
So, as we took our places on the risers, I saw that he had failed to rid himself of all the water droplets on his shoulders and back. I proceeded to swipe them away for him. What a nice guy, eh? Yeah, it was the wrong guy. And those were not water drops. They were dandruff. The guy took it with good humor, but I was a bit red in the face. Trying to be nice, but ending up in a bad Selsun Blue commercial. That's me.
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As someone who runs three times a week, I find it irritating that my entire running outfit doesn't go in the same laundry-sorting-hamper. Specifically, I don't like that my socks are white and the rest of my outfit is composed of darks. It's not an aesthetic thing, because I'm not really that metro (although I do groom my eyebrows somewhat to appease the Fair Elaine). It's just a laundry thing. So, I was elated to find at my local Costco warehouse...drum roll...black socks. Specifically, the same model of Champion Athletic Socks I currently use, but instead of white, they're black. Awesome. The only gripe I have is that they're supposed to fit sizes six through twelve. Which basically means nine and a half. On my size twelves, they're a bit snug. Maybe there's another size.