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Thursday,
November 18, 2004 at 11:15:08 (EST) |
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But don't forget it's me who put you
where you are now
 Freddy's
Karaoke
show is tons of fun, and dare I say, the bloggers present ruled
the roost. This low-tech karaoke presents many unforeseen problems.
Beyond the usual karaoke pitfalls of songs being out of your
range or the muzakification of the music, it's often really
tough to to know where the cues are. Karaoke screens prompt
you to sing at the right time, and even give you a sense of
the rhythm. Not so at Big Ham Karaoke, it's all up to Tony (the
guy who patiently sits there with a laptop full of tunes) to
conduct the proceedings and wave when you're supposed to start.
He threw Josh
for a loop when he kept signaling him to start the opening lines
of "Under the Bridge" a phrase too soon. But luckily,
starting the song over was just a mouse-click away.
There were a couple of ringers last night, people who might
be professional singers, like Marlene who did her signature
song, "White Rabbit" and a woman from Denmark who
sang "Fever" and another song whose name escapes
me. That's always entertaining, but what I think I like better
are the folks who get really nervous and try to talk their
way out of it once they're up there. The audience urges them
on (in a friendly way of course), getting so worked up the
singer either gains the needed self-confidence or realizes
that after all the hubbub they have no choice but to complete
the song.
 Last
night's show was a fundraiser for Develop,
Don't Destroy, the main activist group fighting Bruce
Ratner's lame arena plan for the neighborhood. Ratner's hype
machine still talks about it all as though it's a done deal,
which probably makes some people think the fight is over (the
Bush administration also works along these lines). But the
truth is, they still haven't won approval and things could
still go either way. Ratner has even been quoted saying there
is a possibility he might just keep the Nets in Jersey. Sounds
good to me.
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| The ladies performed Ratnerized version of "Little
Red Corvette" which included a bizarre spoken word
verse |
I forgot this guy's name, but he actually sang a song
of his own composition, also about the arena issue |
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| Patti Hagan, one of the most active, uh, activists,
finally graced us with a rousing "King of the Road" |
Karaoke Mastermind Tony at the end of the Bohemian Rhapsody
finale |
 I
couldn't find a song I really thought would be good besides
"Don't You Want Me" by the Human League, so I made
Heather
do the female vocal part. We kicked that song's ass! As a
reward for our efforts, we were given "Eminent Domain
Abuse" stickers. Now, there seems to be some disparity
when it comes to the prizes. There are t-shirts, buttons,
stickers and of course the big ham, but there is no rhyme
or reason as to how they are distributed. Well almost none.
 Heather
sang solo on "Superstar" by the Carpenters which
finally gave us a chance to hear her sing without that choir
holding her back. I don't think she noticed but a bunch of
people in the back of the room were singing backup with her,
but it was a nice touch. And when it came time to award the
ham, Heather walked away with the top honors! Now, what's
a vegetarian gonna do with a ham?
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Wednesday,
November 17, 2004 at 14:09:22 (EST) |
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You don't see us, but we see you
How is it any of us manage to get anything done in this town?
There's always so much stuff going on I sometimes long for the
doldrums of Labor Day weekend, one of the few times of year
nothing much happens. Then again we had that big
BBQ this past Labor Day, but there's not a lot of stress
in having a party. Anyway here's some stuff I may be doing in
the next few days. Just imagine how busy I would be if I had
any interests beyond music and amusing readings?
This week there's a full complement of stuff I'm trying to
keep straight in my head. I already missed the latest WYSIWYG
Talent Show last night. I thought those things were always
on Wednesdays, but apparently I'm wrong. Tonight is another
installment of the hilarious How
to Kick People reading series, whose theme ("I am
Not a Mistake!") is similar to that of  WYSIWYG's
(which was "You Can Go Home Again, But You Probably Shouldn't").
People like to get all riled up about their family around
the holidays.
Tonight is also karaoke
night at Freddy's.
This is a fairly rudimentary affair, without the bells and
whistles of a real karaoke joint. This means they don't have
any video screens or synched subtitles; you get a lyrics sheet
(if you're lucky) and you're on your own! They also have scripts
from famous comedians that you can perform if singing doesn't
suit you. Apparently everybody gets a t-shirt for performing,
or a canned ham. But nobody ever actually takes the ham.
Thursday and Friday are both good nights at The
Hook. Thursday it's USAISAMONSTER,
Pterodactyl,
Langhorne
Slim, Books
Lie, and Guns Fire Mayhem. Friday it's Electric
Turn to Me, Gibby
Haynes and the Jackofficers, Versus the Sun, and Klimpter.
Are they still running shuttle buses from the Carroll Street
station? Otherwise just walk. It's really not that far.
This weekend BAM
is running a tribute to Jim
Henson and the Muppets, screening just about everything
the Henson crew ever did. Admit it. You love the Muppets.
I know I do. I'm just sorry that I probably won't be able
to get up for Sunday's 10 AM showing of  Emmet
Otter's Jug Band Christmas. At least I should be
able to catch The
Great Muppet Caper on Saturday morning.
And of course, Saturday night you can see Motico
for free at the party
where we shall perform. The lower-pressure atmosphere of such
an event means we'll be able to do some of our more, um, experimental
work. Yeah, it's experimental. Remember that when you see
us.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Tuesday, November
16, 2004 at 12:19:30 (EST) |
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These are the times that try men's
souls
Hey, Motico
just added a November show, at a loft party in south Williamsburg
this Saturday! Check out the show
details and try to stop by if you can!
Here at Chez Legs we like to keep busy with many divergent
projects to keep us distracted until it's time for band practice.
I'm trying to learn how to play the saxophone, which has been
pretty frustrating for a couple of reasons. Having played
clarinet for most of my life I mistakenly believed that the
transition to sax would be a simple one. This was incorrect.
Although the fingering is generally simpler and the embouchure
more relaxed, when one has been playing the same way for over
20 years (!) it's tricky to get your mouth and fingers to
do something similar but significantly different. The keys
are more or less in the same position, but the notes are all
different. Then there's the fact that I bought a baritone
sax, which is like three times the size of the clarinet. It's
heavy as hell and requires the fingers to really stretch compared
to the clarinet. Also the sax's mouthpiece comes at you horizontally,
where the clarinet is more at an angle. It all adds to up
the kind of irritation that comes with having little patience
coupled with the intense need to actually learn something
new.
But I'm making progress. Buzz found a very handy online
reference site, and I purchased a book that will become
useful once I get used to where the damn notes are on this
thing.
Meanwhile, Buzz has been hard at work taking tiny little
electronic components and soldering them together in various
ways. He's building guitar effects pedals as well as some
other weird top secret projects. Building electronics requires
work on such a tiny scale it baffles me how he can actually
do it. It is reminiscent of Orr from Catch-22,
who drives his tentmate Yossarian nuts because he is constantly
working on a tiny gas stove. Every time he puts the thing
together, it's not quite right so he disassembles it into
a microscopic bits, and puts it back together again. He does
this for like half the novel, when he's not purposefully crashing
his plane into the ocean. So far Buzz hasn't started any such
self-destructive behavior yet, but I'm keeping an eye on him
just the same.
Meanwhile, Mr Bones and Hubcap are of course beehives of
activity as well.
See? He's a very active cat.
The Thousand Yard Stare
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Week of November 14-20, 2004
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