Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Thursday is Poncho night

Ok, so I know this is a little late, but after reading Jean's entry, I wasn't sure it was necessary. But then I remembered our agreement...Speaking of that...Matt and Chad, what's up??? You're slower that I am!

As you may have read from Jean's blog, Chad and Matt (Jean's Matt, not my Matt) joined us at the MMC last week. Matt was convinced he'd met me before...pretty sure not. BUT he went to Harding too...granted he graduated a bit earlier that Matty and I, but it was funny to hear about how many teachers were there when he was a student that we also had. Oh Harding....

The boys were fun dancers. Now, now offense to Matty (my matt) but its nice to have other people to dance with. Boys who will spin you and try to dip you, and dance like crazy white boys. Of course some of this could have been due to Chad's amusing inebriation. Don't apologize Chad! I love you drunk...you're great. Hugging and kissing my mom, ordering more beer, dancing, and talking about AFA...it's great...you should be drunk Chad around me more often! Though I enjoy regular Chad too. Basically, since you don't have class Friday's, you and Jean shold come up together more often. Then you can see Ryan the real drummer. (Not that we didn't enjoy Poncho and his large hair!)

So yeah...Jean pretty much caught us up on everything else...Ryan Senechal come back! Chad and Matt come back! Wonka Boob come back! Side boob...it won't be necessary for you to come back.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Working hard for the money

So this is gonna be kinda rambling....
I promise I'll get to the latest Tony Sims blog soon, but I need to vent about this....not that anyone but Ryan and Jean read it.....

Today is October 21. I worked a 13 hour day today. I'm tired. I thought I had Monday off. I've been looking forward to Monday. I was wrong. I do not have Monday off. I'm crabby about this. I'm working 1 if not 2 jobs everyday for the next 12 days. Then, I have 2 days off, but they are going to be packed with "Jean and Shannon's Fall weekend of fun". Now I'm absolutely looking forward to those two days, but yo ucan undersand how they aren't gonna be relaxing days off. (Ryan we need a nap day so bad!!!!!) So really, the next time I have an actual DAY OFF is Thursday November 3rd. As it is, I've not had a day of since October 12th. That's too long! Granted, some of those days were only 4 hour shift, but the majority of them were 8-12 hour days! Even though none of the jobs pay too well, I shouldn't complain. I have made enough to pay off my credit cards, pay extra on my student loans, and start saving some money again, but I'm tired. And more so, I'm tired of having 3 jobs (2 of which I really like) and still not making a liveable wage. I need to come up with a new career plan...anyone got any ideas???? I'll take 'em!

Ok....crabby "no time off" rant is over. Here's to a work weekend of musical rehearsals, Garrison Keillor, and serving booze! (At least no Marshall Fields til Monday!)

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Who needs music for a musical?

If you were to think about a new musical going into production, what would be one of the first things to come to mind that you'd need for rehearsals? Would it be sheet music? How about a composer? Or a music director who knew the songs? All of these would be good...we have none of these.

I'm assisting in rehearsals for a mini production of Snapshots: Life in the City which will be put on as a full production in February. Its about living in the inner city and most of the stories are written by school kids from St.Paul/Minneapolis. Kinda interesting, kinda cheesey. Grat for schools, but who knows if it'll be a good long run production. So far it seems "after school special-ey". That's the term I'm choosing to use.

So yeah, to the shows credit, the composer isn't even in the country right now, so its hard to consult with him, but no sheet music? These actors are supposed to learn the music without seeing it or having an accurate CD??? A lot of it is sorta jazz/hip hop freestyle, but still you need something to go on. And so often when the director says lets work on the this one, the music director starts playing and then: "Crap. I don't know how that one goes. Shoot! Which one is that?" I couldn't believe it. He's getting paid for this! Needless to say, the rehearsals are frustrating.

So yeah...that's what I'm doing at the History Theatre right now. I guess I can't complain...they're paying me $10 and hour to sit on my butt and make to occasional copy. Why can't they pay me that much when I'm actually working my butt off???

Friday, October 14, 2005

Finally...California pics

Ok everyone...hold onto your hats! I finally got the rest of my pictures from the trip to California. So, since I won't see some of you in a while, here's the highlights...

Please notice how MN white I am...trust me...there was much teasing.


The Huntington Gardens were beautiful...so many perfect flowers and great art (I know...I'm a dork)


You can almost see LA through all the smog.


Lance! it's your little brother! He was so damn cute...after this picture, he started tugging on another elephants trunk, but we could take another pic in time.


I'm feeding a giraffe!!!! His name was Cosi. His tongue wrapped around my hand when he grabbed the leaves...it felt really funny. I was so excited...like a little kid.
Afterwards, Henry just said, "you are going to wash your hands right?"

The lions were LAZY. But it's kinda funny that they take their cat naps in a Land Rover

At the Aquarium of the Pacific, I touched a lot of things. Like this shark. Please notice the "fat little Asian kid" next to me. That's his name. That little bastard shoved me out of the way to pet the shark just moments before this was taken. Damn fat Asian kids!

And the Bat Rays. They told me that they missed the WSU forensics team!
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Once again, I'm a little kid staring at the fishies!
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There it is! The end to a great week...god i can't wait to go back!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Mr. Fancy

Have you seen this man?

I have.

My mom and i were at Pat McGoverns...a great Irish pub in downtown St. Paul for lunch on Sunday. We had a good lunch which also included a not so good bloody mary. But anyway, on with the story. On our way out I was stopped dead in my tracks by the man pictured above.

I know that it is a fairly feeble attempt at an artists rendition of this man (known as Mr. Fancy) but picture this if you will: A 70 year old man dressed in his sunday best. And by sunday best I mean a lycra leotard with a black shirt underneath. You will notice that this leotard is hot pink with balck pinstripes. Pinstripes are "in" this season. I couldn't help but be amazed at this ensemble. I grabbed my mom's arm at did the "clenched mouth whisper" Come. You need to see this. "oh!" That's all she could say..."oh". Oh indeed Mr. Fancy. Oh indeed.

Really...there's nothing more to say other than I wish i had a camera at that moment. The picture would say it all.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Tip me you bastards!

I've been working at the Fitzgerald Theatre a lot lately. There have been some good concerts in addition to the weekly Garrison Keilor shows. I make pretty decent money once you include the tips. The problem is that the tips range from $15 a night to $120 a night. Now obviously the $120 a night was a once in a lifetime thing. But tonight I realized that the sad $20 a night will be happening more often if the cheap bastards keep coming.

Here's a little lifetime piece of advice: Tip your bartender!!!! You don't even have to tip them much...but tip them! If you order $40.00 worth of mixed drinks (which take a while) and she gives you change including plenty of $1 and even a few quarters...tip her! She'll even settle for the quarters you cheap bastard. Just tip your hand and let those 2 little quarters drop into her cup. Look at all the singles in there! People are tipping her. This isn't a new idea...some people even tip when the just order waters and coffee. So please...tip your bartenders!

I shouldn't complain. Its not like the work is hard and most people tip ok...some people tip really well. Its just the middle aged men in their sports coats and overly made-up wives that don't even give me a quarter that drive me nuts. Though perhaps not as bad as the people who put pennies in my cup. Ma'am if you put one more penny in my cup, I'm spitting in your coffee.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Happy MMC Anniversary

I'm gonna keep this short since Jean already wrote a rather detailed blog about last Thursday.

But, I just wanted to say that last week was awesome! It was the first time in quite a while that all 4 of us (Matt, Rae, Jean, and I) were all there. Once we got there, we realized that it's been a full year of ladies nights at the MMC. Some people may think it s pretty dorky, but i'm really glad we have this...ya know? It's been a great way for Jean and I to keep seeing each other, and Matt, Rae, and I (the only two peopleI still talkto from the class of 99) to keep hanging out. Plus that people watching is priceless.

So Matt and I walk in to find out that Chris isn't our server...we have a new girl...and we wait 40 minutes for drinks. We also noticed that Dave shaved. Dave...I thought we've discussed this. Ok...you're trying something...see Jean's ideas. But we had some Kamis, danced a bit (despite a bad knee), and made a great deal of fun of The Rave and Wonka Boobs. (I think I actually saw some nipple from Wonka Boobs...I can't even say that about Slutzilla!) Dave sang the "old school acoustic set". That's right...I used the term old school regarding something that's been going on for less than a year. The set included Yesterday (we all know my fondness for that song). Perhaps it was in apology for shaving???

Ultimately, it was a great night. We also have recently found out that TSB wil be playing at the Half Time Rec. For those of you unfamiliar, read up about the time when Rae and I went...it should be fun with TSB!

And Mr. Senechal...I'm glad we can put a smile on your face...we're there for your amusement. Mr. Smokey, I like the haircut, but I'm sorry....you are a man about a hat.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Just in Time For Halloween: Build Your Own Coffin!

I'm not making this shit up! I saw it on the news...

The
North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN teaches a variety of hippie/woodsy/crafty things. You can learn about herbal medicines, how to make a brick oven, how to make moose-hide mukluks, and how to drive fjord horses. There's also a class for Jean and I (and possibly David) called "Pie: the Lost Art". However, perhaps the most practical class of them all is "Build Your Own Coffin".

That's right! For the low price of $425 with a $250 tuition you can learn how to make your own pine box. To quote the North House Folk School; "None of us are getting out of this alive, so you might as well bury yourself in your work". They will measure you and teach you how to make the box yourself. If you have advanced woodworking skills there will be opportu
nity to put your skills to use...if you're a beginner, there are people there to help.

Does this seem weird??? The news story said it could be theraputic. I'm not so sure. I am sure this is weird: Until you're ready to put your piece to its intended use, you can use it as "as bookshelves, coffee tables, storage containers and entertainment centers". Ummm, do I really want to store my books or DVDs in something I will be spending eternity in??? I don't think so. But hey, who am I to judge? Just look at this lady!
She's ready to store all of her hot dish cookbooks and crochet instruction booklets in this finely crafted bookshelf. It just so happens to be measured to exactly fit her body! How convenient!

Thanks North House Folk School for making my final resting accommodations affordable, multi-functional, and home-made!