The Sounds of Storytelling

When I'm not weeping over my future prospects, or doing school work, or preparing for my Italy trip (less than two weeks now!), I'm working on my new story. It's the historical fiction piece I mentioned a few weeks back. I almost always write with music. I like arranging playlists for specific stories, having music that reflects the atmosphere or some aspect of character and story.
Even though this is historical fiction, it's mostly very contemporary music. Most of the vocalists are female in this playlist, quite by coincidence, but it works since it's about a primarily female group.
Since I've been a little lax at posting these past few months, I thought I'd share a few of my writing songs with you. Feel free to link your own favorites for the creative process in the comments. I'd tell you how each song relates to the plot or theme, but that would be giving it away.

Beyond the Barricade: Les Miserables (2012)

I'm a massive theatre geek. I even flirted with the idea of making my living in the performing arts at one time (instead I've decided to go the much safer route of writing... ha). Les Mis was one of my favorite musical scores growing up and I was excited to see how it would be brought to the main screen.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story, it's based off Victor Hugo's novel about the later years of the French Revolution. It follows the lives of impoverished people of France looking for a better life, for redemption. The main character is Jean Valjean, a convict who spent 19 years at hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread to save his sister's starving child. After he's released, an act of kindness makes him decide to turn his life around and he breaks his parole, changes his name, and starts again. Javert, a police inspector with a black and white view of morality makes it his mission to recapture Valjean.
The production had a very impressive cast on the whole. Stage and screen veteran, Hugh Jackman plays a sympathetic Valjean. He presents the aging of Valjean in a realistic manner. The sound of his voice seems to shift as time passes, especially in the finale of the film, you hear the sound of weakened, elderly man. Eddie Redmayne and Aaron Tveit are very strong as the young revolutionaries, Marius and Enjolras. Redmayne is not known for his singing, but has a clear voice deeply laden with emotion. The song "Heart Full of Love," (which isn't one of my favorite of the show due to its slightly cliche' lyrics) feels strangely genuine, giddy, and comical in Redmayne's hands. Tveit's theatre experience comes across in his commanding performance as leader of the students. I'm dissapointed he wasn't featured more on the posters and other press for the film.
The female cast was generally strong as well. Anne Hathaway was surprisingly adept at marrying emotion with vocal quality. Samantha Barks, familiar to Les Mis fans from her performance in the 25th Anniversary concert reprises her role as Eponine to good effect.
The only person who seemed miscast was Russell Crowe as Javert. Not a natural singer, he handles all his solo work decently, but at times it seems like he's putting to much focus on his singing. He has trouble balancing the acting in a scene while he's singing. Not that he's particularly bad, but when so much of the rest of the cast shines at that balance, it's easier to notice his deficit.
Overall, the film was very strong and emotionally resonant. There were many sniffles among the audience as early as a half an hour into the film. The score is extremely powerful. That's the quality that has brought theatre going audience to their feet for the past twenty five year and it continues to be effective in film. As the press for the film has made clear, the actors sang on set instead of pre-recording their music. It gives a more organic feel and allows for the actors to experiment and really perform the songs as they would in a theatrical setting.
The film medium allows them to explore the scale of the story more and even find some gritty moments about the poverty people live in. The death scenes (of course there are are death scenes) are handled well. One particular death of one of the barricade boys is done especially well, as he is draped out of a window like a flag.
Fans of the musical and of historical dramas will find many things to enjoy about the newest adaptation of Hugo's classic 19th novel.

Shiny New Drafts and Breathing Space

The semester is officially 100% finished. I've just sent off the shiny new draft of my mystery novel to my favorite reader: my English professor. She read my previous draft and gave me some very enthusiastic and thoughtful feedback.
So now I'm working on my Oxford story as well as the historical fiction piece I started in the spring. Aha, yes those of you who are keeping track would be correct, the count is now up to three major projects. That's right, I've been secretly working on a piece set at the turn of the century. Didn't know about that, did you? Enigmatic me. I suppose the piece is both historical fiction and crime fiction, but not in the usual way.
However, for the next few days, I've decided to take a much needed breather. I have serious end of semester fatigue. I haven't even been able to do any lengthy reading. Light reading, long walks, hot tea, and a Scrabble evening with my friend: that's what I need. And this week, that is what I shall endeavor to make time for. Then back to the manuscripts. Also back to my ever-growing reading list.
In my endeavor to write the kind of books I like to read, I've been trying to read as much literature that falls within my genres as possible. I've been working my way through piles of contemporary and classic crime and suspense literature. Then I began amassing Oxford based literature-- a more herculean task than I originally suspected. Of course this is also nerve wracking when seeing exquisite examples of writing and noting how crowded your genre is. Though, to be honest, most genres are crowded these days.
So, here's where I try to make some brain space.
Enjoy some music by The National.

Things are looking up...

Perhaps. I've just put in some applications, though of course I don't know if I'll get anything from them, but the act of putting them in gives me a sense of accomplishment and control. I hope to get some sort of response (from at least one of them) soon
I also won a drawing I entered months ago on the PBS website. I won series one and two of Sherlock on DVD. That certainly cheered me. I barely even remember entering-- another example of me not expecting to much, but actually getting something.
At the literary society event tonight I dressed as Jane Austen and served tea. That was fun. My kooky friend Jess dressed as Henry David Thoreau. Somehow our interactions during the evening led us to the decision to tag-team a NaNoWriMo about the two of them. Not sure how that's going to turn out.
I've nearly finished this round of edits on my mystery novel and I'm taking a break from it while figuring out how to attempt getting it published. I have some very specific ideas about what I want from all the research I've done, of course I'm still looking for some guidance from those who have been there before. Right now I'm focusing on shorter pieces for my multi-genre writing workshop. I had a great batch of drafting last night.
And I've been listening to a lot of Seawolf. Maudlin music always has a cheering effect on me.

So thanks for bearing with me through all the crazy.
And I'm going to Italy in the spring. If that's not a sign of things looking up, I'm not sure what is.

Music Review: Scythian, It's Not Too Late

I don't normally do music reviews, but music was my first love. Scythian is a band I've seen play live a dozen or more times. They're extraordinary when doing live shows. It's the only band I've ever seen successfully make their audience do leg kicks in unison. Perhaps they use hypnosis, or perhaps it's the intoxicating strains of the fiddle.
One of the hardest things about a band with so much live charisma is the ability to capture that energy and personality in a studio album. Wisely, the band has released two live albums which are the next best thing to seeing them (though if they come to your neighborhood, I suggest you get to a show). It's Not Too Late is their newest studio album, released just a year after their previous, American Shanty.
It's Not Too Late marks a slight shift in their sound, as they explore the many facets of their musical identity: Celtic, bluegrass, Americana, southern rock, Eastern European gypsy sound, folk, and more. Somehow they blend all these aspects to make a sound that is uniquely Scythian. They've become known in Celtic and folk music circles for their raw and raucous fiddle and guitar sounds that are covered with the dust of the road and the colors of their travels. This album shows us some of the softer side of Scythian; perhaps Scythian in love? The title track of the album, is a gentle song about taking your opportunities to find love. This theme is touched on again in the sweet sentiment of "End of the Street"-- a song about falling a little bit in love while living the gypsy life style of a musician, and that feeling is capped with the penultimate track of the album, the addictive "That Girl." It's a rollicking southern rock song that could have easily been the hot song of the summer thirty or forty years ago. It has a charming sense of nostalgia.
The instrumental tracks on the album show off the traditional Celtic licks of the group with the "Sheldon House Reels," a powerful piece that builds on two fiddles and two guitars. "Halloran's Jig" will definitely tempt you to do some amateurish Irish dancing. The band reached back to their roots with the Ukranian, "Arkan" which takes you another time and place with a sense of tradition captured by its mournful fiddle and masculine chanting.
This has been a transition year for the band, losing one member and gaining two more. Unfortunately the two brothers who form the hub of the band, Alexander and Danylo Fedoryka suffered a personal loss recently as well. This album is dedicated to their late mother who is memorialized in the song, "The Only One."
No doubt, things are changing for the boys of Scythian, they've cut down their touring schedule for 2012 and are maybe developing in some new directions. After about a decade on the road, this shift might be just what they need to breathe new life into their music. They remain one of my favorite groups, especially to watch live. The albums are never the same as experiencing their performance, but their latest offering is solid and has many powerful highlights that emphasize the band's almost chameleon like versatility, but ultimately shows us that in spite of all the variety, it's always all Scythian.

Musical Inspiration

So I have finished my novel, or at least this draft of it. Or at least I'm done tinkering with it... for now. Or really, I'm just stopping because I have to turn it in Tuesday. Well, you get the picture. I think it's at a pretty good place. To celebrate, I've compiled a playlist which I will share with all of you.
Basically it's comprised of songs that I find inspirational Maybe the lyrics suit a character or scene or the sound is just atmospheric. Maybe I could see it in the soundtrack of the future series my books will obviously be turned into by a collaboration of HBO and the BBC. Right. Enjoy.

Halfway Point Celebration

So, I've reached about the halfway point of my novel for my independent study. The middle is, of course, the hardest part. My worries about not having enough plot are somewhat allayed. I'm so glad I made an outline before I got into the heavy drafting. Even though I've had to make some adjustments, it has been so helpful.
To celebrate my word count, here's a song for you all. Thinking ahead (way ahead: about three books, a publishing contract, and film rights from now) I think this is what I'd want the theme song to be if a series was ever made based off of my book(s).

The song is "One Tiny Thing" by 8 in 8, the bizarre super band made of Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman, Ben Folds, and Damian Kulash.
Enjoy!

My (Bad) Habits

Since I am in the midst of my Independent Study in which I am writing a mystery novel, I thought I do a little post about my habits and quirks. All writers have them. You might not notice them, but trust me, your friends and family do. In a way, my project is a bit like NaNoWriMo, except it's spread over a whole semester and I have to document my steps along the way and let someone read it at the end. This, I built into the project to help me overcome one of my quirks: my reticence to share my work.
I may make vague and cryptic references to it, I may even ask people random questions like, "Where would you hide a body?," "What's a good name for a coroner?," "How easy is it to make GHB?," etc. Still, I rarely will hand over a piece of work (other than a school essay)for another human's perusal. Especially if it hasn't been meticulously edited by me about three times.
Music is also really important to my writing. When I'm writing at home, usually sitting at the end of my bed or on the couch, I like to have music playing. I also find it very useful to create specific playlists for individual stories, scenes, or characters. I think this helps put me in the right mental attitude so I can create an atmosphere. My favorite public place to write is a nearby coffee shop (see my ecstasies about that below). One of the best parts about that place is that it's fairly quiet, but that they always have music in the background. None of the patrons are especially noisy either, so it forms the perfect soft sound bubble. If it's too quiet my mind starts to wander.
I can never write first thing in the morning, unless it's about a particularly interesting dream I just awoke from. If I'm going out to write, the mid-afternoon is best. I always have a notebook of some form or other with me to scribble thoughts and outlines whenever the mood takes me, but when I sit down to type things up or machete my way through a particularly difficult passage, it's always at night. Often I'll be writing in bed until around one am.
For most writers, I believe some stories come more easily than others. With any story, there's always going to be moments that are hard to get through, holes you realize in your plot outline, characters you aren't so sure about. But some stories incubate in your mind and come out of you almost whole- editing is always necessary, most of us are not Mozart with a perfect first draft of our composition. Other stories can take years to become fertile. I've been tossing around one particular idea for about three years. I'll make notes occasionally, do research, but ultimately it's not ready for the page yet. I haven't found the right way into it yet. Maybe I never will, but I'd like to think that when I'm more experienced with the novel form it will be ready.
I think the most important thing is to keep writing, every day if you can. Even if it's a poem, a journal entry, or a character profile for another story I write something every day. Of course, I might just be compulsive. Maybe I'll be prolific by sheer necessity. I'm just a baby in the scheme of things, still in my writing apprenticeship, but I think I'm quickly maturing. I'm becoming more disciplined and improving my ability to focus and edit. Maybe in a year or two I'll be something more: a published novelist.
Now, if it's not too windy, I'm going to spend a little quality time with my bow on the archery range.

NaNoWrimo Playlist

My novel's not going as quickly as last year, I feel like it would make a better novella. I will also be working on some short stories to make my word count. Though many people use "quick and dirty" word count expanding tricks, I prefer to work on other creative projects to count toward my 50,000 goal. That really is the point of NaNo, to make time for developing your writing. I don't know about everyone else, but I love to have music playing when I write. I feel like it helps me develop an atmosphere.
Here's one of my most recent NaNo playlists:
"Girl is on my Mind" -- The Black Keys
"Crying Lightening" -- Arctic Monkeys
"Brainy" -- The National
"Miss You" -- The Rolling Stones
"I Turn My Camera On" -- Spoon
"Feathers and Down" -- The Cardigans
"Pieces of the People we Love" -- The Rapture
"What Sarah Said" -- Death Cab for Cutie
"Furnace Room Lullaby" -- Neko Case
"Shakespeare's Sister" -- The Smiths
"My Boy Builds Coffins" -- Florence + the Machine
"Dear Avery" -- The Decemberists

Only Two Performances Left...

So I'm taking a brief breather.
It's been going well-- not too disasterous (yet). It's been a busy week of trying to keep up with school work, my Etsy, and this show. Still, I'm feeling good about what I've put into it.
Before tech started I finished The Crack in the Lens by Darlene Cypser, I haven't had time to write a review yet, but that will be forthcoming. I'm also reading Sister Carrie (mostly while I'm doing laundry or eating lunch) and slowly working my way through The Dubliners.
I also finally bought Mumford and Sons' album, Sigh No More. It's lovely.
I miss being involved in the theatre, I've realized. I haven't been keeping up with it on a local or national level like I used to-- I've been so focused on my English studies. I even let my subscription to American Theatre Magazine run out.
As I turn my thoughts back to playwriting, I'd like to become more theatre-literate again.

Stephen Sondheim Talks Theatre

Earlier this week I went to see Stephen Sondheim lecture at a local college. Fortunately I was on spring break and the event was open to the public. For those of you that aren't familiar, Sondheim is one the most prolific and ingenious composers/lyricists to grace the musical theatre stage. The conversation was moderated by Frank Rich, a journalist from the New York Times that actually first met Sondheim when he wrote a review of the try-out production of Follies in his college newspaper. The production team stumbled across it and thought it a good assessment, so they met with him.
Student journalist that I am, that is a dream to imagine. I took extensive notes through the night that I will transcribe into an article for my college's paper. Here are some of the highlights of the night, however.
Rich took Sondheim through some "pivotal songs" of his career. They started with "Something's Coming" from West Side Story which was written during rehearsals in 48 hours according to Sondheim. He revealed that the music for "Gee, Officer Krupke" came from another show that Bernstein was working on, Candide. With that song, Sondheim was determined to have the first four letter word in a musical. However, they would have violated obscenities laws if they shipped the soundtrack over state lines, so the final line was changed to "Krup you!" and remains so to this day. It also turns out that Sondheim was not a fan of the movie of West Side, when asked what he thought of it he said, "Really? You really want to know?" The main problem was that he felt that the stage conventions did not translate well to film-- there was no realism or danger.
The next song was "Losing my Mind" from Follies (which is one of my personal favorites, I often entertain myself by singing and banging it out on the keyboard when I can't sleep). He purposefully made it in the style of torch songs such as Gershwin's "The Man I Love." Follies also took five years to get up, he wrote about eleven drafts by 1968, he admitted.
Rich seemed to like to throw out little details to see how Sondheim would react, when discussing Follies, Rich asked him if he discussed his writing with his therapist, "If by any chance you were in therapy...." Sondheim gracefully dodged taking the evening in a personal direction. Later, the song "I'm Still Here" from the show was also discussed. A lighthearted song full of innuendo, "Can That Boy Foxtrot" originally filled that slot in the show, but they decided to put a more serious song in it's place. Even if it didn't stop the show, "The audience will know they've been served a meal..." said Sondheim.
"Being Alive" from Company came next and Rich and Sondheim discussed that though the emotions of such songs are universal, the specific way the lyrics are written makes this a male song in the same way "Losing my Mind" is a female song. Another prickly personal detail was revealed by Rich, who pointed out that Sondheim had 'never been in a committed relationship' at the time he wrote Company. Sondheim said he never thought to himself, "I can write about myself through the guise of Bobby." The themes of yearning for connection are pretty universal, especially in the theatre. "An awful lot of yearning goes on in the theatre," said Sondheim.
A Little Night Music and "Send in the Clowns" came next. Sondheim seemed genuinely surprised that this particular song became such a hit where songs like "Losing my Mind" never did (until Liza Minnelli and The Pet Shop Boys got their hands on it any way).
"Sunday" from Sunday in the Park with George is one of Sondheim's few choral pieces (the opening of Company was the first he ever attempted). The song, performed by a group of people immortalized in a painting finally culminates to the word "Forever." "Forever-- when I wrote that, I cried," confessed Sondheim.
Sondheim said that the biggest failure of his career was Do I Hear a Waltz. It was a failure because unlike some shows that were panned by critics (like Sweeney Todd on it's first outing in London, in spite of it being Sondheim's "Love letter to London."), it was received "politely." What made it a failure was the fact that he wrote it for the wrong reasons, there was "No passion, no blood, no reason to be," Sondheim said.
Near the end of the evening he took some questions that the audience had scribbled on scraps of paper beforehand. His advice for young theatre writers was not to write for Broadway, but just keep writing. He also said that the most creative person he ever worked with was Jerome Robbins, Robbins was creative on many levels, he would apparently even invent games at parties.
What's next for Sondheim? There is a production of Company staring Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, and Patti Lupone coming up as well as Follies starring Bernadette Peters in DC and Roadshow in London. Sondheim himself is not working on any new shows currently, but writing the sequel to his book Finishing the Hat, his collected lyrics with commentary and essays. The second volume, Look, I Made a Hat will contain "Essays that will irritate a lot of people," Sondheim said.
It was a great evening and now that I've been in the same room as Sondheim, I have one to two degrees of separation from practically everyone on Broadway over the past fifty years. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos, but the entire evening was filmed for an upcoming documentary on Sondheim. He was extremely well spoken and very funny. Even my father, who isn't a huge musical theatre fan (but I dragged him along anyway), was very impressed with him and interested in seeing more of his shows.

History Parody Spam: Musical Edition

I saw this on Lady History's Tumblr yesterday and I convulsed with laughter. Convulsed. It works so well and could be such a great tool for teaching high schoolers about the Revolutionary War, it really could.


Did you noticed I figured out how to resize YouTube videos? It wasn't very complicated, I'm not proud it has taken me this long.

I Love The Decemberists

Maybe this is a strange thing to hear someone proclaim, but I adore The Decemberists. The first time I heard their music, I was slightly skeptical, but over the past few year they have grown on me like an ingenius musical mildew.
They've developed a reputation for seeming to cater mainly to English majors, history buffs, and Anglophiles. Is it any wonder why I like them? They're known for playing with traditional styles of ballads and folk songs, especially sea shanties.
In 2009 they released the concept album The Hazards of Love- almost opera--like in scale, it tells a mythic and tragic love story. Though perhaps, slightly bizzare fare for the average radio listener, its scale of drama was strangely appealing. Several songs such as "The Wanting Comes in Wave" and "The Rake's Song" also hit lush and surprising musical nuances, drawing out a rock and roll/heavy metal sound, unusual for the band.
Perhaps what I love best about The Decemberists is their willingness to experiment and the intelligence and passion they do it with. They don't water down their music to create a more marketable single and they also enjoy playing with language and story telling. Not all of their songs have one simple meaning (in fact, I'm not sure any of them do), you could study their lyrics like you could a poem or story and dissect all sorts of meaning from it.
Their recently released album, The King is Dead shows yet another phase of experimentation for the band. Unlike the long, multi-layered songs of The Hazards of Love, King seems to be an exploration in simplicity and a return to the band's Portland OR root. The longest song on the album is five and a half minutes long, compared to earlier songs such as "The Island" and "Mariner's Revenge," or their eighteen and a half minute long EP "The Tain, "that's quite short.
I'll be reviewing their new album for the college paper, you can watch their first live performance of The King is Dead from beginning to end on NPR, here.

Top 10 of 2010

It was hard to choose, but I tried to pick 10 media based things that are new for me this year or at least have reached an extraordinarily new level of enjoyment. No doubt there were other writers, musicians, etc. that tickled my fancy this year, but here are the standouts with brief explanations for each.

The Black Keys- Though they aren’t brand new, they are a recent discovery of mine. I love their blending of blues with an alternative rock feel.

Cabin Pressure- Discovered entirely by accident, this has encouraged me that radio plays aren’t completely dead and my dream of writing them may be realized. It’s also hilarious and has Benedict Cumberbatch.

Doctor Who Series Five- I was so ready to dislike Matt Smith and after the indulgent completion of Davies reign, it seemed bleak. Though it wasn’t perfect, I thoroughly enjoyed series five and am terribly excited for series six.

Florence + the Machine- Finally gaining notoriety in the US, Lungs is probably one of the best albums I’ve experienced in recent memory. Every song is unique and well crafted.

The Great Gatsby- I can’t believe I had never read this book before. It was incredibly fluid and tragic. It deserves its place among American classics.

Have I Got News For You- I’ve recently started watching this program online. It’s a great way to get an overview of world news and a great laugh via British celebrities.

Keats- His melancholy poetry has been my companion through many a rainy afternoon this year. The film Bright Star, a biopic of the poet, though flawed, was beautiful and lush.

NaNoWriMo- Not my first year doing NaNo, but an infinitely more satisfying experience than last year. Really found a new writing niche and characters I adore… maybe too much.

Sherlock Holmes- This year I consumed more Holmes based media than probably my life combined before. My readings of the original canon, watching the Jeremy Brett’s series, and the series Sherlock have created an obsession to be sure.

Thoreau- In my other life (and blog) interest in practicing a more natural and sustainable handmade lifestyle has drawn me to Thoreau and I’ve quite enjoyed many of this writings from Walden and his idea of simplification.

My Day Off

For the first time in several weeks I have had a morning to myself. Truthfully, I should be camped out at the laudromat with my laptop doing homework between feeding quarters into the machine. Honestly, I probably won't be able to do laundry for another week, but I woke up with a massive headache, so instead I'm camped out in my room. Yes, I'm still working on homework, but I'm also cuddling with my cats and wearing the baggy band tee I sleep in- I couldn't do that at the laudromat... well I'd have to be wearing jeans as well. I should be okay on the laundry thing, I can hand wash neccesary pieces and I just bought a new pack of underwear. It'll be fine.
Truthfully I'm valuing my precious quiet alone time very much. I have been two weeks without any and it's taking its toll. I may start snarling at passerbys and hiding under tables to avoid customers at work. Which I do have to work tonight, so this sweet repose it but short lived.
Now I must get back to listening to The Doors and writing my articles for the paper.

Concert Review: Radio 104.5 Summer Show

See, I do get out sometimes and have a slightly cool hipster side- though it is tainted by unstoppable geekery. Last night I traveled to Philadelphia for the Radio 104.5 summer show. The headliner was Silversun Pickups but Metric and Against Me also played earlier in the evening and the whole event was opened by a group called The Henry Clay People.
This year the event was held at the River Stage on Penn’s landing instead of Festival Pier. It was a wise move, River Stage has a stadium feel to it with room for sitting and standing on the stairs that fill the space. Behind the stage, the river created an attractive backdrop and occasionally boats would pass by. According to one of the women that works at the radio station, the levels make people feel less like they need to crowd the front of the stage to see anything and lessens the size of the mosh pit. Yes, overall it was fairly tame crowd with very illegal activities even by the end of the night when the Miller Light girls (like tattoo clad modern cigarette girls) had been by. A crowd highlight was a drunk shirtless guy complaining about a shirtless drunk guy.
The Henry Clay People were the opener, an enthusiastic if somewhat unpolished group. Metric followed. They started with some of their better known radio played songs like “Gold Guns Girls,” but they were having audio problems. A sound tech remarked that something was wrong with their mixer. It made the music sound unbalanced and tinny and painfully unenjoyable at places.
Against Me followed with less sound problems and truly rocked out in punk fashion playing songs such as “Don’t Lose Touch,” their well-known single “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” from their new album. Though some of their songs have clear political slants, everyone could enjoy the strength of their sound. Their speakers were covered with sayings such as “Into the Jungle the Noble Savages Run,” and their keyboardist was very entertaining, he swigged from a wine bottle and for one song played the accordion, proving that they are in fact cool. No one could tell they had a substitute bassist playing with them until it was mentioned, their regular bassist having left the tour the day before to go home for the birth of his child. Lead singer Tom Gabel called a friend who seamlessly joined them for this show and will continue with them for the rest of the tour. They are a group that will likely be invited back and eagerly anticipated.
Finally, after a delay to fix some things in the sound booth, the headlining act, Silversun Pickups started. Though they have a glossiness to their recorded tracks, they in no way fell flat live. Every member of the band played with energy and feeling, especially the drummer, Christopher Guanlao, who Jim Henson fans will perhaps equate to the muppet Animal. Their bassist, Nikki Monninger was one of the only females onstage that night and she kept up with the boys. After being begged for an encore, they returned to the stage a full five minutes after finishing to play a few more songs including “Part of Me.”
It was a great show and I would love to see some of the bands live again. Alternative Rock fans that will be in Philadelphia this weekend should know that Matt and Kim are having a free show on Saturday. I don’t know all the details but you can check out Radio 104.5’s website for info.

Lena Horne

Last week Lena Horne died at age 92. On Friday NPR featured her on their "Fresh Air" program. I know it's a tad late, but as a classic film enthusiast I want to mention it. Watch her perform one of my favorite songs here.
Tomorrow I'm going to see the new Robin Hood movie which I'll post a review of that on Tuesday, afterward it may be a few days until I can post again, but never fear.

Lennon Naked

Especially for Sega, if she ever wanders by:
Christopher Eccleston (the 9th Doctor) will be playing John Lennon in a new bio pic, Lennon Naked along with Naoko Mori and Claudie Blakley. Though the only time frame I could find was "coming soon," it will be playing on BBC 4 as apart of their Fatherhood Season. The film will apparently take place between 1969 and 1971 when Lennon's own father came back into his life for a brief time.
If and when this will ever come to the US is questionable. There probably will be web resources for overseas viewers however.
Who fans may recognize Mori from her appearance in 2005's "The Aliens of London" with Eccleston and Blakley will be a familiar face to fans of Pride and Prejudice 2005, Cranford and Gosford Park as well as many other British period pieces (even the recent Bright Star).

Non-Sonnet Saturday

I took a literature class once where we studied song lyrics as the most highly circulated form of poetry in the modern world. With that in mind my poem today is a song by The Decemberists, a very eccentric band. They have specific signatures and sounds in their music, but at the same time they experiment with quite a variety of styles. I highly recommend them. I've been listening to them quite a lot this week, re-realizing their genius. Something quirky and humorous today:

"Apology Song"

I'm really sorry Steven
But your bicycle's been stolen
I was watching it for you
'Til you came back in the fall
Guess I didn't do a good job after all

I was feeling really sorry Steven
And I spent all morning grieving
And everybody's saying
That you'll take the news gracefully
Somehow I don't think I'll be getting off so easily

I meant her no harm
When I left her unlocked
Outside the Orange Street Food Farm
I was just running in
Didn't think I'd be that long
I came out, she was gone
And all that was there was some bored old dog
Leashed up to the place where your bicycle had been
Guess we'll never see poor Madeleine again

Let this be consolation, Steven
That all the while you were in England
I treated her with care and respect
And have her lots of love
And I was usually pretty good 'bout locking her up

Where has she gone?
Well, I bet she's on the bottom of a Frenchtown pond
Rudely abused on some hescher's joyride
So I wrote you this song
In the hope that you'd forgive me
Even though it was wrong
Being so careless with a thing so great
And taking your poor Madeleine away, away

Don't Panic! Glee Season Two Premieres

Where was all the advertising for Glee Season Two? I missed it. The only reason I know it's premiering tonight is because I did a DVR search since I knew it was coming sometime this month. Come on Fox, I almost missed this sickeningly addictive show.
So, here's a quick "Glee-run" of where we stood at the end of last season:
-In spite of almost falling apart the "New Directions" wins at sectionals and is now moving on to regionals
-Finn knows that Puck is the father of Quinn's baby
-Will found out that Terry's been faking her pregnancy and ended the show by kissing the neurotic, but adorable Emma
-The villain the writers can't quite pin down, Sue, left the school vowing revenge (of course she'll be back)