it's a small world, but i wouldn't want to paint it

When we last saw our intrepid hero, he was on his way to Below Zero for a little late night karaoke action. He arrived a bit after ten but could not find anyone, so he called Chris. They were hiding in the corner. 'Twas supposed to be a cast bonding for Tartuffe, but turned out to be more of a BATB reunion - Charlie, Sarah and Nicole were there, with Ben and Andy showing up a bit later. The only other Tartuffe member (other than Chris, of course) was Kaitlyn. I didn't feel much like singing, so sat back and watched others show off their talent or extreme lack thereof. Over the caterwauling, Kaitlyn and I began chatting - turns out she went to OU. I then asked where she came from before that. She said a little town in northeast Ohio, about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh, along the Ohio River. East Liverpool. My mouth dropped open and stared impolitely for a second before informing her of my family connections there. Turns out she graduated from Beaver Local, my dad's alma mater and lives down the road from Grandma Allen. Small, tiny, wee world we live in. What are the odds?

The rest of the evening was fun, but I was out far too long, mostly because I wanted to hear Chris sing the Tenacious D class, **** Her Gently. Well worth the wait, though it meant not getting to sleep until 1:30 AM. Made for an interesting Friday, and by interesting, I mean most of my day was spent trying to stay awake. Which I did, only barely, and then crashed hard in the comfy chair when I came home. Which was good, because I had quite the evening ahead of me.

A few weeks back, I found out Tift Merritt was performing at the Southgate House. I immediately put it on my list of things to do (or would have, if I actually kept such a list). I love Tift's voice and enjoyed her Austin City Limits performance (which I no longer have because my DVR died. Bummer). I thought of trying to find someone to go with, but couldn't think of anyone that knew who she was or would be interested. So last night I headed down by myself, arriving around 8:00 to a line out the door. First time I've had that happen at Southgate. But the show itself wasn't overly crowded and I finagled a chair not too far from the stage after finally getting around to changing my voter registration to Norwood (there was a booth). Show started closer to on time than any other Southgate House show I've been to - only a half hour after the posted time. First opening act was Daniel Martin Moore, a singer/songwriter from somewhere near Eastern Kentucky. His first song was his best, but not a bad set. Then came Matthew Ryan vs Silver State. I'd heard good stuff and it was good, straightforward roots rock from Philly. Didn't make me want to run out and buy a CD, but 'twas fun, especially when he worked Elvis and U2 lyrics into his song.

Then came Tift. She's a petite little thing with a lovely smile and a gentle Carolina drawl. She started at the piano and let it rip. Such power in her voice, such energy to performance. The crowd was responsive and she fed off our energy. And unlike many shows, there was little talking going on (I'm sure the ticket price kept those looking to get drunk with only a passing interest in the music upstairs). Her and her band owned the stage, giving one of the better performances I've seen there lately. Didn't hurt that she was so easy on the eyes. Remember the Friends episode when Ross makes a list of celebrities he'd sleep with? Tift Merritt is now on mine.

My favorite moment - the band unplugged and sang "Supposed to Make You Happy" at the front of the stage. Stunning in it's simplicity. Will definitely be downloading her latest CD once my emusic subscription refreshes.

The night ended poorly, however - I got back to my car to discover a ticket on my windshield. I was parked at a meter and the only sign around said you couldn't park there from 8-12 on Saturday. And I'm pretty sure the meters aren't in service at 8PM at night. The ticket itself says No City Sticker. I have no idea what this means. Now I get to drive down to Newport to contest it on Monday. Otherwise, the concert doubled in price. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

Art Walk was today. We started with a passage from Job 38 - "Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge? " You know, the passage where sarcastically blasts Job, asking him if he was there when he created the universe and if not, then he should shut the **** up (I'm paraphrasing). With that as my impetus, I decided to visit parts of the museum I don't understand, to try and see past my own ignorance. I meandered through the Asian art and then up stairs to the contemporary. Most contemporary art does nothing other than frustrate me because I a) don't get it or b) don't see what others see (which I guess is the same thing). So I went to the Rothko - one of Rob's favorites - and read the blurb and stepped back. Nothing. So I stepped forward a bit, changing perspective. Nothing. So I stepped back. Nothing yet again. All I see is rectangles of different colors. No heartbeat, no sign of the emotion Rothko speaks of, no tears that others have experienced. I only felt frustration, probably much like Job did. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?/Tell Me, if you have understanding" No, I wasn't there when Rothko created his piece. And I don't have access to whatever he was experiencing through the act of creation. I'm an agnostic when it comes to contemporary art - I don't dismiss it completely, but I haven't experienced enough to truly believe.

Saw Burn After Reading this afternoon. It was...an occasionally funny mess. The end almost redeemed the film. It's a middling Coen Brothers film - not as bad as Ladykillers, but not as good as Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski. The individuals were good, but not enough funny all the way through. I think the previews and trailers ruined some of the best moments.

Speaking of trailers, anyone seen the trailer for Towelhead? I'm not so interested in the movie itself (gee, another Alan Ball script about an older man having a relationship with a teenager), but the song during the trailer caught my attention. Anyone know what it is? I did a quick Google search to no avail. Information appreciated.

Finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal today, mostly out of necessity since I borrowed it from the library and I couldn't renew it because some put a hold on it. Enjoyable read. Moore walked the fine line between the sacred and the profane well. I kept thinking while I was reading that you'd never see a similar book about Mohammad. I'm sure there are those who would be offended, but as Moore points out in his afterword, "if one's faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel, one may have a bit more praying to do." Excellent point.

My, I do go on tonight, don't I? OK, time to catch up on my House backlog. Thanks to USA, I can now catch up on the seasons I've missed. Fun. Tech week starts tomorrow - we'll see what it does to my week. Night. Æ

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Now playing: Son Volt - Caryatid Easy
via FoxyTunes

This summer, before I ran off to Colorado, a local company was having auditions for Moliere's Tartuffe. I've never done Moliere (though I student directed The Miser in college) and always wanted to, but I couldn't make an early audition work, so I decided 'twasn't to be this time around. Flash forward to a week ago, when Chris from BATB contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in doing a small role in...Tartuffe. A couple of lines, right at the end of the show, but of course I said yes. Been pretty simple so far - my part of rehearsal rarely lasts more than an hour, so I show up at the end or the beginning. Pretty easy. Plus, the short run up for me means it's tech week next week and we go up a week from tomorrow. Crazy. But fun.

Of course, it's also stolen away any spare time I might have to blog or check the 'Book or get stuff ready for school, but I think I can handle a couple weeks of this.

I have no coherent thoughts tonight, only a conglomeration of ideas swirling about. And Chris called and I need to be heading to Below Zero for a little karaoke cast-bonding time, so those thoughts will have to keep on swirling for now.

In the meantime, you can check out Steve's take on our Columbus to Cincinnati bike ride on the CityBeat website. He also posted my account, making sure to let everyone know I blog about my "adventures as a single fellow in Cincinnati." Hasn't helped yet, but hey, there's always a chance.

Off to do a little karaoke. Sorry for the briefness. Æ

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Now playing: iDEoLA - Hold Back Your Tears
via FoxyTunes