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Monday, December 27, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Unfortunate Annual Tradition
Sometimes my finger hesitates at the "enter" button on my keyboard. Some things that I post, I stop and say, "wait. really?!". This is one of those things. I hesitated last year and I'm hesitating this year. It's an annual tradition.
Enjoy the holidays, friend.
Enjoy the holidays, friend.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Henning Hosts WWII Open Mic on Sunday.
This Sunday night, I'll be hosting the open mic night at in Northampton, MA.
It starts at a nice early 8:00 with me playing a little set of songs. I'm hoping to debut my new Christmas song and to also drum up a few other seasonally appropriate tunes. This'll be my third to last performance of 2010. (On New Year's Eve the Fawns play as part of First Night Northampton and School for the Dead is throwing a free New Year's party at the Basement in town.)
I don't know if you have been to the open mic night at the World War II Club yet. It started last March. Don Rooke put the night together, just like in the old days, and I hosted the first few night, just like in the old days. Now he has a different host each week. There's a great P.A. there supplied by Cloud 9 Productions so the music sounds really nice.
The room is kind of split into two halves. We get the side with the chairs and table and the famous periscope (The World War II Club is the only bar in the U.S. to feature an actual working periscope. The top sticks out of the roof and you can see all around town). Don calls this half of the room The Pacific Theater. It's nice, people hang out at the tables where they can enjoy the music and have a few inexpensive drinks. It's a very casual atmosphere.
You should come down. Play a song or two, or just sit and hang-out. It's one of the darkest days of the year. It's actually nice to get out in it. Also, it doesn't run very late so you don't have to worry about the next morning.
Hope you can come. Here are some of my thoughts from February 2003 on open mics: Open Mics
Wow, this Rockumentary has been around for a while.
It starts at a nice early 8:00 with me playing a little set of songs. I'm hoping to debut my new Christmas song and to also drum up a few other seasonally appropriate tunes. This'll be my third to last performance of 2010. (On New Year's Eve the Fawns play as part of First Night Northampton and School for the Dead is throwing a free New Year's party at the Basement in town.)
I don't know if you have been to the open mic night at the World War II Club yet. It started last March. Don Rooke put the night together, just like in the old days, and I hosted the first few night, just like in the old days. Now he has a different host each week. There's a great P.A. there supplied by Cloud 9 Productions so the music sounds really nice.
The room is kind of split into two halves. We get the side with the chairs and table and the famous periscope (The World War II Club is the only bar in the U.S. to feature an actual working periscope. The top sticks out of the roof and you can see all around town). Don calls this half of the room The Pacific Theater. It's nice, people hang out at the tables where they can enjoy the music and have a few inexpensive drinks. It's a very casual atmosphere.
You should come down. Play a song or two, or just sit and hang-out. It's one of the darkest days of the year. It's actually nice to get out in it. Also, it doesn't run very late so you don't have to worry about the next morning.
Hope you can come. Here are some of my thoughts from February 2003 on open mics: Open Mics
Wow, this Rockumentary has been around for a while.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
More irony
I know I mentioned a few years ago about my ongoing irony of the week that I post on the outside of the door to my classroom. Any student or faculty member is welcome to submit ideas and it's become a friendly competition tradition now for five years running. Here are some more of my particular favorites in the last year or so:
According to The New York Times, the most shoplifted book in the world is The Holy Bible. (Paul C.)
Sad but true: Earlier this week, the owner of the Segway company, Jimi Heselden, who frequently insisted that Segways are safer than customers believe, was himself killed while riding on a Segway (he lost control of the vehicle and plunged off a cliff). (Zach L.)
According to studies done by the FDA and the National Toxicology Program, nearly half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products increase the speed at which malignant skin cancer cells develop. (Jonas P.)
From a conversation between Heather Grimes and Mr. Westcott as they rehearse the performance of a song in which she sings and he plays guitar:
Heather (sings a few notes): Ugh, my voice sounds terrible this morning.
Mr. Westcott: It sounds fine. Let’s just try that first verse again.
Heather (sings for a few seconds, then stops): God, my voice sounds awful today!
Mr. Westcott: I think it sounds okay. Just keep going.
Heather (sings the first line, then stops again): I’m sorry- I just can’t seem to hit the notes correctly.
Mr. Westcott: Heather, would you please just shut up and sing ???
At the jewelry store I worked at over the summer, we sold an item called the “Jane Austen Diamond Engagement Ring.” Jane Austen herself never married, rejecting the one and only proposal she ever received. (Victoria P.)
If you transport something via car, it’s called a shipment and if you transport something by ship, it’s called cargo. (Mr. Westcott's wife)
The ultra-conservative right-wing radio show host Rush Limbaugh uses as his theme song “My City Was Gone” by The Pretenders, written by Chrissie Hynde, an ultra-liberal left-winger. In order to have permission to use the song in his broadcasts, Limbaugh has agreed to Hynde’s request to pay a yearly royalty fee in the form of a donation to PETA, an organization Limbaugh openly criticizes in his shows. (Ethan H.)
According to hunters, they are encouraged in certain states to hunt and kill white-tailed deer in order to keep the deer from dying. Their rationale is that the population of these deer is so great in certain concentrated areas that there is often not enough of a food source to prevent many from starvation. This might be ironic in itself but the bigger irony here is that one of the main reasons the deer are so great in number is that hunters are often responsible for minimizing the populations of many of the deer’s natural predators (such as mountain lions and wolves). (Lydia C.)
The most precisely tested theory in quantum physics (the Quantum Electro-dynamics Theory) is based on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. (Andy L.)
“The biggest loser is the winner on ‘The Biggest Loser’.” (Jason B.)
None of the bullets fired by John Hinckley in the failed attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981 directly hit the intended target; however, Reagan was hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the bulletproof glass of the presidential limousine parked nearby. (Brumley S.)
This week’s ski trip has been cancelled due to snow. (Mr. Aldrich)
Lately there has been a rash of incidents where students’ retainers have been accidentally left behind in various spots around campus. (Mr. Ward)
Finally, this last one is perhaps a little too over-the-top to put on the door (especially since the admissions folks are often touring the campus with prospective students and their parents at this time of year) but I imagine some of you might appreciate it. This is a picture of professional race car driver Danica Patrick signing an autograph for a male fan:
According to The New York Times, the most shoplifted book in the world is The Holy Bible. (Paul C.)
Sad but true: Earlier this week, the owner of the Segway company, Jimi Heselden, who frequently insisted that Segways are safer than customers believe, was himself killed while riding on a Segway (he lost control of the vehicle and plunged off a cliff). (Zach L.)
According to studies done by the FDA and the National Toxicology Program, nearly half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products increase the speed at which malignant skin cancer cells develop. (Jonas P.)
From a conversation between Heather Grimes and Mr. Westcott as they rehearse the performance of a song in which she sings and he plays guitar:
Heather (sings a few notes): Ugh, my voice sounds terrible this morning.
Mr. Westcott: It sounds fine. Let’s just try that first verse again.
Heather (sings for a few seconds, then stops): God, my voice sounds awful today!
Mr. Westcott: I think it sounds okay. Just keep going.
Heather (sings the first line, then stops again): I’m sorry- I just can’t seem to hit the notes correctly.
Mr. Westcott: Heather, would you please just shut up and sing ???
At the jewelry store I worked at over the summer, we sold an item called the “Jane Austen Diamond Engagement Ring.” Jane Austen herself never married, rejecting the one and only proposal she ever received. (Victoria P.)
If you transport something via car, it’s called a shipment and if you transport something by ship, it’s called cargo. (Mr. Westcott's wife)
The ultra-conservative right-wing radio show host Rush Limbaugh uses as his theme song “My City Was Gone” by The Pretenders, written by Chrissie Hynde, an ultra-liberal left-winger. In order to have permission to use the song in his broadcasts, Limbaugh has agreed to Hynde’s request to pay a yearly royalty fee in the form of a donation to PETA, an organization Limbaugh openly criticizes in his shows. (Ethan H.)
According to hunters, they are encouraged in certain states to hunt and kill white-tailed deer in order to keep the deer from dying. Their rationale is that the population of these deer is so great in certain concentrated areas that there is often not enough of a food source to prevent many from starvation. This might be ironic in itself but the bigger irony here is that one of the main reasons the deer are so great in number is that hunters are often responsible for minimizing the populations of many of the deer’s natural predators (such as mountain lions and wolves). (Lydia C.)
The most precisely tested theory in quantum physics (the Quantum Electro-dynamics Theory) is based on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. (Andy L.)
“The biggest loser is the winner on ‘The Biggest Loser’.” (Jason B.)
None of the bullets fired by John Hinckley in the failed attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981 directly hit the intended target; however, Reagan was hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the bulletproof glass of the presidential limousine parked nearby. (Brumley S.)
This week’s ski trip has been cancelled due to snow. (Mr. Aldrich)
Lately there has been a rash of incidents where students’ retainers have been accidentally left behind in various spots around campus. (Mr. Ward)
Finally, this last one is perhaps a little too over-the-top to put on the door (especially since the admissions folks are often touring the campus with prospective students and their parents at this time of year) but I imagine some of you might appreciate it. This is a picture of professional race car driver Danica Patrick signing an autograph for a male fan:
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Video for It's Now
Here's a light-hearted video for "It's Now" from my solo album "looks Like I'm Tall". Warning, it's not actually light-hearted at all.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Max's entry
Last Saturday Max and Henning had a friendly competition to see who could take the fanciest picture of me. Henning's is in the post below; here is Max's.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Monday, December 06, 2010
Happy Birthday, Brian
Today is Brian's birthday. Are you hoping to congratulate him? There's no better present to give to a musician than listening to his/her music.
You can stream or download all of the Sitting Next To Brian albums right here, right now.
You can stream or download all of the Sitting Next To Brian albums right here, right now.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Nowhere Man Turn Turn Turn
Tony told me about this mash-up so I listened to it. I think it broke my brain.
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