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8223. Adam Selene - 6/24/2006 3:24:26 AM Gonna see Nellie McKay (my heartthrob) in tomorrow's Threepenny Opera matinee at Studio 54 off Broadway. Been waiting a couple of months for this with tickets in hand (well.. in will-call, anyway.) Can't wait... probably won't sleep much.
Not that I'm looking forward to a 3-hour Amtrak ride... well, actually I am. Nice chance to spend time with my wife after a week of late-night software patch-parties. Semi-annual delivery schedules are great usually... except about twice a year when they are hell. (DLL-Hell, if you know what I mean.)
Anyway - I hope the show is fully-staffed. This is extension week, who knows if the original cast will all be there. Not that I care about the rest... but I sure hope Nellie is healthy!! 8224. Adam Selene - 6/24/2006 3:25:32 AM re: 8222. Ok, Arky - which one is you? 8225. arkymalarky - 6/24/2006 3:39:04 AM Not me, but Bro's the one on the far left!
And I hope you and your wife enjoy your evening tomorrow. I know it'll be fabulous. 8226. Adam Selene - 6/24/2006 3:43:13 AM Arky - your Bro's a banjo picker?? Who wudda thunk it? ;)
Thanks for the good wishes.. I'm really looking forward to it. I loved Nellie at the Birchmere in January and have been waiting for a chance to see her perform again. 8227. wabbit - 6/24/2006 10:22:49 PM  I dragged my mother to see Livingston Taylor last night. She's heard my enthusiatic reviews for decades and she was delighted that she went and now knows what I was talking about. I haven't seen him live in years. I saw him back at the beginning of his career in a local high school gym, of all places, with about 20 other people. I was embarrassed at the poor turnout, but he sat on a folding chair and sang his heart out for an hour or two for us. The tiny group meant I was lucky enough to be able to position myself on the floor just in front of him. I never took my eyes off his hands; he plays finger-picking guitar and I was mesmerized. Another time I saw him he must have been high - he was introduced three times before he actually made it out to the stage - but the show was fabulous, as usual.
He's teaching at Berklee now - lucky students. Last night's performance was peppered with commentary about writing and composing and some history of popular music. His range of knowledge about music is impressive. He sings and plays better than ever and his new CD, There You Are Again, is really great. He played both guitar and piano (alas, no banjo) and sang a lot of new material and some old favorites. I could have used a hanky; tears welled up more than once.
Afterward, he signed CDs and small posters in the lobby for about 100 people. You can imagine what is must be like to be gracious and cordial night after night with people who act like they know you, but he seems to enjoy it and worked through the line with the aplomb one might expect from a seasoned pro who loves his audience.  I managed to be the last person in line, which was fine - I had dragged out my dog-eared but well-loved copy of his very first album and wanted to get him to sign that instead of the CD I had bought earlier in the evening. Just as my turn came up, two very rude women decided that they would return (they had already gotten their CDs signed) and continue talking with him while I was getting my album signed. One of these two creatures wanted him to correct a spelling mistake in her name, and then asked him to add a little heart. Sheesh. I bit my tongue. He tried to ask my name while they were clamoring for his attention, and I said, "No need, just sign it." Which, in hindsight, sounds really brusque. I was trying not to take up too much of his time; it was getting late, the weather was bad and he had to get home too, yet ces deux vaches carried on, one asking questions about Six Days On The Road, which happened to be on the album he was signing for me. I would have asked him to please sign the record itself as well, but these two women were just making my teeth hurt and I thought it would be too much of an imposition, after them, to ask. Anyway, he signed the album, shook my hand and said thanks, and then was dragged away by someone else.
So now I feel like a real shit, having been unintentionally rude to someone for whom I have only the utmost admiration. I'm sure he didn't even notice, but I feel bad about it anyway.
Anyone who remembers the wonderful folk music of the 60's-70's, who loves show tunes and lyrics and who hasn't seen this "thinking man's Taylor", let me highly recommend him. It was a treat.
8228. arkymalarky - 6/25/2006 3:15:20 AM I'm glad you and your mother enjoyed the concert, Wabbit. It's a shame people dominate a moment without thinking that it's important for other people, as well. Maybe you could write him a short email about how much you've enjoyed him over the years, etc. 8229. wonkers2 - 6/25/2006 5:01:34 AM Saw a quite interesting documentary tonight--"Sketches of Frank Gehry." The documentary on the architect, who some say is currently number one in the world, was directed by his long time friend Sidney Pollack and included a quite a bit of footage of commentary by Gehry's psychiatrist of many years as well as interviews with many others, architects and a director of the Guggenheim who worked with Gehry on his spectacular museum in Bilbao.
Gehry's architecture is different from any other I've seen, and he is a very interesting person. This movie is a "must see" for anyone interested in architecture and art. 8230. arkymalarky - 6/25/2006 6:02:19 AM I guess this goes here. In this seminar we saw the neatest little almost-silent film called "World Song" and I looked for the credits at the end because I'd love to have a copy of it, and turns out it was produced by General Motors. I think we're going to have a means to purchase any resources we aren't given, but I wondered if you were familiar with it, Wonk.
We've had people come from all over the country, some who were born and/or lived in other parts of the world, some who are "experts" in language acquisition, teaching ESL, developing and running ESL programs, or on laws pertaining to ESL, and the things they've shared have been wonderful for the most part.
A friend of Bro's presented this evening. He works with Public Radio and searches out stories and background on events in AR history and writes songs about them. We spend a lot of time talking about working with other cultures, but tend to forget that people may come here for many resons, none of which include a burning curiosity to see Arkansas culture firsthand, but they would generally like to know about us--as Arkies, not just as Americans--and it so happens there are about a dozen Taiwanese in the program who just loved this guy. He gave us cds and a lot of info on AR history and our cultural connections to it. 8231. judithathome - 6/25/2006 1:37:38 PM Went to see Side By Side By Sondheim yesterday and once again, sat in awe of the man who uses words like a slilled painter to create a visual. Luckily, my favorite song, I Remember, was done by an extraordinary tenor and it made my chest ache and brought tears to my eyes...in that good way that lyrics sometimes do.
My only quibble was they had a woman do Send In The Clowns and I thought it was weak...I love hearing that done by a male voice and with some of the phrasing spoken rather than sung. 8232. Adam Selene - 6/25/2006 4:51:23 PM Well, Mrs. Selene and I had a great day in NYC yesterday. Dropped the dog off with a neighbor, caught the Amtrak to Penn Station while we did Sudoku and crosswords for 3 hours, shared a great cheesesteak and fries at Penn, caught a cab to Studio 54 (while sweating out a terrible traffic jam) arriving just minutes before ThreePenny Opera matinee at 2pm.
We were first row, upper balcony - excellent seats. Studio 54 is a nice intimate theatre just barely off Broadway - reminded me of the London stage were we saw Mama Mia last year. Not a bad seat in the house really, not like the Lyric in Baltimore where there really aren't any good seats beyond 6th row, main floor.
Wasn't crazy about the actual story, or the melodies for that matter, but the performances were magnificent all around. Cindi Lauper was herself, a bit affected like the pop-star she is but still very much in place in a musical. Of course, she (and nearly everyone else) was hugely overshadowed by Nellie McCay's brilliant voice and stage presence. You'd think she was born to play Polly. I was amazed to hear how 3 months of Broadway has improved her voice control and her stamina. She was great before, but so much more consistent now and she now has the total command of her vibratto and upper registers.
(phone - will continue later.) 8233. Adam Selene - 6/25/2006 5:29:55 PM Out of time now... but to finish.
The play was a hoot - very enjoyable as long as you know what to expect. (But don't bring your kids. Definitely R+ rated.) After the show, we caught a cab back to Penn, grabbed some bagged sandwiches, and ate on the train - then did some more sudoku and crosswords. Picked up the dog about 930pm, watched a little tv and snacked, then crashed.
All and all a realy nice outing, we both had a great time. (And it should be for $500 total!) 8234. judithathome - 6/25/2006 11:19:55 PM Money well spent! 8235. judithathome - 6/25/2006 11:22:36 PM Wikipedia's take on the show 8236. arkymalarky - 6/26/2006 2:59:40 AM Wow, sounds like it was great, Adam, from start to finish.
Just a brief fyi, it's "Cyndi" Lauper. Don't ask how I know, or why I care. ;-) 8237. arkymalarky - 6/26/2006 3:00:09 AM Blast it, I hate when my smily's do that. 8238. Adam Selene - 6/26/2006 3:08:45 AM Hey, if I could spell, I wouldn't need my wife to edit my crosswords! ;)
p.s., my wife's name is Cyndie. :) 8239. arkymalarky - 6/26/2006 5:49:57 AM Cool! First I've ever seen that spelling. 8240. arkymalarky - 6/26/2006 5:50:38 AM I think crossword editing is a new one on me, too. 8241. alistairconnor - 6/26/2006 10:35:56 AM I understand about DLL Hell, Adam...
And the show sounds great. It's been a long time since I've seen a decent musical. 8242. Adam Selene - 6/26/2006 1:56:41 PM lol - we do crosswords together. She's the technical expert, I'm a domain expert. She knows all those little special words that crosswordists are so fond of, while I know a lot of trivia and junk. Makes for a good team. Not that she needs me... she has been doing crosswords in pen ever since I met her.
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