Cold, Cold, Cold

We're here! We're alive! I've just been busy with camping, working, and recovering from one sickness after another. With Mom's help I think I am finally emerging back to life.

On July 3rd Zane, Mom, and I packed up and headed to Fort Worden to camp for a week during the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. I've always had beautiful trips over, but this day turned cloudy and rainy as we headed onto the ferry. Even though we couldn't see very far across the water, Zane was really happy with all of the cars on the boat, watching the water and birds, and (for some reason) the staircases. My cunning plan was to have him fall asleep for the rest of the trip, but for some reason he didn't. He ended up with only a 25 minute nap early in the day, and for a boy who usually sleeps 2-3 hours in the middle of the day, that is not much.

The weather cleared by the time we arrived and we had an easy time unpacking and setting up the tent in a nice dry site. I had been telling Zane that camping was like being in a Big Backyard for a week, and he immediately took to it. Gravel! Dirt! Hammers! Tent spikes! People with dogs! Bicycles everywhere! Sleeping bags! All sorts of wonderful things here and there in the campsite that he could touch and play with! Music wafting around! Kids playing! After a really exciting day he had no trouble at all going to sleep in a tent for the first time.

I know it can be cold at night and sometimes in the day, so we brought long layers and hats and blankets as well as summer clothes. Summer clothes! Hah! No summer in the Northwest this year. Although most of the days had sunshine in them, we spent almost the entire time being cold, cold, cold. Cold at night, cold in the morning, cold in the day. Even when the sun was shining it was cold! We lived in our fleeces and luxuriated in sun beams. Zane and I also started out the trip with colds (and a sore throat for me), but I thought we'd had them long enough that they would fade soon. Oh no. We were sick the entire time, and even shared the cold with Mom. Runny noses and hacking coughs.

But you know what? We had a great time anyway! Mom and I love being outside, and it seems Zane does, too. When you're camping, who cares if you wear the same warm clothes every day? Who cares if your outer jacket gets disgustingly filthy?

The first morning I took Zane for a bike ride to check out the camp, and take care of some business at the camp office. When we were done Zane saw the ocean sparkling at us not far away and said "Water! I see it." So we made an impromptu visit to the beautiful sand beach by the Fort Worden Marine Science Center. Zane loved exploring the dunes and the driftwood, and I found a lost library card glittering at me from the sand (treasure!). We went to the water's edge and Zane experimented with poking it with a stick, and then got his shoes a little wet. I figured that was OK, but he didn't seem to like it and backed away. OK, I thought, he'll stay away from the water. Ha. The next thing I know he ran straight into the water! He was wearing "work" boots, thick cords, and a fleece since it was cold. He was now soaked up to his knees. And then he tripped. And fell face down into the water. He came up sputtering fast and I ran straight in and lifted him out by his armpits and put him on the sand. He started crying and held his arms up to me "Mama, hug!" I hate to say it but I actually hesitated since he was completely soaked and covered in sand! Oh well ... I got him comforted and then we had to get back on the bike all cold and wet and get ourselves to the campsite. It only took about 5 minutes to get back, and then Mom helped gather our shower things and clean clothes. I cleaned him off and warmed him up in the shower and then handed him off to her while I took care of myself. When I was done they were warming up in a spot of sun. Our first adventure all before 9am on the first day!

Zane found a bunch of things he loved doing. There was a wide gravel driveway and he spent a lot of his time digging and dumping gravel with his dump truck and bulldozer. We salvaged a couple of boards from the woodpile and made ramps with them on a picnic table. He would drive his trucks up and down them, draw on them with chalk, and practice walking on them holding our hands (and sometimes without!). Drawing with crayons and pens on the various paper he found was always a hit. There were a lot of other kids in the campground and he loved to watch them and sometimes play near them with chalk or balls or other toys. We would walk around and watch musicians play. Go for bike rides and walks. Meet dogs. The highlight was several visits by garbage trucks on two different days; he kept wanting to look at the pictures we took!


On Tuesday we headed up the hill behind the fort to try to find the tunnels we had heard so much about. We had a great walk and saw some old gun batteries and potential tunnels. Zane monopolized the flashlight so it was kind of hard to see in the dark places! We had a fire that night for cooking. Zane had seen pictures of fires but had never experienced one. His first comment was "It makes sound!" I had never thought of that! Another toddler staying with us said pretty much the same thing when he saw it, too. Having kids around really opens your eyes (and ears) to stuff you've learned to ignore or just take for granted.

On Wednesday we went on a hike through the woods and ended up at a big freshly mown meadow. On the trail we taught Zane what roots were, although at first he was convinced they were poop. We saw many wonderful bugs and plants. I taught Zane how to kick back in the grass and chew a grass stem while we watched a horse graze in the distance. He asked me to sit down and went off to sit by himself for a while, and as he looked around he said "Big Backyard. Big Backyard." I had a hard time convincing him that we needed to get back to the campsite for lunch and a nap. Mom went off to hear an awesome concert during the nap and I stayed behind to wait for ...

After the nap was a big surprise: Daddy! Michael came to visit us for a while and they enjoyed the sunshine on the only warm day of the week. We headed down to the beach where Zane previously got soaked. We got some great views of sea-life in the marine museum and had a nice time hanging out in the sand. When we were trying to leave Zane became enamored of a group of young teenaged girls lounging in the sun. He kept edging closer and staring at them until I finally whisked him away.

That evening our campsite held the annual Silly Hat Cocktail party. Zane wouldn't wear a hat, but I gave him a choice of outfits and he was pretty excited to wear an Indian wraparound shirt handed down from his Maine cousins. He had a wonderful time imperiously directing me through the crowd so he could examine all of the hats; I think his favorite was a flying pig hat which had flapping wings. Zane got to run around in a street with kids and he got to take a whack at a birthday piñata. He got to eat cheese puffs and chips and brownies, so I think he would call the evening a success.

After another cold night freezing in our tent we woke to a rainy Thursday. I was tired of oatmeal. We were tired of being sick. We were kind of tired of the campsite. We took a trip into the big city of Port Townsend and had ourselves a nice warm and dry breakfast at the Bayview restaurant. We had a great view of the ferry and the drizzly water, and Zane liked the fish decorations inside. After an afternoon in the tent thoroughly reading all 5 of Zane's books, we headed back to Port Townsend to spend some quality time in the library. I always try to visit one on vacation! Zane spent most of his time playing with some great trucks: "I making concrete!", but we did get a little bit of book and puppet time in, plus some computer time for me and Mom.

Friday was pretty nice, but we were getting ready to go home. I took Zane on a long bike ride back up the hill behind the fort and we rode in and out of lanes of gun batteries and beautiful roads and lawns. We met up with Mom who had walked up earlier. We finished up the morning with a free kids' concert, but Zane pooped out of that pretty early and we went to a nap. Finally, Friday evening was the concert I was waiting for! An outdoor Cajun dance at 6pm, so it was early enough for Zane to enjoy. He loved the opening honky tonk band. We stood right at the front of the stage and he goggled at all of the instruments and men playing them. Unfortunately, he pooped out before the Cajun band started, but he still had a wonderful time. A really good end to a week of being out side and listening to music! I haven't really mentioned the music much, but at Fiddle Tunes it is everywhere outside just about all of the time.

Saturday morning we gratefully struck camp and headed home. Just like on the trip over Zane managed only a 20 minute nap or so in the car and was mighty tired all day. We were very happy to get home and be warm and clean. Zane's jacket was so dirty I had to wash it twice even though we'd washed it halfway through the week. His legs were covered in bruises and scratches and he had some shallow splinters in his hands. All-in-all the badges of a good time!

As with other trips we've taken in the past, the change of pace seemed to really boost his brain. His language got more fluent and I think he is physically a bit more agile.

Sunday there was no time to rest, we had to head out to the Ballard Seafood Fest! Michael loves the salmon they cook there every year. We had a pretty nice walk down and enjoyed being in WARM sunshine! Zane ate some pirogi, spit out a samosa, and helped me eat a chocolate ice cream. He got an awesome bubble gun which is sadly (but not surprisingly) already broken. We saw big trucks, a big fish, and lots and lots of kids.


Zane then got to spend some quality time with his Grandma as Michael and I were struck down with an energy sapping stomach flu. As I write this I realize that maybe we got it at the Seafood fest! By some miracle Zane and Mom didn't get it. I also had various versions of a cold, sore throat, and a burbly cough along with the nausea and headache. Yay! I think I've been sick continuously for about 5 weeks. Having Mom around has really given me a break, though, and (fingers crossed) I am finally getting well.

Monday we dropped Mom off in Mukilteo for a 4 day kayaking trip, so we will be missing her for a while. Here are a couple of videos of fun with Grandma!

Training

I've been talking to Zane about potties and toilets and what's in his diaper from very early on. Just in the last couple of months he's come to really enjoy reading the potty story books. This week he started to spend some time sitting on his potty with clothes on, sometimes to read. Today he peed on a small rug when he was in between diapers, something that he hasn't done for many months; I think his bladder control is getting better. He seemed a little upset about it, so we spent some time on the potty again. Later I asked him if he wanted to sit on it without any pants on, and for the first time he said yes! He wanted his potty doll Xavier to join him for solidarity. It didn't last long, and there were no results, but I feel like we're at the very beginning of the toilet training journey.

Speaking of training, Zane is also getting ready to earn some allowance:


Earlier in the week Zane had a few nights and naps where he had great difficulty falling asleep, which is unusual for him these days. I'm assuming he was just having a brainsplosion. He's back to normal now.

For excitement I took Zane swimming which we haven't done for a while. He had a blast! We have to go more often, even though it's kind of a pain to do. Friday we went to a Cajun jam after daycare and before going home. It was at a cafe so we could have our dinner there. Zane had a great time looking at instruments and exploring a new place, but he did not like me dancing or playing the triangle. Party pooper.

Happy Mother's day everyone!

Superbowl Edition

Zane demonstrates the proper way to watch the Superbowl. He really only watched a little, mostly the half-time show. He liked the dancing and tried to do some, but his dancing ended up being running around in a circle and flinging himself to the floor. It was pretty entertaining.

This week we had a great time at swimming and a clingy time at dance class. Zane's favorite part of dance class is the music, though, and he loves to grab the shakers and make sound. This week he learned to say "music", and now he is even asking for it when it's not on. Here Zane practices his DJ skills:


Saturday we had an 18 month developmental testing session with Marni at Parent Trust. Really it was just an excuse to visit with Marni, since I have no worries or questions about Zane's development. He is of course, doing fine. He is beginning to do imaginative play, and while we were there he dutifully fed a bottle to several baby dolls, and later shared some of his snacks and an empty cup with some bears. At home I sometimes have his bunny Bob do play, and Zane always thinks that is funny and has Bob do more stuff. This morning he gave Bob and Kitty a whole pile of crayons while we were drawing, and later he was sharing a book with them.

Zane seems to be starting another little virus of some sort, so we stayed inside all of today, which is pretty rare. I almost always plan some sort of outing, even if it is a trip to the grocery store or a walk around the block. It's hard to entertain a toddler all day long inside! We managed it, though. Lots of books, crayons, and videos of buses, dump trucks, and garbage trucks.

Mr. BeanJangles

This week has been so pleasant and normal. Separation anxiety and sleep are returning to normal. Sigh.

Zane and I started dance lessons on Monday! I tried to get him to wear the snazzy vest above, but he kept pulling it off. Maybe another time. The class had lots of activities with songs and stories, and as the teacher predicted, Zane mostly stared and didn't participate. She says she will often see a big change after just a few classes once the kids have soaked up a bit of the idea of movement to music. This Sunday evening we went to a family contra dance. I mostly wanted Zane to see live music, but once he warmed up to the place he enjoyed exploring, interacting with other kids, watching music, and even letting me hold him for a bit of dancing. Every time the musicians stopped he'd wave his arms and say "more!" When we got home he went to the CD player, and I'm pretty sure he was trying to say music -- "misi". We worked on how to turn it on by himself, which I may come to regret.

Words are really starting to explode out of Zane. This week alone we've heard (or heard something close to): crotch, milk, soup, soap, Cheerios, more, steam, music, cracker, and Zane. He's even starting little sentences such as "More boob" and "I pooped." He will now tell me right away when he's pooped and sometimes even go to get diapers! The other day he told me before he pooped, which is nice progress on the way to toilet training.

The obsession with fish continues. There is a National Geographic article on them that he loves, so he is joining the family tradition of reading while eating.

We started swimming lessons two weeks ago, and Zane seems to like them. The pool is a little cold, though, and he gets pretty cold by the end. Hopefully that won't sour him on the experience. The lessons are pretty basic, and I think the games and activities are things I can easily continue on my own. After this short string of lessons is done, I hope I can get it together to go back up to the warm Mountlake Pool which is literally made for kids.

The weather has been pretty yucky, but the last several days have been warmish and clear to drizzly. A good day in Seattle during the winter. We've all managed to get outside a bit and get fresh air. A neighbor just gave us a little tricycle that Zane has instantly fallen in love with. His little legs dangle off the seat and don't really reach the pedals yet, but it comes with a parental push bar to keep things rolling for now. We hope it's a nice enough day to go out again tomorrow!

Fall News

Forgive me Blogger, it has been one month since my last blog-fession. Really, if nothing is going on with me, I don't write about it. Last week was pretty exciting, though.

I've been feeling a little sick, and I was waffling about going out, and the price was high ($25), but I decided to go see Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet after all. I've been a big fan of Abigail over the past 6 months or so. I first started listening to Uncle Earl, and then I got her solo album Song of the Traveling Daughter and loved that, too. Then I read an article about her in Newsweek which talked about her new venture, the Sparrow Quartet. Wow! How cool! Mix up bluegrass, old-timey, classical, and chinese music and you get something amazing. My banjo teacher, Candy, heard the group and didn't really like them, so I went to the website with some trepidation. After listening to all the tunes online, I was hooked! And they were coming to Seattle again! The show at the Tractor Tavern was outstanding. Each musician was well worth the $25. Béla Fleck is famous, and although I hadn't heard of the other two, I gather from the Quartet bios they're well known, too. If you like music, search YouTube for some of their videos and watch these folks play; it's astounding.

Friday night I went to the World Affairs Council second annual Transnational Trivia Challenge Championship with five other librarians. Several years ago I did a similar thing with two other librarians at a Literacy organization's trivia bee. We got booted out in the first round, so I wasn't too optimistic for this one. This Trivia Challenge was run more like bar trivia: teams confer and write their answers on slips of paper which are gathered and scored; at the end everyone's scores are compared. No losing early on in the night! We answered 40 questions on world capitals, national anthems, news, children's book characters from around the world (we got 10 out of 10 on that one!), food, and whatnot. We actually did pretty well with 30 out of 40, and we tied for 3rd place! Woo hoo! There was a tie breaker question that we didn't get, but still, I'm very proud of us. There were 51 teams (we were Dewey, Knowit & Howe), and we did better than 46 of them! We rock. My proudest moment was being the only one to know where a missing condom-mobile had been stolen from: Mexico City! I have to thank BoingBoing, my main daily news source, for that one.

Monday nights I've been going to a String Band class, which I'm loving. A new song every week, learned with 13 other banjoists (an evil number for a wicked instrument) and then played with the whole class of guitars, mandolins, and fiddles combined. The Canote Brothers and Candy Goldman, my banjo teacher, have had this going for years, but I'm only able to do it this Fall due to my work schedule. Bummer.

Michael and I finally saw Cloverfield, and I highly recommend it. What a great movie! A real thrillah.

Otherwise, life has just been turning to Fall around here. The houseplants are snug inside, Bijou is spending all day glued to her toasty butt pad on the bed, and JoJo is upset that it is no longer warm and sunny when I take her outside. I made some tasty Boston baked beans and corn bread, and am snuggled up with warm cider.

Keep warm!

My New Toy!

Monday night I called Michael before I left work to see if I should buy bread on the way home. He said, "Nope, we have bread and milk. And a banjo!" Yippee! A banjo came in the mail for me! I ordered an Enoch Tradesman fretless banjo. It's got a scooped cherry wood neck, flush frets, and a pretty black finish on the fingerboard and pot. The flush frets show me where to put my fingers while still getting the fretless sound; kind of like banjo training wheels.

My old Deering Goodtime banjo is on the left, and my new Enoch banjo is on the right. I now have black and white, yin and yang, good and evil banjos. I will use them only for good! I've ordered a pretty black and yellow strap for it, and I'll need to get the gig bag all decorated up like my other case.

I was a little afraid of the new banjo, wondering if I'd be able to play it. Lo and behold! My fingers pretty much go in the right places! I'm very excited that I don't have to retrain myself too much. One thing I need to do is change my fretting to the point of my finger or the fingernail instead of just the flat pad of my finger. The sound is much crisper that way; otherwise the sound is a little plunky.

When I was agonizing about whether or not to get myself a new banjo, my banjo friend Jeff said I was the only person he knew with only one banjo. So now I'm real banjo player! Counting the four string Michael got me for my birthday two and half years ago (which started me on my banjo journey), I now have three! The old four string hangs on the wall as visual art, since it can no longer participate in audio art.

Well, I better go practice ...

New Orleans

In 2001, I went to New Orleans with my Cajun/Zydeco band Les Femmes d'Enfer. I thought it was my first time to Louisiana. Recently I've been scanning old family photos, and I found out I was wrong! Photographic evidence shows I was in fact crawling around on the New Orleans pavement in July or August of 1969! I can tell you, during my 2001 visit we started drinking Hurricanes from Pat O'Brien's at about 10am after a red eye flight which I did not sleep on. I was ready to crawl around on the pavement in 2001, too.

Playing tourist

My Dad and my brother Brady were just out for a visit, and I got to do lots of great tourist things I never get around to doing on my own. They took a train cross-country from Maine, seeing the sites as they whizzed past. At Glacier, they rented a car and came out to Seattle Friday night.

Saturday we spent relaxing for the most part, though I took my Dad for a bike ride down to Golden Gardens while Michael abused Brady with weight lifting and going up and down the long stairs to Golden Gardens. We stopped in at Dusty Strings to oogle instruments and buy a few doodads and a CD. That night, after a dinner at the Hi-Life, we went to the Tractor Tavern. I had seen a bluegrass show advertised, but I knew nothing about the performers. What an awesome show! As my Dad said, one guitar solo alone was worth the $15 to get in. Danny Barnes of the Bad Livers opened the show on his banjo. He'd lay down a lick, record it, play it while laying down another lick, record it, etc., until he had about 5 tracks of himself playing while he played yet something else. Then six handsome young bucks got on the stage and proceeded to blow us away with totally amazing bluegrass. The Infamous Stringdusters. Wow. Each musician was top-notch. The guitar player blazed around the neck of his guitar like a classical guitarist, the mandolin player's hand was a blur, the other players were very fine, and the most beautiful vocals and harmonies came from them. To finish off their encore they came off the stage and stood in a tight circle in the middle of the stage picking like they do for themselves. Brady and I each picked up a CD at the end of the night.

It's hard to beat all that Saturday fun, so Sunday we just left town. We drove up to Paradise on Mt. Rainier and hiked around for a couple of hours. Although clouds covered the summit while we were there, Dad and Brady were suitably impressed by the views they got of the mountain and the tree strewn Nisqually river bed. We saw some pretty alpine flowers, a blue grouse and her chicks, lots of other birds, and a big fat marmot. On the way down the mountain, the clouds finally left the summit, and we got a nice view of the mountain up through Kautz Creek.

They had planned to leave Monday, but I convinced them to stay another day. Monday we strolled down to the Java Bean for coffee and goodies, then walked on to the Ballard Locks. We were able to see the Locks in action and get some salmon viewing in! The Chinook were heading up to spawn. We could see them waiting below the locks, in the glass viewing area we saw them hanging out resting in the fish ladder, and then we briefly saw a few jumping up through the locks. They were mighty big. Smolt were heading out of the locks, and a seagull and a great blue heron were monitoring it all. Some fish and chips from the Lockspot got us home, and then they came with me to my banjo lesson and a little thrift shopping. We topped the night off with square dancing at the tractor.

It was great visit!

Fiddle Tunes 2008

Sunday afternoon I got back from a week at Fiddle Tunes up in Port Townsend. Oh god it was heaven! Fiddle Tunes is week of workshops in American traditional music styles, and it takes place in Fort Worden where participants and faculty live, learn, play music, and party for a week solid.

Photos are on my Flickr account.
Many many many videos are on my YouTube account.

I camped out in my huge cabin tent in a string of campsites filled with friends. This is luxury camping! We camp in the RV area, so we have electricity and water. We set up light decked canopies, dining tables, and a kitchen complete with electrical appliances.

Many people come to camp, jam, and go to the dances every evening, and these folks are usually up until 3 or 4 every morning. Participants going to all the workshops have to be ready to think by 9:30 am, though, so I tried to be in bed by 1am each night. It was hard!

This year I took banjo workshops with Kelley Breiding from Back-Step (that's them on the right) and Band Lab workshops with the band as a whole. Back-Step are from Mount Airy, NC and play Roundpeak style Old Time music. Nick McMillian plays fiddle, and his dad Chester McMillian plays guitar. What a nice bunch of folks! They were very patient with slow beginners such as myself, and they made sure we all "got it". I had my first experience of confidently playing up to speed with a band. It was exhilarating! In the Band Lab we learned Cotton-Eyed Joe, Fire On the Mountain, and Sail Away Ladies. In the banjo workshops Kelley also taught us Chilly Winds, John Henry, and Back Step Cindy. I can't begin to express how much fun I had even though it was also hard work! Kelley kept joking that we were going to"win" the Band Lab concert, so at the end of the concert we gave the band a trophy. I found a "golden" goblet at Goodwill for $1.99 and painted "#1 band Lab Fiddle Tunes 2008" on it along with their names inside the cup. I noticed on their MySpace page they have a photo of our Band Lab playing labeled "First Place Band Lab: Misstep!" You can also see the trophy on the floor in front of them in my YouTube clips of them playing their Saturday night concert. Here's a video of us playing Cotton-Eyed Joe for the Thursday night Band-Lab dance.


I also joined the World Choir led by Daniel Steinberg. I haven't sung in a choir since 6th grade, which wasn't such a good experience. But I did sing with Les Femmes d'Enfer and I also took voice lessons for two years, so I have much more confidence and skill than I did when I was 11 (at least I hope so). Anyway, I thought I'd give the World Choir a whirl, and boy am I glad I did! We sang a traditional South African song called Ipharadisi; it was a pretty simple but very cool song. Then we sang Tango Malena. Wow. I didn't even know you could sing a tango since I think I've only ever heard instrumental tangos. This tune has amazing lyrics, melodies, and harmonies. I didn't get a record of our final performance, but I do have a recording from rehearsal with Bertram Levy playing the accordion with us.

Aside from the fun banjo and vocal work, I had plenty of Fun fun, too! Every night after dinner there was a concert showcasing the faculty's and participant's talents. Every night after the concerts there were two simultaneous dance halls going with contras, squares, Cajun, honky-tonk, swing, Cumbia, you name it. But of course, the best part was our campsite's annual silly hat cocktail party. Laurie and I, being the clothing extroverts we are, had elaborate costumes and hats, but many people traditionally make hats from whatever junk they can find at or around their campsite. Some others are experts at raiding the local Goodwill for weird hat parts. Check out my Flickr account for the hats.

I feel like I could go on and on and never capture the joy! Come to Fiddle Tunes and find out for yourself. If you're a musician or want to be, come on and participate. If you just love to listen and dance, come and camp with us and party!

Julie and Moondog

I just finished reading Julie Andrews' memoir Home. I really love Julie Andrews, and the book was a great read. One of the most interesting things I learned was that Julie Andrews' first album was a joint venture with Moondog! What a combo! In 1957 they collaborated on a recording of children's songs called "Tell it again" - Songs of Sense and Nonsense. This album seems to be out of print, but the songs are included on Julie Andrews' album Once Upon a Time. I'm gonna be gettin' me some of that.

Petticoat Pastiche

Ever since Petula Darling got out her petticoat, I've been hankerin' for one. I finally got up to Petticoat Junction last week and snagged a nice black one. I figure if I like it enough I'll go back for a white one and a short red one. Because I need them. I love that store. It has wonderful dance clothes, shoes, rhinestones, and of course many different kinds of petticoats.

Today the latest incarnation of La Bande Pastiche had a gig for the opening of the Broadview Library. I got to wear my new petticoat *plus* my new sequined bustier, and that made me really excited! Several folks I know showed up to listen, and my friend Sabina took some pictures. You can see my lovely new poof, glitter, and my freshly polished rubboard. For some reason the copper breasts get finger prints all over them.

Today La Bande Pastiche consisted of Claudia on fiddle, Lucy on accordion and fiddle, Ted on guitar, and Sandy on bass.

A good time was had by all, except that little girl who cried when she saw us.

Culture Edition

This weekend was rather exciting for me, culture-wise. Friday night I went out with Michael and a bunch of wild and crazy librarians (not an oxymoron) to hear Hillstomp. I have to admit I often don't like the bands they play with, but this time, the other bands were awesome! The show was at Conor Byrne and allegedly started at 8pm. I got there at 9:15 to catch the end of the sound check for the first band. Good timing! (Why do they even bother posting starting times when it means nothing?? When I was in a band, we always started on time. So there.) The Sassparilla Jug Band kicked things off. Michael said they sounded like Tom Waits, which is right on target; a Tom Waits jug band. Conor Byrne was so crowded I couldn't even see the band! I'm not used to being crowded out of seeing this kind of music. Damn. Now everybody else likes it, too. How dare they?!

Next up was Miss Mamie Lavonna, the Exotic Mulatta and her White Boy Band. Hot damn! I hesitate to say it, but I liked her better than Hillstomp! Some Latin stuff, some New Orleans Jazz, some gypsy punk, some cabaret ... Yeah. My kinda band. I'm sad they don't have a CD, but you can hear their music on their web site.

And then, starting at midnight was Hillstomp. As an old person, I don't usually watch all three bands until 1:15 am, but it was definitely worth it that evening. There is a poorly edited (sorry, I hate seeing something published with errors that could be caught by spell check alone) but good review of the evening here.

The next morning I had a banjo workshop with Molly Tenenbaum. That could be considered culture or not, depending on how you feel about banjos.

And then I saw an amazing movie on DVD: Russian Ark. This movie takes place in the Hermitage, and envisions scenes from 300 years of Russian history. I was interested in the film because I've been to the Hermitage, but what is really amazing is that the entire film is done in one shot. It's a beautiful, interesting film. The extra bit on the DVD that shows how they made the film is just as fascinating. Rent it!

Finally, on Sunday, after a day of hiking with friends, I went to eat Indian food and watch a friend do her first solo belly dance. There were many other dancers that evening, but she was by far the best. Yay Medea!