Spidra's Whupass's topics - tribe.net

Name That Band

2008-03-22T05:37:30Z

Doula, Fran and Ollie

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 46 replies

Weird Dream

2007-10-04T04:25:19Z

I don't usually remember my dreams but I remember bits of last night's. I think Amy and Doodlz were in it. I remember performing in an old opera house. The kind that has something like 4 different levels. I hadn't prepared well for the show so I ended up winging it. Improvving melodies and lyrics. I didn't think they were very good but the audience seemed to like it. So I got booked into gig after gig of doing more of the same - stuff I didn't like or think was my best. I couldn't do what I wanted to do, work with the musicians I wanted to work with. Then there was a weird bit about being chased by bouncers and heavy metal gangsters. It was messed up.

I can interpret it pretty easily, (well, except for that last bit) but I didn't think I was that bugged by this stuff yet. (Amy and Doodlz, I don't remember what you were doing or saying, I just remember that you were in it. You WEREN'T the heavy metal gangsters...)

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

Fundraising Ideas for CD

2007-09-23T03:35:15Z

I've got a couple musicians willing to work with me on a CD. I've got a studio I can record in. But even when people are doing you favors and using sliding scale, it's still expensive. Getting into credit card debt sure fucked me as far as my plans to get a CD recorded by this last spring. I'm afraid it'll end up being one of those dreams that never happens unless I do some serious fundraising. Now, knowing the cards that are subscribed to this tribe, I'm expecting some joke answers, but I hope I get some serious answers as well.

"Rent" party? Benefit concert with some generous musician friends? How can I make this happen?

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 17 replies

Determination

2007-09-22T22:04:59Z

Guess I should be less detered by my disability... Check out this one-armed fiddler.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYmqC5XznEw&mode=related&search=

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

RIP Janis Martin

2007-09-13T03:31:35Z

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/04/AR2007090402072.html

I'm behind on my celebrity deaths. The SF Chron had no mention of this that I could see (I check sfgate.com several times a day).

Janis was a phenomenal performer. One wonders how much more she could have achieved if she hadn't done what a lot of women do : give up a career to become a wife and mother.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

wanna act? historic old california event looking for people....

2007-08-30T06:46:47Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/olompalighosts

chase williams is looking for actors, individuals who can dress like pioneer folks and have picnics... there may be some money
pm chase at daywilliams @ earthlink.net

this event is timegames (phyllis patterson) and it's california history done at olimpali park http://www.timegames.org/

pretty nifty event - although it does conflict with casa. but those not doing casa and are interested should contact chase immediately - they're coming up close to opening and need people who can portray historical figures / pioneers and early californians during the gold rush era on up to 1890s i think....

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 3 replies

Review Me, Please

2007-07-24T22:48:23Z

If you've seen me perform, please remember that I have a Tribe review listing. You can find it by clicking the "Places" (Another stupid redesign thing...it used to be Recommendations) tab in this tribe.

Also, Amor uploaded a video he took of one of my performances at Bijou. I have my own opinion of how I performed that night and how well that comes across on video, but... If you would be so kind as to check it out and review it on the Internet Archive (you have to be registered to leave reviews), please do.

http://www.archive.org/details/Megan_Lynch_at_Bijou_Martunis_San_Francisco_20050821_with_Trauma_Flintstone

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 7 replies

Fresh Meat

2007-06-24T07:50:56Z

There are pictures from Saturday's gig in the Gig Gallery:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/meganlynch/pool/

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 13 replies

6/20 KALX Ukulele Minute becomes Ukulele Hour

2007-06-19T06:30:01Z

I don't know for a *fact* that my Ukulele Minute will be replayed, but I think it's likely. My long-distance friends can actually be in on this one by listening online:

"Hello Radio Audience,

This month’s episode of Alternate Tunings will be a little different than what you’re used to. Our crew has been out of town on special assignments so in lieu of an episode on a unique and unusual musical instrument this show will be the “All Ukulele Minute Edition”. Songs culled from past episodes along with new material. My special guest host for this show is Miss Kitten on the Keys and if you don’t already know and love her you will by the time the show is finished.

That’s this Wednesday, June the 20th at 9:00am West Coast Time on KALX 90.7 FM in Berkeley. Don’t miss this one.
And for those of you out of our viewing range KALX has a live web stream at http://kalx.berkeley.edu/listen.htm "

Megan Lynch
http://www.myspace.com/meganlynch

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

RIP Betty Hutton

2007-03-14T07:37:04Z

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/12/entertainment/e200338D94.DTL&hw=betty+hutton&sn=001&sc=1000

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

Spidra's New Year

2007-02-07T07:29:47Z

You have to keep playing gigs! The more you play the better chances I can actually make it to one!!

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 7 replies

voice over talent

2007-01-23T03:23:30Z

are you a big star with that yet? i'm sure that you will be.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

Happy Holidaze

2006-12-26T07:28:46Z

I haven't been hanging out at Tribe as much. I keep hoping it'll recapture its zing and the utility it had for me, but in the meantime, I'm not checking here as often. So I'm late in wishing folks a Chappy Channukah (it's not over yet but we're close). However, I am right on time for wishing a Happy Solstice! And I will wish Merry Christmas in advance. Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Epiphany!

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 3 replies

Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?

2006-11-28T17:05:39Z

I'll be performing at the Ukeout Knockout on Friday Nov. 3 Check the events in this tribe for the listing.

I also recorded a couple pieces for KALX' fundraiser. I'm told they will air quite a bit from 6-9pm this Thursday. KALX 90.7 FM Also streaming online at http://kalx.berkeley.edu/

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 11 replies

So lonely...

2006-10-03T03:21:43Z

Not a single one of the tribes I moderate has any posts in it. The hoppingest one right now that I created is Kelly's tribe and that's all about HIM. Stupid lovegod.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 16 replies

In the Hands of a Master, the Ukulele Is No Toy

2006-09-30T16:20:06Z

hey...

this was on the radio yesterday and there are links at the bottom of the page for more Ukey-neSs.

oxo
~fettz

In the Hands of a Master, the Ukulele Is No Toy
~by Renée Montagne

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6155338&sc=emaf

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

happy birthday, ma bitch!

2006-09-23T20:28:24Z

may you be ever so luscious!

nice to see your titties floating in the hot tub, too!

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 22 replies

SPIDRA's BIRTHDAY TWINS etcetry!

2006-09-11T20:43:02Z

SPOTLIGHT for SEPTEMBER 9TH:

BIRTHDAYS

1887 Honore Dutrey , trombone, b. New Orleans, LA, USA, d. July 21, 1935 (or possibly 1937), Chicago, IL, USA, age 41. (Reference books all disagree on Dutrey's birth and death dates - possibly b. 1890 or '94.) This fine trombonist was one of the early New Orleans Jazzmen. Honore began his career in 1910 as trombonist with Jimmy Noone's, and other local New Orleans bands. In 1917, while serving in the U.S. Navy during WW1, an accident permanently injured his lungs, resulting in an Asthma condition that eventually took his life. Residing in Chicago, IL, USA, between 1920 and '24, his trombone was heard in such bands as Louis Armstrong's Stompers, Carroll Dickerson, Johnny Dodds, and Joe "King" Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.

MP3 Bio:
http://www.mp3.com/honore-dutrey/artists/56728/biography.html

Red Hot Jazz Bio:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/dutrey.html

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1894 Arthur Freed , composer, b. Charleston, SC, USA. d. April 12, 1973, Los Angeles, CA, USA

M3 Bio:
http://www.mp3.com/arthur-freed/artists/61101/biography.html

Born in 1894, Arthur Freed discovered his talent for writing song lyrics while still at school. A chance meeting with Minnie Marx (mother of the Marx Brothers) took him into vaudeville as a singer, and on to his first songwriting hit, 'I Cried for You'; in 1923. In 1924, in Los Angeles, he met his new collaborator, Nacio Herb Brown. They got their big break in 1929 when they wrote the songs for MGM's first talkie, The Broadway Melody.
Freed went on to write songs for forty-seven films, then persuaded Louis B Mayer to let him try his hand at producing. He bought the rights to a children's story by L Frank Baum called The Wizard of Oz , and the film's phenomenal success was the start of Arthur Freed's second career. Louis B Mayer gave him a free hand at the helm of what came to be the legendary "Freed Unit", producing some of Hollywood's greatest musicals: Meet Me in St Louis (1944), Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953), Brigadoon (1954), Gigi (1958) and many more. Freed employed the concept of 'organic integration' in which production numbers arose directly from character or situation, rather than being imposed in an arbitrary fashion. This and other guiding principles helped earn Best Picture Oscars for An American in Paris and Gigi. Freed retired in 1963, when competition from television began to edge out the Hollywood musical. He received a Special Academy Award in 1967.

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1927 Elvin Ray Jones, Drums, b. Pontiac, MI. USA. d. May 18, 2004. Member: 'John Coltrane Quartet'. Youngest member of a family of Jazz musicians from Pontiac Michigan, along with older brothers Hank (pianist) and Thad (trumpet). During 1946-'59, he served in the U. S. Armed Forces. After his discharge, he freelanced in his home area of Donald Byrd, Stan Getz, and also, in 1957, with the Sonny Rollins Trio recorded live at the Village Vanguard. In the fall of 1960, he joined Coltrane's Quartet, then playing in Denver, Colorado, where he replaced drummer Billy Higgins . remaining with Coltrane through January 1966 (with a brief absence in 1963). In late 1965, Coltrane added a second drummer, precipitating Jones's departure. Subsequently, he was a part of the Duke Ellington orchestra's European tour. Upon his return, he led a variety of groups (usually without a piano), and frequently with former Coltrane bassist Jimmy Garrison. He is still active today. (2002). In retrospect, it was Elvin's heavy Swing rhythm, combined with some complex polyrhythms, that was such an essential element in the sound of the Coltrane's classic quartet.

MP3 Bio:
http://www.mp3.com/elvin-jones/artists/5829/biography.html

DrummerWorld Bio (see him play!):
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Elvin_Jones.html

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1913 William Lewis, piano/organ, b. Gates, PA, USA.

MP3 Bio:
http://www.mp3.com/william-lewis/artists/631430/biography.html

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1914 "Hot Shot" Love, harmonica, b. Clarkendale, AR, USA.

MP3 Bio:
http://www.mp3.com/coy-hot-shot-love/artists/276797/biography.html

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1914 Marion Mann vocals. d.1966. Sang with Bob Crosby

Bio:
http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/breakfastclub/1942/marionmann.html

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1907 Truman "Pinky" Tomlin , vocalist/Lyricist/Orch. Leader. b. Eureka Springs, OK, USA. d. Dec. 1987. His best recalled lyric: "The Object of My Affection"
"Pinky" was a Vocalist/Lyricist/bandleader, who was most active during the 1930s and 1940s. In the mid-1930s, he was especially active in Hollywood when he appeared many films. He is best recalled today for the tune "Object of My Affection", which he and H. Coy Poe wrote the lyric to music by Harry Tobias. Pinky did quite a bit of lyric writing to Harry Tobais' music, including "Friendly Arms", "I'm In Love", "If It Wasn't For The Moon", "I'm Just A Country Boy At Heart"."You're So Necessary", "Let's Dream Awhile", "Love Is All", and many others. Pinky also had composed his own songs, writing both the music and lyric, among which are "The Love Bug Will Bite You" (a hit for Guy Lombardo's orch), "Sweet", "I Told Santa Claus to Bring You", and "In Ole Oklahoma".

Besides "Object of My Affection", Pinky and Coe wrote some other tunes together, (a couple of which also credit bandleader Jimmy Grier as co-composer) including one - "What's The Reason I'm Not Pleasin' You" - that was a very big hit for Fats Waller.

Among the films in which Pinky appeared are:
1943 Stormy Weather, starring singer Lena Horne and dancer Bill Robinson
1937 Swing It, Professor
1937 Thanks for Listening
1937 Sing While You're Able
1937 With Love and Kisses
1936 Don't Get Personal
1935 Paddy O'Day
1935 Times Square Lady
And a 1930's (?) Big Band Short, including a 50 minute film that featured "Pinky" Tomlin and His Orchestra, as well as the George Olsen orchestra, and the Vincent Lopez Orchestra (Lopez's band was in a sketch called "Hawaiian Fantasy").

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Notable Events on this date include:

1956. 21-year-old singer Elvis "The Pelvis" Presley (appearing in a New York theatre) was seen this Sunday night, by 54,000,000 viewers (82.6 percent of the U.S. television audience) when he appeared on the CBS Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan fearing that Presley's wild Pelvic gyrations would lead the nation's females into a frenzy of untold proportions, demanded that the TV cameras not venture lower than Elvis' waist! Elvis sang "Hound Dog" and "Love Me Tender".

1962. Tex Owens, C&W singer/songwriter, died. Age: 70,

1974. Irvine C. Turner, ukelele, died in Newark, NJ, USA. Age: 59

1977. Johnny Wiggs, cornet, died in New Orleans. LA, USA. Age: 78.

1981. Helen Humes, vocalist, died in Santa Monica, CA, USA. Age: 68.

1983. Sandra Tilley-Miese, vocals, died in Las Vegas, NV, USA. Age: 38. Member: 'The Velvelettes'

1993. Singer Helen O'Connell died.

1996. Bill Monroe died as a result of a stroke. Age: 84. Called: "The Father of Bluegrass"

---------------------------------------------
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Songs Recorded/Released this date include:

1916 Pua Mohala, -Horace Wright-Rene Dietrich. tune: nape
1916 Isles of Aloha, - Horace Wright-Rene Dietrich. tune: Dietrich

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1925 The Death of Floyd Collins, - Vernon Dalhart.
1925 Wreck of the Shenandoah, -Vernon Dalhart.
1925 By Mothers Grave, -Vernon Dalhart.

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1926 Twelfth Street Rag, -Abe Lyman's Californians. tune: bowman
1926 Beside A Garden Wall, -Abe Lyman's California Orch.
1926 Pal of My Lonesome Hours, -Abe Lyman and his Californians.

---------------------------------------------

1926 Tell Me Tonight, -Charlie Straight and his Orch.
1926 It Made You Happy When You Made Me Cry, - Charlie Straight and his Orch.

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1927 Charmaine, - Franklyn Baur voc.

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1927 My Blue Heaven, - Don Voorhees and his Orch.
1927 Ideal Serenaders (D. Voorhees band) A Shady Tree (voc. L.J.), - tune: W. Donaldson

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1927 Broken Hearted, - Seger Ellis.
1927 Kiss and Make up, - Seger Ellis.

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1925 Hugo, I Go Where You Go, - Ross gorman's Earl Carroll orch.

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1928 Feather Bed, -Cannon Jug Stompers.
*LISTEN:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/songs/cjs/featherbed.ram

1928 Heart Breaking Blues, -Cannon's jug stompers.
*LISTEN:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/songs/cjs/heartbreakin.ram

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1929 Nobody Knows (and nobody seems to care) (voc. s.l.), - Red Nichols and his Orch. tune: Irving Berlin
*LISTEN:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/songs/nichols/NobodyKnows.ram

1929 Smiles (voc. A.L.), -Red Nichols and his Orch. tune: callahan-roberts

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1929 Woman Down In Memphis, -Bud Billings and Carson Robison. (tune: Luther and Robison)
1929 Railroad Boomer, -Bud Billings and Carson Robison.
1929 Beneath Montana Skies, -Bud Billings and Carson Robison. (tune: Luther and Robison)
1929 You Made Me Want To Forget, -Bud Billings and Carson Robison.

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1932 Say It Isn't So, -Rudy Vallee and his Orch.
1932 Me Minus You, -Rudy Vallee and his Orch.
1934 Lost In a Fog , - Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut Yankees.
1934 Out In the Cold Again, -Rudy Vallee and his Ct.yankees.

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1936 Floatin' Down To Cotton Town, - Fats Waller and his Rhythm. Tune: Frost-Klickman : )
*LISTEN:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/songs/waller/FloatinDowntoCottonTown.ram

1936 S'posin', - Fats Waller and his rhythm. tune: razaf-denniker
*LISTEN:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/songs/waller/sposin.ram

1936 La de de La de da, - Fats Waller and his rhythm. tune: lewis-derose
*LISTEN:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/songs/waller/La-De-De-La-De-Da.ram

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1940 When You Awake, -Tommy Dorsey and his Orch.
1940 Anything, -Tommy Dorsey and his Orch.
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1941 Body and Soul, -Dinah Shore with Orch. under dir. Henry Levine

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1931 Sweet and Lovely, - Russ Columbo. : )
*LISTEN:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000001HKC001008/0/002-3742178-6913658

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1943 Sunday, Monday Or Always, - Sinatra, Frank

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1946 Here's To The Ladies -Gene Autry
1946 Dixie Cannonball -Gene Autry

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1949 Les Brown's Band of Reknown Tico Tico (45 rpm)
1949 Les Brown's Band of Reknown 'S Wonderful (45 rpm)

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1949 Slippin' Around, - Whiting, Margaret

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1955 "Squeeze Box Boogie", - recorded by Clifton Chenier (for Specialty Records).

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1957 Hula Love, - Knox, Buddy

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1957 Fascination, - Morgan, Jane

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1967 Never My Love, - Association

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1972 My Ding-A-Ling, - Berry, Chuck

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1972 Ben, - Jackson, Michael

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1972 Burning Love, - Presley, Elvis

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1972 Use Me, - Withers, Bill

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************************

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1931 Sweet and Lovely, Russ Columbo
~(Arnheim, Tobias and Lamare)

Sweet and lovely
Sweeter than the roses in May
Sweet and lovely
Heaven must have sent her my way.
Skies above me
Never were as blue as her eyes;
And she loves me
Who would want a sweeter surprise?
When she nestles in my arms so tenderly
There's a thrill that words cannot express.
In my heart a song of love is taunting me
Melody haunting me.
Sweet and lovely
Sweeter than the roses in May
And she loves me
There is nothing more I can say

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 1 reply

Plinkety Pleasures

2006-08-30T01:39:44Z

Some of us Crooners & Songbirds alumni will be playing 21 Grand on Saturday, Aug. 26. If you're on upcoming.org, please RSVP if you can come. The more people who "watch" the event, the higher the prominence it gets.

http://upcoming.org/event/96889/

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 10 replies

New Tuneage

2006-08-18T21:50:37Z

I was tapped to record a promo for "The Sara & Guillaume Show" on KALX 90.7 Berkeley. (They also stream online: http://kalx.berkeley.edu/ ) Eventually, I will be recording a "Ukulele Minute" for them as part of Peter Hurney's maxi-series on lesser-used instruments (He's doing one on the harpsichord, one on the carillion and others...) If you want a copy of the jingle, PM me with your email address. I don't have a convenient place to post it at the moment.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 10 replies

Brave Combo at Ashkenaz 8/17!

2006-08-18T03:02:27Z

Okay. Who wants to go with me to see one of the best dance party bands of all time?

http://www.brave.com/bo/itinerary

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 4 replies

Spidra's Spinning Songbooks

2006-08-18T02:27:50Z

What songs have you seen me do with the uke that you really dug? Requests?

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 12 replies

Megan Lynch News Mailing List

2006-08-14T03:21:16Z

If you want on it, PM me your address.

My "Ukulele Minute" has been edited down and will air on KALX sometime in Sept. or Oct. If you have an email account that can handle it, I'll send you the MP3.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

i wish i had taped it

2006-07-31T20:35:35Z

miss spidra, thanks so much for singing for us friday night! you were brilliant, inspiring, and oh, so naughty!

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

Interviews

2006-07-18T15:32:00Z

Doodlz and Ludmilla, your interview questions await in my blog.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

Love me love me love me

2006-07-16T20:22:15Z

Ahem.

I'm feeling a bit needy.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 23 replies

Is it wrong?

2006-06-20T21:16:46Z

for me to want this even though I can hardly play instruments anymore? It's so pretttttyyyyyyy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-THE-GIBSON-UB3-UKULELE-BANJO-ORIGINAL-CASE_W0QQitemZ7423593424QQihZ016QQcategoryZ10177QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 24 replies

Ludmilla Ludmilla

2006-06-04T03:48:56Z

I was blessed by the presence of the lovely, witty, and very talented Ludmilla today. She plied her trade on my gable ornament. I looked at her butt, her butt looked at me. It was loverly. Thank you so much, Ludie!

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 1 reply

SNEEK PEEEK of tonights UKE-Y STARDUST SHOW...at CHABOT!!

2006-05-27T00:55:29Z

and see Megan Lynch as you NEVER HAVE BEFORE!!!!!

NOT TO BE MISSED...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxPrmcNc_Og&search=mick%20ronson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhoE5hOfirE&search=mick%20ronson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGWYGR3xy2Y&search=mick%20ronson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCQCLRB2qEg&search=mick%20ronson

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 1 reply

Uke-y Stardust. Friday. Be. There.

2006-05-27T00:53:08Z

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/event/The-Return-of-Uke-y-Stardust/oakland-ca/fcb8821d-095f-4599-9b8b-a404629c512b

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

Megan Whupped some Serious Ass

2006-05-21T00:06:10Z

If you've never seen Drag Queens whoop it up to yodelling, you haven't hung around our girl enough!
Just sayin'...

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 21 replies

Brendan Lynch

2006-04-29T06:53:53Z

My brother is starting to promote his music a little more again. http://www.myspace.com/brendanlynch and http://www.hearwater.com Try it and see if you like it!

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

SOUL LOVE!

2006-04-28T18:50:06Z

For those of you who missed it..........

I only wish I had the performance recorded !

Megan was AMAZING.

GLOWING RED!!!!!!!!!!!

FAB!

Ziggy woulduh been awestruck!

I was ; )

~confetta

SOUL LOVE

Stone love - she kneels before the grave
A brave son - who gave his life to see the slogan
That hovers between the headstone and her eyes
For they penetrate her grieving

New love - a boy and girl they talking
New words - that only they can share in
New words - a love so strong it tears their hearts
To sleep - through the fleeting hours of morning
Love is careless in it’s choosing - sweeping over cross a baby
Love descends on those defenseless
Idiot love will spark the fusion
Inspirations have I none - just to touch the flaming dove
All I have is my love of love - and love is not loving

Soul love - the priest that tastes the word and
Told of love - and how my God on high is
All love - though reaching up my loneliness evolves
By the blindness that surrounds him

Love is careless in it’s choosing - sweeping over cross a baby
Love descends on those defenseless
Idiot love will spark the fusion
Inspirations have I none - just to touch the flaming dove
All I have is my love of love - and love is not loving

Lai lai la-la la-la la-la la lai lai
La-lai la-lai la-lai lai lai lai
La-la la-la la-la la-la-la la la la-la la la-la la la

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

Megan (and Uke-y Stardust) is on Ukulelia!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-04-28T18:25:12Z

Ukulelia is the primary blog for ukulele, started by one of the boingboing folks...

They put my message on, with a link to pictures, that I sent the other day... and there is a pic of Megan (their choice) - If I knew they'd use my text, I would have mentioned names...

(blogged on Thursday, April 27, 2006)
Expect some hits!!!

http://www.ukulelia.com/

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

PictURES! From UKEY STaRDUST! MeGaN KicKeD my aSs!

2006-04-27T03:20:00Z

See for yerself....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/confetta/sets/72057594117999864/

~fetts

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 1 reply

what?

2006-04-27T03:08:31Z

No comments about Megan's performance last night? No swooning over her gorgeous rendition of "Soul Love"? No declarations of extreme envy for her Wonder Woman corset?

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 7 replies

An AMAZING Performance!

2006-04-17T17:38:25Z

I have so much to say....
MEGAN WAS AWESOME!!!!!!

I will continue with pics and commentary shortly!

If you were not there YOU BLEW IT!!

kisses,
~confetta

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 1 reply

Uke-y Stardust

2006-04-17T03:19:39Z

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/event/Uke-y-Stardust/san-francisco-ca/a79b6a48-ef6c-4042-8ab7-3503166c1226

I've had the honor of being invited by crazed impressario, The Uke Apocalypse, to join this assemblage as we meet our starsystren from the planet Hukilau...

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

Spidra headlining for the first time in 15 years!

2006-04-13T19:21:00Z

I normally try to avoid using posts rather than event listings but the new Tribe layout kinda hides the events. I'm playing on 4/13/06 in Berkeley. It's a big gig for me and should be a good night out. I've got a FANTASTIC accompanist and the splendiferous Kelly & Amy opening up.

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/event/Crooners-Songbirds-Saucy-and-Sauced/berkeley-california-94710/393b82d9-382b-49fe-89ce-c1921c22ba7b?nextpage=http%3A%2F%2Fsanfrancisco.tribe.net%2Ftemplate%2FHomeListings.vm

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 4 replies

Spidra, omg, omfg ...

2006-04-05T22:11:37Z

... we here at work are listening to Betty Hutton singing "Hamlet" and I think I'm gonna die and go to heaven now. I have GOT to do that number.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

Last Day

2006-04-04T21:42:47Z

Today is my last day at work. As well as the last day for 7 other people who were hit in this round of layoffs. I'm oddly chipper. While my future is by no means secure (I have no savings and live from paycheck to paycheck), temporarily at least, I feel a great weight lifted from my shoulders. There were things about this workplace I really liked and I'll be lucky if I get those traits in my next job, but my position itself was dead end and completely disrespected. So I got bitter and began having trouble shifting myself out of bed each morning.

I was very resistant to taking anti-depressants again, but it's been a good thing so far. I'm much more positive. I can see the bad points but I don't let them overwhelm me the way they used to. Which is INVALUABLE in my current circumstances. So today I'm feeling a bit up, eager to get out and get on with my life. I have a lot of work ahead as this layoff comes right about the time construction is finishing on the house. I will have a SHITLOAD of cleanup work to do from 1.5 years of lead paint, wood, and other toxic dust as well as having my stuff tossed around the house more times than an irate Skycap could have accomplished. I have lost things I have to find. I have to consult a lawyer to negotiate the weird territory of having renters but being a landlord-on-premises. Then I have to start the always yucky process of looking for housemates. And pray I can find people I can get along with before my money runs out.

Then there’s trying to give my life structure so I don’t fall into depression. Thank god it’s spring. It’s a sunny day today and gorgeous. This will make it easier to go out and take walks and ride my bike. I need to get back into a regular exercise habit and unemployment is the perfect time to do it. I need to make time for my art and this will be a huge challenge because the voices my parents installed in me will be screaming that I’m too broke to afford such fripperies, that I should be looking for a job 24/7 and that I should take anything because everyone works at jobs they hate and why should I think I’m so special as to deserve a job that’s actually fulfilling?

Today, anyway, I feel up. And I feel like it’s possible to meet these challenges.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 4 replies

Now, this is odd

2006-04-04T17:56:45Z

I didn't know whether to post this in Jason's "What Could Go Wrong" tribe or put it here for Spidra to roll her eyes ...

http://www.3pennyonbroadway.com/

Spidra, look who is playing Jenny. I don't know about you, but I kinda like my Weill musicals to be performed by people with a little more acting experience than a cameo on "Mad About You."

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 4 replies

break out that naughty superhero costume.

2006-03-31T18:29:01Z

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/event/Gothams-Fantasies-Deviant-Photography-Show/san-francisco-ca/4416be7a-e387-457f-87b5-77360ffb9dd1

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 1 reply

Oh, Audiophiles ...

2006-03-01T00:49:17Z

a) thank you tons for the downloads of "hooray for hollywood" ... they really came in handy at the right time

b) curious if any of you have this album/record/cd/recording/45/78/pianoroll ...

http://www.archive.org/details/Mary_Stafford-Im_Gonna_Jazz_My_Way

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

News

2006-02-23T20:06:43Z

I'm posting this a lot of places. Normally that feels like spamming to me but I need all the networking I can get.

I was laid off today. Effective 3/28. As I gather my thoughts I'll be more able to articulate what kind of work I'm looking for, but for those of you who already know my skills and traits, leads on anything 40k or above, preferable in the Berkeley/Oakland area, would be much appreciated.

And any jobma you can throw my way.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

c&s

2006-02-07T22:50:10Z

Wow, Confetta has a GREAT line-up for this week's Crooners & Songbirds.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

Oh, Spidra ...

2006-02-07T18:41:55Z

In your vast collection of musical oddities, do you have this record/tape/CD ...

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1085176/a/Hooray+For+Hollywood+Vol.+1.htm

or ANY recording of a woman singing "Hooray for Hollywood"

??

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 21 replies

Program My Album

2006-01-24T20:47:53Z

Someone has come up to me after a couple Bijous and asked me why I don't have a CD yet. I have enough originals to fill one, I suppose, but I haven't performed my originals out for quite some time. If I were to do a "chanteuse" album of covers, what songs that I've performed would you guys want to hear on it?

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 5 replies

This may be goodbye

2006-01-23T19:44:42Z

I have a terrible addiction to the internet. Discipline is not my middle name. But Tribe's horrendous redesign is so hard-to-use that I will probably be spending less and less time here. Please join me at http://beta.drivewesaid.com if so inclined.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 5 replies

DTQ: Domestic Partner of DTQ

2006-01-20T05:24:05Z

Just for thelmasue.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 61 replies

Now Playing XIV: Ear Gummiworms and Brain Candy

2006-01-19T17:13:39Z

mental: Hold Me, Hold Me, Hold Me Tight - Dolores Gray

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 74 replies

Hope to see y'all tonight!

2006-01-14T19:46:43Z

Oddly, I'll be the only actual Texan at this event, but I don't sing as good as the other ones... :)
Come see Spidra TONIGHT!

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/template/pub%2Coc%2CDetail.vm?plugin=blog&topicid=db6961dd-80b9-4f8e-9180-124f21fc4c0b&inst=2653144

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 5 replies

Have a Good Thought

2006-01-05T13:32:17Z

This morning I found out that my mom was in a car accident. She was on her way to a physical therapy appointment (a month or so ago she slipped in the bathroom and landed in the splits, shredding tendons and such) when she was broadsided in an intersection. Her back was injured but we don't know how badly yet. Oh, and her new car has at least $10,000 of damage. I don't know yet whether the driver that hit her had insurance. My poor mom. She's been in a lot of physical pain lately (and she already has fibromyalgia so she always has some pain). I wish I'd been more successful financially because I feel like I'm not much of a resource for her other than emotional support. Anyway, she believes in the power of prayer so if any of y'all can spare a good thought, I'm sure she'd appreciate it.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 15 replies

Sing Sing Too

2006-01-02T07:23:12Z

For those inclined to see my gigs, the next one is on Jan. 12

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/event/Where-the-Coyotes-Wail/san-francisco-ca/2884831d-9c0b-437b-86a1-8e570fe79ea9?nextpage=http%3A%2F%2Fsanfrancisco.tribe.net%2Fhome

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

soooooooo Spidra

2005-12-17T22:57:57Z

At work right now and the guy next to me has Sam Bush's "Let It Snow" playing -- from "A Very Special Acoustic Christmas." It is sooooooooooooo Spidra!

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 2 replies

Sing Sing

2005-12-16T19:21:10Z

My brother and I just had our second rehearsal for this gig on Sunday. It went reasonably well. I think I'm becoming adjusted enough to his style that I can fake it if either of us flubs up. We've rehearsed 7 numbers although I'm not sure if we'll perform them all. It's nice having a cushion so we can throw out a number if it's not working.

I'm annoyed by the fact that my voice has been weird for 3 days now. I had a meeting with my boss on Tuesday that lasted maybe a half hour. Afterwards my voice was a little raspy and felt like I'd read to children for 4 hours straight. What's up with that shit?? I nearly never have problems with my voice despite having very little training. Why is it fucking up now? I'm kind of afraid I might be coming down with something. It's been phlegmy and more prone to rasp for 3 days now.

But unless I'm truly sick sick sick, the show must go on. I just wish my body would get on the stick so I could do my absolute best possible in these circumstances.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 63 replies

Deathless Quotes Sans Tribe

2005-12-16T02:17:09Z

poster on my other board:

THE POPES IN HISTORY

THE HILLBILLY POPES: Cletus, Lucius, Eugene, Clement, Leo

THE GANGSTA POPES: Urban, Marcellus, Julius, Marcus, Sylvester

THE POP-CULTURE POPES: Linus, Fabian, Cornelius, Adrian, Lando

THE POPE NO ONE WOULD TAKE SERIOUSLY: Hilarius

THE POPE WHO WASN'T ACTUALLY AWARE HE WAS POPE: Simplicius

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 8 replies

Did anyone catch Spidra the other night??

2005-12-15T07:10:36Z

Grrr!

I missed it!

Bet it kicked aSs!

~fetts

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 7 replies

DID YOU KNOW SPIDRA IS PLAYING on DECEMBER 8th??

2005-12-10T02:04:28Z

WELL,

I HOPE she is cuz I ain't givin' her back her scarf unleSs she DOES ; )

YEP

*I THINK* she is playing along with

THE DIME STORE DANDY & UKE APOCALYPSE!!
@ WILDE OSCARS
FOLSOM AND 15TH
8 pm

MARK YER CALENDARS...

SPIDRA has some amazing VOCAL CHORDS!!

Have any of you had the pleasure of hearing her sing?

WILL YOU JOIN ME??

~FeTTs

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 23 replies

SPIDRA IS A STAR!

2005-12-09T17:38:25Z

If you missed her show last night you blew it big time!

Her voice was STELLAR! Hoo HOO!

A real song stylist that one!

I am hoping she will consider performing at Wilde Oscar's again...
it is perhaps not big enough for the crowds she drew in....

but, maybe...
if I am real nice she will consider coming back.

If you missed her last night, stay tuned because she is headed for the BiG TiME and you will want to see her before she becomes to famous for the likes of us kids!

I wish she was playing again tonight!!

A Spidra Worshipper,

~confetta

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

Name that picture

2005-11-19T23:32:56Z

Spidra, I'm surprised you haven't said anything about the pic I uploaded to your gallery. You do recognize her, no?

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 7 replies

Costume Ideas?

2005-11-10T06:23:07Z

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Favorite. I've dressed in costume nearly every year. Last year my housing situation went FUBAR and I had to move twice. So I missed Halloween last year. Wore a period dress I already had but nothing clever. Last year the office had a costume contest and the prize was an iPod. It killed to not be able to fully participate in that contest.

This year? Still a FUBAR housing situation. No workspace for sewing or making things. Existing things buried in construction rubble. The prizes are supposed to be just as good this year but I have no idea what to do with this little (which, I guess, means I'm less creative than I thought). I was thinking I'd have to give the contest a miss again this year but then I thought I'd post here and ask if people could brainstorm some cheap and easy concept costume ideas. I've never been much of a concept costumer. I usually go as an obscure character so my thinking doesn't run in the concept direction, but I think a high concept costume is probably the best way to maximize impact on the cheap.

Does anyone have any good ideas for an impactful and novel costume? (I feel lame even asking, but I guess I have nothing to lose but my pride.)

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 17 replies

William Morris The Cat

2005-11-07T22:49:19Z

It still feels weird trying to shill for myself, but so be it:

http://www.myspace.com/meganlynch

New artist profile page and it allows me to host 4 songs on it.

If you've seen me perform and really like me or even just think I'm "okay", I'm beggin' ya to write a review in my Tribe space. It's linked just down below in this very tribe's page.

Thank yee.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 6 replies

Zoinks!

2005-10-30T15:27:31Z

I forgot about the time change. I set the time on my clock a couple hours ago. (I have a windup alarm clock and I forgot to wind it last night so it ran out.) Then I just looked at my computer clock and saw I went from 2 to 1. Heh.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 1 reply

Upcoming Performances

2005-10-17T08:05:45Z

Sunday Oct. 9 - 7pm - Martuni's 4 Valencia St. Part of the cabaret night "Bijou"

Sunday Oct. 16 - 9pm - The Rite Spot Cafe

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/event/101605-Hokum-and-Heckum-Uke-Apocalypse-Amy-Zing-Megan-Lynch/san-francisco-ca/e7b0d358-a638-4786-9939-48b60423dbeb?nextpage=http%3A%2F%2Fsanfrancisco.tribe.net%2Fhome%3Fr%3D10535&r=10535

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 13 replies

Jobs that seem cool

2005-10-15T04:03:22Z

Voiceover artist

The people who make joke products for the Tonight Show, et alia.

I don't know the title of it, but the person who provides, sites and takes care of live plants on movie and TV sets.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 1 reply

Wow, what a nice day!

2005-09-12T18:39:38Z

Perfect for a birthday, eh?

Happy B-day!

Genghis

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 11 replies

red cross photo

2005-09-08T06:26:58Z

love the new photo and the little blurb about emergency kits. so important! i'm glad you're saying something about it.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 0 replies

nubmers, ii

2005-09-08T05:49:42Z

damn damn damn damn ... i was watching so carefully. just waiting for hit # 13579. it was sitting at 13577 for about 10 minutes. then, boom, it went to 13580.

aaargh. patience isn't no damned virtue. it's a cocktease.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 17 replies

New Acquisitions

2005-08-26T05:08:14Z

Fania Salsa Classics: The Best of Joe Cuba Sextet
The Rough Guide to the Music of Thailand
The Best of Olodum (used)

Remaindered (and mostly covered by a credit certificate):

Little Lit Folklore & Fairy Tale Funnies - Various Cartoonists
The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women - Katrin Tchana and Trina Schart Hyman (Back in the days when it was a lot harder to research these things, I had plans to create just such a picture book. And a companion volume on real life heroines. It never came to fruition. And I think I lost my research notes in a basement flood in the mid-'90s)

used:

1916, 1921 by Morgan Llywelyn
Someplace to Be Flying by Charles de Lint

I saw so many more things that I wanted. I saw a mo lam (northeast Thai music) DVD at Amoeba! I couldn't believe it. But since I wasn't sure I could easily extract the audio for the mix I'm making, I put the purchase off a little longer.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 23 replies

Greed Gulch

2005-08-26T04:20:55Z

I want want want

Right now I'm thinking about the new Airport Express from Apple. Ooohh! Tribing from bed. Or the yard. No wires, man.

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 43 replies

Pans, round 2

2005-08-26T00:53:55Z

I miss this thread. I guess I'm just a negative Nancy!

Anyway, my pan for today: MIGRAINES

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 32 replies

chatter

2005-08-21T07:54:08Z

Tomorrow is Bastille Day. Eat Freedom Fries, wear black leotards, cop a 'tude and celebrate our Gallic brethren and systren.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 19 replies

It's the little things

2005-08-14T22:04:58Z

When you click on a Tribe profile, the screen displays the person's moniker, followed by an apostrophe, followed by an UPPER case "s."

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 16 replies

art!

2005-07-27T07:04:52Z

tell about the new art, spi! did you do those? awesome!

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 3 replies

Now Playing XIII: TriskaDECKaphobia

2005-07-24T07:07:39Z

Various Artists - A Lot Like Love soundtrack

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 87 replies

Picks

2005-07-17T00:08:01Z

What rocks your world?

Tack piano.

Dolores Gray.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 92 replies

Poetic Justice

2005-07-13T20:56:16Z

Can any of the brilliant readers of this tribe come up with some poetic justice for the upper management of health insurance companies? I need some fresh revenge fantasies.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 7 replies

Another Rare Spidra Performance

2005-07-12T23:40:39Z

I'm still waiting for Trouble to print the full bill, but by the power vested in me by Trouble, I am performing at Bijou at Martuni's in SF this Sunday...7pm. More details as they arrive.

I don't perform publicly very often due to lack of accompanists, so catch it while you can.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 15 replies

Worser Band Names

2005-07-08T16:21:53Z

Back Noogies

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 146 replies

Your Death

2005-07-03T20:22:12Z

It stuns me that they think I'll live this long. Unless I succeed in really mending my ways and thought patterns, I'm expecting to buy the farm in my mid-60s.

According to our research, you'll be dead by

July 2047
at age 82

- probable cause -

heart attack

YOU DIE: 81.8 years
AVERAGE FEMALE LIFE SPAN: 77.1 years

As you can plainly see, you have more health & vitality than the average woman.

www.okcupid.com/death

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 25 replies

What alcohol doesn't mix?

2005-07-03T06:37:07Z

I'm not much of a drinker so I never learned which kinds of alcohol you're not supposed to mix. That is, I've heard that having wine then have beer or grain spirits can mess you up. What exactly is it? I know I'm confusing things. Last night I had wine and then I mixed a margarita for a friend and I was afraid to have one myself.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 32 replies

Me Am Living In Bizarroworld

2005-07-02T14:25:49Z

There have been some weird ass line votes in the Supreme Court this year. And I must be living in bizarroworld because I find myself siding with *gulp* Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas, at least with the little of the case that this article details:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus24jun24,0,4454555.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Holy crap. I think it's tough enough on people that they can be eminent domained out of their homes for freeways and railway lines but at least I can see the greater good argument there. But razing homes just so you can build something that will generate more revenue for city coffers? Fuck. That. Shit.

This is truly scary stuff and what's possibly just as scary is that the "liberals" on the court sided with it.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 14 replies

Mad Hot Ballroom

2005-07-01T22:54:06Z

Now I'm regretting not having had the discipline to sit down immediately after I got home from the movie and write a review. Although I still retain the enthusiasm and general warm impression of the film, the details of some of the things that went through my mind while watching it and immediately after are growing fuzzy. I'm writing this review for several audiences so it'll focus alternately on dance, politics and my opinion of the film. The strength of "Mad Hot Ballroom" is in the story itself. In general, there are not particularly clever edits or grand editorial choices as to which interview footage to include. It is truly a documentary in this fashion. It documents a progression of events that is important in and of itself. This is not to say it is a badly made film. Not at all. It's just that the events and participants sort of drive things themselves.

Details of the background can be read at the film's site at http://www.paramountclassics.com/madhot/ but, in brief, the filmmakers documented one semester of ballroom dance being taught in select NYC 5th grade classrooms and the semi-final and final competitions between schools that happen thereafter. The program has been in place for 10 years and I have to say I was impressed that they find funding for it. From the hearsay and news headlines where I live, it's getting harder and harder to find any arts in the schools. The American Ballroom Theater's teachers presence in the schools as well as a brief band practice scene in the film show that there are little pockets of arts instruction surviving even in some of NYC's poorest schools. That was heartening.

I was even a bit jealous! We didn't have such courses when I was going to school. Allow me to digress for a moment. An odd thing happened when I was in 5th grade (and still in public school. Catholic school was 2 years down the road) - Cotillion suddenly became in. Public school kids and suddenly this "society" cotillion that happened in Pasadena was all the rage. Desperate to be in with the cool kids, I asked to go. They taught etiquette and various dancers. It was about as square as could be in 1975. I mean, their sop to modernity was teaching us the hustle. The rest was box step waltz and foxtrot. Anyway, I loved dancing but I couldn't understand how I could be a good dancer (as I was when I danced singly) and yet be so clumsy on the ballroom dance floor. It took me all the way to college to figure out why - 10 year old boys are not generally interested in dancing well. They're the ones charged with leading but they're more interested in bumping you into their buddy and laughing. So...back to the film. Although a couple teachers in the film expressed some misgivings about introducing a competition element to ballroom dance classes, I think this is why the program is successful. Boys like to compete. They'll fuck around quite a bit and/or defensively say dancing is "fag stuff" but they'll get serious when you make a big competition out of things. I agree with some of the teachers that you have to tread very carefully where competition is concerned in an area of the arts. It's not like a 440 where you can pretty clearly say that such-and-such runner came first. It's a matter of taste when it comes to scoring dancing. There are objective points, I'm sure, but some of it is definitely a matter of taste. And when you critique subjective things as if they were objective, you can really crush a kid's ego. It's part of the reason that even though I was an art major, I was more excited about teaching history than art.

Though when the film shows a meeting of the American Ballroom Theater teachers themselves, there are one or two same-sex couples dancing, you *know* that's not going to happen in a grammar school environment. And indeed the teachers use "ladies" and "gentlemen" and never "leaders" and "followers". So you have some 10 and 11-year old kids having to deal with getting pretty close to the opposite sex at an age where most of them wouldn't consider doing such a thing for fun. They need to make eye contact for the dance and I can viscerally remember how uncomfortable that would have been when I was 10. Yet as it becomes clear to them that part of scoring high in the contest is maintaining eye contact and proper attitude, they do it. The film has a couple scenes polling boys and girls about what they think about the opposite gender. The results are mostly what you'd expect. Again, I think the competition aspect makes the kids get over themselves. One of the most painful scenes for me to watch was one you can see on the film's site "Change Partners". The instructor doesn't give specific directions like "Leaders move one person to the left" which would ensure that everyone would still have a partner. By saying simply "Change partners", he opens it up for popularity contests to come into play. We see a boy who moves on to the girl who *would* be the natural choice for his next partner but she's ignoring him and going through the steps herself. He looks to see if there's any succour anywhere else, but no. The girl doesn't throw him a line at all. You can see the frustration, confusion and hurt in his eyes until the instructor finally steps in and pairs him up with the girl who shouldn't have been ignoring him in the first place. I've experienced this kind of thing in classes I take now. Shows that humans don't mature as much as they'd like to pretend. And I guess that is evident in other parts of the film. While there are ways these children grow up, there are behaviors they engage in that are flawed or cruel that I still see adults recapitulate all the time.

The film was made by New Yorkers about a program in the schools in Manhattan and the boroughs. While the dip a little bit into the socio-economic background of the various schools, I wish they'd done more. I just don't know enough about the difference between Washington Heights, Tribeca, and Bensonhurst. I know of Bensonhurst because of that racially-motivated beating. I know of Tribeca because of DeNiro. I learned a little bit from this film, but I think they did depend a little much on New Yorkers already knowing the background. In any case, you could pick up things from the kids themselves, from comments school staff made and from film footage of some kids' homes and the surrounding streets. I was reminded about how social class did and didn't matter when I was a kid. Kids are aware of it on some level, but don't always discriminate on that basis the same way adults would. Sometimes it's other things that make one kid popular and another an outcast. At times I could imagine that these kids were more immune to the economic and racial issues that might later close in on them. I could imagine that newer generations might find a way to get past it. Things weren't in-depth enough to get a picture of all of that in this film, but I thought about it while watching the film. Teachers would comment how even though Wilson was a new student and didn't know much English that kids liked him and were getting to like him even more as a result of their interaction with him in the ballroom dance classes. Another student (Kelvin was his name, I think) was a very popular kid but almost heading down the path towards being a gang kid. But when ballroom dance classes started and he had the role model of a man of color as his teacher, he straightened out. And because he was a popular kid, a natural leader, other kids followed his example.

In my opinion there are many reasons to champion such a program in the schools, but I think this is what I think probably has the most sway with the people who make those kinds of decisions - according to the teachers and principals interviewed in this film, the ballroom dance program has had demonstrable positive effects in steering kids away from criminal street life, in improving their behavior, grades, self-image and confidence. Given what's going on in American public schools today, this is a very powerful recommendation for programs like this being worth the $ to fund them. I think one could also see a growth in maturity in the participating students as well as an acquired ease in bonding with their classmates and greater class cohesion. You'll never get rid of cliques among humans, but something that throws disparate people together and forces them to work for a common goal, even when it's for a competition (which is usually thought of as encouraging separation and individuality), can really have the effect of helping people learn to get along with one another and tolerate diversity.

There were several adults in the film who would talk about wanting the prize "for the kids". While there's a way in which I'm sure that was true, I often thought these people very much wanted it for themselves. Schools are full of politics due to funding issues and it would be a feather in the cap of a principal if their school took the grand prize. I thought Yomaira also very much wanted that trophy for her own reasons. When interviewed, you get the impression her school hadn't placed at all last year and that they were underdogs she was going to whip into shape this year. Later in the film (and I don't feel this is a spoiler) you find out that they'd actually gotten first place city-wide, they just hadn't nabbed the grand prize. This is not to say Yomaira doesn't care about her kids, she clearly does. But it's a different feeling than you get from the teacher Allison Sheniak at PS 150 (also on a clip available at the site). It's really touching (and I misted up several times while watching this film) to see a young teacher who isn't burnt out and to the contrary cares so deeply and unselfishly about her charges. She's one of the people in the film who expresses some doubts about it being a competition.

And I wondered as I watched the film if it would go into what plans the schools had to deal with the hurt feelings that inevitably come out during competition. I thought about how I'd try to handle it if I were teaching. Introducing kids to the idea that we all have strengths and weaknesses. Some kids excel in math, others in english, sports, arts, whathaveyou. While our society may place greater value on one or the other of these things (And it does. All I need is a look at my paycheck to remind me of that.), we need people who do all these things. There is value in trying. There is value in bettering our own skills even if our improvement still doesn't bring us up to competition level. We each enrich each other. Something that struck me deeply (because of my own upbringing and issues) was the Dominican mother who said of her girl that she'd hoped she'd become a doctor. However, if after the competition the daughter was convinced she wanted to become a dancer and pursue the arts, she'd support her in that decision. I thought that was great. That message that certain parents and teachers put across - that children should be given support in pursuing what they love and who they are - is one of the most important things one can take from the film.

Movies are expensive. The theater here charges $9.50 for a regular ticket. Add the $2.75 it'd take you to get the smallest drink, another 3 or 4 smackers for popcorn and you could have supported *live* theater with that money. Or treated yourself to a decent dinner with leftovers to take home. No wonder I go to movies so seldom and Netflix so much.

But if the box office isn't good for indie and art house films, films like that won't be distributed in the future. So instead of saying you'll wait for the DVD, get yer butt out and see "Mad Hot Ballroom". You'll really enjoy it. It's exciting, it's a bit scary (in the parts where you get to relive what it was like to be a child) and it's very uplifting. The professional reviewer who called it a cross between "Strictly Ballroom" and "Spellbound" wasn't far off.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 3 replies

I Pulled On Trouble's Pigtails

2005-06-29T23:59:04Z

A thread for asking Trouble questions.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 44 replies

The other kind of history

2005-06-23T12:56:18Z

History is so often taught as political history. But the more I get involved with oral history and local history, the more I realize that it can all be just as illuminating and important in its way as the history of "great nations".

The LA Times has this article today. Since they archive their stories, I'm going to reprint it here, but I recommend hitting their site and seeing the pictures if you read this post today while it's still live: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-wallets29may29,0,6401859.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Air Ducts Hide a Trove of Memories
Workers tearing down old barracks at Camp Roberts make a discovery that prompts a search for old soldiers.
By Louis Sahagun
Times Staff Writer

May 29, 2005

CAMP ROBERTS, Calif. — Crews demolishing old military barracks on this sprawling base near Paso Robles stumbled on a surprising find: wallets.

Tumbling out of heating ducts suspended from the ceilings, the wallets were stuffed with remarkably well-preserved personal belongings dating from World War II and the Korean War.

Love letters. Religious medals. Base passes. High school identification cards. Driver's licenses. Dog tags. Snapshots. Tips for surviving an atomic blast.

The only thing missing was money.

The discovery posed unusual challenges for officials at the former Army base, now used by the California Army National Guard: How did the wallets get there? And could these leather-bound time capsules be returned to their owners?

An intensive search for clues among the wallets' contents, and for addresses and phone numbers of owners now in their golden years — or deceased — has reunited all but three of 25 wallets with their owners or relatives. And the work has yielded at least one theory about how they got there in the first place:

"The fact that there is no money in any of these wallets leads us to believe they were stolen," said California Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Tom Murotake. "The thefts usually involved a trusting guy from a small town who set his wallet down, then got distracted.

"Someone else, in one fluid motion, nabbed the wallet, snatched the cash and chucked the rest into the heating duct overhead."

Over the decades, the heat turned the leather into something resembling beef jerky, but left everything inside intact.

Murotake, who is in charge of tracking down the owners, said the wallets become instant "touchstones," jolting memories back to a grueling and uncertain time when thousands of recruits converged at the base for 13 weeks of basic training. From there, they were shipped out to the front lines in Europe, the Pacific and Asia, a few without their cherished photos and pocket keepsakes.

Looking inside these wallets captures a glimpse of what life was like in the 63-man barracks on the 43,000-acre base straddling Highway 101, once the world's largest infantry and field artillery training center.

Willard Groth was an Army private preparing to visit a cousin in Bakersfield when the wallet he kept in a barracks footlocker vanished one day in 1944.

"It had $20 in it, which I needed for the trip," recalled Groth, 81, of Hoyt Lakes, Minn. "No one else had any money to loan, so I stayed on the base that day."

Groth was stunned when Murotake called him in late 2003. "I have your wallet, the one you lost six decades ago. It's ragged, but still holding together," he said.

Inside was a crumbling draft card, an American Legion hospitality card, a Social Security card and a tarnished dime minted in 1935. "I've decided not to polish that old dime," Groth said. "It's good to remember what you can from that long ago."

As for the reddish-brown wallet, embossed with a rising sun and with his name inscribed in gold letters, Groth said, "I put it away. My kids will find it when they dig through my junk someday."

To walk among the base's 300 two-story abandoned barracks today is to step into the past. Roads that once teemed with soldiers and 2-ton trucks after the attack on Pearl Harbor are now choked with weeds.

Inside the buildings are beds, mattresses and pillows unused for decades. Windows are broken, and floors are caked with dust and crisscrossed with the tracks of raccoons and mice.

All of the barracks, which contain lead-based paint and asbestos, are to be torn down.

In some barracks, the heating ducts have been pried off their hinges, indicating that others may have heard about the wallets. "Call it 'Raiders of the Lost Ducts,' " Murotake joshed during a tour of the facilities.

Murotake calls the three unclaimed wallets his "cold cases."

One belongs to Joe Dean Hougland, a 73-year-old man Murotake described as a "Crocodile Dundee-type believed to be wandering the desert between Arizona and Mexico."

Another belonged to Perfecto Pacheco, who was 54 when he died in 1984 in Puerto Rico. Murotake continues to search for relatives who might want the wallet, a wad of letters, religious medals, military documents, meal cards, passes and snapshots.

One photo was from his mother, Panchita, who wrote a note on the back in Spanish: A mi querido hijo, con todo el cariño de tu madre que no te olvida. To my beloved son, with all the love of your mother, who doesn't forget you.

Each wallet has a story to tell, and Murotake has his favorites.

Take the romance tucked inside the glassine pouches of a wallet taken from Patrick John McElholm, of Bellingham, Wash., during the Korean War.

McElholm's wallet had pictures and letters from a sweetheart. Her name was Barbara Nolde, a woman with dark hair, big eyes and a sunny smile.

In the first letter, "this woman went through the trouble of writing intensely personal things about her love, devotion and desire to spend the rest of her life with this man," Murotake said. "His response was that she should try to live as normal a life as possible while he was away."

Nolde's next letter announced that she planned to attend a dance. McElholm was not happy, but appreciated her honesty.

In a final letter, Nolde wrote: "I guess you'd have been better off if I had never told you."

"I just had to find out how the story ended," Murotake said.

In 2002, he began searching the Internet and discovered that McElholm was killed in action in Korea on Sept. 5, 1952. He was 21.

An article about McElholm's wallet was published in a Bellingham newspaper.

"I got e-mail from people who knew this woman," Murotake said. "Turns out she later married. But a framed photograph of Patrick held a prominent place on her mantelpiece until she died in 1992."

Robert Morning of Rialto thought it was a case of mistaken identity when Murotake called to say he wanted to return remnants of a wallet apparently stolen here 48 years ago.

Then Murotake came knocking on a recent Sunday with a driver's license stating Morning's age as 16 and his hometown as "Hollydale, Calif.," a mailing address in South Gate that no longer exists.

"Yeah, that's me," said Morning, 64, sorting through mementos accumulated when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. "This is bringing back a lot of memories."

Except one: How did his wallet end up at Camp Roberts?

"I've never been to Camp Roberts," he insisted, "and I have no idea how my wallet got there."

Morning's wallet was one of Murotake's cold cases until private investigator Edward J. Zemaitis, a volunteer in the effort to return the wallets, recently came up with a phone number and address.

On his living room couch, Morning, who breathes with the help of an oxygen tank and copes with the lingering effects of a mild stroke, lifted the returned items, one by one.

"This, I'm going to keep," he said, marveling over his bright red-and-blue Social Security card. "It looks like it just came off the typewriter."

Morning, who used to complain that he had nothing interesting to say to his four grown children, has been filling their ears with memories. "This has been a real boost for Bob," said Morning's wife, Maxine, trying not to cry. "It's as though a piece of time has come back to greet him again with memories of the old days, and better times."

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 6 replies

I took this pic...

2005-06-19T08:45:57Z

... http://seattle.tribe.net/template/pub%2CViewPhoto.vm/context/tribe?page=1&currentoffset=0&parentid=91dfb239-8941-4a46-aa86-2e175295b93d&sortby&rows&r=10302 for you Spidra!

She was one of the naked bike riders at the parade today! That's body paint!

Isn't she cute????

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 3 replies

DQAFT

2005-06-17T02:47:21Z

Deatlhess Quotes Away From Tribe (I was thinking "Far Beyond" but that ain't always the case).

Anyway, from another forum, talking about someone's cat:

"It's like he reads your mind.

I can recommend a good tinfoil-hat vendor if you want."

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 77 replies

Performance This Saturday

2005-05-28T19:32:48Z

It'll only be a song or two, but if you want to see one of my lamentably rare performances, this Saturday night should see you at Kinky Saloon. As long as you're of age and can behave yourself in a sex-positive environment:

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/listing/eda0b232-969d-4a5e-b85b-3411f1a07dd0?r=10535

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 8 replies

Favorite Character Actors

2005-05-27T05:35:22Z

S.Z. Sakall
Charles Lane
Jean Hagen
Fritz Feld
Hattie McDaniels

John C. Reilly
J. T. Walsh
David Strathairn
Kevin Tighe
Harry Groener

There's more. I just gotta think of 'em.

posted in Spidra's Whupass - 12 replies