Well, I took the first steps into the next phase of my quest for musical domination. Last week, I went to two jams and have fallen in love with performing all over again.
Thursday was my debut at back room of The Grisly Pear on MacDougal Street in the Village, and there were about 30 folks there, mostly guitars, a harmonica player, a mandolin and a violin, and the format is a kind of sing-a-long/karaoke type jam (all acoustic). This group is led by Rich Fosella, a nice guy with a great voice who runs the NY Musicians Group along with Phil Robinson. A few of us were first-timers, and we were able to jump right into the fun. Rich has prepared songbooks for our use, and the charts are very easy to follow. This group has meets in Washington Square Park, which was of course very pleasing to my ears.
On Saturday, I went to The Studio on W.30th Street in Manhattan, and jammed with an electric group for four hours. It was fun hearing my bass on a 'real amp' and hearing my voice projected in this room. This group is led by Rob Watson, a bass player. I got to play bass for two hours, and guitar for two hours. Knowing that I will be playing in a room with another bass player, I will also bring along my electric guitar to the next jam. This was a fun jam, we were loud and rocking out. We closed with Led Zep's Black Dog, and it sounded absolutely wonderful.
No matter the circumstances that befall me, I always come out happier and healthier when music is involved. Seems music always helps me find my way.
Oh, another thing...last night I went to see the new Circque du Soleil winter show, Wintuk, at the WaMu Theater at MSG, and it was fantastic. The costumes, characters and music were breathtaking, but the real star of the show was the acrobatic abilities of the players. These people are amazingly limber and quite deft in their craft. If you ever have a chance to get to a CdS show, by all means do so. You haven't really seen them until you've seen them live!
Nothing much happening on the musical scene this week, being a holiday weekend, and I'm going away for the weekend. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and try to stay out of the malls on Black Friday. If you do have to go shopping, please do wear safety gear!
Ciao Baby!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
You Better Move On
Upon us all, a little rain must fall.
Everyone has their breaking point, when you need to stand back and analyze exactly why we do certain things, and put up with a lot of negative input from others. Sometimes when a person thinks they're doing what they think is good for you, they don't realize that in essence they're bringing you down. When someone who has so much to give has nothing nice to say about anyone but themselves, you wonder what has poisoned their rationality into thinking that their toxicity is not hurting others? These are the times when you realize that you have to move on.
Lately I have been checking out http://www.meetup.com/, looking for some musical outlets on evenings and weekends. Music is something that brings me such joy, and although I'm not very proficient at my bass playing, I am getting better. My intention was to find a group that welcomes novice players and singers. So far I've found a recreational musical group, a folk group and a harmony singing group. Between the three, I should be able to meet nice folks and maybe learn a thing or two about musical camaraderie, without all the spikes and daggers that some people like to throw at newbies like me. In my opinion, music should be all about fun and positive thinking. This is a big step for me, stepping out of my comfort zone, but life is a constant procession, and if I don't take chances, chances will never find me. Although my rose-tinted glasses have been severely stained, I will again find optimism in my music.
We'll see how this works out. Hope is a wonderful feeling.
Everyone has their breaking point, when you need to stand back and analyze exactly why we do certain things, and put up with a lot of negative input from others. Sometimes when a person thinks they're doing what they think is good for you, they don't realize that in essence they're bringing you down. When someone who has so much to give has nothing nice to say about anyone but themselves, you wonder what has poisoned their rationality into thinking that their toxicity is not hurting others? These are the times when you realize that you have to move on.
Lately I have been checking out http://www.meetup.com/, looking for some musical outlets on evenings and weekends. Music is something that brings me such joy, and although I'm not very proficient at my bass playing, I am getting better. My intention was to find a group that welcomes novice players and singers. So far I've found a recreational musical group, a folk group and a harmony singing group. Between the three, I should be able to meet nice folks and maybe learn a thing or two about musical camaraderie, without all the spikes and daggers that some people like to throw at newbies like me. In my opinion, music should be all about fun and positive thinking. This is a big step for me, stepping out of my comfort zone, but life is a constant procession, and if I don't take chances, chances will never find me. Although my rose-tinted glasses have been severely stained, I will again find optimism in my music.
We'll see how this works out. Hope is a wonderful feeling.
Monday, November 10, 2008
There's a first for everything in life...
...and this is a first for me. Never thought I'd start a blog, but since I'm growing very tired of talking to myself, I thought I'd share some of these random thoughts with you out there in cyberworlds near and far. While my significant other is stretched out on my couch watching the Rangers play Edmonton (and clouding my home with a cruel methane emission), we can just sit here with each other and talk.
Let's start with last week. Wow! What can I say? It's finally over and Barack Obama will be our new President. Wow! Just as Canada was beginning to look like a pretty neat place to relocate, I've been given a new lease on living in the grand ol' USA. Any Democrat would have been cool, but an African-American, awesome! I think I'll stick around for the next four years, just to see where Obama can take us. Hey, it can't get any worse, can it?
Hmmm, there's a fight going on at the hockey game. Score is tied at 2. We're in the third period. Hey, let's start a fight to get the momentum going. Two penalties each, poor babies. These freaking names are enough to make me want to change the channel, but that'll only start another fight.
You might have asked yourself why is the name of my blogspot Yoshi's Dreams and Stranger Things? Well, Yoshi is my cat. She is a Russian Blue mix and she and I have been together for over 16 years. Yoshi was named after the little dinosaur companion from Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers. My ex, Matt, bought her home one day with a big red bow around her neck. We went through a lot of names (and even more pot) to come up with that name. I always had a thing for that little dinosaur, so it just seemed fitting. The other part of my blogspot's name is taken from my favorite comic strip, Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County. One of his Treasuries was called Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things, and since he recently ended his Sunday-only strip, Opus, I thought it would be a nice tribute to a strip that has bought me such joy over the last 28 years.
Well, now the game is in overtime. I think I'm going to sleep. Thanks for holding my hand as I take my first steps into this Brave New World of blogging.
Ciao for now!
Let's start with last week. Wow! What can I say? It's finally over and Barack Obama will be our new President. Wow! Just as Canada was beginning to look like a pretty neat place to relocate, I've been given a new lease on living in the grand ol' USA. Any Democrat would have been cool, but an African-American, awesome! I think I'll stick around for the next four years, just to see where Obama can take us. Hey, it can't get any worse, can it?
Hmmm, there's a fight going on at the hockey game. Score is tied at 2. We're in the third period. Hey, let's start a fight to get the momentum going. Two penalties each, poor babies. These freaking names are enough to make me want to change the channel, but that'll only start another fight.
You might have asked yourself why is the name of my blogspot Yoshi's Dreams and Stranger Things? Well, Yoshi is my cat. She is a Russian Blue mix and she and I have been together for over 16 years. Yoshi was named after the little dinosaur companion from Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers. My ex, Matt, bought her home one day with a big red bow around her neck. We went through a lot of names (and even more pot) to come up with that name. I always had a thing for that little dinosaur, so it just seemed fitting. The other part of my blogspot's name is taken from my favorite comic strip, Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County. One of his Treasuries was called Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things, and since he recently ended his Sunday-only strip, Opus, I thought it would be a nice tribute to a strip that has bought me such joy over the last 28 years.
Well, now the game is in overtime. I think I'm going to sleep. Thanks for holding my hand as I take my first steps into this Brave New World of blogging.
Ciao for now!
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