Summer in Minnesota means lots of out door celebrating. Every weekend finds some excuse to take in the sun and the great outdoors. This was a banner one after the turbulent weather of a week back.
First up was the annual Pride Festival. I took in the traditional parade on Sunday and then a stroll in the park with Waylon afterwards. I hesitated since I was alone and was going to stay home away from the crowds. But with the recent marriage amendment, there seemed to be a worthy cause to celebrate. And the event did have a different feel from the politics and dogma of the last few. Chris Kluwe was a genuine parade marshall and seemed so glad to just be there. I also found it telling that instead of candidates stumping for votes on the route (which is not a bad thing by me), they all entered en masse as the voices of legislature that cast pro votes and were greeted with massive applause. Even all the theaters were in tandem with the Ivey Awards instead of individually. There was an apparent sense of community.
The park gets better each year too. They somehow find enough space for the 1000s there. There was plenty for Waylon to do in numerous pet booths. Target had a great coloring wall for kids. Betty Crocker was present with cupcakes and confetti box mixes. The music seemed a better variety with genres that weren't all drag. And thank God they got rid of the ticket thing for food. You could just walk up and plop down your $5 and get a sandwich. Friends were abounding and the weather perfect. Grade B+.
You all realize that I am always digging for the next big song star or new album release. This may be my new favorite song for the summer. It is upbeat, sweet and the video is charming as hell. A duo called Father Tiger. They are Greg Delson and John Russell, both LA chums who met while in sound engineering school. They have a synth pop 80's retro sound and are all about a feel-good vibe. Their latest single is no exception. It is called First Love and follows the sweetest young couple from playing in diapers to the altar. Worth the watch.
A new link I found is on Facebook and it is a sampling of notorious staff quotes old and new. Anyone who marched knows how brutal and direct they can be. And to make it even worse - they are usually shouted out via a "Lone Ranger" megaphone so that the whole football field can watch you crumble. Here is a sampling:
As the season gears up - I am all ears for anything coming from the vaults or moles who are eyeing the completed products of our corps as the leak out.
Guys,
when we play rolls that bad, it sounds like Hellen Keller in a wool
sack, covered in bees, falling down stairs covered in grape jelly
Tubas, you're playing whole notes the whole show. Why does that one sound like you're raping a walrus?
Snare
tech: "Yo, your left hand is like an 8 year old's first boner... It has
so much potential, but right now it's out of control!"
Hornline... you are all tempo terrorists and George Bush is gonna bomb ALL your asses off the field!
Tubas, run back to your set. It's your own fault you decided to carry a volkswagen in drum corps
You don't mark time with your legs apart unless you're taking a shit while marching, got it? I've done that, don't do it.
Guard, you make me want to kill your parents! *families that came to watch start walking slowly away*
I am going to march naked, and in front of you, during your entire show so you don't stop looking at the drum major damnit!!!
It's not supposed to be easy... if this was easy it would be called fucking marching band!
Now that today finally let life return to a bit of normality, I am reflecting on the events of the weekend for those that didn't actually live through it here in Minnesota. I remember Hurricane Agnes from my childhood out East. And certainly the tornado through North East a few years back. But I have to admit that this is the one that literally hit closest to home. Waylon certainly knew something was up before we did. He was cowering and went upstairs an hour before. We could see the sky getting darker and knew something was brewing. But when it finally came with a monsoon of rain and gusts from hell, it was a fury to behold. The water was like waves upside down that kept coming at us in sheets. I was listening for safety sirens but couldn't hear a thing. Instead I was drawn to just look out the front door and take it all in. Sort of like a gawker at a traffic accident. Then I heard the crunch of cracking wood, but was not sure where it came from. By watching it could have been a number of trees on the horizon that bent like rubber bands. Across the street we saw a monster branch snap and float gently to the ground. I kept eyeing my poor car and remember thinking I was glad I had not choose that usual parking spot and stayed on my own side of the street. It was unusual that instead of lighting bolts, they sky flashed with angry rays of pink which I have never seen.
After an hour, it abated and twilight returned for a brief hour before the longest day of the year ended. I decided to take a walk out with Waylon to survey the damage, like hordes of others. It was like the Who's emerging from Whoville after the grinch. I was amazed by the damage. Trees down in every street. Not just branches but solid trunks with branches stories high. Some into cars, some into homes, but most luckily into the roadways. Painter Park on Lyndale was in ruins. A block down, the intersection at 32nd had backed up from drainage and the water was almost 3 feet tall with several cars swimming up to mid windows. They were totalled, just like the ones with complete trees resting on them. Kids were amused, most of us shocked, and taking inventory. Without power, internet or phone grids - I don't think any of us had real perspective as to what just happened or how severe it
might have been. Sirens picked up and became an omen throughout the
entire night. We settled in with candles and silence for what was to be a
three day haunt. Humbled by Mother Nature.
Although Public schools are out for the summer - I am feeling the heat of an entire summer of programming at YPC. I don't think I could stand being indoors any more than necessary.
But today I found an interesting blog posting about celebrity classmates. We are also looking for famous alumni here at YPC. So thought it would be fun to feature some of these odd pairings. Barbara Streisand & Neil Diamond - for the old schoolers. You Don't Bring Me Flowers.... became a hit 20 years after they finished at Brooklyn High School John Krasinski & BJ Novak - both from the Office fame went to Newton HS in Massachusetts did both theater there and played on the same little league team. Josh Hartnett & Rachel Leigh Cook - went to South High school here in Minneapolis even though a few years apart in age. Ironic that they later made a film together as love interests in Blow Dry. Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer & Mare Winningham - what an odd combo is this from Chatsworth HS in CA. Even odder is a production of Sound of Music they were all in - would love to see that VHS tape. Cameron Diaz & Snoop Dogg - went to Long Beach HS and she admits to buying weed off him at some point in her high school years. Surprising - right? Jennifer Aniston & Chaz Bono - were apparently best friends at NYC's HS of the Performing Arts. Who would ever have guessed the paths they eventually landed on.
As part of my ongoing resolutions - I am reading the original novel of Show Boat by Edna Ferber. Granted, it is a slow process for me. I got it last year at a garage sale, started it in March and am now only halfway through it. But it is mesmerizing in so many ways. First to think that the publishing date was 1926. We look at it as nostalgia, but back then it was barely of a time past. The depiction of the classes, race and the perception of theater people is boggling. The Ava Gardner film was one of the first classics I gravitated to. As the Show Boat pulls away with Miss Julie in tears on the banks. It was melodrama, history and musical theater all at the same time. The score is epic. The writing of the novel colorful and demanding. I am amazed how much films vary from page to stage nowadays. But other than a few character twists, the story is exactly the same. I can see Agnes Morehead and Kathryn Grayson in every turn of the page.
I just read the onset of Chapter VI and it is timeless;
"It was the theater, perhaps, as theater was meant to be. A place in which one saw one's dreams come true. A place in which once could live a vicarious life of splendour and achievement; winning in love, foiling the evildoer; a place in which one could weep unashamed, laugh aloud, give way to emotions pent-up. When the show was over and they had clambered up on the steep bank, and the music of the band had ceased, and there was only a dying glow of the kerosene flares, you saw them stumble a little and blink, dazedly, like one rudely awakened to reality from a lovely dream."
I have always been a huge fan of Cheyenne Jackson. For one - it does not seem fair that someone should have both his jaw line in addition to his physique. We have seen plenty of him in jean shorts and in the buff during his Broadway runs. The guy also has a killer voice that amazes at every turn. Think George Michael with a bit of Michael Buble panache. Now comes this haunting new video from his forth coming album.
He sounds great of course. But the story board and portrayal he brings to it are breathtaking. Maybe it is just me - but the way my pride stands as an obstacle to me. The inevitability of our own mortality. And what happens in those moments of reflection when we look back at it all. Deep stuff. But what amazes me even more on a second viewing - under it all is just Cheyenne at a piano with a mic. True talent and beyond. Check it out.
First we had Peaches & Herb,Donnie & Marie - now we have Church & State. Another hysterical offering from the always fabulous Funny or Die. Presented under the fictional identity of Americans United. Jane Lynch - who is getting so much press for everything from Tonys to divorces - is the female of the duo, State. Jordan Peele from MadTV & his own Comedy Central Key & Peele in his glorious afro takes on Church. Together they make a retro soul couple in spoof of the pitfalls of our national government. It's all here; turtle doves, the hammer of justice and communion wafers. Sort of like School House Rock for the adults.
Tis the season. Despite all the rain and slow start to the season, I ventured out to the Farmer's Market a weekend back. I was claustrophobic to the crowd. It seems we are all clawing to get out into the open air and get down to business. The one thing that kept pulling me back in was the yearly crop of rhubarb. Like asparagus, it is one of the first truly local crops to ripen in these early summer weeks. So I grabbed a bunch for a delectable Strawberry/ Rhubarb pie. My infamous crust, a bit of cloves and cardamom made an almost perfect pie. It could have used a bit more starch to thicken it but..... On eating it last night, Jeff and I were trying to figure if it was a fruit or vegetable defined by its growing conditions. I was partly right by thinking it an herb. It is defined by Wikipedia as an "herbaceous perennial." It grows as a tuber with stalks and large leaves. But instead of eating the roots like carrot or radish, we eat the stems. Think celery. It also has a colored history of being classified as both a vegetable and a fruit. It technically became a fruit in 1947 with advances in sugar to make it more palatable in general cooking. This has something to do with tariffs which are supposedly more expensive for vegetables than fruit and thus encouraged the market for the plant. Other fun facts: Crops in the UK are harvested in hothouse sheds by candelight to produce a sweeter and more tender stalk. The old adage is true that the leaves contain some toxic and poisonous chemicals, but they are in such low amounts that a human would have to consume vast amounts to actually be affected. And in case you didn't know, it has laxative effects which can be helpful in constipation. Just saying.
A new stat to boast about. According to the Trust for Public Land (whatever that is??) we are the top ranked metropolitan area. Actually the Trust is a non-profit organization to create and improve public green space. We topped out with a score of 81 compared to NYC in #2 and San Francisco in #3. It looks at acreage, services and access. Although we were lacking a bit in acreage, even despite our fabulous lakes and bike trails, we rocked it in the access caption. It seems like there is a park within a 10 minute walk of every resident in the city. The Chain of Lakes got the highest shout-outs. And the biggest is the 612 acres of the Mississippi River Banks. Believe it or not these parks make up 15% of our land space. How great is that - get out and use it.
What is not to love about dancing? When it is carefree and full of enthusiasm. And who doesn't love a great musical? So I share this clip for all. A giant montage of everything dance on the big screen. Yes there are classics like Singing In the Rain and Staying Alive. Clips from Footloose - both the old and new. But then little nuggets like Ferris Bueller, Pulp Fiction, Bring It On & Napoleon Dynamite. They come at you so fast it is hard to register them. So if anyone wants to starts a comment list it is fully appreciated.
