the spare

I remember playing my air guitar to Van Halen's "Jump" when I was 12. That was in 1984. Had I known I could become an air guitar star someday, I might have forgotten about learning to play guitar altogether!

MiRi "Sonyk-Rok" Park is my hero...
http://www.airguitarusa.com/home.html

I heard about this magazine on NPR this morning. The editors put together collections of found photos, notes, and audio. You MUST check it out:

http://www.foundmagazine.com

It was bound to happen. I figured after 2 previous appearances on 3TV, this 3rd performance was going to be a memorable one in some way or another. I made a last minute check of my equipment: pickup battery, check. Extra strings, check. Guitar in tune, check. Capo, check. No forehead grease or food in my teeth, check. I practiced my song outside in the studio courtyard until I was warmed up and ready to go.

And, "ACTION!"

And so it was that when the cameras were rolling (live) and I was playing my guitar and singing, the one thing I never thought would happen, happened. Two verses and two choruses into the song, the microphone began turning on the stand. It moved like a ouija board planchette slowly making a complete 90 degree rotation to the right. I felt the blood rush to my face "I can't believe this is happening." Thank GAWD it happened during the bridge so I had time to assess the situation. Since no one was headed into the shot of the cameras to turn it back, I stepped up and swung it back with my mouth hoping that my lips had enough surface area (and lip gloss) to hold it in place for the last verse. Luckily, they did...but only for the verse. When I stepped back again, it exorcised it's way back to a parallel position. "This is not happening." With one chorus to go, I decided to go with what worked.

Lips to microphone and TURN.

Of course, when you're concentrating on one thing, something else has to give and this time it was my guitar playing. *ack* But I made it through and completing the song with a smile. I was still in shock from the situation but I had one more 30 second segment to tackle so I grabbed the mic and secured it to the stand (I think Tom, the tech guy, did too) and "The Cherub Boys" went on without a hitch. I was happy to end the appearance on a good note.

whew.

My perception was, of course, WAY worse than what came across on TV. You can still see the possessed microphone turning but it doesn't turn green and start spewing pea soup. I'm content with knowing that no matter what you do to prepare, anything can happen. So next time I find myself on live TV, I'm gonna make quadruple-sure that I have my pasties on so at least I have them covered.

Every year The Pleasure Club visits the valley -- I've seen these guys at least four times now and they continue to amaze me. They usually play in dark, loungy bars but last year they played at Modified, a cool art gallery/indie music venue in downtown Phoenix. I was worried that they might seem out of place in this space. Boy, was I wrong. They took the stage and began seducing the crowd - one by one people began swaying like disciples at a pentecostal service. Lead singer James Hall knows how to work an audience - a cross between Mick Jagger and Elvis, he slides across the stage, gyrates his hips, plays a trumpet, and sweats out his songs with a smirk and a sexy smile. I lost my mind moving and jumping with the music, throwing my hands in the air (and waving like I just didn't care) I musta dropped a couple pounds in the process. Luckily, Christian Johnson was also present that night and took these photos of the band. Rawk on guys *insert zippo here*.

It's National Spelling Bee time again. After watching a video clip of Rebecca Sealfon, I became a fan. The movie Spellbound solidified my allegiance.
Now I am blown away by some of their names:

http://www.spellingbee.com/spellerindex2004.shtml#AZ

my personal faves:

Quintin Fitzgerald Beechum
Joeanne Marie Mahinay Salise
John Louis Tandy Tamplin
Cassiopeia Roychowdhury

wow. *snaps* I need a drink-a-watah!