Stomp & Paul Simon (and Jimmy Fallon)

What an awesome exploration of rhythm!!

April Fools II

Apparently, Facebook is also having a little fun today, too. I found this amongst my notifications:

April Fools!!

I love a good practical joke. As long it's not in any way mean-spirited and no one gets hurt, then bring it on!! And, I say that as both an occasional perpetrator of pranks & as the one being pranked.

There's a fine tradition of the British press pranking on April 1st. Probably the most well-known example is from the 1980s when they reported that Big Ben was going digital. Classic!! (and amazing to me how many ppl fell for it.)

This year's Guardian report of how the paper will cease paper publication & go entirely to Twitter feeds is pretty good. I particularly like the effort to retrofit the major historic events to the format (e.g. the start of WWII would become "OMG Hitler invades Poland, allies declare war see tinyurl.com/b5x6e for more") . Not to be outdone, the Telegraph reports on how swimming fish could be the key to generating electricity.

Except for the famous full-page ad that said that Taco Bell had bought the rights to the Liberty Bell, I can't remember the American press ever joining in on the fun (and does that really qualify since it was an ad, not an article?).... Until now, as this was in today's Washington Post.

Even the usually-stodgy Economist has gotten into the game: "As part of a strategy designed to broaden the revenue base, leverage content over new platforms and promote The Economist brand to a young and dynamic audience, The Economist Group is delighted to announce the development of a public-entertainment facility that combines the magic of a theme park with the excitement of macroeconomics..." I can't wait for Econoland to open!!

How bout you? Seen any good ones today to add to the list?

March Comes In Like A ...

Polar bear? ...This year, that seems more appropriate than a lion since we got hit with a classic Nor'easter. I got 6 inches of light, fluffy snow at my place. Some parts of the area got up to a foot.

I took the liberal leave that was offered by my office & stayed home to play in the snow with the dogs. With 3 sled dogs and one puppy whose origin is the Swiss Alps, you can just imagine how happy they were to have snow. The back yard became a dog track for a while as the puppy chased my 10-yr old dog around and around and around.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics, but there's a nice gallery of photos from throughout the area here

Late to the Party

I've got a confession to make. Up until a couple of months ago, I didn't have cable tv. (Yes, it is possible to live without it in this day and age.) I wasn't home enough to justify the cost (& it had gotten pretty darn expensive). But then, I switched internet carriers & got a bundled package back in the summertime & thus, I've slowly been catching up on all of those things I missed.

Like this:

Saturday night was the perfect storm -- my SO was in class all weekend (so I was on my own); we didn't have any dance gigs to do; and it was snowing (so who wants to go out in that). Sounded like a good night for a movie. I was about to pop a dvd into the player when I discovered that Disney was running not only HSM, but also HSM2 back-to-back. To top it off, these were the "What's What" versions, meaning they had little pop-up bubbles that contained fun facts, pointed out continuity mistakes or other movie quirks, etc throughout the movies. (The running tally of "who wore more hats" contest between Ryan and Kelsi for HSM2 was my personal favorite.)

Well, get me a plate of crackers & bring on the cheese!!!

And cheesy it was!!! However, I've already confessed to having been in musicals and occasionally rockin' a show tune or 2, so I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy the movies. I will just say that it's a good thing that I'm not lactose intolerant or it would have been a rough night!!

What I'm Up to Tonight

This evening, the wonderful Peaches O'Dell and her Orchestra will be for a swing dance at Glen Echo Park, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be there!! For those of you in the DC area reading this, if you haven't seen Peaches O'Dell perform, you really owe it to yourself to be there. Peaches is sorta a modern day, female Cab Calloway of sorts. She plays the famous Big Band swing songs, but adds a whole lotta showmanship and panache to the experience. So, whether you're boogie-ing on the dance floor or taking a break and just watching, you're guaranteed to be entertained!

For those of you who are saying you can't dance, there's a beginning swing dance lesson from 8:00 - 9:00 pm, before the dance starts at 9:00 pm., so there's NO EXCUSE!! In addition to just being a lot of fun, it's also pretty inexpensive -- where else can you spend an evening with live music for only $13?!

If you've got questions, leave me a comment; otherwise, I'll see you there!