Sunday, February 17, 2008
I went out last night with a friend (male, but platonic). Another mutual friend was singing with a band. He also plays harmonica and acoustic guitar, very well, and writes music. Back in the 80s and early 90s, when I was still going to the annual local Mensa summercamp weekend, he used to lead a sing-along around a campfire (with marshmallows!) on the Saturday night of camp.
(Since I've been more active the past few years I'd been stopping in at the camp just for Saturdays, and I've been very disappointed that they don't have the singalongs or even the campfire any more. They sit in the dining hall and play cards and board games. It's like a different group, or something. Like maybe they got older, and I didn't.)
Anyway, way back then, he had a slightly John Denver look, and every year he tried to get me into his tent. It was playful flirting, and fun. (His wife never accompanied him to camp.) One year he and his wife were separated (temporarily, as it turned out), and the flirting almost got out of hand. But only almost.
He has aged well, has acquired an almost Paul Newman look now. He's actually pretty darn sexy.
So, anyway, my date and I arrived early for dinner before the band started.
Now, something I don't understand. When a restaurant/bar has entertainment on late Friday and/or Saturday nights, why do they always put the band (or karaoke, for that matter) in a tiny room in the back, or in an alcove off to the side of the seating area? And why, when the band is in a tiny room, do they still have the volume up high enough to rattle fillings?
The place was packed, so we asked to be seated for dinner in that back room. The room had only seven two-to-four person tables, and the far end was open to the bar. I ended up three feet from the microphones.
When our singing friend arrived (oh foo, let's call him X), he stopped by the table and spoke with my "date" (oh foo, let's call him "Roman") for a few seconds. When X left to help set up, Roman asked me if I knew X other than just to recognize him. I shot my eyebrows up, and said oh yeah, I once knew him well, that I've known him for almost twenty-five years. Roman smirked.
Roman and I have pretty much settled into an understanding, so I don't know why his superior attitude still bugs me. You'd think I'd just shrug it off. I guess last night I was still a bit annoyed about the animusic thing. Two years ago I discovered animusic, and tried to tell Roman about it, I had bought the DVDs and tried to show them to him, and he wouldn't even look at it. He just knew it wasn't "his thing", and my enthusiasm carried no weight. Like I have no taste or something. Terribly low class. Last week, he called all excited about this "animusic thing" *HE* had discovered. He has no idea how much that pissed me off. When someone is enthusiastic about something, if you respect them, you at least listen to them and consider it.
So, I decided to steal X from him. I flirted. I ended up with X's playlist tucked into my décolletage, and X sitting next to me during his break, whispering into each other's ears to be heard over the band. So there. Yeah, I know him.
For your viewing pleasure, I give you Animusic:
(If the first is too mechanical for your taste, you might enjoy the second more.)
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3vS3LGH5gs&feature=related]
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1hqF9nqabQ&feature=related#]
And for something entirely different,
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g5uL1Z764o]
Lots more on Youtube.com. Just search for "animusic". "Harmonic Voltage" is one of my favorites. Their website is http://www.animusic.com/, where you can buy the full DVDs.
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