Friday Night Not-So-Live

Neil’s Blog Post

Last night I performed at an event called Friday Night Live. There were several musicians/friends beside myself performing music in a variety of genres. For my part, I played some songs from my ambient industrial album When All Is Said And Done. I had also created some video accompaniment for my songs as well as some video for the other performers.

Now, when I say “performed,” what I mean is that I played my laptop. Even though I COULD have simply hit one button and played my songs right through, I thought that would be rather stupid at an event called Friday Night LIVE. Anyway, the music from When All Is Said And Done was originally created entirely from manipulating loops and samples. So when I played these songs “live,” I basically built up each track in real-time… manipulating those samples live and looping them until the final song was built up. Now, that’s not to say that doesn’t count as performance – believe me, it was very difficult to do that while keeping in time to the videos being projected – but it’s not as traditional as playing a musical instrument. But, hey – that’s me.

Now, I should probably mention that the last time I performed in front of people was about eighteen years ago. So, I was a bit nervous when it was time to go on… but I had no idea what was about to happen. When I started my first song, my hands started shaking as if I was having some kind of seizure. Try tapping your whole entire hand on a tabletop as fast as you can and you’ll get the idea. I was afraid that if my trembling hands hit the track pad too hard I would severely screw up the song (Note to self: Next time, bring an F-ing mouse). So, even as I imagined Laura sitting several feet behind me grimacing in sympathy, I took several deep breaths, asked for some help from above and managed to pull myself out of it. By the time the first song was done, I had regained composure and went on to finish the set.

While I don’t think I’ll be playing live again any time soon, I had a lot of fun and I think everyone enjoyed the music. And, this has got me even more pumped about the new record Laura and I have been working on. I’ll do another “Welcome to Gothy-Music-Land” post about that in the next week or so for those of you who are still interested in our progress. Until then…

Still with no pithy catchphrase,
Neil

Knitting Update

Laura’s Blog Entry

We’ve been doing lots of driving lately, and therefore I’ve had lots of knitting time. Seems as good a time as any to give an update on projects.

The Christmas Shawl is about 2/3 done, and is only worked on here at home since it is now so big and too hot to hold on my lap outdoors. I am working on it in the evenings when I sneak upstairs to my fortress of solitude to watch old movies on the DVR. The shawl takes lots of counting, and I’ve not been in a counting mood so it has taken a backseat to my crochet project.

This is the Market Bag I mentioned in an earlier post. I have been working on it the most of any of my projects and have gotten to the decreases for the handles. I can’t wait to be able to use it! I really like Lion’s Cotton Ease Yarn. It has a nice body to it. And gives good stitch definition.

I have also started making Mari some new washcloths. She is still using the ones we got when she was a baby. They are getting a bit small, so I am making her some nice linen ones in a medium size. I am using KnitPicks CotLin yarn, which I totally love.

I just did a knit two row / purl two row design for the first one. I may do a four and four pattern for another one. The color is Swan.

This one is from a pattern in the book Mason Dixon Knitting. It’s the Baby Genius Burp Cloth. I like the pattern and I don’t have to concentrate too much on it. That’s what I need for summer and travel knitting. The color for this one is Kohlrabi. So pretty.

Finally, I am still at work on the coaster and came up with two new colorways. They still need to be felted, but here’s a sneak peak.

Tracey

Jennifer

I am naming them after the friends I chose the colors for. Shhh… don’t tell Jennifer. She doesn’t know yet.

We’re off in a bit for a pseudo performance Neil is doing tonight with his music and video work. He decided today to put the songs together live, so keep your fingers crossed. Nothing like a little stress to go along with your art!

You’d Better Mess His Hair Up a Bit; He Looks Like Hitler

Video Blog Entry

This is by far the most embarrassing visual representation Laura has ever allowed to flow onto the tubes of the internet. If you all make fun of her she will remove the video. And cry. And write a sad song about the experience. You have been warned…

PS – She is not the one singing off key. Seriously. She’s singing the low part. For reals.

The Cure: 4 Tour

Laura’s Blog Entry

Going to live shows is still one of the most fun and exciting things I can think of doing. Not sure why this is still true after all these years. But I feel I am not alone on this. So there is intense pressure on a band to live up to my expectations and the expectations of thousands of others people at a show.

Well, The Cure has never, ever disappointed. The show at Cleveland’s Wolstein Center was more than we could have hoped for. We didn’t get tickets right when they went on sale, so we were unsure if our seats would be miles and miles from the stage. Although it may look like they were in our video we will be posting soon, it was not far at all. We were in the second row up in the seats just behind the floor level. Smack in the center. Which could be why the sound quality was fabulous!

But let’s begin at the beginning. We arrived as 65daysofstatic were starting their opening set. And I couldn’t believe how good they sounded. They are an experimental, atmospheric, instrumental rock trio, and that kind of music, in an arena, often results in a wall of mushy sound. Not this time. The mix was amazing!

And a sign of great things to come. The Cure opened with “Open”; a perfect start. Robert’s vocals were perfectly clear and fabulous. They proceeded to play a show that had us riveted, cheering, and completely mesmerized for a full three hours.

Every album was well represented, and it was a masterful flow between deep, dark intense gothiness and happy, poppy bliss. They even played “Charlotte Sometimes,” which I had never heard live. How they produced the sound of that song so well with only four people, I can’t imagine. And all with no keyboards in sight. I am nostalgic for the older lineup – I’m not big on change – so Perry Bamonte was missed. It was quite interesting though, how they turned some of the signature keyboard sounds into guitar lines, and also worked some magic with other sounds through a bunch of floor pedal effects.

I commented to my sister Amy that I can’t imagine how Simon Gallup is not completely crippled after years of playing bass in the stance that he uses. A number of the songs were at a faster tempo than the original and how he plays bass that fast is beyond me. He quite possible may be a vampire. Hence his perpetually youthful appearance.

It was nice to have Porl Thompson back on guitar. Although he looks completely different sporting his new sleek and tattooed head. They all seemed to enjoy playing together. Jason Cooper is an amazing drummer. His style does give a different quality to the songs and probably was a major reason (along with new arrangements) that the songs had such a fresh feeling.

I guess Neil’s black nail polish made him look like he knew about The Cure, because the guy sitting next to him kept asking him lots of questions about the band. It was a very pleasant and friendly audience experience. Everyone seemed to be completely engrossed in the music and no one threw up on my boots.

Perhaps the best thing was all the old stuff they played. Neil has been highly influenced by the early albums Faith, Seventeen Seconds and Pornography. The last year or so I’ve really started to dig into those as well. I just love the feeling of being entirely overwhelmed and overtaken by the intensity of songs like “One Hundred Years.” I could just be carried off completely and never come back.

And the second encore with “Three Imaginary Boys” and “Fire in Cairo” made me want the show to never end. But it end it finally did, with a positively upbeat “Killing an Arab.”

We couldn’t help being affected intensely by the songs and the performances. This show was just the inspiration Neil and I needed for his CD we are working on. We listened to what he has done so far on the ride home and talked a lot about where it is going. I think Neil had really found the musical direction he has always been looking for and it is so amazing to watch it start to come together.

I am so grateful to all the people who are making contributions to the album: Tony Miracle, Dave Eberhardt and Will Crewdson. I never, ever dreamed I would get to work with such incredibly talented people. Music just brings me so much hope. It most definitely is The Cure for everything.

For the hardcore, here is the set list from June 18:

Open
Fascination Street
A Night Like This
The End of the World
Lovesong
Want
Pictures of You
Lullaby
The Perfect Boy
From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
Kyoto Song
Hot Hot Hot
The Only One
Charlotte Sometimes
Torture
Sleep When I’m Dead
Push
Inbetween Days
Just Like Heaven
Primary
Us or Them
Never Enough
Wrong Number
One Hundred Years
End

First Encore
At Night
M
Play for Today
A Forest

Second Encore
Three Imaginary Boys
Fire In Cairo
Boys Don’t Cry
Jumping Someone Else’s Train
Grinding Halt
10:15 Saturday Night
Killing an Arab

Review from The Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Root Beer Stand

Video Blog Entry

As our heads stop spinning and our ears stop ringing from The Cure show last night, you can watch a video from our recent trip to The Root Beer Stand.

Andrew’s Vegetarian Alert:
Hotdogs ahead. Please be prepared to avert your eyes.

http://www.therootbeerstand.com/

Mmmm. Summer is here!

Everything Old Is New Again

Laura’s Blog Entry

Countdown to The Cure. And they have a new single out that I adore: “Freakshow.” Here’s a little video of it to goth up your day. Let us all swoon as Bob dances around…

See you tomorrow Bob. It’s not too late on those passes, you know…

What Happens When Laura and Mari Shop Unsupervised

Neil’s Retaliatory Blog Post

Vindication is so sweet!

NOTE FROM LAURA: We only bought the book. Not the Barbie. Don’t be misled.

Pasta Casserole

Laura’s Blog Entry

I’ve been working like crazy to use up every bit of our CSA vegetables each week. Right now we are overrun with snow peas. We did a stir fry with them last week, and got more this week. Think I’ll try steamed and then buttered tonight. Easy.

The last two weeks we got massive porabello mushrooms. Divine! Still eating lots of salads and lots of spinach.

Here is something I made last night – Pasta Casserole. The ingredients vary depending on what is on hand. Here’s the recipe:

Pasta Casserole

Ingredients
1/2 pound (8 oz.) of dry pasta – rigatoni, penne, spirals, etc.
28 oz. pasta sauce – we love Schiavone’s:
https://www.securepcc.com/schiavones_com/sauce.html (Beware the cheesy music)
1 cup shredded cheese – Mozzarella is good, but Monterey Jack is really good

Sautéed vegetables I used last night:
1 large portabello mushroom cap, diced
1/2 cup chopped onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped green pepper, diced
2 cup fresh spinach, stems removed and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Other veggies that are good:
1 cup sliced button mushrooms instead of porabellos
1 cup zucchini cut into bite-sized chunks

Instructions:
Saute the vegetables in a little olive oil to soften before adding to casserole. I did everything but the spinach, then added it in with the garlic for a minute or two.

Cook pasta following package directions until al dente. Don’t overcook since it will be cooked more in the oven.

In a large bowl, stir together pasta, sautéed vegetables and sauce. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch casserole dish; top with cheese. Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.

This gives a generous amount of sauce, which will get absorbed by the pasta. Reheats well for left-overs.

This recipe serves 4.

Pretty, Pretty Ballerina

Laura’s Blog Entry

It’s taken a week, but I finally feel almost human again. After a week of doing nothing, plus a fun weekend of recording vocals – SWEET! – and lots of rest, we are back on a daily schedule this lovely Monday morning.

We started out with Mari’s new chore chart.

(Click the chart for a slightly larger view.)

Every year we try to ratchet up her responsibilities starting in the summertime. Fall is very stressful for her, so getting some new chores under her belt works best in the summer. She is now up to $2 a week in allowance, and she has to earn it, baby!

She is now taking on folding clothes and cleaning the cat box. (Neil rejoices!) And some vacuuming! She has some allergy issues, so I’m working out exactly what cleaning she can do. This seems good for now. Each day she places a magnet on section of the chart to show she has completed the tasks.

I thought I would share some of the ideas we’ve discovered for motivating and rewarding good behavior. Mari has some special challenges and she has given me permission to blog about them. I’m working out how I want to tackle that topic, so once I feel comfortable with what I want to say, I’ll go into more detail. This chart is just one of the many tools that make our lives happier.

I have a few photos from Mari dance extravaganza to share. It was a really great show, in a wonderful brand new theater at the Anderson Center. Deluxe dressing rooms instead of a high school band room. Restrooms aplenty. We’ll take it!

Here is my pretty pensive ballerina waiting to go on.

And here is the costume I worked on (plus the costumes for the four other girls in the dance.)

I had to add another layer to the skirt (14 extra pieces per dress times five dresses = 70 pieces to cut and sew on.) Plus I had to search out a garland of flowers to make the headpiece and waist accent. Then hot glue all the flowers on tight, and then add yellow flowers because WE HAVE TO HAVE YELLOW. They looked so pretty; it was worth it.

Finally, here are Mari’s flowers she received.

I think her favorite part is being handed the flowers after the show.

What Happens When Neil and Mari Shop Unsupervised