Renn Fest - Music

I ventured to the Renaissance Festival this weekend.

Highlights included a pipe organ, an archery demo, elephant ride, lance-splintering joust (in which a knight was completely unseated), a sword swallower and a fist fight (not part of the show).

But my favorite part was a musical performance by the band Gypsophilia. We saw a performance that was sparsely attended (compared to other events). The music blends Turkish, Greek, Jewish, and old Middle Eastern influences in wheedling tunes with exotic beats. The band included violin, cello, percussion, and concertina (which I've determined, through process of elimination, to be a tiny accordion).

What completely struck me was their final song - an improvisation.

The percussionist started with an interesting beat, just two hands tapping on a medium hourglass drum strapped to his side. The cello began thumping into the rhythm, and the accordion fell into place. The violinist waited, swaying slightly and thinking before dipping into a melody.

It was their best piece. It was gorgeous, but quirky and upbeat, and I really wish I'd recorded it because it will never be heard again. You could see each musician listening to the others, and determining how to blend the music, following new cues.

I just kept thinking This is jazz. In middle school, our class read about the improvisational nature of true jazz. Musicians got together and just jammed. They didn't spin out the same music every night; they played what they felt in that moment, reacting to each other's notes and emotion.

I've always been fascinated with improv music, in part because I can't do it. I played flute for 8 years, but I can't hear a specific note and say That's C sharp. So I also need a minute to find the correct fingering.

On a related note, I imagined some of songs with a line of flute music.

It's like that famous scene from King Kong

...not the scene with the ape

or the girl

or Jack Black.

My house mildly resembles the scene where mutant giant jungle bugs attack the explorers.

When so many people were complaining about crickets in the basement, I was proud of our house for resisting the autumn onslaught of insect life. Turns out, fall only just began, and we also have cricket corpses in the basement. But I've never had a problem with them, so whatever.

It's the cloud of gnats that drives me mad. I know they're everywhere in fall, but they made it INSIDE the kitchen this year.

Possible reasons:

- they found an old banana and have been reproducing in secret

- kitchen plants are better real estate than outdoor plants

- they're planning a hostile takeover

- kitchen windows are usually open

If anyone else is having gnat problems, use this awesome gnat trap, courtesy of the internet:

- cup (disposable is handier)

- few tablespoons vinegar

- few drops kitchen soap

- fill cup with water

Leave it on the counter or in a problem area. Gnats will flock like seagulls on a tub of fries before drowning in their own vinegar-induced greediness.

Also I saw a larger-than-comfort-allows spider under the computer desk. It scuttled behind a wall when I chased it. Having no time to pursue, I moved the chair to the middle of room and continued working from my chair island. I'll pretend my meager bug spraying encouraged it to move next door.

It's Decorative Gourd Season, Home Boy

It's Autumn, which means it's time to get your pumpkin on. Today I celebrate the best pumpkin products of the season.

Pumpkin pancakes - With sausage! For a fundraiser. They're really fluffy, and you simply add pureed pumpkin and pumpkin spice to regular pancake batter.

Banana nut muffins (masquerading as pumpkin muffins) - My friend's cross country team sold these at a bake sale, but she wasn't really sure which flavor I was purchasing to support this worthy cause. However, her own mother made them. Still yummy, though unsatisfying in my quest for autumn gourd.

Pumpkin spice latte - Haven't gotten any yet. This is a serious crime to be remedied tomorrow because it'll be chilly.

Pumpkin ice cream - Haven't gotten any yet. To be remedied later this week when it's warm again.

Pumpkin candles - To be enjoyed year-round. I already own six, but last night I was admiring a small glass jar candle at the drug store. It was perfect in scent: rich, but not too spicy. After replacing the lid, I tried to place it back on the display. Instead, the lid slipped, and the candle jar smashed in pieces around the candy rack. Without turning around, Mum said, "Is there something else I have to buy?" I found the glass chunk with a price tag still attached, and the cashier scanned it while I apologized and warned her to clean the glass. Then I asked if I could still keep the loose candle. This makes up for all the things I didn't break when I was a kid.

Pumpkin soap - Oh, heck yes. Delicious for the nose, not the taste buds.

Carved pumpkins - I love carving and lighting pumpkins, but I've never been terribly original. Every single year since I was young, I carve a jack-o-lantern with the exact same triangle eyes and nose and toothy smile. Dad usually does the creative lantern: geometric shapes, stars & moon, giant tree. Last year, I stepped it up by carving a mermaid, but I think her arm fell off.

Wasted pumpkins - The downside of pumpkin carving. I once heard a farmer marvel that people spend big bucks for big pumpkins that they will just throw out and never eat. My family never made toasted pumpkin seeds, homemade pumpkin pie, etc., so jack-o-lanterns are a big waste on November 1. If we're lucky, we remember to toss them before the gnats set in.

Is anyone else celebrating gourd season?

Color Mad

I've always been a Crayola girl, which means every color has a name, from carnation pink to razzledazz and blue-green and green-blue.

So, I recently bid a fond farewell to my free time when IdiotsBooks.com posted a link to the most awesome search engine ever:

a color search engine.

The Multicolr Search Lab by Idée Inc. (bonus points for a French name) lets you choose up to 5 colors at any percentage. Then it immediately shows hundreds of images. The result display alone is art.

So, eh...have fun.

Conversations: the governor is a Sagittarius

Mid-July

Monica: "I'm interviewing the governor tomorrow. Do you want me to ask him anything?"

Laura: "What are you interviewing him about?"

Monica: "Jobs and the economy."

Laura: "Ask him what his star sign is."

Maria: "Ask him if he'd let us follow him for a day."

Later that week

Monica: "He's a Sagittarius!"

Laura: "You asked?"

Monica: "Yeah, I said, 'One of the reporters wants to know your astrological sign,' and he said, 'Sagittarius.'"

Laura: "Did you ask if we could follow him for a Day in the Life?

Monica: "Yeah, he said that's fine."

August 2

Maria: "Hi, we're here to see the governor. Laura and Maria..."

Director of Communications: "Great! It's nice to meet you. The Governor is this way..."

Laura: "And I just want to confirm: we're riding with him to each event?"

Director: "Yes, all four events."

Laura: "Cool."

Shooting Star

It's that time of year: karaoke. The seafood coworkers and I went to a bayside bar on Friday, where a scary, tall, drunk blonde danced all over the place and upstaged us during our rendition of "Thriller" (there are photographs of my young coworkers' horror).

In keeping with tradition of an old school solo, I also sang "Sway," the version by Michael Buble (insert accent mark). My boss recorded me with her phone, but here's Michael's version. I kept it classy by butchering the first line and laughing into the third line. Honestly can't say if I improved during the song, but the audience was very supportive.

We were there for nearly 3 hours, eating, chatting, and waiting for our turn to sing. For a few minutes, I sat at the rail overlooking the bay, which was gorgeous even in the dark. It's one of those views for which I'll risk crashing a car because my head turns 120 degrees every time I drive by. This time, I was rewarded for sitting still to admire the marsh because, for the first time, I saw a falling star.

I've seen prescheduled meteor showers, counting in the 2 a.m. cold of my backyard. But I've never glanced up on a whim to see a wish fall from heaven. It was amazing. Of course, I was on the phone in the middle of a mini crisis, so I only had time for a quick, lame wish. But my wish came true. All my friends found parking spots in a non-towing area.

How hot IS it?

I want to do this experiment.