Discolor Online

Saving Arcadia: Still a mystery to me as we missed them completely.

Diablotones: Local Seattle ska, promised to "pick it up" but left it down. By the numbers. What's with the singing about Jamaica?

Brain Failure: Oh my god, yes! Now we're talking! Chinese punk rock. Chris has seen them before but this was my first time. Xiao Rong's leopard spot hair put Mark Rein*Hagen's infamous 'do to shame and Dee Dee Wang Jian was all rock star.

Whole Wheat Bread: Poor Florida boys, it was a cold night (37 degrees) and Studio Seven had doors open and no heat that I could tell. It was freezing for the whole show. But Whole Wheat Bread, as they will tell you, ain't nothin' to fuck with. New bassist since the last time we saw them but he fit in. Made me happy, though I think the ska kids weren't entirely sure what to make of them.

Big D and the Kids Table: If David Spade fronted a ska band. We saw them as part of an opening line-up for some show we saw with Rick. Suicide Machines maybe? Headliner favorites but we left after two songs. I can listen to them on CD in the warmth of my house and enjoy it more, thanks.

Labels: bands, music, performance

Pramas and I saw this show at the Showbox in Seattle tonight. We don't usually pack the social schedule this full of trips and events but this year there were several things bunched up together: the Subhumans (UK), Talk Like a Pirate Day, Speaker Speaker, Jonathan Coulton, our anniversary (and the Canadian Subhumans), Comedians of Comedy tour.

The comedy tour was at the Showbox and they were not kidding that seating was "extremely limited". We were very near the front of the will-call line and there was not a chance in hell of getting any kind of seat when we entered. Ended up standing for the better part of three hours (if you count the time we waited outside). Everyone milled about and stood in front of the stage for all of the acts. Wow, I'm getting too old for this. The comedy was fun, though headliner Patton Oswalt let himself get sidetracked by some heckler/douchebags in the front row for a little too long at the end and included three or four bits we know well from his album. As Pramas noted after the show, unlike bands where you go and hope they play your favorite songs, hearing the same jokes doesn't carry that same special something. I would have loved more new material with less "pile on the douchebag" there at the end.

As we shuffled out I spotted Sherry Floyd (too far away to converse with) and yet closer to the door I spied and finally introduced myself in person to the extremely gracious and talented Krystof Nemeth, uncharacteristically out on a school night. I would have felt positively hip if I weren't nearly falling over from fatigue.

One more day to get everything done I need to get done before the GR Summit. It feels like I've been running all over town for days. Weeks even. Summit starts on Friday, eek! Am falling asleep at the computer so this will have to suffice as an update. Wish me luck getting through the next couple of weeks intact.

Labels: performance

Subhumans photos are now up.

Labels: music, performance, punk, subhumans, Vancouver

My boys Speaker Speaker are going on a month-long tour and I'm doing my part to help promote it. Tired of hearing me blab on about Speaker Speaker without having seen them for yourself? You can rectify that situation now. Towns and dates have been posted on their MySpace page, though most of the venues aren't yet listed. They'll be out there for a month, America, so be good to them. They'll rock a show of 20 people as earnestly as they'd rock a show of 200 so go see them if you have the chance. (I'm looking at you Lawrence, KS; you Minneapolis, MN; you Madison, Chicago, Boston, New York, DC, Atlanta, Austin, San Diego, Eugene...) Tell 'em Nikchick sent you.

Oct 5 2007 at 8PM at Neurolux in Boise, Idaho
Oct 6 2007 at 8PM at Kilby Court in Salt Lake City, Utah
Oct 7 2007 at 8PM at The Hi-Dive in Denver, Colorado
Oct 8 2007 8:00P TBA Omaha, Nebraska
Oct 9 2007 8:00P TBA Lawrence, Kansas
Oct 10 2007 8:00P TBA Iowa City, Iowa
Oct 11 2007 8:00P TBA Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 12 2007 8:00P TBA Madison, Wisconsin
Oct 13 2007 8:00P TBA Chicago, Illinois
Oct 14 2007 8:00P TBA Detroit, Michigan
Oct 15 2007 8:00P TBA Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 16 2007 8:00P TBA Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 17 2007 8:00P TBA Providence, Rhode Island
Oct 18 2007 8:00P TBA Trenton, New Jersey
Oct 19 2007 8:00P TBA Brooklyn, New York
Oct 20 2007 8:00P TBA New York, New York
Oct 21 2007 8:00P TBA New York, New York
Oct 22 2007 8:00P TBA Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 23 2007 8:00P TBA Washington DC, Washington DC
Oct 24 2007 8:00P TBA Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Oct 25 2007 8:00P TBA Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 26 2007 8:00P TBA Memphis, Tennessee
Oct 27 2007 8:00P TBA St Louis, Missouri
Oct 28 2007 8:00P TBA Little Rock, Arkansas
Oct 29 2007 8:00P TBA Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oct 30 2007 8:00P TBA Austin, Texas
Oct 31 2007 8:00P TBA Las Cruces, New Mexico
Nov 1 2007 8:00P TBA Phoenix, Arizona
Nov 2 2007 8:00P TBA San Diego, California
Nov 3 2007 8:00P TBA Los Angeles, California
Nov 4 2007 8:00P TBA Los Angeles, California
Nov 5 2007 8:00P TBA San Francisco, California
Nov 6 2007 8:00P TBA Reno, Nevada
Nov 7 2007 8:00P TBA Sacramento, California
Nov 8 2007 8:00P TBA Eugene, Oregon
Nov 9 2007 8:00P TBA Portland, Oregon
Nov 10 2007 8:00P TBA Seattle, Washington

Labels: music, performance, Speaker Speaker

The Harvest Festival was kind of a bust. Kate and I went to Enumclaw, got lost, drove around and purely by chance and a vague recollection of where the orchard was supposed to be, we stumbled across it and spent about 15 or 20 minutes there. I bought some cider, some raspberry wine, but I'd hoped there was going to be more actual produce to choose from. End of the season and all, there just wasn't a lot. I got a couple of small bags of a couple of kinds of Asian pears and that was that. Did some grocery shopping, stopped at Tim's to pick Chris up and tried to find a decent option to go out to the movies or something. No go.

We left Kate home alone for an hour while we went to get dinner. She didn't want to come with us so we went down to Smartypants in Georgetown, which I'd been wanting to do all summer. If I had a car or a scooter, I'd be down in that area all the time, it's so close to our house! It's even close enough to walk in nice weather but the route is along busy access roads and freeway ramps where there are no sidewalks or minimal pedestrian safeguards and I'm just not inclined to make that walk if I don't have to.

I got a couple of batches of plum preserves. The ginger-plum jam exploded out of its container in the microwave and I scalded myself multiple times. Sticky mess and I lost at least a half-pint of jam to clean-up. Boo. Then I tried some spiced plum butter on the stovetop but that caramelized and started to burn a little before it got to what I would have considered the "very thick" stage called for in the recipe, so I put it in jars anyway but I'm dubious about the results. I still haven't used all the plums RH brought over, though I'm getting close. Not sure what I'm going to do with the Asian pears, either. Decisions, decisions.

Tonight we're going to see a show at the Triple Door, wish SassyRonin a happy birthday, and then it's back to work.

Labels: performance, preserves

Tonight was the performance of Kung Fu Jackson by Orca school's resident playwright and Star Wars-loving teacher Donte Felder. Donte is currently teaching 5th graders (as is my daughter's main classroom teacher, the outstanding Katherine Law) and both he and Katherine will be moving up along with the fifth grade students when Orca adds its sixth grade curriculum next year.

Kung Fu Jackson was an ambitious undertaking for a grade school play. The kids learned mock fighting and real martial arts moves. There were several dance numbers that involved large groups of students. There were ten acts and an intermission. I was not sure what to expect from the kids but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There were plenty of jokes for the parents (though at times I swear I was the only one laughing, I was laughing genuinely and out loud) and unabashed episodes of bathroom humor for the kids. The performers were hilarious, both during scripted humor and unscripted moments.

This year's Orca performances have thoroughly erased the psychological trauma of the infamous "Cranes over Hiroshima" holiday performance from Kate's Kindergarten year. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what they have in store for the us next year and am very glad Donte will be joining Ms. Katherine to team-teach the new sixth grade program.

I realized the other day that the SIFF has less than 10 days left and I hadn't seen a single movie so this afternoon I snuck out and caught my first, a sparsely attended matinee showing of While Palms, an introspective but enjoyable enough film about a Hungarian gymnast-turned-coach. The Seattle Weekly reviews it here and was absolutely correct about it. If nothing else (and truly, there's much more to the film, no worries) it was worth it just to see real-life athlete Zoltán Miklós Hadju strutting his stuff and flexing his impressive muscles time and again during the many scenes of competition and training. Tomorrow Kate and I are catching Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves at SIFF and then it's off to the Family Fun Center for her make-up birthday party (just in time for her half-birthday). She couldn't be more excited and a lot of very nice kids are joining us. This school year is shaping up to end very nicely. I'm so pleased.

Labels: Kate, Orca, performance, SIFF