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Bald Faced Lie
Friday, March 20, 1998 I went to the Friday night practice of the Savoy Swing club this evening. Since it was the second time, I decided to actually join the club and gave Cat Daddy Chris a check for a year's membership. He's been the president of the club, but I think they have a new one now. The practice was downtown in the hip neighborhood of Belltown instead of being at the dance studio near my place. Rather than the fancy surroundings suggested by the address, we danced at the Carpenters Union Hall. Of course, due to my NPS (Neurotic Promptness Syndrome), I was the first one there. There were a few old union members hanging around, setting things up in the hall for a meeting tomorrow. They didn't know anything about the practice, and indeed, had to move some of the tables and chairs when the rest of the group arrived, so we could dance. So at first I was worried that I had mistaken the place or the date. But Chris and his friends arrived before I gave up. I think I danced with most of the men there, including a few beginners. It's a better learning experience for me to dance with more advanced dancers, but it's fun to work with the beginning dancers too. I just hope I don't lead them astray or give them bad habits! Jeff, whom I met last Friday at the Century, picked up an amazing amount of basic Lindy steps. I convinced him that he should come to the dance next Thursday at the Russian Center. I even danced once with Cat Daddy Chris, which is a real challenge. I've really been enjoying learning swing and Lindy hop dancing. The partner dances are fun because of the interplay and balance between lead and follow, man and woman. Lindy hop can be jazzy and free, flirty and sexy, or down and dirty! I'm finally getting to a skill level where I can play and have fun with it. Michael Clarke has a great page of advice for people who want to learn the dance. Having retro clothing isn't a requirement for this kind of dancing, and I don't have any yet. But the guys in zoot suits or baggy pants and suspenders do look good! There can be a connection between wearing particular items of clothing, and feeling a certain way. A conditioned response, perhaps? I knew a guy with a black leather jacket that did great things for me! The Jump Site (great name! from "This Joint is Jumpin", I guess) is a great resource for Swing and Lindy info, especially in the Bay area. They have a detailed event calendar, fashion advice, and online zines! Anita sez: Thumbs up!
After a quick stop back at home, I walked down Capitol Hill to Theater Schmeater, for a late night comedy show. Wally had suggested this to me yesterday. His cohorts from the Pork Filled Players were supposed to be there, and when I saw two Asian men in the theater lobby and heard them mention Wally, I introduced myself (oops! forgot their names, even though I specifically asked. David and Roger?). We chatted about their comedy group, and amused ourselves by shouting "Push!" when people outside had trouble opening the slightly sticky door. Wally did eventually show up, so there were four in the group. The group we saw, "Bald Faced Lie," was great! They had great pacing and some truly original sketches. Wally and his friends were watching the show with professional eyes, but I was free to just laugh. The theme song was great! The piece on the metamorphosis of a caterpillar took some unexpected turns. After the show, we walked up to Cafe Paradisio. Wally mentioned to one of his group members that he had shown video of the Pork-Filled Players on his show, Don't Quote Me on This. This really irritated David. [?] He thought that any video shown on publicly should be professionally recorded and edited, and that the single camera/bad sound video intended for their own study shouldn't have been shown. Wally must have told us a dozen times that the "chai" (milky tea) he got at the cafe wasn't the same as what he had in India. This was a reference to a flame war he was involved in earlier in the day on a mailing list we are both on. He also told us repeatedly that the tea was really bad. This time Wally remembered to offer me a ride home, instead of just starting to walk up the hill with me. His car has a diagonal way of travelling now, after hitting a pothole, but it still gets the job done. Another fun evening. Thanks for suggesting it, Wally!
I like the word "expunge". I've been seeing it a lot while using Pine, the email program that I use with my shell account. First one marks messages with a D for Delete, then one either closes the program and the messages are gone, or hits X to expunge them from one's inbox. The "-punge" part seems sharp and pointy! like a pungee stick in India! [Latin pung*ns, pungent-, present participle of pungere, to sting.]
Bryn Terfel singing Mozart is wonderful! I defy anyone to be in a bad mood when listening to "Der Vogelfanger bin ich ja" from The Magic Flute. It must be the most cheerful music in the world, with a hook melody to end all hooks, and the little panpipes accenting it!
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