Go to the Wilma Theater. See ‘Becky Shaw’. Laugh.

Posted on January 10, 2010 by mpomy

It’s really that simple. And, delightfully, it also is not.

On Wednesday night, we were fortunate enough to get tickets to the opening night of Becky Shaw at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. The comedy has an extremely sharp wit and the audience rewarded the performers with numerous outbursts of laughter.

But there are a few points that are worth noting, a few items that elevate this over an episode of Friends or Seinfeld.

The play runs for ten to fifteen minutes without any mention of the title character. That was the perfect set-up because Becky is all about absence. She is fleeting. Brooke Bloom, with the help of pitch-perfect hair, makeup, lighting and costume, presents a gauzy Becky Shaw who is like tissue paper or a threadbare fringe. It is a hard role, intentionally difficult to pin down, and we were treated to a first-rate rendering.
The play has numerou floating points and, for the most part, avoids definitive statements and rigid narrative. For example, there are events in the past (and even current events that occur offstage) about which the audience never learns the truth. This created a soft space where the emotions of these characters floated out to the audience. I could not help but see beyond the terrific wise-cracks and enjoy the emotional drama that unfolded before my eyes and ears.

So, we give special thanks to Anne for getting us in on the first night. If you are around, I urge you to check in at the Wilma. I am sure you will not be disappointed. Becky Shaw runs through February 7, 2010.

I actually had a work-out this morning.

Posted on January 10, 2010 by mpomy

Unbelievable, I know.

Eat less, exercise more. Kinda reminds me of “Wag more, bark less“.

Now the Tumblblog works a little better

Posted on January 5, 2010 by mpomy

Hunson’s generously sharing code with the old and un-hip who can’t write css on their own. Thanks, man. You really ARE groovy, and so is your Tumblr theme.

You actually make me look sort of cool.

My MySpace Page – why am I doing this?

Posted on January 4, 2010 by mpomy

Why yes, of course – its “a place for music”. That doesn’t make it any easier. You will notice that there is no link at the top of the page in order to facilitate an easy visit. When it comes to MySpace, I just don’t know.

I got to Imeem too late. So late, in fact, that I didn’t get there at all. By the time I figured out why I wanted to join Imeem (and, for that matter, what it was) it had been gobbled up by MySpace. This happened just this past December. And MySpace, being the wonderful folks that they are, immediately shut this popular social music network down. They promise to restore its functionality, but I’m not holding my breath.

Lala was nice, but since Apple came in, the glow has dimmed. I can’t seem to upload the rest of my music collection, and, as I’ve mentioned repeatedly, the social aspect doesn’t work nearly as well as it does on Last.fm and Blip.fm. Apparently, Imeem was pretty good for socializing, but that’s over now, and folks on this side of the Atlantic still have no (or very limited) access to Spotify.

So what’s a girl to do (right now MySpace has my gender as ‘female’)? A lot of bands still seem to use or even depend on MySpace, and I can’t access updates or blogs without having my own MySpace account. The other reason to join is reports of the massive music collection, bolstered now by the acquisition (and annihilation) Imeem.

But after spending a few hours working with their garbage interface and being inundated by countless adverts, I can say with confidence that the stories were true. MySpace sucks.

Here’s what NYE 2009 looked like for us

Posted on January 3, 2010 by mpomy

Thanks to Joe and Rachel and Marley and Sky (not pictured) for hosting. Em, Lucy and I had a great time! Happy New Year!!

And we’re off….!

Posted on January 3, 2010 by mpomy

I take a few days off and the next thing you know, I’ve got about three hundred unread items in Google Reader. Some of these items are from that haul and some of them have whiskers on them (meaning older than three days) and some of this isn’t related to anything at all.

Let’s start with a topic that I’ve had rattling around the old coconut for a few decades now. It was nice to see Stephen Goldmeier raise the issue over at io9, but i think his discussion only begins to scratch the surface. The issue is aliens who, as Goldmeier puts it, are truly alien. Forget the whole to arms, two legs, two eyes deal (Avatar – looking at you right now). In fact, forget the whole corporeal existence. Let’s get into something really strange. Noticeably absent from Goldmeier’s list is 2001: A Space Odyssey (although Rendezvous with Rama is discussed).
One of the most consistently original and authentic voices in music is gathering steam for a new Release. From Never Get Out of the Boat, I learned this morning that the Latin Playboys (Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and Louis Perez) are gearing up for a release and tour. Here is a little sample of the good work they do:

And, if you are a Battlestar Galactica fan, and you miss your favorite post-apocalyptic series, this should help cure you:

I mentioned this story over at Tumblr about the possible shortcomings of iPhone, but it’s so preposterous that I need to post it again. In short, there may not be anything wrong with AT&T’s network.
And, speaking of cell phones, since it is now officially the first half of 2010, may I have an update for my HTC Hero, please?
For my classmates who were in Providence, RI back in the early 90’s, it has been exciting to watch the meteoric rise of RISD grad Shepard Fairey. Although my local baseball squad couldn’t close the deal in the World Series, we had some great fan-sourced (unlicensed) shirts come along the way. Mr. Fairey’s work was the inspiration for my favorite of these, and it’s good to know that he’s not intending any litigation.

Now I’m going back to sitting on my ass for one more day, getting ready to listen to the Eagles (vs. Dallas) on the radio and walking my big puppy in the sub-zero wind chills.

And here’s that Resonator Chrome G with the Holy Stain

Posted on December 31, 2009 by mpomy

Here’s the new Dean Resonator Chrome G, tuned to open G and played through the Electro Harmonix Holy Stain with some overdrive and some tremolo. The amp is my old Lab Series solid state L5 on a pretty clean setting. The pickups are almost 50/50 magnet/piezo with a slight bias toward the magnet to reduce high end noise and unwanted distortion. A lot of the guitar’s characteristics are lost when playing “plugged-in”, but the Holy Stain adds its own ambiance and the result, I think, is quite pleasing.

I’m (finally) finding some use for the Holy Stain

Posted on December 30, 2009 by mpomy

About a year ago, I got the Electro-Harmonix Holy Stain. It is, I believe, the company’s only multi-effects pedal, and the price ($99) made it hard to resist. I quickly learned that, although fun, this is not the most useful item for my pedal-line. The reverb is nice and the controls give me a nice variety and range of sound, but the distortion effect is a bit too bludgeon-y and there’s a much bigger problem. A fairly long pedal line (6 or more pedals) means that distortion and reverb can’t be right next to each other. Reverb should be at the back (absolute last before amp) and distortion goes near the front, closer to the instrument. In between there are modulators (phaser or flanger) and delay (I <3 LOTS of delay). So, by smashing a distortion/overdrive ciruit right up against a reverb, there’s no way to get anything in between. As a result, the Holy Stain has spent too much time in the box.

Fortunately, I didn’t discard the item. Last week, I fulfilled a lifelong fantasy of getting a steel-body resonator guitar. The Dean Resonator Chrome G sounds great unplugged, but does have magnetic and piezo pickups that can be mixed for the purpose of playing “plugged in”. But, while the construction of the instrument is top-notch, the electronics are just not great. So, I figure I’d just play the thing unplugged.

Enter the Holy Stain. This guitar doesn’t want a lot of spacey effects. It’s for playing blues and not so much Progressive Rock. But a little dirt and a little tremolo (which can be chosen on the Holy Stain instead of ‘verb) can provide just he right amount of rootsy, Lanois-esque atmosphere to make the budget pickups come alive. Sound samples will follow shortly.

OK, just a quick question

Posted on December 27, 2009 by mpomy

When did “Son!” happen and how did it get started? I don’t have TV, so I get all my pop culture cues from Twitter and other social media. Starting in just the past few days (maybe 2 weeks, at most), I’m seeing A LOT of “SON!”. It’s not a bad thing, I’m just wondering where it came from. I don’t think it was Entourage.

It’s going to be a bluesy 2010.