Everything's Up To Date in Kansas City (part 1)...

It's been about 2 months since I got back from attending my first Barbershop Harmony Society International Convention, so recalling the details may be tricky. I'm hoping as I write this, the memories will start flowing so I can look back at this and reminisce. I CAN say this: it was the single best vacation I have ever taken - bar none.

Ever since I joined the Barbershop Harmony Society, I've wanted to make the trek to the city de l'année for an international convention. I have spent the past 8 years hearing tales of late-night tagging with gold-medalists, mind-blowing chorus performances, attributes of various hosting cities. Sadly, with 2-5 jobs at a time, wife, kids, and the idea impressed on me by aforementioned responsibilities (well, one in particular) that such a hiatus from same would be unforgivably selfish and highly irresponsible.

Well, things have changed a LOT. Now that I have a job with vacation time, scheduled time with my kids every other weekend, and no wife to nag me about such a decision, the only obstacle was the cost. My dad had always said that she'd pay for my registration to my first International convention. Still, hotel, travel, food, and incidentals can pile up pretty damned quickly - especially the travel - and I wasn't about to ask my dad to foot the bill for those. Thankfully, the stars seemed to align this year. My good friend and former bass of my quartet works for Delta Airlines and got me a an UNBELIEVABLE deal on a plane ticket, a fellow barbershopper was offering an extra registration and AIC (Association of International Champions) Show ticket for a great deal, and best of all, my dad happens to live in Topeka, a mere hour's drive from KC. My out-of-pocket would be very minimal AND I could combine it with a visit to see my dad and her partner, Mary!

EPIC WIN!

The amazing deal my friend, Dave, got me on my plane ticket had one caveat: I had to fly 'standby', which gave no garantee I'd get a seat for the early flights I wanted. Still, as I had taken a 5-day weekend for the purpose, I wasn't terribly concerned. I packed my carry-on with my laptop, MP3 player, a book, snacks, a couple magazines, everything I''d need for a day camped out in an airline terminal. Awesome Girlfriend drove me to the airport nice and early, and I easily got on my preferred flight. I took advantage of the in-flight wi-fi for $5, just for the novelty of updating my Facebook from 30k feet. I landed in KC, and my dad picked me up. We stopped at Arby's for lunch, got almost all the way home, when she realized she left her purse there. Minor annoyance (since it was still there when we returned for it), but it gave us more time to chat on the drive.

Once we got to her place, I realized my ticket for the AIC show said it was for THAT NIGHT, so she let me borrow her car and drive back to KC again. The show was great. Seeing the best of the best and a reunion of Rural Route 4 and the Suntones just blew my mind.

After the show, I headed back to the Headquarters Hotel to check out the scene there. I quickly bumped into my good friend, Chelsea, who, at the tender age of 22, is already a seasoned vet at these things and knows everybody. She introduced me too a couple big-big wigs in the Society, then took me up the the Rainbow Room (the hospitality room for the gay and gay friendly set in the Society). I met a bunch of great guys and ended up hanging out with Chelsea and a guy from California, named Craig, for much of the night. He offered to let me crash on his floor, so I wouldn't have to cut my evening short (and sober) to drive back to Topeka (and subsequently drive back to KC the next day). We all sang tags, mingled, drank, and finally finished with nachos at 2am at a downtown diner before hitting the hay.

Up next (hopefully soon) Part Deux: Friday Chorus Contest!

SCARY busy lately!

Well, another month goes by without a blog post. I've just been so busy lately I've barely had time to catch my own reflection, let alone sit down and write a blog!

Okay, the recent topics are:

Cleaned and moved into my old house, with a few noticeable "gaps".
New job is going well overall
Socializing more
Barbershop convention was awesome
Staying above the drama
Quartet gigs are slow and steady
School's on track to see me back in January
HALLOWEEN COSTUME!

Okay, let's tackle these one by one, shall we?

I am officially back in my old house! I spent the last 3 weeks cleaning the place. Between washing the walls, cleaning the carpets, taming the jungle of a yard, and assessing my next home improvement steps, it's been a daunting task. Especially with no gas in the place to make hot water to clean with! I spent most of the time either boiling water on the charcoal grill or filling buckets one coffee pot at a time, slowing the process dramatically. The depressing part was when I rented a carpet cleaner, intending on getting the 4-hour rate, and getting it home only to realize it's a model that DOESN'T heat the water on its own. Back to the slow process of one coffee pot at a time to fill the enormous tank. Grr...

Finally, though, last Saturday, I managed to get the worst of it up and make the carpet a little less "guugh". With the assistance of my best friends Jason & Lou, I got all of my stuff and the furniture generously donated to me by my super-heroine sister moved in. There is still the matter of turning the gas on (which I hope to hear about today), so I can have a hot shower (a PRESSING need of mine within the first 5 minutes of waking up), and a fridge to store the perishable food I'd like to cook once the gas stove is usable. Still, I have a space heater for now and the rest of the place is very homey again. There are a few repairs that need to be done rather immediately and several I plan to do over the years as the funds become available. Bottom line: this is MAH HOUSE! My cat, Tassie, is buried in the back garden, my daughter was born in it, I bought it, and I intend to keep it. It may be small, it may be run-down, but it's mine.

I plan to have a housewarming party in the next couple weeks and hope to get a few small housewarming gifts that will fill in the odds-and-ends gaps (house plants, oven mitts, etc.). Hint, hint....

The new job at Starbucks is going well. It's uncomplicated - I like that. I go in, put in my time, I go home (or to my next job). Yea, the pay sucks, but it's a job. I'm surrounded by 20-somethings, each with their own drama. Thankfully, I'm able to converse and maintain friendships with these folks without getting sucked into the drama. One of the advantages of being a decade older, I guess. Just enough of a generation gap.

Meanwhile, Blockbuster's the same as always. My hours have been a bit skimpy lately, but that's being resolved.

I'm finding new ways to socialize on the cheap, too! Tuesday Trivia nights have become a regular thing for me and several friends at Rosie O'Grady's in Ferndale. $2 domestic beers and good company keep the costs low, so I can have a fun night out nursing 2 beers and picking at friends' leftover fries over the 3 hours or so. We still need to find a jock to join the team, though, to help us in our weakest category: sports. Isn't it funny - when you NEED a jock... Anyway, I'm getting out a time or two a week and seeing some long lost friends and meeting new ones. It's a good thing. :)

Barbershop convention was completely awesome! Most of it was filled with the typical stuff: a good contest performance for the chorus, nice lunch afterward, ducking in and oout of the quartet finals, singing tags in the lobby, free food & beer in the hospitality rooms, a a bunch of great friends I don't get to see very often. The added plus was having my friend, Jenn along for the festivities! She says she enjoyed it, but the mere fact she was able to even TOLERATE 24 hours of barbershop says loads about her! She gets the bronze star for courage for that alone!

Everywhere I look, there seems to be increasing amounts of drama. All of my friends seem to be going through a rough time, but thankfully, I seem to be maintaining a position of being a good friend and sounding board without getting sucked into any of it too deeply. I have a tendency to genuinely offer my assistance and thus stretching myself a bit thin. I'm still offering my assistance genuinely, but have just managed to not be needed or called upon. It's been refreshing, given my insanely busy schedule lately. Being available to my friends is a big part of who I am and where I derive a lot of my self-worth. It's a trait I'm very proud of. Still, it's nice to have a bit of 'me' time now and again.

Quartet rehearsals have been kind off tricky to organiize laately, what with all the stuff going on with me, and now with Lou being in a play rehearsal on our usual Wednesday night, gearing up for our holiday gigs will be kind of tough. Lou, Dave & I should have no problem brushing up our holiday stuff as we rehearse it in chorus and have sung the same songs every year forever. Big Dave may be a bit slower on the uptake for a few, though. We have 2 or 3 gigs in the next couple months. We'll see how it goes. Next up is prepping for April's contest. We had too skkip this one due to budgetary woes for 3/4 of the quartet, but now that we've tracked down the arranger for one of the tunes in our Sinatra set, we're set to put it on the contest stage!

I spoke with my wonderful and generous father the other day and my Christmas gift will be thhe remaining balance on my WSU bill. All will be set for me to rejoin the studious multitudes in January and get the f'ing degree the hell done. If all goes REALLY well, I could be done by next December. More realistically, though, I'm looking to finally graduate in May 2011 and (God willing) find a job by that fall.

Well, it's that time again! The Geek's Christmas! HALLOWEEN! I've had my costume planned for months and only started on it the past week. Jor-El. Marlon Brando from the 1978 Superman. Geek-tastic, as always. Got a couple parties I'll probably hit with Jenn tomorrow to show it off. Pics to come!!

Whew! I'm usually a lot more flowery with my phrasing, but just getting a month's worth of the basic updates has taken up a lot of space! I'll try to keep up on here a bit better once my internet is set up at my new (old) place.

Peace out, y'all!

Convention Recap, Part 2: "Damn, damn DAMN!!!""

That title is a bit deceiving. Nothing bad really happened, but...let me explain...

The morning went as hoped. I got up, got prepped, and got Courtney moving just fine. We got to Aunt Val's about 7:45am, and was greeted at the door by my sleepy-eyed sister. She popped on the TV miniseries of Alice in Wonderland and my sister and daughter plopped on the couch for the next few hours. meanwhile I hit I-94 to head to Battle Creek.

Usually a 2-hour drive, I had heard that construction had completely screwed up the route (Hooray for MDOT, yet again). Thankfully, being early Saturday morning, traffic volumes were light, and I didn't have to hit the brakes very often. I made it to McCamly Plaza Hotel to meet up with my chorus in plenty of time. I run into the building straight to registration, then hit the bathroom and put on my stage make-up. As I head to our initial warm-up room, I'm greeted to a flood of my fellow VERY greateful Gentlemen Songsters exiting to walk to the contest site, 2 blocks away. I meet up with myquartetemates, Lou and Dave, and we walk to Kellogg Auditorium.

As we walk, I'm regaled with tales of the previous night's quartet prelims. Apparently, a less than stellar assortment. Last year when we competed, the field was chock-full of top-notch quartets, some of who soundly whipped our collective butt. This year, the bar was much lower. I would find out later how much so.

We arrive at the warm-up room at the auditorium and I'm greeted to a greatly relieved director. He relayed that one of our miniscule gaggle of tenors called out sick. We were down to 3 tenors in a chorus of about 40. Being in the front row and having a greater lung capacity than most of the septagenarians in the chorus, I add more than my fair share of sound to the section and was direly needed. It's nice to feel apreciated!

We went out and did a very good rendition of our contest set ("Who's Sorry Now" and "Sing Me That Song Again"). Not our best, but far from our worst. We rehearse in a church basement with a concrete ceilings. It's a lot easier to ring and balance there when you can hear everything mushed together. From there, Lou and I headed back to the hotel to change into our "civies" and grab some lunch at the local pub - one of the few establishments open in Battle Creek on a Saturday (I swear I could see tumbleweeds rolling down the street).

Much of the afternoon was spent playing on my computer in the lobby of the hotel, as I hadn't connected with my roommates for the evening yet (Paul & Rob from Chodiology). I grabbed new copies of the Polecat and Yuletide Favorites songbooks at the Barbershop Shop, as mine seem to have disappeared over the years. I managed to resisting the temptations of coffee mugs, CDs, and a variety of other musical kitsch. I was able to fit in a few tags with some other loiterers in the lobby. The favorite of the day seemed to be "The Shadow Of Your Smile, which I had recently recorded for my quartet clients in Nevada. Here's a not-so-shining example:


Then it was time to watch the quartet finals. I met up with a kid from the Grand Rapids Chapter, Pat, and we head up, talking geek stuff. For once, I actually arrived in time for the entire finals show. Last year, my quartet, Coda Honor, barely missed making mic testers for the finals show. A disappointment, but not a bad showing for our first contest, scoring just shy of a 60. This year, we decided not to compete, as our bass was in Galveston for a month helping with disaster relief and we didn't have time to prep our contest set. However, as I watched quartet after quartet strut their stuff for the appreciative audience this year, a single though kept occurring to me: "We're better than that".

Now, don't get me wrong. Every quartet up there deserved to be there and were quite good, but with all of the progress Coda Honor has made over the past year, we could have easily made 4th.
Well, maybe not easily. Having the last month to practice would have helped. Nevertheless, it was frustrating to watch these quartets up there and not be waiting in the wings to do our set. Hence the title of the blog.

I was supposed to meet with the chair of the Lansing Chapter's search committee to discuss the open position of director there. I didn't hold a lot of hope for getting the position, but figured I had enough qualifications to justify applying. I sent him a text and voicemail, letting him know where I'd be, and spent much of the first hour after the show in the lobby, hoping he'd spot me (I told him to look out for my shoes - they're kinda hard to miss). After an hour or so of playing on my laptop and chatting with friends, I made the rounds of the hospitality rooms and tagging in the hallways and lobby. Apparently, I also spent the evening narrowly missing aforementioned committee chair. Once again, damnd, damn, damn!

When things began to wind down, I met up with my roommates and headed to the room. I open the door and find the district's resident Doo-Wop quartet, Full Throttle, in the room chatting and drinking heavily. We all spent the next hour or so in the room munching on junk food, drinking, and spitballing riffs that Paul came up with. One groove was particularly catchy, and Paul had Barry (the exhuberant and 'fluffy' lead from Full Throttle) riff some melodies. He started filling in whatever songs would fit, then began singing the text of the hotel welcome card. It was a blast.

Oh, MEGAkudos, Barry, in the impending baby Barry on the way (hence his celebratory mood)!

Once the rest of his quartet practically carried a VERY innebriated Barry back to his room (no easy task, even for 3 guys), Rob Paul & I hit the hay as conversation about life and family trailed off to snores.

Oh, the chorus made 3rd. Not to shabby!

An awesome, if slighly frustrating weekend.

Convention Recap, Part 1: "I Can't Get Started With You"

BOY what a weekend!! The weekend that almost wasn't.

I thought I had it all set. My dues were paid, my shift was covered for Saturday night, Sonya and Liam were heading to a weekend camp out with the Cub Scout troop, Courtney was going to be picked up by her grandma, I had a place to crash for the night, and there was enough money in the account to cover gas and meals...

...then it all started to dissolve before my eyes.

I took off work a bit early on Friday to drop some stuff with Lou and get a haircut. I stopped by the Blockbuster where my former manager, Bill (who owes me a LIFETIME of favors), was working. He had said he had someone who could cover my shift - no problem. He was a good salesman, which my current manager would be happy about. I popped in to say hi, verify things were all set, and thank him. I hang in the office door way and he says that he hadn't asked the guy yet, but it shouldn't be a problem, and I should call that evening from my shift to confirm as they were both working that shift. Somewhat reassured, I go about my errands.

When I get to work, I call up Bill's store and Jason, the guy who's supposed to cover me, answers. He tells me he's working his other job that night and can't cover me. This, plus being understaffed on my current shift and RIDICULOUSLY busy, set me in a foul mood all night. Hearing all this, my current manager, Kelly, started hitting the phones to find me a replacement, while I handled the never-ending, mile-long line at the register.

By 10:30, no one had been available. After I get let go for the evening, I call another half-dozen stores in the area to finally find one LOVELY, WONDERFUL, GOD-SENT gal - Monica from the Warren store - who would cover my shift. I nearly collapsed from exhaustion & relief right there. Content that the weekend was once again on schedule, I head home, expecting Sonya and Liam to be off at their Cub Scout camp out, Courtney with grandma, and the house empty.

After a mentally draining shift, I come home to find Sonya and the kids still there, and Jeremy, Leigh, and Jeremy's 2 high-strung dogs over for a visit. Apparently, Grandma's acquisition of my youngest wasn't as eminent as I was led to believe. I hit the phones once again and pray that my sister's offer to take Courtney early in the morning still stands. However, I had no clue how to hand off Courtney later on. Overnight at Aunt Val's isn't something we've done yet and I wasn't about to pop that on generous and accomodating sister unexpectedly. Thankfully, Jeremy offers to pick up Courtney and take her to her grandparent's in the afternoon. After working out logistics and making sure Val & Jeremy have each other's cell numbers (a mistake I made recently I'm not about to repeat), all is settled there.

This means I have to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn, shower, shave, get on my tux and make-up, get Courtney up and dressed and out to my sister's, then pray the Traffic Gods smile on me so I can get to Battle Creek before my chorus steps on stage at 11:30.

Coming Up Next... Part 2: "Damn, damn, DAMN!"

My Semi-awesome Weekend...

(I couldn't think of a decent weekend-themed song lyric/title for this one)

Saturday started out simple enough: getting up and the kids moving and dressed. Sonya wanted to head to Canada with her brother to paint the cottage again, since the past month has left that kind of on the back burner to deal with her car's tire. This gave me much of the weekend to myself.

After a bit of tidying, I stopped by the comic shop to grab the IDW Comic Bios of the candidates. I didn't expect much of them, but they're surprisingly detailed and insightful! I bought both to be fair, balanced, and to hedge my bets as a collector. They don't include every vote and decision, but I must say they helped me gain a bit of respect for both candidates, warts and all. Neither changed my mind in the slightest, but they made my decision a bit clearer based on ideals, experience, and motives, rather than speculation and rumor.

After my semi-weekly pilgimage to the Comics & More, I headed to my sister's to borrow her lawn mower. It's been relatively dry lately and I haven't realy needed to mow the lawn for weeks, but it was getting about that time. I pulled up to find her waiting in her front yard for our friend Paulie B., who she had planned to have lunch with and go thrift store shopping with afterward. I joined them for lunch, though I had just had Taco Bell with the family before they took off. We had a great time sharing appetizers and chatting about everything from local music, to mutual friend gossip, to jobs and gigs. I had a blast catching up with baby sister and my aptly dubbed "inner child".

After dropping me off back at my sister's, I loaded up the mower and headed home. The rest of the afternoon was spent on mowing and chores. From there, I went to work at the video store. After work, with the family gone and no one expecting me home, I headed to my buddy Bob's for his weekly IPM internet radio show. I charged down the stairs just in time for one of the breaks between DJ's. We spent the evening over beer and music, playing Wii Bowling, discussing politics and life. Pure awesomeness. Dig it. I headed home about 1am and hit the hay.

Sunday, I spent the morning catching up with my parents on the phone. I try to call them once or twice a week, if possible. My dad and I discussed barbershop and family, as usual. She even payed my Barbershop Society dues online while we were on the phone (after some not-so-thinly veiled psuedo-begging). I then finally returned my mom's call. She calls me about 4 times a week these days, as my sister is kind of boycotting her (long story there - don't judge). She bemoaned my sister's behavior while I played the middle ground and voice of reason - my usual role. Regardless, it was nice to catch up with her and talk to her.

After that, back to chores. I got a lot accomplished before bringing the mower back to Val's and spending about an hour mowing her jungle - er - yard. Sonya and the kids got home while I was there (rather than the 10pm they often get back from weekend trips), so any recording I had planned was out. Bummer.

While checking my e-mail that night, I noticed a listing on the PioNet (Pioneer District of the Barbershop Harmony Society's Listserv) for a director position at my dad's old chapter in Lansing. I probably don't have the qualifications for a higher level, cometitive chorus (i.e. Harmony U., BHS Director's College, a gold medal, etc.), but I sent along a letter of interest anyway. If it pays enough to justify wedging it into my schedule, this would be a dream gig! I'm hoping to meet with the chir of the search committee at convention (assuming I can go). I don't expect much to come of it, but at the very least, I may be able to pitch myself for more learnng track gigs and maybe some coaching. We'll see. Networking never hurts.

A great weekend, mixed with socializing, productivity, and reconnecting with family I rarely see. The trick now is, I have at least 5 more songs to record for a couple groups sometime soon. With the weekly grind and the convention (or camp out) this weekend, I'll have to sneak stuff in a track or two at a time. I'll figure it out - I always do...

Bye Bye Blues?

(I've taken to titling my blogs with old songs, it seems. Thanks for the idea, Chuck!)

So I blogged about "Barbershop Convention Blues" last week. Well, it seems those blues MAY be over. I had some major hurdles to overcome to make it to the convention: dues, child care for my daughter while Sonya and the boy were at camp, hotel costs, and scheduling. The first was handled by my dad. I called her on Sunday, mostly to just do my usual catching up, but also - if I could work it in carefully - to ask if she would be able to loan me the money to renew my dues in time for the convention. After a wonderful conversation, she offered without me having to directly ask...well, not directly begging, anyway. I think one of the factors may have been that when I gave her my society password it was a direct reference to her. She got a kick outa that.

The second hurdle was child care for Courtney while Sonya and Liam were at the Cub Scout Campout this weekend. My wonderful sister has agreed to keep her from my departure time (butt-crack of dawn Saturday morning) until Sonya's mom hopefully picks her up in the afternoon. Some details have yet to be ironed out with mom-in-law, but that snag seems to have been mostly worked out.

Next came having a place to stay, should I be able to stay overnight. There is no way I could afford a hotel room this time, and even if I could, the headquarters hotel is completely booked, with the nearest available hotel a mile away. That kinda puts a crimp in carousing the hospitality rooms and lobby, drinking and singing, till all hours. I'm not comfortable driving more than a couple of blocks after any kind of real "imbibement", let alone a mile in the pitch black of unfamiliar streets at 3am. After a couple hours of exchanged IMs and cameraderie with Paul Ellinger (the lead of last year's champs, Chordiology), he tentatively offered a spot on his floor, pending confirmation with his baritone/roommate.

Now all that's left is to call every Blockbuster in the area, looking for someone to take my Saturday night shift at the video store. I have a manager that owes me a favor at another location, so I'm not terribly worried. They're already short-staffed for the shift, however, so I do need to find someone. No calling in sick or car trouble this time (not that I usually fake such things for a night off - I'm a pretty good boy as far as that goes).

Another possible obstacle is whether Sonya can make it to the camp out. Sonya has had what we think may be viral meningitis for the past week. She was exposed to a co-worker of her mother's who had it a couple weeks ago, and since then she's had a few days of total imobility and total feeling-like-crapness. She's on the mend and gaining back some energy and mobility, but whether she can handle the elements is questionable. If she can't do it, guess who does.

So that's where it stands. The finish line is in sight, the chorus had a GREAT rehearsal last night, my presence at contest is EXTREMELY encouraged (as close to a demand as our understanding and polite director can get), and only a couple more things to work out. I'm not crazy about getting up at the crack of dawn and driving 2 hours in mu tux and make-up (I hate that part) to jump on stage in a rush, but I am looking forward to helping my chorus start it's rise back to the top. If we sing anything like we did last night, we may start dong just that.

Coming Up: A Recount of last weekend

Barbershop Convention Blues & Tina Fey: 7 Weeks ain't enough, and yet it is.

Once again, we're nearing late October and the Pioneer District's Fall Barbershop Harmony Convention. Unfortunately, it appears this one's not going to go at ALL like I had envisioned it 4 months ago.

My plan was to go up mid afternoon on Friday, compete with my quartet, make finals, compete with my chorus the next day, kick some ass at finals and maybe move up a spot or 2, and have an amazing night touring the hospitality rooms and singing tags in the lobby till all hours of the night. I'd built up a helluva weekend in my head.

Since then, the job hasn't turned out as profitable as I had hoped (still not BAD, but this economic apocalypse has slowed my sales growth a bit), our bass has been in Texas helping with disaster relief and is on call to do more at any minute, and Liam's Haunted Cub Scout Campout has been scheduled for the same weekend. Adding to the financial frustration, I just had to pay a $195 ticket for not having my current proof of insurance in my car and now a $200 "Driver Responsibility Fee" the state has started assessing to milk the average citizen for whatever they can get away with.

In order to make convention, I have to come up with gas money, food money, pay my society dues, arrange to sleep on someone's floor at the hotel, and coodinate child care for Courtney while Sonya and Liam are at the campout...but I haven't given up yet. It's not impossible. Difficult and improbable, but not impossible.

I wouldn't feel so bad about it, but our tenor section is a bit weak and we've already lost 2 of our front row. With all humility, having me missing hurts the presentation AND music scores. I truly don't expect my presence means the difference between winning and losing - Mt. Pleasant, Lansing, and Macomb have that to worry about. It would be nice to start building up our scores again, however, and set ourselves up as contenders again. We won 4 years ago. It's not out of the realm of possibility to do so again, but we need all the help we can get.

I'll keep exploring my options.

Meanwhile, on the campaign front...

When Sarah Palin entered the race, my first though was that she looks a bit like an older Tina Fey. For the past 3 weeks, Tina has made a return to Saturday Night Live to play the Alaskan Governor in opening sketches - absolutely BRILIANTLY! Just go Google it (NBC has managed to pull most of the clips from YouTube), and you'll see what I mean. The funniest sketch was her depiction of the CBS Interview with Katie Couric. It was absolutely hilarious in that, rather just picking a few catch phrases like so many of her predecessors (Dana Carvey's "Naa-Gaa-Daait" comes to mind), she quoted one of the Governor's lengthier responses nearly verbatim - and it was ROTF hilarious! That's funny and scary at the same time.

I'd love to see a lot more of Tina Fey as Palin, but God willing, SNL will only need her for another 4 weeks before Palin hops the first dogsled back to the tundra.

Plenty of other stuff to bore you with, but time's a wastin'. Gotta go earn my keep.

Fall Barbershop Convention, Part III: Sunday - the wrap-up...

Wake up, shower (I had to call the front desk to ask them how to get the damned thing to work), pack up, and check out. "Big Dave", our bass, and I hit the local diner for breakfast and have a nice convo about women, family, quartets and such, then hit the road.

My best friend and Lead, Lou, had reserved the hotel room for us on his card. I mistakenly got the impression that he was going to pay for the room and I'd pay him back. Whoops. He aparently had no intention of this, as he's in pretty dire financial straits himself, and "Big Dave" is recovering from a long bout of unemployment and had to owe me his share, so I had to put the whole damned thing on my credit card. $200 I hadn't planned on. As if justifying these convention trips wasn't hard enough...

Friday night when Lou and I were at the hotel bar, he ordered a sandwich. It took so long, he decided to get it 'to go', then eventually got fed up and started to walk out. As he was leaving, the waitress caught up with him, handed it to him with appologies, and he walked of with it in a frustrated huff. They eneded up billing MY tab for it.

I left a message for Lou on Sunday, letting him know about the error, figuring he'd owe me the $4 in a beer sometime. He proceeded to call the hotel and complain. Not only was the manager EXREMELY appologetic, but he comped 1/2 of his AND my hotel bill for the weekend! As bad as Lou's luck can be at times, other times he could step in a pile of shit and come out with gold-plated loafers (see my entry for last Fall's convention for another example). So, once again Lou's convention fortune rubs off on me a bit and I spend half as much on the weekend as I had planned! Maybe I should use the savings to bribe the judges a bit next contest....

Anyway, I get home, nap a bit as Sonya and her brother work on their costumes, and we wait for the kids to get back from the grandparents' place. They arrive and we hang with my father-in-law a bit, having a fun, relaxing evening.

I'll say it again: "Best...Convention...EVER!"

Coming up next: Backlog of Blogs (Backblogged?)...

Fall Barbershop Convention, Part II: Saturday - the FUN part…

I got a bit more sleep on Saturday morning this year than previous years. Usually my chorus tries to go on first, but this year we were 3^rd from last in our performance order. I'm roused about 9:45 by my roommate and hit the shower. I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get the damned thing to switch from faucet to shower to no avail, so I take a bath. I hate baths – especially in hard water. It's hard enough to feel like you've rinsed thoroughly in a shower with hard water, but in a tub – forget it.

I de-slime myself from the bath, get my tux and stage makeup on (I hate having to wear stage makeup), and hit the lobby. I head to the Subway for a bite to eat and decide on just a Sprite and a yogurt, then head down to warm-ups.

My voice is still weak and sketchy around the full-voice/falsetto break, so I go back and grab my bottle of voice spray and start guzzling the stuff like it was beer at a frat party. Warm-ups, pictures, and the traditional "hurry up and wait" follow. Eventually we hit the stage and do a great job - one of our finest performances, from what I can tell. I know we won't win, but we nevertheless did a great performance. I hang around for a while in the lobby talking with dad, then head to my room to change. Dad, Ian (who will be going to International in Nashville with the new district reps, Mountaintown Chorus) and I hit the Peninsula for lunch.. We're eventually joined by Lou and his girlfriend Linda and have a great time just hanging out, talking and eating. After lunch, I decide to try and grab a quick power nap to let my voice rest and be ready for the quartet to hit the hospitality rooms after the quartet finals. On the way up to my room, I'm joined in the elevator by several kilt-clad folk with bagpipes. Hmm….?

I wake up just in time for the quartet finals show and head to the lobby. As the elevator descends, the sounds of pipes and drums grow louder. The door opens and the lobby is FLOODED with the sound of a pipe and drum corps playing on the second floor balcony of the lobby. Apparently there was a wedding in the hotel that they were hired for. Trouble was, they were loud as hell in that echoey lobby and right outside the hall the finals were in. Now, I'm all up for pipe and drum music, but when it gets in the way of barbershop – look out. Thankfully, they stopped right before the quartets hit the stage.

I enter the performance hall, looking around for my dad, when I hear a familiar riff whistled. My dad always used the same 5-note riff to whistle for my sister and I whenever it was time to come home. He can whistle pretty loud, so we could be called from blocks away. Funny – I'm 33 years old, and after all this time I still reflexively turn my head like a puppy when I hear that riff. We found each other in milliseconds and I join him to watch the show.

There were several quartets we should have beaten and several more that rightfully trounced the hell out of us. C'est la vie. It was a great show and I had a lot of fun whispering critiques back and fourth with my dad. We only get to see each other maybe once a year, and it was great to have him all to myself and bond with him in the medium we have most in common. We trade stories and barbershop related anecdotes – mine from the new school and his from the "old days". Once the scores are announced, rather than plan on driving the 2 ½ hours out and then back again to Detroit to see the rest of the family, he decided to head back to the hotel in Paw-Paw and call it a weekend. I record a quick video message from him for the kids on my camera, exchange big hugs, and we say our goodbyes. I am so grateful to have been able to do this with my dad there. Not only for support for my contests, but just to hang out and talk, and bond a bit. You're never too old to bond with your dad.

The quartet gathers in my room and Beamer has notes on some shtick and lyric changes to "Whiffenpoof" to poke a bit of fun at ourselves and our chorus's somewhat disappointing placement. Great, funny stuff, too! It was well received by our chapter, especially, as well as the couple other rooms we did the song at. We started at our own Detroit-Oakland chapter's room, and as is becoming tradition with me dragging my ukulele everywhere I go, they demanded a song on the uke before I left. I started into Rawhide, assuming I was starting a sing along. After the first verse, everyone seemed to forget the lyrics, so it died rather quickly from there.

We did the tour, hitting most of the chapter hospitality rooms before the "big" quartets were done with their evals and assessments. We heard some great quartets, got lots of free food and bottled water, but I held off on the beer until after we were nearly done singing. The last room we hit had one of my favorite quartets, Party of 4, waiting in the wings for us to finish. I love these guys. They're all around my age, former district champs, and have a fantastic sound, blend, and rapport with the audience, and are just great guys. Plus, they're one of the quartets to hang in the lobby until the wee hours, singing songs and tags with anyone with the stamina to stay up that late.

They sat and listened to us do our couple of songs, and being the last room of the night for us, I really wanted to do my arrangement of "Rainbow Connection". My voice was nearing the end for a good sound in a quartet environment, but I really wanted these guys to hear it. Beamer introduces the song as my arrangement (which I'm always reluctant to do – I do have a smidgeon of humility, on occasion), and we do a good job of it.

After we were done and bid goodnight to each other, I went to the lobby where Wally, Party of 4's bass, catches up with me and compliments me on the arrangement. He then asks me how much I'd want for it!

"YOU want to do MY arrangement?!"

Being the first time I have EVER been asked for an arrangement, I was a bit dumbfounded. I give him the heads up that I don't have copyright on it, so they perform it at their own risk. After giving the stipulation that they always mention my name when they perform it and never do it when they're sharing a venue with my quartet, I suggest a kind of "beer royalty". They should just buy me beer whenever they see me.

As if that weren't compliment enough, he asks me if I do much arranging because he has a few songs he'd like me to arrange for them.

ME?! Arrange for a district champ quartet?! Holy Pukin' Pitch Pipes, Batman!

Whether it happens or not, I'm on cloud nine from the compliment for the rest of the night (hell, I STILL am). I wander the lobby for the next 2 hours singing tags and songs, with the occasional foray to the hospitality rooms to snag a beer. After the events of this weekend and a few beers, I didn't even care that Mike, the bass from Moxxy and fixture of the late-night tagging, had us doing the "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" tag a bazillion times. I was just reveling in the high from the whole convention experience.

After about an hour's worth of attempts to hit the elevators and go to bed, each time being thwarted by another tag or song I wanted to sing, I finally hit the room about 3:30am. I write a quick blog and collapse on the bed with a huge smile on my face.

I'll say it again, "Best…convention…ever!!"

Coming up next: Fall Barbershop Convention, Part III: Sunday - the Wrap-up…

Fall Barbershop Convention, Part I: Friday…

What a weekend!! Full of excitement, surprises, and a minor, semi-disappointment or two. As usual, my blog of the weekend will be a few entries as I recall the details day-by-day. If you get bored with it and don't want to read the whole damned saga, no worries. These recounts of my barbershopping escapades are generally for my own edification and posterity anyway...

Having blogged about barbershop conventions several times so far, I'll spare you the explanations of the terminology and practices I've covered before. If you need some explanation, check my blogs from previous Octobers & Aprils.

Here we go…

Friday is always a busy day getting packed and gathered: making sure I have all of my costume pieces, stage makeup, toiletries, etc. This year was a bit different, though, as I was planning on getting there extra early because my quartet was competing for the first time. Usually I arrive late Friday night, just after the quartet prelims are finishing up, so I can be ready for my chorus's performance in the morning.

My sister Valerie and wife Sonya were making vests for my quartet to wear on stage and they took it down to the wire. Valerie, being the go-to gal all of her friends call on when they need costumes and dresses, was kind of bogged down with obligations to a laundry list of friends. Sonya, meanwhile, was trying to get the kids' costumes assembled while trying to make time to get her own elaborate costume together. I dropped Liam at school and went to Valerie's house to put the buttons on the other guys' vests – a mundane, yet important detail she didn't have time to get to. She set up her machine so I could do it fairly quickly and easily…once I figured the damned gizmo-laden thing out, that is.

After finishing those, I went home to find Sonya finishing up my vest and the bow ties. I run to JoAnne's Fabrics for the last couple sundries and Sonya finishes the final touches. They all looked fabulous. Now I just had to pray they'd fit, as we didn't have time for a proper fitting for the guys. The pattern only went up to XL and 3 of us are somewhat beyond that (to say the least), so Valerie used her expertise to guestimate the sizes when cutting the fabric, based solely on my vague descriptions.

I gather the last of my things and pile them into the car to head to my bass's house, only about ½ hour later than planned. Sonya bid me an unusually friendly farewell as I got behind the wheel. It's often a bit of a chore to get out for convention, involving justified grumbling and eventual grudging complacency from Sonya as I desert her and the kids for the weekend. Not so this time, and I was a bit suspicious. I later found out why (don't worry, it was a good thing).

I hop in the car and head to Big Dave's house in Livonia to carpool with him to the convention in Kalamazoo. I get there and find he's tied up on hold on the phone with some bureaucratic mess he had to straighten out. He gets things settled (sorta) and we hit the road in his comfy minivan, with me behind the wheel.

We made remarkable time and check in at the K-zoo Raddison. After checking in and unloading our stuff in our room, I head to the registration desk and peruse the "Barbershop Shop", selling things like music ties, Society ware, pitch pipes and such. My voice is worrying me a bit, so I grab a bottle of voice spray for my cough-worn throat. We then all head to the lobby to meet up with the rest of the quartet for an early dinner before getting suited up and ready for the contest. As the Daves and I wait for Lou, our lead, to get settled in, I glance across the lobby and see someone who remarkably resembles my dad. My first thought dismisses the resemblance, but as I looked closer, I couldn't believe my eyes – my dad had driven clear from KANSAS to see me compete in my first quartet contest! I shout across the lobby and run and give him a HUGE hug! He was hoping to surprise me after the contest, but got the reaction he was hoping for, nonetheless. Sonya had apparently been aware of this planed trip for 3 weekd and managed to keep it a secret. She has, by far, a stronger wil than I.

We all head out to find a place to eat - my quartet, one wife, one girlfriend, and my dad. After a wonderful meal and a drink or two at a (slightly overpriced) British pub & grille, we head to our rooms to get the stage makeup, tuxes, new vests (which fit perfectly) and our signature Hi-top Chucks (each in matching color to our vests). We get to the warm-up room a bit early, put on the bow ties and sing a couple of tunes to warm up. My dad is standing in the corner listening to us critique ourselves and beaming with pride. Meanwhile, I'm squirting that voice spray like it was crack in hopes my voice would hold out through the contest.

After a bit of confusion about where we were supposed to be and when, we hit the contest stage. Lou's voice showed signs of nerves, forcing his tone a bit, but projecting well. Mine held out well enough, but lacked my usual power and sparkle. But hey, I was just grateful I was able to get the notes out at all! Dave Beamer rang his bari part with his usual admirable precision. Dave "Big Dave" Conrad went a tad sharp a time or two and could have used a bit more volume at times, but was nonetheless, spectacular.

We placed 12 out of 17 overall and 10^th of the district competition quartets of 14. Not a bad place for first-time quartet. Once we got the score sheets, we found that we just missed making the finals show as mic testers by a mere 13 points (or 1.1 points for those of you used to a 1-100 point scale). Regardless, we made a good impression and got a lot of great compliments from friends and strangers alike. It helped that we were easily identifiable by out bright colored shoes.

From there we went to judging evaluations ('critique' for you band/drum corps geeks out there). We got 45 minutes of some GREAT advice and coaching from some very knowledgeable people in the activity, and have some good ideas for boosting our score the next time we compete.

I grab the DVD of our performance, reconnect with my quartet, and we go to our evaluation & assessment sessions for some advice from the judges. Beamer's wife comes along and takes some notes as we get some great coaching. The first comment out of EVERY judge's mouth as we enter their hotel rooms is, "LOVE the shoes!" I get a bit of a smile out of that, as the coodinating colored Hi-top Chucks were my idea. The only critique about the shoes we received was that it sets up a comedic air and we really didn't do much comedy. We planned to, but didn't have time to rehearse it. Oh well, noted for next contest.

After that, we head to my room to debrief. We watch the DVD of our performance, cringing every once in a while at a chord or two, becoming our own worst critics. Given what I heard, I was beginning to be a bit surprised we placed as well as we did. Not BAD, but not our best - every minor flub festering in my mind like a splinter. Beamer's wife runs down her notes from the judges and we discuss them as a quartet. She's a helluva quartet secretary, and got almost every word every judge said!

After that Lou and I hit the hotel bar with Ian (a buddy from the Mt. Pleasant Mountaintown Chorus). We had a beer and a bite before calling it a day. We had a LONG day ahead, between chorus contest, quartet finals (as spectators, unfortunately), and the highlight of the evening, the afterglow and hospitality rooms!

My quartet met our goals: we went out there, didn't suck, and didn't come in last.
YAY US!!!

Coming up next: Fall Barbershop Convention, Part II: Saturday - the FUN part…

Barbershop Convention - Drunken Blog...

Okay, my first drunken blog, so it's likely to be repleat with typos, profanity and poor grammar. Forgive me.

It's 3:20 am and I'm just now getting to bed from a LONG weekend barbershoping at the pioneer district convention. I'll expound on this later with more details, but for a quick recap (in bullet form)...

* Quartet just missed making "Mic Testers" on the night show by 13 points (1.1%) - a very narrow margin easily overcome by a few minor adherences to things we already knew. Shit - but oh well. Not bad for a first time out.

* Chorus place 5th - worst in the entire time I've been with them. We didn't do worse, the rest of the choruses got better. Shit. No addendums.

* hitting the hospitality rooms is fun as hell. They loved my arrangement and our singing.

* the absolute best part is singing tags in the lobby till 3:15am. Moxxy and Party of 4 are da shizzle.

* free beer and food is the 2nd best part of the weekend.

* Paula - you made the weekend the absolute BEST convention I have ever been too! Thank you! It was great to know I had family there to support me in my first quartet contest!

Details, photos, and video later.

Best...convention...ever.

Praying for dear friends and the rest of my week...

Much of the early part of the week was spent playing phone and e-mail tag with various representatives of the Barbershop Harmony Society, dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's to get the quartet properly registered for the upcoming contest a week from Friday – mostly done while I was at work. I spent a lot of time on the phone and computer talking with judges, officials, and other knowledgeable people making sure the all four of us are properly registered and dues paid with the society, that our repertoire is appropriate and legal, and that our application to the contest went through and was processed properly. This is the first time ANY of us have competed with a quartet in the Society, so we want to be sure we got everything right. Mission accomplished thus far. No red flags have gone up, so I'm assuming we're good to go.

Thankfully, there was no contest entry fee, just our convention registration we all had to pay to get in with the chorus, so I won't be riddled with guilt over owing our baritone more money for fronting money for us. The other three of us are usually dead broke, so he has a propensity for picking up the tab for unexpected expenses. Dave Beamer has really become an anchor for the quartet. Between his knowledge of vocal performance techniques, his attention to detail, and his generous nature, he's been a HELLUVA find for us. I'm glad we swooped down like musical vultures and snatched him up before any other quartets got to him.

Deciding on our wardrobe for contest has been a bit tricky. We have several outfits, but nothing very formal. After a couple weeks of searching, I finally found a great fabric for vests and bow ties for us: satin with a hint of glittery sparkle. It's has a classy, subtle sparkle in each of our colors, and not too gawdy. Sonya and my sister, Val, have agreed to work on them so we can have them ready for contest. Both are wizards with a sewing machine. They're gonna look great. The only trick is, do we wear them with our tuxes or just on their own? I'd hate to cover them up. Regardless – tuxes or no – we'll be wearing our trademark High-top Chucks with them.

One little thing they've added to the convention this year is a moustache contest. I generally have neatly trimmed goatee, with occasional forays into the full beard realm, but I'm not big on having a full-on "crumb catcher" under my nose. For the past month or so, however, I decided to give it a try in anticipation of this contest. Thus far, I have a pretty full mustache that has been driving me absolutely nuts! Eating anything with a condiment leads to a sloppy lip, hairs make the occasional journey into my mouth, and forget about drinking anything! I look like a rabid St. Bernard after a glass of milk. I actually purchased mustache wax, which I've used a couple times, in an attempt to "train" the stray hairs, to little avail. It feels like wearing Elmer's glue on my upper lip! On the upside, it's long enough to get the effect of the turn-of-the-century handlebar curl on the ends. I had planned on trimming it back to my standard short length immediately after the contest, but after seeing the cover of the Sunday Free Press and it's headlining story about upcoming video games for the holidays, I found myself twisting the ends of my moustache like Snidley Whiplash as I looked at a picture of Nintendo's Mario. Maybe I'll wait till after Halloween after all.

Brava to Jenn Edwards and her quartet, Moxie Ladies for an ASTOUNDING performance at Sweet Adelines Internation convention this past week in Calgary! I missed the webcast on Wednesday night of their prelims performance, but apparently underestimated their talent as they made 7th going into finals. I did manage to catch and record their finals set, which earned them 4th place in the world!! I fully expect they will get a medal of some kind next year. In my opinion, they were gyped and should have at LEAST gotten the bronze this year! Keep at it, ladies! Ya sounded AWESOME!

The other big part of my week has been spent worrying about a good friend of mine. Jason Bradley was rushed to the hospital late last week after what appears to have been a pulmonary embolism. His heart stopped and the docs performed CPR on him for about 40 minutes. He is currently in the ICU at Beaumont in Royal Oak. The prognosis isn't good, but not certain.

Jason and I have never been particularly close. More than a casual friend, I consider him a good friend that I just don't get much opportunity to see. I met him his freshman year while hanging out with a gaggle of my sister's friends. He was familiar with my work with the choir and Dondero's Pop Concert and looked up to me a bit. I've always like being a mentor, so he and I hit it off well. Jason's a big-hearted, talented guy with a great, though occasionally twisted sense of humor. He loves to have fun, but, like me, derives much of his joy from helping others and bringing smiles to people's faces. We need more like him these days.

I went to visit him last Friday before I went to work at Blockbuster. He was about as I had expected: unconscious, hooked up to every machine in the place, intubation tube down his throat, I.V.s plugged up and down his arms and in every orifice, and monitors beeping and whirring. This didn't shock or surprise me. My mother suffered congestive heart failure a few years back and she was in the exact same place. She was unconscious for several days and in the ICU for about 2 weeks. She's fine now, recovering well, and working on regaining some of the mobility she had lost prior to the event.

This is what I have been focusing on for Jason. Several of his family and friends have been visiting and eulogizing him while they're there, referring to him in that past tense. This infuriates me. If we had done that for my mom, I have no doubt that she wouldn't be with us today. The human spirit thrives on positive thinking and energy. If my mom can come back from this at age 60, my good friend can do the same at 29.

I have always been the perky, chipper, optimistic rock in situations like this. I'm not sure if it's a matter of perspective or emotionally distancing myself from unpleasantness, but rather than spend my time worrying and weeping about what MIGHT happen, I find it more helpful to be a shoulder to cry on and a voice of hope for tentative situations. There is no point in expecting the worst. It's not only torture for the family and friends while awaiting the final outcome; it's counter-productive to the situation. It breeds negativity, and that's not what Jason needs right now.

I'm not a particularly religious man. I have a faith in God and try to live by a moral principal set forth primarily by the teachings of Jesus, but I'm not big on religious platitudes, doctrine, or ceremony. I do, however, believe in the power of prayer. Not in so much as asking God for what you want will grant your every wish. I believe that God has a divine plan and purpose for us all and that our OWN decisions make it so. But I do believe that prayer provides an air of positive energy and love that has the power to heal. God will do what he will with Jason, but surrounding him with positive thoughts and prayers will give him the strength to do as God wills.

Personally, I can't believe that He is done with Jason. Jason is only 29, and while he doesn't take very good care of himself and has a tendency to neglect his own health and well being, it's often for the benefit of those he loves. While he is most CERTAINLY a lazy guy with an unhealthy taste for bad food and other vices, I believe God is planning this as a wake-up call for him to start taking better care of himself so he can continue to be the bright shining light of hope, happiness and fun for those around him.

I've visited him twice so far: Friday before work and Sunday morning. Sunday, I spent mostly taking with his family and giving his mom a sounding board, positive perspective, and shoulder to cry on. He had a parade of friends and family going through, so I just breezed in for a minute to crack a joke or two at his expense, and tell him to "wake the fuck up! We got concerts to go to and stuff!"

I talk to him, not at or about him. I don't pretend he can't hear me. I don't talk like he's not in the room. As long as there's the faintest glimmer of hope that he'll be back again, espousing his latest plan to make it rich and/or change the world and ask how he can help, I'll be COUNTING on the fact that he will. There's no point in thinking otherwise.

If you're the praying type, please say a few prayers for Jason.

If you're not, just think positively about him and look forward to meeting him or seeing him again at your next party.

Above all, think positive, happy thoughts about him and assume he'll be getting out of the ICU soon and hangin' with us again.

The March to Convention…

The biannual Pioneer District Convention is coming up next month, and for the first time, I have a quartet that is set on competing. I'm simultaneously overwhelmed by feelings of excitement and panic.

I've been listening to barbershop music, to one degree of interest or another, all of my life – and I do mean ALL of my life. My father was a barbershopper long before I was a twinkle in his eye, so I caught the bug early, though I didn't realize it until about high school. I remember my dad singing "Wait 'Till the sun Shines, Nellie" when I was little and hearing the late 50's-60's SPEBSQSA Championship recordings playing on the hi-fi most weekends. This (along with my Muppet and Disney records, of course) was the soundtrack of my very early years, before I discovered rock, pop and more modern music. By age 12, I was listening to those records on my own and eagerly attempting to dissect the parts to songs sung by quartets like Mark IV, The Buffalo Bills, Town & Country Four, The Confederates, The Air Fours, and others, and singing along.

Now I'm in my own quartet. I've been in one quartet or another since my second week in the Barbershop Harmony Society (formerly SPEBSQSA). Most of these were good quartets to the average listener, but not much to speak of in barbershop circles. Fun, talented guys, but little attention was paid to the details and nuance of the idiom or stylistic interpretation. We did gigs (usually with good pay or at least free food) and received appreciative applause, but never managed to make it onto the contest stage.

Now I finally have a GOOD quartet by barbershop standards. I'm finally with a group of guys that understand the fundamentals of the idiom, have a good amount of experience, and a strong desire to excel. That ought to be enough, right? WRONG!

Barbershop contests are tricky things. Not only do you have to go out there and sing well, but you have to coordinate the wardrobe, agree on interpretation of the songs, organize rehearsal time to maximize the synchronization of the music, get the proper paperwork in order for registration, and above all – choose a repertoire. It's the latter that's been the primary focus for the past couple weeks and, until last night, the primary obstacle.

Contest rules are very particular regarding choice of music. It has to have a certain amount of homophony, the appropriate subject matter, a minimum ratio of dominant seventh chords, a certain pattern of chord progression, and above all, be legally obtained music, obeying all pertinent copyright laws. That's a lot of ducks to get in a row.

We had originally planned on doing "If The Lord Be Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise", which our chorus has done in contest a few times, and an old barbershop standard, "Darkness on the Delta", a familiar tune with a spectacular introduction, and a song we do quite well. After practicing and polishing "Darkness…" and even getting some coaching from one of the top pedagogues in the activity (Dave Ellis, with some additional advice by his wife, Cindy Hansen) on the tune, we found that it doesn't contain enough homophony to be "contestable". Beyond that, we figured we were good enough to have a chance to make it to finals the next night and therefore needed to decide on what to do for our second round of competition, as repeating the same tunes is generally frowned upon.

So now we had to come up with 3 more tunes, most likely 2 ballads and 1 up-tune. We all presented some suggestions and last night we finalized our choices – with a mere 4-5 practices to get our shit together. Yikes.

"If The Lord Be Willin'…" is a song we've been doing for a while, and while there are parts we need to refine, we know the notes, so getting that one ready shouldn't be too tough. "Zippidy Doo-Dah" is a perky tune and not particularly difficult, so once again, that's mostly a matter of coming to consensus on cut-offs, phrasing, and balance. The part that worries me is the ballads.

After much deliberation, we decided on "I'll Be Seeing You" as our primary ballad. It's a familiar tune with a nice intro section and some great chords. The problem with great chords is that they're usually pretty tight. Intonation and vowel shape will be crucial, and as it's a pretty free-flowing song with little by way of a steady tempo, agreeing on a consistent interpretation we can synch up will be time-consuming. We spent about an hour on it last night and it's progressing well, but I worry that we may not have the time to get it as polished as I'd like. Also, it's a song that's been done recently by the District Representatives to International, so we have a standard to live up to there.

Our 2^nd ballad is "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans". We've done that one in Chorus, so again, it's familiar, however it has a bridge that modulates a bit weird and the modulation back to the original key is even trickier. The chords are tight and we'll need to block-and-tackle (lingo for go chord-by-chord) to tune them up right.

Thankfully, I have a great group of guys to work with. All 3 of them are willing to put in the extra time outside of rehearsal to polish up these songs. We also have a gig at Applewood Estates in Flint on Saturday from 12:30-3:30 for the Mott Foundation's annual Fall Harvest Festival (plug, plug, plug), so we'll be able to run these songs down a few times, and with a few more rehearsals we can go into contest confident that we won't suck…

…I hope.

Vocal Inflections…

It's been a busy week, vocally, for me. The quartet has been progressing nicely and we've had a few performance opportunities that went fairly well. Last week we performed for our bass's church, a nice Episcopal congregation in Livonia. We did 3 tunes in the service that fit the sermon very well. We started with a rather rapidly learned rendition of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" for a prelude, "I Believe" after the sermon, and the "Irish Blessing" for the benediction. They all went well and we received several compliments afterwards. Following the service, we headed to the fellowship hall to do some more secular stuff for the coffee hour, which didn't sound as good, but was nonetheless, well-received.

This past Tuesday, we had a mid-afternoon rehearsal – a first for us, as we all (now) work – to accommodate a very special guest. Dave Ellis (International Bronze medal tenor from Stormfront) and his wife Cindy (also barbershop bigwig) were in town for a while and we were able to secure Dave to coach us for a couple hours before he headed to Lansing to coach the Capitol City Chorus. This guy got us to ring chords in a way that I never knew possible! For about an hour and a half we only worked the intro to one of our songs. He taught us some tricks with vowel shape and tuning of certain chords that has us rattling windows at the softest volumes! It was absolutely amazing!

Being a tenor, I'm used to just sitting back and listening to the other three parts get all the attention in a coaching session. This is usually because many coaches just don't know what to do with the tenor. Most just assume you'll hear the chord and lock in your note to the overtones (assuming they're actually produced). The trick is, you can hit the right note perfectly in tune, but if it's a certain note within the chord, it needs to be adjusted a certain way. Plus, being mostly falsetto, it's a purer tone so vowel adjustment isn't worked on as much. Not so with Dave! Being a tenor himself, he had TONS of advice for me that made my part lock in so much better. It's no secret that I have a bit of an ego about my ear when singing, but I know I'm nowhere NEAR ready for the international stage. These tiny adjustments to my tuning and position of my soft pallet made a WORLD of difference toward making the entire quartet's chord lock.

Tenor's often considered decoration on the chord and a bit less of a priority on the scheme of the quartet, but after this session, I found that if it's done right, it's the key to making the quartet lock by truly reinforcing the overtones and making a chord ring and sparkle. A good tenor can be the difference between a good quartet and a truly GREAT quartet, while doing so by VERY subtle means!

This was an unbelievably valuable experience for us as a quartet and myself personally as a tenor. We hope to be able to meet with him again a time or two before contest as we narrow down the 2 songs for contest. Cindy emphasized only working of 2 for contest. If we make Saturday night, we could go and do Polecats, but we made the show.

On the non-quartet vocal front, I met with my buddy Paulie B. last night to get a sneak peek at the rough mix of the instrumentals for his new CD. I gotta tell ya, there's some good shit on there! There's a trippy Grateful Dead-ish instrumental track in there that is pure serenity, a folk rock ballad that has some great lyrics and introspective feel, a great pure rock tune that is BEGGING for great stage and light production, and a pure groovin' and cruisin' tune that smacks of the Cars. My job is to help him come up with any backup vocal parts where applicable and coach him to get his vocal skillz (it's rock, so that's skillz with a 'Z') a bit more refined. He's got some GREAT instrumentals laid down and fantastic songs, but a lot can hinge on if the carpet matches the drapes, so to speak.

I'm REALY excited to be helping Paulie on this project. Not just because the music is cool and the sound is inspiring, but because this is so dear to him. It's somewhat akin to being asked to mentor a small child. The future of this precious creation is being entrusted, in part, to my care. While its success is largely in the hands of it's parent and others involved, I've been trusted with helping this project grow and thrive in my own small way. It means a lot to me that he asked me to do this. This is his baby and I have been asked to be an influence on it. That's always a great honor.

Coming up next: Vague references, with gratitude…

So Much to Blog, So Little Time – Part II: Recreational Frustration

Okay, lately I honestly don't have much to bitch about here. Sonya and the kids went to Pennsylvania just a couple weeks ago to visit her aunt and cousins, leaving me all by my lonesome to tear up the state in a fit of reckless abandon (well, relatively for me anyway). I was able to visit with an old friend, have a nice long rehearsal with my quartet without much time restriction, and even hit the karaoke bar with my best friend.

Usually when I complain about not getting to do the things I want to do, it's because I'm either too busy with work or other obligations or I need to spend every available moment at home with my family, as said "free time" is so sparse in my life these days. This time, however, my "poor me" tirade is primarily based on funding and minor events largely beyond control.

Two weekends ago was the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Convention, this year held in Denver, CO. I have never been to an international convention and I hear stories from friends and veteran barbershoppers alike about how great the performances are, how much fun the afterglows can be, and tales of singing in the hotel lobbies till the wee hours of the morning with barbershoppers from all over the country. Basically everything I enjoy about our Pioneer District conventions, but on an international scale at about 20 times the size.

The biggest barrier to my enjoying such a festival of geektidute, is the prohibitive expense and distance. My dad has been to several of these and has been encouraging me to get to one since I started in the Society several years ago, even going so far as to offer to pay my expenses (not sure he thought that one through very well). All of the usual expenses of my semi-annual trip to whatever in-state location is hosting the district convention are compounded exponentially. Food, hotel, travel costs, tickets, and various miscellany, not to mention the money lost from time off of work, can incinerate my wallet at the mere thought when you double the duration, distance, number of events and ticket costs of the trip.

Thus far, the closest international convention to he has been Indianapolis (which I honestly should have gone to), but aside from the cost and distance, there is the absolutely HORRIBLE timing of the event. They are always held the week of July 4^th...every year.

While I suppose it makes sense to plan a convention of this magnitude during a week when most folks plan for a vacation anyway, those of us who work for a living (as opposed to the tidal wave of retirees that flood such a convention) and have sparse vacation time – if any at all – would like to try and spend some of that precious free time with our families.

If you've ever experienced an addiction like Barbershop or Drum Corps, you know that at these kind of events you want to fly from activity to activity and do every spontaneous thing that comes up. It's stimulation overload, like a kid at a crnival, and being tied to the family and attending to their wants and needs inevitably "cramps your style" in such situations. It usually becomes a choice of doing what you want and force-feeding them your mania, ditching them to do the stuff you love and leaving them feeling abandoned and neglected, or missing what you perceive to be all the cool stuff and feeling like you may as well have stayed home. Neither option is particularly appealing and even compromise can leave both sides disappointed.

Another side-effect of having the convention during Independence Day week is that local festivals get the shaft. Inevitably, I get a several calls a year for our quartet for that week from local events planners hoping to add a touch of old-style Americana to a 4th of July event. As our Lead is always at the international convention, competing with the Macomb Chapter's chorus, I'm forced to decline. When they ask for suggestions, I them to hit the quartet locator on the Society's web page, but tell them it's unlikely they'll find any quartet with a full compliment for the job.

Next year is in Nashville. I'm already planning my funding for it (read: I'm casing liquor stores and pricing ski masks). My dad is already planning to go. My aunt and uncle live a few hours from there, so I can coordinate a trip to see them (for the 2^nd time in about 18 years). I may also have a good friend out that way by then, if he gets the job he's hoping for.

Other recreational frustration involves my journey to see His Royal Weirdness, "Weird Al" Yankovic this past Wednesday in Lansing at the Common Ground Music Festival. A great show, as always, and I enjoyed most of it. There were a million little things, however, that didn't go as I had set up in my mind and led to some disappointment.

I had this great scheme in my mind of leaving work at 4, heading home to help pack up the kids, hit the road at 4:30 (thus just missing rush hour), and getting to the festival at 6. Being 2 ½ hours early for the festival, we could lay claim to a good spot for the general admission, outdoor concert, and enjoy some other aspects of the festival. In that time, I figured I'd hook up with my friend Charlie and we could hang with his family, as he has kids about my kids' age. Plans I apparently should have relayed to Sonya in more detail and with more emphasis than I did.

As it was, I left work at 4 and got home to find the kids mostly ready and Sonya on the computer researching the festival a bit further. My best friend Lou decided to join our carload and arrived about 4:40, which added a bit of brief contention as a deviation from the blueprint Sonya had in her mind. We hit the road about 5:15, and despite having just eaten, the kids were "STARVING" as Liam put it, so we hit the Taco Bell drive-thru. I suggested quesadillas, but they whined about burrito kids meals. Sonya suggested giving them what they asked for so they would actually EAT IT (refference intended). About 5 miles down the freeway, Courtney proceeded to empty the contents of her burrito all over her shirt, pants, and carseat, necessitating a stop. We hit the road again, getting snagged in mild rush hour traffic. We got to Lansing about 7pm and park about 2 blocks from the festival. Lou, Liam and I hop out of the car, and I'm already frustrated and antsy. Sonya, gathering her stuff and spraying un bug spray, clues in on this and offers to get Courtney cleaned up while Liam and I go ahead to scout a spot.

What we didn't realize was that our parking spot, while close to the performance stage, was 5 blocks from the entrance, which was at the OPPOSITE end of the huge park from the stage. We walk about ¼ mile to the entrance, get my ticket and leave Sonya's at the box office in an envelope with her name on it. After a huge line and security check, we get into the park and call Charlie, hoping to find him and thus, the stage.

After a bit of phone tag, we get there and discover that while Charlie was in the 6^th row or so, having arrived at 6-ish (as I had planned to), the only available spots were about 5 light years back, requiring the Hubbell Telescope to see the stage. It was also right next to the playground, which proved convenient at first, but a major challenge after the concert started and Liam kept wanting to run off and play.

Other than that, the only real annoyance was having to have Liam on my shoulders for the entire concert so he could see. He got a better view than I did, as I kept having to bob and weave between heads to see the stage at all.

One thing I hate about summer is that there are always events and concerts I want to go to that I just don't have the time or money for.

Que sera, sera. I better start planning the minute-by-minute detailed itinerary and saving up now for next summer's events...

Wow. For not having much to bitch about, this is a helluva long blog entry. Guess that'll happen when you take a week to write it.