Rainbows Are Visions

I love the Muppets, having grown up with the original "Muppet Show" and enjoyed "Muppets Tonight" as well. Laura was a big fan, too, and we saw an exhibit on the Muppets at the Museum of the Moving Image together before we were really dating. The first movie we went to together was "The Muppets," and we watched many of the old episodes and films at home (and had a habit of singing "Mahna Mahna" together). She and they are kinda inextricably entwined in my mind now, which is both a happy and a sad thing. As a result, I couldn't bring myself to go see "Muppets Most Wanted" when it came out, and I was hesitant about checking out the new show that debuted tonight (and it doesn't help that yesterday would've been our two-year wedding anniversary)... but I decided to watch it anyway.

"My life is a bacon-wrapped hell on earth," indeed. And the "passionate bear" reference... lol This is certainly not "The Muppet Show" or "Muppets Tonight." I'm still adjusting to the "reality TV" angle, but I have to say I enjoyed the premiere very much. "Ivan the terrible... dancer!" "Maybe you're grumpy your spray tan's too orange..." Glad to see the jokes are as good and as bad as ever. Poor Tom Bergeron... As great as it was to glimpse Uncle Deadly using a lintroller on Kermit, though, I do need to see some of those Muppet penguins again!

Boston was nice, thanks for asking. I could definitely have used more time there, but the weather was perfect and I enjoyed the time I did have. I also got some me time in NYC on Saturday evening, opting to celebrate first Oktoberfest (because I'm part German) and then the Feast of San Gennaro (because I'm also part Italian). Weissbier, bratwurst, and zeppoles... yum. I attended another of Tania Stavreva's musical performances, too. Pics, as always, are in the Gallery... of Death!

Yes, I'm making some progress with the album. I've been digging out old files for remixing and mastering, and I'm working on writing a few new songs to be recorded. Slowly but surely. So I'm movin' right along...

And yeah, I think I'll have to sit down and watch "Muppets Most Wanted" soon.

8:09 10-11-12

Fancy meeting you here...  Well, I've fallen behind a bit with the whole 'blogging thing, so I decided today would be a good day for a new post.

Less than two weeks ago, I turned 42 years old, and Laura gave me a silver guitar pick, inscribed with a line from John Lennon's "Imagine," as a pendant for the chain she'd given me earlier in the month for our one-year anniversary together.  We figured we'd mark this auspicious occasion (my birthday, not our anniversary) with a small and vaguely "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"-themed party.  (For those who are woefully unfamiliar with "HHGttG," 42 is determined by a supercomputer to be the answer to the "ultimate question" of "life, the universe, and everything.")  We ended up with 22 guests, less than my 40th but a few more than we'd originally planned on; still, a fun time was had by all, and when my peers had all left, I did two shots with Laura's twenty-something co-workers before they, too, took off.  I preferred the taste of the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters I'd whipped up, but hey... I'm not old yet.  ;-)

Last weekend, we opted to celebrate Oktoberfest! We took the train to Hoboken early Saturday evening and walked to the Pilsener Haus Biergarten, where Viktoriya ably waited upon us and delivered two Maßes of beer, delicious beer:

That is a lot of beer

After we downed all that beer, as well as some pretzel dumplings to go with our wienerschnitzel and goulash (and Spätzle!), we took our leave and went giggling down the quiet streets of Hoboken toward Ben & Jerry's, where Laura had her dessert, and the Old German Bakery, where I had mine.  There was also a brief romp through a Halloween costume store...

My silly, silly girlfriend...

We've got three concerts coming up near the end of October: Regina Spektor at the Beacon Theatre, the Indigo Girls at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair (we're going with their biggest fan, my friend Dawn), and Aimee Mann at Town Hall.  Three great acts in four days!  Aimee's video for "Charmer" is a lot of fun, too, and the one for "Labrador" looks awfully familiar...  After that, there's Halloween, and we're hoping to attend the Village Parade, which Laura's never seen, in costume.  November will see us going on a four-day trip to visit her dad and sister.  First time flying together, though we've been quite content and comfortable on four-hour road trips with each other...

I also intend to take part in NaNoWriMo next month.  I first heard about National Novel Writing Month last year and briefly entertained the idea, but I just wasn't organized enough to pull it off.  Can't say I'll definitely be successful this November, but I'm going to give it a determined effort; I've written short stories and poems in addition to essays and songs, so I think I can tackle a 50,000-word novel.  Right?  Hey, that's only 1,666 words a day, and this 'blog post has almost 700 already...  OK, so I'm feeling a little daunted now.

I'm in the process of revamping my Web site(s), too.  The UI should look nicer across different resolutions and orientations (browsers aren't such a consideration these days), and the Gallery... of Death! will finally be updated with all of 2012's pics.  Not sure when I'll be putting the new site up, though; I'd like to have it done before the end of October, but I've got music to work on, too.  I've got most of the music and some of the lyrics to a new song written, I just haven't had much time to finish, what with Slime and the party and work and all...

Two members of Pussy Riot are going to have plenty of time, two years in a penal colony (there's a joke in there somewhere...), in fact.  The third and oldest (at 30) convicted "hooligan," Yekaterina Samutsevich was released yesterday with a suspended sentence, because she'd been ejected from the cathedral by guards before she'd had a chance to get her guitar and join the "punk prayer."  Let's hope common sense prevails and Maria and Nadezhda are released soon, too.  Free speech and political protest are scarce commodities in Putin's Russia this Red October...