COINCIDENTAL TACHE

Mood:  suave
So I know it's been a while since I threw a Tache o'the Week out there...but give a girl a break. It's been a wee bit hectic around here.
But never fear, as I have a great one for you now.
Imagine my astonished surprise when I was sent this image by dear Mr. Hill. Took a tiny artistic liberty, and voila!
Dreaming tache...
Could it be?! There must've been a wrinkle in the fabric of time, as darned if the object of the dapper gentleman's reverie doesn't bear an uncanny resemblance to your humble author-stupid expression and everything! Fancy that!
Is it evident yet that I have no pride?
Ahem...

In other news, Karen just lined up a neat performance for us at the gorgeous Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill on July 17th. Dunno all that much about it, but it should be quite fantastic! More details as they become apparent.
Also, if you want to do something really cool this coming Sunday, come to Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain for their great Treasure Hunts and Trolley Tours! Karen will be throwing down some old-timey ukulele tunes with our pals Craig Robertson and Davis Sweet, outdoors. There'll a brass band, rides on a trolley, and even high-wheel antique bicyclers! Sounds like a total blast, huh?

THE MORNING AFTER

Mood:  spacey
What a great show at Skybar last night!
Thought I'd share a few photos....
We went on first, and it amused me that some of our friends missed us because we started earlier than they expected. Isn't that a great way to perpetuate the legend? I made sure to tell everyone afterwards that it was our best set ever, and I didn't botch a single solitary note, and we brought down the house..."Too bad you missed it!" Ha!
It was a lot of fun, though, and thanks as always to Joe Feloni, things sounded great. I really think he particularly enjoys the sound-mixing challenge of Miss Kitty's saw!
Here's a neat photo of Karen and Miss Kitty tearing it up as the latter relates the sordid tale of
"Makin' Whoopee":

Here's another taken during "Am I Blue?", with Karen on ukulele, Miss Kitty on saw and kazoo, and myself singing the sob story, like all good sob sisters should:

After we ended with a nice "Aloha OY", Turkish Queen took the stage for a wonderful, often
enchantingly ethereal set...Karen joined them for a few numbers, too...always inspiring to see her rock out like that!
Pamela Martinez was next with her band, reminding me very much of Bjork and Portishead at times...lovely!
Finally came the phenomenal, red-clad Tuna Helpers (I am feeling lazy, so if you want all the linky linky action, go down two entries to the post with the mermaid flyer and find links to all the bands.)
all the way from Austin, TX. Poor Adrienne was not feeling well, rumor had it, but you'd never have had an inkling from their performance!

Bethany is a master at American Sign Language and the keys (not to mention the xylaphone), Khattie beats a mean drum, and what a set of pipes on that Adrienne! That's not even mentioning the delightfully disturbing puppet show that accompanied a few songs. They were just magnificent, taking everyone to a different world.
We hope the rest of their tour goes well, and that someday we'll meet again.

Yes, a very memorable evening!

EXCUSE MY EULOGY....

Mood:  sad
It is with great sadness that I report the death of one of our favorite accompanists...
Jackson "Jackson" Parakeet, 199?-2005

He was a cheerful bird of stunning plumage, his twittering an integral part of the atmosphere in my living room, and always happy when I was playing music...especially when the three of us were playing together. We have many early scratch recordings in which you can hear Jackson and his beloved missus, Belinda, lending their warbling tones into the mix. Poor Belinda is desolate now. I am sure that having to sit there for however long while I was at work, with her dead mate slumped on the floor at her feet was not a comforting thing, either.
Or, who knows...maybe she's a black widow...?
Who among men can delve into the mysteries of the budgie heart?
Nonetheless, we'll miss him.
A moment of silence, if you please.
In lieu of flowers, millet sprays will be accepted.

The silence will not last long, anyhow...as there's already a new sheriff waiting to don the badge of the Sob Sisters' avian mascot.
That's Larry the starling. He's still a baby, an orphan that I've been feeding the past few weeks. The thing is, he's gotten waaaay too tame and imprinted on me to release, and I have come to find out that people keep starlings as pets. Mozart even had a pet starling! They are total clowns and they have amazing powers of mimicry.
Check out these videos of talking pet starlings,
here. Totally bizarre, huh??
The mind reels with all the things I want to teach Larry...tunes to whistle, yodeling, old fangled expressions...too bad "Hey, liverlips!" is already taken by the one in the video. He's becoming quite a character already, though!

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY...


Come to the Skybar in Somerville, MA for a truly fabulous lineup including:
The Tuna Helpers from Austin Texas
Pamela Martinez
Turksh Queen with special guests Joe Turner and Karen Langlie
The Sob Sisters
and maybe some art by Tylr McPherson???

Sunday, June 19th | Doors at 7:30, show at 8
Skybar | 518 Somerville Ave., Somerville, MA | $7 | 21+

Supercute Tuna Helpers picture and some Texas trivia behind the cut...

EPINEPHRINE! STAT!!

Mood:  amorous
Ok, now I know it's a bit out of turn for the T o'W, but I just had to share the wealth here. Thanks to the esteemed Mr. Hill for sending this my way. I had a simultaneous heart attack and stroke when I laid eyes upon this, and I am just now recovering feeling in the right side of my body.
Hopefully these pesky nervous eye tics will taper off as the day goes on.
You've been warned.
Ach du liebe!!

In other news, we are very excited to be meeting, via Craig Robertson, a gentleman who is perhaps to play the sousaphone with the bunch of us. We are all to meet on Sunday to test the waters, and I just cannot wait to hear and see what such a grand instrument will lend. We'll let you know how it goes! He's a trombonist, too, so that may even come into the mix. Wahoo!

Now off to try to recover from the powerfully affecting sight...thanks, Rob. You're tops!

X-MORTIS DE LOS MUERTOS

Mood:  don't ask
What better activity could you possibly have planned for this Friday the 13th than heading over to Manray's X-Mortis for an evening of Morbid Mexicans, Latex Luchadores, Wicked Wrestlers, Sadistic Senoritas, Hellish Hombres...and just plain fun...

Featuring several body slamming, skull-shattering and downright dastardly tag team matches from the lovely but lethal masked luchadoras of La Gata Negra League of Masked Lady Wrestlers, "Danger is our Paycheck," including (of course!) our own lovely Ms. Renee?!?!?!?

The masked lady wrestlers will be doing 2 tag team matches for maximum mondo spectacle!!!!

Hope to see you there!

Manray | 21 Brookline Street |Cambridge, MA
Doors at 9:00 | $10, 19+ to enter ~ 21+ to drink
{when in doubt, wear black!}

MAKING THE CASE

Mood:  sharp
Now, my preference in the area of facial hair or lack thereof is not exactly a secret. Just ask the mister, who amazingly maintains his stony, obstinate, clean-shaven and dare I say, completely selfish, attitude in the face of my constant whining and cajoling. Many unenlightened and unimaginative (no offense!) people just do not understand my obsession. I will now illustrate, using two of the main characters of a gripping HBO series that I recently became hooked on, via DVD box set...Deadwood.
Yes, it's a Western, but the writing is extremely involving and intelligent...and do not forget: where there are cowboys and saloons, there are taches in spades.
Exhibit A: Seth Bullock. A man of integrity, honor, fairness...but with a big chip on
his shoulder and the ability to pound a man's head into a dirty saloon floor with nary an eyeblink.
It's all about the serious, intense gaze and clenched jaw.
Exhibit B: Tim Olyphant (the actor who plays Seth Bullock) without the tache! AIEEE!! Night and day! I mean, he's sort of attractive in that perfect teeth, modern-fashion, nicey-nice way I suppose, but uh....speaking entirely subjectively...er...apples and oranges...and definitely not my cuppa.

Next we look at my favorite character...the villainous Al Swearengen, played by Brit Ian McShane.
Exhibit C:Al Swearengen, owner of the Gem Saloon, master of all the dope, whiskey, whores, gambling, and just about everything else in town.
Words cannot convey the allure of the greasy hair, foul mouth tempered by liberal use of big words, striped suit, air of danger and power, one hand ready to pour a shot of whiskey, the other ready with a shattering fist to break a jaw. Ahhh. I am rather embarrased to admit to a big crush here.(ahem) Moving on...
But, take away the tache and...I give you a deflated
Exhibit D: Ian McShane, de-Swearengened . Noooo!! He looks like a benign game show host or somesuch! The tragedy! Look closer at his upper lip! You can almost see the sad aura of the missing tache!

It was nearly too much to bear to look at the tache-less images. I hope, however, that some of you have a greater understanding of the moustache mystique. If you cannot grasp it now, then there is little hope. Just doing my part....I may be a failure in my own home (I hope he reads this and feels guilty), but if I can convert but one, then my job is done.

It's quite a shame that I am not in college anymore, as I smell a thesis in these paragraphs...or, not.

PS: Yes, this was the double Tache o'the Week. Back to the usual well (un)loved formula next time!

COME SEE WISTERIAX!

If you are in the Boston area, do consider coming
to Skybar on Saturday night, May 7th, to see Karen perform her solo act, Wisteriax .
Our friends Amber Spyglass will also be playing. It will be a great evening, indeed!
-----------------
Wisteriax
Noah Maxner
Amber Spyglass
Cabiria

Skybar|518 Somerville Ave|Somerville,MA
21+Show|$6 Cover|Doors Open @ 7:30
-------------------

Karen had her wisdom teeth pulled just yesterday, poor thing, so do join me in sending her some positive thoughts!

AHHH....NOSTALGIA....

Mood:  surprised
So the other day I was driving somewhere and upon performing the usual musical selection blind grab, which consists of keeping one hand on the wheel and using the other to reach behind the seat into a bin of many, many old cassette tapes...*sounds of clattering plastic and the car horn of the person whose lane I veered into just a little*...I came across an unfamiliar tape. To solve the mystery, I popped it into the player and...was treated with an
amusing flashback. It was a tape I made on a rickety old recorder of one of Karen's and my first Sob Sisters practices, over two years ago! I had to smile as I listened, as it took me right back. Let me just make the understatement that we have come so
far! A parakeet-ial domestic dispute can be heard in the background throughout, and the tempos were much slower than they came to be. And, we were without the magic that is Miss Heels, too. It is a great thing, in all areas of life, to stop and take notice of where you've been and how far you've come, don't you think? I can't wait to play it for the girls next time we meet! And then lock it away in a reinforced safe, guarded by a small troll, deep in the earth, so that no one will ever find it! This photo was taken about that time as well...sitting on my living room couch. Egads! We were so much more serious then.
Seems like so long ago, and yesterday...all at the same time.

Here's a picture from after the event Saturday night at MassArt, where I did not, thankfully, end my cello " " 'career' " " with an injury...though I'm thinking the league should hire a staff masseuse.
Here we are standing in front of the work of Mr. Reusch, probably, if I recall, making observations about a young college boy with a semblance of a handlebar who had wandered into the room moments before.

We're terrible...

IT'S THE 100TH POST!

Mood:  celebratory
Wow.
100 times now that I have spewed nonsense right here for everyone's amusement...or non-amusement,
in many instances, perhaps...fickle public...psh.
Time flies so quickly anymore. Though, deduct a baker's dozen or so for being the work of Karen (those would be the more coherent and constructive ones, if you're checking), and then it's not quite so bad.

Spring has finally sprung around these parts...nothing quite matches a New England spring, except a New England autumn, of course.
I can't stop sticking my nose in the pansies every time I pass through my patio...though the bees are starting to appear as well, so I'd better be careful or I'll end up with an internasal surprise.
As for more relevant items, we are continuing to polish up our repertoire, alone and with Mr. Robertson, for upcoming events. May 20th (a Friday night, so no excuses!) marks Ukulele Noir IV (just had a flash in my head of being greyhaired and arthritic, telling people to come on out to Ukulele Noir XXVII...). After that, there is a trip down to Baltimore to perform with Mr. Robertson at MAUI (Mid-Atlantic Ukulele Invitational)in June, which should be a blast...and a pocketbook depleter, since I hear there are scads of vintage ukes for sale usually! Uh oh! Once you get one, there's no stopping. Just ask Craig and Karen about that!
On our own, there are some upcoming things later in the summer at the Nave Gallery, and at Skybar...where we will be on a bill with the rather enchanting Tuna Helpers, who are coming all the way from Texas!
Details can be seen on the Concerts page.

In the meantime, if you need something to do this weekend, do come out to this on Saturday night:
Burly-Q, Wrasslin', and Sundry Hubbub at Mass Art!
You'll see the glorious art of our friend Mr. Reusch, a few great bands, some saucy shenanigans by our friends Black Cat Burlesque , aaaaand, you can gasp and bite your fingers while you watch with horrified suspense to see if, indeed, I will injure myself in a way that will end my cello "career" forever, right then and there, with a badly executed Sunset Flip...as part of La Gata Negra ! Oh, the thrills!! All this is being put on by the formidable Black Ocean and Eventworks. Come on out! Or...stay home and listen to it rain outside, then. Hmph.

One last thing...
But it's only for Mr. Hill, Mr. Russo, and Mr. Savile as they are the only ones who expressed any concern at the prospect of losing their weekly tache fix. So, gentlemen (the rest of you...don't you have some work to do or something?? Shoo! NO taches for the ungrateful...turn away now..) I present to you a very militarily dignified, formal, intense-looking, and VERY dishy Tache o'the Week! It's The Hill-Russo-Savile (or Savile-Russo-Hill...you guys can work that out...pistols or swords?) Memorial
Tache o'the Week! Behold the majesty! *cue "Reveille"*

I think I must go and find something to do now...nip these odd stray thoughts about being a nurse in WWI in the bud...ah, yes..the garden needs water...or something...."Nurse!"...er...what was I doing? Oh, yes...the garden...uh...