Interesting Picture

I've been sorting hundreds of old and not-so-old photos from my parents house. I came across this one, which may be of interest to Dan and Sarah, especially. It's taken on the campus of Kalamazoo College, where my parents had met and married.

From left to right that's my brother Rick, my mother, and me. Behind us is Hoban Hall. Interestingly, I would grow up to attend Kalamazoo College, too, and I would live in Hoban Hall. I would meet my wife-to-be Lynn there. Furthermore my son Dan and his now-wife Sarah would visit Kalamazoo in early 2011, and he would take a picture of Hoban Hall from almost the exact same spot.

More Cicada News

I decided to mow the yards this morning before it got TOO hot (only in the upper 80's as opposed to the upper 90's due this afternoon). Aphttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifparently the cicadas swarm in the morning, frantically looking for places to light and sing for a mate. So as I'm mowing over the mounds of rotting carcasses around the bases of the trees, the live ones are flying all around me, landing on my shirt, my bare legs, my neck, my forehead, my glasses (!) and my hair. When I knock them off, they fly away squealing like little pigs. So Dan, the joy of cicadas is actually tetra-sensory: sight/sound/smell/FEEL.

In fact I have heard that they are quite tasty as well, consisting of wholesome, high-quality protein and fat. I haven't eaten any myself, but I have heard and read that birds, fish and dogs and a few humans eat them readily. I haven't seen Jack eat any, nor have I seen evidence of it, so to speak.

Here's a nice link if you want to learn about the 13- vs 17-year cicadas and when and where each kind emerges.



It seems our Chicago friends aren't due for a great emergence of 17-year cicadas until 2024.

And finally, here's another clip which may give you an idea of the 6-second period they seem to use in their calling in the heat of the afternoon. (I believe there are actually two calls: the obvious high pitched ululations heard in the clip, and another steady, police-siren-like wail I've heard in some neighborhoods in town.)

Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" and LOST

I picked up a copy of Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" at Leave it to Beaver and started reading it out of curiosity. Wow! It is really good! It gives an insight into life in the urban black community in the 30's through 60's. It has fascinating complex characters and a hint of fantasy as well. Imagine my surprise when I read the account of young Macon and his sister Pilate being led by their dead father to a cave where they found interesting and useful things! For you non-Losties, that's almost exactly what happened to Jack. I've done some looking, and I can't find any mention of Song of Solomon being a source reference for Lost. Perhaps nobody made the connection except me!

Cicadas Redux

Here is a clip of cicadas on the telephone pole. (Sorry about the horizontal nature of the pole.) Turn the sound up and you can hear them singing in the tree in the front yard - along with some wind rumbles.

Plague of Locusts/Plague of Hail

Good old Carlinville has been visited with the 17-year cicadas. Dan and Sarah were here the day they emerged. Since then thousands of them have taken up residence all over the tree trunks, sign posts, tall weeds, even doorposts. There are neat little holes all over the ground from which they made their way into the world. They just started singing today, but they'll get much louder through the next month or so as they seek suitable cicadas of the opposite sex. I tried to take some close-ups, because they really are striking insects (when not squished on the driveway in the hundreds). But I couldn't get close enough and also focus. Here's an attempt.



I would have taken a picture of the stop-sign at the corner, covered with cicadas, but before I could, the hail knocked them all off. Yes, we have been hailed upon twice in the last week. Today we were driving home from Litchfield on the service road, when the car was pinged by a loud crack, like a rock hitting the window. Soon they were hitting us so hard and fast, we couldn't hear each other talk. It felt like we were driving on a gravel road. In addition to the hail, it was pouring rain. The visibility was so bad, we finally had to stop and pull over. The ground looked like it was covered with snow. I truly thought the hail would break a window. As it was, the silver car is now covered with cute little dimples. Here are some pictures.

It looks like snow by the side of the road. It's hailstones.

Taken beside the car just after the storm started.



These were taken after we got home, in the front yard. I don't know how long they'd been sitting in the grass, melting.



And just for fun, here's a creepy video of a flower pot full of cicadas before they molted.

Jack's garden

Whenever we work in the garden, Jack feels he has to do some digging too:













The Heart of the Island:

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Before a couple of weeks ago, all I knew about the Rocky Horror Picture Show was that it was a quirky, somewhat dirty movie fro the ‘70s involving a transvestite Frankenstein-like figure, and that it had become a cult favorite. I knew that it was shown at midnights on and near college campuses and that people dressed up as the characters and for some inexplicable reason, threw toast during the movie. So of course when Blackburn’s theater honors group told me they were showing it as a fundraiser and “shadow-casting” it, I was intrigued. Then when they asked me to be IN it, I jumped at the chance, not knowing exactly what “be in it” meant. I sort of assumed shadowcasting meant making motions behind a sheet with a spotlight throwing shadows that the audience would see while watching the movie. How wrong I was! I soon learned that I would be “the criminologist”, a sort of narrator. When I told students that, they snickered, said “Just a jump to the left…”, and asked if I would be jumping and dancing on the desk!
So with some trepidation, I went to the first rehearsal and had my eyes opened. It was explained to me that I and my fellow cast members would be on stage in costume, doing everything the characters in the movie were doing, and lip-synching the words. We then watched the movie together. I was amazed by 1. how very naughty it is 2. how weird and wonderful the characters are, and 3. how interesting the plot is (both satirizing and honoring ’50 science fiction and horror movies), and 4. how much I liked the music! While we watched, the director told us what we would be doing on stage. My part was easy: I would sit in an arm-chair on the side of the stage during the entire show, and “speak” occasionally, spot-lighted when the criminologist appeared on screen. Sadly, there would be no desk. It turned out to be the perfect assignment, as I got to watch the whole shadow-casted show, performed amazingly well by the Blackburn theater kids, and also watch the audience, which was equally amazing.

The movie

Yes, it is dirty, but at the same time sweetly innocent. And justice is served in the end, heart-wrenchingly and very weirdly. It is a story of innocence, lost and found. It’s also a wonderful tribute to sci-fi movies of the past: Frankenstein, alien invasions… Just listen to the first song below.
Of course, I fall in love with the music from each show I’m in, but I have to say, I really like the music in Rocky. I have a playlist of the songs on Grooveshark, if you want to bother registering and following me. Or just click on the links below, in order.
When I watched the movie that first night I was surprised to see Susan Sarandon as Janet. She does a great job. And guess who plays Eddie: Meatloaf in a small but memorable part, belting out his song Hot Patootie Bless My Soul while riding a motorcycle around inside Frank’s castle. The guy who plays Riff-Raff is named Richard O’Brien. He is excellent, and he also wrote the show. He must have been on drugs! And of course Tim Curry is absolutely stunning as Frank. Barry Bostwick as Brad? Probably the weakest of the actors. The criminologist is played by Charles Gray whom some of you might recognize as Blofelt from Diamonds are Forever as well as Dikko Henderson in You Only Live Twice. He (I) have the final words of the show, which, I believe reveal an interesting secret nobody else seems to have noticed.

The Shadow-casting

It was so much fun watching those kids acting their hearts out, without saying a word, prancing around the stage in their outrageous costumes in perfect unison with their counterparts on the screen, not showing the least self-consciousness. I have come to know most of them through my other Blackburn and Summer Rep activities, and several are my students. And of course they learned all the lines in a very short period of time, because they had to lip-synch, something I never did master. I was so proud of them.

The Audience

Bothwell was close to sold out for the midnight show, with lots of college kids, and plenty of community members too. About 1/3 were dressed in costumes. For the price of a ticket, they were supplied with a newspaper, rubber glove, Melba toast, playing cards, Glo-stick, party hats, toilet paper. Watching the audience was just as much fun as watching the show. They all seemed to know exactly when to throw the toast (when Frank proposes a toast) and when to throw the toilet paper (when Brad says “Great Scott!”) and all the other actions and phrases to yell almost continuously during the show. Clearly, that kind of behavior would be totally unacceptable during any other show, but fits perfectly with this one. I actually got a bit of a lump in my throat seeing the packed and darkened auditorium, with all the audience members waving their Glo-sticks back and forth and singing along with “Over at the Frankenstein Place”. And when everybody on stage and in the audience, myself included, got up and danced the Time Warp (It’s Just a Jump to the Left…), well, it was amazing.

If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend you:
1. Rent or buy the movie. I got it at Wal-Mart for $5.
2. Listen to the music. I have links to the songs in order below.
3. If at all possible, go to a midnight showing. If you’re brave, dress up as your favorite character.

The Music

My favorites are “Frankenstein Place”, “Time Warp”, and “I’m Going Home” followed closely by “Hot Patootie” and “Toucha Toucha Toucha Me”.

Science Fiction Double Feature

Dammit Janet

Over at the Frankenstein Place

Time Warp

Sweet Transvestite

I Can Make You a Man

Hot Patootie Bless My Soul

I Can Make You a Man Reprise

Toucha Toucha Toucha Me

Eddy

Rose Tint My World

I’m Going Home


Superheroes

Favorite bands - results

Thanks everybody who participated in the “favorite bands” conversation! I enjoyed seeing what diverse tastes we have. I’ve been listening to Edie Carey, Melissa Ferrick, Shawn Colvin, Dierks Bentley, Motion City Soundtrack, Ben Folds, Norah Jones, Soul Coughing, Damien Rice, and Les Claypool on grooveshark.com and enjoying them all.

If you’re not familiar with Grooveshark, give it a try. You can find and stream just about any music in a matter of seconds, including playlists. If you register (free) you can save and share playlists.

For the record, my favorites: Beatles, Paul Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Eagles. The last two are iffy and really tied with (in rough descending order): Moody Blues, Three Dog Night, Neil Diamond, The Who, CCR, Johnny Cash, Beach Boys, Chicago, Queen, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton (inc. Cream), Sting/The Police, Aerosmith, Frank Sinatra, The Carpenters, They Might Be Giants, The Doors, Jethro Tull, Bob Dylan