Halle Berry, I wanna be with you

Tuesday's gig was pretty good: I had fun, and I think the audience did as well.
The comments over the past few days have been odd, however.

One fellow came up to me and asked, "So, you have a dog named Biscuit?"
Um, yeah.

The other comment came from a friend who was working in the kitchen during the performance. Yesterday she asked me about my "Halle Berry song." I wasn't really sure what to say; I don't have a song about Halle Berry. She sang a bit--quoted in the title of this post--and I figured out that she meant "Hey Blue Fairy."


"Good! I didn't think you were the kind of person who would write a song about a Hollywood star... and quite frankly, I was a little offended."

Let me say that I think Halle Berry is an attractive woman, and if I were to write a song about a Hollywood actress it might well be about her. (Or Sandra Bullock. Or Julianne Moore. I'll stop now.) If I were to write such a song, however, my friend would certainly be offended (along with many other people), because it would probably come out something like Mojo Nixon's Stuffin' Martha's Muffin.
But I have no plans to write such a song. In fact, I'm working on several songs at the moment, none of which are Halle-related, but they're not coming along quickly.
I find that either they come to me all at once--"Chicken," "The Biscuit Song," and "Don't Call Me"--or else I labor over them and the results are fairly mediocre ("The Swirly Song").
So we'll see what kind of summer it is: walking seems to help, and I just got a new pair of shoes. I'll let you know how they are next week... and who knows? Perhaps I'll post some cartoons as well.

Copyright infringement

So, I spent quite a bit of time working on the t-shirt design only to realize that Cafe Press has this stupid clause in which you have to agree not to use other people's artwork, or some such thing. The back isn't quite as impressive: it just reads,

"I'm Not Bitter!"

I'm hoping that Blogger doesn't have a similar copyright infringement clause, although it would be surprising if they didn't. Or, for that matter, that no one from the school see it and becomes irate. (* It took nine months, but it finally happened: hence the missing logo.)
On the other hand, I suspect that anyone who gets too mad deserves their own copy of the shirt.

Swan Song

→ n.
a person's final public performance or professional activity before retirement: he has decided to make this tour his swan song.
- ORIGIN early 19th cent.: suggested by German Schwanengesang, a song like that fabled to be sung by a dying swan
(from The New Oxford American Dictionary)


I was hoping to offer a t-shirt through Cafe Press indicating both status as alumni of our fair school, and a reassurance that the wearer is not bitter. (Something subtle, such as, "I'm not bitter!") I suspect I'd sell at least one shirt; but I don't have time to monkey around with them today.


On the street where you live: I was on the street where I used to live last week, and noticed something that I had forgotten and not missed: naked jogging man.
Well, he's not naked, just wearing very few clothes. But it's almost enough to make you curse the good weather.


And one last plug for tonight's show: be there or be square! (Of course, some people like that sort of thing.)

Quote of the Day: "There's only so much lint in one's navel."
Said by a woman who has never seen my navel.

Koolaid & Candle Jam

Come hear some old songs and a one tomorrow night!
And as a special bonus treat, I'll wear my beret (if I can find it).

Back in the News

Mr Miro, who has featured prisoners in past shows, said he wanted to draw attention to the migrants' plight.

At least half of almost 30,000 illegal arrivals in Spain's Canary Islands, off West Africa, in 2006 were Senegalese.

Mr Miro defended his initiative, saying that he wanted to show solidarity toward immigrants.

He said some of the eight immigrants used in the catwalk show had started the process of obtaining Spanish work permits, while the others were in the country illegally.

"It's a way of giving them a tiny bit of me," Mr Miro said, adding that they were paid a small fee.

Another rainy day

Driving back from teaching a Critical Thinking class, I was listening to Bob Dylan:

"You say you're lookin' for someone
Never weak but always strong,
To protect you an' defend you
Whether you are right or wrong...

But it ain't me, babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe"

Amen.

Campus Mail

I got a fabulous thing in the campus mail today: I've been nominated to be considered for the 2006-2007 Student Choice Award! To quote the letter, "This is one of the highest awards to be given to a faculty member on our campus and it is truly an honor to be nominated."

All I have to do is submit the enclosed form by... April 2. Dang.

Campus mail sucks.

Cold Front

I think this is really cool. It doesn't look like much: you have to listen to the samples to get a sense of what this thing is. For the first few, the "dry" part starts the sound clip, and then the processed version of the same lick follows.
If you have $450 you're not using, please send it to me. (On the other hand, if I got one of these things, my book probably wouldn't get written.)