beatbox banjos

I know I've posted about CR Avery before... He was my favourite discovery at OCFF last fall, and he's sort of fallen into my regular rotation and soundscape in the house.

He doesn't have a lovely voice, I mean- he's got a voice that I like listening to, it's just not a voice that on first listening I think "oh, that's really great". It's more what's behind that voice.

At OCFF I went to a tiny showcase at the recommendation of a musician that has yet to steer me wrong. I sat down, a room set to take 15 or 20- there were 6 of us. That didn't stop CR. He went on to deliver this huge little showcase.
Huge little showcase.
yup.
So much emotion and energy in that little performance- 5 songs- I cried through about half of it.
I'm a crier.*

Some people have a gift of words, not of gab, but of the ability to take words and make them mean a million things at once... CR has it.

Not only that... but I'd never seen a beatboxing, banjo playing, hip hop, spoken word, keyboard harmonica guy ever before.





*on telling this story to travwho, he just said "oh, were people clapping?"... due to my problem of bursting into tears of happiness everytime a group of people start clapping in appreciation of something.

*sigh*

I'll admit to a little bit of disappointment.
I thought I'd found a little spinning wheel well within my price range in pretty good condition, with all the little "extra" bits on kijiji. Sadly, the person was told it was worth much more than what she was selling it for- after I'd spoken for it at the original offering price.
The seller then dissapeared from conversation for a week- only to reappear and announce the price was now 3x higher...

I think the saddest part is, someone's going to pay that amount... when really it's only worth twice it's originally posted price.

Probably for the best... I should be using money for other things anyway.

Market bound

I've been sitting for a bit with my crochet hook, whipping together some market bags- the plan?
To join the Victory Garden men at the farmers' market this summer every other weekend or so- selling my random market friendly stuff.
What's that?
-market bags
-reusable veggie bags (mesh, super cute)
-vermiculture kits
-sprouting kits.

yup.
just got to get past the jury date this week (for the artists' village/festival stuff) then I can dive full on into markety goodness, and maybe a little extra spending money!

Back to back and bookended

I have a new man in my life, he's a little on the short side, but don't tell him I said that.

Two seasons of Pubstumpers led to this new thing, two WINNING seasons of Pubstumpers I should add. Yes, the KnitWits are both crafty and crafty. Hands and brains knit together to form the perfect team.... if you squint you can see me holding him at the table... he's gold. I'm wearing a silver tiara sooo, whatever.

I brought the new trophy man home in the basket of my bike after our victorious loss last Tuesday night.

Loss? Yes. Loss.

In true KnitWit fashion, we bookended the seasons with serious losses. Our first night out we got a 30something score.

"At least we beat those girls knitting in the corner" one team was overheard talking about their own low score.

That Tuesday night when the scores were called, we bested our first score by 20 points with a total of 59. Not terrible by any means, but we'd raised the bar all winter long- anything less than a 70 would keep you out of the winner's circle. When our score was read the entire bar cried out- some in cheers, some in laughter, some in disbelief.... Can I just say here that MegaDeadly and Team Anniston looked a little gleeful?

Sadly for them, We'd done the math. We knew that just by showing up we would win the season (again).

*photo from our first season win.. photo from this season to come...

a good thing

People look at me funny when I talk about how I hear sound.

Hearing harmonies before hearing the melody isn't normal apparently. I've spent a better part of the last four years retraining myself to hear and stick to a melody. I don't like it.
Because
I spent a better part of my 20s learning to stick to just one harmony line. In a conversation this weekend I said "I just wanted all the missing notes to get sung".

Now I'm mostly confused. There is music out there with missing pieces, and sometimes I can fix it, and sometimes I can't. I don't want to hear the melody....

There is one good thing about the exercise of the past couple of years- my range has changed dramatically. I used to hold fast to my lower register- but now, those high notes are where I sit... I should sit down and see what my range is now.... Now to just help my brain fit those missing notes in up the octave without fear of my voice betraying me.

Anyway, people look at me funny when I talk about how I hear sound.... But I met someone this weekend who does the same thing. It was really lovely to have a short chat about the whole deal. Just a really good thing.