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Green, Man!
 This weekend
we enjoyed Greenbelt's first Green Man festival, which started on
Saturday. We helped open the festival with the Greenbelt Drummers. My
didge was mic'd and we sounded pretty darn good, I must say. Two or
three bands that were supposed to follow us didn't show up in time, so
we extended our stay on stage. The Green Men, many of whom we previously
paraded with at a renaissance faire, showed up. Between
them and the drummers and dancers, we got the joint jumpin'. I played a
duet with Dave Landis and his Native American flute, a good combination
with dijeridoo. I
also performed
my first live overtone singing with Dorian's encouragement and we
sounded fine! All the bands that showed up at the festival played for free, and we thank them for volunteering. Some came from a long way. There were also some great arts and crafts booths, and Amethyst passed out long silks for people to dance with. It was a very pretty, if somewhat small, festival. Dorian was inducted into the Green Men, which made me really happy— he makes a great green man. I hope the Green Man Fest grows bigger next year.  Saturday night we
drove up to Damascus to visit my
sister Meg and brother-in-law Joe, and brother Thom, and five assorted
nephew-type unklings, ranging in age from 1 to 4 years. Meg & Joe
are busy moving out of their house; they already have a place in Kansas
and have sold the Damascus house, but while living there they amassed
quite a lot of junk. They decided to burn some of it. By the time we
got to their house they had already started the fire, and it grew
bigger than any previous burn I've seen there. We were glad it had
recently rained because the flames reached about thirty feet high and
threatened the nearby woods whenever the breeze picked up a little. We
pointed a dinky hose at the fire, which was very difficult to approach,
and after a while the fire ran out of much of its fuel and became more
manageable. Gina roasted vegan chocolate marshmallows on very long bamboo sticks. We drank some beer and when we ran out Joe and I went on a beer run and brought back more. We used Thom's money so the beer tasted better. Then Libia and her friend Andrea showed up so we all stayed by the fire long after Meg and the kids went to bed. We drank and joked till early morn. Finally Gina and I collapsed on what was left of a bed in what was left of the basement of the Naab's mostly empty house. I think everybody else either went home or slept in the Naab's RV. Later that morning we were woken by four unklings jumping all over us. They are cute but they nearly broke my neck. Still cute though. Meg moved them out and locked the door but the little munchkins figured out later how to get in again so eventually we had to get up. We helped Meg watch the kids and helped Thom and Joe clear out the attics in the house and garage. Then we headed home, stopping off at the La-Z-Boy furniture store to change our upholstery choice on a sofa order, due to arrive at our door in eight to twelve weeks.  Once home we said hi to Mango, showered, dressed and
headed back to
town center to see more Green Man festivities. I played my didge a
little more with DC's Rhythm
Workers Union, including a couple unexpected solos! They're a great
group. We listened to assorted other
singers and bands play, and the band Kiva
closed the festival with a great show.
While Kiva played I heard that Paul's bike lock had broken and that his
bike was locked to a tree. I love lock picking problems. After
investigating the situation I quickly picked the lock with a hammer and
chisel. It came open after nine carefully placed hits.After Green Man, Gary Kaplan (who plays with the rhythm workers) came over to our house for a little dinner and conversation. Gina and Gary watched an Eddie Izzard DVD while I dashed over to Dave Chalker's new apartment to help him move some heavy stuff out of a big U-Haul truck. Consumer alert: Don't use U-Haul, they overbook on purpose and hang up the phone when their customers come looking for promised trucks. Anyway, Dave's Mom brought us donuts, I got to see their wonderful beagle Boomer, Dave's brother Steve and Dave's friend Ryon. By the time we returned the truck I was quite fatigued. Big weekend. On Monday after work Gina and I went to the New Deal to see an Irish American duo we had missed the previous day. They call themselves Four Shillings Short, and they put on a fantastic show. Between them they play a huge assortment of instruments and they have nice voices and harmonies. Christy plays a lot of instruments including dulcimer and a sumptuous sitar, and Aodh Og (pronounced something like "aeyoag", which, he reminded us, is exactly how it's spelled) played many different pipes, recorders, bones, etc. I bought two CDs. Aodh Og complimented me on my didge playing on Saturday (or Sunday?) and I was flattered in an embarrassed way. It's good to hear compliments from an accomplished musician; makes me want to practice. On Tuesday night after attending ceramics class (glazing!), Gina and I dropped in to Dorian's place, where Christy and Aodh Og were visiting, along with Diana and her house mate Mike and friend Brian. Christy gave Dorian a bodhran lesson; I was amazed at how quickly she had him playing, and well, too! They also played CDs that they are about to produce this summer. We stayed a bit too late— too much fun I guess. Today I am quite tired. |
THE HEAP where we wade the web minus kelvin mixes |
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| INDEX gets you started |
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| FREQUENCIES we're addicted to these links boingboing |
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| THE 'HOOD links to friends and such wts |
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