Yes, we know that at midnight tonight you’ll be dressed up and in a theatre seeing Star Wars. (We’re waiting to see it with our nephews and niece after Christmas.) But, this is some of the stuff that we’re reading right now. We think you should be reading it too.
Tag: friends
The Kitty Convict Project #KittyConvict
Regular readers know that we’re animal lovers here. We have cats and dogs here at Casa Dachshund, despite the name, and we love all animals.* That’s why this new project by Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal fame is so cool. This is, as he explains on the website, a form of cat atonement (catonement) for recently Kickstarting a super successful game called Exploding Kittens. Really.
You should go to this – it’s on our calendars
I received this at work and sent it to Geoff and we both agreed that we’re going to go. This is important and discussions like these need to happen with sympathetic audiences like you find here in MA and elsewhere. If you’re in the neighborhood, won’t you join us? It’s FREE and open to the public.
Event:
Reflections on Gender: A Panel Discussion of Transgender History
Continue reading “You should go to this – it’s on our calendars”
Dear, Death;
Please go on a vacation.
October and November concerts for you!
There has been a lot going on in the last few weeks. I’m still sorting through the luggage, photos, and general wreckage of running around like a decapitated chicken. But! I have concert news for you that involves me, friends, coworkers, and perfect strangers that I feel the need to bring you. So, I’m setting aside the work that needs to be done to share the details with you. Please make sure to see at least some of these, they’re going to be great!
Tom Zajac, you will be missed
Unlike a lot of people in Boston I can’t claim I knew Tom well. I’m sure that the couple of times we met didn’t make an impression on him at all, as a matter of fact. But he was a bit of a legend in his own time and, unlike a lot of far less talented people I’ve met, he wasn’t a legend in his own mind. That much was clear the moment you met him, he didn’t buy into the “Artist as Asshole” phenomenon.
I hate that particular phenomenon.
Regular readers will remember that not long ago I posted in this space about a benefit for Tom. The link to that post is here. Teri had told me recently that Tom was being moved into hospice care. That’s never good. People generally go into hospice care in order to peacefully move from this world into the next, not to return to the bloom of full health. Tom had apparently been given about 6 months, maybe less, as a prognosis.
The Early Music community here in Boston has been collectively holding its breath while Tom’s illness has been unfolding. He was not only a well respected performer here, he was also a teacher and friend to many. He was also just unfailingly nice.
Tom died on Saturday. And though I didn’t know him nearly as well as many, I still grieve for those who loved him, especially his lovely wife Lilli, the community of which he was a linchpin, and the rest of us who were touched by his presence.
There is a lovely post about his life here. I encourage you to read it. I do not know the author, I found the post by happenstance, but it is beautifully done.
“Good-night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 5, Scene 2
Rest in Peace, Tom.
~Kelly
Newton, Brookline, Boston, and local businesses!
If you want to appeal to a local audience and support the arts, check this out.
Regular readers of this space know that I’m the General Manager for Cappella Clausura. Aside from looking for volunteers for our group, running front of house, and doing all the other things I do, one of my other responsibilities is to find advertisers who’ll help defray the costs of keeping the doors open and the lights on.
That’s where you come in, dear readers. Do you own a small business that would benefit from advertising in Cappella Clausura’s programs? Would you benefit from buying linkspace on our website? If the answer is yes, (or even maybe) then I have all of the details below to help you contribute the arts and drive customers to your door at the same time.
Continue reading “Newton, Brookline, Boston, and local businesses!”
New Hampshire People! Get some Jazz!
I’m bringing you greetings from the inimitable Dave Scott. He’s got two gigs coming up in New Hampshire. They both sound fantastic, especially the one in Portsmouth because 1) it’s in Portsmouth and 2) Beatles.
Go if you can, Dave and his friends make great music and great fun. From Dave:
FRIDAY, JUNE 19th, 8 p.m. THE PURPLE PIT in Bristol, NH, $14
This is another Jonathan Lorentz “joint.” You hopefully know Jon as the tireless (well, I have to assume he gets tired at some point, with all the teaching and playing and family-manning and gig curating he does) sax player and impresario of a number of performance situations throughout New Hampshire. He’s put together a new performance situation at this nice coffee place and restaurant in Bristol. There’s a whole summer and fall full of entertainment planned! Check out one of the shows, if you’re in the area or are traveling there, so that the music endures at this location.
DYAD
(David Thorne Scott – voice, bass, trumpet, mandolin, melodica)
(Mark Shilansky – piano, voice, intent to play other instruments at some point)
http://www.thepurplepit.com
Sunday, June 21st
6-9 PM at THE PRESS ROOM, 77 Daniel St, Portsmouth NH, $10
THE META-BEAT!
We are the Meta-beat, and we were born out of numerous lunch-time conversations between Les Harris and Mark Shilansky. As such, we play the music of the Beatles, plus solo Beatle material, plus music by Beatle collaborators and contemporaries, often in medleys. We recontextualize things as well, so though we are often doing straight-up covers, we also will play instrumental versions of tunes, swing some of them, latin-ize some of them, play an early Beatles tune in the style of the later Beatles, mash them up, reharmonize them. It’s fun and I think fun to listen to as well, and this gig we have a very special guest because Sara Caswell is joining us.
M.S. – piano/voice, David Thorne Scott – voice, Les Harris Jr – drums/voice, Aubrey Harris – bass/voice, Eric Byers – guitars/voice, Special Guest: Sara Caswell – violin
I’m working tomorrow night, but if we can make it to the performance in Portsmouth, we will. Go out, get some culture, tell your friends!
~Kelly
Really Good Music for a Really Good Cause- Benefit Concert for Tom Zajac
The greater Boston community of Early Music folks is coming together tomorrow night to do something that, in my many years here, is pretty much unprecedented. We’re getting together to give our time, talent, and treasure for the benefit of another musician.
Tom Zajac is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher. He’s a musical powerhouse and also just a really nice guy. As it sometimes happens with the vagaries of nature, he’s had a series of totally necessary medical procedures and uncomfortable surgeries that have left him unable to keep up with his usual number of gigs, teaching assignments, and concerts. That means that despite what insurance is covering, he’s facing an income gap.
We’re trying to fix that.
Tomorrow night at 6:00pm as a part of the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert Series friends of Tom Zajac will present Battaglia d’Amor: A Benefit Concert for Tom Zajac, an All Star Lineup of groups in concert at First Lutheran Church, Boston. For those of you playing along at home, that’s 299 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116 in the heart of the Back Bay.
Are you ready for this? This is the list of performers. It’s like a rock star list of the early music groups from Boston and beyond. Here they are, in no particular order:
- Piffaro
- Boston Shawm and Sackbut Ensemble
- Boston Camerata
- Blue Heron
- Renaissonics
- Dünya
- Exsultemus
- Tapestry
- Arcadia Viols
- Meravelha
- Seven Times Salt
- Francie Fitch
If you’re planning on attending, please RSVP here. We’re expecting this to be completely sold out and SRO. Admission is a suggested donation of $20, though you’re welcome to give more if you are able. All money will go directly to Tom. Everyone, all performers, staff, the venue, and the publicity from BEMF, is all being donated on his behalf. Everything.
If you can’t attend and would still like to help out, there’s a GoFundMe page set up here. We’re almost at our goal. If you can help out, please do. Ideally we’d like to smash that goal to pieces.
I’ll be there tomorrow night working front of house on behalf of Cappella Clausura and Meravelha. In advance I’d like to thank you for your help and for being a part of this fantastic community effort.
~Kelly
I’m not a workaholic, I swear
After the post I wrote most recently and some discussions I’ve had with people in various parts of my life, I’ve run across a fair number of people who seem to think that this schedule I’ve been living, this logging of 60-70 hours of work a week, minimum, is fun. That I do it because I like it and that somehow I’m not aware that it is inherently bad for me.
They are so, SO very wrong. But they refuse to understand that this has been a matter of survival. This has been the way that I’ve adapted to keep us afloat and alive and not living on the streets. So few people truly understand that our economy here in the US has fundamentally changed. Geoff and I are living proof that the old way, each having one job, having some security in that job, buying a house, and then eventually retiring just isn’t the way things work anymore.
The Books are Taking Over... 