I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
-James Branch Cabell

January 06, 2012 - 12:07 p.m.

Azure, Cerulean, Cobalt, Indigo, Sapphire, Teal, Turquoise, Ultramarine, Cyan

Here's my dilemma. I'm getting a late start writing, it's almost 10, and I haven't started editing my photos. I have over 400. Should I post without photos or post late? That is the question. I'm taking more photos today so perhaps I should post late.

I'm done editing the photos so it's time to write. Last night I went to see the Chicks with Dip tribute to Joni Mitchell's album Blue at the Christopher Street Coffee House. That's as close as it can come to a musical home game for me. A dozen of my friends playing at the venue I'm on the board of honoring the greatest album, of one of my favorite artists. Oh yes, I knew about half the audience too. And it was a big audience.

My friend Jess took the bus down from Providence and I was supposed to meet her. I got on the subway and got there 15 minutes early. The Megabus has been late the last four times I was taking it or meeting someone so I didn't expect it to be on time. It wasn't. It was two hours early. I got Jess's text after I got off the train so I walked down to the Church where the concert was.

I was the stage manager but what I mainly did was work hard at not getting in people's way. I hope I succeeded. It was tough because I was surrounded by so many of my favorite people. Sharon calls the chicks "your girls' when talking to me. That pretty much sums it up.

The show was in two acts. The first act was a performance of all the songs on the album with no breaks and no talk. That worked perfectly. Here's the lineup.

  1. All I Want -- Honor Finnegan and Carl Money (Honor's Husband)

  2. My Old Man -- Allison Tartalia

  3. Little Green -- Elisa Peimer

  4. Carey -- Sharon Goldman

  5. Blue -- Carolann Solebello with Allison Tartalia

  6. California -- Victoria Lavington and Carolann Solebello

  7. This Flight Tonight -- Anna Dagmar with Allison Scola

    Anna Dagmar


    Allison Scola


  8. River -- Meg Braun with Anna Dagmar

  9. A Case of You -- Karyn Oliver

  10. The Last Time I Saw Richard -- Catherine Miles with Paul Silverman (her bandmate in the YaYas)

The House band was Cheryl Prashker on drums and Jon Sobel on bass

This worked in every way possible. These aren't easy songs to play or sing and they did a magnificent job. I always think of them as being songwriters first but here they got to show how well they can sing. It isn't just a matter of having great voices, even more it's interpretation. They took these songs, some of which are very well known and kept them fresh. I listened to every lyric and every nuance. I came away loving the songs even more. For the most part they played the close to the original. The one exception was Sharon's slow tempo version of Carey. It's always scary tampering with a classic but it worked and that's the only thing that matters.

During the break I hung out with friends which wasn't as easy as it sounds as I had so many there. I think I spent the most time with Gene & Isabel, Seth, Erika, Mike, and Coco. It was Coco's birthday. This dark secret was that it was actually just her birthday party.

This was the biggest crowd we had at the coffee house this year. Here's the crowd.


Front Row: Jay (Catherine's Husband and bandmate), Catherine, Allison S./Second Row: Fred, Seth, Isabel, Gene/Third Row to the right of the tripod, Joanne.

In the second act each of the performer did an original song. This is of course how I'm used to hearing them. Carolann wrote one special for the occasion. It was great but you'll have to take my word for it as there were sound problems. She promised to perform it again.

For a finale they all got together and sang Big Yellow Taxi

It was amazing how smoothly things went. I didn't have to stage manage at all. Everything went off like clockwork. If you've been to these sorts of things you know this is the exception not the rule. Nobody ever said, "where's ___________?" There were no awkward breaks. It was one song after another as if they had been performing this every night for a month.

After the show I made no attempt at a quick getaway. I knew I'd be having too much fun talking to my friends. I did resist doing one of my favorite things in the world, going out with them after the show. As it was I got home around midnight.

Right now I'm listening to Honor's brand spanking new CD, Tiny Life which was just released. I think they were delivered yesterday. This was hot off the presses. Now you need to get your copy.

I feel I'm not doing the show justice. It was the first concert I went to in 2012 but I can guarantee you that it will be one of the best and I'll be talking about it in my end of the year review. It worked on every level possible. I was surrounded by music and people that I love and it was more than the sum of the parts. As Howie Rose says after a great play put a circle around it.

Now I have places to go and things to do but I'm still basking in the glow of last night.
I almost forgot the rest of the pictures:
Joni Mitchell's Blue Tribute


I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.





Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018



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Horvendile January 06, 2012
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