On the subjects of Freemasonry, salsa dancing, and Die Hard: The Puppet Musical

This past Saturday I attended a rare performance of Die Hard: The Puppet Musical!! If you liked the first Die Hard movie, you really owe it to yourself to see it acted out by puppets. The whole thing is totally, wonderfully, over-the-top ridiculous. The production's kinda sloppy, but in some strange way, that works. Puppets exploding, making friends, committing goofy acts of violence, falling in love, and singing funny songs...do you really need anything more?

On Tuesday, my salsa teacher was on the Today show! She participated in the Today show's version of Dancing with the Stars, which entailed her teaching Tiki Barber how to cha-cha. She did a great job, particularly considering how little time they had to work together. Just another reason I'm so proud to be her student!

And in my most important news, I passed my second degree test and am now a Fellow Craft (2nd degree) Mason. (Only one more degree to go.) Our lodge, being a very old-school lodge, handles the test differently, in a way that is more stressful and asks more of the candidates than other lodges. But I really think I got much more out of the experience because I was held to high expectations. In theory I'll take my third degree test in February.

No cancer for this kitty; International Talk Like a Pirate Day; the GRE is to fun as...?

Hooray! My sister's cat Bast does not have cancer, as was feared! Bast is a tremendously awesome cat who means a lot to my sister and her fiance, and, as you see below, totally comes equipped with an eye patch. Don't let the sweet (and a little dumb) exterior fool you. Piratecat is on to you.



I was going to post about international talk like a pirate day, but I was studying for the GRE and now it's the day after talk like a pirate day. The GRE is a weird thing. My princeton review book says, and I'm inclined to agree,that the GRE only tests your ability to take the GRE and nothing else. Not knowledge, not intelligence, just whether you can figure out what the test-makers were thinking when they wrote that question. That's it. So when the question asks...

Treaty of Ghent is to oxoglutarate dehydrogenase as:
a) badger is to footrace
b) schooner is to Batman
c)-12 is to lunchbox
d) Mischach is to Abednego

you know the answer is clearly (e) you are wasting time and money on a test your prospective neuroscience programs require you to take but don't really care about.

In other news, I don't want to presume anything, but I think this is about me. I even saw this person and everything! ("acrossed?") Man, this whole internet business kinda frightens me.

Except for this guy. He never frightens me.

Shakey Jake (????-2007)

I was in my head, and there only, as I strode down the street. Jaw clenched, more stress than usual - too much work, too little time, and too much juggling of science and theatre and a million other things. Too much in my head, though, to actually get anything done. And then, a tiny man hobbling just as fast in the opposite direction. A big, leopard-print, fur-collared coat. A straw hat. A guitar with only three strings. Large and unmistakable sunglasses. "I got to do my job," he said, happily, addressing me. "Ain't nobody else going to do my job but me!"
He passed by, and I couldn't help but laugh. It was suddenly so clear. He had his job, I had mine. I got back to work.

Shakey Jake passed away on Sunday. His job was, by all accounts, being Shakey Jake. A local icon like no other. Loved by his host city of Ann Arbor, and always happy to bid you a hearty hello or a simple, conspiratorial nod, like he knew what you were up to and he wanted you to know he approved. Did he actually know how to play that guitar? Where did he go when he wasn't on the street? How did he know what I needed to hear? Probably neither I nor the thousands of residents of Ann Arbor with similar stories of Jake will ever know. He was just Shakey Jake, and he did his job. Rest in peace, Jake.

Of particular interest to Luke, or anyone else who likes creepy space skeletons

I saw the band O'Death at a new artists showcase (for which my favorite radio station was kind enough to put me on the guest list) some months ago. They completely tore the place down - do you know how hard it is to get hipsters to dance? These guys were like what you'd get if the Manson family formed a band, and were incredibly fun to listen to. Well, they've finished their first music video, and here it is. (The claymation galley slaves are the best part, methinks.) Go watch it!

I love brooklyn (cont.d), Or, Is that giant snake monster sponsored by beer?

Woo, lord it does take me a long time to keep this thing up to date. My point being, the best event in all of NYC was held, for the 40th year in a row, on labor day a stone's throw from my place of living. And the West Indian Cultural Festival/Parade did not disappoint. They say somewhere between 3 and 4 million people attended! Some of the dance troupes had upwards of 200 members! It's really just amazing, and I know it couldn't happen anywhere else.

Help!

Someone last night left me a voicemail message saying "Hey, it's me," and explaining that their sister has to have surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells, and asking me to call. But they didn't say who they were, and I couldn't tell from the message! There was no record of a missed call, because my phone was off, so...if this was you, PLEASE CALL ME BACK AND LET ME KNOW!

For the millionth time, i LOVE brooklyn

(this is also one of two such posts glorifying my borough of residence that you'll find this weekend, for with monday comes the best event in NYC)

I went to Coney Island last night with a friend for the fireworks. Walking around you'd be hard-pressed not to crack a smile at the surreal joyfulness of it all - the games, the rides, the music, the food. It was a perfect night, weather-wise, for laying on the beach and watching the fireworks. And there, amidst the brightly-colored commotion in the sky and on the ground at Astroland, as we rose from the sand in the shadow of the monolithic parachute jump tower sitting silent nearby, some siren Brooklynite began to really belt out the Fugees' "Killing me Softly," at a Karaoke booth on the boardwalk. And I fell in love with Brooklyn all over again.

Batch update #72 - Laziness on a saturday

I am SO bad about keeping this thing updated! Things pile up and then you get posts like this one.

I flew home recently for a family reunion. It was a really nice time out at my uncle's apple orchard in Romeo, Michigan. He's had a lot of work done on the place since last I was there, and it looks great. Seeing the fam was, as always, re-energizing and calming all at the same time. I also cooked dinner with Hilary (as has become our tradition) and we made Opah.

I also have the pleasure of announcing that Sarah has bought a house with her boy Joey (who will be pictured here when blogger stops being stupid). The house is huge and they are completely renovating it (as if this girl didn't amaze me enough before). The parts that have been redone are like something out of a magazine. I'm so happy for her!

My old tango partner came to town recently, which was great fun. I got to take her out dancing with me at the usual monday night spot, and she really liked it.

Otherwise, things have been good. Work is work, I'm starting to jump through the hoops for my phd applications, and I've been dancing and cooking and running about.