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Today was Jenny Foote's 30th birthday and despite being a school night (and class night for me), Beth and I joined her fiancée and fellow friends in celebration. It was good to spend some with the Jens, Danny and a specially-visiting Kate Levering. Happy birthday, Jen. Glad you could join the rest of us on this side of the hill (your next, Kate).
Last week, while on a walk in Fair Oaks Park with Seamus, Beth's father Don noticed a couple of the neighborhood felines tormenting what at first glance appeared to a big bag of fur. After chasing them off, Don and Seamus discovered that the fuzz pile was in fact a pet bunny that had either escaped or someone had let loose open the world's clover crop. With pity filling his heart Don took the bunny home, much to Betty's delight.
Now it was true that years ago, the Manning household was a veritable menagerie of the animal kingdom. There was Desmond the frog. Algernon the snake. And, of course and the ducks, Katie and Jonny. But with the kids out of the house and traveling in their hearts, the Mannings really have room for only one pet. While Seamus will miss his living chase toy, the Mannings had no choice but to hand him over to the SPCA where Rabbit (as he is affectionately know) will either make someone a nice pet or a nice stew.
I've said it before and I'll say it again — rarely in my trolling of the internets do I come across something that I deem worthy enough of sharing with you, the public, on my blog. This blog is about me and primarily about me. Oh, and Beth too.
But, when I came across this video put together by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay for Funny Or Die, I knew it was time once again to break my long standing taboo. Beth and I agree, this may be one of the funniest 2 minutes we have experienced in a long time. In under a week this clip has gone from being a rare internet gem to a viral phenomenon, so the more web-savvy among you may find this old hat. If you seen it before, check it out again. If you're seeing for the first time, enjoy. If you have no sense of humor, go away. One word of warning though, it may not be safe for the kiddies (in more ways than one). That being said, you can click here to watch it.
When living in Chicago, it was not an uncommon weekend occurrence to go out and catch a jazz set at the Bulls, the Gold Star Sardine Bar, Buddy Guy's or the Jazz Showcase. True, with covers and bar minimums they could be expensive evenings for the poor and recently-graduated. But, when you caught an amazing set of improvisational music, it was always worth it.
A lot of our favorite Chicago jazz clubs are now closed and since moving, Beth and I haven't really made the effort to explore the remaining clubs in New York City. We finally decided to jump back into the scene on Saturday night after a six year absence as we headed up to Smoke on the Upper West Side. Crowded yet intimate and elegant, we were lucky to get in without a reservation.
There is just something amazing about live music that's experienced up close and personal and, with Vincent Herring and the Earth Jazz Agents playing we weren't disappointed. A talented quartet with Vincent playing sax and one of the most energetic jazz drummers I’ve seen since Buddy Rich, they put on an excellent show. Cool.
If you haven't already noticed, there hasn't been anything too interesting about me lately — at least, nothing interesting enough to blog about. But, that doesn't mean things aren't going on near me.
Last week it was Enrique and his new daughter (he's sitting right next to me now, so that's pretty darn near me). This time, its a double whammy from Nat and his posse at the Eclipse Theatre Company. First off, their performance of Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky is getting spectacular reviews from the likes of the Chicago Tribune and comes highly recommended by the we-don't-like-anything Chicago Sun Times. Shows run through April 28th at the The Victory Gardens (that's in Chicago - duh) and it sounds like one of the must-see shows this season. Secondly, Nat has just been named the new Artistic Director of Eclipse. Nat plans to use his new found position to guide the future of Eclipse and maintain its momentum of high acclaim and achievement while smiting his enemies. All hail Nat.
