"SLEEPING PIGGY"?

After about the third person called to tell me how much they enjoyed the Failed Economy Show concert, it occurred to me: Garth Brooks doesn’t get calls like this. Poor guy. I’ve written before in these spaces about people’s need to have a personal connection with “their” entertainers; I think we’re managing to achieve that, at the same time we’re becoming just a little bit famous. I love it.

I think at this point, we have a fair number of people talking about how great a show it was, and a bunch of people regretting they weren’t there; if that “buzz” could be kept up (though I don’t know how to do that), we could get a decent crowd at a CD release party.

When? Sometime in March, I’d expect; the CD should be recorded, mixed and mastered by the end of February. A Saturday night, so it’ll be an excuse for a concert, with all the attendant publicity. (A Sunday afternoon would work, too.) Where? Ideally, the Bay City Arts Center (which is available March 19 and 26—both dates are Saturdays). Good performance space, and the possibility of some support staff—and if it works right, the event gets attention for, and traffic to, the venue (and the Arts Center could use that). I’ve only ever attended one CD release party, so I’ll need to collect pointers on how one’s supposed to be organized.

As teacher Wil Duncan was demonstrating to our class the professional video cameras film and TV techs use these days, I realized I might just have one: the old Fisher camcorder I was given when I lived in Union—was it really five years ago?—has all the controls Wil was describing. What it lacks, besides an owner’s manual (which I can’t get—the manufacturer, or the company that bought them out, denies the camera ever existed), is a battery. I found a battery and charger for cheap (yes, the camera may not exist, but you can still get parts for it), and we’ll see if it can be made to work. The challenge is going to be making the camera “interface” with the computer; things like that weren’t even dreamed of back when this camera was made. It will mate up to a VCR, though, and I may be able to create something from there.

And I’ve been asked to script another puppet show—the legend of Sleeping Beauty, this time, with (again) the sock-puppet cast of Star Wars characters we used in “Pig Wars.” Working title: “Sleeping Piggy.” One new character—Chewy (yes, we will finally have a Wookie in the troupe), who I envision as a cross between Cookie Monster and a rug. The tale will have to be twisted a little, since I need parts for Luke, Leah, Hansolo, Darth, and Yoda, too. (Shakespeare probably had problems like this.)

Tentative performance date: Saturday, March 5, at the Bay City Arts Center; that’s the night they’re having both an elementary-school art show and an open mike, so there should be a good crowd on hand. (This is important. People would be unlikely to come on their own. They need to be already there.)

Music this week Thursday night and maybe Sunday night in Wheeler, and maybe Saturday afternoon at the Tillamook Library. I have one more photo to take, I think, for the “50 Ways” music video. Jobs to apply for, too.