10 MINUTES...

Potato plants are finally coming up in the garden. It would be a severe blow to my self-confidence if I killed potato plants; potatoes are supposed to be indestructible. (And I’m half-Irish. I should be genetically able to grow potatoes.) Elsewhere in the garden, the corn appears unhappy it got transplanted, the peas are slowly committing suicide, and the carrots and green beans have yet to show their faces (or whatever they call them) above ground. And that’s the good news.

Got the call telling me Deathgrass will only be allowed to play ten minutes at Garibaldi Days, instead of the half-hour we’d originally planned on. (The “Rockshop” kid bands will reportedly only have ten minutes each, too.) That, I am told, is because of the volume of people that have come out of the woodwork wanting to perform at a Talent Show. I don’t (and won’t) complain about that—I think it’s good. I just wish there were more time for what I guess I’d call more professional entertainment, too. Maybe next time.

I will have to ask the band what they want to do. It doesn’t bother me too much (though I don’t like late-breaking changes in rules); I’ll be down at the park anyway, helping to set up the stage and the PA system, and I’ll be at Garibaldi Days all day, and I’ll join Roland on stage when (if?) he plays if he still wants accompaniment. But I do worry about how this impacts the rest of the band. Two of ‘em are coming from out of town (though not far out of town, thankfully), and the drummer’s hauling down his kit, which is a truckload of stuff, and we’ll have spent time practicing, and at least the other four of ‘em are taking time out of rather busy lives to do this, and do it for free, for the Lions Club. But is it worth it to do it for just ten minutes? I have to ask. And I should probably ask before we get together to practice.

And it always could be less than ten minutes. The way we’d set up the schedule, Deathgrass was going to close out the show—but the PA system has to leave at 4:00, so if things run really over (and I guess they could, if Talent Show acts keep calling) it’s possible we might not get to play at all. (Alternatively, if the Talent Show acts are real short—and the ones with little kids will be—we could end up having more than ten minutes to play. I hate uncertainty.)

I am, as usual, prepared to accept whatever happens; it’s not my show, and I wasn’t asking for it to be my show. I only wanted to help. I am glad I didn’t get too much advertising out before the rules changed.

Now, the last time I vented in the blog about Garibaldi Days, people complained, and I ended up with people upset with me, and some of them are still upset with me. Accordingly, I’d advise those inclined to complain not to bother. What’s in place is not going to change. There isn’t enough time, even if somebody did want to change it—and the Talent Show will be good. Really. If Deathgrass doesn’t get to play (or play much), not to worry—we will be playing other places this summer, and they will be advertised. (And thank you for being interested.) I bet we could arrange a longer concert by the “Rockshop” bands at a later date, too, if they’re interested. (Remember, I work at an Arts Center that has a stage and a dance floor.)

Doc won’t be able to do an August 21 concert; he and his hunting dogs will be out of town at field trials. (I met the dogs today. Impressively smart critters. Both girls.) Would we want to do the Food Pantry benefit Labor Day weekend instead? Again, I’ll have to ask. I don’t want to schedule it earlier than August 21, because I want a solid month to advertise in. One needs to hit the public from a lot of different directions, in a lot of different media, to get their attention.

Music at City Hall Friday night, and the Library Saturday afternoon; Sunday night, three of us who’ve never played together before are getting together to see if we could be a contra dance band. We’ll have fiddle, piano, and me on guitar. I’ve done a little digging online (the Internet is a wonderful place sometimes) to see what exactly “contra dance music” is; two tunes I know that seem to fit the standards are the 1900-vintage Indian love song, “Red Wing,” and—surprise!—Stan Good’s “Real Good Coffee and a Real Good Wife.” I wonder what else I can find?

Joe