Monday, February 4, 2019

Fish Fry Gig and Jazz Jam


I hope my readers got to get outside and enjoy the much-improved temperatures this weekend. Friday night I had a gig at Common Ground’s fish fry, and to my surprise one of the other altos from our choir and her husband came. Of course – someone had tagged me on social media, so they saw the post. Our set list was very heavy on polkas because our bandleader thought polkas were appropriate for a fish fry, and the lighting was kind of an issue, but I enjoyed playing anyway. Travalon, meanwhile, was at a very exciting Badger basketball game, where they came from behind to beat Maryland.

Saturday Travalon and I went to a café on Willy Street that has a bicycle theme, then we went to a bar on the river in Fort Atkinson to see an acoustic duo doing Jimmy Buffet covers. Tiffy had been planning to come up, but she wasn’t sure about the weird weather forecast, so she stayed home and we talked on the phone while Travalon and the guys had a steak night. When Travalon got home, he and I walked around the house to Pantera songs. If any of our neighbors are not snowbirds, they must think we are nuts! Maybe we are…

Yesterday Travalon and I joined members of our choir for brunch after Mass, and as I’d feared the one alto told the others about my gig. Granted, her criticisms of my band were all valid, and the only ones she had of me were that I should learn some more interesting rhythms for polkas, and that my solo on “Ashoken Farewell” was wonderful so I should really have more solos. After that Travalon and I thought about heading out of town, but the fog was so thick that we gave up and went to Middleton, where we took a long walk in the neighborhoods just around downtown. Then we went to a jazz jam at the North Street Cabaret, and that was really cool. Some of the performers were amazing, like a professor from Whitewater and a kid who looked maybe fifteen. Some were pretty mediocre, like the three different people who sang “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye.” Craziest of all, there was an old lady in a short dress, who was sitting in such a way that you could see she had no underwear on, and she got up last and played on a very out-of-tune mandolin she called Wanda. I guess that’s more imaginative than the name I have for my own mandolin – I just call her Mandy. Then we went to a new restaurant for dinner, but I got mad because they had no toilet paper – not even toilet paper dispensers – so we left. No, we didn’t watch the Super Bowl because we are sick of Brady and still mad that the Saints got eliminated due to that terrible non-call. I hear it was the most boring one ever, even the ads and the halftime show. And of course the Patriots won again. Yawn!

Famous Hat


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