2002-08-10
Bluegrass on the Grass, posted at 12:36 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Last night was our softball team's finale dinner, and it was a good night. We started out at Degroen's Grill, which is a fairly new place, and attended this thing called "Bluegrass on the Grass" there. Every Friday night, they have bluegrass music from 5-8, 24-oz beers for $2.50, and the ads say to bring lawnchairs or beach towels and sit and enjoy the music. I'd been wanting to go all summer, and I wasn't disappointed. There wasn't much grass there (glad we didn't carry the lawn chairs from the car), but there were picnic tables, the beer was good and cheap, and the music was fun.Andie, Rick (This is my new roommate, who moved in a week ago. He's Andie's boyfriend. I'll tell you more about him later), Jesse, Renee, Boston Betty, and London Lou all came. It was a fun time. I had three of those 24-oz beers, and was pretty sloshed by the time we left.
Oddly enough, Dolly Parton came up in two independent conversations last night. It was bizarre. How often does Dolly Parton come up in conversations, let alone twice in the same night by different people? Twas funny. The first time was mine, because Dolly Parton has a new bluegrass album out that's supposed to be really good; it's got a bluegrass cover of "Stairway to Heaven" which is supposed to be amazing. I mentioned this review I had read of it - from The War Against Silence that said something to the effect of, "Come on, hasn't jokes about Dolly Parton been worth $15 of your money throughout your life? Go buy her new CD." Glenn McDonald is awesome. Anyhow, I told that story. Then, someone else brought her up later. I forget what that conversation was about, but it was probably about bluegrass.
Boston Betty and London Lou brought me over to the restaurant. London Lou (formerly Brendan) is a 50s-ish British guy and Boston Betty's husband. What a wonderful guy he is. Anyhow, I tend to talk about cats with him on occasion, since he's a cat person and I'm new to owning cats. I asked him what a cat licking you meant, since Tobey does that all the time. At first, he said it was because he wanted salt. I was disappointed, I thought it might be a sign of affection or something. I didn't say that, I just kind of gave a disinterest "Oh." He caught on to my disappointment, and joked, "Well, Epiphany, did you think he wanted to fuck you or something?"
It was hilarious. You've got to picture it coming from an older British guy to get the full effect.
We had dinner at a Mexican restuarant in Federal Hill, meeting a few more team members. I was drunk; it was my first time drinking in a few weeks. I didn't get ridiculous - only had four beers for the night - but definitely was feeling a little bit "sluggish," as I said over and over again. I was pretty tired even starting out the night, as I didn't work out on Friday (that makes me noticeably tired) and woke up at 6am for school after a late night on Thursday watching ER.
Speaking of TV, Scrubs is absolutely hilarious. Right up there with Friends and Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Malcolm in the Middle as the funniest shows on TV right now. I'm so glad they're moving Scrubs to 8:30 after Friends next year. I can still put off learning how to set up my VCR to tape shows, as Scrubs certainly wasn't going to beat out 24. However, that new Good Morning Miami show looks like it could be quite a dud from the commercials. I like that actor (all I remember is his first name is Mark, and he was on The West Wing and What Women Want) and the girl who is his "he had every reason to leave, but an even bigger reason to stay" is dropdead gorgeous, but I haven't even chuckled at the commercials. Then again, I thought the ads for Scrubs made it look pretty stupid before the start of last season.
The rerun of Will & Grace was also great. That show can still provide lots of outloud laughs. I loved the "exercises" that Karen was doing, and Parker Posey was hilarious in her role.
I'm talking more and more about TV, so I guess it's pretty evident that my DSL is still out. :)
Things with the new roommate, Rick, are working out well. He's spent every night at Andie's house so far, so he hasn't been there a whole lot. But he's got some good stuff - particularly some really cool artwork for the walls, a chair that looks great in the living room, and an impressive CD collection. It looks like he's going to be easy to get along with. We haven't hung out a whole lot, but did a little bit yesterday as I went out and ran some errands with him. He's a nice guy. The second new roommate moves in on Thursday.
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Teaser for My "100 Best Songs of All Time" List, which I'm currently working diligently on.
#17. "The Christians and the Pagans" by Dar Williams
On Christmas Eve, a lesbian paganist couple calls up a devout Christian uncle not seen in years and asks to come over for dinner and a place to stay. On the surface, Williams' ode to religious and family acceptance sounds like the type of "comedy" song you might like to hear once and laugh but feel no need to hear again (think Weird Al Yankovich). But it's so, so much more than that. There certainly are instances of humor ("Now when Christians and Pagans get together, only pumpkin pies are burning"), but the moments that make this song such a moving and rich character study are the small ones, like the Christ-loving uncle noticing that his niece looks a lot like his brother, who he hasn't spoken to in a year, and how he'd like to call him up, and say, "It's Christmas and your daughter's here." And the cousin's partner explaining paganism to the young cousin: "You find magic in your God, and we find magic everywhere." Heck, even the comedy of the "only pumpkin pies are burning" gets pathos when it's sung for the final time, when Williams says, "I think the magic is in the learning, because now when the Christians meet the Pagans, only pumpkin pies are burning." How many other songs can bring up the burning of the "witches" back in the 1600s and still give you a faith in humanity so deep that you get goosebumps? An incredibly powerful song in the guise of a humorous anecdote, this song gives me hope that someday my dysfunctional extended family might actually be able to sit down for a holiday dinner together again.