Music, dance, food and fun

Had a fun weekend... somehow managed to do lots of fun stuff without too much frenzy, always a challenge.

On Friday, we went to Himal-Chuli, one of 3 Nepali restaurants in Madison. It's tiny... 24 seats, and the tables are thisclose together. But the food! I had a sampler platter of dal, momochas, samosa, and roti... and the rice pudding with flax seed for dessert. Outstanding. Can't wait to go back, but Madison has a ridiculous number of restaurants, most of which we haven't been to yet. Poor us.

After the meal, we went to see Ron K. Brown's Evidence dance company at the Overture Center. I like strong, athletic dance styles, and really enjoyed Brown's African-influenced choreography. But there was one dancer -- Juel Lane from Atlanta -- I just couldn't take my eyes off of him. He made everything seem effortless. I kept thinking how incredible to stand out even among such incredibly talented people!

One of the songs in the show was Me'shell NdegeOcello's "When Did You Leave Heaven," a stunning jazz track sung by Lalah Hathaway on the album Dance of the Infidel. That'll be joining our collection for sure.

On Saturday we went to Cafe Monmartre to see Satchell Paige Mitchell open for Natalie Zukerman. We'd heard good things about Zukerman, and I was glad to finally get to see her, and to see more of Mitchell, who was great with Peter Mulvey in LaCrosse.

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1500 Madisonians jumped into frozen Lake Monona on Saturday, raising more than $250,000 for Special Olympics. Having experienced the air temperature of late, and seen people walking and skating across the lake for days on end, I somehow have an even greater appreciation for how completely insane this activity is. Good for them!

Now, though, the temperature has seemed downright balmy, in the 40's. It's funny how I've acclimated. When it got above freezing I actually started contemplating whether I should bother to zip up my coat.

Photos of our LaCrosse trip are up (mine; Susan's) , go check out the bluffs, the Mississippi River, our B&B, Peter Mulvey, and other fun stuff!

Redbird at Cafe Carpe

We went to see Redbird (which features 3 of our favorite artists: Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault, and Peter Mulvey) at the tiny Cafe Carpe in Ft. Atkinson, WI last weekend. I have been a fan of Peter Mulvey's since his album Deep Blue in 1997, and discovered Kris Delmhorst probably not too long after, as they were both among many fine singer-songwriters in the Boston music scene I was following. Susan and I discovered Jeffrey Foucault when he opened for Peter Mulvey a few years ago. Now Kris is married to Jeffrey. And Peter lives here in Wisconsin (having returned from Boston).

Go figure.

Anyway, the show found them relaxed in comfortable environs and amongst many friends. We sat this close, but you couldn't really be much farther away in this room. There was lots of holiday silliness; their goal was to play only songs they hadn't played before.

Kris covered the Cars' "You Might Think," and the singalong to the bridge ("you kept it goin'/ 'til the sun went down/ you kept it... goin'") was priceless. But my favorite was her cover of Wilco's "Jesus, etc.," which caused me to pull out Yankee Hotel Foxtrot for a listen the very next day.

Listen to a recent story about Kris on NPR's "All Things Considered" here... the vocals on the opening sample cause the breath to catch in my throat...

75 degrees in August.

It's been a nice weekend... on Friday, Susan and I drove to Cafe Carpe in Ft. Atkinson, a small town about 30 miles south east of Madison, to see Jeffrey Foucault, a wonderful singer-songwriter who is from the area (though it sounds like he has moved east to the Boston area to join his new wife, another of our favorite musicians, Kris Delmhorst). We have loved his blues-y style and wonderful vocals for years, but his new album "Ghost Repeater" is, I think, his best so far. And, how lucky are we... Peter Mulvey showed up to lend a guitar!

Kris has a new CD out too, so check that one out!

And one more musical recommendation... we went to see a band called the Ditty Bops because they were playing at the Barrymore Theater down the street, and I liked what I saw and heard on their web site. Oh, and they are touring the country by bicycle. And their 2006 bicycle-bikini calendar was among their sales merchandise. And their t-shirts are hand-painted. And their keyboard player played from behind a hand-painted pagoda. What's not to love? They'll be at Jammin' Java in Vienna, Va. on August 24, and at the Ram's Head in Baltimore on August 25 -- I urge you to go if you are in the area!


Their opener, Scarring Party, was equally unique, sort of old-timey 20's-30's dirge-y jazz. And the lead singer uses a special microphone that makes his vocals sound like an old Victrola recording. And they use a typewriter for percussion. Yeah.

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But, back to the weekend... the trip to Cafe Carpe was just what I needed... there's been a lot of stress at work (sigh) and at home (health issues with family and just general busy-ness) of late, and a quiet show in a small club in a sleepy little town was a great antidote.

On Saturday, we went about 20 miles west of Madison to the home of an old friend of Susan's from Ripon College , to attend a fundraiser for Fair Wisconsin. It was really great to see Tammy and her husband Tom bringing so many people together in opposition to a state constitutional amendment which would make not only gay marriage, but even domestic partnership benefits unconstitutional. Susan and I are hosting a small house party ourselves on behalf of Fair Wisconsin next month, and Susan has been working very hard creating and delivering invitations, and meeting with local merchants about donations.

I spent this morning on the porch catching up on the mail and reading the NY Times (we had to subscribe to get decent national and international news coverage!), and Susan joined me with the laptop. Then, off to the gym to work out like good kids, then home, where it's my turn on the laptop (while watching what is likely to be the Washington Mystics' final playoff game of the season) and Susan is out taking advantage of the rest of this beautiful day to do a little yard work.

So... how are YOU doing? Send me an email and let me know that I'm not talking to myself, okay? :-)