I love to feel the rain in the summertime,
I love to feel the rain on my face - The Alarm
A blog is like a sliver in your finger. You can't ignore it and it's painful to confront.
I saw Elvis Costello at The Chautauqua Institution Amphitheatre a couple of Saturdays ago. He played with the Sugarcanes in promotion of Costello's latest, SECRET, PROFANE, & SUGARCANE, a bluegrass influenced album that finds him a master of American folk narrative. The show was extraordinary, a drum-less set of fiddle, bass, accordion, mandolin, and electric guitar, with a huge selection of songs off the new album, and an equal amount of classic Costello with a bluegrass spin, including several off his first album, the rockabilly spirited MY AIM IS TRUE, which lent itself well to the down-home but electrified music of the evening. "Blame It on Cain", and "Allison" seemed born to bluegrass, and there was a bit of a roar when he played, "(The Angels Want To Wear My) Red Shoes". The absolute highlights were, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding", from ARMED FORCES, and "Hidden Shame" from the new album, a mournful ballad about a boy who murders his best friend, sounding a bit like Springsteen's NEBRASKA. Damned though, if there weren't at least two song
s the entire crowd seemed to recognize that I had never heard.
s the entire crowd seemed to recognize that I had never heard. 
I did some theatre work this late summer with Hamburg Theatre Under The Stars' inaugural production of PICNIC. We played four shows over the Labor Day weekend, in the village park on an existing stage with an inclined wooden roof. The village and the producers, (Jon & Greg Premier Events), did well promoting the production and we had over 2,000 audiences members over the 4-day run. Free admission surely helped. I got to wag my tail in a role I had a lot of fun with. The Mayor of Hamburg visited rehearsals regularly, as he was assuring the production was a success, in an effort to boost Hamburg's walking district of shops, restaurants and bars. At the post-production cast party he came up to me and said he had a story to tell me. It seems during rehearsals, he received a call from a concerned resident, reporting a suspicious man lurking around the cast and stage. The caller was convinced the stranger was stalking the production and possibly a cast member. So the mayor checked out the report and well, there I am, in the back of the park, long before my entrance in Act II, pacing and talking to myself while rehearsing my lines.
No ordinary sage-1st!
Roycroft Mag. circa 1908 -1st!
Book of Roses - 3rd
I hastily entered five items in The Chautauqua County Fair and came home with five ribbons, three blues, a red and a yellow.
Best Coleus-fierce competition! Collection of Movie Sheet Music -2nd!
I want to clutch the green grass and hold onto summer.
