beautiful, funny, sad & true

So the live show of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me was really cool. I’m listening to the broadcast of the show as I’m writing this. It’s very cool to be able to imagine the action that’s taking place on a radio show; it’s very different from the way we USUALLY imagine the action that’s taking place on a radio show.

The show was scripted, for the most part, but most of the jokes were improvised. The cast went through the entire show live, and then the producers, who were taking notes throughout, talked to the cast via their headphones and told them which parts needed to be touched up. So they went through and re-read those particular lines, and the audience attempted to sound spontaneous. There were lots of particularly hilarious guesses and improvised moments that I’m sure have been cut from the actual broadcast. We had a total blast.

The Breanna Paletta–Sarah Castro–Scott Gallegos show last night was great, and between the musicians who were playing and the ones who were friends watching from the audience, the Portland music scene was very well-represented. Good times. It was particularly fun to hang out with Sarah again. She moved to L.A. a year ago, and just moved back to Portland a month or two ago. We closed the place down last night, and I didn’t get to sleep until 3:30 last night.

My dad and stepmom were in town this weekend, so at 9:00 we met for breakfast at Violet’s Cafe out on Sandy. It was. . .okay. At one point, they spent half an hour talking to one of the owners of the restaurant, while I sat there looking around and thinking, “Hello? Haven’t seen you guys in a year. . .?”

The Young Immortals’ much-anticipated new CD will be coming out of duplication on Wednesday (the same day the guys head out on a two-month tour), so tonight they’re having a CD listening party for friends and fans at an apartment in NW. Jake told me last night that he credited me as the producer on the album, which was a very nice thing for him to do.

I called the repair shop yesterday, and was told that my cello will be ready today. I can’t even tell you how excited I am to play it again, especially after all the work that’s been done to get it up to ‘classical’ specifications.

Crystin Byrd’s song–the one we recorded for the movie soundtrack–is finished. Both she and FilmmakerAndrew loved the newest mix, so I’m going to take the CD of it over to Crystin today. We’re very excited about this opportunity. I’ll write more about the movie and let you know where and when it’s showing, so hopefully you’ll be able to see it.

So that’s the latest news; it’s been a good week.

Today at work, my friend Melodie came over and asked, “Are you doing something tonight?”

“Not yet.”

“Would you LIKE to be doing something tonight?”

“Love to. Such as?”

“I’m going to see the live show of Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me, and I have an extra free ticket, if you’d like to come.”

“You mean the radio show? Heck yeah! I love that show.”

So I’m going downtown to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, to see a live performance and taping of the show. For free.

Sweet!

I found this on Eric Edberg’s site, and just had to try it for myself. Sheesh, I had no idea my blog was so tame. Good thing I didn’t try this rating system a month ago, after a particularly bummer day, when I dropped a huge F-bomb.

Well, here’s a gratuitous one for the censors:

Fuck.

Just trying to keep it real here, folks, and show what a hardcore I really am. And speaking of ‘keeping it real’, why is it that so many people insist on using that phrase? Have I been fake all this time without even realizing it? If I have been, I’m genuinely sorry.

BFS&T got a very nice referral from Eric Edberg in his blog today:

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“I’m especially enjoying Todd’s Beautiful, Funny, Sad and True. How can you not love a blog with posts like this one?”

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Eric is a college professor and cello teacher with a very extensive web site on improvisation for classical musicians. It looks like a tremendous site; there are links, videos, instructions and all kinds of valuable resources for getting us neophytes up to speed. I’ll definitely be spending lots of time there. If you’re a cellist too, I’m sure you can find plenty of things on there to entertain yourself.

I really appreciate it, Eric, thank you! I’m going to return the favor and add your site to the ‘blog love’ list.

And now, it’s time to throw the accordion in the car and head to a Susie Blue gig. Today is a good day.

This morning, I dropped my cello off to get the last of its big repairs done (yay!), and I stopped at Tiny’s coffee shop on the way home to. . .uh. . .get some coffee. After I made my order, the barista guy asked, “How’s your weekend going so far?”

“Great,” I replied. “I just dropped my cello off. It’s getting fixed.”

He stared at me, dumbfounded, with a horrified look on his face.

“What?” I asked, smiling.

“You CHOPPED your TOE OFF? Jesus! Are you okay?”