my corner of nowhere particular
This weekend was Meriden’s infamous Daffodil Festival!
Two notable things:
1. Nature didn’t play kindly with Meriden’s plans. All the Daffodil flowers had already come and gone by the time of the festival.
2. There was a fun parade – though it’s odd to see little kids from the YMCA dancing to LMFAO’s “Sexy and I know it”
Ex-roommate Nick left his motorcycle behind when he moved in order to save himself the effort of moving a vehicle that he was planning on selling anyway. He enlisted us, his trusted roommates to help him make the sale by taking some pictures of the bike.
On Sunday morning, we took pictures.
Oh, did we ever take pictures.
In other news, I’m in Chicago for business this week.
Hello good readers!
First off, I’m working on a few other posts – most notably, a Roller Derby recap from Saturday’s bout. So stay tuned for that.
Aside from the Derby which continues to exceed entertainment expectations, this weekend had some other thrills. I’m most excited about a potential long term project I’m starting with Dave. Dave and I have tried to form a band in the past, and have been mostly entirely unsuccessful.
This time though, we have a specific goal: A live Karaoke band.
Alicia has spoken highly of one such band out in Oregon, and Dave and I want to repeat the experience here in Connecticut.
The challenge is twofold:
1. This shear volume of songs is frightening. We think just to start such an endeavor we’ll need flawless recall on 150 – 200 songs.
2. Most of those songs are horrible. – I assure you that there is little joy in learning Dancing Queen.
But the payback! The payback could be huge. Where but at Karaoke can you be guaranteed a great time? The crowd brings the party! Also, the pressure is not on the band but on the performance of the singer. At a Karaoke bar you can’t blame the DJ for poor song choices.
Right now we’re formulating a list of karaoke songs. We hope to learn two songs a week for the next year and a half. We started with some random top Karaoke songs list online, but we’ll need more suggestions. Please feel free to comment with suggestions if you are so inclined.
Hopefully we’ll be able to stick with this plan. Also, hopefully we’ll be able to find a bassist and a percussionist. Until that day of reckoning, we will continue to provide West Hartford’s Butterfly with our Karaoke patronage.
On Friday night we celebrated Shaun L’s birthday at the House of Rock. Shaun, for those of you who don’t already know, is an extreme fast food fan. He is especially fond of the McChicken. We’re talking fanboy appreciation of the McChicken. McChickens grace his palate with somewhat alarming frequency, occasionally he’ll even splurge and have four for dinner.
As a special birthday surprise, Darcy bought Shaun 26 McChickens for his birthday. This, coupled with a bucket of KFC from Kevin, and I dare say we had the ultimate fast food lover’s gift.
For the rest of us, I cooked up some grilled pizza. Granted, all were encouraged to participate in the gluttony fest that is an eternal pile of McChickens
Post dinner, pre dessert, we retreated to the living room for a raucous evening of rock band. Lady Gaga, The Beastie Boys, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs all made appearances. I am consistently impressed with Rock Band’s ability to bring a crowd together. Nearly everyone played. It must be said, Katie’s gotta step it up (I think she’d rock the drums) and SarahLyla still needs to try the mic. We’ll give Erin a free pass since she didn’t arrive until later in the evening.
Finally, after vocal chords were annihilated and fingers were blistered we headed to the kitchen for dessert. Vivienne baked a fantastic almond cake, and SarahLyla brought ice cream with sundae toppings.
Shaun made a wish and blew out the candle. Honestly, I’m not sure what he could have wished for, as there were still about 19 McChickens that hadn’t been eaten. And, for Shaun, I think an armful of McChickens is pretty much a dream come true.
Highlights of the night:
– Jesse’s impression of a french Kermit
– Alicia’s question: “Does James have an accent? or am I just drunk?”
(note: James is British. Also? Alicia was drunk.)
– The McChicken Pizza
– Vivienne’s Almond Cake
– The dining room bass, guitar, and ukulele trio
– Obviously, the 26 McChickens, actually… 27. McDonalds miscounted.