tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91271691863368501742023-09-06T06:03:35.447-07:00The Keeper of The PenKeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-74570160158075198842013-10-30T16:30:00.001-07:002013-10-30T16:30:15.329-07:00Do you know what Mickey Mouse is whistling?
If not, here's a presentation I made yesterday, complete with the lyrics, and prefaced by a bit of prerequisite knowledge needed to get the big punchline of the third verse.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zMPIpIq5OqQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-3294537368730961672012-01-26T18:52:00.000-08:002012-01-26T18:52:28.589-08:00Animaniacs song parodies I wrote in the 1990sDecided to present these old Animaniacs-related song parodies I wrote back in the day and still remember — one of <i>The Brady Bunch</i> theme, one of <i>The Beverly Hillbillies</i> theme, and one of <i>American Pie</i> which I had written upon the airing of the final episode.<br /><br />Pulled some shirts and the 1995 A! calendar out of storage so I could wear or take pictures of them to add visuals as the songs play. Everything else seen in the video actually is on permanent display in our house!<br /><br /><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xyPTxcrZ7VE?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-19872496755424386772012-01-24T16:06:00.000-08:002012-01-24T16:06:13.812-08:00The Case of the Lost DogDid you ever wonder what really happened to the "little dog" of famous song? Oh where oh where can he be?<br /><br />The mystery was solved in the original song from 1864, which I perform for you here.<br /><br /><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5pp5cWGJWww?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-73302725463656506572011-04-02T12:46:00.000-07:002011-04-02T12:53:14.813-07:00I'm on MTV ... sort ofOne of Brazil's biggest TV and movie comedians, Marcelo Adnet, did a Yakko's World parody on his show <i>Comédia MTV</i> using my MIDI file version of the tune. It's apparently some sort of "Lost" parody. As I don't understand Portuguese, I'm not sure how it ties in to the opening scenes, unless somehow they're lost in the Brazilian state of Acre, which would make sense given that it's in the rainforest.<br /><br /><object width="500" height="305"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pg-j321Lrq4&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pg-j321Lrq4&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="500" height="305"></embed></object>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-64153794719439248082011-03-24T22:19:00.000-07:002011-03-24T22:23:49.283-07:00Creative juicesI got them flowing again last night by making this -- Brahms' Hungarian Dance #5 in ragtime.<br /><br /><object width="450" height="280"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/LKxxk8c-Avo?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/LKxxk8c-Avo?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="450" height="280"></embed></object><br /><br />And earlier this week, I finally got around to transcribing the "Piano Rag" song from the Animaniacs episode of the same name. Here I am trudging through it with my meager playing abilities: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpuuXHH_Mu0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpuuXHH_Mu0</a>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-87774878882644788662011-03-01T20:39:00.000-08:002011-03-01T20:45:04.411-08:00One is a genius, and both are insane...What the heck; I'll post this here too.<br /><br />Sherri Stoner just asked people, for fun, "What are some Slappy cartoons you'd like to see?"<br /><br />I thought about it at work today, and this short scene coalesced in my head:<br /><tt><br />SLAPPY is asleep. But she is wakened suddenly by a loud noise somewhat like a jackhammer.<br /><br />SLAPPY<br />Oh, for the love of Charlie Sheen...<br /><br />She rises and moves to her window high in her tree house, opening it. She yells below.<br /><br />SLAPPY<br />Hey! Keep it down, will ya! Who do you think you are--<br /><br />She stops herself as she notices the noise was not from a jackhammer and a construction worker, but some small device operated by BRAIN. Near Brain stands PINKY.<br /><br />SLAPPY<br />Sheesh, the labor union must be downsizing.<br /><br />From the mice's level now. Brain looks up to Slappy's window.<br /><br />BRAIN<br />Actually, we are genetically engineered lab mice involved in an intricate plan to take over the world.<br /><br />SLAPPY<br />Yeah? Well, I'm a chronologically engineered squirrel involved in a very simple plan of TRYING TO GET SOME SLEEP!<br /><br />She pulls her head back into her house. Brain, unfazed, prepares to continue working with his noisy gadget. Pinky remains looking up toward Slappy's window.<br /><br />PINKY<br />Egad, Brain! I think that was Slappy Squirrel!<br /><br />BRAIN<br />Who?<br /><br />Brain re-activates the device, not really caring for the answer.<br /><br />PINKY<br />Oh, I LOVE her cartoons! Zort!<br /><br />As Brain speaks, Pinky's face, still looking up, becomes alarmed. On "you", he hurriedly moves O/S.<br /><br />BRAIN<br />Pinky, how many times do I have to tell you: Cartoons aren't real!<br /><br />Brain is oblivious both to Pinky's disappearance and to the growing shadow on his head. BLAM! The screen is filled with dust. As it clears, Pinky's head peeks into shot, and we see bits of Brain's gadget as well as bits of wood, wire and piano keys, all surrounding a beaten and battered Brain. He raises his head weakly.<br /><br />BRAIN<br />Pianos! PIANOS are real...<br /><br />Brain collapses.<br /><br />IRIS OUT<br /></tt>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-30099259921979601112010-12-29T21:30:00.000-08:002010-12-29T21:30:47.286-08:00The most important question of our time!I humorously ponder a rather important question I have yet to hear a consensus about...<br /><br /><iframe width="440" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wWEj4oH9cwA?fs=1" frameborder="0"></iframe>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-72933592717954051202010-12-26T13:13:00.000-08:002010-12-26T13:18:50.949-08:00Our robot masters have arrived... with ice cream! Yay!<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/UdLkcFTO1IY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/UdLkcFTO1IY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Located at the Tokyo Summer Land amusement park.<br /><br />It's the song that really makes it. Yasukawayasukawayasukawayasukawayasukawayasukawaku~n!Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-26702683818094213672010-12-16T19:30:00.000-08:002010-12-16T19:34:05.049-08:00MC Pinky in da house yo!I've had this joke in my head for quite a while, but I always imagine it told by Pinky. So finally, I let Pinky tell it, using Linda's mini Pinky plush who's dressed in overalls and a backward hat, making him MC Pinky, yo.<br /><br /><object width="450" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/xRKVx5OLOqg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/xRKVx5OLOqg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="450" height="350"></embed></object>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-11481600180605199022010-11-24T21:51:00.000-08:002010-11-24T21:52:27.868-08:00Keeper sings! and a harrowing tale of bus travel (or lack thereof)I threw in a bit of vocals and kazoo as I recorded this video during the afterglow party following the 2010 West Coast Ragtime Festival this weekend:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6XAA4Rz1vs<br /><object width="440" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M6XAA4Rz1vs?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M6XAA4Rz1vs?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="440" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />The song is a hit from WW1, <span style="font-style:italic;">When Alexander Takes His Ragtime Band to France</span>.<br /><br />The trip back was a nightmare. Snowing over I80. The bus driver didn't put chains on despite seeing every other vehicle stopped on the road doing so. Eventually, as traffic came to a crawl, it got to the point where the bus couldn't get traction on the ice. He just floored it, spinning the wheels. Tire smoke entered the cabin.<br /><br />He sat there for 20 minutes, not telling anyone anything, until a CHP officer came up asking why he was stopped in the middle of the road (while traffic was moving along just fine around us). He told the CHP that the bus had broken down.<br /><br />A big truck pushed the bus to the shoulder, then a tow vehicle towed us over the summit and into Truckee. However, the bus driver still was convinced that the bus was not working. I told him multiple times that it was fine; he just had gotten wheelspin and couldn't go uphill. Now that we were past the summit, the roads were perfectly passable and I was sure the bus could be driven again. He didn't listen.<br /><br />So we sat in Truckee, in sub-freezing temperatures, for six hours. Greyhound sent a "relief bus" but not from nearby Reno -- from Sacramento. That bus couldn't make it because of an oncoming storm. Another tow driver came by after six hours and told our driver that with the big storm coming in, we needed to get the heck out of there and he should try to move the bus if at all possible.<br /><br />So, finally, he tried moving the bus. What do you know! There was nothing wrong with the bus after all, just like I had said. We arrived in Reno 6.5 hours late. Because I was catching a cold, I had paid extra to transfer to an earlier bus -- one that should have arrived at 4:25 instead of my originally scheduled bus that arrived at 6:50. But this "earlier" bus arrived at 11:00 -- all due to driver incompetence.<br /><br />Greyhound couldn't refund my ticket because of the fact I had done the transfer to the earlier bus, so they just wrote me a $75 gift voucher.<br /><br />For people who were supposed to transfer to another bus, they were stuck in Reno with no place to stay and no more buses leaving until morning. One girl was in tears because it meant she'd still be on the bus while her family was having Thanksgiving dinner. All because of the idiot driver.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-61970659135110541932010-09-06T20:42:00.001-07:002010-09-06T20:47:11.973-07:00Awesome people I know...I usually write only cartoony stuff on this blog, but I thought I'd share this from another big part of my life -- ragtime music!<br /><br />A couple guys I know brought down the house with this performance of <span style="font-style:italic;">Russian Rag</span> a few weeks ago.<br /><br /><object width="440" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G5siaQzyMqQ?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G5siaQzyMqQ?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="440" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />Left is Tom Brier. Right is Carl Sonny Leyland.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-66330730762106550312010-09-04T12:12:00.001-07:002010-09-04T12:14:41.714-07:00Wakko's Two-Note Song in ragtimeSuddenly, on a whim, I thought, "By gosh, I should do a video of Wakko's Two-Note Song in ragtime!" even though I hadn't played it in 10 years or so...<br /><br /><object width="400" height="241"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bsLmK2MQbms?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bsLmK2MQbms?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="241"></embed></object><br /><br />Didn't have time to rehearse it much 'cause Linda had a TV show she wanted to watch in just a few minutes.<br /><br />But there it is. So there.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-76979244838833226552010-05-22T22:35:00.000-07:002010-05-22T23:15:09.732-07:00"You remind me of a very young Randy Rogel."...as Slappy would say.<br /><br />Back in the late 1980s, I got copies of some rather famous fan-made Doctor Who films. They were famous for their use of a woman in the leading role, and their relatively high production values for fan films.<br /><br />Then in 1996 as I was showing the films to a friend, I was startled by the name Randy Rogel in the credits. Turns out, yes, it was <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span> Randy Rogel who played the companion, Carl Evans. Randy even choreographed his own song'n'dance number in the second episode.<br /><br />Yet I never had seen online copies of these films, until now. Apparently, producer Ryan K. Johnson has allowed them to be included in a fan-film archive.<br /><br />So enjoy some young Randy Rogel...<br /><br /><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7347082902204390092#">The Wrath of Eukor</a><br /><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9181630221448902251#">Visions of Utomu</a><br /><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6360013693869561951#">Broken Doors</a><br /><br />And an additional film which was not a Doctor Who story per se, but does have the Doctor and Carl in it: <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3373948691389176700#">Pentagon West</a><br /><br />Then when you're done with that, check out this video I shot as I presented my transcription of the Animaniacs theme to a friend who's a phenomenal sight-reader: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcZroW6fGcA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcZroW6fGcA</a>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-10459044812680287342010-04-16T22:44:00.000-07:002010-04-16T22:48:12.017-07:00Sorry I'm wearing pants, but...Phew. I'm not as young as I used be.<br />Anyway, enjoy me doing Wakko's America on a giant map!<object width="400" height="241"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1JcoW9YuTGs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1JcoW9YuTGs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="241"></embed></object>Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-40751743049045924182010-03-03T20:20:00.000-08:002010-03-03T20:31:52.846-08:00At last, I can show you the NARFIt's been a long time that I've wanted to show this to folks. I finally got round to doing so, in my own "special" way. Naaaaarf.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNFZXF6qDRk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNFZXF6qDRk</a><br /><br /><object width="400" height="243"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HNFZXF6qDRk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HNFZXF6qDRk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="243"></embed></object><br /><br />I picked up the NARF way back when I worked at CompUSA. The bottom of the form says "rev 0792" which may mean July 1992, in which case it's purely a coincidence and not evidence of Pinky & The Brain fans working for CompUSA corporate.<br /><br />CompUSA failed and went bankrupt rather quickly in 2006, so one might think it was just one of Brain's plans that failed horribly.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-12761420122241632222010-01-22T00:26:00.000-08:002010-01-22T00:32:31.775-08:00Zany to the max!I finally sat down and wrote out a transcription of the Animaniacs theme. I had done it way back in 1994 or 1995, by ear. For this new arrangement, still by ear, I added some harmony notes to the melody, and noticed a couple of transitional chords that had been wrong in my initial transcription.<br /><br />It can be downloaded here:<br /><a href="http://members.cruzio.com/%7Ekeeper/temp/animsolo.pdf">http://members.cruzio.com/~keeper/temp/animsolo.pdf</a><br /><br />And I threw together a quick video of what the arrangement sounds like (I really did throw it together; if I had had time, I would have cut out a few systems at a time so the music was more readable on the screen):<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo73yhg66Ds">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo73yhg66Ds</a><br /><br />I've always wanted to transcribe the Freakazoid theme, but only ever got round to doing the melody. Maybe someday. Now I've got someone begging me for transcriptions of the Looney Tunes title themes.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-85616920995411171882010-01-13T23:50:00.000-08:002010-01-13T23:58:12.927-08:00Charismatic Cackle?Someone called my evil laugh in the <a href="http://shangelina.deviantart.com/art/Shangelina-animation-theme-66540383"><span style="font-style: italic;">Angelina</span> title sequence</a> a "charismatic cackle."<br /><br />I thought that was amusing.<br /><br />Anyway, huzzah to Valerie for managing to get that animation featured as a "Daily Deviation" on DeviantArt. The first couple times that animation was uploaded, the folks at DeviantArt removed it, thinking it was a violation of the Terms of Use. In other words, they thought it was too good to be the work of the poster, my old friend Federica Giulietti. They thought it was a real TV show's title sequence. Well, Federica certainly dreams that one day it would be...<br /><br />No digital animation or effects there. Even the backlit-shading effects were all drawn by her hand. The music is original too. I should know, because I wrote it.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-67711871450348866052009-11-29T23:57:00.000-08:002009-11-30T00:19:52.919-08:00Just a-postin' for postin's sakeHad a bit of difficulty getting video from my new JVC Everio camera to work on YouTube. Unfortunately, YT destroys audio when it tries to convert AC3 into its native AAC format. But if I convert to MP3 first, it's all right. Slowly but surely am beginning to post video shot at the 2009 West Coast Ragtime Festival.<br /><br />We did the Red-Rose-Rag-as-Elmer-Fudd routine in the finale concert. A few people in the audience really laughed at the "ever since the merger" line. All in all, everyone thought it went over even better than it did in Sutter Creek. I saw a couple people in the audience holding their video cameras, and I know one person who posts to YouTube was one of them, so hopefully there will be video of it online before long.<br /><br />I also joined the featured musicians on stage in the mass final performance, playing my kazoo. Woo!<br /><br />Got some snow on Friday night. It's melted here now but the hills are still white. It was already low-30s by 6 p.m. tonight. Gonna be a cold one. I'm really hating having to work in the garage in sub-freezing temperatures these days.<br /><br />We saw <span style="font-style: italic;">Planet 51</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Fantastic Mr Fox</span> this weekend (well, the former on Thanksgiving Day). The latter film was much more amusing, but the whole 1950s feel of the planet in the former was kind of cute. I just felt like the concept was nice but it didn't really have many laughs. I was surprised by the amount of Spanish names in the credits. Discovered at the end that the CGI was all done in Spain. Interesting. Of course, Mr Fox was stop-motion animation. Funny visual gags and lines. Amusing character movements for action scenes. Just all-around nice movie.<br /><br />I was going to write something else, which I thought of as I typed the title, but it has since slipped my mind. Sigh. Memory is the second thing to go... I don't remember what the first is.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-26255008195536710632009-11-01T00:54:00.000-07:002009-11-01T01:01:22.483-07:00Mad Scientist RagMy profile photo here was one that I took after waking up one morning and seeing my hair. I grabbed my camera and made a face as I took the picture. I thought that I looked somewhat like a mad professor or something.<br /><br />A couple years later, or maybe just one, I realized that <i>Mad Scientist Rag</i> was a great title for a ragtime composition, so I wrote one. I used that photo for the cover of the tune, pasting my head into a jar of a "mad scientist's laboratory" stock artwork.<br /><br />Anyway, a classically trained pianist just posted a video on YouTube of himself playing my <i>Mad Scientist Rag</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HucjsXrWtSo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HucjsXrWtSo</a><br /><br />Click the link above to view it!Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-91205511676876306832009-10-17T20:23:00.001-07:002009-10-17T20:25:26.113-07:0020 years agoI discuss my experiences from 20 years ago. October 17, 1989.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vxuAx-eGJI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vxuAx-eGJI</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8KUza2PQvg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8KUza2PQvg</a><br /><br />It is one of those milestone days for all of us who survived.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-24299833063582890782009-09-28T13:25:00.000-07:002009-09-28T13:33:49.308-07:00Spotted some online Engrish...I was curious about an order we received from Yong-In City, South Korea. I did a search for the city and came across the city's tourism web site. On it, they advertise the local amusement park.<br /><br />Unfortunate choice of words for the top bit... or maybe they just cater to illicit affairs.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.yonginsi.net/cms.asp?code=E2030020">http://en.yonginsi.net/cms.asp?code=E2030020</a><br /><br />And the bottom bit: Amazing Water World, Caribbean Bay! ...complete with authentic Caribbean snow park?Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-54871864153641352592009-08-17T22:29:00.000-07:002009-08-17T22:34:56.284-07:00My big stage debutI'll have a version with HQ audio recorded with professional audio equipment from the front of the stage posted at a later date (that one will go to YouTube), but for now, here's a Facebook video of me doing my comedy routine yesterday with the Raspberry Jam Band:<br /><br /><object height="240" width="320"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/138690591003"><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/138690591003" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="240" width="320"></embed></object><br /><br />I don't do the best Fudd in the world; that's for sure. I wanted to be sure it was loud enough on the mic too, which didn't help.<br /><br />Many thanks to Will Perkins for holding my camera.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-46968345158838843982009-08-06T23:35:00.001-07:002009-08-06T23:51:08.014-07:00All Iranian ballet dancers have tremendous ears, which melt in the nitric acid splendidlyThat was the first sentence of one of the "word-by-word stories" a bunch of us used to do online in the early and mid-1980s. I thought it might be fun to start one here. What do you think?<br /><br />There are rules to follow:<br /><ul><li>You do not add punctuation after your word. Instead, the person entering the next word decides whether to put a comma, period, semicolon, colon or dash after your word. (Example entry would look like: ", and".)</li></ul><ul><li>Yes, sometimes you just have to write "a(n)" or "the". It's a boring job, but someone's gotta do it.</li></ul><ul><li>If you enter your word but find that someone else had written one at the same time and beat you to the punch, it is your duty to delete or edit your word to ensure that the sentence still makes grammatical sense (logical sense is entirely optional!).</li></ul>After a while, I will compile the words into the main post and purge the individual entries, to prevent the comment list from becoming unreasonably long.<br /><br />I'll leave the first word up to whoever wishes to begin!Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-37514367107999366442009-08-04T13:09:00.000-07:002009-08-04T13:13:53.472-07:00Musical challengeAlthough I never received any musical challenges from the "Keeper's Monthly Musical Challenge" thing on <a href="http://froynlaven.blogspot.com">Paul's blog</a>, either because he has begun working again (yay!) or nobody came up with any good ideas (boo!), there is, in fact, a big musical challenge coming up for me.<br /><br />Saturday, I'm going to be rehearsing with the Raspberry Jam Band for a performance the following weekend of a musical comedy routine that I wrote many years ago but never have performed because it requires a musician who knows the routine.<br /><br />The big challenge is that I haven't been on stage since acting class in 1990 (and even then it was just for the small class, so never for a full theater audience), and I've never performed on-mic, other than the PC or my camera with their auto gain control.<br /><br />It's also been a while since I've done my Elmer Fudd voice... or Scooby Doo... But I think I can manage.<br /><br />You see, bandleader Julia wanted me to perform with the band (as thanks for providing and composing music for them to play) after hearing how well I can whistle. But then in the course of casual conversation, she heard me do a bit of <i>We Will Rock You</i> as Mickey Mouse (yes, casual conversation with me can be strange -- actually I was mentioning how I thought of making video of me doing that, but then Wayne Allwine passed away and I thought it might be bad taste since my Mickey is his Mickey), so she thought maybe I could sing <i>Lulu's Back in Town</i> as Mickey, which I did a bit of on the spot to show that I could.<br /><br />A couple hours later, though, I suddenly remembered this musical comedy skit that I had in my head, and asked if they play <i>Red Rose Rag</i>. They didn't, she said, but they'll learn it. I've sent them the "script", and we'll see how it goes in rehearsal this weekend. Then next weekend's <a href="http://www.suttercreekragtime.com">Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival</a> will be the moment of truth. If it goes over well, we could do the skit again in November at the <a href="http://www.westcoastragtime.com">West Coast Ragtime Festival</a>.<br /><br />Hopefully I'll have somebody hold my camera and record it at Sutter Creek.Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127169186336850174.post-64805981758163164462009-07-11T00:38:00.000-07:002009-07-11T00:42:43.939-07:00Lost in translation?So the other day at the movies, we saw a trailer for the next Miyazaki animated feature, <i>Ponyo</i>.<br /><br />I thought, "Huh. I hadn't heard of this one."<br /><br />Then I went home and looked it up online. Oh, yes, I had heard of it. I had seen the original Japanese trailer, in fact.<br /><br />But you might never know they were trailers for the same film.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiNB4epGxK8">American trailer</a> is basically ACTION ACTION OMG ACTION!!!! whereas the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxkNy9lfuWY">Japanese trailer</a> presented a sense of wonder and adventure.<br /><br />When did it become a crime in this country to promote movies based on their wonder & adventure content?Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14927854184107004121noreply@blogger.com2