“The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.” -James Brown

On that note, come on by The Royale tomorrow night 7pm-10pm and say hello.
Seriously! My lovely sister and I will be spinning records and WE WANT TO SEE YOU.



We're bringing our tambourine!

London Calling is moving!

To Cherokee. To the new Stable Loft.
Interesting.

AMAZING open mic, Cafe Soul's first comedian - Scott

My pal, Scott (better known to the masses as H. Alan Scott) PERFORMED AT CAFE SOUL LAST FRIDAY NIGHT. OMG.



He is the coolest! Also, DJ Needles was PMA (Pretty Much Amazing) that evening as well. Mr. Needles will be at the Upstairs Lounge (and therefore so will I) on December 26th starting at 10pm. I might get there closer to 11, let's be honest.

Cafe Soul was at Lucas School house for the last night tonight...LSH is CLOSING! :( ... so if you have an event space that's big enough for some amazing talent, you should probably email cafesoulstl at yahoo.com and claim this WONDERFUL evening for yourself. Or you should just email them to tell them that they are awesome. OR MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO TO THE NEXT ONE B/C IT IS AMAZING. sorry, shouting.

Anyway, back to Scott... He'll be at Bill Chott's Improv Jam on the 23rd at the Mad Art Gallery. Scott talks about it (more or less) here.

Bill Chott is great. He is a Good St. Louisan. (also, he has met Dana Carvey & MORE!) He teaches comedy classes on Cherokee Street. He puts on some great comedy Monday nights at Atomic Cowboy, too. YOU SHOULD GO. WHY HAVEN'T I SEEN YOU THERE? sorry, shouting again.

Laughter will be home for Christmas. Well, it's always home, but moreso now for the holidays. I went last year (i wore purple) to the Comedy Improv Jam at Mad Art and actually *won* a raffle and got a coffee mug (a travel one!)...this should let you know just how magical it will be.

Come to think of it, last time I was at a Bill Chott hosted thing - everyone's fav poet/person GAVE me a book! Maybe you will be next to tangentially get something free (besides laughs, which are, i hear, the best medicine) at a Bill Chott event. Maybe, b/c I have not seen you, I am getting YOUR free things! Don't let that happen.

B/c I will take them anyway and not even text you about it.

well, this is awkward

global live christmas songwriting

A little internet magic for Christmas.

I'm sorry, but this is live xmas songwriting business JUST TOO COOL.

Rise and Shine (livestream here) is changing my life and I owe it all to John Cleese. (crazy)

here's the podcast:

Get this widget!

I love America

and this is why.

Unchain Your Heart-Shop Local

...just passing along some wise words from your favorite local record store...

As your friendly neighborhood record store we are grateful for your biz and know that we've survived the national record store slaughter because of you. So we'd like to thank you and remind you that, while we may all be spending less this season, it's important to make it count more. So, we urge you to shop local businesses this holiday and avoid chains. Here are some facts:

1-Local stores and restaurants keep their profits here in town and that money circulates back into the community. It's called the multiplier effect. When you spend a dollar at a chain, part of that money is sent out of town as profit. When you spend it with a local business, the profit stays here and adds to our economy. Right now millions of dollars a day are sent out of St. Louis by Wal-Mart, Best Buy and the other chains. That money is lost to our local economy. Studies across the nation confirm that more than three times as much money stays in the local economy when spent at locally owned independent businesses versus national chains.

2-It's eco-friendly. We, like most local businesses, work hard to find local suppliers and recycle as much as possible.

3-We provide good jobs and personal service. Small businesses are the largest employers in America. Local businesses supported raising the minimum wage in Missouri. The big chains fought us every inch of the way, so they could send even more profits out of state. Our employees know that our store only survives if they give you great service.

4-Local businesses give up to 4 times as much to charities. Hey, we live here. Making our city and state better is a big part of our job. We're proud that every month Vintage Vinyl donates dozens of items and gift cards to charity fundraisers all over the St. Louis area.

Shopping locally is an opportunity to contribute to stability in the economy that affects us every day during these tumultuous times.

Enjoy the holidays..We hope to see you soon.

For those of you wondering just what to get ME for my birthday in a week (December 15th!) or for christmas for that matter... I would like a tambourine.

Mary and Marvin

It was kismet that my "hey love" radio station on Pandora led me to this awesomely early R&B sound duet between Mary Wells and Marvin Gaye on the same day I watched this.

I spliced for your convenience, but I strongly recommend watching the whole thing, though. That is, if you're interested in things I'm interested in. If not, enjoy the kismet.

Obama under St. Louis arch.

The person taking this picture must have dug a hole in the stairs, b/c when have you EVER seen the whole arch in a picture! ??! I, too, have laid down and tried to get the whole arch to no avail.

Must be that Bararch Obama magic.

sam & dave

The Menahan St. band record spin dance at Halo after the Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings performance was... nothing short of transcendent.

...and if you look closely at the above photo, you'd probably guess (correctly) that a good deal of that transcendence is owed to Vintage Vinyl, from whence the dudes gleefully returned mid-set with a familiar, santa-claus-on-xmas-eve-full brown paper satchel. Thank heaven the daptone boys don't know about the record exchange. (who am I kidding, they probably do, but just couldn't walk there) Look out bloomington indiana, they're coming for your records ...soon!

I'd also recommend hiding your women, as they are rakish and distant, but most significantly, boys can dance! What to play, how to dance to it. thank you.

So I had some good dances.

Do I need to summarize that it was a good night? it was a salve! an antidote! a remedy to many first-world troubles. It will save the economy. Almost makes up for missing Eli, too.

Adding to the daptone charm (aside from SHARON in general - I, like Annie Z of the RFT, would like to be her when I grow up) was their bongo player Fernando's beverage of choice all evening (including onstage) - SCHLAFLY! He said he always drinks local. Class act.

Also, I got some 45s for my jukebox! SCORE. I am cautiously overjoyed with life.

Fun fact: One of my mom's best friends named her twin boys Sam & Dave.

ok fine

So "Suddenly, Senior (Matt Klapper, Your Emails)" has been going *slightly* viral on the facebook - at least between the singing/dancing/comedian/ridiculous set of "intellectuals" I spent 4 or so years with back in college...and far be it from me to deny this nugget to those not tuned into my facebook news feed (as so many are!).

Alex, Spencer, Megan and I wrote this little reworking of the alan menken classic, Suddenly Seymour, for the performing arts night during out last week at school. This is the result.

It's basically college in a nutshell -- a song and dance nutshell. (the best kind!)


Suddenly, Senior from lori white on Vimeo.

3 things for those of y'all who weren't lucky enough to be UPenn Quakers so you can laugh, too: Shatte is a psych professor everyone was inexplicably in love with (my guess is he was brain ninja), "Bursar" is the student ID card checking account a lot of rich kids parents paid for, and Matt Klapper was our class president -- and therefore sent us a LOT of emails (and they totally provided sweet understanding). For further insight, please refer to the IM conversation (magically saved!) from whence this song sprang.

WHYS

You know I need to tell y'all about my recent visit to the SYMPHONY, but due to some recent upheaval (ever seen Burn Notice?) over here in real life, I'll just leave you to ponder this list, written by the folks at the ideavillage in NOLA.

Why I am here...

…because life is too short and too precious to claw my way through Wall Street. Because the Pyramids were not built treading along in a hamster wheel.

…because I figured a 1500-mile road trip to begin a new life in an unfamiliar place would make for a unique story. I am proud to live somewhere where such a tale has become blasé.

…because New Orleanians open their doors, pour stiff drinks, fill plates high, and demand little of their guests beyond an adventurous tongue.

…because the architecture is the most amazing I’ve seen. Anywhere.

…because the city is in dire need of a brewing co-op and I hope to provide it.

…because I have an eye for what makes a city work, having lived in Boulder, Seattle, and Saratoga Springs, and because New Orleans has ten times the intrinsic charm of these other cities put together.

…because Cajun slang is interesting, southern drawls pacifying, and Yat dialects just downright bizarre.

…because there is real soul here: a tangible and visceral loyalty to a dynamic cultural ethic.

…because there are real minds here: those who heed the calls of intellectual adventure and find deep satisfaction through attacking problems at their roots.

…because a potential roommate warned me recently of the seeming permanence of endemic poverty and government corruption, and of the futility in wasting a swollen heart on a city with real problems. It sounded like a dare, and I never turn down a dare. *

-Jeff Sandman

*sound familiar?

Is it strange that I look to Nola? Is the urgency to innovate and revitalize stronger there? I don't know, but if more people thought about it as much as I think about it...we both might get somewhere. :)