mario mind

Just wanted to post quickly to let everyone know that I've posted pics from our vacation to Indiana over Christmas, as well as some pics we took of our First Night experience in Boston. It was a lot of fun, saw a really odd band called Uncle Monsterface. The band caught my eye because of the blurb in the First Night events booklet:

Come and see a sock puppet rock band featuring songs about lobsters and outer space, giant projections for every song including enormous prairie dogs playing guitars, a dance contest between humanity and monster-kind, and a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”. Yes, the sock puppets are in the band.They play instruments, make telephone calls, and teach the world to love again. And they dance dance dance. Totally.

How could you pass up a chance to see that? Well, it was all that and a can of beans, I tell you what! They covered "Little Girls" by Oingo Boingo and it got all the prepubescent girls out of their seats and dancing in front of the stage for the rest of the night. The show climaxed with "Lobster Building," with the audience invited onto the stage for a fitful orgy of leg-kicking and fist-pumping. It rocked. Check out the YouTube video of it below.

The whole thing reminded me of another off-the-wall show I saw, which my friend Quinn Walker opened for. For a time, Quinn was opening for a family that integrated slideshows (presumably found in the trash or bought at garage sales) into their musical act. Ever heard of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players? No? Big surprise, you're probably so uncool that you haven't heard of Uncle Monsterface either. Oh, you have? Then enjoy this, my friend!

To tell you the truth, the whole thing was a little creepy. The mother had made dolls that resembled her daughter, which she sold at the shows. The kid looked so bored you'd think she was doped up on lithium. But it was campy and that sold for a time in NYC.

And last, but certainly not least, what the heck does the title for this post mean? Mario mind?!? Well, it was a phrase coined by my very best friend, James Fegley, when we first got our Nintendo Entertainment System. James had been playing Super Mario Brothers at my house so much that he began to think of his environment in terms of the landscape in the game, which he then dubbed "mario mind." It plagued him in his sleep, it tormented him while he was awake. So now he doesn't play mario anymore. But I still do, and I've been playing Super Mario Galaxy nonstop on my wii. It rocks, but not as much as Uncle Monsterface!

weekends are for relaxing?

Well, I hate to admit that it's been over two months since my last post. The fact that it's been so long made it so much easier to keep letting it go. So for that one individual (you know who you are!) who kept on me to keep posting, this one's for you . . .

A quick recap of events these past two months:


I didn't get either of the jobs mentioned in my last post.

I'm now working full-time between three departments (circulation, cataloging and inter-library loan) at the Simmons library.

I had an interview yesterday afternoon at a public library that went well.

I went to the Book Expo America (the largest book publisher convention in the U.S.) in NYC.

I got to stay with Sam and I's friends Alex and Ally while in NYC. YAY!

Sam and I drove to Philly for Father's Day/Larry & Ilene's 40th wedding anniversary in June.

Big Larry (Sam's father), Little Larry (Sam's brother-in-law), William (another of Sam's brother-in-laws) and I saw a Phillies game.

The Phillies lost. Miserably.

While driving back from Philly the car broke down on the Garden State Parkway.

I got to stay with William & Alana (Sam's sister) in South Orange for two days while the car was being repaired (thanks guys!).

Sam and I drove to Indiana to stay with my parents during the week of the 4th of July.

It was a very relaxing week but we did so much! Got to see friends and family, toured a pickle factory, had our engagement photos taken (I'll post one of them to my flickr page soon), did lake stuff (fished, swam, etc.), ate with my grandparents at Ft. Wayne's Famous Coney Island, toured the new Allen County Public Library (check out my flickr page to see photos!), got a new car (thanks Mom & Dad!), and all sorts of other great stuff that I won't go into.