Recovering
As I try to shake off the last of the con crud, here's my summary of activity for August, extending through Dragon*Con last weekend.
Kenny Loggins wasn't the only Footloose-themed performance we saw this Summer. Kevin had a surprise in store - a performance of Footloose: The Musical in good old Woonsocket, Rhode Island (where we saw Fame: The Musical last August). Unlike Fame, this show stayed close to the plot of the film that inspired it, with some additional musical numbers padding out the soundtrack hits. The leads were merely adequate; the guy playing the Chris Penn character stole the show.
Another curious echo of last August...I once again saw Chris Collingwood from Fountains of Wayne perform "A Dip in the Ocean" (and a handful of other songs) live, although this time he was accompanied by Paul and Storm, for whom he opened. That's right, this time Paul and Storm were not the opening band, but they performed "Opening Band" nonetheless. (It came second in their set, after their recent hit "Write Like the Wind (George R. R. Martin)", which I include below because I encountered at least two people at D*C who hadn't seen it yet.)
Other outings in August included RiffTrax Live featuring Manos: The Hands of Fate, which we endured alongside our friends Andy and Sarah. We might re-team with them for Birdemic in October, if we can summon the strength. We also took a short weekend trip to Connecticut to see George Hrab perform, even though we would see him again less than a week later at Dragon*Con. We took the opportunity to catch up with some friends at the show and stop by the PEZ Visitor Center, which wound up being quite fun.
And then there was Dragon*Con. What can I say that didn't already make it onto Twitter or Facebook? The most entertaining events for me were the annual Star Party hosted by the Atlanta Skeptics on Thursday night (with music by Marian Call and the aforementioned George Hrab) and the Freezepop concert on Saturday night (actually 1:30 am Sunday). I don't always put up with the massive crowds at D*C very well, but at that concert I was happy to be one of the masses crammed into the Atrium Ballroom, singing along to "Brainpower". And then they went and blew my mind with their encore. After promising us "the truth about what happened in Jabba's palace", the band launched into a cover of "Lapti Nek", the song performed by Sy Snootles in the original release of Return of the Jedi but expurgated from subsequent releases. (You can read more about its strange history on io9.)
I have vivid memories of watching a behind-the-scenes documentary on the shooting of Jedi and hearing a vocalist singing the English lyrics to "Lapti Nek" as they showed the Sy Snootles puppet. I also recall that my college boyfriend's roommate had the soundtrack, complete with lyric sheet, and that's where I learned the song's title, as well as that of the Ewok celebration song, "Yub Nub". Some of the lyrics to both songs have, tragically, stuck with me to this day.
If there is one photo that sums up all of D*C, it would be this:
That's our friend Liz, joining with the Skepchicks in some adorable Star Wars crossplay[1], with me in my Teefury Slap Bet Commissioner[2] shirt.
ETA: Check out the latest Flopcast episode for live Dragon*Con reporting! The show notes have more photos and an entertaining video.
[1] I guess droids are genderless. Does C3P0 ever refer to R2 as "he"?
[2] From How I Met Your Mother
Kenny Loggins wasn't the only Footloose-themed performance we saw this Summer. Kevin had a surprise in store - a performance of Footloose: The Musical in good old Woonsocket, Rhode Island (where we saw Fame: The Musical last August). Unlike Fame, this show stayed close to the plot of the film that inspired it, with some additional musical numbers padding out the soundtrack hits. The leads were merely adequate; the guy playing the Chris Penn character stole the show.
Another curious echo of last August...I once again saw Chris Collingwood from Fountains of Wayne perform "A Dip in the Ocean" (and a handful of other songs) live, although this time he was accompanied by Paul and Storm, for whom he opened. That's right, this time Paul and Storm were not the opening band, but they performed "Opening Band" nonetheless. (It came second in their set, after their recent hit "Write Like the Wind (George R. R. Martin)", which I include below because I encountered at least two people at D*C who hadn't seen it yet.)
Click to viewOther outings in August included RiffTrax Live featuring Manos: The Hands of Fate, which we endured alongside our friends Andy and Sarah. We might re-team with them for Birdemic in October, if we can summon the strength. We also took a short weekend trip to Connecticut to see George Hrab perform, even though we would see him again less than a week later at Dragon*Con. We took the opportunity to catch up with some friends at the show and stop by the PEZ Visitor Center, which wound up being quite fun.
And then there was Dragon*Con. What can I say that didn't already make it onto Twitter or Facebook? The most entertaining events for me were the annual Star Party hosted by the Atlanta Skeptics on Thursday night (with music by Marian Call and the aforementioned George Hrab) and the Freezepop concert on Saturday night (actually 1:30 am Sunday). I don't always put up with the massive crowds at D*C very well, but at that concert I was happy to be one of the masses crammed into the Atrium Ballroom, singing along to "Brainpower". And then they went and blew my mind with their encore. After promising us "the truth about what happened in Jabba's palace", the band launched into a cover of "Lapti Nek", the song performed by Sy Snootles in the original release of Return of the Jedi but expurgated from subsequent releases. (You can read more about its strange history on io9.)
I have vivid memories of watching a behind-the-scenes documentary on the shooting of Jedi and hearing a vocalist singing the English lyrics to "Lapti Nek" as they showed the Sy Snootles puppet. I also recall that my college boyfriend's roommate had the soundtrack, complete with lyric sheet, and that's where I learned the song's title, as well as that of the Ewok celebration song, "Yub Nub". Some of the lyrics to both songs have, tragically, stuck with me to this day.
If there is one photo that sums up all of D*C, it would be this:
That's our friend Liz, joining with the Skepchicks in some adorable Star Wars crossplay[1], with me in my Teefury Slap Bet Commissioner[2] shirt.
ETA: Check out the latest Flopcast episode for live Dragon*Con reporting! The show notes have more photos and an entertaining video.
[1] I guess droids are genderless. Does C3P0 ever refer to R2 as "he"?
[2] From How I Met Your Mother