Baltimore Round Robin feet night

I went to the Round Robin tour in baltimore on friday, feet night.  It was a little much.  The performers were great.  About half of them I had seen before, the other half were new.  The crowd was what was really intense.  The way the venue was set up, there were about seven "stages" where performers would play.  Without introduction or an MC the bands would alternate in different orders and play one song here and one song there all over sonar.  This idea was fantastic and really fun, the only thing is you can't really escape the crowd and stand in the back when there really isn't any back.

Some highlights would definitely be an electronic group called adventure.  They were great and super fun video game-ish music.  Very fun and danceable.  Also, Lizz King who knows some people in this area had sort of Peaches like tunes that were sexy and fun.  Better than I thought it would be.  She had videos to go with projected on a sheet behind her.  Also Nuclear Power Pants were super fun and colorful.  They had a good mesh of sounds.  That seemed to be a reoccurring theme of the night.

It was a great experience and I am really happy I went, it was just about four hours long and I could not do that every night.  I am looking forward to seeing the bands again independently.  

My favorite happening of the night though was at towards the end of the night, me and my friend melissa were exhausted.  She was leaning against the stage, I was looking the other direction at the other band.  All of the sudden that band ended, and another person started on the mic.  I was turning in my spot looking to see where it was coming from and finally found it, dj dog dick was the guy leaning on the stage shoulder to shoulder with melissa.  I had the privilege of seeing melissa's face go from confusion at mine to realization that the guy next to her in the tapestry vest was the performer.  A performer she didn't even like, so she couldn't move.  He awkwardly leaned on her and her chest the whole song, which was accompanied by me cracking up the whole song.  afterward she leaned to him and said, "how did my boob help your show?"  All in all, it was a great time.  

Stoopla

I FINALLY FINISHED MY GRAD SCHOOL APPLICATIONS... which means I can go out again.  What better event than the stoop holiday hoopla.  I have been to stoop before (and might be telling bad date stories at the Valentines one, which scares me to death) but anyway,  this holiday stoop was special because it was at the Meyerhoff theater, which I have never been to, and was beautiful.

I was really excited about this event because A) I love stores, B) I love holiday stories, C) I have been in dire need of some heart warming laughs.  Well the stories were good, and I got the heart warming, but they were a little short on the laughs.  The thing I like about stoop is "everyone has a story" right?  I like how anyone can sign up, anyone can tell one, but, for this event I think the caliber of teller was impressive, between the mayor, "the wire" stars, ace of cakes stars, etc.  But they should have focused on the caliber of story.  Not just because I'm bitter that my hilarious friend Ben got booted out by the mayor, which I am, but I really feel like the story variety was lacking.

Anyway, I love that the mayor told a story about her brother pooping on her.  The Mayor was first, she told a very short story about sharing a room with her brother and sister every Christmas eve.  One year her little brother pooed on her.  This got me and my friends a thinkin'  How many people have hilarious poop stories?  a lot right?  For stoop to redeem itself with the funny, we think there should be a poop stoop in honor of the Mayor.  Alright guys get that crackin'

The other stories were very good too, about a home made doll better than cabbage patch kids, a cartoonist getting the gift of a hilarious looking politician to write about, the frivolities of working in entertainment for the holidays, and of course heart warming stories of family heritage.

But, my favorite story was not about the holiday, surprisingly, it was the last story of the Ring.  (Look this up on stoopstorytelling.com.  I just don't feel like explaining it) Anyway, the last woman who won the ring was great, not because she talked about finally getting over a broken heart, or finding her soul mate, but because she was accepting of how things were, she had been dating for 20 years, and she was still looking.  The audacity of hope, she called it to keep dating and meeting new people after all previous experiences haven't worked well.  I thought this was funny and very charming story was the perfect end.  Oh well, even though I really wanted it for a time, the quest for the ring will never happen.

P.S. speaking of stories, (I was going to write a whole entry on this but realized I'm biased because I have a wicked crush on him), but this guy I know Benjamin, won the city paper short story contest.  I love the story and can't wait to see him again and ask him about it, but read the story, read the comments on the story, let me know what you think of either. here