rasputin and the empress movie

this morning I watched another DVD movie, 'Rasputin and the empress', starring three actors named Barrymore- john, lionel, and ethel. lionel played Rasputin. I was largely unfamiliar with who he was for a while, but pop culture references got me curious. this included 'closer to fine' by the indigo girls, as the song mentions 'poster of rasputin'. and there was a song from Wii dancing as well. there were some fictional characters in this movie, according to the opening credits. it is a black and white movie from the 1930s. hard to know what to say about it other than it covers his life when he was most famous, and this is what other bio-pics do. so it covers when he heals the czar's son, and then ends shortly after he is murdered. I probably learned something from watching this movie, trying to think of what that would be.
    I went back to Walgreen in the afternoon after applying for more jobs. I said I was back as there was just two icons on the disc, and there was to be more than 20 that I planned on posting to facebook. so the employee that knows me got it done for me. I found out he was from out-state (or greater) Minnesota, north of the twin cities, from the white earth reservation. it was in reference to me saying I was from a small town and got to know it well due to delivering pizza.
   also notable was doing more maintenance on facebook. I cleaned out some photos, and I have done it before. if they appeared to be redundant or had no likes then I am more likely to delete them. I added some after getting the disc, and got some likes already. it was mostly people I had performed with recently, as well as seeing a friend perform at the state fair. one of those added was from my uncle's funeral in june and my cousin said it was tough that she no longer got regular calls from her parents, she said it was daily. in the evening I went to sing at a karaoke bar and did 'praying' by kesha. it was a little bit of a wait to go sing as I ended up being part of the final hour of the night.

pretty village, pretty flame movie

this morning was another DVD movie, 'pretty village pretty flame', about the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. what caught my eye when sifting through the titles was seeing a confederate flag on it. this was a story about longtime friends that became enemies during the Bosnian war in 1992. they co-owned a car repair shop. there is also back-story that goes back to the time of comrade tito, in 1980. and there is an American journalist that is part of the story. much of the movie takes place in a tunnel, where a siege is happening. as a stage performer, it meant something to me when one of them spoke of being a heroin addict before the war began. then he tells jokes on the walkie-talkie to the opposing army. I know that some performers are drug addicts.
   I spent time at Walgreen doing a photo order, except it wasn't done right, and it was delayed. not sure what to do now. in the evening I went to sing at the karaoke bar. I did 'guitars and cadillacs' by Dwight yoakam, and 'i will buy you a new life' by everclear.

real women have curves movie

I watched another DVD from the library this morning, 'real women have curves', starring America ferrera. I liked her passionate character in it, including how she was willing to talk back to her impossible mom. I like a good 'coming of age' story. some of it was subtitled, but not a big deal to me. I think this was the same movie that I saw available, for sale, at a grocery store a while back. not sure why I didn't buy it but thankful I finally saw it. much of the story takes place in a dress factory that her character calls a 'sweatshop'. I am trying to think about what else to say about the movie without giving some 'spoilers', although it appears to be from 2002, so it has been out for a while. I liked hearing how it was based on a play, I know some movies are inspired by plays. it seemed to be an HBO original movie, which might explain why I hadn't heard much about it for a while as I don't have cable TV.
   it was a busy day for me, as I decided to go the state fair in the afternoon. the weather report was favorable, so I said it was time to go. I liked being able to take a bus there. first thing I did was find the place selling pork chops on a stick, but I had to wade through a parade that was happening. I liked getting plenty of photos of it though. and it was nice to find another snoopy statue, looks like it was donated by somebody. I hadn't found many in recent years, after finding over a hundred on a project I was doing with somebody I once dated. I made some other typical stops, such as the fine arts building. I like seeing all of the art there, and voting on what is my favorite. it was a lunch counter scene, three men with their butt-cracks showing. and the lady next to them was filing her nails. I also did the 'punch card' where I found the 12 historic sites at the fair. I liked the prize, it was some postcards. although it led to an 'altercation' after I picked them up. another employee was taking photos, so I did one. I asked if I was attending with anyone, I said no. I spoke of being 'bad at love', and it sadly, eventually led to them siding in with my dates that had 'ghosted' me. WOW! there was an attempt to backtrack, but it was too late. I said 'BYE!' and left. I was headed to see a comedy friend perform. the Wisconsin couple was there, and while performing he sometimes spoke of his wife, who he said was in the crowd. I liked seeing both after the show, she found a friend there. I had been walking a lot before the comedy show, so some time sitting was welcome. there wasn't much left on my list after that. I picked up some buttons at the WCCO-TV booth, and did the giant 'carpet slide'. then it was back on the bus, and home.
  I made it to my typical open-mic of the night, and I spoke about being at the fair. a lady who hadn't seen me perform correctly guessed that I am a comic, which was a little odd.

ponchao movie

i watched the second of two DVD movies on loan from the library, it was 'ponchao', a baseball movie. it was in Spanish, with English subtitles. the setting was the Dominican republic. I recognized pedro Martinez and david Ortiz having cameos in it. this was a comedy, but at times was a complicated story with multiple sub-plots. since I love baseball, I am thankful I saw it. when I returned the two movies I had I got two more. but at first there was a problem with checkout, the label said 'check out at front desk' instead of self-checkout. so I put it back and got a different movie.
   I had another appointment with my job coach this afternoon, and the first half was doing a mock interview with his boss, something I had wanted for a while. I was on the phone with another agency, actually another rep of the same agency. then I performed in the evening, near the end of the lineup. when I arrived the lot was full, so I paid for parking for an hour and thankfully a spot opened by then. so then I had less of a sense of urgency about the meter that would expire, and how much longer to pay for parking.

paper towns movie

I watched another DVD on loan from the library, 'paper towns'. I was drawn to it after seeing that it is a 'coming of age' story, and a road movie, especially the latter. although I will have to admit that it is a weird story. the main character is an enigma, sometimes will disappear for a while. then she appears and decides she needs help on a 'revenge mission', then disappears again. but the guy that helps her still pines for her, and wants to find her before prom. so this is what leads to the 'road movie' part. it works on some level. for one thing, learning the term 'paper towns'. along with mention of woody Guthrie, and a song that name-checks walt Whitman. at first I said the actress playing the enigmatic girl looked a lot like the lead actress in 'the duff' but I checked IMDB and it's not the same actress. there did not appear to be any big-name actors in it, but I don't require that as I care more about the story than name recognition. it explains why I often go see 'art films' such as the ones at the lagoon in uptown Minneapolis.
   not much to report on the job front. near the end of the typical workday I got a call from an agency, but they wanted to low-ball me on the wages so I turned them down. I get tired of having to haggle over wages, and asked them not to waste my time. in the evening I found a movie on TV that I probably hadn't seen since it was at theaters, it was 'not without my daughter', starring sally field. I was able to watch all of it and then go to the open-mic I normally perform at. I spoke of the movie when I was performing, and I was the last one of the night before the show runner sings 'rainbow connection'. usually there is a Kermit the frog doll there as well, but the lady who brings it left early. she had a miss piggy doll this time to go with Kermit, and she even sang this time. it was a love song, and there was mention of how it was an anniversary of meeting the man that became her husband. usually she just stays in the crowd.

manila in the claws of light movie

I watched the other movie on loan from the library around midday, 'manila in the claws of light'. of course the title drew me to it, since I would still like to visit the Philippines someday. it was released in 1975, and is about a young man from the provinces trying to find his girlfriend in manila. he takes a job as a construction worker, and eventually finds her. it shows the seedy side of life in this city, including brothels. I recognized many of the brand names on neon signs in the background, some of them American. I also recognized what was rizal memorial park. he was the national hero, a man became a martyr when he tried to rally the people for independence from spain. there was a scene in a catholic church, and some Christmas songs being sang as well. there were plenty of jeepneys shown, my former boss had said to me before that they are everywhere there. I found out 'jitney', at one point in the subtitles, is essentially the same. there was plenty of special features as well. disc one was the movie itself and an introduction by martin Scorsese, a well-known director but he did not direct this movie. disc two had all of the special features, including  the making of the film, and a documentary with the director. he spoke of what it was like living there during the marcos regime, who was considered to be a dictator. I do recall the news coverage when marcos stepped down in 1986, replaced by Corazon aquino. there was also a review by a movie critic, and it said this director was known for directing what would be considered 'soap operas' often before doing a film like this one. apparently it is a big thing to make films based off comic books that aren't superheroes. I think these are now called 'graphic novels'- and these are often considered to be 'soap operas'.
   I made it back to the library just before closing time to return both movies, and got two more. I also watched two 'simpsons' episodes. one was about living in feudal times, of course it made me think of attending the renaissance festival. it was funny to me on some level to see a lion that was trying to give them religious literature, I am sure it has some kind of real meaning if it is being parodied on this show. I actually said 'satire' more than once when watching these episodes tonight, as I do recognize satire and enjoy it a lot. I like using that word more than 'parody'. the other one I had seen before, it was when lisa went to see a student therapist and was advised to do something creative. it became 'sad girl', a graphic novel. I knew I had seen it once I saw the live theater version of it, which was a disaster.
   I also did more with my comedy souvenir binders, since I had more sheet protectors, got them on sale from Walgreen this week. it meant getting the last of what I had from the fringe festival in its special binder. it was time as the festival ended two weeks ago. I got the other items into the fourth of my main binder. then I got the dishes done before watching the 10pm news. I am paying attention to the weather report as I want to attend the state fair this week.

mail order wife movie

i returned both DVDs to the library and got two more. I watched one of them already, this evening. it was 'mail order wife'. it started out looking like a documentary but when there were outtakes and seeing an excerpt from a review saying 'satire' I knew not to take it too seriously. it was about a new Yorker getting a mail order bride from Burma, and this movie was released in 2004, I know this nation has a different name now. and then it becomes a love triangle. at one point it moves to Miami, and baseball player jose Canseco appears as himself. I will admit that I hadn't seen anything like it before.
   the big news of the day was the death of senator john McCain of Arizona. it has been a fairly big news week, with iowa student mollie tibbetts being found dead. I saw some people post about McCain and hopefully people are going to be respectful. but I still reserve the right to de-friend people if need be. I cut three people from my friend list this weekend, as I realized that I just hadn't heard from them that much lately. even with the cuts I have been doing, I still have more friends on that site than my college roommate, the one working in japan. he sent me the invite to join. but I also know it is a 'necessary evil' to do social media when one is a performer. I have still cut more than a hundred people in the past two and a half years.
    I also cut back on comedy-related facebook pages, from five to three. I looked at the number of members- and how many friends were on those pages- and those with the smallest number were cut. I added a few pages, related to doing a search on emerson hough. we all know mr. hough was why I started this blog. one of those added was the museum in my hometown. I noticed the article in the alumni magazine wasn't entirely accurate, but it was also from 2004 and there has been more websites such as IMDB since then. it proves that the number of movies inspired by his books is more than four. I have the posters to prove it, having six.
   I made it to the karaoke venue tonight, as usual. it was a thinner crowd than typical, explaining why I got three songs in. I did 'long time gone' by dixie chicks, 'don't let me get me' by pink, and 'hey there delilah' by plain white t's. I like doing the stop for a small grocery order at cub foods after I am done, on my way home. at first it was just for two TV dinners, something I can't find at aldi, but now I am getting a can of spaghetti there as well, instead of at a dollar store.

birth of a nation movie

i watched another movie on loan from the library this afternoon, 'birth of a nation', the one from 1915. although I am familiar with another movie, with the same name, being released in recent years. I had heard about this movie for a while, so I was thankful I found a DVD copy of it. there was two discs. it was a 3-hour movie, actually in 2 parts, on disc one. the other disc had special features, and it took nearly as long to go through them as the movie itself. there was mention of the lawsuits filed by the NAACP to try to prevent it from being shown in NYC, although this was from 1922, 7 years after the original release. Lillian gish is in it, a name I recognize as the band smashing pumpkins named an album 'gish' after her. the special features included movie shorts apparently directed by DW Griffith  before this movie was filmed.
   I considered going to the state fair today, but the weather report didn't look good so I said I could wait until next week. I sang karaoke in the evening, 'long haired country boy' by the charlie daniels band. spoke with a law student at my table, he is attending Mitchell hamline and got the undergrad at Indiana in Bloomington.

kingpin movie

I watched the movie 'kingpin' on loan from the library this morning. I knew what I was getting myself into as I had seen 'dumb and dumber', and it was produced by the same people. there was plenty of crude humor in it. as an iowa native it meant something to me how some of the story took place in iowa, although it sounded like a fictional town and wasn't filmed in iowa. closing credits said it was filmed in Pittsburgh and reno. I like road movies, and this qualifies as a road movie. I bowled in a league when I was young, so a bowling movie is all right with me. the bill murray character in it, the nemesis to the woody harrelson character, I know what Dad would say: you're not supposed to like him. randy quaid as the amish bowler was fun, I think I ended up liking him more than the other two leading male actors. I know full well there are other bill murray roles I have enjoyed more than this one. no doubt I liked the music in it, including two songs by freedy Johnston, including 'bad reputation'. I have the CD it is from. sounds like there is a soundtrack available for this movie. it was hard to recognize at first how the band urge overkill performed the national anthem, but I am familiar with this band. also great seeing blues traveler doing a song at the end of the movie. and I correctly recognized roger Clemens, the baseball player, having a small role in it.
   I made it to a meeting with an agency in the afternoon, taking the light rail. hopefully I will get an offer soon, but so far I am mainly hearing about just having my resume submitted to clients. there was a nice view of downtown Minneapolis, especially the Twins stadium, from this office.  in the evening I checked facebook and there was an offer for stagetime tonight. it was great performing with the button, the Wisconsin girl, and the fargo native. I also made it to the karaoke bar and did one song, 'but anyway' by blues traveler. it was in the 'kingpin' movie.

veterans for peace

a man at the open-mic tonight had a shirt on saying 'veterans for peace'. he was a british bloke and when he went to perform he spoke of serving in bosnia and Kosovo. it was a little disorderly during my set by I knew well enough to just plow through it.
   I went to a hiring event but it was a waste of time aside from the free snack food, and m and m cookie and some fritos. only had call center work, and pay was too low. in the afternoon I went to the library to apply for more jobs and got a response before I left. now I will wonder how far it will go as agencies have sounded enthusiastic about placing me before but then it always seems to fall though.

bonnie and clyde movie

I watched the second of two DVDs on loan from the library this morning. it was 'bonnie and clyde', but it was a version from 2013 and not the well-known one from 1967 starring warren beatty as clyde. this one, according to Wikipedia, was actually a mini-series. to me it looked like a long, almost 3-hour movie on the disc. there were 2 discs and the second was special features. I recognized some actors in this version, as holly hunter played bonnie's mom and William hurt played frank hamer, the texas ranger tracking them down. I said blanche looked familiar as well, found out it was sarah hyland, who also plays haley on 'modern family'. when it is longer than the 1967 version of course it covers more. but it covers some of the things I was familiar with, such as a shootout in platte city where his brother buck is badly hurt. I was not familiar with the actors playing bonnie and clyde, when I watched the special features I found out why. Some of them were british and of course british actors are largely not well-known in America.
  I had another back-to-work meeting and I covered more details about the recent interviews I had. but I do not understand why my job coach thinks I should take another pay cut to get back to work. I rejected one of his job leads as it pays even less than what I was paid as a test scorer. I am told that his boss may be available next week to help with my interviewing skills, I said I needed help in this area. I couldn't avoid comparing it to performing, where I like being in control as I have the microphone. in interviewing, it is hard for me to avoid being nervous as I am stuck with guessing what questions will be asked and if my answers will be good enough to some tough questions.
   I performed tonight but mason city was not the show runner, he had a fill-in. there was a no-show and magic man was given that slot instead, just before me. I did one about somebody not getting their facts straight about a historical figure. also notable was some songs I had been hearing and I finally looked them up. it was 'sit next to me' by foster the people, who also did 'pumped up kicks'. 'sit'  is from last year. the other was 'first' by cold war kids, but it is from 2015. sometimes I miss it when a song is a hit, but if it is good I will like it no matter how old it is.

mr. baseball movie

i watched the first of two DVD movies that I got from the library over the weekend, this afternoon. it was 'mr. baseball', starring tom Selleck, about an American baseball player going over to japan. not entirely sure why I had passed on this one for so long, when I love baseball, but thankful I finally saw it. I know this happens often, American players going to japan. I recognized one of the actors in it, dennis haysbert. he was in another baseball movie, 'major league', as Cuban defector pedro cerrano. it was funny to see how the interpreter would cover for Selleck's character, not wanting him to look disrespectful to the Japanese. I had heard about frank Thomas having a role in it, this was early in the movie as the rookie, but I don't think he had any lines at all. I also recognized some other names in the credits, such as doug decinces, who was listed as a consultant. he had played for the California (or Anaheim) Angels. no surprise how  Selleck, as a Michigan native, had his favorite team in it, the Detroit tigers. and I liked how the special features had a babe ruth movie short included.
   I sent an email to my job coach about last week's interviews, giving 'pros and cons' as well. also how I applied for 3 of the 4 positions I was given leads for. the 4th was not available when I tried to apply for it. sounds like he still wants to celebrate 'moral victories' of getting interviews, I do not agree with that mindset as we all know.
   I performed in the evening, and at the first club I did not get stage time but it was nice to get a movie poster. more likely to see it now, even if just as a redbox rental. it helped to be around some of my comic friends as the stories I was telling sometimes made them laugh. so I knew it belonged in my sets. even if the stories where from a while ago, many years ago. I also liked hearing happy meal talk about the craft of comedy. I listened closely as I don't hear this too often. I learn more when I listen more. also nice to see Worthington, who said he has to fly out of state for a weekly gig. some of the computerized parking meters said 'please wait' so I didn't want to park until I found one where it looked like it was operational. I get paranoid about these things, not wanting to get a ticket. once I went to perform, I got annoyed with a comic who couldn't get their facts straight on a history joke, so I left the showroom for a little while.

foxcatcher movie

I saw the other DVD movie on loan from the library this morning, 'foxcatcher'. this was more compelling than the other one, as it inspired me to read more about the DuPont family. I was largely unfamiliar with the story that the movie was about. although I do recall watching some of the 1988 Olympic games on TV, held in Seoul. I recognized one of the wrestlers in it being from my school, the university of iowa. I can see why it became a movie, as it had some storylines that audiences normally watch.this includes a sibling rivalry, the Olympic games, and a philanthropist heir. this is what I was thinking even before the movie arrived at the shocking ending, a murder. I found out this murder happened in early 1996, a number of years after the Olympic action that was depicted. but I am also used to the disclaimer saying 'some scenes and characters were invented for dramatic effect'.
   I picked up two more DVD movies this afternoon, while I was returning these two. I made it just before closing time. in the evening I watched two 'simpsons' episodes, first time in a while. it was about ned flanders becoming a teacher, and the family visiting Denmark. I had seen both before. and of course there was the typical doing the dishes, recycle, and trash.

ask me anything movie

I decided to get two DVDs from the library this week. I watched the first one this morning. I will admit it was the title that caught my eye. since 'ask me anything' is something I often see in facebook postings. this movie was about a teenage girl deciding to defer going to college by a year. then she decides to write a blog, and much of it is about her sexual encounters. the movie does have some notable actors in it, martin sheen and Robert Patrick. the movie takes a turn at the end, unexpected to say the least. it left me stunned in more ways than one. I was able to watch most of it, but early on the movie kept stopping and I couldn't get past it. so I had to figure out what alternate paths were available. if I missed any scenes due to it, my guess is not many.
  aside from that, there was not much on my agenda today. I checked my PO box, nothing there. arrived just 10 minutes before closing time. went to the grocery store, but after I fell asleep for a while. then there was watching 'Moscow on the hudson' on the movies! channel. finally it meant going to sing some karaoke. I saw a friend there that I know from an open-mic, the cheery one. I did two songs. 'bent' by matchbox 20, and 'when I come around' by green day. I placed some more e-bay orders as well, for postcards. some were hall of fame baseball players, others were of the band smashing pumpkins. the band has a concert in the twin cities this weekend, but I am not attending. already seen them twice, three times if you count frontman billy corgan's other band, zwan.

alice episode, gift of the magi

I have been watching plenty of reruns on antenna TV and me-TV lately, including 'alice'. although I am reminded of how I like Jolene more than flo. tonight the one I saw was a Christmas episode inspired by 'gift of the magi', a story I read when I was in high school. the characters sold their most prized possessions in order to buy gifts for others. and, much like on other shows, there was somebody playing santa. in this case it was an electrician. I have also been watching 'barney miller' and 'WKRP in cincinnati'. all of these are ones I recall seeing at least a little when I was young.
   I fielded a decent number of calls about jobs today, although I was getting annoyed with one of them who asked for a partial social security number and often seemed clueless in general. I applied for some more jobs as well, and hopeful to hear some good things from the interviews this week real soon. this evening I went to sing karaoke, and did 'shooting star' by bad company.

I like starburst

I had two more interviews today. when leaving the second one I said 'i like starburst' as there was some starburst candies at the front desk. so I decided to have some. this interviewer said it would be a 3-week wait to hear the results though. and I didn't like having to jump through more hoops for them, such as completing an application before the interview began. or how I had to call just to get into security and get registered as a visitor since it was an unmanned security desk. none of this was mentioned in the email inviting me to the interview. I have a better feeling about the first one, even though some information was left out of this invite as well. I was given the name of who to interview with, and then I am told I do not meet with this man first. so I had two separate interviews. first was in a conference room with two ladies, then with a man in his office. I said I liked the fun facts for the day by the front desk as it was about how the capital city of new York got its name. the job searching drama didn't end there. in the middle of the day I saw an email saying 'my manager needs to talk to you before we submit you for a job'. I was told when I was available for calls, and then never was called. I was told they left voicemail, so they might have called the wrong number.
   I also performed at the karaoke venue tonight. I did three songs, as when I was about to leave I was told my turn in the rotation was up soon. I did 'ava adore' by smashing pumpkins, 'come out and play' by the offspring, and 'uninvited' by alanis morissette. the button's friend was there and asked if I was in a relationship, I said no. then I was asked if I took meds for depression. weird. she did a pat benatar song about child abuse. she also seemed to be acting a little clumsy, so I don't know if she had too much to drink or was just tired. another regular was there and said I couldn't leave as there was a 5-song minimum. he was out in the parking lot talking to somebody else at the time. then he tried to say this to those who had just arrived, and I said 'he doesn't work here, he is just having fun with you'. he has said some off-the-wall things before, so I know well enough to take what he has to say with a grain of salt.

wallet argument

or was it a discussion? after performing at the first of two shows I saw some comics arguing about what to do with a found wallet. sounded like it was hypothetical. I was on my way out and I listened to it some as it was hard to ignore. but I knew I needed to get to the next venue so I had 'hope you figure it out'. I very much enjoyed having a guest set, an interlude during the headliner's set, the bathtub comic. I decided to do an impression that included a reference to that joke. I asked for my printed facebook invite be signed by the headliner. the button and the Wisconsin man were part of this show as well, the former did one about fruit salad, the latter about his dad selling fry daddy machines. I drank plenty of water there as it was warm, out of miller lite cups, the jug was near the entrance to the showroom. I had a beer as well. the second show was my normal open-mic of the night, I got a long set as there weren't many people signed up. I arrived as the spoken word poet was doing a poem called 'time'. he later spoke, after the show, about being in jail for a little while, but I didn't ask what he was in for. I saw it as largely unimportant to me. I have said it before about performing: I don't ask for much out of those I perform with. swap stories, share laughs at the club, then I go home. none of my business what they do away from the clubs.
   when I woke up this morning, I had no appointments. but I had some voicemails and emails, and it led to more appointments scheduled. I had an appointment in the afternoon, took light rail there and shared a ride with twins fans after it as the twins baseball game had just concluded. I went to this office to complete paperwork on getting registered with an agency. I am told that the finger-printing I had done for bank jobs in December doesn't have to be done again. they made it sound like that something may be offered soon. I now have two appointments scheduled for Thursday. not sure about the second one, but I would like to think it isn't another agency. I let them know that data entry tests aren't my strongest skill, but they still may have something else for me.

be more flashy

I had another meeting with my job coach this afternoon. this one was in a conference room, as there was another invitee. this was somebody that reviewed my resume and said I could make it more flashy. I might have made a mistake with her to talk about how I have already taken 'comedian' off of it, as it invited questions about it. still too distracting for me. I would like to think that it will make a difference at some point. I filed some more applications on indeed just before I went to the appointment, so there is a chance of hearing more soon. I also got an interview scheduled for Thursday, just before midday. I saw how I needed to take charge at times, saying I didn't want to keep crying over spilled milk. this was referring to the failed interview from Friday. but at times I feel like my job coach still doesn't understand me well. since I still hear comparisons to other clients, when I am likely nothing like they are. I am me.
    I went to perform tonight and it was nice to go on a little earlier, in the middle of the lineup. happy meal filled in for the 'extra murder' comic as the show runner. and it was nice to see the button as well, who went to the karaoke bar after performing at this open-mic. I went to another club first to see if I could get one of the wild card slots, but I did not. still nice to see the big dog perform though, as he is MC at the club for the week. I said 'do your magic'. laundry will also be part of the lineup this week.

joke joint is back

saw an email this morning saying the joke joint is back. it closed at the end of april and was looking for a new home. looks like it will be inside a bar in downtown st. paul. there was plenty of upcoming performers announced. no mention of an open-mic though, but it might be hard to schedule with the kind of partnership that they have with this venue. all I see was two nights a week for shows, down from three at the previous venue in lilydale. now it means at some point telling a comedy friend about it, the one I call 'the milwaukeean', as he had asked me about this club earlier this year on twitter.
   I performed at an open-mic tonight, after filing some more applications on indeed. I also had a phone interview in the afternoon. there is still plenty of job searching activity, but it is hard to tell on how well it is going. already got a rejection message from Friday's interview, when I did a follow-up email saying I enjoyed being able to present my skills and abilities to them.
    when I went out into the bar area to go over my material before going onstage, I had somebody ask me if I was part of their crew. he offered to buy me a beer, and I said I like beer. so we still spoke for a while until he said 'i will be right back' and I noticed that he went outside to talk to others for a while. didn't seem him much after that. I talked a lot about performing during our conversation. I went to another venue first, but found out there was no open-mic on that night. I still stayed for a few minutes as I found a few people I knew, including perkins, and school bouncer.

varsity blues movie

i watched a DVD copy of the movie 'varsity blues' this morning after having breakfast. there was much that I enjoyed about the movie, as many scenes in it were familiar with being part of a high school football team in small town iowa. of course this story takes place in texas. it also reminds me of when I was riding the Amtrak train back from st. louis to Chicago on one of my annual visits for cardinals baseball games. I met a young man and he spoke of this movie, as it was at theaters at the time, in 1999. he got off at the Bloomington/normal stop, and a military recruiter met him there. he also spoke of the song about 'everybody is free to wear sunscreen'. I always liked the art from this movie. it shows a young man in a cowboy hat sitting on the hood of a pickup truck and some others in the truck box. I recall how it was no big deal to ride in the box of truck when growing up in iowa. jon Voight had a convincing performance as the coach. the soundtrack had plenty of bands that I recognized, such as green day doing 'nice guys finish last'. the offspring had a song in this movie as well. I recognized the actor playing the injured QB as being in another 'teeny bopper' movie from this time- as my dad would call it- 'she's all that'.
     I didn't do much today, even though I considered going to a county fair in a nearby town, much like last year. but I decided I just wanted to rest and do other things. I shredded some more junk mail, went to Walgreen and picked up a few items, and did some 'maintenance' on my social media accounts. I cut four people from my friend list on facebook, so now I have just under 250. one of those cut was a high school classmate. I say I am stressing quality and want relevance. the number of people from my hometown that I am connected with has dwindled to just ten. I have realized that most of them were no longer relevant in my life. I have to ask 'when was the last time I heard from them, in person at reunions, or even on that site?' and it has been way too long. I also made some cuts on the groups I am a part of on that site. I made some cuts on twitter, but I am not on that site all too often either. I am known for one posting a week, usually on sunday night. sometimes this is still more frequent than my facebook postings. I say facebook has become my de facto 'admin assistant' since many event invites are sent there. stressing quality meant wanting to eliminate anything 'redundant'. going from following two pages on a certain subject to one. some of them hadn't posted anything in a while, or had a lower number of members or followers. I just quietly do these things, as I feel no need to say to somebody why they were cut as I prefer to avoid drama whenever I can. all it takes is for one posting that annoys me where I decide it is time to make some cuts. I know I am happier now, since I was seeing too much negative energy.

karaoke at fringe central

I went to fringe central tonight, a supper club in northeast Minneapolis, as I wanted to sing some karaoke. I did one song, 'back on the chain gang' by the pretenders. I recall a few lyrics being referred to in a fringe show I attended on Friday. and I really like the song, I had sang it before but it had been a while, over a year as I recall. and my path keeps crossing with another volunteer, I finally got a conversation with her when she arrived at my table to talk to somebody I had ushered with. I found out she has a podcast, and I asked her to write it down for me as it was kind of loud there. I said I have been on podcasts before and would enjoy being on one again. I attended two more shows in the early evening, getting an early start as I knew that shuttle buses would replace light rail for part of the ride. I arrived more than 30 minutes early, and I liked both shows I saw. the first was 'revolt of the beavers', it had been part of the federal theater project during the great depression and I had wanted to see one of those plays as I had studied that era extensively as a history major. I am thankful I walked right over to the second venue as there was just three tokens left after me, and it was considered to be a sellout even though I saw a few empty seats once the show started. this was 'justice league of their own', the media attention might have helped as the Friday Minneapolis paper had a photo and review of it as part of their story about the second weekend of fringe. I liked sitting next to whopper and his acting colleagues during this show.
   after seeing two shows I didn't go back home right away. I wanted to eat so I did that at bobby and steve's again, then saw some people I knew outside of a bar I have performed at. one has a joke about being mayor, the other I did a fringe show with. they spoke about seeing a few fringe shows, as well as others they still want to see. eventually I made it back to the shuttle bus, but it was easier to find near the Vikings stadium. and once we transferred to the light rail, I saw some trash that I decided to throw out at my stop.

off duty usher

I went back to fringe tonight for its second weekend. I did two volunteer shifts, first as an usher than a 'sidekick', where I was near the stairwell and mostly let people know their show was on the upper level. or where the bathroom is, lower level. simple work, that is what I like about the fringe festival. then later on it was taking care of the card tables, but when I was asked to clear the cards of shows that have completed their run I couldn't find that many, only two shows. we have two more days of fringe after today, so no surprise how most shows have at least one performance left. but I still took it seriously, and a little surprising how I found a few cards from a show from 2 years ago. then when I was done it was off to have the evening meal, and since bobby and steve's is nearby I like going there. I had a cheeseburger, apple juice, and crackers. already had some pizza from there this week. I passed by a performer I recognized on the way there, and said I wanted to eat before her show. it was the one show I saw tonight, a collection of seven sketches. hers was a recurring mime sketch, in six parts. it was more fun to watch when it kept returning. but at first I was asking 'that's all.?' then after I got home on the light rail I went to sing karaoke. I did 'fade into you' by mazzy star. there are two more shows that I want to see at fringe, and I plan on seeing them on Saturday. I decided to put on a long sleeve shirt to cover up my fringe volunteer shirt during the show I attended as I didn't want anyone asking me questions. I was an off-duty usher and just wanted to enjoy the show.
    also notable about the day was the job interview. it was a small office. I am told I will hear more in about two weeks. not sure how I feel about yet another hoop to jump through, after the application and survey. now there is a quiz, about things like what medicare and Medicaid is. the phone interview with another company is now scheduled for Monday afternoon.

another company is interested

i had another 'back-to-work' appointment this afternoon and spoke of landing an interview for Friday. when I checked emails in the evening I found out another company is interested. I had just applied there the previous day, aside from the one sent through indeed a week ago. so it looks better on the job front than it was, more likely to get an offer soon. the second company asked about availability for a phone interview, I am available for some times on Friday but all of Monday is open. I told them I prefer as early as possible though, but it still means working around the interview I already have. I was thinking of the ushering shifts for fringe festival, starting in the late afternoon on Friday. I got the job descriptions printed at the library, as well as the directions to the office, at midday as I wanted them for the meeting. I was given more leads to pursue. this was a meeting with a different tone than before, because there was more substance to it. and of course an improved attitude on my part as I am hearing more positive things on the job front.
  I performed some karaoke tonight, 'salvation' by the cranberries, and 'all apologies' by nirvana. I heard some of their songs on the way to the venue. I saw some sheet cake, or what was left of it, at a table near the stage, but I didn't ask them what they were celebrating. one never knows what they might see when out and about.

2 calls, 3 jobs, same company

truly a case of 'hurry up and wait'. I got called by a company I applied to nearly 2 weeks ago. during the first call I was told I would be called later on, and I was, about 2 hours later, around midday. I was offered an in-person interview, but turned down Thursday since I already have an appointment in the afternoon and it would have cut it too close. so it is on for midday Friday. I applied for 3 jobs and it sounds like they want to interview me for all 3 of them at that time. so it sounds like this one is more promising than the others I had been chasing, such as the failed phone interview from 2 days earlier. I also applied to another company that my job coach recommended to me, although it meant setting up a new profile with them. I sent 5 applications to them. last week at the meeting it was filed through indeed.
   I also got a response to a comment on a facebook  posting, where  a comic wants to do a 'pop up' show next week. he sent me a response on the posting and a private message, saying he was serious about it. so of course it pleases me how I will have some stage time at it. and since I have been stiffed on stage time before, sending the PM helped as one can get cynical about offers.
   I went to my typical place to perform tonight as well. and I saw airway there, which was nice. I said I made it to the security guard office, but since I got called by another company today I hadn't taken much action yet with the security guard company. roasting the show runner was a no-go as I went off on a tangent, but I really do need to warm up to the idea of roasting people. also talked with the acronym guy about doing a pearl jam song, but it didn't happen this time. I know I was talking to airway in the bar area for part of his set, that may have figured into it.

hero re-parks car

I went to an open-mic tonight and the lot was full. so I had to park on the street, a few blocks away. I paid for three hours, figured that would be enough time. but we started 30 minutes late, and I was on near the end, so I had to re-park my car just before I went on to avoid a ticket. there were spots in the lot by then. I was brought on by a fill-in show runner, I think this was somebody I called fish noodle, and was called a 'hero'. I asked how, I was told it was due to performing comedy. odd. but sometimes I forget I am around comedians.
   I found ways to stay busy today, starting off with re-arranging some of the items in my comedy souvenir binders. I decided to get more items from the fringe festival into just one binder. this of course was the ones before 2016, the year I had a role. and it meant some of them were in the same sheet protector as non-fringe items, so some separating was needed. I also decided to destroy a few items, wanting to stress quality. this was no doubt true of the fringe shows I auditioned for last year and wasn't picked. I believe in celebrating only the places where I get stage time. so those pages dropped from five to two. since I auditioned for just two shows then decided to be a volunteer.
   the next things I did was get to the fringe offices in the grain belt complex, to pick up the ticket vouchers for the 2 volunteer shifts I just signed up for. the lady there gave me a fringe button as well, since I have now signed up for a total of six shifts. then it was on to Roseville to find an office where a security guard company is. I was given a brochure, now I have more information about the jobs there. of course it was a performer friend that suggested finding their office, after there was no response to my voicemail.
   in the early evening I went to a national night out event near my home. I had a hot dog, some fritos chips, and two cookies. a lady was handing out ice cream coupons, but said, as expected, there were only for the kids and not even she could have one of the coupons. I noticed a table with plenty of books on it, probably all children's books, and one of them was about a kid 'saving baseball'. I got a photo of it, odd title for a book in my opinion. notable about performing tonight was when I went out to the main room to go over my material, and a man playing pool asked me about what was happening. I said it was a comedy show, and I am a comic. he asked to hear my best joke, and paid me $5 even though he didn't think it was funny. but I still will count it as a paid gig, and it will go in an envelope with the others.

cream, prince and NPG

I did some karaoke tonight, but also notable was somebody doing 'cream', by prince and NPG. since the karaoke jockey said it was 'not for the lactose intolerant'. and at one point he went to get out a small carton of cream, not sure where he found it in the bar. the video starts off in a train station, and the first two minutes weren't music. it was exploring things like prince dealing with the media, being compared to Mozart. and we see some ladies wanting cream when ordering food. then the express train for Minneapolis leaves and the song actually starts. biggest takeaway from the lyrics was 'you got the horn so why don't you blow it' and 'you're filthy cute'. to me, this says a lot about the theme that prince was going for. and it is a theme seen in some of his other songs as well.
   oh yes, the songs I did. there was three. 'little less conversation' by elvis Presley, 'like a rolling stone' by bob Dylan, and 'that's all' by genesis. I know a missed a few words in the middle one as it went kind of fast and I wasn't paying attention, but the most important thing is to keep going. another singer asked that I do 'someday someway' my marshall Crenshaw as she liked hearing it before, I said I would consider it. but it is often a while before I come back to a song I've already done. I had seen her there before, she goes by kiki. and this is the only venue I see her at, even though I like to do karaoke at various venues. when I arrived I saw somebody I knew there, who produced a burlesque show I liked attending at another venue, so we spoke for a little while as they were packing up their gear. this performer spoke of doing johnny cash and elvis Presley when doing karaoke, I know this was why I started off with an elvis song. and there was some mention of elvis doing a horrible version of 'unchained melody', I was not familiar with it at all. also mention of wanting to see a friend's show at fringe, at minnsky in northeast Minneapolis. I said I had just been there for a show, but not the same one. oh, and I think I know what song it was that I couldn't think of before when recently doing karaoke at this venue. the one I liked hearing at burlesque shows. it likely was 'gold lion' by the yeah yeah yeahs/ for some reason I finally thought of it in the past week. I think what finally jarred the memory was finding a youtube video that had a similar scene in it of a drum kit.
   some of the day was spent thinking it through on the logistics for the second weekend of the fringe festival. I decided on doing two more volunteer shifts. I have one voucher left and wanted to see three more shows. I decided to scrap one of the four still under consideration as I knew it would free up plenty of time for me on Saturday. in addition, it was a one-man show and it was somebody I didn't know, so it was too risky in terms of if I would enjoy it. guess I am reminded of a show I saw last year that was disappointing, and said it was the worst one I had ever seen at fringe. I had considered it as I had ushered this show on Saturday. so I will be doing two volunteer shifts, as an usher and then a sidekick, Friday evening before I see a show. and then I will see two more shows Saturday evening. another priority was performing on Friday, so I didn't want to be out too late at fringe that night.
   on the job front, I had a phone interview this afternoon. but I am fine with them not inviting me for an in-person interview as I heard some things that didn't appeal to me. four days a week, Friday to Monday, and staying 'until the work is done' as well as working holidays. the phone interviewer recognized me from before, it led me to ask some questions such as the part about working holidays as I did an in-person interview with the same company in May. I found it hard to understand that he claims he didn't have my resume, I had to ask why I was being asked about my work history as the resume should have covered some of his questions.

audrey hepburn mural

this was my day of attending fringe shows after volunteering. I went to three shows and the first was at minnsky theater in northeast Minneapolis. it was memorable due to seeing an Audrey Hepburn mural near the front door, from 'breakfast at tiffany's'. the show I saw there was done by the Wisconsin couple, about living in that state. then I had a nice long gap where I could go home until the early evening and have some pizza before going to the other two. one was done by whopper, at the u of m, an absurdist comedy that reminded me of 'dr. strangelove'. the third was at strike theater back in northeast, just a few blocks from the first venue of the day. the 'ball of energy' was in this show and it was very much his show. there was a good cast all around but he was the funniest. I sat between the Wisconsin couple at this show, pleased that a seat was saved for me. I saw people I knew at all three shows. magic man was at the first one, and bus fare comic was at the second. but it made sense that if I knew some of the performers, that I would also know some of the patrons.
   I have one ticket voucher left, and now I am thinking about adding a few more shows to my schedule. at the outset I said I was fine with seeing just four. but now I might see as many as seven shows. so it would mean signing up for more volunteer shifts if I want to get in free. I picked up some of the show cards I am considering to remind me. and one of them was a show I ushered at. of course the logistics have to be figured out. but I have some time to mull it over, since I plan on doing fringe again next weekend. I don't want to interfere with my normal performing schedule on weeknights.
   I did the grocery shopping this morning, arriving less than an hour after they had opened for the day. then in the evening, after getting back from fringe, I did the dishes and recycle. it was no big deal getting around for fringe, although there was warnings of road closures. it helped to allow extra time to get there, and use alternate routes.

taking the footbridge

I did my four shifts of volunteering at the Minnesota fringe festival this afternoon. during the breaks I did my best to stay busy. I was at the u. of m. venue, rarig, and said 'let's take the footbridge' which was just outside of it as I hadn't before. I sang to myself the theme song from the TV show 'one day at a time' as one of the lines is 'while you're here, enjoy the view'. and I enjoyed the view there. I even walked to another venue to check out their selection of show cards. as usual, there was plenty of souvenirs to be had. there was even tickets to drop stating your age, and how long you've been a part of the fringe festival. light rail was a good game plan on getting there. I like my line 'all right people, we are ready to admit' when I am given the go-ahead from the house manager and techie. it was two shifts in the basement venue, and two on the upper, or third, level.
   but I was also busy this morning, as I went to little Canada for the Canadian days pancake breakfast. I noticed how the bagpipe band did not play 'Scotland the brave' this time but I can find it on youtube. I saw the car show after that. I got photos of two 1929 model cars, a dodge and a nash. after I got back from fringe I had dinner, as it was evening by then. I turned on the TV and got it over to fox, no baseball on but I liked the boxing matches. I saw another 'majority decision' where one judge ruledit a draw but was overruled. I think one of the fighters I had seen at the armory in Minneapolis in april, the teenager named joey spencer. then after the 10pm news was done I sang some karaoke, two songs. it was 'runaway train' by soul asylum, and 'everything you want' by vertical horizon. it was a rare time that I saw them close up shop, as the final song was the one after my second song. the karaoke jockey made me smile as usual, although I didn't tell her. it was her shirt, which said 'i don't look for trouble, but it finds me'. I didn't feel like grocery shopping after I got back from fringe, so I am moving it back a day, when I have more stamina.

essay contest

I watched a prime time episode of 'blue bloods' tonight and it meant something to me when there was mention of an essay contest. and the young kid who won said he wouldn't go to the awards ceremony. because I recall when that young kid was me. it is something that I have probably written about before. this is a good show, I have mostly seen it in reruns at first, especially on the weekends. although in this episode I will recall how in the start there was a narrator and then it went away.
  I also went to Canadian days in little Canada this evening, a town I once lived in. I like making this annual visit for the festival. I had two ears of corn, free with the button. I looked around for other food but the pizza trailer wasn't there, so I got a hot dog and a bottle of water. after that I got a bag of chips at a super-America and some ice cream at mcdonald's. I was recognized by an event official for having plenty of buttons, when I turned in my card for the drawing. I was asked where they were, and said I could pin them to my denim jacket for the pancake breakfast on Saturday morning. surprised me how I would get spotted there. I shared it in a facebook posting and got a response from the button about it.
   I did some more cleanup, thinning out the box of paid bills, and it meant doing some shredding as well. in the afternoon I made it to the library to print things such as the job description for the phone interview I have next week. I also applied for more jobs. so in many ways I decided to bounce back from the setbacks of the week. after the late news I went to sing karaoke, and did one song. it was 'cake by the ocean' by DNCE. it was mentioned in a recent facebook posting by my college roommate. I figured one song was enough as it will be a busy weekend for me.

not on soundcloud, instagram

I did some karaoke tonight and after the second song I had to meet the dude that kept calling my name. he claims he follows me on three different sites, except I am not on two of them: soundcloud, and Instagram. I had to say right away how it was not possible. the two songs were 'American Saturday night' by brad paisley, and 'Friday i'm in love' by the cure. I saw the bouncer in the parking lot as I was leaving, tending to a woman in a wheelchair. some mention of somebody needing to give $20 back.
   I went to a job fair just before midday, and it is hard to say if it yielded anything good. one agency there said try email instead of voicemail if they are not responding. I know I prefer email when somebody contacts me but for whatever reason I have been doing more of the voicemail with the job search. I also went to another back-to-work meeting but I probably still spent too much time ranting, and at one point apologized for running off at the mouth. I am still frustrated by the job searching process. and it took me too long to get to any positive news, such as landing a phone interview next week. I think it is because I have learned not to get my hopes up. he wants a call after the interview, but I will not say 'how it went' since it is not up to me at all. in the end the only thing that matters is whether or not I make it past a phone interview.
   there is still plenty of evidence of how hard it is to find things to do while out of work. I went to turn in change at the bank, even though I did that just over a week ago. then there was going through a box of paid bills and trying to thin it out some more. most common way I do so is by putting as many as possible into one envelope. I am used to there being five each month: two credit cards, internet service, cell phone, and the utility. one reason this was done was recalling seeing car registrations from previous years and wanting to get them in a file with other important documents such as my car title and voter registration forms. as usual, I made some nice finds. this includes flyers from glockenspiel, a german restaurant in st. paul that is now closed. so I can get those into a photo album with other postcards.

healthcare survey

i like answering online surveys for the airline miles. tonight I had one that was about healthcare, usually they are about consumer products. I will have to admit that I had to look up some things to find out what they were referring to. in the end I was honest with them when there was a chance. I said I am unemployed and mainly care about getting back to work at this point. and this was another day of either waiting, or failing, in this area. I went to the library to print some things, and while there filed some more applications with a bank. one of them asked for an assessment, and I completed it right away. but by the time I had left the library, two of the three had already been rejected.
   in the evening I went to perform, and it meant sharing the stage with 'mr. acronym' at one point. he was onstage early, and when I was first invited I said I wasn't ready. so later on I accepted. we did another pearl jam song, this time 'black'. although part of our time onstage was a comedy routine, because of the banter about various things like needing to find the lyrics on his phone. and I still don't seem to know the drummer's name even though we both are there often. I sent a friend request to the show runner before departing for the venue, I think I found the right one as the 'mutual friend' listed is from this open-mic. although I haven't seen the spoken words man much lately. it was nice to see airway tonight though.