Fun With Etymology

I never say PJs, primarily because I really like the word pajamas. Always have. It's the same word in both of my languages: pidzama/pajamas.

Oxford English Dictionary:
pyjamas | pajamas, n.
Etymology: < Urdu pāy-jāma, pā-jāma and its etymon Persian pāy-jāma, pā-jāma, singular noun < Persian pāy, pā foot, leg + jāma clothing, garment (see jama n.1)
Originally: loose trousers, usually of silk or cotton, tied round the waist, and worn by both sexes in some Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Subsequently also: nightclothes consisting of loose trousers or shorts and a jacket or other top (now the principal use). The loose trousers were adopted by Europeans living in Eastern countries, esp. for night wear, and the word came to be applied outside Asia (originally in trade use) to a sleeping suit of loose trousers and jacket.

So, to be technical, I usually sleep in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.

My dream job would be to test pajamas, bed linen, and mattresses/bed for the manufacturers. I excel at sleeping.

Mexican Independence Parade

I couldn't see it, because I live in a building hidden behind a building and I had just woken up (really late), was in my pajamas. But I heard the sounds, like a ribbon of brass, bass, voices fluttering by.

Double Door 01/10/11

We opened, D-Nick and the Microphone Misfitz followed, Powers headlined, and in the midst of it all, Bob Rok stole the show. But he gave us these pics and this video!

Hungry Brain, Elbo Room: Good Apples Wrap Up 2010 In Style

First, if Good Apples didn’t exist, I’d pretty much dream of there being a band like that, whether or not I was in it. Awesome no-nonsense songs (lyrics are sometimes a kind of no-nonsense nonsense… if that makes sense), varied material, sludgy, raw, fun sound, a DIY approach to everything. I’d either be in that band, or go to all their shows.

Second, I’ve been writing my blog entries for the past year as if I were a rock journalist who happens to be in the band she almost exclusively writes about. But now there are bloggers who, completely independently of us, support Good Apples. Check out SouthSide.

Third, I might try some different approaches to writing about the band next year.

Hungry Brain, 11/22

Bob Rok organized the first out of hopefully many crossover gigs, as there should really be many more club shows where you can see great indie hip hop and rock (so, outside of a festival setting). The two genres have much more in common than not, we’re in the same social circle, and we have nothing to lose by joining forces. The issue on 11/22, however, was that no DJs could show up, so it was left to two solo MCs, Bob Rok and Mega, to represent. And they did!

Good Apples played a (for us) quieter set, to accommodate the limits of the small bar in a residential area. The guy there, like Esmeralda and Kevin, were very hospitable, and Esmeralda did a really good job with the sound to boot. We opened with “Gem,” and we also did “West Wind,” “Happy Ending,” “007 BC,” “Dream,” “Used to Sing,” “She Crashed My Car,” “Mountain Killer,” and “Once Is Enough.” Maybe I’m forgetting something, but we did them all with a kind of slightly subdued but intense energy, beautiful at moments, but (as at ease as we were) somehow serious and a little stern, atypical for us. At least that was my feeling afterward. I’m glad we ended the set with the very upbeat “Once Is Enough,” it was a welcome bright coda to the set.

Once again, the Hungry Brain people and their welcoming vibe really make me want to come back to the venue, preferably on a weekend night.

Awesome pics by John Mikrut!

Elbo Room, 12/09

Pete and Gabor, and possibly Dillon as well, have played the Elbo Room before in their prior bands, but it was a first for me. Again, friendly staff, a hospitable atmosphere, and even the gentleman repairing the heating glitch was in a good mood, joking around with us (he said my Theremin was crying for its mommy, for example). The heat did get fixed, but on a witch’s tit cold night, the venue was sparsely attended. There was in fact no one in the upstairs lounge were a pretty awesome acoustic trio was doing a jazzy folk set. A few people gathered by the time our set was about to start, after a solid set by the Canadian troubadour Mark Perak.

When we launched into “She Crashed My Car,” we indeed stepped on it—the song moved faster than ever, fuelled by the adrenaline. “007 BC” followed, and by this time the light man began to really have fun: fog machine, different colored lights, twirling spot lights, the whole shebang. After some new and old tunes (“Metal Man,” “Used To Sing,” “Happy Ending”), we unveiled out medley cover of “Symptom of the Universe”/”Buggin’ Out,” followed by the new instrumental, “Collosal Black Hole,” and right around then strobes kicked in, and Dillon and Gabor actually had to focus harder, because the lights had their won rhythm that they had to ignore in order to keep the desired tempo.

I wore the T-shirt my brother had made, wherein he had Good Apples printed below the picture on the cover of a Crvena Jabuka (Red Apple) album, which features a girl’s naked butt with a big red apple painted on her skin. One person in the audience, Dillon’s friend Ankica, actually recognized the reference/rip-off.

For our next show, at The Double Door Dirt Room, we’ll bring Bob Rok back, this time accompanied by Mar. Powers will headline, and D-Nick the Microphone Misfit and Ray of Light will also perform.

It's That Time Of the Year Again

This time last year, I felt angry. Today, just sad and defeated. Time to sing the blues away with The Klezmatics and "An Undoing World"!

What I Remember: 11/11/10

Chad Heltzel picked a perfect venue for a poetry reading: Open Books. This spacious bookstore packed with second-hand books, located near the Chicago Brown Line stop, is a part of a larger organization that provides literacy programs, and Chad had apparently stumbled upon them on his way to the gym one day. Like a lot of literary events in which Chad has been involved, this too had a great turnout, and Open Books helped make it a success by creating and disseminating posters, placing ads, and even getting the event announced on NPR.

It was the Little Red Leaves event, and since the journal is online and its editors scattered around the country, the Chicago reading was one of many designed to promote the journal and its contributors.

Now I wish I wrote this the day after the reading, because, here’s the problem: there were two awesome poets, one opened and one closed the night. Their names? Judith Goldman and Laura Goldstein. I don’t know which face goes with which name anymore. Idiot me.

Also awesome was Brain Mornar, but I am not confusing him with anyone now, almost a week later, because he was the only man reading, plus the remaining two poets featured were Ixta Menchaca Rosa and Tasha Fouts Marren, my UIC buddies. I was coming back from a great Good Apples practice, in a good mood. After I realized that most of the poems I picked for the night had an element of humor in it, I decided to try to play it up by my delivery. It worked! My fave that night—yes, I’m being biased, but I don’t think it’s only my love for the girl—Tasha Marren. Her poems deal manly with fear and language. In equal measures: language is not used to depict only fear, but also itself, until one theme embodies the other. And this is not just an interpretation, my reading of what goes on in her poems; it’s what the poet intends, and then executes masterfully. Kudos! (Tasha didn’t want anyone to review the reading, and I didn’t even mean to, but what the hell, she’s not the boss of me.)

Good Apples vs. Capitalism: The Saga Continues

So, in the previous episode, Good Apples are asked to quit playing due to the corporate types complaining that they can’t hear the sound of their voices that they enjoy so much while discussing whatever it is they’re discussing over overpriced beverages in obnoxious sports bars.

In this episode, Good Apples are asked to host a Halloween costume contest and then play a set to close the festivities that include a comedian and a burlesque performance in the intimate confines of Reggie’s Music Joint, a rock’n’roll bar just south of the Loop. Sounds like good old Halloween-oriented fun?

In reality, it was a Pabst-Corporation-oriented promotional event. Everything else--the comedy, the burlesque, costume contest, the music—was just backdrop that can allow Pabst to peddle their product under the guise of “edgyness.” A familiar scenario.

Since we were all there in service of Pabst, obviously any changes that had to be made on the spot wee made without any consideration for the performers. Long story short, the costume contest, along with the majority of the crowd at Reggie’s Music Joint were moved last minute to the venue next door, the main Reggie’s stage. I don’t know who ended up hosting the event, who ended up winning, when the contest ended, whether people knew there was a free late-night show next door, all I know is we played after midnight to a few friendly faces, by the bar and scattered around the mainly empty room, some friends, some strangers. I know the promoters were simply doing their job, and their job is to please the sponsor while keeping the audiences as happy as possible. They might have gotten into the business due to their enthusiasm for music and performance, and I certainly appreciate Elle getting back to Good Apples quickly after we first inquired about playing at Reggie’s, and it felt good that she was full of confidence that we would rock, simply based on what she heard on Myspace. But the reality is that bars are in the business of selling booze, and everything else is little more than décor.

But the décor had a good time after all. Johnny the soundman was awesome (as was our waitress, whose name I don’t know, sorry, honey—the one with a bob hairdo). Chill and friendly, he helped us set up, and stayed alert at his post during our entire set, doing the job he obviously loves and knows how to do. Dillon played under the influence of Dayquil and triple-digit fever, which explained his lack of costume, but he still played as if he was completely healthy. Gabor rocked as The Tecate Man, Pete as Colonel Mustard, and I was wearing the tutu I made myself. It looked ripped up, which is perfect for the undead ballerina look I was going for.

The set was: Mountain Killer (new version, with lyrics), Epic, Happy Ending (my Theremin debut), 007 BC, Dead Already, Used to Sing, Industry, Metal Man, Cosmonaut, She Crashed My Car, and Spectacle. It was the biggest stage we’ve played on so far, with ample space for me to jump and dance, something that’s hard to resist when Good Apples play. The relatively well-lit bar allowed me to make out happy faces enjoying them some Apples for the first time. No hecklers this time, only love.