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25 new of 77 responses total.
ea
response 33 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 3 04:20 UTC 2002

Spotted other, krj, senna, buddy, STeve, and glenda at TOP tonight.
glenda
response 34 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 3 11:38 UTC 2002

You forgot aruba and carol.  I spotted the same list as above (except for me)
but was planning on meeting up with krj, STeve, and buddy.
ea
response 35 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 3 14:18 UTC 2002

indeed, I forgot to mention aruba and carol.  Apologies to Mark and 
Carol.
other
response 36 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 3 18:07 UTC 2002

phenix showed up as well
krj
response 37 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 3 18:38 UTC 2002

Thanks to everyone who turned out on my recommendation.  Uncle Earl's
set seemed a bit rough to me, with rhythms and tunings being a little
off and tempos a bit slow, though it came together better at the end
of the evening.  For their last song before the encore they brought
up someone named Vita (from the Jeff-Vita Band) who had a really good song.
 
Since Uncle Earl's last Ann Arbor show at the Ark, banjo player 
Casey Henry seems to be taking a larger role, including some lead 
vocals.  
 
Mary/buddy convinced Steve and I to stay for the movie, THE OTHERS.
It was a very classy haunted-house movie with one wonderful moment 
when everyone in the audience jumped.
scott
response 38 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 4 04:22 UTC 2002

Spotted ea, other, senna, and aruba.  
krj
response 39 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 4 07:07 UTC 2002

buddy and I showed up after it was too dark for spotting or being spotted.
krj
response 40 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 4 17:48 UTC 2002

(( NP:  The Red Elvises "Live" CD, in honor of their appearance at 
   TOP two years ago today. ))
krj
response 41 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 6 19:10 UTC 2002

I've talked to a couple of people who were under the impression
that they had another week or two to make it to Top of the Park.
Oops!  These are the final two days.   Saturday night is three
bands I know nothing about:  Kevin Meisel Band, Charlie Dentel
and the Motor City Horns, and Roots Vibrations.

Sunday night, George Bedard and the Kingpins get their traditional
closing night spot -- they are a lively rockabilly band, lots 
of fun.  And the final movie is "O Brother Where Art Thou,"
which the director now jokes is the music video for the
quintuple-platinum CD of the soundtrack.
jmsaul
response 42 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 6 19:57 UTC 2002

That's a great movie.
arabella
response 43 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 7 00:42 UTC 2002

Ken, you've met Charlie Dentel.  I've sung with him in choirs.

gelinas
response 44 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 7 04:05 UTC 2002

I might miss George Bedard, but I expect to be at the movie, with my
entourage.
other
response 45 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 7 07:20 UTC 2002

Kevin Meisel wrote and sang probably the only country song I've ever 
heard with the word "jurisprudence" in it.  Interestingly also, they 
covered "Sweet Jane" by Lou Reed.

Charlie Dentel is a singer/songwriter/keyboardist, with great musical 
skill and very good entertainment instincts.  R&B.

Roots Vibration is a calypso/reggae band.  Also excellent entertainers, 
and very professional, they are a class above "Nite Flight," who have 
been the reggae band at TOP in recent years.
krj
response 46 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 7 20:03 UTC 2002

Catching up briefly:  Thursday our dinner with the Polygon family 
ran a bit late so we missed almost all the patriotic music.  
The women's percussion band Repercussions, and their guest dancers,
were a lot of fun -- seems to me I remember them from previous
years.  Grexers & associates spotted, besides the Polygon family,
included jmsaul & Lisa, stacie, and of course eric/other.
 
Saturday my other social plans were cut abruptly short, so I ended 
up at TOP for Charlie Dentel's set.  He's got a nice 70's R&B/soul
sound going; Charlie plays piano, and he's got a horn section
behind him.  The one cover I recognized was a Stevie Wonder song, 
though most of what he plays is originals.
 
I agree with Eric that Roots Vibration was better than the reggae
band from previous years; I stayed for about half of their set
and might have stayed longer if I'd found anyone besides Eric
who I knew.
carson
response 47 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 04:10 UTC 2002

(I have rather not nice things to say about "The Others", but I suppose
I should save them for another item.)

(another year, another missed TOP.  maybe I'll make it next year?)
krj
response 48 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 04:29 UTC 2002

<krj wonders what not nice things Carson has to say.>
 
So the season went out in spectacular fashion tonight.  George Bedard's
band added keyboard player Whit Hill for the occasion, and the 
organ and piano lines were a great addition to the sound.  
I resisted buying any of George Bedard's CDs, because I'm not sure
they can be anywhere close to as much fun as the band is live.

O BROTHER was even more enjoyable tonight than the first time 
I saw it, because the crowd was really into the film; I previously
saw it in a mostly-empty theater.
 
Stucci's ran out of French Silk (chocolate) ice cream, and I never
did get that cheese pie I wanted.    *sniff*   Still, this was one
of the most enjoyable TOP nights I can recall, and I tossed more money
into the Obelisk and the TOP fund-raising hat than I had planned to.  :)
 
Grexers and associates spotted:  buddy, russ, aruba, Carol, 
gelinas, Cindy, a number of younger Gelinases, senna,
and other.
gelinas
response 49 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 04:48 UTC 2002

(One of those "younger Gelinases" wasn't; he was a friend.)

I didn't see russ or other tonight.  Otherwise, substitute "krj" for
"gelinas" in the list preceding. :)
jaklumen
response 50 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 06:42 UTC 2002

are you saying, then, Ken, that "O Brother.." is best viewed with an 
audience?  Quite a few of the movies I've enjoyed were in virtually 
empty theatres..
other
response 51 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 07:18 UTC 2002

Correction:  Whit Hill is Al Hill's wife, a fine musician and dancer/
choreographer in her own right -- formerly known as Whitley Setrakian.  
The keyboardist sitting in with the Kingpins was Al Hill.
brighn
response 52 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 13:23 UTC 2002

#50> "O Brother" does strike me as the sort of movie I'd enjoy more with a
crowd. There are definitely movies where you want to see the movie, and any
interruptions from the audience are a distraction; there are other movies that
are weak on their own, and stand better as interactional experiences. I think
the latter are usually movies that don't take themselves too seriously, and
"O Brother" is definitely one of those.
orinoco
response 53 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 15:07 UTC 2002

The audience's reactions were interesting.  The scene at the KKK rally is a
pretty minor plot point -- ho hum, yet another death-defying escape -- but
it got a much bigger round of applause than anything else.  I suppose this
is Ann Arbor, after all...
dbratman
response 54 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 16:39 UTC 2002

I liked "O Brother" as a movie; I liked the music _in_ the movie.  But 
when I listened to the soundtrack album I didn't like it particularly 
at all.  I think the visuals were a large part of the enjoyment.
mcnally
response 55 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 8 17:28 UTC 2002

  I tend to agree.  I should be wild about the "O Brother" soundtrack --
  I like that kind of music in general and have a number of full-length
  recordings from several of the contributors that I really like.  But
  for whatever reason the soundtrack doesn't do much for me, except in
  conjunction with the film.

gelinas
response 56 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 9 01:11 UTC 2002

I put the soundtrack on today, to listen to while tooling around town (when
not listening to the news, that is).  My memory for such things isn't very
good, but I *think* it's in a slightly different order than the movie.  I'm
going to have to see the movie again, just to check.  (Of course, we've
already put it on the "must buy" list, just because we liked it.)

Listening to the soundtrack, I figured out why "You are my sunshine" was in
it, where it was.  And "Big Rock Candy Mountains."
carson
response 57 of 77: Mark Unseen   Jul 11 21:06 UTC 2002

re #48:  (if you look at a good majority of the shots, near the top of
          the screen, boom mics are *clearly* visible.  when I saw the
          movie in theatres, my enjoyment came from spotting the mics.)

         (simply put, the production was sloppy.)
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