Prison Karaoke

Yes. You heard me. Prison Karaoke. If you don't remember, my best friend works at a prison. She always has great stories, and I've been saving this one.

On holidays, since many of the prison workers are off, the ones who work them set up special events since there's not enough staff to run the regular activities such as basketball, the weight room, etc. So they decided to have an American Idol sort of competition with karaoke.

One of the semifinalists of the first round sang James Brown's Baby I Got That Feeling. Here's James Brown himself performing part of it.



The inmate that performed it apparently did every James Brown patented move along with a few others thrown in to boot and almost needed to be carried from the stage from exhaustion. He couldn't sing very well, but the showmanship alone carried him on to the finals.

In the finals, he belted out Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana.



According to my source, he only knew the chorus and sang that at the top of his lungs. Again, showmanship carried the day over actual singing talent as he performed every Michael Jackson move known to man.

He beat out the only other competition, who, by the way, could actually sing, but was so nervous he sang very quietly and twirled his hair as he did. Not really a move to get you the votes during Karaoke in the Pokey, or so I have come to understand. Though it probably got him a boyfriend or two.

James Brown/Michael Jackson in an orange jumpsuit won twenty five bucks and some notoriety around the prison. Not sure if that last part was a good thing or will turn around to bite him in the ass.

But this is what I'm trying to convince my best friend to organize next. I think it would be great for morale and excellent fodder for my blog.

I'm In A Mood

And I can't figure it out. I want to watch Hee Haw re-runs and eat lemon Jello. I want to wear my Slayer concert tee shirt with fuzzy bunny slippers. I want to eat shrimp puffs while downing tequila shots.

I'm in a mood.

But what I'm really afraid of is that it's a metamorphosis. I'll fall asleep and somehow grow a chrysalis.

Or like Gregor, awake to find myself a cockroach. What does a person feel like before taking on some hideous physical transformation? Do they crave Ho Ho's and tomato juice?

I guess I'm just not feeling like myself.

It doesn't help that where ever I go, people look at me like this:

Hold on while I consult the Magic Eight Ball to see how this will turn out. Hmmmmmmmmm. "Outlook not so good".

Not what I was hoping to hear. Seems strange things are afoot at the Circle K, I mean Chez Quinn. Let's hope it straightens itself out soon. But if you happen to look out your window and see something like this:



You may want to run too.

Ever have One of Those Days?

Here's hoping today isn't too.

Lots of Little Things

So 50/50 is on. My writer's group is doing a program where you write 50 words every day for the next 50 days. I've had my head down typing away, which is one of the reasons I haven't been typing away here. Blog entries don't count for the 50/50.

New lines from Shifting Her World yesterday:


They told you to tell them what you want. Heat suffused her cheeks as she thought about what to say. No way was any of that going to come out of her mouth just yet. Not when this was all so new. A deep breath brought some of her courage back along with a plan.

She’d start easy. And easy was Nate.

Leigha caught his eye and crooked her finger at him. His face lit up. She was beginning to love that wicked grin of his. He crawled up from the foot of the bed, leading with that smile and she melted beneath it.

I'm on a quest to get a new battery for my motorcycle. I'll be checking out some more places today. If I crap out, I'll have to get the local Yamaha dealership to order me one which will arrive in two to five days. It's freaking gorgeous out and will be for. . . the next two to five days, then rain. I wonder if this is the event that will push me over the edge to villainism. Look for updates on that soon.

And on a completely unrelated note, I love Rube Goldberg machines. If I could find a shirt that said I heart Rube Goldberg Machines, I would wear it with pride. So, with that in mind, check out this music video and be wowed by the intricacy and huge scale of this one.

Enjoy!

Casa de Quinn Goes to the Opera

Okay, so I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, busier than a one armed paper hanger, so I haven't posted in a while. But I did get a surprise anniversary date from The Man last Friday. Damn is he good.

This month we celebrate lucky thirteen. He made reservations to a very nice Italian restaurant where we ate a leisurely dinner. Then we attended the opening night of Puccini's La Boheme. Three of the four main performers were very good. The fourth, who played Rodolpho, was good, but didn't project very well and was drowned out by the orchestra. Though he did do a nice job on his aria from the first act. (Click here if you'd like to hear it done exceptionally well.) He seemed not to have the stamina to keep up through the whole performance. Otherwise, it was wonderful. The sets and costumes were well done, the performers could act and sing. The two sopranos were terrific.

If you don't know, La Boheme is a four act opera, and the performance ran three hours with intermissions. But it flew by. This is one of the great pairings of good story and and excellent music. I knew the libretto, and began to tear up in the first act because I knew how it would end. By the middle of the third act I was crying, and by the end, I was done for. I can be such a girl at times.

This was the fifth opera we've seen together. Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, Carmen, and Mdme. Butterfly are the others we've gone to. I love opera, but some days this is about as much opera as I can take.



But Friday was a fantastic surprise and an awesome night all around. Good food, good wine, good music. Outstanding company. The Man is one of a kind.

So tell me, has your significant other ever surprised you? Let's hear about it!

Where To Start

So much to tell today. Sorry it's been a while since I posted, I've been busy out in the real world. It's amazing how some nice weather and fun getaways will lift the winter blahs right off a body and send those crazy super villain thoughts right out of your head.

So here we go. Friday we loaded up the family truckster and headed down to D.C. to the National Geographic Museum where we viewed the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit. It was phenomenal. Just amazing. The detail in those statues is incredible. Different faces, different hairstyles, creases in clothing, rivets on armor. It was just awesome. Soldiers weren't the only things created either. There were horses, politicians, musicians and what they believe is a strong man from the circus at the exhibit. I could have stayed there all day if I could have. There were about fifteen full statues on display, plus many artifacts showing the history and culture of the time. I now want to devour any reading on the Qin Emperor. (I own an awesome movie called Hero that's set in this time period, that takes a lot of liberties with the history, but the cinematography and kung fu action is amazing.)

The cherry on top of the perfect day in D.C. was eating at a Roy Rogers Restaurant on the way home. They don't have them up here any more, to my deep despair.

That chain gets a 5 star rating from me.

First star - two words - Fixin's. Bar.

Star number two - malt vinegar for your french fries.

Star number three - Mr. Pibb, Cherry Coke and Birch Beer. All three choices at the free refill beverage station. Heaven!

Fourth Star - A full array of condiments at the Fixin's Bar - especially mayo.

And finally, the fifth star, The Man and I disagree on. For me it's the limitless amount of pickle slices you can put on your burger from the Fixin's Bar, and for him it's the fries that arrive in their very own cardboard holster. Yours to take home and wear on your belt with pride. So we'll split the difference since I'm all about the Fixin's Bar. If I could put the words Fixin's bar in glowing text and add trumpet fanfare after each time it's read, you'd begin to get an idea about how much I love it.

Saturday was my writer's meeting day. It was great to get out with like minded people and good friends. Lunch was great with them. It also didn't hurt that our waiter was some very tasty eye candy and a good sport to boot. Which makes all the difference in the world.

Sunday night we loaded up the family truckster again and headed out to Chocolate Town for a Hershey Bears hockey game. It was a good game. The officials hardly called anything, there were lots of fights, and the Bears won. The older urchin, gentle soul that she is, was a little distressed by the fights, but the youngest is a girl after my own heart. She'd point to one of the players and say, "Mommy, I want that one to fight." Ahh to be two and all innocence and blood thirstiness once again, attempting to orchestrate hockey fights from afar. *sniff* Brings a tear of joy to my eye. I love hockey. Grew up watching Wayne Gretzky and the Flyers in the 70's. Cheered them on with Propp and Tocchet in the late 80's. Stuck with them in between and have been paying bandwagon dues forever.

Wow, you're still reading? Your loyalty has not gone unnoticed You shall be rewarded. If I ever show up at your door brandishing sea monkeys or bandito lobsters, I give you a free pass. Your code phrase is Wayne Gretzky is a hockey god, and I will immediately move on. You have my super villain word of honor.

So on to the final good news/bad news. I got to ride my motorcycle on Monday. It was glorious, exhilarating, chock full of awesomesauce. Just a quick first ride of the season. But when I pulled in to my driveway, the motorcycle died. The Man tried to fix it, but it won't start. We have our theories, but we're going to have to take it in to the shop.

And that, my friends, is why my super villain plans are still in the fore. Even with all the other great stuff that happened, this could be the one thing that pushes me over the edge. Time will tell. Like the early warning system for a tornado, you now have advance knowledge and can prepare accordingly. So start stocking your bomb shelters now, citizens.

Thursday Ridiculousness

Super Villain Update - Well, I'm scouting some new minion talent since negotiations with the sea monkeys are stalled. Right now I'm courting bandito lobsters, which as you know are the badasses of the crustacean world. I'm sure you've seen their work. But just in case you haven't, here's a little sample.



They really reek of harbingers of doom, huh? Huh? Definitely capable of delivering my wrath. So I'm considering them. If I contact them, I'll do some trial runs, see how we work together. You know, run of the mill stuff.

I'm also thinking about hiring this group to write my theme song once I decide on who will become the deliverers of my wrath. What do you think?

My Elvis Sightings Go To Them

I know I haven't shared any Elvis sightings recently. That's because I usually save them for the soldiers. Many of you know that I send care packages overseas to deployed soldiers. I use anysoldier.com to get contacts.

Anyway, I always write a letter to put in the box of stuff. It usually starts off normal with the weather or some such thing, but you know me. I can't be serious for very long. So I always squeeze in an Elvis sighting. Something like, "I was in the supermarket yesterday and I saw Elvis in the produce section handling the mangoes." Or "We had all this snow and I could've sworn I saw Elvis one town over snow blowing a driveway. I knew it was him because I could just see his pompadour swirling out of the top of his mad bomber hat. Oh, yeah and his coveralls had sequins on them." I feel accomplished if I can make a soldier roll his eyes in a combat zone. It's the little things in life, right?

So since I haven't shared any Elvis sightings with you recently, here it is, in it's full color glory. Enjoy!