Bond, Comics, Kayaks and Bags of Books

Saturday was a full day for pop culture nerds.

The Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra played a night of music associated with James Bond (and a few tunes, with Austin Powers). The performance was done in tandem with Jeans & Classics, an organization from Ontario.  The performance of the symphony was polished — these musicians know how to work their instruments.  It was amazing to listen to the same woodwind section move from a Monkees song (incorporated into Austin Powers) to a Duran Duran tune from the 1908s, never echoing the “sound” but always invoking the feeling of the tunes.  The female vocalist was powerful, but the male was flavorless… slipping from vocal styling that mimicked Armstrong to Gaye to Tom Jones.  At this level of performance, I want to hear a vocal talent for its own strengths, though I understand the impulse to want to serve up something familiar.  The Jeans & Classics Program is an interesting one — one that the program said was invested in bringing younger audiences to classical music, though most of their programs seem baby boomer in orientation.  Someone, please suggest The Music of Doctor Who next year.

Shortly before the performance, we visited Gabriel’s Bookstore — I’m guessing that this is some kind of volunteer operation, because the hours are a little uneven (we only get up to Lakeside on Saturdays, and Saturdays are hit and miss in terms if being open…) — can someone fill me in on the nature of this shop?  Saturday was a “bag sale day” — a stack of books we might not have bought (for example, some books on Klingon culture) came home with some real winners (some pulp-era fiction by Manly Wade Wellman, for example, as well as a hardcover about best practices for nonprofit boards that I will be reading for Wildwoods).  If I can come to understand this shop better, I will make it a more regular part of my reading life.

(We were in Lakeside to watch the Lester River overflow its banks… we missed the kayak race that was less than a quarter mile from where we were…  Did anyone catch it?)

Kate and I started the day with Free Comic Book Day at Rogue Robot & Collector’s Connection — FOX21 was part of these event at Rogue Robot.  Free Comic Book Day celebrates the medium of comics for all ages, and among the comics I grabbed were Kaboom’s Studios’ Sampler with Herobear and the Kid, the Scratch9 Sampler, and Hermes’ Press’ Buck Rogers sampler.  I extract a page below.

Free Comic Book Day should be on everyone’s calendar for next year.  All in all, a great day for Nerds.

Tomorrow, I will try to be Cool instead of Nerd.  Emily Haavik will be playing Homegrown at Sacred Heart.  Last year, Paul Lundgren and I listened to Emily at Chester Creek Cafe from outside the venue — listening through the window while a capacity crowd jammed the space.  Tomorrow, awesomeness.

 

No Comments

Leave a Comment

Only registered members can post a comment , Login / Register Here

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!
Read previous post:
Homegrown Kickball Classic 2013: ‘I can’t see the base because it is covered in mud, like my eyes.’

Friday pitcher Chad Lyons arrived at the field 45 minutes early, presumably to claim the field for his team in...

Close