The Deadbeat Club Is Not Dead

Here is the thing. I blame Casey and Brooke.

That's right, if that pint of Bud Light to celebrate/mourn their impending departure had not turned into FOUR bottles of bubbly-something-or-other, well, I would not be so damned late on this May episode of The Deadbeat Club.

Ok, perhaps blaming Casey and Brooke is silly (very...sniffle). Maybe I will blame the SpielPalast Cabaret and all those days of rehearsals and dancing around in my skivvies.

Or better, yet, I could blame Stuck in Vermont for all those exciting vlog assignments and late nights spent editing.

Or I could just shut up and say that if anyone watches The Deadbeat Club anymore (harder to do now that my YouTube channel was suspended), there is a May episode coming. I swear. It is shot and everything.

I just need a smidgen of time to edit it. And it will most likely air in June. I find May and June to be pretty similar months when it comes down to it. I mean really, what is the difference?

Yes, I am a lazy loser. I know this to be true. But I wouldn't be true to my deadbeat roots if I wasn't, right!? And this heavenly hot weather makes editing in a dark, cold basement that much harder.

In other news, be on the look out for a Stuck in VT show airing on VCAM. Just imagine seeing your favorite VT culture scene tid bits without the crunchy, pixelated mess!

To quote the amazing Colin the Magog who scared the pants offa me whilst I was riding my bike Thursday, "Yow!"

PS In other news, when bloggers collide! It is so nice to see bloggers in three dimensions talking and drinking and smoking and wearing fancy shoes and earrings. Bloggers Unite and Drink Booze! Yow!

SpielPalast in the Freeps

SpielPalast Cabaret pictures by Jordan Silverman that appeared in the Burlington Freepress with a ghostly greenish tinge. The online version is luckily green-tint-free.

The captions are entertaining. I love Laura's face (above) and love the fact that it was on the cover of the paper (sadly, with a greenish tinge).

Sigh, I miss the cabaret...I think it is finally hitting home that the fun ride is over.

Demba Raps All Over Burlington

Perhaps you remember Demba Sene at the SpielPalast Cabaret where he tore the house up in the first scene of Act 2. If you missed it, you should be sorry.

Demba turns to fire when he dances, he is a marvel to watch as flies up into the air over people's heads and shoots down the stairs and into the audience on his stomach. And did I mention that he is wearing tiny gold lame underwear when doing this?!

Inspired by his mother, a Senegalese musician, he recently recorded his first rap track. The song is a call out to his mother, who is no longer alive, and a message to his friends and family in Senegal about his experiences living in America.

We spent this hot HOT Friday traipsing around the VCAM studios, the railroad tracks behind the studios, over message-covered trains, in the water at Oakledge and searching for back up dancers on Church St. Watching Demba perform is always a treat, he managed to ignore the heat as he repeated his song over and over again in different locations, each time it felt fresh.

We spent a lot of time down on the railroad tracks and a nice gentlemen let us climb all over his idling, graffiti-covered train Cool!

It is interesting spending the day with someone from another country. I started to see America through his eyes, foreign and strange. Dimba has been here a couple of years and speaks pretty good English. Some things still stump him, like the ATM at Shaw's, but he is so friendly that he figures everything out. Even if the fish at Henry's Dinner was a little bland for his taste, some salt made it ok.

Want to dance with Demba? Hit up the Memorial on Thursdays. Thank me later.

Sweet Caroline Rocks the Half

Sweet sweet Caroline O'Connor rocked the 1/2 Bar last night. Outside, Church St was abuzz with recently awakened summer activity, but inside it was all cooool.

Some may already know Octavia Blaze from the fabulously talented SpielPalast Band (perhaps you recall her sultry rendition of Minnie the Moocher, yes sir!) but Miss Caroline writes her own tunes as well. Oh yes, her smoky voice filled the dark sardine-shaped room with heart-felt original lyrics that make one's spine tingle.

Caroline switched from guitar, to harmonica, to piano, to sax - making one wonder what instrument she does not play. Some visits from Matthew on bass and Zoe on sax rounded out the evening - the show was awesome. Way to rock it Caroline.

And did I mention she massages as though gifted with hands of the gods? And her name is even on a fancy gold plate on the door! Jeezum! What a lady!

PS And cabaret girl sightings were pretty cool too...make a girl squeal with delight.

Me Without You

My favorite movie right now as of this moment, Me Without You, the best girl growing up story you will ever see. It is the movie Sofia Coppola wishes she was deep enough to make.

Not to be mistaken with Me Without You, the band and their tasty website.

This heat is heavenly. Time to retire to the sun porch and my snifter of booze (thank you Magic Hat!).

Stuck in VT on the News

Oh yeah, check out the video from WCAX's YouTube series, "All About You" featuring ME! And above, check out my hand holding my fucked up camera with a Channel 3 logo attached to my thumb!

One of the best parts being that I am quoted saying the hard to spell word, "whoooh!" Personally, I would have included an "a" but that is just me. Tough call.

The other good parts, lots of love for the Stuck in Vermont logo (thanks S.R.Wild) and theme song (thanks Smittens) AND for SpielPalast Cabaret (check out Seth, David, KJ and Emer)!

Thanks Kate Duffy and Channel 3!

Eva on WCAX Wednesday

Wednesday on Channel 3 at 6pm,
watch me blab about YouTube and my internet "life."

Kate Duffy, a WCAX reporter, is doing a series on Vermonters who use YouTube. Her goal is to open YouTube up to viewers who may be intimidated by this new media.

I got to see a little preview of the segment tonight (there is another preview airing tomorrow on the morning news). It consists of a clip of me filming Seth and David at our last SpielPalast Dress Rehearsal at Contois and a sound bite of me saying enthusiatically, and with much gesticulating (surprise, surprise), "A friend told me about YouTube and then my world OPENED UP!"

Then they did that funky news editing thing where I was still talking BUT they cut the sound and I continued blabbing silently. I find that disturbing.

Also disturbing, I think my title was "Local Celebrity" but it was so fast, I could be wrong. I don't recall being asked what my "title" should be. I would have opted for, "Scary Monster and Super Freak" or "Professional Deadbeat."

The interview experience was interesting. I am so used to being the one sticking a camera in people's face and peppering them with questions. It felt nice to be the one answering the questions for once. And, as you may have guessed, one I got started, they could not get me to shut up.

Kate Duffy and her camera guy Andy were super nice and set up really efficiently. It is always nice to see how professionals work. They were also generous enough to run a blurb on the nightly news 2 weeks ago about the cabaret.

After the sit down interview, they told me to go about my "vlogging business" as if they weren't there. I proceeded to film Phinn and Roxanne as they lugged props up the steps into City Hall. I cornered David and Seth and started asking them questions.

They got the added fun of talking to me on camera as Andy was filming all three of us. It was pretty meta. That was one of the clips that aired in the preview.

They also filmed me interviewing the most amazing Esse, AKA the formerly-mute Bitsy. I hope they use that clip. That kid is a star.

All in all, it was fun but stressful. I was split between vlogging the cabaret, trying not to look totally foolish on camera and getting into full make-up, hair and costume (no easy task, I assure you) on time for our dress rehearsal.

In the end, it all worked out ok. And I can't wait to see the segment! How nice to be edited by someone else for a change! The best part is the cute way the WCAX anchor person announces the clip and pronouces "YouTube" like it is some nifty new rocket powered device the kids are using. I am not making fun, I really do find it charming.

And in other news, you might be seeing more of me on Channel 3 in the future. Say no more!

Black Flies Are Stuck in VT

Black Fly Festival [26]

Cabaret Girls of Yore

Leave it to the all-knowing Junk Thief to fill me in on two fascinating cabaret girls of yore whom I will read more about when I am not just procrastinating from editing and have some "real" free time to spare (will this day ever come?).

Alice Prin, AKA Kiki, was called the Queen of Montparnasse and said famously, "all I need is an onion, a bit of bread, and a bottle of red [wine]; and I will always find somebody to offer me that."

A Parisian dancer, singer, music hall queen, she embodied the spirit of the French music halls and even owned her own cabaret at one point, Chez Kiki. Man Ray was her partner throughout the 20s and she was his muse.

Kiki was an accomplished painter as well and at 14 years old was already modeling nude for scraps of bread. She represents the forever lost bohemian spirit of Montparnasse which pre-dated WWII.

Anita Berber was also made infamous by a work of art, a painting by Otto Dix entitled, "Portrait of a Dancer, Anita Berber." She was a German cabaret dancer, prostitute and writer during the Weimer period that SpielPalast also inhabits.

Anita was said to have been a sex slave to a woman and her teenage daughter (!?) and entranced audiences with her androgynous, erotic dancing. She died of tuberculosis at 29 and had healthy cocaine and booze habits to boot. The photos of her are stunning and a wee bit scary.

Both women left their own marks in books and paintings - but it is the images of them by men that we recognize. Somehow it makes me glad that as a poor cabaret girl, I can still afford my own recording devices to immortalize the show in my own way. Granted, it is not a photo by Man Ray or a painting by Otto Dix - but I made it. So there.

Ivo in a Blanket

So cute you will wet yourself. Ivo is courtesy of the fabulously talented and blonde, Molly Lynch.

Adamant Heaven

Adamant, Vermont is not easy to find. You have to drive down some dirt roads and follow some strange signs to find the center of town which is marked by the oldest coop in Vermont.

Years ago, Adamant was called Sodom but a priest moved to town and didn't like the idea of receiving mail in Sodom, Vermont. So he changed its name to Adamant which he said reflected the personality of the town folk. There is still a beautiful Sodom Pond to remind you of Adamant's past.

I was lucky enough to get stuck in Adamant Vermont this Sunday for their 5th Annual Blackfly Festival which I am vlogging for Stuck in Vermont this week.

The one hour drive from Burlington was green and beautiful and I fell in love with Vermont and her majestic green mountains all over again. It is so refreshing to see life breathing back into the landscape again.

The day was sunny in Burlington but nippy and overcast in Adamant. On the upside, this meant the blackflies were kept at bay. On the downside, it was hard to find any blackflies to film for the video. Worse still, the little buggers are very tiny which makes it doubtful that they will survive the YouTube compression.

The town of Adamant is fairytale-esque to be sure. Close enough to Montpelier to be accessible but far enough away to feel remote and separate.

Residents are friendly and open, most people know each other, kids run free all day long, the coop has a book of tabs instead of taking money, Ethan Allen (his impersonator at least) rides up the street on a horse and smiles abound.

Spending a day in Adamant was like traveling to an alternate universe. The best kind of La La Land where pesky bugs are celebrated with silly songs and a parade, yummy pies are decorated with candy blackflies, kids catch rides in tractors and a coop is the heart of the community.

Not only that, the president of the Adamant Co-op noticed I was chilly and loaned me a windbreaker. Her art studio is above the co-op and is another little haven. Add that to some hot cider (AKA bug juice), cookies, and sausage and I was all set.

I asked a gaggle of kids why they liked the country better than the city and one said, "How could you live anywhere where you couldn't hear the peepers?" My point exactly.

Mika and Vaurienne's Stair

Mika and I shared the third level of the Contois stairwell during our six shows of the cabaret. You might think that a Polish factory girl and a member of the underground French-Algerian resistance might not have much in common but I beg to differ.
Over the course of the past two tumultuous weeks, we shared a mirror, our make-up, munchies, our daily complaints (never enough sleep or food) and life stories. We checked each other's faces, underwear lines and stockings as they slowly became shredded remnants of their former selves.
There is an intimacy only girls changing can attain and I will miss our little cozy corner of the stairwell. I'll even miss a white-faced Mr Dingaling shushing us and the roving eyes of Contino Valentino Vespucci from the level above. If only that stairwell could talk...

SpielPalast Flashbacks

The cabaret shows may be over but the pictures are still cluttering my camera...

Sad Eyes of a Clown

Before SpielPalast

* Sniffle *

After SpielPalast

Nerves at Night

I wish I had this problem. Instead, my "overtaxed nerves" are due to the fact that there is simply NO time available for sleep. And surprisingly, I find myself quite able to operate on 4 hours of sleep one day and 2 hours the next. Inevitably, my sunken, bloodshot eyes will give away my sleepless secret but in the meantime, I think I have this so called human sleep requirement beat! Ha ha!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

Suzanne and Miss Ella

I remember the first time I met Suzanne. She was applying for a job at the Flynn and I noted her pink nail polish during the interview. She was nervous about the payroll test which I was in charge of administering. I never would have guessed at that moment that she would get the job and we would become bosom buddies. Now I can't imagine my time at the Flynn without her in it.

Suzanne does her famous Jeanie Nose Twitch at Abbie's Going Away Party Last Year

It gets harder to meet people when you are older. I don't know why that is. But Suzanne and I became friends quickly. I think it was equal parts her being very nice and friendly and also, her wanting to tell me about her new boyfriend. Thus began our long talks about love, life and all the murky stuff in between.

Before you knew it we were chatting away our days, taking long lunches and walks and, eventually, IMing up a storm (despite the fact that we worked a stone's throw from one another). Even though, on the face of it, we couldn't be much more different (eg: she is healthy and outdoorsy, I sit at a computer in my free time), we have lots in common and our conversations have never, ever been dull.

Suzanne and Eva Get Very Very Very Drunk at SpielPalast Last Year

Suzanne is one of those people who you are instantly comfortable with. She's sassy, smart, silly and creative even if she is too busy living her life to blog too often (but she always makes my day by commenting on this ol' blog!). She is a sweet and thoughtful friend, sister and auntie. Some of my most favorite times in this town have been our long Mirabelle SATC lunches when the conversation was so scintillating that I forgot to eat my key lime pie (which is saying A LOT if you have ever tried this delicacy).Suzanne and Abbie eating two of the dozens of creamees we devoured last summer on one of our many essential "Creamee Breaks"

She's a deep one, that Suzanne. Her sunny disposition mustn't fool you. Underneath an easy going exterior lurk many layers that twist and tangle and consider things carefully. But when it comes down to it, Suzanne enjoys life and I love her for that. Her spark, energy and joy make me shut my trap when I am angsting and sit back to enjoy the moments we have. Suzanne and Eva at Aimee's Going Away Party Last May

I love you Miss Suzanne Monroe and am so glad our paths crossed. I wanted to make you a birthday video montage and re-post the Offastys to YouTube as well but, alas, another all-nighter took away my "Oomph." But you can bet you'll be getting some birthday spankings later today (once I wake up).

Thanks for being such a positive bright life in my life! Smooch smooch!