reminder: cabaret tonight!

Tonight is the first of two performances of our cabaret, He Sang/She Sang -- a role-reversing twist on Broadway's best! Tickets are $10 and benefit Elyria Summer Theatre Association.

Jim's Coffeehouse
2 Lake Avenue, Elyria
Doors open at 7:30 p.m., show starts at 8:00 p.m.

We also added a song for me... to, you know, give the people their money's worth. In keeping with the theme, I'll be belting out Hildy's song from On The Town, "I Can Cook Too."

And through the wonders of modern technology, i.e. my digital piano, we can easily shift these songs into the appropriate keys. :)

As mentioned before, if you can't make it tonight, we'll be doing it again on Saturday, May 17th, same time, same place.

relay for life '08

If you're a regular reader of this blog, chances are good that you know I'm a survivor of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I was diagnosed in late 2004, receiving six months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This July will mark my third year anniversary of remission, and so far I have been doing well. You can read my blog posts about my treatment here.

While I had one of the most treatable cancers and received a regimen that presents a very high survival rate, that same treatment can also make me more susceptible to other cancers, especially lung cancer -- aside from the threat of the Hodgkin's itself returning.

But my optimistic view is this: Hopefully, by the time such a thing would happen to me, my options for treatment could be greater, less painful, and more effective thanks to the work of organizations like the American Cancer Society, and Relay For Life, and my church's team, and people like you. And the same sentiment applies to the millions who are affected by cancer every year.

Unfortunately, like last year I will be away the weekend of Elyria's Relay For Life, but I am still helping out my team by getting the word out, designing and distributing flyers about our various fundraisers, and making a monetary contribution myself.

Making a donation is easy, and can be done through my Relay For Life fundraising page or printing out the form (also on that page) and mailing a check. Even just a few bucks here and there will help my team reach our goal. Last year we were able to raise over $2,500.

Thanks for all your support!!

more shows, more details

birdwatching has been updated again.

Most imminent is He Sang/She Sang, a fundraiser for Elyria Summer Theatre which stars my friends Mike Caraffi and Kim Mihalik.

This is a chance for Kim to perform some of those favorite showtunes that only guys ever get to sing -- "Luck Be a Lady," "Being Alive," "Ya Got Trouble" -- and for Mike to belt out a few women's numbers as well -- "When You're Good to Mama," "Popular," "I Feel Pretty." Combine that with several duets from Wicked, Phantom, and Songs for a New World, the occasional quip and background vocal from yours truly, and we've got a fun hour lined up for ya.

This will be Friday, April 25 at Jim's Coffeehouse in Elyria (corner of Broad St and Lake Ave -- park at the Riverwalk if necessary). Doors open at 7:30 p.m., show starts at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $10, available at Jim's or by calling Sheila at 440-366-1131. If that's too short notice for you, we'll be doing it again Saturday, May 17.

Speaking of May 17 fundraisers, I'll invite you again this year to my church's Relay For Life Chicken BBQ:



I'll be posting more about Relay For Life later, once I have my sponsor page set up.

Now then, back to musical theatre: Mike and Kim are also producing another ESTA fundraiser, in the form of a musical revue called The Bad Girls of Broadway. The ingenue may get the squealy high soprano line, but it's the naughty girls who stop the show! This revue celebrates those women and the men who love them.

For this one, Mike will be music directing but I'll be pianist for the two performances, Friday and Saturday June 13 and 14.

And a quickie: I'll be filling in for just one performance of The King and I in Euclid on Sunday, May 11 (Mother's Day).


Notice a trend? These are all short, quick gigs and not full-length commitments... (hiatus?)

Those will come later in the year. It's likely I will be playing for Magnificat High School's musical again this November, and sometime this fall I might be playing for a production of The Last Five Years if the theater decides to do it.


In other news, Cedar Point opens in less than 25 days! Stu, Laurie and I are planning to get our season passes this weekend. May 10 can't come fast enough.

sporcle addiction

My new addictive site is Sporcle. They have various "list quizzes," like trying to name all the countries in Europe. Here's how I did:

The 12 Greek Olympian Gods: 9 of 12 (I knew the Roman names for Fire & Forge and Hunt & Moon, but not the Greek)

The Periodic Table: 50 of 118 (I think I only got 35 the first time I did it, but the second time I missed a few I got the first time)

Countries of Europe: 43 of 46 the first time, all 46 on the third try

U.S. Presidents: 40 of 43 (all 43 the second time, once I remembered more parts of the Animaniacs song; Simpsons and TMBG also helps)

Countries of Africa: 37 of 53

U.S. Capitals: 46 of 50 (all 50 the second time)

Major League Baseball teams: 29 of 30 (forgot the Padres)

Aaaaand plenty more where that came from.


Oh also (attn: Stu) I got 16 of 27 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

april heeheelol's day

It's that time again: The most annoying day of the year. No co-worker can be trusted; no website can be believed; no glass of water or piece of gum offered by a friend can be assumed non-rancid. And why? Because it's hilarious, of course!

No, nothing has happened to me today, and I'm not bitter about past pranks. I just find this day highly annoying.