Monthly Archives: December 2008

Here’s Lucy and her Velvet Lapelles on stage late Friday night at the Varsity over in Dinkytown. They came on after 3 or 4 “techno” type acts played. I put techno in quotes because I have no idea if it was really techno or what, but as someone who doesn’t know anything about anything, it sorta seemed like they were. They had laptops and drum machines and stuff. And the headliner – who went on right before Lucy because of some scheduling issues – was wearing a vest made out of old cassettes. That’s gotta be techno, right? Also: it was kinda fun. I don’t need to track that stuff down every weekend or anything, but in the right circumstances I don’t object too strongly. This would be one of those times.
Then Lucy and Team came out around 1. All cello and upright bass and accordion and drums and guitar and piano and stuff. “Thanks for staying awake,” she says. “Wow those bands were great, huh? Like dance party 5000.” And they open with Postcard and it goes from there. Fantastic. A bit unrefined – not overly so, really – but isn’t that sort of adorable? It totally is. And maybe that comes around and maybe it doesn’t. I’d bet it does. If they stick with it. Here’s hoping they do. Nice.
Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles [myspace]

Saturday. Seriously, how great are these sunny early winter days? Super great. Twenty degrees and big blue sky and it’s still totally winter, it’s just not the cold inhospitable dark reality that is capital-W winter in late January. And look how we’re all out enjoying it. We stomp around the yard. We futz. We fill birdfeeders. We brush off the car. We make note of all the stuff we didn’t get done before the snow hit. Which is a pretty big list. Is that another pack of daffodils that I forgot to plant? Whoops. But who’s counting. Let’s shovel the walk and talk to the neighbors and dig out the sleds and go for a drag up and down the sidewalk.
And then you go for a run to the lake and the paths are snowy and just a bit slippery and it sort of feels like you’re running on a beach. But yeah, the wind is blowing and the water is still open and if you let your mind space out you can sorta convince yourself that the cars slowly driving past almost sound like waves crashing on the shore. And look at that guy sitting on a bench reading a magazine like it’s late summer. Warm jacket and hat and fingerless gloves and a thermos of coffee by his side. Damn straight. And the walkers with their little hiking pole things? Or the ones with the long down puffy trench coats? And everyone is smiling. Because winter is here. And hell yes we’re outside.
See you there.