Tabishland

and then, don't miss the tribute band site by clicking here

Help me out, here. I've been a little depressed. I normally don't pay a lot of attention to what year is coming up, but I'm having some trouble with 2007. It's just such a big number. And it's a lo-o-o-o-o-ng way away from my birth year. It really has me down. Anyone else experiencing this?

It will certainly give her another reason to be happy she's vegetarian. (But she's ovo-lacto, so it will still affect her.) I'm upset because the gov't. is NOT requiring any special labeling of these products. We can't even caveat our emptor on this one.

I think I actually have this exact thing at my parents house.

Just what yunz all need with the post-holiday spare time you have. I was able to get 37 correct. Click on the link and start entering your guesses. Some ar easy, some are quite difficult.

And no, none of these were Just Hit Pause LP covers.

Best of luck to all!

None of that "quality time with my family" or "inner peace" crappola. We're talking presents - physical property or stuff you can eat. We all need to know what way cool stuff is out there so we can stock up.

ex.
little gun that catapults tiny plastic pigs about 30 feet
bag of snowman poop

former from my wife. latter from my daughter.

talk about having your number...

Thursday, 06/01/06, 11:07 am - post #1
Thursday, 12/28/06, 10:50 am - post #443

30 weeks. 13813 hits (since 06/12/06 - actual number is probably about 14000). 34 countries.

If anyone is keeping score the individual standings are something like this (I came up short but am too lazy to recount - and they are probably all Tim's posts anyway):

Tim- 139
Joe- 78
Ian- 58
Kim- 36
Nell- 28
Liza- 19
Grac(i)e- 17
E-Mann- 13
Ginger- 11
Jeff- 11
Julianne- 7
Anne- 5
DRT- 4
Jennie- 3
Janine- 2
Geoff- 1
Chip- 1

Those are just the original posts. I'm way too lazy to TAB-ulate the responses (that sounds suspiciously like something Liza would do...). I expect most folk's ERA rise with those added, so this isn't really an accurate guage of participation. But probably a good gauge of some psychological need (or lack of it).

The "notable alumni" section fails to make mention of any of the famous dancing EMTs, dog-friendly rock and roll frontgirls, or theater directors out of IAHS. What's up? And what about the world's most overlooked supergroup, Just Hit Pause? Can somebody please edit this.

...I'll do it for you.

Did you or Joe or Chip want to tell us about the "Just Hit Pause" web phenomenon?

It turns out I was mistaken when I told Joe I wasn't going to Indiana for Christmas. My sister talked me into driving down Fri night and coming back today, so that all my siblings and mother could get together for the first time in about 15 years.

I had no opportunity to go see Indiana friends but did drive by Nell's lovely, beautifully lit house. Philadelphia Street was very pretty, too. My family had dinner at the Coney and I thought of all of you, and last summer. My brother Lance was amazed at how the Coney has grown and said now it's more like "The Coney Drinking Mall," which I thought was pretty funny. We ran into David Noker, all gussied up as my Aunt Dorinda used to say, and he said he now has Internet access and CHECKS THE BLOG NOW AND THEN so we need to work on being a little more cool, I think.

I miss you guys. I'm glad we've reconnected. My sister Margo, three years older than I am, is thinking of getting in touch with her Sendracs friends because she said it was really the best time in her life, those years. I think we're very lucky.

I know you're not a Dr. of psychology, though I think you used to play one on tv, but this morning I woke up singing the IAHS alma mater (or as Chip always called it: the dooma schpater). What's wrong with me! Quick before I do something drastic, like make my wife and daughter dress up like Native American mascots....

I can't get it out of my head. I even tried singing "The Macarana", which will just about erase anything from the mind, and now I'm doing the dance moves for that song with the words and melody of the first song.

Stop me before I kill again.

If You Tell Anyone That It Came From Me,I'll Deny It!

In the spirit of the season!

By the way, here's a joke for you:

q: How do we agnostics celebrate Christmas?

A: I don't know.

For my money, the perfect allegory for the State of the Union.

Remember back a few years ago when Heinz had those goofy ketchup bottles with the sayings on them. I didn't realize that they had a website where you could order custom labeled bottles - but this guy did and bought $100 worth for a series of practical jokes. The linked page shows his bottles (and some they wouldn't make) - there's link on that page to read about him dealing with customer service at his local supermarket using the prank bottles. Very funny. Wish I'd thought of it.

Anyone remember being scared of Santa as a youngster? Did you have horrible experiences taking your children to sit on Santa's lap? You are not alone.
I most enjoy the vintage photos.

I made arrangements today to do an air shift on WWVU FM, the college radio station of West Virginia University. I'll be on the air spinning tunes from the ages on Wednesday, December 27 from 10 am to 2 pm. You can listen in on your computer through the link in the above headline.

I'm not sure what I'll be playing yet. I do have a major inclination towards the punk and post-punk music of the 1976 to 1984 period, but I have also been grooving on alt-country, be-bop, blues, folk, and other musics. It should be an interesting four hours of old-time, free-form, rock and roll radio. You know, like what we tried to tune into in high school when stations like WYDD and were cool.

By the way, this will be my 26th straight year of broadcasting at least one radio air shift on a non-profit radio station. I always have a blast going on the air once or twice a year and spinning some old faves. If you are so inclined, I encourage you to look around your area for a non-comm or college station that needs an occassional assist. You can usually play what your heart desires during a lull between academic terms on a college station. Just minimize the dead air and keep the tunes spinning. Be sure to drop us a note so we can listen, too!

I don't know how Ian does that snazzy thing where he makes the video actually appear on the blog. Anyway, this is pretty cool, apparently the work of an electrical engineer with a lot of spare time and cash. The person who originally posted the video explains something about how it was done if you can get to the first page.

How did the eBay conductor do in his/her Hallelujah Chorus debut? How much did he/she pay? AND...How did the Messiah performance go???? Can't wait to hear!

French Rap and Slovak Squatting

I don't know. Maybe it's like that old REM video about the End of the World. But, in a very strange way, it reminds me of Indiana.

Jane saw it and said it's very funny. It may come around again. Reportedly, The Rock had a pas de deux with a nun dressed like Madonna during her "Like a Virgin" tour. But is it Art?

Something for the kids after you buy Tablishland paraphenelia.

Here's a fun rendition of White Christmas, sent along to me by Skip Gray.

Yes, the annual IHS Holiday Dance is (still) called the Tinsel Ball and it was held over the weekend. Here are Emily's homeys at her friend Lauren's house where they all had dinner before the big dance. They had so much fun that they stayed together as a group for the entire evening. They are: (l-r) Emily's date Matt, Sam, Katie, Becki, Lauren, Garrett, Emily, and Greg.

I'm undecided about whether a contemporary staged reading by the Tallahassee LT, a blood and guts Shakepspearen epic version by the Chesapeake SCo or a Ron Jenkins-Busby Berkeley style musical would serve this text best. Clearly it demands a soundtrack using Pablo Cruise and Air Supply and I think I know just the egghead sound designer for it....

Winter is not my favorite season, but there are some magical things that make winter fascinating.

This is my chorus' auction to conduct the Hallelujah Chorus, ending tomorrow. We're up to $1,150 as I post this. Prizes for the person who can spot little tiny me in the picture.

Well, we've almost made it through week one. How did BF's concert go on Wednesday, Nell? And Gracie, how was the big band program? Liza, we'll be thinking of you and the bell choir in Metuchen on Saturday! I had two programs on Tuesday (HM) and two gigs yesterday...Ike girls at Rustic Lodge with the Garden Club...we got applause before we even sang our Santa Baby rendition...when we pulled out the feather boas the 300+ ladies went crazy! Then last night the HM girls sang in freezing blizzard conditions on Philly Street for a crowd of...you guessed it...their own parents! But the Tony Boiano family of Michael B shoes (where Brody's used to be) provided hot cocoa and choc. chip cookies, which made us all a lot warmer! We all had a great time!

And, just for everyone's info, the Indiana Players opened a junior show of The King and I last night. It was a really nice show...the first I've seen in the new venue on Philly Street in the old Yosurack's Gym. The leads were junior high age, and there were lots of kids. It will run for two weekends.

Well, that's your hometown update for the week! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I just did some Christmas shopping at the blog store, and I wanted to remind everyone about it since Liza put all that work into setting it up! It's got some great items, in fact, I thought I saw Sinbad carrying an Ian Gallanar "Get Tested, Often" totebag on T.V. last night. Or was that someone else ... ?

I'm so sorry. It turns out the it wasn't Sindbad at all, but rather author and parttime pariah Salman Rushdie.

I thought he did great with the Mambo, but less so with the Fox Trot. I ended up voting for Morgan Fairchild.

Still and all, he be trippin' as well.

From my favorite online comic Alien Loves Predator.

This just in. Indiana, that small town better known as Jimmy Stewart's hometown and The Christmas Tree Capital of the World, has another claim to fame. It boasts the newest Starbucks coffee shop. (Okay, there are places that brew and sell Starbucks in town, but this is a stand-alone site.) And the place even has a drive-thru lane. Although the shop does not yet appear on any Google Earth images, it's there, and it's great. Those of you who share my fondness for a brisk cup-a-joe understand my joy at this monumentous event. So if you're in town over the Christmas holiday, check it out.

I thought he was hilarious last night on Dancin' with the Stars. My favorite part was when he accidentally stepped on Silver Medalist Sasha Cohen's dress and then he made that really surprised face that he does. Priceless.

I don't know if ya'll are aware of this but, he's 78 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time .

Stick man kicks ass and takes names in all out stick figure martial arts mayhem.

He would be this French guy. The comments under the video are what get me. Maybe I'm just a cynical old(ish) curmudgeon, but some of those folks need to get out more if this is the most stunning entertainment they've experienced. But maybe it's a French thing. Over to our resident Francophile, Ian "Lucky Pierre" Gallanar....

Starring your favorite aging English hippie backpacker.

From Gelitin.

I had this idea last summer, when so many of us were traveling. What if we made up flags, I thought, that said, "Tabishland," and took pictures of them next to landmarks that represented the places we were in, and then posted the pictures on the blog? Even better, what if, when possible, we left the flags in place and created a little buzz in the world? I mean, we're pretty egocentric, right? Don't we want people to be talking about us and looking us up on the internet?

Well, like so many of my summer ambitions, I never got the little flags made. But when Nell and I went to New York, we stopped in the UPS store, bought 5 sheets of paper, tape, and borrowed the clerk's magic marker (a little too light, it turns out), and got to work.



It was exactly the sort of stupid dopey fun we used to have in high school. You should have SEEN the way people were looking at us. And then at the signs! We left the one in Rockefeller Center (below) and on the "Statue of Liberty." I'm half tempted to ask my brother, who lives in the city, to see if they're still there, but then I'd have to admit that I left them there in the first place.

No, I don't feel like I actually drove THAT far this weekend! Going to the Big Apple and seeing the holiday decorations put me in the holiday spirit, so I thought I'd share this. Enjoy!

The Fabulous Nell and I had a Fabulous day running around New York City. We had brunch at Tavern on the Green and then walked around looking at the sites and especially the Christmas decorations. Fun!! We also spent a s-i-g-n-i-f-i-c-a-n-t amount of time working on a little project for *Tabishland!* but you will have to wait a few more days to find out about that. We talked about all of you, mostly in a positive sense, and had a great time in general. More people should come visit me!!!!!!!

Grover's Corner. NH. US of A. Earth. Solar System. Milky Way galaxy. Mind of God.

Worth the free download.

We actually got ourselves (and 8 dogs) organized for once for a real holiday photo. Do any of your kids want a (70 lb) puppy this Christmas....please.

Best wishes for the season,
The Weiner(dogs)