(no subject)

Finally found out what this song is that's been stuck in my head. "Boom boom boom" by the Iguanas, off Nuevo Boogaloo.

They used it in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Streets, which I've been watching in reruns. Very catchy, and a good background choice for the episode.

(And then got sucked into reading about the series until now- 3am. Brilliant move...)

Blast!

What a fabulous show! It's not just onstage- they come on down into the aisles and keep doing their thing. Amazing stage setup, too- I think some aspects of it must be straight out of a drum line's collective wet dream.

They had percussion tricks I've never seen before- and I've seen some pretty amazing stuff! Kept nudging my sister (a high school band director) and saying "that's a good move for a show"- as if it's likely that high school students with only a few hours practice time per week would be able to carry them off... but I think there were a few in the crowd ready to try!

All sorts of really wild stuff; they had "duels" between some of the percussionists (holy crap I didn't know you could do that with a snare!), and general lunacy that one expects from truly good front line type folk.

The brass was out of this world. During one trumpet solo my jaw was on the floor, the guy was hitting notes using styles I don't think I've heard people use before. Wow.

It is just unbelievable. If you get a chance to see it, do! It's something I'd definitely go see again. In fact, I wish I could get tickets for tonight or tomorrow- so much stuff was happening at some points I know I missed things!



Followed that up with dinner at Ciao Bella (Bloomington). I had a $75 gift card from Fallon for having put in a lot of hours on a rush project back in late 2000; somehow hadn't gotten around to using it until now!

The food is wonderful! My sister had the ravioli al pomodoro, Mom had the fusilli somethingorother, Dad had something with Milanese sausage, and I had the fettucini agli asparigosi (which after much tasting was voted the best of the four we ordered). We all split a desert- something very chocolatey with a custard sauce- probably a bazillion calories, but it was amazingly good.

As you can see, all the good food has sent my brain into a carb & chocolate based coma. I've tried looking up the names of the dishes online, but they're apparently one of the few restaurants out there who don't have a website, or many reviews up. (I don't know where City Pages really went when they said they reviewed Ciao Bella, but it sure wasn't the place we ate at tonight!)