too long, out of touch

sorry, my little chicklets....i've been avoiding the computer. not really avoiding, just spending as little time as possible in front of it. spending time outside, painting my house, etc. actually playing some music!

but fun things have been in the works and June's show were great. there's always so much going on...it's been nice to have a few moments to myself to just sit. sit and think. those moments are few and far between and i've cherished them.

The big show this weekend is the Stoop Storytelling summer show, called "Baltimoored: Summer in the City." It features the tales the Stoop is famous for, as well as featured music by me (ellen cherry), Caleb Stine and the Brakemen, Arty Hill, The 5th L and also performances by the Baltimore Improv Group. It's an old timey radio show and is going to be super fun. Starting tomorrow night, Thursday, July 9 through July 11. Tickets are still available, just click HERE.

more to come.....promise.
in the mean time, get out there in the world. get some vitamin D working in your skin. i'll see you out on the town!

ouch.

I watched Ray Kurzweil on TED.com this morning. And my brain began to ache a little, attempting to keep up as he was talking about the advances of technology. But he mentioned the establishment of his Singularity University and I realized, I didn't quite "get" what they were using the word for. So I looked it up.....I googled "What is singularity?" Little did I know that while I'm painting the back deck today and power washing the sidewalk, I can ponder and attempt to ponder THIS. It's possible that there is a nearby future of smarter-than-human intelligence within my lifetime. This is the Evolution, no? Will we evolve right out of being human? And the bigger question is: once there are beings with smarter-than-human intelligence, will they be things that won't war, don't cry, laugh only on command or as a pre-set, designed reaction to stimuli? More importantly, will they be bigger jerks than us or more "compassionate"?

Shout out to Jim in Dallas: I read your comment and I'm too lazy to comment back on my own blog, but just wanted to say....well, I don't know what I want to say to that. If we figure out what happened the second before the Bang, well....I don't know: what happens to mystery? What happens to Wondering?

Back to powerwashing--which I am finding super fun and satisfying, but it's hurting my arms!!

particle man, particle man

I've been watching TED talks in the mornings--a way to feel informed, and not out of the loop, since i am still actively trying to avoid reading the news. this morning's was Brian Cox, who was labeled on the TED site as the "rock star" of physicists. His talk was from last year, about the Large Hadron Collider, which was I was fascinated by when it was in the news. Mostly because there was this hilarious and scary quote from one of the scientists on the project who said "I don't think the world will end when we switch it on." (Cue sinister movie music: dunh, dunh, dunh.)

This talk is a bit confusing, because my brain, despite the 13.7 billion years its had to develop into something more than it is, does not compute alot of the physics--even explained "simply" as he tried to do in this short lecture. But at about 13 minutes, he starts talking about the stuff that fascinates me: what happened a billionth of a second after the universe began. cool.

Click here to spend 14 minutes pondering the universe....

Alonzo's Lullaby TONITE + Helen Fisher on TED talks

Tonight is the debut of my original composition for "Alonzo's Lullaby", which is a shaddow puppet piece about the Hagenback-Wallace train wreck of 1918. Couldn't get more obscure than that, i suppose? Lots of top-40 hits presented during this one! (i'm kidding, you know that, right?) Kidding aside, I've composed, along with my friend Nick Sjostrom, a sparse but beautiful (even if i say so myself) 30 minute piece to accompany the shaddow puppets. And don't worry if you're not in Baltimore to see it--we're going to be presenting it elsewhere at festivals and hopefully colleges. I'll keep you posted.

I have loved working on this project, it's just been amazing. Annie and Molly and Nana Projects have been incredible. I made some video of behind the scenes work that we did on it as well and i'm hoping to turn that into a bit of promo material/documentary about the process. It has been my most memorable "scoring/composition" activity of my career so far. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to participate and thankful for Molly to have asked me to put my voice and music to her show.

We debut it tonight--Creative Alliance, @ 8PM. See you there. And if not, we'll see you the next time we show it!!

In other news, I've been watching TED talks every morning as a supplement to skipping news reading. It really helps me to feel like i have something to talk about with people since i'm no longer up on current events. Today, I watched this one by Helen Fisher and was more impressed by the ideas she presented about Feminism. That women are now moving back towards the power and position in society and relationships that we had 10,000 years ago and even longer ago. That thought has had my mind spinning for an hour now.

Have a great weekend and I'll post again soon. See you out on the town!

no winners for Alonzo's Lullaby/Single Carrot Theater gala tix

hello there dear little lamb-lets. sadly, no one took the bite on the free Single Carrot Theater gala offer of a ticket to the June 6 event in exchange for attending (with 2 friends) the Alonzo's Lullaby event tomorrow (May 22).

I will think of another way to get these tickets out to fans over the next week and keep you posted!!

debut of Alonzo's Lullaby!

Please spread the word far and wide, especially in Baltimore! I've been working on a completely new original score for Nana Projects newest shadow puppet piece, Alonzo's Lullaby. We are debuting the new piece at Creative Alliance, this Friday, May 22 @ 8PM. I will be performing the 30 minute score, absolutely live, with my friend and collaborator, Nick Sjostrom.

Click to Creative Alliance for tickets. There's not a bad seat in the house and tickets are only $15 for what will surely be a strange and wondrous night. I'll also be playing a 30 minute set to start the evening. Here's the official blurb:

Madness, passion and sabotage are intertwined in the newest magic lantern show by the creators of the Great Halloween Lantern Parade. Inspired by the Hagenback-Wallace circus train wreck of 1918, Alonzo’s Lullaby is a luminous, richly-hued, shadow puppet play for adults, with original score performed by singer/songwriter ellen cherry and Nick Sjostrom. Funded by the Jim Henson Foundation.

Artscape!

hallo friends. well, i made it to the regular Artscape Stage for Sunday, July 19 @ 3PM....but there's another competition: the Sound Off! Competition. And if i win this, i get to play on Saturday too. so vote HERE:

http://www.artscape.org/index.cfm

You can vote as many times as you want to. Seriously. So click it ALOT. it doesn't hurt. I promise.

And spread the word. It would be super fun to rock Artscape, not once, but TWICE.