A musical tidbit from Boston

[dr_tectonic]

I just wanted to mention that while I was in Boston, we sang Happy Birthday to Perlick and, um, Indy? at T-Stop and Jessie's house.

(BWIWAF at Tep, there was a running joke where nearly every night at dinner, someone would say "You know, today is Lucky's birthday", and everyone else would respond "It's Lucky's birthday!?!?" and then we would proceed to sing Happy Birthday to Lucky, very loudly and off-key. This falls under the comedic principle of "if it was at one point vaguely amusing, drive it into the ground!")

This is noteworthy because, although round these parts we are prone to singing "Happy Birthday" in coffeeshops, the key of Q-flat minor, and pi/4 time, this rendition of the song was even more dissonant and arrhythmical, something I hadn't really thought possible.

Comments

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

Worse?! Than our aggressively badness? Wow. That's shocking.

Clearly, we aren't trying hard enough.

[arcticturtle.livejournal.com]

It's Lucky's birthday?

[orbitalmechanic.livejournal.com]

It helps if you have someone not so much "singing" as "screaming BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY!" throughout the performance. You may be too closely tied to an old-fashioned concepts of melody, i.e., having one.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think jofish22 was screaming "HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY!". But clearly, either one would work, and having one person screaming each thing would be even better.

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

Ah. Yes. That would do nicely. While the typical production could hardly be said to have "a" melody, as much as "several" tuneless collections of notes possibly catagorizable as melodies, we have missed the more obvious screaming. That shall have to be remedied.

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Oh yes. That would work quite well. I'm sorta feeling sad that your birthday has already been celebrated this year. But saintpookie's is coming...

[snowninja7.livejournal.com]

We completely failed to properly serenade Leper last weekend. There was a bit of (quietly and politely) quasi-yelling "It's Leper's Birthday?!!?" But then there was just not enough nonsense in the air to successfully sing the way it should have been done.

Sigh. I blame the fact that there were a million toddlers around and everyone had their brains sucked out via the ears. I was not prepared to carry that particular song by myself, which is clearly a character flaw.

[nehrlich.livejournal.com]

It was definitely HAPPY HAPPY (I was sitting next to him). I actually found it hilarious, but I'm weird that way. Melody is overrated and boring. Interesting and new John Cage-like interpretations? Priceless!

I treasured the rendition. Thanks for reminding me of it today, on my actual birthday!

[nehrlich.livejournal.com]

Dude, I hate carrying that song myself (I hate singing in public ironically), and people always ask me to - "You sing in a chorus - you should lead us!" Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

It was Leper's birthday last weekend? I always forget about the ludicrous concentration of TEP birthdays in this week (June 14-22). Indy, Leper, UBoat, Probe, me, Spackle, plus probably others I've forgotten. Craziness.

[nehrlich.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I bet Lucky blames us for him losing his hair so early. So many birthdays, y'know.

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! Here's hoping your special birthday tradition is completely free of "gut-wrenching misery and horror."

[nehrlich.livejournal.com]

Good lord, I _am_ out of practice. I had to actually look that up to check that it was a Buffy quote. Man. As if I could have a better use for those brain cells.

Were you the person whose Buffy marathon I crashed on my brief visit to Colorado three years ago? Or was that somebody else? My feeble brain...

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

Yup. That was me. I was hoping you'd catch it, but, didn't want to be *too* obvious, and figured the icon change would help. I still have the event, over Memorial Day weekend.

I understand you're in New York, now?

Anyway, well done, and Happy Birthday...