show off!

when we were kids this was not a compliment... show off! - it was a phrase used for derisive reasons. Usually we would say it about someone who took pride in outdoing the other kids (like a poor winner versus a sore loser LOL) It was used when someone did everything they could to be the center of attention about their accomplishments.  Back then we didn't know from self esteem and not everyone got a trophy - but we did know that braggadocio was not an attribute.  Over-sharing was not encouraged (our parents called it airing the dirty laundry when it wasn't good things and inappropriate bragging and pride when it was.)

it is a different world now but lessons learned as a child often don't fall by the wayside so we learned that "look at me! look at me! look at me!" was not the way to do it- and that our accomplishments would speak for themselves - not to be conceited and not to get a big head... I still remember learning the word conceited around first grade or so...

the Highlights magazine for kids always had the braggart Goofus pulling stunts like that while Gallant would wait for praise for his accomplishments... and we all read that comic growing up.

so I find myself in a place of mixed emotion when I write the review of the performer we saw last night. On one hand he had enormous talent but on the other hand he made SURE we knew how talented he thought himself to be-

here is a TED talk he gave (about his autistic brother - but - ) just listen to the first three minutes of the segment - it's all about HIM - seriously dude wipe that self satisfied smirk off your face....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wck2BxGCUU

seriously annoying- such an over the top style - so LOOK AT ME- the oversharing of emotion laden background stories - the overwrought and contrived "we're gonna get down amongst the audience" segment- it all set my teeth on edge -  the "earnestness" which didn't ring true and the sanctimonious do-gooder sale of "if you have to choose between buying a CD and funding a kid through Childfund- then fund the kid and I will GIVE you a CD" - hey dude you are in Sarasota where I read last year that the median net worth of people moving into town was 5 Million... tell them to fund multiple kids AND buy your CDs-

I can't remember the last time I saw someone so talented and so insufferably annoying.  This kid - and he is a kid at 27 - wrote lovely melodies and evocative lyrics and had real keyboard talent and a voice many singer songwriters would love to have, but he just SOOO rubbed both of us the wrong way that the minute the concert ended we looked at each other and said "let's get out of here!"

and to make matters worse - he had a contingent of fans who crowded the club  who were as obnoxious as he was- actually maybe more so...  an example of his "style" - he led up to a break up song with "my ex-girlfriend and I broke up and I was a nice guy so I told her 'take as much time as you need to get over me now that I have gotten over you' " and then acted surprised when she sold all his stuff on craig's list - really???  What part of the way you phrased that exit line do you think might have engendered such a reaction?  Seriously... the nearly two hours was more along these lines from a style and personality standpoint.  and it was such a shame because he has real talent...

so I am going to post a few photos and a video or two and you will hear the kid's native talent - too bad he is of the generation where self esteem has been passed out in overabundance and has become an embodiment of the LOOK AT ME culture that we live in.

so you are right - I really didn't like him despite his clear and multiple talents - maybe he would be more palatable on CD or the radio or whatever- when we didn't have to suffer through the mugging for the audience- just plain ICK... I can't remember a time I had such a visceral dislike for someone I wasn't personally interacting with -

Oh wait LOL yes I do! - thanks to Election 2016- but then again - I haven't paid to see those right wing jerks, they invade my life despite my best efforts to avoid them....

Phil's new home

Last night Phil found his peeps at a "new to us" venue called Fogartyville.  Here is a little blurb about the place-

Fogartyville is a special gathering place for those who truly appreciate music and community. Nothing draws people together like a shared musical experience, and nowhere is there a more welcoming environment for audiences and musicians than the vibrant and diverse community that is the Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center. The Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center is a project of the Peace Education and Action Center and is a gathering place where art, culture, music and politics intentionally collide to inspire social change.

here are a couple of photos from a sarasotafoodies.com blog post - to give you an idea of the venue-

and here is probably more than you ever needed to know about the room:
Our 2400 sq ft acoustically insulated venue comfortably seats 110 persons. We feature a 170 sq ft stage (32" high) with professional lighting, 3 stage monitors, 2 flying Mackie SRM450's and one JBL EON 10" for distributed sound. We have 2 subwoofers and sound is run from the front of house using a Mackie DL1608 digital mixer operated by an experienced sound team. (LOL)

but what this meant to us was that we weren't going to this place with our 15,000 new best friends...

we were there to hear Roy Book Binder play - here is the blurb about him-
Roy Book Binder is a living treasure of American Blues, Ragtime and Old Timey music. He is the epitome of the singing, songwriting, storytelling Bluesman troubadour. From the early sixties Roy became a student and friend of the Rev. Gary Davis and it was from these early days he became equally at home with Blues and Ragtime. He is known to shift from open tunings to slide arrangements set to his original and sometimes quirky tongue in cheek compositions, with both traditional and self-styled licks, drawing on many musical influences. He will be accompanied by Frank Bowman on the clarinet.

here are his publicity photos:

sponsored by a local radio station - 

we were seated at the front left hand side of the stage and had two lovely table mates (Nancy & Judy from Park Slope, Brooklyn NY) and then we heard from Roy  - who was later joined by the clarinet player Frank Bowman-

we were the first to arrive - not knowing the system (they give you a reserved table if you buy tickets in advance) - so we had plenty of time - especially since Roy didn't start until almost 8:30 (for an 8pm concert) - however he did play for two hours with only one short intermission and he IS 73 years old so I cut him a bit of slack...

here is the crowd last night - sorry about the pixelation- but it was dark and I only had my cell phone camera-

my review: entertaining old guy - with easy to listen to music but a lot of it seemed the same to me- and I know I wasn't imaging it when he closed with a song he had already played (it wasn't like I knew any of his music and would have gotten confused about it...LOL)

so a big yes on the venue- and a small yes on the performers- sure would be nice to see The Tillers here.... AND

when looking for photos and facts on the Internet I came across this amazing story just by happenstance- so I don't know why the place is called Fogartyville since it is in Sarasota but here is some fun information about the real Fogartyville... ALL quoted from an article in the BRADENTON TIMES by MERAB-MICHAL FAVORITE

They Called it Fogartyville (an article in the Bradenton Times by Merab-Michal Favorite)

Captain John Fogarty blew into the Manatee River section during a storm. After the gale had passed, he and his crew sailed upriver in search of a village they had heard of called Manatee. There they provisioned the ship for the rest of the voyage, and departed. But something about the Manatee River had impressed Fogarty, and he would one day return and create the town of Fogartyville.

Within two years Fogarty had returned with brothers Tole, and William Henry (Bill). The brothers built a family home and boatworks, starting what they began referring to as Fogartyville, which is located at the Manatee River at the end of present-day 26th Street. In the ensuing years the brothers developed a thriving business with the construction of (fishing) smacks, schooners, sloops and yawls as well as some smaller boats

The Fogarty’s also built the first dry dock on the river with the help of another captain from Key West. By 1880, at least 30 families had settled in Fogartyville. But because Manatee Ave. was not yet constructed, their primary means of transportation was by boat. Hundreds of boats came out of the Fogartyville Boatworks. They also exported smoked mullet as far away as New Orleans.  

In 1885, a bridge across Jacques’ Creek and one across Ware’s Creek completed a road from Manatee to Fogartyville called Manatee Ave.; by 1895 the population in the small village had reached 100. The sons and daughters of the four original Fogartys grew up and became captains and boat builders and married others from around the small community. In 1899, Fogartyville obtained its first post office with J. Howard Gray appointed as first postmaster and Captain John Fogarty serving as the last before the post office closed its doors in 1915.

The founding fathers began to pass away one by one in the early 1900s, then in 1903 Braidentown became incorporated and extended its western borders to include Fogartyville – the small boat building town was beginning to lose its identity. By the 1920s, it was known only as West Bradenton.

here is an historical photo from the newspaper -

and I realized I had a photo from the South Florida Museum of the Fogarty Boat Works- 

so now I have a story to go with that photo- and in another strange coincidence just last Monday my teacher of Maritime History had recommended looking for Merab-Michal Favorite's articles as worth checking into to... or looking out for... or catching up with...

in any event I just "ran across it"- LOL --- tonight we are off to Seminole (who knew where it was before today?) for a house concert starring a Phil favorite Tim Grimm... so this week Phil is in hog heaven with the music - me not so much... and that's on top of having to reschedule the Wednesday night theater tickets... so my birthday week has not exactly been a celebration I would have planned - but I did get a google doodle for my birthday! which I thought was pretty darn cool!