The Wisdom in those Eyes
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
She will be fourteen on Sunday and I have to say she is freakin awesome!
Our Wedding
The blog of Avi and Nikki's adventures in becoming a wedded couple.
Our Origin Story
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Like so many epic tales, the Sangor Kilto union has been shrouded in mystery and subject to wild and (only slightly) exaggerated speculation about how it came to be. Well no more, we say! Our investigative team of top notch reporters (consisting of leftovers from the Democratc and Republican conventions who managed to escape Wolfe Blitzer's diabolical clutches) have uncovered some top secret documents that reveal the shocking truth.
We invite you to marvel at how a boy from the suburbs of Cote Saint Luc with dreams of one day writing and producing his very own daytime soap opera snagged a gal born to the beaches of Virginia but destined to change the world with her musical genius (if she can only manage to beat off those rapscallions Bill & Ted). Apparently, they owe it all to a little thing call an...intertube.
Revealed below are their riveting intial online communications.We pick the story up somewhere in medias res:
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:58:01 -0500
From: screed3@talkmatch.com
To: santoavi@hotmail.com
Subject: Doogie, Boondocks, My ART.
I have to agree that the raw talent of Doogie Houser (aka Neil Patrick Harris) probably can enhance any satirical look at the similarities between patriotism and fascism, however I have to draw the line at large bugs, regardless of whether they live or die in a movie. Bugs I am not exactly a fan of. Admitting to crying at the death of Optimus Prime was a lot for you to give up in a second email, which gives me a greater insight what makes you tick. I appreciate your vulnerability. Tee hee!
I am really interested in your Boondocks essay! The genius of Aaron Macgruder and the impact that his work has made and will continue to make on the greater public is a subject that I take great delight in. Ummm . . . my childlike behavior can be derived from more of an overall demeanor rather than a particular set of activities per se.
Now let˙s discuss my ART (read with an air of self-importance, mixed with a bit of self-awareness) which is what I like to call it although others would refer to it as my music.
My influences are an interesting mix of every type of music you can imagine. My parents owned some pretty cool albums like Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder and Jr. Walker and the All-Stars. My older brother on the other hand was right on the verge of some of the coolest music to come out of that era growing up, like Madness, B-52's, The Smiths, The Cure, and The Police. I melded these two musical worlds together in my mind and added a third by high school which included folk music, like The Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, and Toad the Wet Sprocket. These latter influences lead me into a few brief encounters with starting folk bands but the missing factor was an acoustic guitarist and no matter how hard my sister (we sing harmony together) and I tried we couldn't keep one around for very long. I don't believe it was in the cards for us anyway. Then when I entered college I was thrust into a completely different world of hip ho p, soul and jazz music. Nina Simone became my hero at that time and has remained so ever since, but she was just the beginning with De La Soul, the Beastie Boys, Arrested Development, Charles Mingus, and Thelonius Monk all influencing me even more.
I tried my hand at a few other bands during college, all girl jazz band, etc. and eventually found a group of folks after I graduated that could put all of the sounds I had grown up with in my head together into a wonderfully weird mix. I play with them still today and I work on my own thing as well.
I think that NPR does help me write lyrics because I find the words of a song to be the most intriguing part of music sometimes. I stay well informed although my writing style is a bit more organic than finding a topic and deciding to write about it. I don't have a definitive description of my sound currently. I think I am in flux musically but that is a different story for a different time. Anyway I am headed to Philly early tomorrow morning to play a gig there tomorrow night. Sorry for the semi-ramble, it must be late.
Talk to you soon.
Nikki
Date: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 14:11:30 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: RE: Doogie, Boondocks, My ART.
Hi Nikki,
Yep. I too share an affection for Neil Patrick Harris. As a teenager, Doogie Howser made me realize that anything was possible (at least on TV). So, sci-fi yes, but bugs, no... hmmn... What about a film like Aliens, with bug-esque critters? I can handle bugs on screen, but living in Austin for seven years, where they have those giant, flying roaches was no picnic.
I agree that Aaron Magruder is a genius. I thought the Boondocks comic strip was brave, funny and astute. It made folks mad as hell though, which I think is a good thing. Too much apathy and preaching to the choir goes on as it is. The TV show is a strange adaptation. It is funny and clever, but for obvious reasons (production schedules, a different imagined audience on Cartoon Network), it is not as overtly political as the comic strip. What the TV show has succeeded in doing though is mobilizing a lot of on-line chatter about the political efficacy of the n-word, particularly in rela tion to the MLK-Day episode that ran in 2006 where a revived Dr. King chastises a crowd of black partiers for being politically ignorant and indifferent by repeatedly calling them that word. The essay largely analyzes on-line debates about whether Magruder should have had MLK say those things, whether what King says is "true" or not and for whom, and finally, the contradictory ways the term is invoked to articulate a series of conflicting relationships to US citizenship... sorry, I know I'm carrying on. I've been banging away at this for nearly a month and it sometimes becomes hard to shut up about it, but I will. Now.
I am mightily impressed by your eclectic list of influences. I'm very curious about how it all comes together. Do you have a website or anything where I could hear a snippet? I have several good friends who are musicians and it is always hard for them to balance their day jobs that pays the bills until that big break with the amount of time they would l ike to be devoting to their art. Do you experience this as well? What sort of web design work do you do? I am currently involved in a couple of web based projects. One is trying to create a born-digital scholarly press (http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org)./ The other is an outreach project that will teach the working-poor in the Hampton Roads area web-design, html, and social-networking skills and have them create their own blogs. The goals of that project are twofold: job training and also providing an important outlet for peoples who are often spoken for but rarely get to have their own voice. That one is still in the early stages though...
I hope the Philly show went wonderfully. Philly's a cool town. I almost went to grad school there, but life took a different turn. OK, I'm off to start cooking dinner for some friends. It's Canada Day today and like so many ex-pat Canucks, I am suddenly overwhelmed with pride at my non-USAness. Hope you're havin g a great weekend.
Talk to you soon.
Avi
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2007 15:42:51 -0400
From: Nikki Kilgore nkilgore@AETNAWIRE.COM
To: "Nikki @ Seed Is . . ." nikki@seedis.com
Conversation: Doogie, Boondocks, My ART.Subject: RE: Doogie, Boondocks, My ART.
Hello Avi,
I have had an extra long and interesting weekend. Although I physically returned from Philadelphia on Sunday evening I was mentally still there for a couple of days. The words “band” and “competition” should never go together in a sentence or any other kind of word grouping for that matter, in my opinion no good can come it. But that is another long and aggrieved discussion that I am not willing to have any longer. So, unfortunately I couldn’t get back to you until today, believe me when I say, mental clarity makes me a better conversationalist.
Bug-esque critters, in films preferably, are doable for me. It is weird but the smaller the bug the more it creeps me out. Aieeee . . . Flying roaches, NO! Sorry, okay, okay I am fine, just got a serious mental picture of flying roaches in Austin. Anyway, I love the MLK episode and I think that you have raised some interesting questions concerning it. I can’t wait to see what you come up with in the end, carry on sir. . . That episode is my favorite actually and I also enjoy the episode entitled “Let’s Nab Oprah”. The diatribe on “Nigga Technology” is pretty interesting. I imagine that would make for some compelling writing as well.
To answer a couple of your questions, I do have a website where you can get a snippet of my band’s music, which I also designed. The band is called Seed Is . . . and the website is http://www.seedis.com/
I am more of a visually oriented person when it comes to website design. I am a pretty competent HTML programmer and have dipped my toes into other programming languages such as PHP, Java, and CSS. However, I am a total novice when it comes to Flash. You have actually hit upon my most neglected talent as of late. I recently completed an online program for Web Design and then promptly stopped designing. I keep talking about all of the re-designs that I have to complete but there does not seem to be enough time right now. I will get to them eventually or else I’m going be really pissed about those school payments that I am currently devoting a portion of my income to. Both of your web projects sound very interesting, the latter seems the most difficult to realize but extremely beneficial.
A cooking ex-Canadian . . . very interesting. Tell me more.
Nikki
Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:53:54 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: RE: Mental Clarity
Hi Nikki,
It sounds like the Philly trip was pretty intense. Your website says you guys placed second. Congratulations! Still, I think I understand what you mean about how life can get screwy when the things you love become driven by the need to prove something to others or the search for extrenal rewards. Though probably not comparable, academia provides lots of these crappy frustrations. For instance, all those community outreach projects I've mentioned to you count for nearly nothing in terms of my tenure requirements. The only thing that matters are publications in journals that no on outside of other academics will ever ever read. This creates a tremendously antagonistic atmosphere sometimes, where collaboration, conversation, community building and bridging -- the things that I am most inspired by -- are devalued in favor of individual accomplishments. Anyhoo, no need to belabor the point.
I listened to the Seed Is... music samples on the band website and was really amazed. Alive is a pretty powerful song and you can definitely hear all of the various musical influences and styles coming together. It was at once soulful and contemplative and still had lots of funk. P.O.P. is pretty rockin' and The Light has a kind of gracefulness to it . Kudos to all of you. The website is great. Elegant. Clean. Easy to navigate. You may not be a Flash expert, but you have a good design eye. How did you guys come up with the name Seed Is...? How long have y'all been performing together?
I agree that the bit on "Nigga technology" in the Lets Nab Oprah episode is rich and troubling. I'm also fascinated by the constant play of identity when it comes to the characters of Ed Wonceler III and Gin Rummy. They are clearly meant to be read as parodies of Bush and Rumsfeld reimagined as the worst kind of "appropriators" of commodified Black culture, yet they are also voiced by Charlie Murphy and Samuel L. Jackson. This has, of course, a very rich and complicated history that dates back to the early days of radio in America. In the 1930s there was a lot of fear that listeners would not be able to tell the difference between racially diverse voices entering into their homes via the radio unless they were clearly "marked" as different, meaning that Black characters had to speak in minstrel voices, Asian characters had to skip prepositions etc. This led to the validation of white performers who voiced black characters on overtly racist programs like Amos 'n' Andy for "mas tering" how Black peoples supposedly spoke, while a Black performer like Louis Armstrong had his show cancelled because he refused to speak in a minstrel voice. Awful shit. Excuse my language. Anyways, so full circle to The Boondocks and let confusion reign: two Black actors voicing two white characters who act exaggeratedly "black" and who are also thinly-veiled caricatures of the current administration. Well, once again I've managed to drone on about the Boondocks. No more. I promise.
I believe that making a living doing what you love is tough, but attainable. As you suggest though, creativity doesn't come with a punch card or a set of instructions letting you know how and when it will pay off. At the end of the day though, this struggle is also what makes you a more interesting person than most pencil pushers, even if you have to occasionally join their ranks to pay the rent. From what I heard on the website, it is only a matter of time, because you guys are clearly talented. Do you think that the types of social networking tools (myspace, flickr, etc) and authoring/publishing software now available will make it easier for musicians to make a living (or, at least, get noticed) without involving (at least in the traditional sense) the music industry execs?
I do love to cook and my inflated ego allows me to comfortably say that I am quite good. My culinary tastes are sort of inspired by the Playdough Playset school of cooking though. Basically, I like to throw all kinds of odd combinations together. I can make a mean cranberry-cilantro chicken schnitzel.
One important correction: there is nothing ex-Canadian about me (and even if I wanted there to be, the US government kindly reminds me to the contrary on an annual basis when it comes to renewing my work visa). I'm 100% lumberjackin', hockey-playin', BareNakedLadies CD ownin', universal healthcare believin' Canuck. I just don't want to live in Canada. Yep, I'm a hypocrite. That's patently Canadian as well. Seriously, I moved to the US in 1999 from Montreal for grad school down in Austin, TX. Don't know if you've been to either, but they are both wonderful cities. Austin has a great music scene. The rest, a they say, is history.
If your interested, maybe we could continue this conversation over coffee or a beer sometime. I promise to beguile you with tales of my near-death encounters with grizzly bears...
Hope your having a great day.
Avi
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 12:23:19 -0500
From: screed3@talkmatch.com
To: santoavi@hotmail.com
Subject: Match.com Message: Canadian ness
Ok. First things first, I would love to continue our conversation over a cup of coffee or maybe a glass of wine (not really a beer person, but I do like a nice DRY cider). I will be in NY this weekend. I got a hotel room in Midtown Manhattan in anticipation of a 1st place win for the band but now I just get a nice weekend in NYC with my sisters. But I cannot complain about that. So I am pretty free other than this weekend, just let me know when you want to get together.
I am so glad that you enjoyed the songs on the website. I wrote the song Alive except for the extremely personal spoken word portion performed our percussionist Kevin. The song P.O.P. was written by an original member of the band who has moved on to a solo project and The Light was penned by my sister Anwei (pronounced similar to the French word 'ennui' although her name is French-North African and means 'Child of God'). We have always been a musical family, my mother sings, my brother plays bass, guitar, and piano and both of my sisters sing. My father is unfortunately tone deaf but refuses to give up THE DREAM and you gotta love him for his moxie. The name of the band, which was Seed at first, originated with the founder (who has since gone irreparably crazy and thusly removed from his position as drummer). Once we did a trademark search on the name we found that we weren't the only ones with that original idea. So in our quest to change the name we took into account all of the types of music that we represent and the fact that every time someone asked the question, "What type of music do you play?" we would inevitably start the sentence with, "Well, Seed is . . ." We decided that the concept of our band being an all encompassing entity of musical sound was well represented by the name Seed Is . . . and at least starts a conversation. The core group of t he band has been together for around 10 years with some other folks coming and going in between but I feel like this is the best formation that we have had currently. Thanks for the kind words on the web design, I am currently still updating.
Oh my goodness! You know an obscene amount of information about the Boondocks. I am really fascinated by all of your comments but I will wait for future communication to elaborate further.
Ok this is not an indictment, but merely an observation that you might have been in PROFESSOR MODE during your last message to me. Being the child of a life long and loving art teacher, I know when I am being "teachered" and the "essay" question below is definitely from a professor:
Do you think that the types of social networking tools (myspace, flickr, etc) and authoring/publishing software now available will make it easier for musicians to make a living (or, at least, get noticed) without involving (at least in the traditional sense) the music industry execs?
At first I felt the inclination to begin my research online (with appropriate footnotes, etc) and then I remembered that I have already received all of the CREDITS that I need in life and promptly abandoned that course of action. I was not really into MySpace and Flickr, etc in the beginning but then once I read this Rolling Stone magazine article on the band Hawthorne Heights who went from virtual obscurity to packed shows all over the country, I promptly signed us up ready for our big break. Those sites require a level of interaction that I am surprisingly not into (online anyway). I passed the job on to our guitarist, which leads me to let you know that I take NO RESPONSIBILITY for the design of that page, who has helped us gain a great deal of exposure with a lot of new fans. I think that the way to capitalize on those sites is to have some good product and the willingness to travel a lot. Well we are in need of new product right now (we are working on a new album) and travel is sometimes difficult because of the 9 to5er's like me.
Your cooking philosophy seems to be pretty eclectic. I am open to new and exciting dishes however I rarely get a chance to experiment. I am a novice cook at best (only been cooking for a couple of years) and I live in a house where my appreciation for the unusual is not always appreciated.
I apologize profusely for the ex-Canadian comment. I wasn't trying to imply that you were no longer Canadian in any way because you live here now. I am glad to hear your pride in your Canadian ness although hypocritical in nature. I have an old friend who grew up in Montreal and then moved to NYC. He was a musician in a band called Me Mom and Morgentaler (http://www.myspace.com/memomandmorgentaler). When he moved to NYC he was in a band called 2 Skinnee J's (http://www.2sj.com/), who are cool guys although the band is no longer together. But I say that to say this, I have a great history with the Canadian people and feel that I may be able to relate to them is some way. Hee hee. Okay so tell me about your near-death encounters with grizzly bears . . . over a beer.
Nikki
Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:10:23 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: RE: Canadian ness
Hi Nikki,
Hope your having fun in NYC (even if your original reasons for being there have changed). You deserve a fun weekend with your sisters.
I am embarassed to say that you did catch me in professor mode with that crazy over-worded essay of a question. What I meant to ask was if the website was getting the band a lot exposure, but clearly English isn't alway my first language. It doesn't help that I usually compose my e-mails to you on my writing breaks for the Boondocks paper, which already has me speaking in academic. Of course, you are to blame as well, for inspiring me with your intelligent and insightful responses. Still, I know better than to teacher outside of class. :-)
No offense taken over the ex-Canadian comment. If anything, I doth protest too much, living in the US as long as I have. I'm glad to hear you are such a Canuck fan. I saw Me, Mom and Morgentaler perform in Montreal when I was a teenager. Good stuff.
Are weeknights good for you or would you prefer to meet up next weekend? This coming week, I'm free any day after Thursday. Let me know what works best for you.
Looking forward to it.
Avi
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 09:25:26 -0500
From: screed3@talkmatch.com
To: santoavi@hotmail.com
Subject: Match.com Message: This Weekend
That was very clever blaming/complimenting me for your "teachering" in my emails, very clever indeed. We had a great time in NYC, a lot less PARTY than I wanted but it turned out really well in the end. My younger sister could barely walk four blocks from the hotel in her new heels and basically put the kibosh on the club aspect of our evening. It was probably for the best since I still woke up with a too-much-wine headache (one step lower than a mild hangover) anyway.
Let's see, I am thinking that Friday or Saturday are the best options. Weekends are great when I don't have a gig. Let me know if you had a specific place in mind or if you would like me to suggest a place.
See you soon.
Nikki
Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:50:53 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: RE: This Weekend
What can I say? I have a way with words...
I'm glad you had a good time in NYC, high heel hijinx and all. One of the many unearned benefits of being a man is that I don't have to worry about walking in high heels. I went out to Sandbridge beach on Saturday and got burned, but still had a fun day. We got lost on the way home and wound up in North Carolina. This is what happens when every second street in VB is named Princess Anne. An oddity about me is that I actually enjoy getting lost. A good many of my favorite places are those I stumbled upon while looking for someplace else. Yesterday was pretty much spent recovering from Saturday.
Friday works well for me for getting together. Here are a few suggestions of places to meet:
A) The New Belmont
B) The Boot
C) The Taphouse
OK, so clearly my knowledge of places outside of the Ghent is pretty sparse, so please do not hesitate to suggest someplace better and I will gladly defer to your superior knowledge of where to be seen (or not) in Norfolk.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Avi
Date received: July 10, 2007
From: screed3 (screed3@talkmatch.com)
To: flashmatictuning (flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com)
Subject: RE: RE: Time This weekend
Sounds good. See you then. Toes and all, I guess.
Nikki
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:33:28 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: hola
Hi Nikki,
I'd meant to send this e-mail yesterday, but the day ended up getting away from me (though not in a bad way. I had a very inspired writing day. Clearly I owe it all to you... and maybe the beer-fueled crazy-dreams I had Friday night when I finally got to bed).
I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed hanging out with you Friday night and I look forward to another rendezvous. You were fun, intelligent, and very cute (and the fact that neither of us turned out to be psycho killers probably helped as well).
I'm not sure how your schedule is shaping up, but this coming week, mine is pretty felexible from Thursday onwards. I will give you a shout Wednesday evening to see if you are inclined to grace me with your company sometime soon.
Hope you're having a great weekend.
Avi
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:47:15 -0500
From: screed3@talkmatch.com
To: santoavi@hotmail.com
Subject: Match.com Message: RE: hola
Hello,I am sleepy and unfocused right now but I did want to let you know that I had a great time the other night (you speak goooddd) and I am pretty free Thursday, Friday and Saturday night as of right now. I might have band rehearsal on Friday night but it is incredibly difficult to get 10 people together to decide anything, so as of right now I am free.
When is a good time to give you an actual phone call? I would hate for your phone to go off (I am sure your ringer plays a midi version of "Careless Whispers" or maybe a little ABBA?!) whilst you teach the virtues of Bruce Leroy in our modern society. That would not be good, I imagine.
Anyway, that is all for now. I was up late finding live versions of Nina Simone songs on YouTube and I ended up with a terrible night's sleep. Busy, busy, busy. . .
Nikki
P.S.All future communication will be through your personal email account and of course you can email me anytime at my email address nikki@seedis.com or if it is during working hours nkilgore@aetnawire.com. That was pretty formal, huh?! Hee hee.
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:38:51 -0300
From: Avi Santo santoavi@hotmail.com
To: nikki@seedis.com
Subject: Escape from Match
Well, I don't exactly feel like Kurt Russell, which is simultaneously a relief and a disappointment...
You can call me anytime you want (at least thru the end of August). I'm not teaching this summer, so my brilliance (or, over-inflated ego. You decide) will not be interrupted by Wing's wonderous hit, "It's just another day". Actually, that's the song that came already programmed onto the phone. I can't fight the classics... I spend most of my days just lounging around coffee shops thinking deep thoughts about the Boondocks and other projects. It's not at all fun, since I need to actually produce publishable articles, but it beats many other alternatives. If I don't answer the phone, it is either because I have accidentally turned the ringer off or left it at home. Sadly, I do both quite frequently. Absent-minded professor syndrome, I suppose, or maybe I'm just rebelling againt the technotopia.
It is easy to find things to talk about when graced with great company.
I think that I'm going out for drinks with friends tomorrow (Wednesday) night and having friends come over for BAD movie night on Thursday (I'm contemplating showing them The Last Dragon. Everyone should see this film. It would make the world a better place. I may be overstating things a bit). If its OK with you, I'll probably call you this evening instead of tomorrow. Either Friday or Saturday work for me. Lets discuss tonight.
Have a great day.
Avi
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:41:25 -0300
From: Avi Santo santoavi@hotmail.com
To: nikki@seedis.com
Subject: Avi and Nikki's Friday Night Adventure
choose wisely... danger of dorkdom lurks beneath the surface of these otherwise seemingly innocent possibilities.
Our tale begins as so many do. It's Friday night and in the tradition of Loverboy, Nikki is finally done working for the weekend and has decided to come out and play with Avi (one in every seven stories begins this exact way, guaranteed). "Whatever shall we do?" the two wonder aloud to no one in particular. Thankfully, the spirit of the Portfolio Weekly, lurking just around the corner (suspiciously wearing nothing but a raincoat and a fedora) overhears their plight and offers some (not so) sage suggestions:
A) we could have dinner and mojito marvelousness at Luna Maya followed by a nice moonlight walk around the Hague (don't wear heels) before winding up at the Naro theater for a trippy but thoughtprovoking screening of The Darkside of Oz (you know, where they synch Pink Floyd's The Darkside of the Moon up with The Wizard of Oz and all the answers to the universe are magically revealed)
B) we could venture out to Mt. Trashmore (note to self: bring nose guard) for movies under the stars. This week they're showing Charlotte's Web, which ain't exactly Aliens or Terminator 2, but is still a lot less creepy than Arachnophobia and has a nice lesson about tolerance to boot. Afterwards, we could head to Gherardini's Gelato for some Italian ice-cream and possibly walk along the VB pier while scoffing at the tourists (or, we could go to the Jewish Mother for dinner and to hear Albert Cummings play)
C) We could risk being swept up by the stormy seas and take the ferry over to Portsmouth for weinerschnitzel, spatzel, and beer (or in your case, cider) at the Bier Garden followed by... hmmn... is there actually anything worth doing in Portsmouth? Oh well, we can innovate. Bring some spraypaint with you and worst case scenario, we can make public art.
D) We could crash the 1972 Norfolk schools 35th Year Reunion at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in VB and pretend like everyone else has just aged badly compared to us. I think Captain and Tenile are the scheduled musical performers...
OK, that's that. Feel free to mix and match as you see fit or ixnay all of the above in favor of something better. Just remember, there's no flipping ahead to the final chapter, so I beseach you, choose wisely...
See you tomorrow.
Avi
Date: 08/20/2007 10:14AM
From: "Nikki Kilgore" nkilgore@AETNAWIRE.COM
Subject: RE: if i can make it there, i can make it anywhere...
The man took your lotion?! That succcckssss. I am a lotion freak and Iremember flying to Florida for my Bahamas cruise, it was literalmoisturizing HELL for me. I just felt weird and crackly the entire time.I hope your Lubriderm search turned out well.
Church was FUN. I love it when Youth Sunday comes because the kids are sosweet and unpredictable. It is like a mild shock to the church servicesystem and they deliver every time. The little ones sang a couple of solosand that was really cute too.
I was checking my schedule to make sure that I am free for the Labor Dayweekend and I seem to be good except for actual Labor Day (Monday,September 3, 2007). We will be opening for a singer named Algebra @Hampton University that night and I will have to be at Hampton U forsoundcheck @ 12 noon. Let me know how long you were thinking about staying. It should be fine to wake up that morning and get there by noon but I amnot sure what the plans will be.
I had a VERY nice weekend of mostly nothing. I basically stuffed myself at the cookout and then went to my friend Sporty's house to see which pieces of her furniture I am going to become the proud new owner of. I think weare going to take her couches however they DO NOT go with our décor at ALL. They are WHITE LEATHER. Now get a good mental picture of my house. Now think WHITE LEATHER COUCHES. I know, I know but I NNEEEEEDDDD new couches. I am not sure what I am going to do but I have to decide by tomorrow. She also wanted us to take her dining room table and chairs, which also do not go with ANYTHING in my house. I don't think that I am going to take those at all.
Then yesterday I went to visit my folks after church, we had the inevitable "AVI Conversation" (my sister Kelli, had made some random statements about you based on a proverbial GRILLING by my parents so I felt a need to divulge more detail for fear of inconsistencies). It went well, , no stress, no pressure. They are pretty cool people and whenever I sit down and have a nice long talk with them they reinforce that impression ten fold.
Finally, Kelli and I went and checked out the BOURNE ULTIMATIUM!!!!!!!!!!!
My non-pig-faced boyfriend did an AWESOME job in this one and I hope theyride this freakin franchise out until it breaks because I cannot get enoughof these movies! Ha! SO THERE!
I think that covers everything for now, ummmmmmm yep. Talk to you soon.
Nikki
P.S.I don't usually check my work email at home so you should send all future emails to nikki@seedis.com. I check that one at work and at home.
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:19:18 -0400
From: Avi D Santo ASanto@odu.edu
To:Subject: RE: if i can make it there, i can make it anywhere...
Salaam chica,
I am often mistaken for a Mexican Arab at the airports and it is alwaysdisappointing to have to inform the overzealous guards that I'm just a Canadian Jew with a latin-sounding name.
It is raining this morning in NYC. Our meeting will start as soon as folksmake the mad dash from the subway to the office. So far, it has been a goodtrip. I saw my friend Geoff and his girlfriend Lori on Sunday night.We went to Film Forum and saw a great film noir double feature, SilentStreet and Scarlet Street. The latter was particularly disturbing. Lastnight, I was invited to a dinner party and tonight I am going out fordinner with my friend Jonathan Gray, who teaches at Fordham. We are goingfor Ethiopian food and I am getting hungry just typing the words. Beyondall the fun, I've gotten a lot of work done, which is nice. I am puttingtogether a dance-and-TV themed week for In Media Res in November. Do youthink Kelli would contribute something if I asked real nice and lent herthose Buffy comics? I'm trying to get more non-academic pieces to provide different perspectives...
I'm glad you enjoyed the further adventures Pig Face and am even more happythat you enjoyed them without me. Apparently I am the only human beingalive who thinks Matt Damon looks swine-like. I just asked my colleaguesand they gave me a horrified look.
As a perfect piggy segueway, how about this place for Labor Day weekend? http://www.thewhitepig.com/index.html
I was thinking we would drive down there Saturday morning, stay saturdayand sunday night, and leave early monday to have you back in time for yourrehearsal. I only await your thumbs up and I will book it.
Hope you are having a great day.
Avi
We invite you to marvel at how a boy from the suburbs of Cote Saint Luc with dreams of one day writing and producing his very own daytime soap opera snagged a gal born to the beaches of Virginia but destined to change the world with her musical genius (if she can only manage to beat off those rapscallions Bill & Ted). Apparently, they owe it all to a little thing call an...intertube.
Revealed below are their riveting intial online communications.We pick the story up somewhere in medias res:
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:58:01 -0500
From: screed3@talkmatch.com
To: santoavi@hotmail.com
Subject: Doogie, Boondocks, My ART.
I have to agree that the raw talent of Doogie Houser (aka Neil Patrick Harris) probably can enhance any satirical look at the similarities between patriotism and fascism, however I have to draw the line at large bugs, regardless of whether they live or die in a movie. Bugs I am not exactly a fan of. Admitting to crying at the death of Optimus Prime was a lot for you to give up in a second email, which gives me a greater insight what makes you tick. I appreciate your vulnerability. Tee hee!
I am really interested in your Boondocks essay! The genius of Aaron Macgruder and the impact that his work has made and will continue to make on the greater public is a subject that I take great delight in. Ummm . . . my childlike behavior can be derived from more of an overall demeanor rather than a particular set of activities per se.
Now let˙s discuss my ART (read with an air of self-importance, mixed with a bit of self-awareness) which is what I like to call it although others would refer to it as my music.
My influences are an interesting mix of every type of music you can imagine. My parents owned some pretty cool albums like Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder and Jr. Walker and the All-Stars. My older brother on the other hand was right on the verge of some of the coolest music to come out of that era growing up, like Madness, B-52's, The Smiths, The Cure, and The Police. I melded these two musical worlds together in my mind and added a third by high school which included folk music, like The Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, and Toad the Wet Sprocket. These latter influences lead me into a few brief encounters with starting folk bands but the missing factor was an acoustic guitarist and no matter how hard my sister (we sing harmony together) and I tried we couldn't keep one around for very long. I don't believe it was in the cards for us anyway. Then when I entered college I was thrust into a completely different world of hip ho p, soul and jazz music. Nina Simone became my hero at that time and has remained so ever since, but she was just the beginning with De La Soul, the Beastie Boys, Arrested Development, Charles Mingus, and Thelonius Monk all influencing me even more.
I tried my hand at a few other bands during college, all girl jazz band, etc. and eventually found a group of folks after I graduated that could put all of the sounds I had grown up with in my head together into a wonderfully weird mix. I play with them still today and I work on my own thing as well.
I think that NPR does help me write lyrics because I find the words of a song to be the most intriguing part of music sometimes. I stay well informed although my writing style is a bit more organic than finding a topic and deciding to write about it. I don't have a definitive description of my sound currently. I think I am in flux musically but that is a different story for a different time. Anyway I am headed to Philly early tomorrow morning to play a gig there tomorrow night. Sorry for the semi-ramble, it must be late.
Talk to you soon.
Nikki
Date: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 14:11:30 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: RE: Doogie, Boondocks, My ART.
Hi Nikki,
Yep. I too share an affection for Neil Patrick Harris. As a teenager, Doogie Howser made me realize that anything was possible (at least on TV). So, sci-fi yes, but bugs, no... hmmn... What about a film like Aliens, with bug-esque critters? I can handle bugs on screen, but living in Austin for seven years, where they have those giant, flying roaches was no picnic.
I agree that Aaron Magruder is a genius. I thought the Boondocks comic strip was brave, funny and astute. It made folks mad as hell though, which I think is a good thing. Too much apathy and preaching to the choir goes on as it is. The TV show is a strange adaptation. It is funny and clever, but for obvious reasons (production schedules, a different imagined audience on Cartoon Network), it is not as overtly political as the comic strip. What the TV show has succeeded in doing though is mobilizing a lot of on-line chatter about the political efficacy of the n-word, particularly in rela tion to the MLK-Day episode that ran in 2006 where a revived Dr. King chastises a crowd of black partiers for being politically ignorant and indifferent by repeatedly calling them that word. The essay largely analyzes on-line debates about whether Magruder should have had MLK say those things, whether what King says is "true" or not and for whom, and finally, the contradictory ways the term is invoked to articulate a series of conflicting relationships to US citizenship... sorry, I know I'm carrying on. I've been banging away at this for nearly a month and it sometimes becomes hard to shut up about it, but I will. Now.
I am mightily impressed by your eclectic list of influences. I'm very curious about how it all comes together. Do you have a website or anything where I could hear a snippet? I have several good friends who are musicians and it is always hard for them to balance their day jobs that pays the bills until that big break with the amount of time they would l ike to be devoting to their art. Do you experience this as well? What sort of web design work do you do? I am currently involved in a couple of web based projects. One is trying to create a born-digital scholarly press (http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org)./ The other is an outreach project that will teach the working-poor in the Hampton Roads area web-design, html, and social-networking skills and have them create their own blogs. The goals of that project are twofold: job training and also providing an important outlet for peoples who are often spoken for but rarely get to have their own voice. That one is still in the early stages though...
I hope the Philly show went wonderfully. Philly's a cool town. I almost went to grad school there, but life took a different turn. OK, I'm off to start cooking dinner for some friends. It's Canada Day today and like so many ex-pat Canucks, I am suddenly overwhelmed with pride at my non-USAness. Hope you're havin g a great weekend.
Talk to you soon.
Avi
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2007 15:42:51 -0400
From: Nikki Kilgore nkilgore@AETNAWIRE.COM
To: "Nikki @ Seed Is . . ." nikki@seedis.com
Conversation: Doogie, Boondocks, My ART.Subject: RE: Doogie, Boondocks, My ART.
Hello Avi,
I have had an extra long and interesting weekend. Although I physically returned from Philadelphia on Sunday evening I was mentally still there for a couple of days. The words “band” and “competition” should never go together in a sentence or any other kind of word grouping for that matter, in my opinion no good can come it. But that is another long and aggrieved discussion that I am not willing to have any longer. So, unfortunately I couldn’t get back to you until today, believe me when I say, mental clarity makes me a better conversationalist.
Bug-esque critters, in films preferably, are doable for me. It is weird but the smaller the bug the more it creeps me out. Aieeee . . . Flying roaches, NO! Sorry, okay, okay I am fine, just got a serious mental picture of flying roaches in Austin. Anyway, I love the MLK episode and I think that you have raised some interesting questions concerning it. I can’t wait to see what you come up with in the end, carry on sir. . . That episode is my favorite actually and I also enjoy the episode entitled “Let’s Nab Oprah”. The diatribe on “Nigga Technology” is pretty interesting. I imagine that would make for some compelling writing as well.
To answer a couple of your questions, I do have a website where you can get a snippet of my band’s music, which I also designed. The band is called Seed Is . . . and the website is http://www.seedis.com/
I am more of a visually oriented person when it comes to website design. I am a pretty competent HTML programmer and have dipped my toes into other programming languages such as PHP, Java, and CSS. However, I am a total novice when it comes to Flash. You have actually hit upon my most neglected talent as of late. I recently completed an online program for Web Design and then promptly stopped designing. I keep talking about all of the re-designs that I have to complete but there does not seem to be enough time right now. I will get to them eventually or else I’m going be really pissed about those school payments that I am currently devoting a portion of my income to. Both of your web projects sound very interesting, the latter seems the most difficult to realize but extremely beneficial.
A cooking ex-Canadian . . . very interesting. Tell me more.
Nikki
Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:53:54 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: RE: Mental Clarity
Hi Nikki,
It sounds like the Philly trip was pretty intense. Your website says you guys placed second. Congratulations! Still, I think I understand what you mean about how life can get screwy when the things you love become driven by the need to prove something to others or the search for extrenal rewards. Though probably not comparable, academia provides lots of these crappy frustrations. For instance, all those community outreach projects I've mentioned to you count for nearly nothing in terms of my tenure requirements. The only thing that matters are publications in journals that no on outside of other academics will ever ever read. This creates a tremendously antagonistic atmosphere sometimes, where collaboration, conversation, community building and bridging -- the things that I am most inspired by -- are devalued in favor of individual accomplishments. Anyhoo, no need to belabor the point.
I listened to the Seed Is... music samples on the band website and was really amazed. Alive is a pretty powerful song and you can definitely hear all of the various musical influences and styles coming together. It was at once soulful and contemplative and still had lots of funk. P.O.P. is pretty rockin' and The Light has a kind of gracefulness to it . Kudos to all of you. The website is great. Elegant. Clean. Easy to navigate. You may not be a Flash expert, but you have a good design eye. How did you guys come up with the name Seed Is...? How long have y'all been performing together?
I agree that the bit on "Nigga technology" in the Lets Nab Oprah episode is rich and troubling. I'm also fascinated by the constant play of identity when it comes to the characters of Ed Wonceler III and Gin Rummy. They are clearly meant to be read as parodies of Bush and Rumsfeld reimagined as the worst kind of "appropriators" of commodified Black culture, yet they are also voiced by Charlie Murphy and Samuel L. Jackson. This has, of course, a very rich and complicated history that dates back to the early days of radio in America. In the 1930s there was a lot of fear that listeners would not be able to tell the difference between racially diverse voices entering into their homes via the radio unless they were clearly "marked" as different, meaning that Black characters had to speak in minstrel voices, Asian characters had to skip prepositions etc. This led to the validation of white performers who voiced black characters on overtly racist programs like Amos 'n' Andy for "mas tering" how Black peoples supposedly spoke, while a Black performer like Louis Armstrong had his show cancelled because he refused to speak in a minstrel voice. Awful shit. Excuse my language. Anyways, so full circle to The Boondocks and let confusion reign: two Black actors voicing two white characters who act exaggeratedly "black" and who are also thinly-veiled caricatures of the current administration. Well, once again I've managed to drone on about the Boondocks. No more. I promise.
I believe that making a living doing what you love is tough, but attainable. As you suggest though, creativity doesn't come with a punch card or a set of instructions letting you know how and when it will pay off. At the end of the day though, this struggle is also what makes you a more interesting person than most pencil pushers, even if you have to occasionally join their ranks to pay the rent. From what I heard on the website, it is only a matter of time, because you guys are clearly talented. Do you think that the types of social networking tools (myspace, flickr, etc) and authoring/publishing software now available will make it easier for musicians to make a living (or, at least, get noticed) without involving (at least in the traditional sense) the music industry execs?
I do love to cook and my inflated ego allows me to comfortably say that I am quite good. My culinary tastes are sort of inspired by the Playdough Playset school of cooking though. Basically, I like to throw all kinds of odd combinations together. I can make a mean cranberry-cilantro chicken schnitzel.
One important correction: there is nothing ex-Canadian about me (and even if I wanted there to be, the US government kindly reminds me to the contrary on an annual basis when it comes to renewing my work visa). I'm 100% lumberjackin', hockey-playin', BareNakedLadies CD ownin', universal healthcare believin' Canuck. I just don't want to live in Canada. Yep, I'm a hypocrite. That's patently Canadian as well. Seriously, I moved to the US in 1999 from Montreal for grad school down in Austin, TX. Don't know if you've been to either, but they are both wonderful cities. Austin has a great music scene. The rest, a they say, is history.
If your interested, maybe we could continue this conversation over coffee or a beer sometime. I promise to beguile you with tales of my near-death encounters with grizzly bears...
Hope your having a great day.
Avi
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 12:23:19 -0500
From: screed3@talkmatch.com
To: santoavi@hotmail.com
Subject: Match.com Message: Canadian ness
Ok. First things first, I would love to continue our conversation over a cup of coffee or maybe a glass of wine (not really a beer person, but I do like a nice DRY cider). I will be in NY this weekend. I got a hotel room in Midtown Manhattan in anticipation of a 1st place win for the band but now I just get a nice weekend in NYC with my sisters. But I cannot complain about that. So I am pretty free other than this weekend, just let me know when you want to get together.
I am so glad that you enjoyed the songs on the website. I wrote the song Alive except for the extremely personal spoken word portion performed our percussionist Kevin. The song P.O.P. was written by an original member of the band who has moved on to a solo project and The Light was penned by my sister Anwei (pronounced similar to the French word 'ennui' although her name is French-North African and means 'Child of God'). We have always been a musical family, my mother sings, my brother plays bass, guitar, and piano and both of my sisters sing. My father is unfortunately tone deaf but refuses to give up THE DREAM and you gotta love him for his moxie. The name of the band, which was Seed at first, originated with the founder (who has since gone irreparably crazy and thusly removed from his position as drummer). Once we did a trademark search on the name we found that we weren't the only ones with that original idea. So in our quest to change the name we took into account all of the types of music that we represent and the fact that every time someone asked the question, "What type of music do you play?" we would inevitably start the sentence with, "Well, Seed is . . ." We decided that the concept of our band being an all encompassing entity of musical sound was well represented by the name Seed Is . . . and at least starts a conversation. The core group of t he band has been together for around 10 years with some other folks coming and going in between but I feel like this is the best formation that we have had currently. Thanks for the kind words on the web design, I am currently still updating.
Oh my goodness! You know an obscene amount of information about the Boondocks. I am really fascinated by all of your comments but I will wait for future communication to elaborate further.
Ok this is not an indictment, but merely an observation that you might have been in PROFESSOR MODE during your last message to me. Being the child of a life long and loving art teacher, I know when I am being "teachered" and the "essay" question below is definitely from a professor:
Do you think that the types of social networking tools (myspace, flickr, etc) and authoring/publishing software now available will make it easier for musicians to make a living (or, at least, get noticed) without involving (at least in the traditional sense) the music industry execs?
At first I felt the inclination to begin my research online (with appropriate footnotes, etc) and then I remembered that I have already received all of the CREDITS that I need in life and promptly abandoned that course of action. I was not really into MySpace and Flickr, etc in the beginning but then once I read this Rolling Stone magazine article on the band Hawthorne Heights who went from virtual obscurity to packed shows all over the country, I promptly signed us up ready for our big break. Those sites require a level of interaction that I am surprisingly not into (online anyway). I passed the job on to our guitarist, which leads me to let you know that I take NO RESPONSIBILITY for the design of that page, who has helped us gain a great deal of exposure with a lot of new fans. I think that the way to capitalize on those sites is to have some good product and the willingness to travel a lot. Well we are in need of new product right now (we are working on a new album) and travel is sometimes difficult because of the 9 to5er's like me.
Your cooking philosophy seems to be pretty eclectic. I am open to new and exciting dishes however I rarely get a chance to experiment. I am a novice cook at best (only been cooking for a couple of years) and I live in a house where my appreciation for the unusual is not always appreciated.
I apologize profusely for the ex-Canadian comment. I wasn't trying to imply that you were no longer Canadian in any way because you live here now. I am glad to hear your pride in your Canadian ness although hypocritical in nature. I have an old friend who grew up in Montreal and then moved to NYC. He was a musician in a band called Me Mom and Morgentaler (http://www.myspace.com/memomandmorgentaler). When he moved to NYC he was in a band called 2 Skinnee J's (http://www.2sj.com/), who are cool guys although the band is no longer together. But I say that to say this, I have a great history with the Canadian people and feel that I may be able to relate to them is some way. Hee hee. Okay so tell me about your near-death encounters with grizzly bears . . . over a beer.
Nikki
Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:10:23 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: RE: Canadian ness
Hi Nikki,
Hope your having fun in NYC (even if your original reasons for being there have changed). You deserve a fun weekend with your sisters.
I am embarassed to say that you did catch me in professor mode with that crazy over-worded essay of a question. What I meant to ask was if the website was getting the band a lot exposure, but clearly English isn't alway my first language. It doesn't help that I usually compose my e-mails to you on my writing breaks for the Boondocks paper, which already has me speaking in academic. Of course, you are to blame as well, for inspiring me with your intelligent and insightful responses. Still, I know better than to teacher outside of class. :-)
No offense taken over the ex-Canadian comment. If anything, I doth protest too much, living in the US as long as I have. I'm glad to hear you are such a Canuck fan. I saw Me, Mom and Morgentaler perform in Montreal when I was a teenager. Good stuff.
Are weeknights good for you or would you prefer to meet up next weekend? This coming week, I'm free any day after Thursday. Let me know what works best for you.
Looking forward to it.
Avi
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 09:25:26 -0500
From: screed3@talkmatch.com
To: santoavi@hotmail.com
Subject: Match.com Message: This Weekend
That was very clever blaming/complimenting me for your "teachering" in my emails, very clever indeed. We had a great time in NYC, a lot less PARTY than I wanted but it turned out really well in the end. My younger sister could barely walk four blocks from the hotel in her new heels and basically put the kibosh on the club aspect of our evening. It was probably for the best since I still woke up with a too-much-wine headache (one step lower than a mild hangover) anyway.
Let's see, I am thinking that Friday or Saturday are the best options. Weekends are great when I don't have a gig. Let me know if you had a specific place in mind or if you would like me to suggest a place.
See you soon.
Nikki
Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:50:53 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: RE: This Weekend
What can I say? I have a way with words...
I'm glad you had a good time in NYC, high heel hijinx and all. One of the many unearned benefits of being a man is that I don't have to worry about walking in high heels. I went out to Sandbridge beach on Saturday and got burned, but still had a fun day. We got lost on the way home and wound up in North Carolina. This is what happens when every second street in VB is named Princess Anne. An oddity about me is that I actually enjoy getting lost. A good many of my favorite places are those I stumbled upon while looking for someplace else. Yesterday was pretty much spent recovering from Saturday.
Friday works well for me for getting together. Here are a few suggestions of places to meet:
A) The New Belmont
B) The Boot
C) The Taphouse
OK, so clearly my knowledge of places outside of the Ghent is pretty sparse, so please do not hesitate to suggest someplace better and I will gladly defer to your superior knowledge of where to be seen (or not) in Norfolk.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Avi
Date received: July 10, 2007
From: screed3 (screed3@talkmatch.com)
To: flashmatictuning (flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com)
Subject: RE: RE: Time This weekend
Sounds good. See you then. Toes and all, I guess.
Nikki
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:33:28 -0500
From: flashmatictuning@talkmatch.com
To: "nikki@seedis.com" nikki@seedis.com
Subject: hola
Hi Nikki,
I'd meant to send this e-mail yesterday, but the day ended up getting away from me (though not in a bad way. I had a very inspired writing day. Clearly I owe it all to you... and maybe the beer-fueled crazy-dreams I had Friday night when I finally got to bed).
I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed hanging out with you Friday night and I look forward to another rendezvous. You were fun, intelligent, and very cute (and the fact that neither of us turned out to be psycho killers probably helped as well).
I'm not sure how your schedule is shaping up, but this coming week, mine is pretty felexible from Thursday onwards. I will give you a shout Wednesday evening to see if you are inclined to grace me with your company sometime soon.
Hope you're having a great weekend.
Avi
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:47:15 -0500
From: screed3@talkmatch.com
To: santoavi@hotmail.com
Subject: Match.com Message: RE: hola
Hello,I am sleepy and unfocused right now but I did want to let you know that I had a great time the other night (you speak goooddd) and I am pretty free Thursday, Friday and Saturday night as of right now. I might have band rehearsal on Friday night but it is incredibly difficult to get 10 people together to decide anything, so as of right now I am free.
When is a good time to give you an actual phone call? I would hate for your phone to go off (I am sure your ringer plays a midi version of "Careless Whispers" or maybe a little ABBA?!) whilst you teach the virtues of Bruce Leroy in our modern society. That would not be good, I imagine.
Anyway, that is all for now. I was up late finding live versions of Nina Simone songs on YouTube and I ended up with a terrible night's sleep. Busy, busy, busy. . .
Nikki
P.S.All future communication will be through your personal email account and of course you can email me anytime at my email address nikki@seedis.com or if it is during working hours nkilgore@aetnawire.com. That was pretty formal, huh?! Hee hee.
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:38:51 -0300
From: Avi Santo santoavi@hotmail.com
To: nikki@seedis.com
Subject: Escape from Match
Well, I don't exactly feel like Kurt Russell, which is simultaneously a relief and a disappointment...
You can call me anytime you want (at least thru the end of August). I'm not teaching this summer, so my brilliance (or, over-inflated ego. You decide) will not be interrupted by Wing's wonderous hit, "It's just another day". Actually, that's the song that came already programmed onto the phone. I can't fight the classics... I spend most of my days just lounging around coffee shops thinking deep thoughts about the Boondocks and other projects. It's not at all fun, since I need to actually produce publishable articles, but it beats many other alternatives. If I don't answer the phone, it is either because I have accidentally turned the ringer off or left it at home. Sadly, I do both quite frequently. Absent-minded professor syndrome, I suppose, or maybe I'm just rebelling againt the technotopia.
It is easy to find things to talk about when graced with great company.
I think that I'm going out for drinks with friends tomorrow (Wednesday) night and having friends come over for BAD movie night on Thursday (I'm contemplating showing them The Last Dragon. Everyone should see this film. It would make the world a better place. I may be overstating things a bit). If its OK with you, I'll probably call you this evening instead of tomorrow. Either Friday or Saturday work for me. Lets discuss tonight.
Have a great day.
Avi
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:41:25 -0300
From: Avi Santo santoavi@hotmail.com
To: nikki@seedis.com
Subject: Avi and Nikki's Friday Night Adventure
choose wisely... danger of dorkdom lurks beneath the surface of these otherwise seemingly innocent possibilities.
Our tale begins as so many do. It's Friday night and in the tradition of Loverboy, Nikki is finally done working for the weekend and has decided to come out and play with Avi (one in every seven stories begins this exact way, guaranteed). "Whatever shall we do?" the two wonder aloud to no one in particular. Thankfully, the spirit of the Portfolio Weekly, lurking just around the corner (suspiciously wearing nothing but a raincoat and a fedora) overhears their plight and offers some (not so) sage suggestions:
A) we could have dinner and mojito marvelousness at Luna Maya followed by a nice moonlight walk around the Hague (don't wear heels) before winding up at the Naro theater for a trippy but thoughtprovoking screening of The Darkside of Oz (you know, where they synch Pink Floyd's The Darkside of the Moon up with The Wizard of Oz and all the answers to the universe are magically revealed)
B) we could venture out to Mt. Trashmore (note to self: bring nose guard) for movies under the stars. This week they're showing Charlotte's Web, which ain't exactly Aliens or Terminator 2, but is still a lot less creepy than Arachnophobia and has a nice lesson about tolerance to boot. Afterwards, we could head to Gherardini's Gelato for some Italian ice-cream and possibly walk along the VB pier while scoffing at the tourists (or, we could go to the Jewish Mother for dinner and to hear Albert Cummings play)
C) We could risk being swept up by the stormy seas and take the ferry over to Portsmouth for weinerschnitzel, spatzel, and beer (or in your case, cider) at the Bier Garden followed by... hmmn... is there actually anything worth doing in Portsmouth? Oh well, we can innovate. Bring some spraypaint with you and worst case scenario, we can make public art.
D) We could crash the 1972 Norfolk schools 35th Year Reunion at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in VB and pretend like everyone else has just aged badly compared to us. I think Captain and Tenile are the scheduled musical performers...
OK, that's that. Feel free to mix and match as you see fit or ixnay all of the above in favor of something better. Just remember, there's no flipping ahead to the final chapter, so I beseach you, choose wisely...
See you tomorrow.
Avi
Date: 08/20/2007 10:14AM
From: "Nikki Kilgore" nkilgore@AETNAWIRE.COM
Subject: RE: if i can make it there, i can make it anywhere...
The man took your lotion?! That succcckssss. I am a lotion freak and Iremember flying to Florida for my Bahamas cruise, it was literalmoisturizing HELL for me. I just felt weird and crackly the entire time.I hope your Lubriderm search turned out well.
Church was FUN. I love it when Youth Sunday comes because the kids are sosweet and unpredictable. It is like a mild shock to the church servicesystem and they deliver every time. The little ones sang a couple of solosand that was really cute too.
I was checking my schedule to make sure that I am free for the Labor Dayweekend and I seem to be good except for actual Labor Day (Monday,September 3, 2007). We will be opening for a singer named Algebra @Hampton University that night and I will have to be at Hampton U forsoundcheck @ 12 noon. Let me know how long you were thinking about staying. It should be fine to wake up that morning and get there by noon but I amnot sure what the plans will be.
I had a VERY nice weekend of mostly nothing. I basically stuffed myself at the cookout and then went to my friend Sporty's house to see which pieces of her furniture I am going to become the proud new owner of. I think weare going to take her couches however they DO NOT go with our décor at ALL. They are WHITE LEATHER. Now get a good mental picture of my house. Now think WHITE LEATHER COUCHES. I know, I know but I NNEEEEEDDDD new couches. I am not sure what I am going to do but I have to decide by tomorrow. She also wanted us to take her dining room table and chairs, which also do not go with ANYTHING in my house. I don't think that I am going to take those at all.
Then yesterday I went to visit my folks after church, we had the inevitable "AVI Conversation" (my sister Kelli, had made some random statements about you based on a proverbial GRILLING by my parents so I felt a need to divulge more detail for fear of inconsistencies). It went well, , no stress, no pressure. They are pretty cool people and whenever I sit down and have a nice long talk with them they reinforce that impression ten fold.
Finally, Kelli and I went and checked out the BOURNE ULTIMATIUM!!!!!!!!!!!
My non-pig-faced boyfriend did an AWESOME job in this one and I hope theyride this freakin franchise out until it breaks because I cannot get enoughof these movies! Ha! SO THERE!
I think that covers everything for now, ummmmmmm yep. Talk to you soon.
Nikki
P.S.I don't usually check my work email at home so you should send all future emails to nikki@seedis.com. I check that one at work and at home.
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:19:18 -0400
From: Avi D Santo ASanto@odu.edu
To:
Salaam chica,
I am often mistaken for a Mexican Arab at the airports and it is alwaysdisappointing to have to inform the overzealous guards that I'm just a Canadian Jew with a latin-sounding name.
It is raining this morning in NYC. Our meeting will start as soon as folksmake the mad dash from the subway to the office. So far, it has been a goodtrip. I saw my friend Geoff and his girlfriend Lori on Sunday night.We went to Film Forum and saw a great film noir double feature, SilentStreet and Scarlet Street. The latter was particularly disturbing. Lastnight, I was invited to a dinner party and tonight I am going out fordinner with my friend Jonathan Gray, who teaches at Fordham. We are goingfor Ethiopian food and I am getting hungry just typing the words. Beyondall the fun, I've gotten a lot of work done, which is nice. I am puttingtogether a dance-and-TV themed week for In Media Res in November. Do youthink Kelli would contribute something if I asked real nice and lent herthose Buffy comics? I'm trying to get more non-academic pieces to provide different perspectives...
I'm glad you enjoyed the further adventures Pig Face and am even more happythat you enjoyed them without me. Apparently I am the only human beingalive who thinks Matt Damon looks swine-like. I just asked my colleaguesand they gave me a horrified look.
As a perfect piggy segueway, how about this place for Labor Day weekend?
I was thinking we would drive down there Saturday morning, stay saturdayand sunday night, and leave early monday to have you back in time for yourrehearsal. I only await your thumbs up and I will book it.
Hope you are having a great day.
Avi
365/240 Ready for New Life
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I am resolved in my intentions and I look to the future with a feeling of anticipation. Are you ready?