On account of his ass-mar, Ian doesn't like to inhale, so he smokes with the cigarette dangling out of his mouth like a toothpick. It's hilarious. When I took this photo, he was also jaywalking with tons of cars around him. He gets really thug when he smokes.
Ian says I smoke like a French lady, because I make wide dramatic gestures with my cigarette. So while we smoked, we sang all the fake French we could remember from Flight of the Conchords' "Foux de Fa Fa". I threw in a couple of Gerard Depardieus as well. We didn't capture this on film, so you should watch Flight of the Conchords' version here.
First stop on our Friday fun train: Sidecars at Silvertone coupled with literary analysis of Wu-Tang Clan lyrics.
Second stop: Institute of Contemporary Art. The ICA regularly hosts a teen night, which always proves to be a good time. The best part of teen night is how it brings together kids from all walks of life. Last year, after 3 Latino kids from the South End rapped about God saving them from the streets, the very flamboyant host commented, "I'm a gay Jew, and I loved that song!" Great contrasts like that abound.
First, we walked the exhibits. Favorite exhibit: Kader Attia's "Sleeping from Memory":
Least favorite: Louise Bourgeois' watercolors. They're kind of reminiscent of Evan from Superbad and his childhood compulsion of drawing penises. I'll spare you the visual. I enjoyed Bourgeois' sculptures, though. Here's "Spider":
The teens have an incredible performance space for open mic, as the ICA sits on the Boston waterfront with wall length windows revealing the downtown skyline. A couple of Ian's students performed. This is Justin. He's an incredibly precocious freshman who did a spoken word piece about generations of his family living without fathers. It was beautiful.
Kalifa has become a legend at Teen Night. Last year, I saw her first performance when she was a freshman, and she has completely transformed since then. She performed a piece full of maternal imagery, which was a great reflection of her own stage presence. She was like Zap Mama without all the wackiness.
Other highlights not captured on film: 3 guys doing the "Soulja Boy" dance. I loved it and promptly wanted to learn the dance. Ian strongly disagrees as he thinks it's similar to Lil' John's "Get Low", where kids are pulling the wool over adults' eyes regarding the sexually explicit lyrics. But I see it as just a straight-up fun dance. The kids performing it seemed to think so. And from the little I know about the lyrics and the dance, Soulja Boy seems to be promoting a very conservative sexual position, so I don't think it's a big deal. "Get Low" is just downright disgusting. Eh. I guess we're both right.
Another kid performed a spoken word piece that was a long conceit about a woman as an apartment complex. It included such gems as, "Do you have a big backyard?", "The grass isn't greener on the other side" and "Riding up and down your elevators". But the line that made me laugh out loud was "And the mortgage is tight! / No need to refinance". I thought it added some nice commentary on our country's current economic state.
There was also a trio from Newport, Rhode Island (Teen Night's getting big!) who had a really polished set. It's amazing the kind of resources these kids have today with their computers and internets and whatnot. "The Producers" is the next Fugees. Ian wants to start a label called Mansion Records and sign them up.
Next stop: JJ Foleys! Another place in Boston that brings together a good mix of people. This was Ian's reaction to the kind of off Newcastle. Why does Newcastle taste different in every bar in Boston?
Some bike courier played six Morrissey songs in a row on the jukebox. Then, a VERY drunk man played Elliot Smith's "Miss Misery" and passionately sang it to the girl next to him. I didn't know it was possible to make Elliot Smith into a drunken love song, but it is! This was Ian's reaction to him.
Then my song came on. Hmmm, I wonder who played LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends"?
Ian applied ketchup on his fries in time with the repetitive beat of the song.
Ian loves himself some steak tips! JJ Foleys is no Slades, but yum!
Next stop: karaoke for Laura's and Heidi's 26th birthday. The birthday girls:
Sarah started us off with a nostalgic performance of the Beatles' "In My Life". It was sweet. But it was clear that this was more of a classic rock/metal crowd, so Todd's "Carry On My Wayward Son" was a huge hit. He's obviously a karaoke pro. Note his polished signature moves like the microphone twirl and dramatic lunges.
Hands down, Evan has the most potential to be in a viral YouTube video. See his performance of "Love Fool".
Coincidentally, this morning, I saw this cd sitting on my basement steps.
Kindred spirits, I tell you.
Ian and I were hoping to do a duet of Peabo Bryson's, "If Ever You're In My Arms Again" but they didn't have it. So we did Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues". We were put to shame when an incredible bass later performed "Ring of Fire". Man, he was good.
This guy committed a MAJOR karaoke foul. He was so into the guitar solo of Cheap Trick's "Surrender" that he put the microphone DOWN. HIS. PANTS. Gross!
[Side note: that girl in the bottom right of the photo was really pretty. I wanted to steal her look, but I forgot to ask where she got her dress. Darn.]
There were some other great groups of friends there. One group arm wrestled to decide who would perform what song. There was a really, really sweet couple who performed Regina Spektor's "Fidelity." Later, when she gave a solo performance of "Bettie Davis Eyes" he was so into it that he did overhead claps.
They also slow danced when the DJ performed INXS' "Never Tear Us Apart". Ooh, that's a great karaoke song. The DJ always knows.
Last stop on the Friday fun train: walking home along Tremont St. and laughing at people waiting in line to go to the Beehive. Ian and I get self-righteous when high class soul food is involved. $13 grilled cheese sandwiches with ribs and fontina? Suckers! Actually, that sounds delicious.
Good night!
