[Grimlocke],

Thank you for your e-mail concerning the route 66.  I apologize for reckless driving exhibited by one of our employees. MBTA Bus operators must complete a comprehensive Defensive Drivers Course prior to being certified to operate an MBTA vehicle in passenger service. This operator has been identified and will be re-instructed on her duties and responsibilities as a professional driver. Any further violations of the MBTA’s Rules and Policies will subject her to more severe progressive discipline up to and including recommendation for discharge. Additionally, I have forwarded your correspondence to the Instruction Department in order for them to include the intersection of Cambridge Street and Harvard Avenue in the Safety Related Compliance Program. This intersection will be monitored by Safety and Instruction personnel to ensure all traffic rules are strictly followed. Again, I apologize for your unpleasant experience with the MBTA.

Sincerely,

John J. Houghton

Superintendent

Cabot Garage

We’ll see if this has any effect whatsoever on how the busses treat that intersection in the coming months. I’ll keep reporting my observations.

In other news, Boston Biker reports on a meeting tomorrow regarding upcoming work on the Western Ave/River Street Bridges. Wednesday, February 3, 2010. 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard Street, Allston MA. This is of immediate interest to me today of all days because this will be the first week.. well – EVER –  that it would behoove me to use the River Street bridge, since I’ll be going to yoga in Inman Square. However, as bikers ’round this way know, River Street and Prospect Street are death traps of the highest caliber, and therefore I avoid them with extreme prejudice. I will probably opt instead for the BU bridge and Brookline/Colombia to reach Inman – taking me a bit out of my way for sure, but reducing the possibility of me becoming road pizza. Now, if the meeting tomorrow were about this entire route I would be VERY excited indeed. Alas, that is not on the agenda. I will probably pop in on my way home, but not for long. Yoga again tomorrow, you see.

Back when CanCan Revolution was in heavy rotation, our lovely Kitty Fox decided that we should incorporate Karaoke into our acts – we would create a playlist of songs that members of the audience could choose from, and we would act as back up dancers while they butchered these tunes. After CCR stopped performing due to other responsibilities, the idea lost it’s urgency. Last week at the Slutcracker cast party, Sugar Dish and her minions performed a kickass version of  ZZ Top’s ‘Sharp Dressed Man’, and brought it all back to me full force. I still want to get this going, possibly with Kitty and Violet, maybe with a mish-mash of Sluts. I personally wanted us to have a specific act for each song, but if we have a selection of, say, the top 50 most sung Karaoke songs of all time, that’s a shitload of dances to learn! So right now I’m in the process of amassing a list of 15-20 hot songs that are also theatrical, and well known to Friday Night Hams everywhere, so I can create quick and dirty productions to each of them.

The list begins..

1. Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart – One of the best karaoke love songs, this track was also one of the best loved songs of the 80s and was a former #1 Billboard hit. Also, this is hilarious… Literal Eclipse of the Heart
2. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – I Love Rock n Roll
3. Journey – Don’t Stop Believing
   
4. Meatloaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light
5. The Police- Roxanne
6. Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer
   
7. The B52’s – Rock Lobster
   
8. Sir Mix-a-Lot – Baby Got Back
9. Big and Rich – Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy
10. Madonna – Like a Virgin
11. Styx – Mr. Roboto
12. Cyndi Lauper – She Bop
    
13. The Village People – YMCA
14. Depeche Mode – John The Revelator – I only picked this one because we already have props and a dance for it.. don’t know if they even offer it karaoke style.
15. The Weathergirls – It’s Raining Men

Ok… I think that’s about enough for now. I linked them all mostly as a reference for myself once I start creating choreography for each. The question is;  is it impractical to imagine having different choreography/props for each song, or should we really stick to canned dance moves and basic burlesque style outfit setup? And will people really be satisfied with only 15-20 songs to choose from, even if they are these fuckmazing songs? If we do go with the canned costume and dance scenario, should we include more songs? Will people be bored by that?

I also imagine people being shyer than usual to approach the stage, since it would be more of a spectacle, so I expect one of the dancers to be singing a few of the songs.

The idea of this is very exciting to me… I hope it comes to fruition.