HanUKkah

I spent most of Hanukkah on tour with Brent in the U.K! Ironically, most of my photos involve Christmas decorations, since Hanukkah adornments were surprisingly rare.

I arrived in London and had a few hours for sightseeing on my own. I came across this amazing window display in a fancy shoppe in Soho. They created 3 Dimensional versions of classic paintings, but displayed them within a frame. It created a really interesting, surreal effect as you walked by the windows (peripherally, you would think that you're seeing a flat painting, but the perspective kept changing). Here are a couple of my favorites...



I wandered over to Trafalgar Square, where they were in the process of decorating for the holidays.

Pieces for a giant menorah lay scattered in the foreground, while a crane helps put up an enormous Xmas tree in the background.

I'm not sure if this massive ship in a bottle was special for the holidays or not, but it was really cool!

There was a transit strike the day I arrived in London, so I walked about 5 miles with my suitcase and backpack to meet up with Brent at the venue in Brixton. It was interesting to check out a less touristy part of London, and totally worth it for the chance to see Brent's handsome face! When I arrived at the venue, I discovered the worst potato chip flavor of all time...


Menomena opened for the National at the O2 Academy to a sold out crowd that night. I got to watch their set from the wings of the stage. Sufjan Stevens was in London for some reason and made a guest appearance on stage with the National. I was SO excited when he showed up at the after party, too, but was too shy to talk to him {kicking myself}. Oh well. We'll just have to talk Michigan/Brooklyn next time, Sufjan.


The next day Menomena was headlining their own show in London, so that gave us some free time to explore the city in the morning. Brent and I met up with our friend Naima, and explored Covent Gardens. It was really cute and fun. Then Brent and I split off to meet up with our friend Chris for coffee. We opted to skip the Starbucks, and instead go to the seemingly local Costa Coffee shop. It wasn't until our friend Chris arrived that we learned that Costa is the Starbucks of Europe (even though there are also regular Starbucks in the UK). It's hard not to be a stupid American when you're in a foreign country!

Even though we were thousands of miles from home, we still managed to see a familiar face at the coffee shop...

Mark Hamilton (husband of my friend Andrea, father of Scarlett, and bass player extraordinaire in Ash.)

Later that night, Chris treated us to drinks at one of his favorite bars. Brent got the award for ordering the drink with the fanciest glass!

This glass was so fancy, that it could not even stand up without it's wooden holder, prompting the question "How many drunk people have broken this fancy glass?"

We spent the official first night of Hanukkah in Manchester. Although it was a very busy day with Menomena appearing on the BBC before the show, Brent and I managed to sneak away long enough to check out the world's coolest library... The John Rylands Library.

The library displayed many ancient books behind glass cases.

Unfortunately we didn't have very much time to explore the whole library, but I would love to go back and see what other treasures the magnificent library holds.


The 2nd night of Hanukkah, we spent in Glasgow, Scotland. This was my first time in Scotland, and we were welcomed by rolling hills covered with snow.

Brent and I visited the main square and shopping area of downtown Glasgow. We rode on my favorite carnival ride, the swinging chairs, and looked at all of the festive holiday decorations and watched people ice skate.

Our favorite decorations were across the arcades around the GOMA (Glasgow's Museum of Modern art). They draped strings of lights across the building tops to form a canopy of glowing, floating twinkles. It was so magical to walk through that space (especially with some cotton candy). Brent and I both took note of how they did it for potential future application in Brent's backyard. Wouldn't that be amazing for summer parties?



That night, Menomena played at a venue called The Arches. It was a strange, cavernous hall divided into multiple performance spaces. The ceilings consisted of high arching tunnels that created fascinating echos. I was really impressed with Fritz, Menomena's sound man and tour manager, for handling the sound so beautifully in that seemingly difficult and unusual space.





The 3rd night of Hanukkah, we visited Liverpool. We didn't have very much time to explore the Hometown of the Beatles, but we did see some crazy street lamps outside the venue.



Also, after the show we met some of the funniest dudes from the whole tour. Brent likes to draw little pictures for people who ask for autographs. One fan asked for a sexy armadillo drawing. The fan in line behind him, not to be outdone, said to Brent "I like sexy stuff, too." This prompted Brent to create my favorite autograph of all time...


The 4th night of Hanukkah was last stop on the tour, in Leeds. We got a chance to visit the vast car-free downtown shopping loop, and saw a disco ball Christmas tree!




Brent and I got to spend the 5th night of Hanukkah together in Slough (the London suburb near Heathrow where the British version of "The Office" takes place). We had dinner at the 3rd oldest Inn in London, The Ostrich, and found out after our meal that it is haunted! Check out the history page on their website to find out about all of the murders that took place there. Creepy!

The 6th-8th nights of Hanukkah I spent back home in New York, and celebrated with Brent via Skype. We lit the Menorahsaurus, as usual.

Bad Pun of the Day

Risa's Mugshot. Lol.

Bad Joke of the Day

Q: What is a pirate's favorite type of exercise?


A: Yo-ho-ho ga!

Thanks to Johnny at The Shop (my favorite new coffee shop/motorcycle garage in Brooklyn) for this bad joke!

Flying Trapeze- Back End Gazelle Catch (and alomst return)

On Tuesday, I got almost an entire class to myself at TSNY! I learned a new trick, and almost returned in on my first attempt! Thanks to Evan on lines, Nolan on board, and Eric in the catch trap.

Little Friend

While we're on the subject of furry friends, I made a new one this week in my very own apartment. While home alone, I saw a little brown dot scurrying in my peripheral vision. I flicked my head to see an adorable little mouse slowly making his way across my kitchen floor. It has been my experience in the past that once a mouse knows it's been spotted, it will run for cover immediately. This was not the case with my new little friend, who seemed unperturbed as I walked closer to him and watched him sniff the inside of my vacuum cleaner hose. This made me think he was either injured and unable to run away, or too hungry to be bothered with the threat of a giant shadowy figure looming overhead.

I grabbed a flower vase from the top of my cupboard, and crouched beside him. With a less than swift movement, I easily covered the mouse with the vase, careful to not set it atop of his fragile tail. Then I grabbed a flattened cereal box from my recycling bin, and slid it under the vase. I flipped it all over, trapping the mouse inside the vase. I grabbed a little hunk of mozzarella from my fridge and dropped it in. The mouse grabbed the cheese gratefully and began to nibble*. While he was placated, eating his cheese, I walked him down to the park and dropped him and his cheese nibblet in the grass. Goodbye little friend! I hope you have a successful life as a field mouse, rather than a house mouse!



*I realize this sentence embodies what Werner Hertzog would describe as the Disneyfication of animals. However, the look on his cute little face, coupled with the twitching of his whiskers as he gnawed through the cheesy morsel clearly expressed gratitude to me.

Cruel and unusual punishment?

I came across this little bone peddler at Evolution in Soho. Poor guy!

Dino in my {current} town

The dinosaur graffiti trend continues (thank goodness)! I spotted this little friend in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on N 14th street across from The Gutter. Bowling + Dinos = KB like it!

SNL Parody "Facebook"

Here is the newest parody I cut for SNL. This one hits especially close to home since both of my parents are on Facebook (my Dad actually asked me to be his friend while I was cutting the parody). I hope you like it!

On the road with Menomena

Last week, I had the privilege of joining Portland, OR-based indie rock geniuses, Menomena, on the east coast leg of their current US tour. Not being one to sit idle, I quickly snatched up the role of "merch girl." Although touring seems like the best part of being in a rock band, it is a lot of work! Even just setting up/tearing down and manning the merch booth left me pretty exhausted by the end of the week. Nevertheless, it was really cool to experience life on the road alongside such a talented group of musicians.

I met up with Brent and the boys in Boston at a new and fabulous venue called the Royale. It had an old-time ballroom feel, complete with chandeliers, suits of armor, and balcony views.

Menomena is touring with fellow Portlanders Tu Fawning and Brooklyn rockers Suckers. Both bands are excellent, and feature a variety of multitasking musicians. Not only were these openers great on stage, but they were also friendly and fun to tour with.

The crowd in Boston was incredibly enthusiastic and vocal. When Menomena started playing "Evil Bee", the girl behind me shouted "This is MY favorite song ever!" then {perhaps drunkenly} shoved me and everyone in front of me out of the way so she could witness the performance from a closer proximity. It made me smile to see such an unbridled passion for music.

Next we headed to NYC where Menomena packed out Webster Hall. The show included a special guest appearance by the Awesome Homeless Dude that stars in Menomena's mini music video for "Dirty Cartoons". Awesome Homeless Dude wheeled his cart onto the stage, and began setting up his invisible drums alongside Menomena's real drummer, Danny Siem. He alternated between swigging a tallboy of Coors Light out of a brown paper bag, and setting up additional invisible symbols and toms. Once the drums kicked in, AHD drummed in perfect time next to Danny, and even continued to keep time when Danny had to stop drumming to readjust his microphone. This show was reviewed by the New York Times!!


It should also be noted that Danny has 2 baby heads mounted on his drum kit this tour. Each head is fitted with a midi contact that triggers a drum sample during "Dirty Cartoons". If you get a chance to see Menomena live, make sure to look out for Danny hitting the baby heads to trigger the samples. It's fun (if you're cool with plastic baby child abuse)!


The next stop was Jerky's in Providence, Rhode Island. This show was sadly under attended, but drew a few super fans that made up for the lack of quantity with high quality energy and support. One particularly enthusiastic fan named Sai (pronounced Say) was invited to show off her killer dance moves on stage with the band. Brent then began to play Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me", which delighted the crowd. Another super fan named Kyle took over 700 photos of the show!

Providence turns out to be a very strange town. Bars close around 2am, and the venue was just down the street from a big nightclub. It seems that people are not too happy about having to go home at 2, so police officers mounted on horses ride through the streets and try to force drunken fools to go home. Instead, the crowd fights back, and the scene looks like something out of the wild west. As we were loading out, we witnessed the aftermath of the rowdiness. It was slightly scary, to be honest. Especially because while I was guarding the gear on the street, strangers kept yelling propositions at me from their cars. I had to put my tough-girl-from-Brooklyn face on. Luckily we made it out of there without any real issue.




The next stop was in Suckers' hometown of Milford, CT at the Daniel Street Club. The guys that work at this venue are so unbelievably nice. They treated us to a delicious dinner prepared by the restaurant across the street, and the upstairs greenroom also doubled as a recording studio! Unfortunately, this show was also pretty low in the attendance department, but it was really fun to meet Quinn and Brian's parents. They were so into it!

The next day, we headed back to NYC for some promo gigs. First Menomena played live on WNYC's Soundcheck. You can hear the entire performance here...

http://beta.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/2010/oct/04/studio-menomena/

Then they headed over to AOL to film a Session performance. This is not available yet, but should be up on AOL's homepage in a few weeks.

Menomena's next stop was Philadelphia. They had an early morning appearance on NPR's World Cafe, and then we headed over to the First Unitarian Church for a completely unique show experience. The concert took place in the beautiful sanctuary of the church. The reverberant sound of the space gave the entire show an eerie, angelic quality which was probably a nightmare for Jake (Menomena's brilliant soundman/tour manager), but was a real treat for me. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the former religious-turned-atheistic trio perform in a house of worship. Brent and Danny mimicked their own religious transformations by playing a popular Christian song as a mash-up with The Steve Miller Band's "The Joker." A fan caught the performance on video here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertfrancis/5057682298/


My final stop with Menomena was at Washington DC's famed 9:30 Club. The venue definitely lived up to the hype, with 9:30's signature cupcakes waiting for us in a fancy-pants dressing room. The venue had a delicious menu, as well as a much needed washer/dryer for the bands to do some laundry while they sound checked.

Here in D.C., I finally got to see Menomena's visionary lighting rig, constructed by Bass Player Justin Harris. Each of the band member's amps and monitors sat atop Plexiglass light boxes that changed colors based on drum beats and keyboard midi triggers. The effect was beautifully programmed by Justin, and left the audience to enjoy yet another layer of Menomena's deep creativity.

All in all, I had a blast on the road. As a music appreciator (but not a music maker), I never thought I'd have the chance to go on tour. Although it is often more grueling and less glamorous than it appears, it is still interesting to traverse the country and see how different groups of fans react to the same music. I'm looking forward to touring with them again in the UK and Australia (I hope).

Flying Trapeze- Cutaway Half Catch and Return!

Here's my cutaway half catch and return at Trapeze School New York's indoor rig. Caught by Jesse. Zane on board, Josh on lines. Thanks guys!

Saturday Night Live Season Premiere

This week marked the start of Saturday Night Live's 36th season. I spent the week busting my butt to edit 2 parody commercials. I have never cut 2 parodies simultaneously before. It was intense and stressful at times. Luckily, I had the help of a great team! Alex Serpico handled color correction and online editing. Rhys Thomas and Justus Mclarty masterfully orchestrated the production and post producing, with additional help from newcomers Bree and Max. And of course, the parodies were directed by none other than Jim Signorelli, who has been directing the parodies since the show's beginning. One of the parodies won't air until next week, but a great piece about Bosley's new cure for baldness made the premiere. Check out my handy work below...




"Hair Restoration" was shot by Alex Bouno on the brand new Arri Alexa camera. It was such a smooth process, since we could import the clips at Apple Pro Res (HQ), without having to waste time transcoding. Plus the footage looks great! This piece was written by the talented and lovely Paula Pell.

Flying Trapeze- Layout

My layout, caught by Jason on a beautiful night at TSNY's outdoor rig. Jeff on lines, Daniel on board.

Horsetail and Ponytail Falls, Columbia River Gorge, OR

Brent and I hiked to a lovely set of waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge. It was a perfect day for a hike.

Horsetail Falls is visible from the road, and is a long, narrow spectacular site.


Ponytail Falls is a smaller version, about 2.5 miles hike up Horsetail Falls.

You can walk under Ponytail Falls, and kiss behind the waterfall for good luck!

Brent behind Ponytail Falls.

Flying Trapeze- Back End Split Catch and Return

Here's my back end split caught today at Trapeze School New York by Evan. Abbey on board, Ruben on lines.

Dino in my {old} town

I happened upon this graffiti dinosaur last night in my former hometown, Ann Arbor, Michigan. it had a googly eye!

Rubik's Cube Genuis

My 13 year old cousin Matty solves a Rubik's Cube in about 30 seconds! Genius!

Bad Joke of the Day

Q: What do you call a bear with no teeth?



A: A gummy bear

Thanks to the lovely April Chin for submitting today's bad joke.

Cloudy with a chance of penis

My favorite forecast.

Flying Trapeze- Back End Whip

My back end whip, caught last night at TSNY's outdoor rig. Zane on board, Scott on lines, Daniel catching.

Happy 9/02/10

I hope you're wearing your 90s floral print outfit. I know I am. Thanks to Alex for pointing out that today's date is 90210.

Bad Pun of the Day

Q: "How was the Peking duck at dinner?"
A: "Not all it's quacked up to be."

Thanks to my Dad, Barry Brickner, for this awful pun.

Cannon Beach, Oregon coast

Brent Knopf + Matt Sheehy = Musical Genius

Tucked away on a creative retreat in Oregon's beautiful coastal town, Cannon Beach, Brent Knopf and Matt Sheehy are currently hard at work, putting the finishing touches on Matt's 2nd full length album. Having heard many of the demos, I can say with confidence that the follow up to 2008's gorgeous and heartfelt Tigerphobia promises to be a spectacular aural adventure.

In honor of their hard work, I bring you some adorable photos from an excursion Brent and I took to Cannon Beach a few weeks ago. Grab your teddy bears, and prepare to sigh as you scroll down into cuteness village.

Me in front of haystack rock

Brent doing his tough rockabilly sunset pose

Regular Brent looking effortlessly handsome

Awwwwwww. It's an ambigram!

And let's not forget that Matt Sheehy is also the guitarist for Ramona Falls, and star of the music video for "Russia." This video might have been edited by someone who likes to shamelessly promote herself on her own blog. But probably not.