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General Board / A good cause - and maybe Ben love is passed during transplants? :)

« on: September 26, 2011, 12:22:57 PM »

Totally not Ben Folds related, but his fans are good people, so here goes:

A few years ago, I joined Be The Match, a bone marrow donor registry that finds matches for people who need bone marrow donations. I just swabbed my cheek and mailed the sample back to them, and that was it.

About 6 weeks ago, I was identified as a potential match for a patient who needs a bone marrow transplant. I'll be flying from KC to Denver twice in the next few weeks (all expenses paid) as part of the donation process, and will probably donate on October 18th. The donation process isn't hard - just a little uncomfortable. I'm blogging about it at www.sitstaycook.com (under the category Bone Marrow Donation) and am trying to be as open and honest about the process as possible.

Anyway, I would like to encourage all of you who can to please consider joining the Be The Match bone marrow registry. You might be a match for someone and could save a life.

Here's a cool fact - when I donate, the patient will get all of my allergies (hope she likes hayfever), will get my blood type, and will even get my gender markers (if she was a guy, which she isn't). Maybe some of my Ben Folds love will get into her system, too?

If you have any questions about bone marrow donation, please ask!

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Tour Board / Re: jpar's Midwest Extravaganza 2011

« on: January 04, 2011, 11:54:39 AM »

STL has some great pizza, that's for sure. It's a style all their own thanks to the use of Provel cheese instead of mozzarella. Pi is good, but for REAL STL style 'za, you have to go to Imo's.

I HATE STL style pizza. It's like cheese whiz on a cracker. Blech.

In other news, we will also be at the Pageant and Fulton shows.

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Tour Board / Re: A SNOW TIME Upper Midwest 2011 mini tour!

« on: December 07, 2010, 07:48:00 AM »

And now the Milwaukee show is back, but StL is still gone... maybe I need to step away from the computer for a while.

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Tour Board / Re: A SNOW TIME Upper Midwest 2011 mini tour!

« on: December 07, 2010, 07:38:39 AM »

12.14.10 New York, NY   Beacon Theatre
01.23.11Minneapolis, MN   First Avenue
01.25.11 Champaign, IL   Assembly Hall at University of Illinois
01.26.11 Athens, OH   Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium at Ohio University
01.27.11 Madison, WI   Overture Center
01.28.11 Milwaukee, WI   Riverside Theater    (THIS IS A PERSONAL VICTORY, I HATE the venue he used to play up here. RIVERSIDE IS BBBBBBEEEEEEAAAAAAAAUUUUUTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIFULLL - saw Avett Brothers there in March)
01.30.11 St. Louis, MO   The Pageant

Okay... This morning when I looked Milwaukee was on 1/28 and StL was on 1/30... now those dates are gone?! I need that StL date, dammit!

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Tour Board / Re: Columbus, Ohio 11/8/10 setlist

« on: November 10, 2010, 01:26:54 PM »

Hell yes! Someone had the sense that I didn't to record Sleazy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uablc7m6HHA

According to some of the comments on that vid, Ke$ha apparently tweeted this vid to her followers. And according to Ke$ha's tweet about the video:

"HOLY SHIT. dream come true. this is TRULY amazing."

...no comment?

Good God. Do NOT tell me I need to assign bonus points to friggin' Kesha (I refuse to do that $ crap). I can't do it.

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News / Re: "Picture Window" Is Awful

« on: October 27, 2010, 06:35:38 AM »

I just spent the last five minutes reading this as an accident while i was looking for some chords.  I will be honest Im sort of a new BF fan.  Ive listened since the beginning but not with quite the religious fervor everybody on here has.  Although since 05 i have been a more religious follower.  Let me just say this concerning the post.  Its okay if you think it sucks.  Its okay if it moves you.  Its okay if it makes you wanna throw up.  Personally for me, the first time I heard it, I welled up with tears.  Not because it touched a personal chord, or made me think of a friend or family member.  But rather because Im an overemoter.  Its a great album.  I didnt like everything on it, but i never do.  So its okay to hate it, and love it, thats what music is.  As for our "outlandish" state-menter....dude, load it onto Itunes and dont put that song on there.  Then you wont have to skip it.  This is 2010, get an mp3 player.

This.

Also, I'm quoting this for the use of "overemoter," which is apparently a condition I have that I didn't know had a name!

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Album Board / Re: New "From Above" Video

« on: September 29, 2010, 10:06:38 AM »

Adorable - great fit for the song. I think it's a much more accessible video than the one for You Don't Know Me.

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News / Re: "Picture Window" Is Awful

« on: September 28, 2010, 05:58:14 AM »

I like your interpretation but originally they were gonna call it tomato.

Not exactly, Alex. They may have played around with ridiculous titles before the baby had a name (like people who call their unborn child the hybrid, or bean or whatever) but those names are placeholders for the real thing, when the project is complete and they can step back and say, "Hmm.. this one looks like a Sally" or, in this case, a "Lonely Avenue."  I get the loneliness theme, too, which makes the title especially apt (given that it's referenced in "Doc Pomus" and was one of the songs Pomus wrote).

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News / Re: Lynn vs. Ben in a no-holds-barred steel cage video death match! 9/24 @ 6pm CST

« on: September 27, 2010, 10:24:35 AM »

Wednesday, September 29th. 6pm CST. Be there for...

Lynn vs. Ben - The Video Chatstraveganza: Take Two!

I'll be asking him about trying to eat healthy on the road, if he kisses his mother with that filthy mouth, and if he or his lovely wife have any recipes to share involving fall root vegetables. I'm shooting for a Barbara Walters moment where I make him cry, in a good way.

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News / Re: "Picture Window" Is Awful

« on: September 24, 2010, 11:44:47 AM »

I just think "Picture Window" is a stain on an otherwise great album. In my opinion, it sucks. I generally don't comment on demo versions, because that's what they are, demo's. I had no opinion on the former MP3, but the official song, on the official release, is just a sour spot. I don't know who this song was intended for, if it's released as a single, I imagine it's to recreate some "brick" like buzz or something. I just don't get where it fits with the rest of the LP.

Just sharing my opinion, not looking for attention, no different than the rest of you.

Your opinion is that it sucks, but the only justification you can give is that you "don't know who it was intended for."

Go back and think about it some more and articulate whatever the hell it is you think is wrong with it if you're going to call it a "stain."  The lyrics compare to the rest of the album, the actual music does too.  I could at least understand if you were talking about Levi's Blues, as it doesn't really fit thematically or musically with most of the album (or with most of Folds' stuff for that matter).

There's nothing wrong with disliking a song, but if you're going to say something is bad, it'd be nice to have a justification for it that those of us who might like the song could at least understand what you're trying to say.

Agreed. There are a good number of Folds' songs that I'm not big on, but I think Picture Window is terrific. It creates a mood... maybe it's because I've spent some time in hospitals with loved ones and know what it's like to struggle with hoping for the best when hope seems like a fickle bitch, but even still, I think the song is accessible, touching, and beautifully written, lyrically and melodically.

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General Board / Re: See you TONIGHT at 6pm CST

« on: September 24, 2010, 06:13:13 AM »

Thanks! The lag was irksome and made it really difficult to keep the pace going, but overall I'm happy.

You did us proud, JPar. You done did us proud.

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Album Board / Re: Doc Pomus!

« on: September 22, 2010, 06:06:19 AM »

If you've listened to the leak that's fine just don't say anything please.

Aw, you don't come to a Ben Folds message board to not talk about the music. Leaks are a reality you have to accept. If you don't want to hear about the leak, avoid the board until next week.

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Album Board / Re: Doc Pomus!

« on: September 21, 2010, 05:45:18 AM »

The songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman is responsible for lots of songs you  (should) know:

Teenager in Love
Save the Last Dance For Me
This Magic Moment
Little Sister
Suspicion (referenced in the song Doc Pomus on Lonely Avenue)
Viva Las Vegas
 and lots more.

Incidentally, Doc Pomus is my favorite song on Lonely Avenue.

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News / Lynn vs. Ben in a no-holds-barred steel cage video death match! 9/24 @ 6pm CST

« on: September 21, 2010, 05:13:12 AM »

Friday, September 24th. 6pm CST. Be there for...

Lynn vs. Ben - The Video Chatstraveganza!

I'll be asking him about trying to eat healthy on the road, if he kisses his mother with that filthy mouth, and if he or his lovely wife have any recipes to share involving fall root vegetables. I'm shooting for a Barbara Walters moment where I make him cry, in a good way.

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Tour Board / Re: ben really needs to post his fall tour dates.

« on: September 21, 2010, 05:10:45 AM »

The excitement is building...