Teddy Bloggie Blog Blogging

It's amazing how much entertainment there is in the East Bay that I never get a chance to exploit. DJ and I were playing Dominoes at the back of the PUB tonight talking to a group of regulars; although I haven't seen them previously. They were experimenting with Salvia Divinorum, offering it to everyone who wanted to try it. Although almost everyone agreed that the effects was unnoticeable, one guy who tried it actually reported feeling something indescribable. Topics turned from one to another like usual. Some people were talking about pronation and proper walking posture. Other topics throughout the night included the newly discovered planet, Kepler, Berkeley mathematics, Dominoes, effedrine, Ma Huang, optimal currency area, Iraq, globalization, wireless internet, and medulla oblongata. It was the usual PUB talk.

DJ then found out from a patron or maybe Jennifer, the bartender, that Mal Sharpe was playing the Ivy Room a few blocks away. DJ recalls hearing his name on 88.1FM, a Jazz station in Southern California that we used to listen to daily because it was the only station that his Dad tuned to while driving. In fact, we'd joke that the Dodge van wouldn't start if someone switched the station. I haven't heard of him, but I'll pretty much listen to anything... [My google search of Mal Sharpe turned up the Jazz musician and the prank interviewer. Are they one and the same?] It didn't take long before we hopped on our bikes headed for the Ivy Room.

The crowd was light. Stewart, the dancer with a very noticeable missing tooth, was there dressed in slacks and a jacket mingling with two others that we'd seen before. One, a lady about 50, the other was in her 20s. Stewart would sometimes dance with one, sometimes the other and sometimes with both simultaneously. He's great. Tonight he even brought his tapping shoes. He's slender and tall, kind of like an older, grungier Fred Astaire. He can move though... They provided the perfect visualization of the night's music.

Mal Sharpe and the Big Money in Jazz Band was playing to a small audience. Maybe there were six or seven in the half of the Ivy Room that contained the stage. There were perhaps six or seven other people sitting near the bar on the other side. It didn't matter. The music was great. It was part dixieland, part blues. Nothing's more entertaining than watching a group of older jazz muscians at their craft. They'd grumble and speak in short bursts between songs in order to decide what to play next... you'd wait... then the song would start almost explosively all at once. Some of the songs, as DJ said, made you want to jump off Evans Hall. Others were uplifting. We met up with Mal again at Happy Donuts after the show, he came in to order a few to-go. It was all in all a good night. I appreciate nights like tonight for the people you meet and the live music. Seeing the hubs where people gather late night is a lot of fun. It's a lot better than watching TV.