Hell Week

It’s been a busy week around here, and I haven’t had time to ’blog. I’ve just been busy getting ready for TCGMC’s upcoming concert, God Save the Queens. (These shows get programmed about two years in advance, so some things might have changed since.) It’s an evening of music from icons of British music, from Sir Elton John (of course) to Freddie Mercury. I have it on good authority that Heaven has agreed to let Her Royal Highness pop in during the show. (But only on the condition that we took George Michael with her, which we had no problem with.) I tell ya, Gerald’s got connections.

There’s a double helping of Sir Elton in this show, actually; we’re doing “Circle of Life” (which he co-wrote with Tim Rice) as well as “I’m Still Standing”—and yes, singing that from a wheelchair is just as awkward as it sounds. (But it’s the theatre, dahlings.) We’re also doing pieces by Sam Smith (“Stay With Me”), Adele (“When We Were Young”), Dusty Springfield (“Son of a Preacher Man”), Culture Club (“Karma Chameleon”), David Bowie (“Space Oddity”), and our own take on a Gilbert Sullivan chestnut that has traumatized vocalists ever since Sir Arthur Sullivan first inflicted it on them in 1879. Here’s a little hint…

I am the very model of a modern homosexual…

You’re just going to have to come see the show if you want to know the rest—but I guarantee, it’s priceless.

For this concert, TCGMC is returning to its traditional performance venue, Ted Mann Concert Hall on the U of M West Bank Campus. I bet there are still lots of tickets left, too! For the evening, we’ll transport our audience to Merry Olde England for an evening of music, merriment, mayhem, and maybe a few surprises. 

Beware the Ides of March

It’s been a while since I posted to this ’blog, but I’ve been busy getting my next title, What Happens in Pompeii, ready for release. This time I wanted to be sure I got it right the first time, so I hired a proofreader, and he did a thorough job, sending me a 16-page Excel spreadsheet of all the typos. (Note to self: next time, just send a Word document he can edit himself!)

What Happens in Pompeii is the story of a modern-day history teacher who suddenly finds himself swept backward through time to Pompeii in 78 A.D., one year before the Big Bang. Armed only with his high-school Latin and two millennia of the world’s greatest scholars to draw upon, Joe changes his name to “Io” (since there is no J in Latin) and becomes the talk of the town with his scholarly teachings, mostly drawn from pop culture references. (For example, he greets people by saying “Vita longa et brevis,” which means “live long and prosper” in Latin. And of course, when asked about its origin, Io simply explains that it’s a blessing from the god Vulcan.)

I wanted to choose an appropriate date to go live, so What Happens in Pompeii will be available on Amazon starting on March 15th… the Ides of March. Beware, Caesar!