Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A project a-brewing

We've wanted to do this for a long time and it's slowly coming together.

Keep watching this space, as a preview to the new Feral Chihuahuas summer series, we'll be hosting a pub crawl. Visit some of Asheville's odder drinking establishments, with transport provided and entertainment from the Feral Chihuahuas and stand-up by George the Bastard to keep you laughing from one drinking destination to the next.

The Feral Chihuahuas - helping put the fun back in debauchery.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Bastardoke, Jan 27

I can't sing, and have no taste in music, but I love karaoke. Tonight I hit up MacKells with fellow Chihuahua Elizabeth Taylor and the vocally talented Mike P. I like to karaoke with a theme, and tonight it was "British Substance Abuse songs of the 70s". Here's some videos of the originals of the songs I butchered.


Squeeze - "Cool for Cats"... I think I pulled this off OK



Status Quo - "Pictures of Matchstick Men". The karaoke soundtrack had a violin, so I think it was meant to be the Camper Van Beethoven version



Gary Glitter - "Do You Wanna Touch". Big hi to Mr. Gadd if you still have internet access from that Saigon prison.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

I'd like to thank the Academy

Breaking news: "Fecal Matters" wins the award for show that breaks the most rules at Asheville Fringe Arts festival. Thanks, festivalvoters!

Random Bastardry

I checked out the Thirsty Monk on Thursday night (and liked it so much we headed back there after the show on Friday). I knew I was in for a good time when before I'd gotten to the bottom of the stairs, the ever-charming Julie from Bruisin' Ales (and the Bruisin' Ales Beer Blog) said hi. A good night for local bloggers, since a few of the Hooligans were in a little bit later. The place had a decent crowd, but for the long term, they might want to think about a sign or something, a few people went by the door unsure if that was the place or not.

If you were listening very very carefully and randomly, that was me on ESPN Radio's "Gamenight" late last night. I caught them talking about UNCA Basketball and sent in an email that they liked.

Only in Asheville... the Asheville Cribbage Club meets on Monday evenings at Atlanta Bread Company on Sunday evenings.

Fringe Happens

Great venue, a lot of fun, two good audiences and another Asheville Fringe Arts Festival is in the bag.

The show went well, it was different from what I'm used to doing, and it's not my usual thing to stick to one character for a 20-minute show. The audience got into the interactive part of the show (more so on Friday). It's a pity that the LaZoom shows got cancelled and redistributed, but it looks like most people fit in BeBe. The people at BeBe were wonderfully accommodating.

"Fecal Matters" was not filmed, so if you missed it, you missed it! I saw a lot of people taking photos at the show (if anyone is reading this who took photos, it'd be nice to have a few).

Next up for the Chihuahuas is a long set of writing sessions for our upcoming summer season at 35 Below. We're going to hold some auditions in February for new writers and performers, so if you think you're funny and talented, we'd love to have you, or at least tape your audition so we can make fun of you.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Midweek bastardry and media onslaught.



Asheville Fringe Festival gets a mention in Mountain Xpress this week.

Asheville Citizen-Times plugs the festival, and mentions "Fecal Matters". Check the gallery on the page, we're number 1! The picture was from the first of our 35 Below shows last summer.

Damn you, Heath Ledger. I thought Australians could handle their drugs.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Come see the Feral Chihuahuas this weekend!

We are doing two shows for the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival. It's something a little different, the Feral Chihuahuas invite you to be in the audience for the taping of our hit sitcom "Fecal Matters", the story of four kooky scientists who run a monkey research laboratory.

The show is at BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce St and is part of "A Unique Fringe Show" that starts at 7:30pm Friday January 25 and Saturday January 26.

Tickets are $12 ($10 for students) and can be bought at the BeBe Box office - 828-254-2621.

A Unique Fringe Show:
"Pleasure Saucer"
"Last Dinner with Friends" (a film)
"Havanico"
"Shadows of Putin" (featuring Jim Julien and his puppetry)
"Fecal Matters"
"The Vehicle"

For more information on Asheville Fringe Arts Festival visit http://www.ashevillefringe.org

A pretty good cover band

I'd venture that they're even better than the Sharkadelics. Richard Thompson brought his show to the Orange Peel last night. I missed most of the first half thanks to a neverending Feral Chihuahuas rehersal. The second half of the show was pretty awesome, a few early jazz standards, some good falsetto singing on an Abba song "Money, Money, Money". What got me the most was him playing both the lead and bass parts on rock songs.
Near the end he played two songs close to the bastard - "Friday on my Mind" by the Easybeats (a band Joe Orton once suspected were brought to the UK for the Beatles sexual pleasure). The Easybeats were a real jumping-off point for Australian music in the 70s and 80s, Henry Vanda and George Young went on to produce a slew of great acts (one you may have heard of is George's two brothers Angus and Malcolm in a little group called AC/DC).
The other really odd inclusion was "Everyone's Got To Learn Sometime" by the Korgis. It was a hit in Australia in the early 80s, but I think mostly because K-Tel marketed the hell out of it. If you were an insomniac pre-teen you saw the ad for "Dumb Waiters" at least 20 times a night.
Good show...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Truth in Advertising - Australia

One great thing about Australia is the relaxed attitude towards language and social mores. On a highway next to a train station, this sign was on a big pole (I wonder why)

It is apparently a chain of sex stores in Melbourne. This particular one had closed already, sadly. I didn't get a picture of the shut sexyworld, didn't have my camera phone on me when I went by.

My favorite advertisement I saw in Melbourne was in the bathroom at the Clyde Hotel. I think it speaks for itself...

I'm back, and so are the Feral Chihuahuas

Had a great time in Australia, but now I'm back in Asheville and just got done with a rehearsal for the next Feral Chihuahuas show, a live TV taping of the sitcom "Fecal Matters". It's going to be a part of the Asheville Fringe Arts festival, and we're performing on January 25 and 26 in BeBe Theatre. I'll have more information here soon...

Come out and see us!