In December, The Bushwick Book Club did a show of music based on “How Music Works” by David Byrne. I was honored to be there, because I like the book a lot. I respect and admire Byrne, whom I consider to be a sort of Professor of Rock, so much that at the Bushwick show, I attempted to affect a somewhat professorial attire with mixed results.
Whenever I’m asked to join a book club, I can’t say no. It’s not a politeness handicap, it’s a preference. I love book clubs. Want to come and talk about books? Yes, please! I’ve always identified as a reader, ever since my tiny clumsy fingers opened The Berenstain Bears. And now I’m a member of six different book clubs.
To be fair, two of those book clubs are not currently meeting. One is just a downloadable Word file of all the books Rory Gilmore mentioned reading in seven seasons of Gilmore Girls, and yet another is just me finding out what my 12 year-old niece is reading so I can read it too (I call it the secret bonding book club.) Read more
Last April at Town Hall Seattle, Bushwick undertook our most ambitious show to date when we presented original music inspired by the most popular book of all time… The Bible. This show had everything… a full gospel choir, a live jazz band, amazing music inspired by the Old Testament, prayers, sing alongs, blasphemy, the ten commandments polka… and also special appearances by Jesus, God, and the Devil himself (Gasp!). Read more
Most people remember at least a few stories from those early years of reading that stick out as something special. The pool of childhood storytellers is wide and deep, from Maurice Sendak to Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl to Madeleine L’Engle, J.K. Rowling to Mark Twain, and more and more and more. What are the first three books that influenced your distinct perspective?
Today, Bushwick reader and performer, Debbie Miller, shares her memories of the first books on her shelf. Debbie is a clever singer-songwriter originally from Long Island, and has written and performed 5-star hits at Bushwick Book Club shows inspired by books such as Alice in Wonderland, 1984, A People’s History of the United States, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Read more
In honor of our upcoming partnership event this Thursday with Book-It Repertory Theatre where we will be presenting original music inspired by Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone, here are ten of our favorite inspirational quotes from the book.
September 13th is the birthdate of the WWII British fighter pilot-turned-beloved-children’s-author Roald Dahl. The author of some of the world’s most popular children’s novels (such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) bid farewell to his readers in 1990, but his imagination is still awake in his fanciful and bizarre stories. It seems everybody knows Dahl… or at least knows about him.
Until this month, I’d never read a word of a Dahl book. I saw Gene Wilder’s crazy eyes in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory before I started Kindergarten. I remember turning the dial on the T.V. to change the channel back and forth because Wilder’s Wonka and his minions were creeping me out big time, but I wanted to know what horrible end Charlie might meet. I watched James and the Giant Peach in elementary school and thought the animation style was new and neat. Jump to college in 2005, and my teen dream Johnny Depp was starring in Tim Burton’s take on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so of course I attended the midnight showing at the theater. Freddy Highman’s Charlie was sincere, and Depp’s Wonka seemed weirdly adolescent. Then, post-college, the delightful Wes Anderson stop-motion adaptation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox made its way into my canon of film favorites. Read more
My awesome Mom, Sue Garvin, recently installed a new book-based feature in her backyard and I asked her to write about it in the hopes that some Bushwick members would be inspired to build their own.
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish born man from a poor family who immigrated to America with his parents in 1848. He became one of the richest men of his time through investments in the steel industry, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. In 1889, he wrote “The Gospel of Wealth” wherein he urged the wealthy to use their money to improve society. He took on many philanthropic projects, but the one still thriving today is his establishment of public libraries. All in all, he funded 2,510 libraries in 47 states, and countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Forty-Three Carnegie libraries were built in Washington State alone. Thirty-two of these buildings still stand and 14 are libraries to this day. Locally, you can find Carnegie libraries are in Columbia City, Fremont, Green Lake, Queen Anne, First Hill and West Seattle. Read more
Calling all Bushwick Readers: now is the time to stock your bookshelves with some of the books we plan on reading during the upcoming months.
Ready… Set… READ! Read more
Previously on the Bushwick blog, Kerry dazzled us with Part I of her V.I.P. New Kids on the Block concert experience. There she described the pre-concert activities including detailed descriptions of the hugging style of each New Kid. Now, in Part II, the show is about to start.
Boyz II Men descend the stage (photo by Morgen Schuler)
Two video screens came alive and reviewed all of Boyz II Men’s credentials. A laundry list of mega hits and awards flashed across the screens reminding us how huge these guys once were. Judging from the screams emanating from the crowed, no one had forgotten a single bullet point on their neatly harmonized resume. When the video stopped, the stage lights came up and Boyz II Men magically appeared at the back of the stage. The screams from the crowd were nonstop as they started singing “On Bended Knee” with velvety smoothness. As they sang, they slowly moved down the path to the intimate main stage right in front of us. Their journey from back stage to front felt like it took hours because I was holding my breath in anticipation of seeing them up close. When they arrived right in front of me and started singing “Water Runs Dry,” I may have teared up a bit. Read more
It’s a busy week with an assortment of events that will satisfy all interests, no matter what they might be! (Well, maybe not if your interests involve ASMR videos on YouTube, but you can do that at home!) You’ve probably heard that Bumbershoot is this weekend, but you might not know that some of our very own Bushwick performers are part of the lineup. Read more
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