Bethlehem, PA is a nice town

Yesterday, Sxip, Adam, and I did a storytelling presentation at LeHigh University. It was great fun. Sxip’s an amazing storyteller. He’s into magic realism. Adam gave a history of beatbox/vocal percussion, explaining the difference between the two. I described my story writing process and gave examples of my work. It was a great group. A fellow named Mason cooked for everyone and it was very relaxed. Deborah, the sweet woman who booked us, took us to lunch at the faculty lounge. We were going to eat in the “Hogwarts” cafeteria but it was being used.

denied. I thought about that scene from Fletch.

We went to the other cafeteria and had a nice lunch with Dave, the fellow who takes care of things, and Deborah. It’s been a while since I’ve had wedding-style buffet. Good spread and good people.

Sxip and Adam

After lunch we did a masterclass for the composition department. I was a bit intimidated at first but that went away as soon as I began. I demonstrated ways of changing sounds on a grand piano, specifically making a tinny sound to mimic a ragtime piano. And then I demonstrated some songwriting methods I use.

After each of us did our presentations, we improved together. It was a lot of fun. I rarely do that anymore.

Deborah had invited us to dinner at her house, so until then Adam and I got beers at the hotel bar. He’s a brilliant fellow. He acquired a residency at Cornell through Craigslist. He beatboxes 24/7.

Deborah and her staff made us dinner and provided exotic liquors, including Unicum. Sxip loves liquor and dinner so he was in heaven. I was too but mostly because they were great, great people. Good dinner, good drinks, good folks.

On Saturday night we played to about 200 people sitting at tables on the stage of the Zoellner Arts Center’s Baker Hall. The ages ranged from 8 to 88. They loved it. They had martini glasses filled with m&m’s; wine, cheese, beer at the bar. We each did 2o-minute sets. Adam played his bike wheel that was wrapped with cassette tape and attached to a tape recorder. Sxip played his music box among other things. It was a fantastic time.

Deborah bought us dinner at the Bethlehem Hotel. Good times. I’d love to play there again.