On Orchestras

So you see videos of those really awesome orchestras playing concerts and stuff, right, and all the people are in formal wear... What happens when they're just recording something for an album? Do they still dress up?

I think most of them don't. They're busy people like the rest of us, with kids to drop off at school and appointments to keep and then tonight the twins have soccer practice and the bake sale for the swim team is tomorrow, so they gotta make four dozen sugar cookies when they get home and the dog got into the roast that was defrosting, so what the hell are they going to do for dinner tonight? They're running around, trying to find a store that has pork chops on sale because being a world renown oboeist doesn't pay like it used to, man, so they do not have time to get all snazzed up just to sit in a little room and play for the sweaty sound recording guy behind the glass. No way, they just go in in their cats-wearing-snorkels pajamas. And they maybe only sometimes brush their teeth.

There's always that one guy who's gotta ruin it though, because he shows up in his twelve piece tux with his monocle firmly affixed and his top hat exactly centred on his head because it's too avante-garde to wear it slightly tilted to the left. And he's all 'dudes, you are not taking this seriously enough! It's bad enough the conductor started letting you wear business casual to rehearsals, but now we look trashy. Seriously, you guys suck.'

I bet they hate that guy.

A Mix and Fic Whoring

Have you ever been about to kick some zombie ass, then you turn on your portable music playing device and then your headphones are all 'have some Michelle Branch!' or 'wouldn't some Sufjan Stevens soothe you to sleep?' and you're like, NO DAMMIT, there's ass-kickery to be had!

Well now I will try to fix you!



( click for track listing and download link )

And this mix comes at a great time too, because it just so happens I posted a story about zombies today.

Title: The Waiting Job
Fandom: Leverage
Pairing: none specifically but hints of Nate/Sophie and Eliot/Hardison/Parker
Rating: 13+
Word Count: ~11,700
Warnings: some violence, some swearing.

Summary: They're out of food, and someone's going to have to go out to get more before they die. They have no choice at this point. Hopefully the zombies will see it that way and not give them a hard time.

If you're interested, you can read it by clicking here and looking intently in the direction of your computer monitor. <3