STOMP

Last night my mom and I went out to dinner in Seattle with some friends, and then headed over to the Paramount to see STOMP. I really enjoy show titles that employ some exciting grammatical or punctuational quirk, so STOMP, with its lovely capslock typeface, scored big points before it even started.

I've seen the show twice before, and let me just say that I find very few things in this world more entertaining than watching six people use push brooms in a percussive manner. Seriously, these guys play everything: newspapers, plastic bags, paper cups with straws, basketballs, garbage cans, garbage can lids, steel sinks, tin cans, wooden poles, match boxes, giant inner tubes, metal cups full of water, plastic buckets, rubber tubing, ribbed plastic pipes, Snapple lids, pots and pans, even their own bodies. I heard them play in the KUOW studio on NPR last week and they were using coffee cups and lampshades. If you've never seen them (or if you're like me and could watch them for all of eternity without getting up to use the bathroom), check them out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu15Ou-jKM0.

Naturally, after watching these people turn themselves and common household items into musical instruments, my mom and I became determined to create a percussion group of our very own. This morning as I was doing the crossword I started tapping my pen on the newspaper and my mom chimed it by banging two apples together and sliding her foot in and out of her shoe. A little while ago I jammed to the melodious sound of scissors cutting plastic while my mom rattled a wine cork between her teeth. I have to admit that I was vaguely disappointed in the silence at work today (more than usual), having fallen asleep last night dreaming of the entire office breaking out in percussive hysteria--typing rhythmically on the keyboards and hanging up phones at perfectly timed intervals.

For your viewing pleasure I have included this link to a wee video of what happens when my mom and I are left unsupervised in the kitchen. I have titled the video "Gibby and I Get Our STOMP On." See if you can guess my favorite part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnqF4T23lpk

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I have a soul. The video is no longer accessible because my mom didn't like what she was wearing. Perhaps we'll do a revival tour in the near future--one that is mother-approved.

I thought you, my two loyal readers, might enjoy this exchange that took place after I'd put the aforementioned video onto my computer:

Me (walking into the kitchen beaming): So the bad news...is that there was an error every time I tried to post the video to my blog.

Mom: Then why are you smiling?

Me: Because the good news is that there was no error when I uploaded it to YouTube.

Mom: OH MY GOD, OLIVIA. I WOULD NEVER HAVE SAID YES TO THAT!

Me: Then it's a good thing I didn't ask you.

I am every mother's worst nightmare. 

(But look out, STOMP. We're comin' for ya.)