I AM AWARE THAT TIME IS PASSING, and merely a week remains before the JOHN RODERICK SINGING AND TALKING CONCERT at the Montague Bookmill.

I HAVE MEANWHILE LEARNED the happy news that prior to Roderick, David Rees, the famous cartoonist and craftsman, will be giving a rare, live ARTISANAL PENCIL SHARPENING DEMONSTRATION.

LET ME TELL YOU, you do not want to miss this demonstration of this TIMELESS AMERICAN HANDI-ART, especially when it is given in a beautiful old gristmill by a little river.

I HAVE ALSO BEEN REMINDED that 8/20 is also the MONTAGUE OLD HOME DAYS, where the people of Montague gather on the Town Green, steps from the Bookmill, and eat hot dogs and play games. So come up and make a day of it. JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT FROM MONTAGUE DOES NOT MEAN YOU CANNOT ATTEND, as all stoning of outsiders has been suspended.

THE WHOLE DAY WILL BE A POSTCARD that you send to yourself. And when it arrives, inevitably, in 17 months, you will be glad you attended. Don’t write in the space for the stamp!

BUT: don’t ask me what time the concert starts. I’m not sure. I guess around 8PM. I WILL LET YOU KNOW.

BUT ALL OF THESE DETAILS REMAIN IN PLACE

FRIDAY, 8/20, in the evening, following Montague Old Home Days,

JOHN RODERICK will sing and talk and play guitar

PRECEDED by an Artisanal Pencil Sharpening demonstration by DAVID REES

AND INTRODUCED BY ME, John Hodgman

AT THE MONTAGUE BOOKMILL, which is found at 440 Greenfield Road, in Montague Center, Massachusetts.

AT THE NECESSARY PRICE OF 10 dollars.

FOOD AND DRINK AVAILABLE ON SITE.

That is all.

I REGRET MY INTERNET SILENCE. As you know, I am passing these humid months in the small Massachusetts town known as INTERNETLESS HILLS, only occasionally descending down from the mountains to buy coffee and steal broadband and news of the world.

ONE EXAMPLE OF SUCH NEWS: while listening to the local radio station, I heard a woman describe a forthcoming local stage show thusly: “It is an exploration of the cultural extinction of New Orleans, as told by a person who is half man, half wolf.”

(!!!!!)

I ONLY WISH I could offer you such a show.

AS IT HAPPENS, I CAN OFFER only this:

JOHN RODERICK, of Seattle’s own “The Long Winters“, who is NOT half wolf, but merely Alaskan, which is to say : ONE QUARTER CAVE TROLL…

SINGING GOOD SONGS written by his own hands…

ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 20th, sometime in the evening…

AT THE MONTAGUE BOOKMILL, a creaky former gristmill that has been transformed into a creaky used bookstore/cafe/comfy-armchair-storage-facility, and a very fine place to write books of fake trivia.

PLUS THERE WILL BE OTHER SURPRISES THAT I WILL REVEAL LATER.

AND THERE WILL BE A SMALL CHARGE of 10 dollars, in order to cover the cost of transporting a quasi-cave troll from Seattle.

I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THIS NECESSITY, and are not dissuaded.

FOR WHILE THE FAMOUS MOTTO OF THIS BOOKMILL is “Books You Don’t Need in a Place You Can’t Find,” it is in fact EASY TO FIND if you live in New England and have the Internet.

AND I PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOU TO FIND IT, for this will be a very enjoyable evening, much like the hot time we all spent together with Jonathan Coulton some years ago, when it was so humid and awesome that apparently cameras could not even focus properly.

DID YOU FORGET WHAT I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT? If so, here is John Roderick again. I hope I will see you there…

THAT IS ALL.

I NEGLECTED TO POST THIS PHOTO from a good dinner on a warm night some weeks ago.

FROM THE TABLETOP OF THE BACK ROOM AT THE EAR INN, Aimee Mann doodles COULTON:

UNSEEN IN BACKGROUND: John Roderick going ON AND ON about what defines a “Chili Burger.”

IF YOU HAVE DEFINITIONS OF “CHILI BURGER” that may differ from his (“MORE CHILI THAN BURGER”), you may post them in the comments.

BUT PLEASE KNOW: I realize I have been negligent in making sure the comments contain as few ads for luggage and perfume as possible.

I WILL DO BETTER AT THIS: eliminating spam and making sure your LEGITIMATE COMMENTS, even those on the subject of luggage, get due respect FROM NOW ON.

That is all.

I HAD NOT QUITE REALIZED just how carefully arranged was our final sing-along at the WITS show on Friday in St. Paul for to tempt the roving eye of the good people of bOING bOING,

BUT bOING bOING SAW RIGHT THROUGH OUR SCHEME this morning.

QUOTH MAGGIE KOERTH-BAKER, “All we need is for a unicorn to walk out on stage wearing some steampunk headgear and I’m pretty sure this video would have the BoingBoing demographic in the bag, man.”

WITNESS, and perhaps even SING ALONG

ALTOGETHER, the WITS show was a true joy, and I am terribly grateful to JOHNS MOE and MUNSON, plus my favorite backup feral mountain man JOHN RODERICK, plus the ever delightful and spooky NEIL “JOHN” GAIMAN, the surprising DAMIAN KULASH, and those singing ASCOTS for including me in the show. You can listen to the whole show HERE, or listen to it on the radio on AUGUST 1.*

AND I AGREE WITH MS. KOERTH-BAKER: Roderick has a truly soaring voice, and you should enjoy this video for NOT MOVING TO PORTLAND that she pointed out, which dates back to January, a time when Roderick was still missing a tooth, and I apparently was not using the internet.

FINALLY, A NOTE TO TRAVELERS: while St. Paul is truly a remarkable simulation of an American city, and a lovely place to visit, as I noted on Twitter, if you are playing ukulele and/or professional singers are singing quiet country songs in beautiful two part harmony after midnight in your hotel room, the hotel WILL call security on you. REPEATEDLY.

*THE REASON IT TAKES LONGER FOR RADIO is that it takes the radio engineers a long time to scrub away the DISGUSTING VIDEO from the BEAUTIFUL, UNSULLIED SOUND.

EVERY DAMN LINK IN THIS IMITATION BLOG POST COMES COURTESY: bOING bOING, as usual.

That is all.

IMITATION BLOGGING WILL BE BRIEF and even more ersatz than usual for a few days, as I am in Philadelphia filming a small part in a talkie.

MEANWHILE, JOHN RODERICK discusses his process. What a smart and gracious sasquatch is he!

That is all.