Where Pianos Roam

Early On a Sunday Morning

I've been doing a good bit of knitting lately.  Through the last month I've finished three long scarves and a hat.  The first two scarves were made for two friends of mine Joe and Ronnie.   I wanted their scarves to be both casual and a little formal.  Black and grey blocks seemed to do the trick. 

Here they are donning my creations .  .  .



Then, the next scarf was one I made for myself using Caron Simply Soft yarn in blue and beige.



I'm currently a fan of doing the big blocks and using softer yarn.  It all just feels better.



I doubled up the knitting to finish it faster and to make it thicker.  Then, I added some fringe, and VOILA!!! My new scarf!!!



The hat I finished continues on with the alternating-two-color theme I've been on.  It's a snazzy red and white number .  .  .



Up next, I start on a new hat for a friend of mine.  These are called Shroom hats .  .  .



It's gonna be purple!!  Wooohoo! So, that's that folks!  I've got a few more knitting projects coming up. With my artwork, I've got some doodles, abstract stuff, and more of the Piano Ninja.  More on this later.

Before I sign off, here's a quick doodle. A flower on a Tuesday in 2009.
 


Don't forget to smile.

-gordon

P.S.  Advance tickets are still available for my Exit/In show here in Nashville on March 21.  They can be purchased online by going here: https://tickets.aftonshows.com/GordonRoqu Or, you can email me at gordon(at)gordonroque(dot)com to work out paying in cash directly.  It's all good.

Buy a Pre-sale Ticket and Help an Asian!

On March 21, I perform at the Exit/In in Nashville, TN. I've just been informed that if I am able to sell 25 advance tickets over the next week, the show's promoters will pay for facebook AND myspace spotlight advertising. These ads will get 1000's of clicks and impressions and will get me a ton of exposure that I've never had before.

If you are able to attend this event, I am asking if you could purchase your tickets in advance AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!! They can be bought online or in cash directly through me. To sweeten the deal, the 25 people who purchase the first 25 tickets will get a free poster and a free copy of "Gordon Roque: Live In Nashville". This is a collection of never released live recordings from my shows at 3rd and Lindsley, Cafe Coco, and The Basement. Each cd will have my orginal, hand-drawn artwork featuring "The Piano Ninja".



The tickets cost only $10.  They will cover admission and get you the free poster and limited-edition recordings.

To purchase tickets online, please go here: https://tickets.aftonshows.com/GordonRoqu (Don't worry.

The missing "e" at the end of my last name on this site address is supposed to be missing. There will be an additional $1 fee for online processing.) To purchase tickets in cash, please send an e-mail to: gordon@gordonroque.com I really appreciate your support. Rehearsals have been ongoing, and I'm planning on putting on a fun and lively show!!!

Please, please, please help if you can!!! This presents a wonderful opportunity for me and my music and gets you all kinds of cool stuff!!!

Thank you very much!!

Early On a Sunday Morning

Oreo, Buttercup, and I got up early this morning for some coffee and quiet time.  I had some soothing, warm coffee out of my favorite coffee cup that I bought in Seattle last year.



O and B drank tea of some sort.  They were quiet and groggy and nibbled on my cream cheese breakfast.





It's been a fun weekend.  I did a lot of knitting on Saturday.  (I'll offer a full  report on this on my next post.).  I've also been working on a small ninja project. Here he is.  The first manifestation of The Piano Ninja!



He will be adorning the covers of a small collection of live Nashville recordings that I will be giving away as part of the promotion for my next show at the Exit/In.  Ever since I was a kid, I've loved ninjas.  They're so mysterious, graceful, and all-out AWESOME!!!

The promo poster actually has him outside of his fighting ninja drag and being all Zen at the piano.



I'll have more on this on-going project soon.  Speaking of my show at the Exit/In here in Nashville.  VERY aggressive promotion for it starts this week.  I'm gonna be doing the most promotion I've ever done for a show so far.  In fact, I even have advance tickets available. 

(Go here:  www.gordonroque.com) Here are a few other things I have in the works: A youtube promo video New promo photos New music to be unveiled at my Exit/In show A new Oreo and Buttercup episode A new issue of the WWoG More shows to be announced

Oh yes.  I'm a busy Asian, but I wouldn't have it any other way. What are you up to?

-gordo

P.S. I think O and B have indigestion.  Oops.

A Snow Angel, Sort of

Nashville was blanketed in snow over the past weekend.  I was cozy inside doing some knitting and music.  Meanwhile .  .  .

A certain little piano and her rowdy bench snuck out of the house. She made a snow angel, sort of.



Silly piano. Otherwise, Buttercup was not enjoying herself as much.  She was knee deep in the stuff.

 

They came back in begging for hot chocolate. :)

-gordo

 www.gordonroque.com

This Blog Is Changing, fo ' shizzle.

Once in a while, I like to revamp this blog.  I've decided to do so again, but this time it'll be in a different way.  From now on, in  addition to a focus on my music and pianos, I'll also be highlighting more of the visual art and art projects that I've been working on; therefore, the look and feel of the blog itself will be cleaner, less cluttered, and focused more on the image content and text in each post.

First off, there's a new header that's pretty minimalist overall. 

Secondly, I've created an entirely white background for the blog to keep things more simple for you, oh gorgeous blog reader/visitor. To give you a sneak peak at the future of WPR, here are some examples of stuff I'll be posting from now on. DOODLES .  .  . oh snap, an asian lovin' on a piano. (that's some good lovin')



a shattered tree.

 

there was a flower in her hair.
 


PHOTOGRAPHS .  .  .

Oreo and Buttercup being all ominous and shit.



Love.

 

Through the week, there will be changes to the sidebar menu and to all of the other pages.  If you have any thoughts and feedback to share please feel free to leave a comment.

-gordon PS-  If you hug Asians, they'll hug you back.  I promise.

Video of the Week: Empire State of Mind

I consider myself blessed that I've been to New York City numerous times. 

There really is no place like it in the whole entire world.  I remember being in complete awe of the scope and size of it all when I first went there as a teenager from a small island in the South Pacific.  Sure, I had lush green and majestic mountains all around me where I came from, but NYC really is its own magnificent wilderness.

Looking back, I've done a few things up there .  .  .

Sat on a bench in Central Park

Ate a hot dog from a street vendor

Got a ride in a NYC taxi cab (scary stuff.  They have no concept of lanes in Manhattan.)

Visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Visited the Guggenheim

Visited the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)

Stood right in front of Van Gogh's Starry Night

Ate dinner at a place called The Slaughtered Lamb (in Greenwich Village on West 4th)

GoGo Danced at a bar for a Punk band

Climbed all of the way up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty

Visited Ellis Island

Went all the way to the very top of the Empire State Building

Road a ferry boat from New Jersey to Manhattan (The view was absolutely STUNNING!)

Went shopping in Soho

Walked around Greenwich Village

Hung out in the library of NYU (I LOVE libraries.)

Listened to street musicians at Washington Square

Almost got a haircut in Chelsea

Bought a cd at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square (It's now closed I think.)

Stood in Times Square Stood on the street and waved to Carson Daly who was standing at the TRL window at MTV

Saw the Ringling Brothers Circus at Madison Square Garden

Went the the 1992 Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden (Go Clinton!)

Rode the subway (kinda creepy actually)

Stared up (with mouth open) at the World Trade Center from my taxi cab window as I passed by it

Oh yes.  I love New York City, and I do hope to go back someday.

I also love me some hip hop.  This week's Video of the Week is the music video of  Jay Z's recent number one hit "Empire State of Mind" featuring vocals and piano work by Alicia Keys. 

This song does a superb job of capturing the essence of NYC. 

There really is something special about this concrete jungle where dreams are made of .  .  . 

If you ever get the chance to visit NYC, just go.  It's pretty amazing.

-g

www.gordonroque.com

Early On a Sunday Morning

I've been fortunate to have the time and desire to watch movies lately.  It's really the only time I give myself to relax.  Between knitting, working on music, blogging, exercise, time with friends and family, and sleeping, my life is fairly busy these days. I wanted to take some time to share a little of what I've enjoyed lately .  .  .

District 9

I really loved this movie.   (I also need to add it to my favorites of 2009 list.)  On so many levels, this film is incredibly relevant to the ways that modern American society, and maybe humanity, exist today.  I sat at the edge of my seat the whole time.  I don't want to give anything away about it.  Surely, it is deserving of the Best Picture Oscar nomination it just received. 

Here is one of several trailers promoting this film.  It's pretty awesome.

The Brothers Bloom

Full of twists, turns, empty promises, and quirky surprises, I really enjoyed this one.  There's also a kick-ass Asian character who barely says a word but makes quite a splash through most of the movie.  Actors Rachel Weisz and Adrian Brody are past Oscar winners who give this film about con artists it's soul and essence.  Add some gorgeous cinematography to the mix and you have an effectively engaging film. 

Here's the official trailer:

By the way, last Friday I treated myself to a Toy Story marathon.  I've never seen either film, and I finally did. 

They were so good and so much fun.  I can't wait until #3 coming out in June 2010:

I have movies on the brain lately.  It's part of an effort to try to relax a little more.  I'll have more to recommend soon.

-g

Video of the Week: The Art Teacher

Recently, I had the pleasure of being introduced to a very wonderful song by Rufus Wainwright. (I know.  I know.  I should be shot for not even knowing of it in the first place.  Of any artist to have an extensive knowledge of, he would be the one.  He's a charismatic performer who is a talented pianist and who has an unmistakably unique and beautiful voice.  I only own two of his CD's.  Shame on me. 

The thing is I am very careful about not copying other artists, especially other piano players.  This is an easy thing to do, but I am not interested in being an Asian/male/whatever version of someone else.  Even with various influences, I want to just purely be myself.  The consequence is that I wind up missing out on some truly amazing work.  I need to rethink this somehow.)

I digress.

This song by Rufus Wainwright is called "The Art Teacher", and I absolutely LOVE it.  I am a sucker for an unrequited love song, and this piece is a lamentation over a connection long lost but still longed for.  It presents a very clear narrative from a female perspective.  This song is a rich and well-developed piece. Here is a live performance.  

I present to you, "The Art Teacher" .  .  .

Here are the lyrics:

The Art Teacher Lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

There I was in uniform
Looking at the art teacher
I was just a girl then;
Never have I loved since then

He was not that much older than I was
He had taken our class to the Metropolitan Museum
He asked us what our favorite work of art was,
But never could I tell him it was him
Oh, I wish I could tell him --
Oh, I wish I could have told him

I looked at the Rubens and Rembrandts
I liked the John Singer Sargents
He told me he liked Turner
And never have I turned since then
No, never have I turned to any other man

All this having been said,
I married an executive company head
All this having been done, a Turner - I own one
Here I am in this uniformish, pant-suit sort of thing,
Thinking of the art teacher
I was just a girl then;
Never have I loved since then
No, never have I loved any other man

I really love the line "Here I am in this uniformish, pant-suit sort of thing".  It's quirky and ingenious.  You can find this song on Rufus' album "Want Two".

I own Want One, but I never got around to getting this lovely sequel.  Geez.  Gotta work on that. I also think I'm gonna add him to my list of performers I want to see live.  Looks like he puts on a great show. I'm grateful for my introduction to this song.  It was a blessing all around.

-g

www.gordonroque.com