National Dance Day, with sausages

Blog, yesterday was the first annual National Dance Day (sponsored by the folks at "So You Think You Can Dance').  By sheer coincidence I got to observe it in perfect fashion, with the dancers you see to the right, along with 1,800 others!

First, some back story on National Dance Day.  SYTYCD choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon Domo created a nice hip-hop routine and put it on YouTube.  People all over the world were encouraged to learn it, and dance it on July 31.  Or, in lieu of that, simply find your own unique way to celebrate dance.

I haven't gotten a full report on the success of the project yet, but here you can see Tabitha and Napoleon with faculty members of Coastal Dance Rage, joined by choreographers/SYTYCD judges Mia Michaels and Adam Shankman, leading a crowd yesterday at Los Angeles's Music Center in Downtown. Nice!

Awesome!  But back to how I got to celebrate the day, Blog.

It so happens that yesterday at beautiful Regner Park in the bustling berg of West Bend, Wisconsin (population 28,152), an attempt was made at breaking the world record for largest Thriller dance.  Davie and I were on hand to see the band that opened for the event (the awesome Dead Rock Stars).  We were so lucky to happen to be there for the thrilling Thriller event!

So, over 1,800 people turned out, young and old, many in costume, and did a bangup job on the dance.  And the gang broke the U.S. world record!  Sweet!  What a sight to see, Blog...all those people rocking out, cameras filming from atop a cherry picker, the maniacal laughter of Vincent Price drifting up into the trees...oh, and the five members of the famous Klement's Racing Sausages were there channeling Michael Jackson too!

Here's a video I took from the back of the crowd, catching the Sausages in rehearsal along with everyone else.

Oh, and if you're wondering how close it came to a WORLD record, not close.  That would be the 13,000 people in Mexico City in August 2009, shown here.  Yikes, that many would NOT have fit into the whole of West Bend!

So, did I do any dancing myself?  I'm happy to say I did.  Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a show by Milwaukee's inimitable Pat McCurdy, and joined in on the Sex and Beer Dance.  A classic.  "Sex and beer / sex and beer / are the two things we hold dear!"

In closing, I just have to share my favorite ever dance video, and if you are not among the 30 million views it has received, or simply need to enjoy it again for a belated National Dance Day observance, please watch.  It's "Where the Hell is Matt," in which (over the course of 14 months, Matt danced with a cast of thousands in 42 countries.

Best ever, Blog.  Happy dancing, everyone!

Words we make up

Blog, as you know from hanging around Davie and me, we tend to make up words for stuff. This is semi-analogous to our tendency to name inanimate objects. I have no idea why we can’t be like other people and call a cookie jar a cookie jar, and Professor Snowcaps (our cookie jar) has no idea either.

But over our years together, there are some made-up terms Davie and I use that we take so for granted we don’t even notice what we’re doing anymore. I think the best example of this is “Stan.” When we first lived together, one of our first joint purchases was a bedspread. We named him Stan. I think we named him Stan simply because it’s such an absurd name for a bedspread. (Yeah, that begs the question “What ISN’T an absurd name for a bedspread?” I dunno, “Fluffy”?)

We eventually replaced Stan with another bedspread. About that time, Stan transmogrified into the generic term for “bedspread.” So, for over a decade we have stopped using the word bedspread. We say “Selke just vommed on Stan, oh crap!” We walk through Penneys at the mall and say, “Ooh, that’s a pretty Stan!” I’m seriously not making this up.

In our household we also no longer use the word “loin” when referring to the cut of meat. This I can explain. My handwriting is as inscrutable as Sanskrit, and each week Davie must try to read it on the grocery list that I make out for him. He always checks ahead of time to make sure he can discern all the words. One week he said, “What’s a pork lash?” It was, of course, a pork loin. But ever since, it’s pork lash or barbequed pork lash or beef lash.

I can easily see myself messing up at the butcher shop and asking, “Excuse me, do you have any pork lashes?” To which the butcher would have to say, “Possibly in the sausages, but we try to be careful to avoid that.”

Of course there’s also the case of the slight mispronunciation. Even before I met Davie, I called my antique cedar chest “the cheddar chest.” I know I’ve accidentally called it that to other people. I’m sure they’ve wondered if in fact it’s full of cheese rather than sweaters.

Occasionally we manage to coin a term that actually makes sense and ought to become a part of real English vocabulary. I have a Tupperware cake plate with a snap-on lid that Davie dubbed a “cake shelter.” Isn’t that spot on? Especially if you have cats?

In one instance, we’ve used the same made-up term for two completely disparate meanings. In the Dave and Diana Dictionary, if you look up the word “whipper,” you’ll read this:

1. A sandwich featuring deli-sliced meat on a bun, typically also with cheese and sautéed onions. e.g. “Friday night we’re planning to have beef whippers.”

2. A camisole. e.g., “I see you’re wearing a whipper.”

Don’t ask me...it just happened, Blog. I know, I know, that’s so often my excuse.

Well, you get the drift. I have to believe there are other people out there who have made up really good words, and I hope they will tell us in the comments. Who knows, we may start to use your words! Just like now I’m sure YOU will all call your bedspreads Stan.