Circus Acts

Gearing up for tour- mostly house concerts/art/DIY spaces this time around. I'm seeing what the experience will be like- I like the prospect of more personal shows and actually getting to know people in new towns. This Fall tour covers Midwest and East Coast- the dates are constantly being updated, if you see a gap and want to open up your living room for a show with your friends, let me know! Here's the schedule: http://www.myspace.com/pezzettino and my email is pezzettinomail @ gmail.com. Word up. And also check out the tour sponsors, and their requested cover song videos on YouTube if you haven't yet- it's been a fun project, still evolving.. http://www.youtube.com/pezzettinomusic Still more to come, there are at least 5 in the wings at the moment! Thanks for the overwhelming support, guys!



TEA POWDER > GUN POWDER
I love this stuff!! The green tea powder that you pour in your glass or (hopefully) non-plastic water bottle!! I can't even tell you how psyched I am that Rishi is a new sponsor for the tour, and will be providing tea powder for the road. This will help keep me from turning into a zombie, and for that, I'm grateful. Halloween is only one day in the Fall season, afterall..

Just played WMSE Summer Camp Music Festival and Forward Fest Music Festival- both were a blast and deserve their own posts with pictures, etc., which I will post. I konw some kids had video cameras, so I'm hoping to put together a post for each that brings all the media together..

Speaking of media, I'm getting all techie -- seems not that long ago, I expected my computer to record my voice without instaling a microphone... within the next month I'll be working with the BarCamp crew to live broadcast concerts across the country, and in November, across the ocean to the National Museum of Media in England! Holy cow! So yeah, lots on the plate...

On a personal note, I graduate (hopefully) my masters program within the next month and will (hopefully) be a licensed acupuncturist. Hiyah! I can't fathom what life will be like without trying to juggle school, music, and work. I THINK this means I'll only be juggling two balls.. we'll see. Life's funny.

Donations are accepted and appreciated to help with tour support. To make a song/video request, message me at pezzettinomail @ gmail or on Twitter @pezzettino.

Be well, and see you soon!

Margaret

Kohler me pink

Sheboygan, WI with Cedarwell and Chris Koza

Mbua Ndoki (Sorcerer Dog), 2004/2009, mixed-media installation

I was not-so-secretly pleased that last night's show was moved indoors due to rain. As cool as the lunar, unfolding, studio-turned-performance stage sounds, it gave me an excuse to spend more time in the Kohler Arts Center galleries.

I especially loved the room with Lesley Dill installations- she is an artist I intend to learn more about. You can't see very well, but the sculpture up front in the picture is of a man upside down, sitting in a chair, with strings of metallic words flowing down, and one of the strands says:

"I lose myself to my senses."

LOVE IT.

ANYWAY_--- MUSICALLY SPEAKING--- it was great to see and hear the Cedarwell and Chris Koza guys again. Last time I saw Cedarwell, they did an experimental set in an art space with circuit bending and a blanket fort for everyone to sit underneath for the show. This time around, Jared the drummer stood with a marching band drum, and a set to his side, with Eric on electric guitar. The harmonies were fantastically soothing. Very nice.


Our first show at Miramar, we played with Chris Koza. So it's sort of funny (for me) to be playing with Chris again on the same week that we're playing the Miramar for the second time. The first time I saw him play, he had the full band with him, and that was also the first time I brought cupcakes into the Pezzettino public world. So much time has passed. So it was good to see them, and I was glad they weren't hit by the Minneapolis tornado. The Kohler set was him and Peter. The pared-down instrumentals lent themselves well to songs like "Adjust." I'm looking forward to see how the new material is translated to recording.

Great time in Sheboygan, as usual. Kate, Elle, Lea- good to see everyone again. Good hearts, minds. Until we meet again xoxo M

PUSH

today was the last day of the tour support fundraiser.

who would have thought we'd end up with personal youtube videos and covers of gangsta rap and screamo?? :0)

(btw- from here on you can call me P-E-double-Z)

the 2 upcoming covers are the most challenging yet because they require that i totally write my own melody to the lyrics. if i were to enter a songwriting workshop, i imagine that it would feel sorta like this... it's good to be pushed outside of the comfort zone. no promises :0)

thank you for pushing me and helping me grow. i hope that you find entertainment and/or value in the products along the way :0)

ALSO thanks for people who requested pezz songs, because that lets me know that you might like at least parts of a song :0) it was also great practice to pull out some of those oldies...

and some SUPER oldies-- hadn't played moonlight sonata EVER- finally an excuse to learn it (phew!)

i'm trying to think of a *favorite* video from this project. and i can't really come up with one. i just think it's cool how the videos evolved over the course of time. and how the only videos that were made were ones that specific individuals wanted to see.

until our next adventure,

m

Spooning and Thank You Cakes

As many of you probably know, I express affection through food.

This crutch began in high school, when I first went gaga for a guy and heard that the key to a man's heart is through his stomach. EUREKA! The communication bridge between Venus and Mars- how easy! I'd much rather bake cookies than embarrass myself by being more direct. Let the baking begin!

Several years, batches of cookies/brownies/breads/cakes and countless ding-dong-ditches later, I'm beginning to think that perhaps this behavior is juvenile and I should finally finesse the art of the handwritten note. Or just simply start blurting out : "Thank you very much" or even "I like you."

But words are so two dimensional. (If I expressed myself well using just words, I wouldn't be in music, would I?)

So back to baking.

If I ever start a food blog, I think I will call it "Spooning."

**In the END... after having just spent a good 3-4 hours baking 12 cupcakes, I realize that it's the effort and love invested in food as gift that grants the baking manifesto merit. Baking is a way of extracting your affection in a form that is physically received and internalized. You can't physically internalize a handwritten note... Unless you eat paper...

Anyway, here's the final recipe from today's "thank you" manifesto:

Chocolate Cupcakes with Hazelnut Cream Frosting and Blueberry Filling

Cupcakes:

1/2 c boiling water

6 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c buttermilk

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 T coffee

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened

10 T dark brown sugar

6 T granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 c all-purpose flour

1/2 + 1/8 t baking soda

1/4 t salt


In a bowl, whisk the boiling water into cocoa until smooth and whisk in milk, vanilla, and coffee. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes, and beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Into another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to egg mixture in batches alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and beating well after each addition. Fill each wrapper slightly more than 1/2 way. They will rise a lot. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Filling:

3 cups fresh blueberries or frozen, thawed (13 to 14 ounces), divided

2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

Pinch of salt

For Filling:
Combine 11/2 cups blueberries and all remaining ingredients in medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to simmer, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until berries are very soft and liquid is syrupy, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat; add remaining blueberries. Using back of spoon, gently press fresh blueberries against side of pan until lightly crushed. Let cool in refrigerator until jelly consistency.

Frosting:

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoons granulated sugar

2/3 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella)

1/4 cup whipping cream

Beat together cream cheese and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in chocolate-hazelnut spread and the whipping cream.

Assembly:

(from Baking Bites blog)

Insert the knife into a cooled cupcake at an angle, halfway between the center and the outside edge.

The exact angle isn’t crucial, but it should be around 45 deg., and the knife should go into the cake about 1″. The idea here is to cut out a circular cone of cake.

Once you have your cone of cake, remove it and slice off the pointy end of the cone, leaving just the circular base (which was the very top of the cupcake). The filling will be put in the hole once filled by the cake cone, and the circular piece will be used as a plug to seal the filling in.

Filling should be added using a pastry bag or (my favorite) a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. There is no need to use a pastry tip to fill the cupcakes; a medium-sized opening in either type of bag will make filling the cakes a breeze.

Once the filling is in place, just pop the flat circle of cake back into place and continue to frost as you would with any other cupcake.

Don't Hate the Playa, Hate the Game

In our beloved first media controversy, there were spiteful, snarky personal attacks, to which I reply:

"Don't hate the playa, hate the game."

For those of you who identify, I offer you this quote that my friend Allen sent to me:

"The road to success is zealously guarded by people with a vested interested in maintaining the status quo."

I also suggest singing this song:

:0) There ya have it.

Thanks in particular to Allen, Phil, and Allie for keeping me focused and positive.

I will be covering "Bitches Ain't Shit" to help the haters express their anger towards me/the world at large.

This episode made me stronger, and I couldn't have done it without you.

XOXO

Margaret

Video Request Bonanza!

The video request idea really took off! I'm really happy to be interacting with people in this new way, I sort of feel like we're passing notes in class...

Here are some of the latest:

Video Requests!

Request your personalized Pezz video on YouTube to help raise funds for tour support!

Thank you to everyone who is participating, we are 76% complete for the goal :0) YAY!

Here are the videos from today: