One of my current favorite songs to spin to is "Human" by The Killers. Other than the fun mellow techno vibe of the music, there are a few reasons I like it. Well, The Killers are from Las Vegas, so that's cool. And, I'm convinced, the lyrics are about sign twirling!
This is the chorus:
Are we human, or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I'm on knees, looking for the answer
Are we human, or are we dancer?
Obviously your sign is vital if you're a human directional. And yes, in chilly weather your hands will get cold. Gloves can make it difficult to hold on to the sign, unless you get some of those Madonna fingerless gloves (but lace is hardly warming anyway!).
The song ponders the classic human conundrum "What is our purpose?" in terms of sign twirlers. On one hand we are Human Directionals, that is, we are to point the way as a sign, that were it not human, would be prohibited from the public walkway. On the other, we are entertainers. We are sign dancers trying to attract attention. Sign twirlers constantly struggle to find a middle ground between these clashing ideologies.
The Killers' new song is a musical exploration of this struggle!
However, according to their website, the lyrics were supposedly inspired by a disparaging comment made by Hunter S. Thompson about how America was raising a generation of dancers. Obviously, though, there is more to it.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Watching the Friendly Skies
A few weeks ago, nearby Nellis Air Force Base had an air show. I was working while the Thunderbirds did their demonstration through the air. But I got to see them flying around a little bit from my corner. It was pretty cool. Since then I've been paying more attention to the skies while I'm at work. Being in the very North of the Las Vegas valley, and only 6 miles from Nellis, any planes above me most likely come from the AFB. The Las Vegas airport is way to the South and I think the commercial flight paths are not allowed over the Northern valley (thanks fancy homeowners!). The North Las Vegas airport (one of the most dangerous in the country) is not far (about 8 miles) but those planes also don't come this far North. There are mountains very close to the North, and more mountains just East of Nellis, so maybe that also discourages air traffic. Anyway...
I don't know what those military planes are doing, but it sure looks interesting. I see planes criss-crossing and all sorts of weird patterns of vapor trails. Sometimes I'll hear a plane (over the music from my earphones) but there will be nothing in sight. So it's a fun distraction, watching the skies.
I don't know what those military planes are doing, but it sure looks interesting. I see planes criss-crossing and all sorts of weird patterns of vapor trails. Sometimes I'll hear a plane (over the music from my earphones) but there will be nothing in sight. So it's a fun distraction, watching the skies.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
This is why I don't usually listen to the country station
I was flipping through the preset channels on my little radio, and I came to Coyote Country 104.3 (which I rarely actually leave it on). The DJ was just introducing the next song “Brad Paisley and Letter To Me.” I knew this would be trouble but I couldn’t bring myself to push the little preset button and move on… Sure enough, by the first time the chorus came around my eyes were welling up and by the end I was standing there twirling my sign with wet cheeks. It was close to break time so I “took five” at that point. Here are the lyrics…
If I could write a letter to me
And send it back in time to myself at seventeen
First I'd prove it's me by sayin'
Look under your bed, there's a Skoal can and a Playboy
No one else would know you hid
And then I'd say I know it's tough
When you break up after 7 months
And yeah I know you really liked her
And it just don't seem fair
But all I can say is pain like that is fast and it's rare
And oh you got so much goin' for you
Goin' right
But I know at 17
It's hard to see past Friday night
She wasn't right for you
And still you feel like there's
A knife stickin' out of your back
And you're wonderin' if you'll survive
But you'll make it through this and you'll see
You're still around to write this letter to me
At the stop sign at Tomlinson and 8th
Always stop completely, don't just tap your brakes
And when you get a date with Bridgette
Make sure the tank is full
On second thought forget it, that one turns out kinda cool.
Each and every time you have a fight
Just assume you're wrong and daddy's right.
And you should really thank Miss Brinkman
She spent so much extra time
It's like she sees the diamond underneath
And she's polishin' you 'til you shine.
And oh you got so much goin' for you
Goin' right
But I know at 17
It's hard to see past Friday night
Tonight's the bonfire rally
But you're staying home instead
Because if you fail algebra
Mom and dad'll kill you dead
Trust me you'll squeak by and get a C
And you're still around to write this letter to me
You got so much up ahead
You'll make new friends
You should see your kids and wife
And I'd end by sayin' have no fear
These are nowhere near
The best years of your life
I guess I'll see you in the mirror
When you're a grown man
P.s. go hug aunt Rita every chance you can
And oh you got so much goin' for you
Goin' right
But I know at 17
It's hard to see past Friday night
I wish you'd study Spanish
I wish you'd take a typing class
I wish you wouldn't worry let it be
I'd say have a little faith and you'll see
If I could write a letter to me
To me...
If I could write a letter to me
And send it back in time to myself at seventeen
First I'd prove it's me by sayin'
Look under your bed, there's a Skoal can and a Playboy
No one else would know you hid
And then I'd say I know it's tough
When you break up after 7 months
And yeah I know you really liked her
And it just don't seem fair
But all I can say is pain like that is fast and it's rare
And oh you got so much goin' for you
Goin' right
But I know at 17
It's hard to see past Friday night
She wasn't right for you
And still you feel like there's
A knife stickin' out of your back
And you're wonderin' if you'll survive
But you'll make it through this and you'll see
You're still around to write this letter to me
At the stop sign at Tomlinson and 8th
Always stop completely, don't just tap your brakes
And when you get a date with Bridgette
Make sure the tank is full
On second thought forget it, that one turns out kinda cool.
Each and every time you have a fight
Just assume you're wrong and daddy's right.
And you should really thank Miss Brinkman
She spent so much extra time
It's like she sees the diamond underneath
And she's polishin' you 'til you shine.
And oh you got so much goin' for you
Goin' right
But I know at 17
It's hard to see past Friday night
Tonight's the bonfire rally
But you're staying home instead
Because if you fail algebra
Mom and dad'll kill you dead
Trust me you'll squeak by and get a C
And you're still around to write this letter to me
You got so much up ahead
You'll make new friends
You should see your kids and wife
And I'd end by sayin' have no fear
These are nowhere near
The best years of your life
I guess I'll see you in the mirror
When you're a grown man
P.s. go hug aunt Rita every chance you can
And oh you got so much goin' for you
Goin' right
But I know at 17
It's hard to see past Friday night
I wish you'd study Spanish
I wish you'd take a typing class
I wish you wouldn't worry let it be
I'd say have a little faith and you'll see
If I could write a letter to me
To me...
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Radio Decision
At first I wanted to get an mp3 player. I feel like I’m the last person in North America without one anyway, and then I could listen to the music I like while I twirl. But I have this little radio that clips to my belt and holds 10 preset channels. With the press of a button I switch through the preset stations (there are about 10 stations in Vegas that I listen to anyways). Turns out, I’ve found several benefits to using the radio while I twirl.
First, it connects me to “the crowd.” While I realize that a lot of people probably don’t listen to regular radio in the car (they’ve got their own mp3s, sat radio, CDs, etc.) and there are several popular stations for the regular radio listeners to tune in to, I’m sure someone out there is listening to the same station as me. And I like to imagine that once in a while someone is waiting at a light, listening to a song on the radio, and they see my graceful twirl followed by a slow double point forward…and it clicks. “Hey, look, she must be listening to 94.1 too! She’s twirling along with the song. Let’s see if she twirls faster when the next song comes on. Yep! Ooops, the light is green!” And since I’ve noticed I tend to get a lot of “repeat” customers (they drive past more than once), maybe when that driver passes by the other direction, they will look through the traffic to see if I’m still listening to that station and they will wonder “what’s her sign for anyway?”
Secondly, it lets me dream. Sometimes I’ll see a radio station’s van drive by, and I’ll imagine that they notice me spinning along with their broadcast and they’ll stop and next thing I know I’m backstage at a concert, getting interviewed on air…. If I see a limo, I wonder if maybe Fergie is in town for a concert and for some reason has wandered quite a bit off the Las Vegas Strip, and when she sees me twirling Big Girls Don’t Cry she’s sure to tell the driver to pull over…. Who knows? Maybe she'll decide to put some sign dancing in her next video (you'll know who to thank)!
Third, I like the radio because it keeps things spontaneous. Between 10 channels, it’s rare for no music to be on. Occasionally I may not like any of the music that’s on, but there’s always another song on soon! Time goes by fast with the radio. Sometimes I’ll feel like taking a break, but a good song will be on. And then another. And then I’ll check the other channels quickly and find another good song. When I finally force myself to go on break, I’ll realize there’s only an hour left on my shift!
Sometimes I’ll hear the DJ promise 10 in a row coming up, and it’ll be a challenge to switch channels during the commercials and try to make it back to that station for the 10 in a row. There’s the thrill of gambling, because you never know if there’s a better song on another station. There’s nothing worse than twirling to a song that’s just okay, then changing the channel and hearing the last 15 seconds of a really great song. But when I hit that button and an awesome song has just started…Jackpot!!
It’s fun to hear songs that I’ve basically forgotten exist! And then to sing along with every word! Or listen to songs that I knew as a kid, and only now I understand all the words and realize the meaning that I never really thought about before. It also helps me think of songs that I want to download. And it’s fun to listen for patterns. Like in one day, I heard 4 or 5 different Prince songs (he’s had a lot of really great hits!). Since then, the most in one day has been 2. And I don’t know when the last time before I started twirling I heard “American Pie” was, but since I started they play it fairly often, and I have a new appreciation for it. Which brings me to my fourth reason.
The songs I might have on my mp3 player may not be the best twirling songs. My favorite songs tend to be good to sing along with, but a good twirling song is something different. Songs that I never liked, the ones that were (and probably are still) standards for school dances and wedding receptions, are great for sign dancing. In the car I will quickly change the channel if Mony Mony or Shout is playing. But on the corner, I can finally appreciate these classics.
First, it connects me to “the crowd.” While I realize that a lot of people probably don’t listen to regular radio in the car (they’ve got their own mp3s, sat radio, CDs, etc.) and there are several popular stations for the regular radio listeners to tune in to, I’m sure someone out there is listening to the same station as me. And I like to imagine that once in a while someone is waiting at a light, listening to a song on the radio, and they see my graceful twirl followed by a slow double point forward…and it clicks. “Hey, look, she must be listening to 94.1 too! She’s twirling along with the song. Let’s see if she twirls faster when the next song comes on. Yep! Ooops, the light is green!” And since I’ve noticed I tend to get a lot of “repeat” customers (they drive past more than once), maybe when that driver passes by the other direction, they will look through the traffic to see if I’m still listening to that station and they will wonder “what’s her sign for anyway?”
Secondly, it lets me dream. Sometimes I’ll see a radio station’s van drive by, and I’ll imagine that they notice me spinning along with their broadcast and they’ll stop and next thing I know I’m backstage at a concert, getting interviewed on air…. If I see a limo, I wonder if maybe Fergie is in town for a concert and for some reason has wandered quite a bit off the Las Vegas Strip, and when she sees me twirling Big Girls Don’t Cry she’s sure to tell the driver to pull over…. Who knows? Maybe she'll decide to put some sign dancing in her next video (you'll know who to thank)!
Third, I like the radio because it keeps things spontaneous. Between 10 channels, it’s rare for no music to be on. Occasionally I may not like any of the music that’s on, but there’s always another song on soon! Time goes by fast with the radio. Sometimes I’ll feel like taking a break, but a good song will be on. And then another. And then I’ll check the other channels quickly and find another good song. When I finally force myself to go on break, I’ll realize there’s only an hour left on my shift!
Sometimes I’ll hear the DJ promise 10 in a row coming up, and it’ll be a challenge to switch channels during the commercials and try to make it back to that station for the 10 in a row. There’s the thrill of gambling, because you never know if there’s a better song on another station. There’s nothing worse than twirling to a song that’s just okay, then changing the channel and hearing the last 15 seconds of a really great song. But when I hit that button and an awesome song has just started…Jackpot!!
It’s fun to hear songs that I’ve basically forgotten exist! And then to sing along with every word! Or listen to songs that I knew as a kid, and only now I understand all the words and realize the meaning that I never really thought about before. It also helps me think of songs that I want to download. And it’s fun to listen for patterns. Like in one day, I heard 4 or 5 different Prince songs (he’s had a lot of really great hits!). Since then, the most in one day has been 2. And I don’t know when the last time before I started twirling I heard “American Pie” was, but since I started they play it fairly often, and I have a new appreciation for it. Which brings me to my fourth reason.
The songs I might have on my mp3 player may not be the best twirling songs. My favorite songs tend to be good to sing along with, but a good twirling song is something different. Songs that I never liked, the ones that were (and probably are still) standards for school dances and wedding receptions, are great for sign dancing. In the car I will quickly change the channel if Mony Mony or Shout is playing. But on the corner, I can finally appreciate these classics.
Born to Spin
As a human directional, I hold a sign, sometimes spin the sign, and point towards something like condos “from the 120s” or with an “active adult community.” In order to get people’s attention as they drive by, I dance around on my corner while holding the sign. I don’t have an mp3 player, but I do have a little radio with head phones that I use.
It’s kind of a dream job for me, because basically I get to do what I did in my room for many years growing up. I used to watch the show Kids Incorporated and would make tapes of the songs (rock and pop songs covered by an all kids band). In my room I would sing and dance along to the music like I was one of the kids on the show. Now I do the same thing, just while holding a sign instead of a tambourine.
On Kids Inc. the “band” members who played the instruments were really just dancers who knew little about their instruments. They would dance onstage while holding a neon pink guitar or fluorescent yellow keytar…about the size of the signs that I hold. Now I finally got the chance to put my study of the art of dancing with an instrument to good use!
Sometimes I even make like the sign is a guitar, and I “play” it. What I quickly realized is that I am clueless when it comes to playing guitar (air guitar at that!). I have no idea what my hands are supposed to be doing, and there’s no way I can coordinate them doing two different things at once! I mean, I understand my right hand should be moving around—closer to me for higher notes, right?—and my left should make strumming moves in beat to the music (right?). That’s hard!! I’m sure I look like a fool, but I pretend I’m Michael J. Fox in the ‘50s in Back To The Future. I like to do the move where you stick your leg out and hop while holding the guitar. I guess it’s called the “Duck Walk.”
I also draw upon my previous research conducted at the MTV laboratories. In the ‘80s I monitored the guitar choreography of hair bands such as Poison, Warrant, and Bon Jovi, as well as more classic hard rock groups like AC/DC and Van Halen. There are a lot of rockin' guitar moves perfect for really getting into the music.
Aside from Marty McFly and Kids Inc, my other sign twirling inspiration is my dad! Back in the ‘80s, he used to strap on his roller skates and a sign advertising the family business. He would skate through Harvard Square, in between cars, all over the place, to drum up some business. I think it was a fairly novel idea back then. I guess nowadays the human directional business is booming because the advertising industry is changing so much. Companies can’t rely on ads on TV or radio or in the newspaper, because people can get their news online, fast forward commercials with TiVo, and listen to satellite radio. But they still gotta drive. And while they’re sitting at a red light, if they’re not too absorbed in the movie they’re watching in their dashboard or the text message they’re composing, I hope to catch their eye and give them some entertainment along with a suggestion for some fabulous condos!
I must have inherited some of my dad’s willingness to make a fool of himself in public. Any time he’s wearing his clogs, if there’s a live band, a large crowd, and an empty dance floor, he is there! I have been embarrassed by his behavior in the past, but when the clog is on the other foot and I’m on the corner with a sign…I’m just glad I don’t have any kids!
When it comes to letting loose, my biggest influence is Ellen Degeneres. Every day on her show she spends a couple minutes dancing with the audience. Her show is very popular, and her 50-year-old white woman moves have been a staple element since the show’s start 5 years ago. As my boyfriend puts it “she dances like my mother” and somehow it is very entertaining. I try to use that same fun, G-rated, everyman vibe. My own mother wasn’t much of a dancer but she was a cheerleader in the ‘50s. She taught me some cheers growing up, and passed on her rah-rah spirit. No one’s yelling “Go Team!” but sometimes I’ll wave to cars and try to get them to honk!
I see a lot of sign spinners who do a lot of fancy moves, in fact I know some companies use a pay scale that is based on how many “moves” you can perform. I’ve always thought it kind of silly to spin a sign around when you’re trying to direct people a certain way. The sign’s direction becomes unclear and the words unreadable. The “point” is lost. The company I work for now has a similar philosophy, so spins are kept to a minimum. I get attention by dancing and using simple sign movements.
It’s kind of a dream job for me, because basically I get to do what I did in my room for many years growing up. I used to watch the show Kids Incorporated and would make tapes of the songs (rock and pop songs covered by an all kids band). In my room I would sing and dance along to the music like I was one of the kids on the show. Now I do the same thing, just while holding a sign instead of a tambourine.
On Kids Inc. the “band” members who played the instruments were really just dancers who knew little about their instruments. They would dance onstage while holding a neon pink guitar or fluorescent yellow keytar…about the size of the signs that I hold. Now I finally got the chance to put my study of the art of dancing with an instrument to good use!
Sometimes I even make like the sign is a guitar, and I “play” it. What I quickly realized is that I am clueless when it comes to playing guitar (air guitar at that!). I have no idea what my hands are supposed to be doing, and there’s no way I can coordinate them doing two different things at once! I mean, I understand my right hand should be moving around—closer to me for higher notes, right?—and my left should make strumming moves in beat to the music (right?). That’s hard!! I’m sure I look like a fool, but I pretend I’m Michael J. Fox in the ‘50s in Back To The Future. I like to do the move where you stick your leg out and hop while holding the guitar. I guess it’s called the “Duck Walk.”
I also draw upon my previous research conducted at the MTV laboratories. In the ‘80s I monitored the guitar choreography of hair bands such as Poison, Warrant, and Bon Jovi, as well as more classic hard rock groups like AC/DC and Van Halen. There are a lot of rockin' guitar moves perfect for really getting into the music.
Aside from Marty McFly and Kids Inc, my other sign twirling inspiration is my dad! Back in the ‘80s, he used to strap on his roller skates and a sign advertising the family business. He would skate through Harvard Square, in between cars, all over the place, to drum up some business. I think it was a fairly novel idea back then. I guess nowadays the human directional business is booming because the advertising industry is changing so much. Companies can’t rely on ads on TV or radio or in the newspaper, because people can get their news online, fast forward commercials with TiVo, and listen to satellite radio. But they still gotta drive. And while they’re sitting at a red light, if they’re not too absorbed in the movie they’re watching in their dashboard or the text message they’re composing, I hope to catch their eye and give them some entertainment along with a suggestion for some fabulous condos!
I must have inherited some of my dad’s willingness to make a fool of himself in public. Any time he’s wearing his clogs, if there’s a live band, a large crowd, and an empty dance floor, he is there! I have been embarrassed by his behavior in the past, but when the clog is on the other foot and I’m on the corner with a sign…I’m just glad I don’t have any kids!
When it comes to letting loose, my biggest influence is Ellen Degeneres. Every day on her show she spends a couple minutes dancing with the audience. Her show is very popular, and her 50-year-old white woman moves have been a staple element since the show’s start 5 years ago. As my boyfriend puts it “she dances like my mother” and somehow it is very entertaining. I try to use that same fun, G-rated, everyman vibe. My own mother wasn’t much of a dancer but she was a cheerleader in the ‘50s. She taught me some cheers growing up, and passed on her rah-rah spirit. No one’s yelling “Go Team!” but sometimes I’ll wave to cars and try to get them to honk!
I see a lot of sign spinners who do a lot of fancy moves, in fact I know some companies use a pay scale that is based on how many “moves” you can perform. I’ve always thought it kind of silly to spin a sign around when you’re trying to direct people a certain way. The sign’s direction becomes unclear and the words unreadable. The “point” is lost. The company I work for now has a similar philosophy, so spins are kept to a minimum. I get attention by dancing and using simple sign movements.
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