Ever since the band was booked for the Ann Arbor Art Fair this coming Friday (July 23rd), people have been wondering if Joe will be joining Tally Hall on stage since he was absent from the band’s most recent tour back in March; the reasons of which have never been officially revealed.

As of a few weeks ago, I asked the band if they could give me an official answer on if Joe will be performing at this show. I was told that no official answer could be given at this time.

Tonight, I was informed that another fan wrote to Andrew asking the question again and received a response. The following is an excerpt from it, which I regretfully must pass on to you all:

“Joe will not be performing at the Ann Arbor show.”

This is now, obviously, much more than a fluke. This does not bode well for Mr. Hawley.

Yes, there are some things I know about the situation but there are WAY more things about it that I do NOT know… and I have to take a stand at this point and make a public plea to the band that they make some sort of official statement about what’s going on in the near future.

EDIT:  Casey Shea has informed me that he will be filling Joe’s shoes once again, as he did during the March tour, for this show in Ann Arbor tomorrow. (7/22/10 4:56pm)

I know it has been forever since I’ve posted, but I’ve been away at camp for three weeks and spent a week visiting colleges, but here you go.

“Dude, do you still like her?” Ross asked Rob as he jotted something down in his Bio notebook.

“Yeah,” Rob answered while eyeing Becka, a green-eyed red-head who sat at the front of the classroom.

“Then tell her.”

“I can’t. She’s dating Ryan. He’d beat me up if I told her.”

“Then find a way to tell her in a way that he won’t beat you up.”

“How can I? I’m not a tough guy like him.”

“You can do something I doubt he can.”

“And what’s that?”

“You write songs and play guitar.”

“You think I should win her over with a song?”

“Yes.” The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. “We’re still coming over to your house Sunday, right?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

“Have the song by then,” Ross said as they exited the classroom.

“Oh yeah, no pressure.”

“Hey, I know you can do it.”

“We’ll see.”

That Sunday, all five guys met at Rob’s house.

“So, did you write the song?” Ross said as they sat down in the living room.

“What song?” Zubin asked.

“I told Rob to write a song for Becka, you know, to win her over.”

“You mean Becka with the crazy red hair and green eyes. That Becka.”

“Yes that Becka,” Rob said, “And to answer your question, Ross, I did write the song.”

“Well, let’s hear it.” Rob proceeds to play the song, which he titled Haiku.

“Sounds good,” Joe said at the end, “but it doesn’t sound good with just one instrument. It needs backup.”

“Okay,” Rob agreed, “Care to help?”

“Why not?”

They spent the rest of the day adding in parts that went along with it. Since there was no piano at Rob’s house, Andrew brought a glockenspiel.

Come Monday morning, the song was finished and they sat in the courtyard. It was now a ritual every Monday and Friday that the boys perform for the student body.

At their usual bench, a crowd of about twenty or thirty people surrounded them. Amongst them were Becka and Ryan.
“This last song is a new one.” The crowd cheered. “It’s dedicated to Becka.” Becka gasps as Ryan’s face goes from stoic to anger. Rob plays the song and the students love it. By the end of it, they were swaying to the beat.

As the crowd dissipated, Ryan stood his ground, Becka still at his side. Rob puts his guitar in its case before standing up. Ryan then grabs Rob by the collar.

“What do you think you’re doing? Dedicating a song to my girlfriend,” Ryan said menacingly.

“I like her, so I wrote a song for her. That’s why.”

“Bad idea.” Ryan then punched Rob in the stomach. Rob retaliated with a punch right on his jaw, hurting his hand a little bit.

“Enough, boys,” Mr. Vanguard, the sophomore English teacher, commanded. “Detention for both of you.”

“But…” Rob started, feeling even more defeated than before.

“No buts. After school, my classroom.” And with that he walked away.

“You better not do that again or I’ll get you even worse,” Ryan threatened before stalking off. Becka stood awestruck.

“I’m sorry, Rob, I don’t feel the same way,” Becka finally uttered.

“Okay.” He lowered himself onto the bench, feeling drained and still in pain from the punch to the gut. He watched as Becka walked off to the chemistry lab. Being fifteen sucked.

           “What do you mean, I have more girls to watch?!?!?!” Zubin gapes at Ross.

            “I think he means that there are a couple of girls are moving in,” Joe giggles as he peers through a pair of binoculars. The boys are camping out in Rob’s room because it is the closest to the house that the new neighbors are currently moving in to. The view from Rob’s window provides a good, if somewhat distant, view of the happenings.

            “Yeah, you were pretty obsessed with that one girl,” Rob joins in while snatching the binoculars from Joe and pushing his way to the best view point.

            “Bu…bu…but, Joe was the one that kissed her,” Zubin stutters in disbelief. He looks around to see if someone will support him.

            “HEY! She was the one that kissed me,” Joe glares at Zubin.

            “But you sure enjoyed it, from what I remember,” Andrew points out.

            “I…did…not,” Joe mumbles as he turns as red as his t-shirt.

            “Anyway, there are two of them,” Rob continues his watch.

            Eventually, the boys get shooed out of the house to enjoy the beautiful day. They head to the park. Tag runs ragged all over the place. Suddenly Zubin stops short and Joe crashes into him. Staring at Zubin across the grass is a set of twins. They grin at him. He looks back, confused and somehow unable to move. Joe brushes himself off. Andrew, Rob, and Ross come over to see what stopped their game. The two girls make their way over to the boys.

            “Hey,” one of them says shyly. Her sister just gives a little wave.

            “Hey, wanna play some tag?” Zubin sounds almost hopeful.

            “Uh, okay,” the twins agree in unison.

            The game of tag once more becomes out of control. There is plenty of giggling from the girls and raucous laughter from the boys. Not too long into it, however, the girls trip over each other. The result is a matching pair of scraped knees. Tears fill their eyes. Sniffling quickly follows. The boys don’t even seem to notice as they continue to chase each other around. The tears start to stream down their faces and the twins stick out their lower lips while they whimper.

            Zubin happens to look over. He slows down before heading over to where the girls are sitting. He examines the scrapes while the girls just sit there, crying. He gives them a small smile and pulls two band-aids out of his pocket. After he ever so carefully places a bandage over each knee, Zubin grins at them in hopes of cheering them up. The two girls give two more big sniffs before they tentatively returned his smile.

            “Th-thank you,” one of the sisters hiccups in response to Zubin’s good deed.

            “I’m Zubin,” he introduces himself.

            “I’m Mary Kate and this is my sister, Ashley,” the girl returns the favor.

            “It’s nice to meet you,” Zubin repeats the line that he was told to say whenever he met someone new to be polite.

{{the big kids’ concert}}

the original plan::
location: in the venue
concert time: 6:30pm
our departure time: as soon as jeff got off work (4-ish pm)
driver: jeff
the group: cheryl, blake, me, rocio, jeff, my friend jessie, and jeff’s friend brooke

in actuality::
location: in the venue
concert time: 6:30pm
our departure time: 6:10pm
driver: brooke
the group: brooke, me my friend jessie…and later, jeff

explanation:: jeff was going to take me and jessie and rocio. rocio decided to do something else that night instead. okay, cool. still left me and jeff and jessie, all was good. but—[brace yourself for the run-on sentence]– i couldn’t reach jeff and he was supposed to drive us and my mom’s van doesn’t go past 40 mph cuz it’s broken and jessie and i needed to get to the concert and i still couldn’t reach jeff and it was getting late and i called cheryl and she’d already left with blake and i started to panic and i made cute hair flowers (irrelevant) and i told jessie i’d just come pick her up in the van so we’d be in one location and i did and we went to jeff’s and he wasn’t there and it was getting later and i called rocio and she said she wasn’t going so she called brooke whom i didn’t know and brooke was late coming anyway but she had a car so she met me and jessie at jeff’s and the three of us girls got into brooke’s car and brooke turned out to be awesome and we went to wendy’s cuz we were starving and it was good and i got a jr frosty (irrelevant) and we raced as fast as we could up to salt lake and the three of us girls had compatible horoscopes and decided we’d be good friends and now we are and we drove and drove and finally got to in the venue and brooke was really good at finding it without a google map and we parked in some shady parking lot and brooke put on her new shoes with red laces and then we ran in the freezing cold — ran– to the place it was at and almost went in the wrong door so we backtracked and got to the right door and the bouncer let us in.

still couldn’t reach jeff. until we got there. apparently, his shoot (he was working on a commercial in the middle of absolutely nowhere) went super long and was crazy and he hadn’t gotten reception. sad. day. here’s his side of the story.

when we got there::
we walked inside, and a really loud band was finishing their last song. i really didn’t care for it, and neither did the other two girls. tally hall started to set up as soon as that song was over, and we were ecstatic to realize we got there in perfect time for tally hall.

jeff texted, saying he was still an hour away and wondered if it was still worth it to come. i said that of course it was; jeff was one of the pioneers of tally hall in utah! we had to take THE picture, dangit! so he said he was on his way.

we found allie and her husband. allie was there the very first time we met tally hall in this very venue. that was a happy. cheryl was nowhere to be found, though, and we found that she had a family emergency and had to race to that. that was sad. bless her heart.

the concert part::so, tally hall started their concert, even without jeff or cheryl. they started out with a slower song, which i thought was gutsy. usually bands start out with fast rowdy songs to get the audience into it. props for them for taking a double gamble: the song was slow, and it was a new song. but i loved it. it’s called ‘never meant to know’ and it’s the one that i had filmed backstage at the kid concert.

since i already blogged that one, here’s another called “turn the lights off”:

and here’s how they laid the songs down:

Never Meant To Know
Welcome To Tally Hall
A Lady
Sacred Beast
Good Day
Turn The Lights Off
Cannibal
Spring & A Storm
You & Me
The Whole World & You

i sang along enthusiastically to all the songs i knew. maybe more enthusiastically than normal? [nah, probably the same. but i tried, and it was crazy] because a) the audience was pretty lame and didn’t dance or anything and b) i had to sing for jeff and cheryl’s sake. they deserved to be there.

right after they finished, i turned around and saw jeff. tragically, he’d just barely arrived.

the rest of the concert::
jeff was visibly disappointed he missed the concert, and more so, was shaking all over. he’d had an exhausting day and the mixture of freezing cold + middle of nowhere with no reception + full day’s work in previously stated conditions + running to the concert + just barely missing it = one sad jeff. brooke and i felt so bad. we all wandered over to the swag table, where my new friend mike (the tour manager) was manning the merchandise. [check out mike's awesome hat.]

sad has a way of turning to happy, though, in the company of good friends and good music, and…tally hall. and tally hall’s guest book.

they had a book on the table, open for anyone to sign it, so jeff and i took on the responsibility of pasting in each “the picture” from the previous concerts, along with a memory from each one. we wrote 3 entries, one on the inside of the front cover, one on the back, and one in the middle, with a dotted outline of the picture we were sure to get later that night.

we also took another cool picture:

and i liked rooney, too, so here’s a well-known song of theirs. forgive the shaking; i was aware of it…i just couldn’t help but dance to this one:

i really enjoyed just hanging out with my friends and the tally hall guys in the back by the table, though. andrew came out in normal clothes and smiled when he saw me. it was fun to see him since we’d been interacting all day, then almost as old friends after an ‘official’ concert (note that i’m not a psycho fan who imposes herself on strangers and celebrities. i know we aren’t old friends. it was just sort of a cool feeling )

we all talked. words. i honestly can’t remember what we talked about (this is the part that i didn’t finish in december when i wrote this…it’s now april)…which is tragic. i remember some stuff. contacts and dry eyes (as shown in picture above). mittens and their awesomeness (his were homemade). his impressions on the school concert. oh! he said that was one of the most interesting performances they’d given, and we asked what was the weirdest. i think he said it was earlier in their career and there was some sort of snow storm, so only a few (like, 3) people showed up to the concert and they performed for just them? something like that. all i can say is i wish we had a snowstorm concert.

UPDATE: I’m told the information regarding this rumor is incorrect.
Apologies to Tally Hall and the readers of Hidden In The Sand.

            “What is this place?” excitement is evident in Andrew’s voice.

            “Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum,” Ross announces proudly.

            “How did you find it?” Joe asks, his eyes practically popping out of his head.

            “My family came here last week,” Ross is clearly happy about the awestruck expressions on most of his friends’ face.

            “What is it, exactly?” Zubin is the only skeptic in the bunch. He crosses his arms and looks expectantly at Ross.

            “It’s only one of the funnest places in the history of ever,” Ross rolls his eyes as he states the obvious.

            “Of course it is,” Zubin remains unconvinced by his buddy’s assessment of the building in front of them.

            “Why don’t we just go in and see?” Rob suggests as he heads towards the door.

            “Yeah, now you will see how AWESOME this place is,” Ross assures Zubin.

            The five boys head into Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum together. There are devices of all shapes and sizes. Wonders practically cover the entire space, each more interesting than the last. The poor boys have their attention pulled in every direction at once. There is no way that they can decide all together about where to start. Lights flash and sounds emit from the various machines.

            Andrew heads straight for something called The Guillotine. He watches as the doors open and reveal a beheading. Joe makes a beeline for something called The Price of Chickens. He is riveted to the glass as the wooden parts move. One lady moves her mouth. The other lady pulls a chicken out of a container and then puts it back. Rob is drawn to Marvin’s Lunch Time. There are two scenes in that machine. One depicts sailors cutting up food. The other one shows a guy eating spaghetti in a bathtub with sauce coming out of the faucet. Zubin finds a machine that shows a circus. He giggles as the ringmaster almost gets his head bit off by a pair of lions. Ross makes his way to a machine that he wanted to see the last time he was there, but did not have time to. It is called Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He peeks through the viewing hole and watches the scene unfold of an alien replacing a man on a trolley.

            “Man, you were right,” Zubin admits when they all cross paths again.

            “I told you that this place is great,” Ross gloats.

            “I can’t believe that we have never been here before,” Rob shakes his head in amazement.

            “I know, right,” Andrew adds.

            “We might have to come back here…a lot,” Zubin informs his friends.

            “Uh-huh,” the other four agree.

            “Hey, what’s that one?” Joe’s eye catches on a particular machine.

            The five of them head over. The name on the machine is The Disgusting Spectacle. They watch, wide-eyed, as the man inside the glass has his pointer finger raised and proceeds to place that finger in his nose. Five little fingers point and start to make the same trip in unison.

Just a little side note, my brother gave me the idea for this part. Hope you like it!
“Why are we at a park in the middle of December? This is Michigan. It snows here,” Zubin pleaded while hugging himself for warmth.

“But it’s sunny,” Andrew stated, pointing up at the clear sky.

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s cold out here.” Suddenly, something cold and wet hit the back of Zubin’s head. He reaches to touch the spot where he was hit to find remnants of snow. “Okay, who threw this?” He asked very seriously, eyeing each of the boys. Joe then throws a snowball at Zubin, hitting him right in the face. The boys laugh at his expense while he wipes away the mess. “Oh, it’s on now,” Zubin challenged while grabbing a snowball and throwing at Joe, hitting him square in the shoulder.

“Hey!” Joe cried out.

“You started it,” Zubin stated while grabbing another snowball and throwing it at Joe. He dodges and it hits Rob in the stomach.

This then proceeds to start an all-out snowball war.

After about an hour, they are wiped out and covered in snowball remnants.

“I’m tired,” Rob states as they walk away from the park.

“Me, too,” Ross agrees, peeling off his beanie, revealing a dry head of hair.

“Hey, I think I see a gray hair,” Rob says while looking at Ross.

“Na ah.”

“Yeah hah.” They then get into a mini fistfight. “Fine. You don’t have to believe me, but it’s still there.” They then say goodbye to each other and go to their houses.

Once Ross gets home, he heads straight for the bathroom to look for the alleged gray hair. Soon enough, he finds it. One lonesome gray hair.

“Well, it’s just one. I don’t think anyone will notice,” he said to himself.

Over the next week and through Winter break, one by one, more start to pop up here and there, becoming more noticeable.

After break was over, Ross was in the courtyard talking to Rob at lunch.

“Dude, I told you that there was gray hair. You’re never going to get a girl when you have gray hair,” Rob said.

“Yeah, thanks a lot, Rob,” he says sarcastically, “Like I’m not already having trouble getting a girlfriend.” It was true. Ross wasn’t exactly a ladies man, especially since he was a freshman. The gray hair was just adding to the problem. The bell then rang, signaling them that lunch was over.

“I’ll see you in 6th period, bro,” Rob said while giving him a man hug.

“See ya’,” Ross said back, then heading to fourth period.

After school, Ross walked to the nearby drugstore, gets hair dye, and goes home quickly enough before anyone he knew recognized him.

In the privacy of his own bathroom, Ross attempts to dye his hair.

After a gruesome fifteen minutes, he washes out the dye, thinking he was successful. He blow-dries his hair to see the results faster, only to find out it had gone horribly wrong. There were random streaks of orange all throughout his hair. While sulking, he hears a knock on the door.

“Yes?” He asks, nervousness showing through his voice.

“Is everything okay in there?” His mom asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said while running his hand through his hair. Without warning, his mom opens the door and gasps. He braced himself for a scolding, but instead of that, his mom starts to laugh. He blushes a deep red.

“Sweetie, I know you have gray hair. You get it from your dad. But next time you want to dye your hair, come to me, okay?” She said after catching a breath.

“Okay.”

“I’ll schedule a hair appointment for tomorrow afternoon.”

“Tomorrow afternoon?”

“Sorry, Hun, but it’s late now.”

“Fine,” he said in a huff.

Tuesday morning, Ross walks into the courtyard, a beanie covering his hair and Cajon in tow. Luckily no one else was there.

“Hey Ross,” a girl’s voice said from behind him. He jumps a little and turns around. It was Sally, a girl from his old middle school.

“Oh, hey Sally,” he said, relaxing a bit.

“What’s with the beanie?” They were friends, so he was fine with her seeing the horrid hair.

“Well…” He then pulls off the beanie to reveal the orange streaks. She giggles a little bit, but soon recovers.

“Did you dye your hair?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m sorry that happened to you. But why did you do it?”

“If you haven’t noticed, I started to sprout gray hair.”

“Well, I don’t think gray hairs would have been as noticeable as these,” she said while tugging at one of the orange streaks.

“I guess not. But I’m getting this fixed this afternoon, so I won’t look crazy.”

“That’s good. Well I gotta go to my locker, so I’ll see later.”

“See you later.” Sally walks a few steps, but then stops.

“Hey, the chorus his having a little celebration at Zingerman’s after our concert on Friday. Do you want to come? We haven’t hung out in a while.”

“Sure.”

“Great. See you then,” she says with a smile and walks away.

“See ya’”

“What’s with the hair,” Rob’s voice said behind him. Ross quickly turned around. The rest of the boys were there as well, holding their instruments.

“I dyed it.”

“Nice,” Joe said sarcastically, “You look like a wack job.”

“I may be the one with the wack job hair, but at least I’m hanging out with a girl on Friday.” The others go ‘Ohh,’ in response to his diss.

Ross puts his beanie back on before any of their classmates could see the wretched hair, sits on his Cajon and begins to play a random beat, leaving the others to do improv along to it. Students begin to fill in the courtyard, some of them forming a crowd around the boys. They make requests and they play until the bell rings. Ross got compliments from the people who saw the improv saying how awesome it was. It was just another way to make the day better.

keyboard, guitars, bass, drums…all on stage. a small one. behind a blue heavy curtain.
half curious, half amused adults lining the venue. teachers.
the venue: a school cafeteria.
one huge audience.
all under 5 feet tall.
oh boy. (!)

the concert was about to start. kids filed in, carrying their own chairs (i forgot we used to do that) and, of course, their tally hall signs. they were beyond excited. i was just as excited.

an entrance::
while the principle introduced cheryl, who introduced the band, the band snuck up on stage with fabulous fake mustaches on their faces and disappeared behind the curtain. what a fantastic sight. a few moments later, the curtain opened. the kids. went. nuts.

rob [yellow tie] kind of headed up the group in interaction with the students, though the rest of the guys chimed in as well. i could tell that there was a mutual wonder between band and audience alike; neither had experienced this before. at the end of the first song [good day], there was a bit of silence, and i started clapping, [i'm sure some of the teachers did, too] then it was a ripple effect and the place was soon filled with tons of applause and yells.

other concert highlights::

-at one point, they tried to get all the students to sing on one note….it was unsuccessful. but the attempt was fun to hear. :]

-rob asked the most random and obscure questions to the audience, and it was perfect. questions like, “do you guys like sports?” and so on. it kept the kids amused and involved.

-the kids…loved dancing.

-comments like this, from rob: “of all the elementary schools we’ve ever visited, you are the most unique….at dancing”…or something. i remember he made some comment about how the kids liked dancing. anyway, i love that this is the ONLY elementary school they’ve visited and the kids felt very privileged. 

-i enjoyed being backstage-ish. mike was cool and let me chill back there. we also talked cameras a bit. it was cool to see sam do his job. so i took a video of one of their new songs from back there. i have so many “normal” tally hall videos that i wanted to capture all the stuff you usually don’t see.

-the swaying of hands (i think one of the teachers promoted that) and the applause. the kids were told by a teacher before the concert that it’s not polite to whistle, though.

-they ended with the song, “down by the bay”. it was an. elementary. school. how perfect is that? they even had kids come up and give suggestions. so beyond awesome. 

have you ever seen miss skinner, eating some dinner?

-and then they topped it off with this:
(rob’s epic and very rebellious jump off of school folding chair. there were no smashing of guitars, however.)

the after party::

after the concert, the guys came back out and cheryl presented them with school shirts, as they are now honorary elementary schoolers.

as such, they took a class photo or two,

and hi-fives were had all around

next up: the night concert. there was a lot less high-pitched squealing from the ‘big kids’.

           “Is this going to become some sort of regular thing for us?” Zubin asks on the way to Rob’s house.

            “Is what going to become some sort of regular thing for us?” Joe responds with a question.

            “The whole ‘come to my house so I can do a big reveal of a surprise’ thing,” Zubin explains.

            “Now that you mention it, we have been doing that a lot lately,” Andrew muses.

            “I wonder if Rob has cookies,” Ross randomly throws out.

            Andrew, Joe, and Zubin all shake their heads at Ross while secretly hoping the same thing. They make it to Rob’s house and once more the issue of who will ring the doorbell comes up. They do not wrestle this time. Instead they do rock paper scissors. Andrew and Zubin tie so they play again. While they are on their fifth try to see who will win, Ross just reaches out and rings the bell.

            “It sure took you guys long enough,” Rob greets them.

            “It took like five minutes for us to get here,” Joe grins at his impatient buddy.

            “You lie. It was an eternity,” Rob heaves a heavy sigh to prove his point.

            “Well, what did you want us to see then?” Andrew urges Rob to get on with the reveal.

            “It’s in my room,” Rob says as he mounts the stairs.

            “Then we might never find it,” Ross ribs his friend.

            “You might have a point there,” Zubin agrees.

            “Ha ha, you two are so funny that I forgot to laugh,” Rob rolls his eyes but cannot hide his own smile. He gets to his room and goes to open the door.

            “Are you having problems opening your own door?” Andrew chuckles.

            “No, I am not,” Rob feigns indignation while he throws his entire weight against the door to get it to open.

            “Hey, you cleaned,” Joe says as he surveys the room.

            “Impressive,” Andrew adds.

            “Is that what you want to show us?” Zubin and Ross ask in unison?

            “No that is not what I want to show you. That is what I want to show you,” Rob points to a corner of his room while he rolls his eyes.

            “That is kind of like Joe’s,” Ross wrinkles his nose at the electric guitar.

            “But it plugs into a speaker,” Andrew comments.

            “It’s called an amp,” Rob tries to sound very knowledgeable on his new guitar.

            Rob tries to show off his skills, but the moment he puts the strap over his shoulder it comes free of his guitar and the instrument sinks to the floor. Amid the ensuing fits of giggles, he blushes and fixes the offending strap. The other four play around with the amp volume until Rob shoos them away. All too soon, it is time for the others to head home for dinner.

            “So, now that you have your own guitar, are you going to stop stealing mine?” Joe grins at his friend as he heads out the door.

I know, it’s been a long time since the last time I wrote an installment for the Tally Teens Series. I’m just having trouble thinking up ideas. Also, I think my ideas are starting to go downhill since the first one. And I have been also a tad obsessed with the Beatles, so I decided to toss them in. Anyway, here you go.

“Rob, I thought you got over being a kleptomaniac,” Joe said while taking back his newest guitar.

“Apparently not,” Zubin said. Rob, after years of not doing so, had taken Joe’s guitar without asking.

“I can’t help it,” Rob said, defending himself, “My mom won’t let me get a new guitar. I’ve been stuck with the same guitar for two years now, and it’s so beat up that whenever I play it, it sounds like two cats attacking each other.” Besides the argument and stealing, it was your typical Saturday morning in December.

“You can help yourself. You were able to stop when you were six. I don’t think now’s any different.” They were hanging out at Andrew’s house, in his living room. Ross had his bongos, Zubin had his bass, and Andrew was sitting in front of Jesus, his piano. Only the five of them knew its nickname. An old record player was playing Parlophone, a record from the Beatles.

“I have an idea. There’s a store about ten minutes away that sells really cool vintage instruments. Do you guys wanna go check it out?” Joe asked. A resound of ‘Yes’ answered back. Leaving their instruments behind, they skuddled into Joe’s minivan and rode off.

After arriving in the store, they each wandered off to a specific section. Rob followed Ross to the drums so he wouldn’t sulk about not being able to get one of the guitars.

Joe stood in front of the racks of guitars, trying to find a good one. Suddenly, he laid his eyes on a black and white Gresch hollow body, like George Harrison’s in the early days of the Beatles. One of the guys that worked there walked up.

“Are you interested? That guitar is very special,” the guy said.
“How so?” Joe questioned.

“It belonged to George Harrison himself. He had it specially made for the show at the Cavern in ’63,” he said, then pointing out the specific details that made it different from the others of its kind.

“Wow. How much is it?” Joe asked, marveling at the prized guitar.

“$200.” Joe riffed through his pockets, pulling out $200, a majority of it being from a Battle of the Bands competition, the rest from chores, and handed it to the guy. “And I’ll get you the case that goes with it.”

Joe eventually is able to leave the store and put the guitar carefully in the trunk of his car without anyone noticing. Just as he closed the trunk, heard chatter as the guys approached carrying the treasures they had gotten at the store. Ross held a Cajon, two brushes, and rhythm sticks. Andrew has a tambourine, and Zubin has a new Fender bass as well as a travel amp. Rob looks solemn.

After loading up the stuff, Joe drops off all the guys at their houses, dropping Rob off last.

At his own house, Joe writes a card anonymously explaining how important the guitar was before attaching it to the guitar itself and driving back to Rob’s house. He put the guitar on the porch and managed to cheese it to the next house before Rob could see it was him.

Of course, Rob answers the door and a look of awe spreads over his face as soon as he sees the guitar. Rob reads the note and carries it inside. Joe drives away triumphantly.

The following Monday at school.

Joe enters the school courtyard, his acoustic guitar in tow. Joe spots Rob with the rest of the band, sporting his new guitar, playing for the group of girls that surrounded them. Rob sees Joe, stands up, and walks over to him.

“Thanks,” Rob says while giving Joe a pat on the back.

“How did you know it was me?” Joe asked, wondering if Rob had seen him on Saturday.

“Dude, I’ve seen your handwriting before. Now, come on,” Rob said while they walked back to the bench. Joe pulls out his guitar, tunes it, and they begin to play And I Love Her by the Beatles.

{{the classroom}}

after lunch, we headed to the empty classroom and the boys were so amazed at how detailed it was. they said that it was cool because they’d think they saw everything, but then they’d see another tiny detail. from the ‘tally hall-passes’ to the ‘top bananas’ to the colored sitting…dots in the reading area (with lyrics “another story to tell” in the sign above). dang, cheryl. good job. it consisted of all this stuff:

note that all the signs are lyrics from their songs. so brilliant.
and of course, the guys all rooted for the individual tables that matched their corresponding tie colors.

the room passed their inspection::
i was a bit shy about snapping pictures of the guys in the classroom, even though i always document everything…wherever i go. i didn’t want them to feel all paparazzi’d or annoyed. so i took a few; they weren’t my best. but here ya go:

above:: sam, the sound guy (cleverrr)

ironically, after we left the room rob asked if he could get copies of those photos since they didn’t have cameras on hand (besides ross’ iphone). ka-dang it. i totally should have taken awesome epic ones. oh well, i said i’d get them to him. we then chilled in the hall for a bit
(i had fun watching kids take one glance at them wherever they went and squeal or get really excited and run away)

and the kids couldn’t believe their eyes::

the kids had really wanted to meet the band, but the teachers told them not to get their hopes up, as the band had a whole lot to do that day. after they checked out cheryl’s empty classroom, though, the boys went into the next classroom which consisted of cheryl’s class and another class to actually meet the kids. the boys looked a bit out of their element, like they weren’t sure what to expect, but excited nonetheless.

it was adorable; the kids had all been feverishly working on ‘tally hall’ signs for the guys and covered them up as soon as they came in. it was fun to see the kids interact with the band.

the kids were all whispering frantically to each other to hide their posters from the band to surprise them in the concert, and zubin imitated exactly what one kid did—excitedly held up the sign for all to see. classic.

and the band clapped for the kids (because the guys felt they deserved a round of applause, too, after their deafening welcome from the students)

after a good lil’ conversation with the class, the band bid farewell with hi-fives.

i apologize i don’t have much to say about the actual conversation…it was in december. but, cheryl, if you have anything to add, by all means, let me know or leave it in the comments! it was a grand ol’ time.

next up: the official elementary school concert review.

Coz asked if i’d re-post my tally hall entries from my blog onto HITS! i’m excited to share the good times with awesome-minded fellow tally hall fans. here it goes….

so. as most know, tally hall is one of my favorite bands. to understand more about tally hall and our history, check out my last review of their concerts. it’s long…i know…but highly entertaining. promise. this one will be long (and entertaining) too. i’ll do my best and add all the detail i can, because i know some of you wanted to go and weren’t able to make it, and some were really meant to be there (jeff & cheryl) but due to circumstances beyond their control, couldn’t. this one’s for you. i’ll even split it up into separate posts to break up the monotony of one gargantuan post. in reality, i wrote these december 21, 2009. yup, it’s taken this long to get the pictures uploaded.

like jeff, i’ll sum these next 5 posts up for those of you who just won’t read them. had lunch with tally hall, went to two tally hall concerts in the same day, one was for a bunch of elementary school kids, awesome pictures after the second. true story.

you might not go to all these links, but reading this would help understand how awesome it is that tally hall (on tour with rooney right now) performed twice in utah on friday, december 4th, 2009. that’s right…twice. and the first performance was at an elementary school. no, really. an. elementary. school.

if you don’t read that link (+20 ‘awesome’ points if you read both links…if you comment that you did, maybe i’ll draw you a picture!) the bottom line is that our friend cheryl is an elementary school teacher and made her room tally hall-themed this year. as jeff wrote a while ago,

“a week or so ago, the (world’s coolest) principal emailed them, saying that they hadn’t been able to raise the funds, but that if the band was coming by again next year, to let him know, and maybe the school would have gathered some more by then (so cool). the planning people wrote back, saying that the boys loved the idea so much that they were willing to do it for what the school had.”

and cheryl invited me to have lunch with the band before the performance. i cannot explain how excited i was. not even because they’re getting “famous” or whatever (that’s cool too) but because i’ve met them three times (again, the homework is in that first link!) i was just excited to hang out with them because they’re just such cool guys. honestly. that’s one of the reasons they’re my favorite band. they are so super chill and fun that i figure i’d probably hang out with them if we ended up in the same town or at the same university.

i got off work early and raced straight to the elementary school. upon asking directions of where i should go in the front office, i was asked if i was “with the band” by the secretary. she didn’t quite understand who i was or why i was there (apparently she didn’t read my blog post either) i looked around. “um…yes.” then i grinned, half guilty, to myself. “well, i’m friends with cheryl and with the band.” she told me i could just go on back then. i went past the cafeteria, where i saw a glimpse of the band warming up [pretty sure it made me randomly skip for a few steps] then i headed to cheryl’s classroom. i felt like a celebrity upon entering, because all the kids recognized me as i’m in most the band photos that cheryl has up on her wall. rad. the kids were all taking math tests, and listening to tally hall. i couldn’t have found a happier classroom test environment.

skip ahead. it was time for the lunch. the lunch consisted of costa vida (mmmm) and all the stuff shown below:

and the people included cheryl, her awesome boyfriend blake, the speech pathologist of the school (another fan), the principle, and me. oh, yeah, and the band. : ) (included in “the band”: rob cantor, andrew horowitz, zubin sedghi, ross federman and joe hawley, plus awesome michael schoonmaker who is their tour manager and mr. sound dude sam, who is awesome as well)

anyway, we were all just waiting expectantly for them, and finally they came! rob was first, and he introduced himself to me. as i shook his hand, i mumbled something like, “yeah…we’ve met before. three times. and took pictures.” i don’t know if he remembered me right away, but i think he might have after i said that. or later. or whatever. anyway, everyone introduced themselves. lunch was great. the seating around the nice faculty table went like this: blake, cheryl, mike, sound dude, amanda, me, rob, zubin, ross, world’s coolest principle, joe, and andrew. some highlights of the conversation–

• where everyone was from (blake started and it went something like, “california”, “provo”, “new york”, “california”, “salt lake– then provo”, “provo”, then quickly “provo”, “provo” and “provo”. those last three were rob, zubin, and ross following me. rob explained that he was just going along with everyone else and zubin said he wanted to fit in. =D) after the principle said where he was from, the last two boys muttered something about apparently being from provo as well.
• fun at football games: we explained that at byu it’s always fun doing the wave because the section with the older folks in it is always fun to watch with the few who stand slowly and proudly with their hands in the air at the right time. apparently at university of michigan (where the boys met), they had awesome crowds and when the games got boring, they had the wave all figured out. they would do a few normal rounds, then one sped-up round, then one slowed-down round, then they’d reverse it, then they’d do the wave simultaneously in both directions. sheer brilliance.
• animation: i explained my major to them and apparently they got to tour pixar animation studios! i am so jealous. they said everything was very aesthetically pleasing and they let their workers kind of work on whatever they needed to, to enhance the creativity. so. awesome. no wonder it’s the goal of any aspiring animation student to end up there….i also recommended to them the book how to be like walt. yesss.
• i asked what their favorite tour was, and of course they first responded guster (where we first saw and met them)– but then they said that really, though, when they toured with guster they were surprised at the response they got in salt lake. rob said he thought maybe it’s because they look like missionaries. i think he might be right.

stay tuned to hear about cheryl’s classroom….

“All right, class, please put your things in your desks and get ready for Show and Tell,” the teacher announces. There is a general clamor of excitement as each student thinks about the things that they brought. The desks were moved to form a circle.

“Who wants to go first?” the teacher starts the controlled chaos that is called Show and Tell. Every single kid’s hand shot up into the air as fast as that kid could get it there. Amidst the ooooo-oooooh’s and pick me’s the teacher randomly pointed at a student.

“I brought the sheet music to the first song that I ever played on my piano,” Andrew informs the class. Joe, Rob, Ross, and Zubin all snicker at the memory of the piano’s name. Andrew struggles to keep a straight face.

“I brought my drumsticks,” Ross announces proudly a few kids later.

“You don’t even have a drum set,” one kid to the side shouts out.

“I do too,” Ross sticks his tongue out at the offender.

“Now, boys, calm down,” the teacher stops the situation from turning into a shouting match. Ross stalks back to his seat while staring the kid down.

“Here we have possibly the coolest thing known to music,” Zubin declares while presenting.

“What is it?” asks a very confused girl who is right in front of Zubin.

“Duh, it is a large CD,” replies the snitty girl next to her.

“Nuh-uh. You guys are so stupid. It is a record,” Joe sticks up for his friend. Andrew, Rob, and Ross all gravely nod their agreement.

The other kids in the class take their turns and soon there is only Rob and Joe left. While they each have been waiting as patiently as they can, they are both starting to get bored. Rob gets up to take his turn before Joe.

“This is a vital part of music,” Rob says in serious tone. A hush falls on the rest of the class as he displays his show and tell.

“HEY! That’s my guitar!” Joe shouts out in disbelief.

“Umm…” clearly Rob had not anticipated this outcome.

“How did you even get it? I put it in my locker this morning,” Joe continues.

“Is that true?” the teacher gets involved.

“Well…uh…you see,” Rob stammers.

“Is it Joe’s guitar?” the teacher demands.

“Yes it is,” Joe launches himself out of his seat and rushes to take back his guitar.

The two boys tug at the guitar. The teacher pulls them apart and sends them both to their seats. Andrew, Ross, and Zubin try to hide their snickers. This is not the first time that Rob has ‘borrowed’ Joe’s guitar. In fact the other three boys were taking bets on when the next theft be.

The bell rang for recess, but Rob and Joe had to remain inside, Rob for stealing and Joe for fighting.

“Seriously, how did you get it?” Joe finally asks before his curiosity made him burst. Rob just grins and shakes his head.

Now, this is going to be a compilation of a couple different dreams that I’ve had. I’ve had more, approximately 30, but there are only a few I can actually post.

First: I was walking around a dimly lit building and suddenly see Tally Hall playing an acoustic set in full uniform. I walk closer to them and just stood there watching. Zubin looks up at me and goes ‘What?!’. I said ‘Nothing. It’s just that you guys are my favorite band.’ They said I could sit down. I did and listened to them play. They finished and got up on a stage, I got front row, and then a bunch of TH fans filled the room, including my closest friends, who aren’t fans of Tally Hall at all.

Second: I went to a concert and afterwards, I was talking to Zubin, and he asked me if I played bass. I said I only played it on Rock Band. He was very disappointed about that. Then we continue talking. At some point, he pulled me into a hug. Then Joe came over and all three of us started talking while I was still being hugged by Zubin.

Third: This was the night before their boat show. I went to a concert (it was a recurring theme at the time because I hadn’t gone to a concert of theirs yet) and I was talking to Joe and asked him if he had ever been on American Idol. He stared at me for a few minutes before he said that it didn’t really matter. I then proceed to ask if he was going to play Hidden in the Sand at the boat show the next day. He said maybe and asked if I was going to be there. I unfortunately couldn’t go. Then I started talking to Zubin and he gave me a handmade gift.

The other day, I had a strange Tally Hall-related dream. In said dream, I was chasing/stalking Mr. Rob Cantor, and I had no clue why. He didn’t seem to know that I was following him. He entered a large, high-ceilinged department store with many shirts in it, the kind that they all wear. I suddenly understood. I’ve been searching for a white, button down shirt like that for weeks, only to find that they weren’t the right type, they were light blue or striped or something. Apparently, I had followed Rob into the store to see where they got their shirts. To my dissapointment, not one of the shirts in the entire store was just plain white, no matter how hard I searched and followed Rob to see where he was getting his.

Quite a strange dream.