Charles Jensen | Writer

I had a “rocking” Saturday for a few reasons:

First, the Open House event at The Writer’s Center was a rockin’ success! It was so well publicized even Tropical Storm Hanna decided to stop by…for the entire day. Despite the torrential rain and water-soaked streets, we had about 130 people come by to chat with our instructors, staff, and board.

Before the festivities got started, though, Hanna was inspiring a few staff members here to start humming the Scorpions’ classic jam “Rock You Like a Hurricane.”

“Uh…” I said. “Have you ever listened to the lyrics to that song?”

“No, I just know the chorus.”

“Well, it’s not about weather,” I said. “Let’s just say the weather is a euphemism.”

Such is life.

* * * * *

That evening, a friend invited me to a Rock Band party out in Alexandria. I’m sure you’ve heard of Rock Band, the popular, collaborative alternative to Guitar Hero, in which four bandmates play drums, bass, guitar, or take vocals as they recreate some of today and yesterday’s greatest rock hits.

The party was a competitive Rock Band situation, so we were encouraged to come early, form our band, and practice. My band, the Fuzzy Widgets, featured Nora on drums, Jamie on bass, Graham on lead guitar, and I took vocals.

Our first setlist included a song we chose and a song selected by our opposing team. We chose Radiohead’s “Creep,” they chose All American Reject’s “Dirty Little Secret.” We crushed that team on both songs.

In the second round, we ended up choosing Oasis’s “Wonderwall,” which we did rock out to, and the other team chose the same band’s “Live Forever,” which I love. The other team was very good, though, and played on difficulty levels higher than ours, so they scored more points…and we were knocked out of competitive play.

I had so much fun, though, that I went out and got Rock Band on Sunday afternoon. I’m happy to report that my percussion skills are coming along nicely.

But honestly, I still see myself as the lead singer. Don’t you?