Everything I so enjoy about Bill Harley is wrapped up in this picture. The Kindiefest panel that I'd moderated that included the amazing group of Bill, Suni Paz, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Kathy O'Connell had wrapped up some time before. I found myself talking with Bill near the exit and looked down at the garbage can just outside the window and saw my name card -- and just my card -- discarded on the top. "Aw, man!," I said, jokingly, and decided I needed to get a picture of the proof of my impermanence. At which point Harley said, "No, wait -- I need to get my card out and in the picture." We then ran outside like a couple of giddy 7-year-old boys, he found his own card in the trash, arranged it artfully on top, and then I took the picture.
It's that ability to see the absurdity and humor in the day-to-day life of us all that makes Harley such a beloved performer. He's a hard worker (he said at the panel that he sets aside an hour or two each day to write), but it's that essential humanity (honoring the child, as he said) that's given him such a long career, I think.
On Sunday, Harley performed at the public showcase. It was a fun set, though I was a bit distracted because I had to leave for the airport and so spent part of the set saying my last goodbyes. But I had fun, as did the rest of the crowd. Harley also let his friend Keith Munslow, who backed Harley up on keyboards, do a song of his own. Good stuff all around. Maybe that Bill Harley placecard's on eBay by now...
Bill Harley (w/ Keith Munslow) - "Everybody's a Baby About Something" (Live @ Kindiefest 2010) [YouTube] (my favorite part of this -- also generally indicative of Harley -- is that he teaches the crowd to whine. In harmony.
More pictures (of the actual Bill Harley) after the jump.
