Not Much Going On

I suppose I do have a lot going on in my little brain, but little time to write it down. So, let's see, what is going on...

I started feeling sort of down and out around Labor day weekend. The band had to play at Ameristar's Bottleneck Blues Bar that weekend and there was a ton of hub-ub about the possibility of the band losing the house gig that we have there for the next three months over mis-communication, the stupidity and bullying of who I like to call a "C- class booking agent," and a promo pack that was M.I.A. I have to dog booking agents. The only agent I met and actually like so far is the booking agent who books That 80s Band, Dave. This is because, as Dave will tell anyone, he is not a booking agent, he is a musician who books bands.

The saga of the promo pack was settled by the time we played our Friday night, Labor day weekend gig at the Bottleneck. I was in rare form that night. I felt like I was going through the motions, probably because I felt like a flu was coming on. The bright spot of the night, thanks to the late Madelyn Khan's character, Lilly von Shtup in the movie Blazing Saddles, came when a drunk asshole decided to harass some girls in front of the stage. The dude, who was totally over-served, then proceeded to try and grab my leg. I was in the middle of singing a song, and although it is a known fact that performers have over-developed ears and can easily do two things at once, such as sing a song and listen to what people who give us the "come hither finger" or motion us that they have something to say that cannot wait until after the song is over, let alone the set; it is too important that it has to be told to the performer while she is in mid-song. I was in the middle of the song and they dude kept yelling "hey" and giving me the "come hither finger," which made me want to bite his finger off then and there. The dude then proceeded to mess with the bass player, guitar player, and then the keyboard player. I guess the asshole got tired, because he took it upon himself to half-way lay across the stage and make himself comfortable. I wanted to kick the guy in the head with the heal of my character shoe at this point, but instead chose to deliver my one of my favorite lines from blazing Saddles: I leaned down to him and said over the mic,"Excuse me, sir, but are you in show business?" The guy just looked a me like, "Huh?" I said, "Then why don't you get the fuck off the stage!" He got off the stage and I got an applause. I did think, "Great! Now they are really going to fire us." I never curse over the mic. It is not classy at all, but there was no security present at that bar and the dude was interfering with the other guests. The following night, there was a casino guy with a badge, watching to make sure no one got out of hand. No one said a thing to me about the incident.

I signed up for my cluster last Tuesday. I am taking the Natural Science cluster, which should be interesting, thanks to hurricane Katrina.

Whatever has been making me feel ill the past few weeks, finally manifested itself last Friday. We played on Thursday. The next day at work, I felt terrible. I could not keep my eyes open. We played a Matrix hair convention Friday night, so I was able to leave work early and catch a cat nap before I had to leave for the gig. It was a rough night. I prayed that my voice would last and it did. I did not have to work Saturday morning and the band was off Saturday night, so I slept all day Saturday. I still felt bad on Sunday and slept all day Sunday. I have been using homeopathic remedies, such as wine and hot toddies, along with vitamins, and you know what- I feel better today!