Shinybass journal entry 03-7-11

It only took one night to catch up on sleep…

Happy Monday!  It’s happy, I promise.  If you are working, be thankful.  You’d be bored at home.  Don’t lie. You know after a day of being at home you are itching for things to do.  OK, maybe a week.  But doesn’t it ALWAYS seem like we want to be somewhere else?  This minute, however, I want to be here, because my ‘smart phone’ didn’t upload all the cool content I really wanted it to for this journal, and typing on the keyboard is so much less labor-intensive than the phone, so here I sit.

Here was our schedule for this run:

Southwest flight to Phoenix, with a late arrival, but a wonderful late dinner at the Marriott overlooking the 13th hole at TPC Scottsdale. (Yea, it’s tough)

Noon run to the arena for sound check and lunch

3:30 – back to the hotel for shower and change

6:00 – back to the venue for dinner, 8:30 show

11:00 – back to hotel, 7:30 lobby call.  I had half a drink in the hotel bar and realized I was beat, so I hit the wonderfully comfy sheets.

Day 2, imagine the same, except we were in Tampa, it was a hockey arena rather than a basketball arena, and there was rain.  We did get to see some hockey, and we did get to eat spicy chicken wings. However, I didn’t see a hotel that day (relax, I showered before I left the desert), and our show was cut short by torrential downpour.  Hopefully someone snapped a couple of pictures of our Diana Ross in Central Park impression.

Below are a bunch of pictures for your viewing pleasure…

And some images from day 2, before the rains put a stop to the show…

There you go.  Just about the only things you don’t see here are the hours of time our wonderful crew put in to set us all up and keep us moving, and the tear down in the rain after the show.  They really work hard and take good care of us.  They don’t get nearly enough credit during the course of the day, but they are the engine behind our shiny exterior.

I sat next to a 95-year-old woman from Sibley, Iowa on the flight out to Tampa.  She was sweet as can be, and being the old soul that I am, had to talk about ‘things’ with her.  She told me she grew up on a farm and never really had money, but always had the best food, and didn’t have electricity until 1947.  And she has email.  I thought that was the cutest thing.  Anyone 80 and older has a pretty good handle on things, so it’s worth a minute to get some perspective from them.  The woman in the seat behind me was 91, and she was headed to FL to see her 95-year-old boyfriend.  I’m serious.  Another lesson – you are as old as you let yourself be.  She was also a WWII pilot.  A treasure.

The things I see and do amaze me, week in and week out.  Phil’s new show is really good, and different every night.  I love it.  Absolutely love it.  I hope you get to see it very soon!

See you on the road!