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Some Local Vibes
Thursday, work at Epic, the usual routine.
Super hot. We had hoped it would rain but sadly it did not, so it was just stiflingly humid.
Our sets were well attended however, and I saw Small Bee Photography there again, so perhaps we'll have some nice photos of our sets too :) It is so incredibly awesome of these pro photographers to give us FREE access to the images that they take.
At the final set there was a "show dump" happening right when we were going out to start our performance.
A "show dump" just means the audience is clearing out of the theatre and back into the street. The circus was dumping, and all the people who had just seen that show were pouring into our performance space in Place Cachee. We only have one handler and there was no way she could clear all those people out by herself.
(photo courtesy touringplans.com)
So I went out there as Phillipa, ahead of our cart and the handler.
Saw our tech fighting the sea of people to get to his audio spot.
Planted myself in the middle of the square packed with people, looked around, and shouted,
"AH, SACRE BLEU! I MUST TEST ZE ACOUSTICS IN ZIS SPACE!"
Put my trombone up and started playing short loud notes: "BAP BAP BAP"
...and a few longer ones right at eye level for good measure: "BLAAAAAAT"
While doing that, swinging slowly in a circle, forcing people to move away from my slide.
They scattered like roaches!
"Jules" came up behind me and parked the cart. "Wow!" he exclaimed, in character. "Zat was effective!"
I gave him a pleasant Phillipa smile. "Well! I do my best."
When our day was done I got ready to go see Mariah's band play downtown. I wiped myself down with a "bathing wipe" that I picked up ages ago somewhere on tour. Quicker than a shower, and ensured that I wouldn't clear out the venue with my stink. Had started to drive over there when Jameson sent me a long audio message. Turns out he's already being poached by another branch of Disney corporate. This is only his second day of work!!
This one is called Disney Live Entertainment (DLE) which is a part of Imagineering and for whom Jameson has interviews MANY times. They want him to be a producer for them, temporarily, on the Disney Magic cruise ship at the end of June! The ship will be in the Bahamas and there's a band he'll supervise during rehearsals. How cool! He was SO EXCITED.
This is the thing about Disney. Once your pinky toe is in the door, YOU ARE IN. Buckle up and prepare for liftoff.
Feeling happy for Jameson, I continued on to Judson's Live, the venue where Mariah's band Raspberry Pie was performing.
Ages ago I promised to come see her play, and was glad to be able to keep that promise :)
I somehow found street parking immediately, on the same block as the venue, and thus I was embarrassingly early!
This space is only a year old and is modern and beautiful. There's a $25 minimum, so I ordered a French martini (vanilla vodka, pineapple juice, chambord) and an ahi tuna salad small plate. Both were excellent and hit the spot.
There are no single seats, just tables. My table was shared by the bassist's mother and an elderly couple who were unfortunately rather bad company. They were regulars who insisted that it was "their table" even though it definitely wasn't; they made us both move so they could cram their walkers behind our seats and then claimed the comfortable stage-facing booth seats for themselves; and then spent at least half the show complaining. Downers! But on the other hand I hit it off quite well with Bassist's Mom, who was very proud of her son and excited to be there for the band's first sold out performance!
Raspberry Pie is kind of modern funk, although I'd say there were ska elements too. Their music is unique, tongue-in-cheek, and generally a really good vibe. I wanted to be present in the moment and didn't record all that much, but here's a compilation of the snippets that I did take.
Bassist's Mom insisted that we get greyhound cocktails together after we discovered a mutual affinity for grapefruit. I hadn't wanted to drink that much but couldn't say no! Going to have to hydrate extra tomorrow, but that's OK :) During intermission I went straight to the merch table. The band members themselves were running it (no time for them to rest between sets, damn!) and they were super sweet and interactive with their fans. I had planned to get a sticker but they also had brand new band shirts, I liked the design so got one of those too. It is purple but the lighting in our kitchen makes it appear indigo.
I decided to leave before the end of the second set, having been up since 5am and knowing that Jameson would want to talk my ear off about his exciting cruise ship opportunity. Got home and as predicted he had a lot to tell me! I listened as he described the job and how it had been offered, his speculations about what it would be like, etc, until midnight when we finally wound down.
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Friday, Jameson had to pop over to Disney to work out some technical issues with his logins, but he was back by lunchtime.
I had breakfast and hydrated, washed our sheets, made the bed, did laundry, typed this post, got ingredients for sesame chicken salad for dinner, got the chicken marinating, and made the spicy citrus dressing. I "should have" practiced but was feeling cranky, don't wanna, didn't. I was in a bit of a mood, perhaps from drinking too much the night before and not getting much sleep.
Ultimately I'm grateful that our non-standard lifestyle does generally allow large chunks of time to rest if I choose. From 2pm to 4pm I was able to doze, read, decompress, and try to gentle myself back into a pleasant mindset. I was 50% successful. Cooked the chicken and assembled the salads, which are napa cabbage, romaine, the sweet-spicy chicken, mandarin oranges, pomegranate seeds, toasted nuts (your choice), crispy wontons, avocado, sesame seeds, and a tangy citrus dressing. Jameson loves it and that makes me happy :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday. I was kind of a slug. Breakfast and mostly practiced, spending 1 hour on Beauty and the Beast and 1 hour on the Chicago tribute band stuff. I am starting to (barely, sort of) feel better about the Chicago music, but will be happy when that gig is over with.
Jameson went for a walk, and we both kind of lazed around, then decided, why don't we use some more of our Disney Dining Discount coupons? We looked at the resorts, and Jameson recommended Flying Fish which is at the Boardwalk resort.
Got our reservations and drove over around 5, enjoyed looking around a bit, and were seated very quickly.
Very cute steak and seafood restaurant with whole schools of glass flying fish dangling from the ceiling.
We each got a drink (sauvignon blanc for me, vanilla bean bourbon for him) and I got the following:
Strawberry Gazpacho (vegan)
Ash-crusted Salmon with Herb Risotto, maitake mushrooms, baby turnips, greens, and shellfish broth
(I got too excited and dug in before remembering to take a pic)
Matcha Bavarian Cream with guava curd, sesame white chocolate, and vanilla panna cotta
Jameson had the shrimp cocktail appetizer, "Frutti di Mare" entree (assorted shellfish with pasta and red broth), and this Hazelnut Chocolate Bar that came with a golden truffle.
All of it was extremely good. The gazpacho was visually stunning and also amazingly complex in flavor, herby and tart and fresh. There were tiny cubed vegetables hidden in it. The salmon was very interesting, I assume it's capped in charcoal powder with maybe a little salt. The crust wasn't very flavorful but did give a fun smoky, crispy texture. The risotto was excellent, and I could have eaten those baby turnips in a bag as a snack lol. The matcha guava dessert was VERY good, matcha and guava go together quite well. Jameson's favorite was the shrimp cocktail which featured plump white wine-braised shrimp, though he loved the flavorful pasta in his main dish too. We both felt "meh" about the choco-hazelnut bar as it was kind of one-note; a little fruit would have been welcome with it, that's all.
Once again we were able to use a 50% off coupon. With tip it was probably about $100 each (in other words it would have been $200 without the coupon!) Very, very grateful for our castmember perks.
Back home I took time to move some of the furniture off the pool deck because we're having it sealed tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, Jameson kept kicking me in his sleep and almost kicked me out of bed!
So I finally just got up ahead of my alarm. Poo-head!
Had breakfast and then moved the heavier pool deck furniture outside of the screen, swept the pool deck.
The sealant guy came around 9:30 and after an amicable chat he got to work.
I had hoped to go for a walk, but received a surprise transcription job so plugged away at that instead (it was supposed to be sent on the 30th so I'm a bit annoyed that I've lost those days to work.)
Pool deck dude was done a little after noon. He always does an excellent job and is THE only contractor we've ever called back (three times now.) I always write him a very good Google review with pictures, so this time he asked me to take photos while he was working and made me promise to add them to my review, which I'm very happy to do. His work was $$$$ and it made me cringe, but I definitely couldn't do this myself and it took him 3 hours, and we only have to do it once every 3 years or so.
After that, lunch and trombone practice, all three sizes of trombone. Then back to transcription while Jameson watched the Cubs game.
Checked my email during a transcription break and was thrilled to see that the music coordinator for BATB has finally sent our music, and play-along tracks!! There are only TEN DAYS until tour begins, and I am seeing our actual music for the first time. Turns out, it's exactly the same as the Australian version. Wooooo!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday: Transcription, rehearsal for the all-chick Chicago tribute band.
Tuesday: Transcription, and finally getting this Chicago tribute band gig out of my face.
Wednesday: Transcription, packing for Epic, getting my trombone stands and mutes ready to ship to Schenectady.
Super hot. We had hoped it would rain but sadly it did not, so it was just stiflingly humid.
Our sets were well attended however, and I saw Small Bee Photography there again, so perhaps we'll have some nice photos of our sets too :) It is so incredibly awesome of these pro photographers to give us FREE access to the images that they take.
At the final set there was a "show dump" happening right when we were going out to start our performance.
A "show dump" just means the audience is clearing out of the theatre and back into the street. The circus was dumping, and all the people who had just seen that show were pouring into our performance space in Place Cachee. We only have one handler and there was no way she could clear all those people out by herself.
(photo courtesy touringplans.com)
So I went out there as Phillipa, ahead of our cart and the handler.
Saw our tech fighting the sea of people to get to his audio spot.
Planted myself in the middle of the square packed with people, looked around, and shouted,
"AH, SACRE BLEU! I MUST TEST ZE ACOUSTICS IN ZIS SPACE!"
Put my trombone up and started playing short loud notes: "BAP BAP BAP"
...and a few longer ones right at eye level for good measure: "BLAAAAAAT"
While doing that, swinging slowly in a circle, forcing people to move away from my slide.
They scattered like roaches!
"Jules" came up behind me and parked the cart. "Wow!" he exclaimed, in character. "Zat was effective!"
I gave him a pleasant Phillipa smile. "Well! I do my best."
When our day was done I got ready to go see Mariah's band play downtown. I wiped myself down with a "bathing wipe" that I picked up ages ago somewhere on tour. Quicker than a shower, and ensured that I wouldn't clear out the venue with my stink. Had started to drive over there when Jameson sent me a long audio message. Turns out he's already being poached by another branch of Disney corporate. This is only his second day of work!!
This one is called Disney Live Entertainment (DLE) which is a part of Imagineering and for whom Jameson has interviews MANY times. They want him to be a producer for them, temporarily, on the Disney Magic cruise ship at the end of June! The ship will be in the Bahamas and there's a band he'll supervise during rehearsals. How cool! He was SO EXCITED.
This is the thing about Disney. Once your pinky toe is in the door, YOU ARE IN. Buckle up and prepare for liftoff.
Feeling happy for Jameson, I continued on to Judson's Live, the venue where Mariah's band Raspberry Pie was performing.
Ages ago I promised to come see her play, and was glad to be able to keep that promise :)
I somehow found street parking immediately, on the same block as the venue, and thus I was embarrassingly early!
This space is only a year old and is modern and beautiful. There's a $25 minimum, so I ordered a French martini (vanilla vodka, pineapple juice, chambord) and an ahi tuna salad small plate. Both were excellent and hit the spot.
There are no single seats, just tables. My table was shared by the bassist's mother and an elderly couple who were unfortunately rather bad company. They were regulars who insisted that it was "their table" even though it definitely wasn't; they made us both move so they could cram their walkers behind our seats and then claimed the comfortable stage-facing booth seats for themselves; and then spent at least half the show complaining. Downers! But on the other hand I hit it off quite well with Bassist's Mom, who was very proud of her son and excited to be there for the band's first sold out performance!
Raspberry Pie is kind of modern funk, although I'd say there were ska elements too. Their music is unique, tongue-in-cheek, and generally a really good vibe. I wanted to be present in the moment and didn't record all that much, but here's a compilation of the snippets that I did take.
Bassist's Mom insisted that we get greyhound cocktails together after we discovered a mutual affinity for grapefruit. I hadn't wanted to drink that much but couldn't say no! Going to have to hydrate extra tomorrow, but that's OK :) During intermission I went straight to the merch table. The band members themselves were running it (no time for them to rest between sets, damn!) and they were super sweet and interactive with their fans. I had planned to get a sticker but they also had brand new band shirts, I liked the design so got one of those too. It is purple but the lighting in our kitchen makes it appear indigo.
I decided to leave before the end of the second set, having been up since 5am and knowing that Jameson would want to talk my ear off about his exciting cruise ship opportunity. Got home and as predicted he had a lot to tell me! I listened as he described the job and how it had been offered, his speculations about what it would be like, etc, until midnight when we finally wound down.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, Jameson had to pop over to Disney to work out some technical issues with his logins, but he was back by lunchtime.
I had breakfast and hydrated, washed our sheets, made the bed, did laundry, typed this post, got ingredients for sesame chicken salad for dinner, got the chicken marinating, and made the spicy citrus dressing. I "should have" practiced but was feeling cranky, don't wanna, didn't. I was in a bit of a mood, perhaps from drinking too much the night before and not getting much sleep.
Ultimately I'm grateful that our non-standard lifestyle does generally allow large chunks of time to rest if I choose. From 2pm to 4pm I was able to doze, read, decompress, and try to gentle myself back into a pleasant mindset. I was 50% successful. Cooked the chicken and assembled the salads, which are napa cabbage, romaine, the sweet-spicy chicken, mandarin oranges, pomegranate seeds, toasted nuts (your choice), crispy wontons, avocado, sesame seeds, and a tangy citrus dressing. Jameson loves it and that makes me happy :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday. I was kind of a slug. Breakfast and mostly practiced, spending 1 hour on Beauty and the Beast and 1 hour on the Chicago tribute band stuff. I am starting to (barely, sort of) feel better about the Chicago music, but will be happy when that gig is over with.
Jameson went for a walk, and we both kind of lazed around, then decided, why don't we use some more of our Disney Dining Discount coupons? We looked at the resorts, and Jameson recommended Flying Fish which is at the Boardwalk resort.
Got our reservations and drove over around 5, enjoyed looking around a bit, and were seated very quickly.
Very cute steak and seafood restaurant with whole schools of glass flying fish dangling from the ceiling.
We each got a drink (sauvignon blanc for me, vanilla bean bourbon for him) and I got the following:
Strawberry Gazpacho (vegan)
Ash-crusted Salmon with Herb Risotto, maitake mushrooms, baby turnips, greens, and shellfish broth
(I got too excited and dug in before remembering to take a pic)
Matcha Bavarian Cream with guava curd, sesame white chocolate, and vanilla panna cotta
Jameson had the shrimp cocktail appetizer, "Frutti di Mare" entree (assorted shellfish with pasta and red broth), and this Hazelnut Chocolate Bar that came with a golden truffle.
All of it was extremely good. The gazpacho was visually stunning and also amazingly complex in flavor, herby and tart and fresh. There were tiny cubed vegetables hidden in it. The salmon was very interesting, I assume it's capped in charcoal powder with maybe a little salt. The crust wasn't very flavorful but did give a fun smoky, crispy texture. The risotto was excellent, and I could have eaten those baby turnips in a bag as a snack lol. The matcha guava dessert was VERY good, matcha and guava go together quite well. Jameson's favorite was the shrimp cocktail which featured plump white wine-braised shrimp, though he loved the flavorful pasta in his main dish too. We both felt "meh" about the choco-hazelnut bar as it was kind of one-note; a little fruit would have been welcome with it, that's all.
Once again we were able to use a 50% off coupon. With tip it was probably about $100 each (in other words it would have been $200 without the coupon!) Very, very grateful for our castmember perks.
Back home I took time to move some of the furniture off the pool deck because we're having it sealed tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, Jameson kept kicking me in his sleep and almost kicked me out of bed!
So I finally just got up ahead of my alarm. Poo-head!
Had breakfast and then moved the heavier pool deck furniture outside of the screen, swept the pool deck.
The sealant guy came around 9:30 and after an amicable chat he got to work.
I had hoped to go for a walk, but received a surprise transcription job so plugged away at that instead (it was supposed to be sent on the 30th so I'm a bit annoyed that I've lost those days to work.)
Pool deck dude was done a little after noon. He always does an excellent job and is THE only contractor we've ever called back (three times now.) I always write him a very good Google review with pictures, so this time he asked me to take photos while he was working and made me promise to add them to my review, which I'm very happy to do. His work was $$$$ and it made me cringe, but I definitely couldn't do this myself and it took him 3 hours, and we only have to do it once every 3 years or so.
After that, lunch and trombone practice, all three sizes of trombone. Then back to transcription while Jameson watched the Cubs game.
Checked my email during a transcription break and was thrilled to see that the music coordinator for BATB has finally sent our music, and play-along tracks!! There are only TEN DAYS until tour begins, and I am seeing our actual music for the first time. Turns out, it's exactly the same as the Australian version. Wooooo!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday: Transcription, rehearsal for the all-chick Chicago tribute band.
Tuesday: Transcription, and finally getting this Chicago tribute band gig out of my face.
Wednesday: Transcription, packing for Epic, getting my trombone stands and mutes ready to ship to Schenectady.
no subject
Also, can't believe you leave for tour in 10 days! It's happening so soon.
Do you have a recipe for the citrus salad dressing??
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Oh yes…now that it’s 10 days away, I feel like….finally.
I first expressed interest in this tour in February 2024.
The MD put my name in the hat for it in August 2024.
I got the offer in December 2024.
When you look at it that way, I have been waiting for this for over a year.
Will be SO GLAD to stop waiting, and do.
The recipe that I used is closest to this one (I think the one I used has less sesame oil and uses some orange juice instead, I’ll have to check when the book is in front of me): https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/orange-chicken-salad/
no subject
Thanks for the recipe link and the pool deck recommendation!
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It is long but there are a lot of layoffs built in for musicians. I have one almost right away when the tour goes to Chicago, then a 2-week layoff in September and a 3-week in December for misc cities where they're required to use local musicians. So through the end of this year I'll only be gone for about 30-90 days at a time.
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That food looks amazing!
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Our poor handler (usually a small girl/woman) runs out there yelling in her little mouse-voice asking people to move and waving her arms, but with a large moving herd of people this does not work at all, so we need something else.
Food was amazing, though imo Brown Derby a few weeks ago was better!
no subject
And LOL to trombone crowd control. :D Brilliant move.
no subject
And hooray for Jameson! That's a lot to process but it's all good stuff!
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Yay for Jameson! And trumpet crowd control is pure genius.
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Sorry, brain fart there.