Monday, March 20, 2006
The World Gets a Little Smaller
My blogger pal, Michael Manning, stopped in on his way up the West Florida coast, Friday. What a fun time getting to know each other better. I was already deep into my dinner gig when he arrived and Cathy brought him over to Altheas's. They had dinner while I tried to avoid doing Irish tunes. I got away with only three. I don't do seasonal songs well. Probably because I only get to do them once a year. I also lack the enthusiasm for them.Michael and I stayed up way past my normal bedtime. But that didn't stop me from getting up too early. Had a ten minute nap and a jug of coffee before my Saturday gig. It's always a a pleasure to meet a blogger face to face you've only cyber met before. Michael is now number five. I have a good shot at connecting with a few more this year. When I get to NY sometime this summer, I'll try to hook up with Deni Bonet and Golfwidow. Do I know anybody in Austin? I'll be there in May. How about San Francisco or SanDiego? That will be June. I think Kim of I Wasn't Always Like This will be in my area at some point this summer. And Mrs. Mogul is moving to Orlando at some point.
Michael is an exceptional guy who has a long and varied career as a broadcast and print journalist. Those of us who know him well look forward to that day when we see or hear him on the air again. A champion of many humanitarian causes, Michael, deserves a good measure of luck in his current job search. If you've never checked him out, I hope you'll go over to his site and get familiar. If you are at all familiar with the the needs of the working broadcast media scene or public relations needs of local agencies, Michael would appreciate any info you could send his way.
On Sunday, Cathy and I threw a small party for people who were interviewed on my promotional video. As the DVD is five minutes long, I'm having no luck uploading it to this site. But I'm not giving up on it. We had terrific fun with some of the folks from Bella Luna, where we did the shoot, Nancy and Mark Zampella who did masterful shooting and editing and with other friends and fans who were interviewed. Missing was my daughter who is out in San Francisco, visiting her brother and her new niece. If you are enamored by baby pictures, here is my granddaughter, Stella.
My guitar student Jim, who is a very good songwriter, and his wife Diane, an excellent singer, performed a Styx song. They asked me to play lead guitar and harmonica. I'm not a lead player so I kept that to a minimum. Had to teach myself cross harp that morning when I realized I didn't have an E flat harp. Neccessity IS the mother of invention. They sounded great to me. No idea what I sounded like. But a fun time was had by all. Or at least they had somethng to laugh at.
This week I'll begin shopping it around to pick up some off-season gigs. Those of you living in the Frozen Shadows may not realize that tourism in this part of Florida, the non-Disney part, comes to a halt after Easter. My music venues stop hiring and the stiff competition for gigs becomes a battle for scraps.
My finger infections have abated, thanks to antibiotics. Thanks for all your words of concern. My thumb is still sore and I'm using a pick. I kind of suck at that. I'm toying with the idea of removing the acrylic on the thumb and forefinger and limping through the rest of the season with the pick. I'll have to eliminate certain songs. Hopefully I won't have to go looking for gigs with a "Hire the Handicapped" button on my T-shirt. Have a splendid Monday. No, I really mean it. Don't wish your life away.
posted by Bud @ 6:40 AM
Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post: