“Small but mighty” best describes my crowd at Green Dolphin Street last Saturday. I reckon with temperatures soaring to four above zero I should be happy anyone showed at all. Still, it was disappointing and I was fighting melancholy throughout the night (how will I ever pay the band? And will they be bitches about the small amount of cash I will be giving them?) The boys turned out to be cool about it… After all, I gave them all of the money. And I looked good. I wore a sparkly tailored jacket (rare) and slacks and felt happy and cute. I was still basking in the Liza glow. The horns sounded fabulous and the band was sublime, as usual.
But Saturday’s attendance did show me that I must never slack even a little bit in promotion of these shows. Oy! Does it ever end? And I also have to “beef up” my digging around for work. I don’t feel desperate yet… but, this economy means that folks are really gonna cut the “cost of a band” first thing when even considering event planning so I gotta have an edge…and I have to keep my prices reasonable and flexible. It’s okay though. I like the game. I like the “going after the gig” and I know that I have a superior product.
I did get some alarming news. I heard that a fellow orchestra leader, one who is prominent and charges almost double what I charge, has been bad mouthing me. I heard this from two clients thus far. Ironically, the clients hired me anyhoo so “Ha! on him” but it’s still disconcerting. HATER!!!! He’s telling folks that I might cancel their upcoming wedding cause I “don’t really want to do weddings” and don’t “consider them important – blah, blah, blah,” WOW!! I wonder: why is he making any fuss at all about my shit unless he feels I am getting work that his tired-assed band could have… I would NEVER, EVER bad mouth another band to try to take work away from them. The client also told me that he offered to “put something together” for her for less money. So, there you have it. He betta watch it, cause I got angels looking over my shit. Show business, no business like it, no business at all.
Let’s see what else: OH! KITTY!!
Look…the picture of sweetness…NOT!!
Shana Punim is totally PSYCHO!!! That sweet, calm, mellow shit from before was totally an act!! She leaps and bounds and claws all day and night. She attacks my feet under the covers, eats paper, flings her litter (just the sand not her turds) all over the floor and that really is irksome cause I love to walk barefoot on my hardwood floors -EWWW!!- I hate the feeling of sand underfoot! She constantly bites me (after purring contentedly) as I pet her and last night became fascinated with the fireplace and tried to climb up it – or something. Anyway, the final result was her soot-covered face. It was kinda hilarious. I keep threatening to put her outside in the snow to remind her from whence she came. I say to her: “Remember freezing outside, chasing rats for dinner you little schmuck?” But I think I’ll keep her. Ha ha. Nothing brings me more joy than watching her chase the laser pointer dot down the hall!!
I am debating whether to take another fast trip to NYC to see “Liza’s at The Palace.” I got the free concert ticket but the “hanging out” thing seems only a remote possibility this go round. I can better afford the trip next month and won’t be sandwiched in between so many gigs combined with the fear that my plane will be cancelled and I will miss said gigs. OY!! What to do… I do plan to return at least once a month to the Big Apple. Jim from “Cast party” is an absolute doll and I know that I will be able to sing there at Birdland whenever I am in NYC. And Liza’s MD plays piano there so I think all of those boys will keep the Liza connection open for me. I am looking forward to this new adventure – tackling NYC. It is amazing how it has evolved thus far! Life is good.
P.S. HAPPY Everything! Happy Holidaze!! I am spending the holidaze at home with friends in snow covered Chicago.
LOL I love the laser pointer game. Our newest kitten loves it too. We did however make the mistake of using the laser pointer to distract him from being bad. So now he goes and does something he knows he is not supposed to and waits for the light. LOL You can actually she him twitching in anticipation as he goes to said bad place and knows it is coming. LOL Well that of course has stopped because now we are onto his little game and just tell him “no” and “get down”. The look of utter disappointment when the laser is not brought out is comical.
LOL That and he was sleeping on the back of the couch and rolled over and caught himself as he was sliding down the back of it. He woke up mid-fall climbed back up and looked around to see if anyone noticed, of course we did, as he hit the blinds and made a loud bang. LOL Biscuit and I were snuggling on the other side of the couch and she looked at me like what a goof, what did he do. This is highly funny as our other cat Fluffy is quiet clutzy and falls of the back of the couch all the time. LOL So now we have to clutzes in the house. UGH