Saturday, February 5, 2011

day 31 – at sea

a fairly typical sea day here… tho i have beg your indulgence and take a moment to vent about something that has really been bothering me (and ask for diplomatic solution suggestions)… no it’s not the heckler, as i said she’s been very nice of late and has been in regularly with her friends without further incident… in fact, i have to stop calling her the heckler now and call her the guest formerly known as the heckler… anyway, what’s bugging me, is in my top 3 least favorite things to happen on the gig - being touched while i am playing by someone coming up behind the bandstand where i can’t see them coming and them reaching over the rail behind me and touching me - while i am playing!  to have an unwanted touch from someone you don’t know is bad enough, and when you don’t know it’s coming, that’s worse, and when performing, it has nearly caused involuntary backward kung fu-like motions on my part – i would hate to send someone’s dentures flying because of a reflex reaction – i did get an apology from one guest who scared the crap out of me in the middle of a song, and i accepted that…

i played, though, in a dueling piano bar where i was actually encouraged to go ahead and bust someone with my elbow if they tried to grab me or my mic (lest i should have my teeth knocked out or suffer any other assorted indignities) - i have nearly jumped out of my skin a couple of times now by being startled by someone actually putting a hand on my head (super duper incredibly annoying)… this has never happened to me on a ship before, and suddenly on this contract, it has happened 3 times now… i am not sure if it is just a weird planetary alignment or what… i don’t think you should ever touch anyone unless it is an invited handshake, hug or something like that, and certainly not while they are doing their job – would you startle a surgeon or a landscaper or a painter?  granted, no one (but me, anyway) will be severely adversely affected if i am startled, the worst that might happen is i clam a note or stop my song, but geez!  please don’t touch the piano player! 

had a lovely farewell dinner with judy c and feel like i have a new friend and mentor in the world of music… how lucky!  got some great perspective from her on many things and some suggested listening that i will look forward to.  she also encouraged me to really focus on songwriting – i gave her some of my original stuff, and she thinks i should try to shop a few songs…  i think i will try to surprise her and come up with a couple with her in mind… i’ll keep you posted!  my set tonite was a beatles tribute and was very well attended!  i was surprised how many turned out, and a lot of sing-a-longers, too!

another great moment for me tonight, peter cousens did a farewell mainstage show and gave me a shout out before he sang billy joel’s piano man in each show and complemented me and my piano bar!  it was nice to know my boss was there and must have heard that! 

auckland tomorrow!  yay!!!  i mean, i know that weeks of beautiful ocean and tropical islands and sunsets is not so bad compared to what most folks in the states are dealing with right now, but it will be nice to do the next chapter of this journey, the beautiful country of new zealand. 

ciao, df

1 comment:

  1. I mentioned this to the hubby Joy and he suggested that whenever someone touches you while playing you go into Hammer time and sing "Can't touch this". I thought of Rockwell's creepy song "Somebodies watching me, and I got no privacy" But "Can't touch this" might get the feeling across without being too confrontational

    ReplyDelete