November 2004

Let the holidays begin! Now that Halloween is over its time to put the holidays into high gear! This month marks the end of the Carolina show, a night spent with the Black Eyed Peas and my first Thanksgiving with my father in 15 years.

 

Pre-show stage

Fergie sings at the concert

Black Eyed Peas featuring sexy Fergie

Just before we finished up the Carolina show I had the opportunity to go to a concert by the "Black Eyed Peas" - one of my favorite bands. They have a great mix of pop, rap, R&B, and even jazz styles. But, I have to admit one of my greatest draws to the band beside the great music is Fergie. She’s the only female member of the band and is just gorgeous! Besides a beautiful face and an amazing voice, she has this set of abs that could make any man drool. She’s on my 'Ross Gellar' list of 5 people I’m allowed to sleep with besides my wife. It was a great show! They did every song of theirs I know, and a couple more. [watch a (most likely illegally-captured) one-minute video clip from the show]

We have created such a great group of friends in North Carolina. It makes it feel more and more like home every year. All the old gang from Club 2000 like EJ and Charity. It’s always so nice to see them. Riki stays with them when he’s in town now. And of course, Robby and April - they’re like family now. We keep in constant touch. They just had a beautiful baby girl, Carly. What a cutie! And then there are all the fans and friends that come in town to visit while we’re there. Eric was one of them. Emo, as we know him, came in town for one weekend. I met him while he was jousting like ten years ago in Arizona. He’s been a close friend of Riki’s, Sarina’s and mine for a long time. We don’t get to see much of each other now-a-days. I guess that’s the other side to the "life on the road" coin. Although you get to see some friends in different parts of the country every year, it keeps you from seeing others.

 

New baby Carly

Dinner at Robbie and April's

Eric (Emo) visits

The Charlotte show ended on a great note. Numbers are up and DVD sales have almost doubled. In addition, the experimental "Boo and Brew" party was a great success! After a couple of re-writes the pirate show we debuted at it is coming along wonderfully. This marks yet another record season for the boys in yellow. I just hope we haven’t peaked yet.

As soon as the Carolina show ended I had to beeline it to the Louisiana show only to catch a plane the next day to Tampa to do a one-weekend show in Clearwater. The 13-hour drive with almost no sleep was grueling only to have to catch a 6AM sunrise flight. But, that’s the price you pay for a busy national schedule.

 

Emo's butt

Jimmy at Cha Cha's

Sharon and Amy at Cha Cha's

Once in Florida we got to visit with all our friends we hadn’t seen in a while including Jimmie Palmer, our enlisted friend on leave from Korea and Iraq. As soon as we landed we went to Cha Cha Coconuts, the location of this past year's 'Palooza after-party. Jimmie met Sharon, Amy, Anne, and I there. We had a great lunch and cocktails and then on a whim, we decided to go to the Ocean Jewel. It’s a gambling boat. Basically, it’s a casino on the water. Unlike most gambling cruises, instead of having to get on the boat, wait 2 hours while it drives out 5 miles, and then be stuck on it for 5 hours until it drives back, this one is moored in international waters and has shuttle boats constantly running out to it. That means you can stay on it as long as you want, get your gamble on, and then leave without feeling like you’re stuck. Plus, the shuttle ride is great and has a wonderful view of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge as you pass under it. We had a great time but were definitely spent by days end. We also got to have a sunset meal on Treasure Island. Eating on the beach watching an amazing sunset really reminds me why I have a home in Florida.

 

View of the Skyway Bridge from the casino shuttle

Post-casino buzz

Sunset over the beach, at dinner

Lunch at Crabby Bill's

Fire whip

Sunrise take-off from New Orleans

Goin' back to LA, in the airplane potty

The one-weekend show in Clearwater was called The Central Florida Pirate Fair. This was its second year and was at a new location. It appeared that they were well organized and partially financed by the city. The only problem was that it wasn’t well promoted. Thank God for our mailing list. If it wasn’t for that, the turnout might have been dismal. The site (Coachmen Park) was small but cute and they had a nice group of performers and local street cast. Most of them were old school festies from the old BARF days. Many of our loyal Florida fans and friends made it out - which was nice. We even got to catch a bite to eat with a group that drove out all the way from the far side of Tampa. We went to Crabby Bill’s; it’s a chain of popular seafood spots in the Tampa Bay area.

We have a little theory between the boys and myself. It’s that we all have a 'mutant power'. Not just us, but everyone. Mine is the ability to find deals and get stuff for free. I’m very good at 'sliding' my way into things and places. I feel that you never know what you can get unless you ask and I’m very good at asking. (And creatively schmoozing.)

Anyway, we got to Crabby’s to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game - it was Sunday - and there were only two separate picnic tables for our group to sit at. And, the only T.V. was behind the bar and it was kinda small. I had to go to the bathroom and there was actually a line! While I was waiting, a guy said "You know, there’s bathrooms upstairs." So, I went up to the little boys room to do some beer recycling. The upstairs bathroom was past another huge dining room that was EMPTY! And, It had big TVs all over it! After my potty break, I checked to see if the TVs worked and got the Bucs game. They did! So, I was off to find a manager. I told her that I had a group of twelve that wanted to drink and eat lots of food and she had this huge empty dining room that was just dying to be used. I further notified her who we were - to help explain the tights - and that we’d take really good care of the waitress. She said fine. I went over to our party and told them all to follow me upstairs. Everyone was pleased. We had a great time and some wonderful seafood! Special thanks to Crabby Bill's and Joanne the manager!

I’d have to say that the highlight of the Pirate Fair for me was the "Extreme Pyro" show. They’re a group of crazies that like to play with fire. They juggle it, eat it, spin it, twirl it, throw it, and whip it...whip it good. They didn’t do the show until sunset to give maximum lighting effect. If you ever get to see a show of its caliber, I highly recommend it. Hopefully Ronn and/or Riki got more pictures or video with their cameras superior to my phone cam. [They did; check out their journals - Ed.] It just doesn’t do the fire show justice. Check out their website at www.firewhip.com.

Just so you know we’ve already been invited back to the Pirate Fair and they’re talking about extending it to 2 weekends. We’re only available for one, so it wouldn’t make any difference how long it runs. And, with any luck they’ll have it running even more smoothly next year.

The following Thursday was Thanksgiving. It was to mark my first Thanksgiving with my father in 15 years. I know this because my father has been remarried for 15 years and was actually married on Thanksgiving. That was the last time we spent the holiday together. Since then it’s been another case of "on the road" syndrome. It wouldn’t have happened this year if it weren’t for the fact that my dad moved to Florida and I got a late flight out to New Orleans on Thanksgiving night. You see we have to perform the next day on Friday morning.

As with all family groups there’s always inner friction. For some reason my uncle Sandy and cousin Sandy Jr. don’t spend a lot of time together. Actually, Sandy Sr. doesn’t really hang out with the rest of the family too often at all. Maybe it’s because he’s moved to north Tampa off the beaten track or maybe it’s because he’s getting older and isn’t in the best of health. Maybe there are even some other issues I’m not aware of. All I do know is that I get along with everyone and wish I could see them more often. It was great having all the Halls together. Me, my father, my step mom, my cousins, their wife and boyfriend, and my aunt and uncle, not to mention my lovely wife, all had a wonderful time. The food, the wine, and the company all made for quite the reunion. I just hope we can do it again before years end.

At about 4:30 my dad took me and Sharon to the airport. I have to get back to Louisiana to perform and Sharon is meeting Sarina and Jill in the French Quarter for some fun and then Riki and I are going to join them after our weekend of performances.

But, I’ll touch on that in my next journal. I hope your Thanksgiving was as fun and filling as mine but much less hectic. My best to all... 'til next time.