Mark in Neverland

Last train to Narberth

2005-03-29T08:31:00.000-08:00

On my last day with Peter Pan, I went to Easter service with my mother. We left early (right after Communion) and my mother drove me to Wynnewood station to catch the 12:01. I got to the theater at 12:30 and met Stephen Purdy, my replacement, in the pit. I showed him how to boot up the equipment and we talked through the book. Then I played the last show, talking to him all the while. Ten minutes after the show ended, I ran out of the theater to catch the 4:45.

I hugged Anne goodbye and said, "I'm off."
"I could see that from Day One."

As I was walking out, she said, "We'll be seeing you again, no doubt."
"No doubt," I replied tiredly.

Anne said to the other Anne, "Notice how excited he is."

Cartoon world

2005-03-27T05:24:00.000-08:00

Above a doorway on Walnut Street.

Surreal scene

2005-03-27T05:22:00.000-08:00

Kids and their parents waiting outside the Academy of Music to see Peter Pan. Note the banner for the Dali show (which I never saw. I waited too long to order a ticket).

Eugene H. Stivers 1921-2004

2005-03-26T10:20:00.000-08:00

At my father's memorial with my high school friends Tim (Chris), Richard, and Emily. Emily said I couldn't take this picture unless I promised to put it on the blog.

Another thing I don't recommend

2005-03-25T05:58:00.000-08:00

When I used an ATM recently, I found someone else's card in the machine. I decided to keep the card and try to locate the owner. But I forgot all about it until Thursday night's performance. During the second intermission, I called information and got the phone number of a person with the same name as the one on the card. It turned out not to be the right guy, and as I was talking to him, Jennifer (who was sitting in the pit that night) said, "His hands are up!" Meaning the conductor. I quickly closed the phone and dropped my hands on the first chord of Act 3.

Pen and pencil set

2005-03-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is the coat rack at the Pen and Pencil Club, the oldest press club in the country. It is for members only. After opening night, I went there with Bruce Schimmel, an old friend (and founder of the Philadelphia City Paper) who was the first editor to publish my cartoons. He just waved at the security monitor and they let him in.

Economy car wash

2005-03-24T11:54:00.000-08:00

My rental car originally smelled as if a raccoon had smoked a pack of Camels before dying. I decided to air it out by leaving the windows open overnight. I woke the next morning to rain; I found little ponds collecting in the inside door handles. I brought out towels to dry it; after I got over my anxiety, I realized that the bad smell was gone. So I don't recommend this method, but it works.

A brief affair

2005-03-23T14:22:00.000-08:00

It was a gorgeous spring day, and I fell in love with Philadelphia all over again. (We broke up the next day, when it was cold and rainy.)

My final resting place

2005-03-23T06:33:00.000-08:00

Here I am sitting at Keyboard 3. I'm behind everyone else and the only musician under the stage. I'm further from the conductor than I've been before. I do, however, have an incredible view of all three balconies and the chandelier.

Music of the night

2005-03-23T06:31:00.000-08:00

The Academy is like the European opera houses that inspired Phantom of the Opera. It's got the chandelier and the golden nudes holding up the ceiling.

Jack Benny come back to life

2005-03-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

When I reminded Bruce that this was my last week, he said, "My God. We'll have to have a party, or a wake, or something." I said, "Sure. If you get a casket I'd be happy to lie down in it." "That's the best offer I've had all day."

Master of our domain

2005-03-23T06:27:00.000-08:00

The basement of the Academy of Music has a hallways full of signed and framed celebrity photos. I saw Pavarotti, Peter Nero, Harry Connick Jr., and this one of Jerry Seinfeld.

Harp sister

2005-03-23T05:59:00.000-08:00

Anne Sullivan our harpist in Philadelphia. As I always do, I asked her if she knew Mary Jane D'Arville of the Virginia Harp Center.

She sure does. Anne grew up in Havertown, right next to Lower Merion where Mary Jane and I lived and went to school. Beyond that, they went to harp camp in Maine together and became like sisters. "Tell Mary Jane I have another lobster story."

I remembered seeing Ellen de Pasquale (of the famous Philadelphia de Pasquales) playing with the Cleveland Orchestra. Charlie de Pasquale was in my class at Lower Merion and I asked Anne if she knew Ellen and whether she had gone to Lower Merion. "I know Ellen," said Anne. "I taught her at Curtis."

Anne is a killer harpist. (Or as they say in Boston, kill-ah.)

Suddenly, she's looking very attractive

2005-03-21T18:31:00.000-08:00

Maxine, who you see bending over, brought in Why Men Love Bitches, a tongue-in-cheek book advising women how to become the kind of rock that men want to dash themselves against. After the show, when the rest of us were going to drink wine, Maxine begged off, saying she had another engagement. I said, "Well, you're certainly a party-pooper..." and then it occurred to me, "actually, you're a bitch!"

The old soft shoe

2005-03-21T18:23:00.000-08:00

In the bus on the way to the Cleveland airport, the dancers discussed their days working for theme parks, including weather so hot that if they stopped dancing, their shoes would stick to the stage.

Center of the universe, part 2

2005-03-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

The wireless internet signals in my Cleveland apartment were weak, but I could sometimes get a decent signal if I put my laptop on top of the refrigerator.

The heart of Cleveland Jazz

2005-03-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

These are Steve and Terri, two of the local Peter Pan musicians in Cleveland. Terri, who plays violin, you'll remember from an earlier post --- she ran the Cleveland Jazz Festival for many years and just recently got asked to run the Detroit Jazz Festival. Steve plays trumpet and teaches at Tri-C College, which is a pretty ordinary community college except for the jazz program. It was the original home for the Cleveland Jazz Festival 25 years ago --- the festival was pretty humble at first but now hosts the biggest names and has a $1 million endowment.

Steve was telling about some of his Tri-C students who have had successful careers. One, a trumpet player I believe named Dominic, was playing along with Louis Armstrong records at the age of 11. At age fifteen, they took him to Wynton Marsalis, who was playing at the Cleveland festival. After hearing the kid play, Marsalis said, "You are going to be famous." Dominic got a full scholarship to Julliard, and at the age of 20 has a recording contract.

Gypsy life --- gypsy rules

2005-03-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

After many of the shows, Craig, Bruce, and Howard go out for steaks and martinis. Some of these sessions go on for hours. One morning at 10 am, I called Bruce and asked him for a ride to the Cleveland Orchestra concert at 11. He said, "Please go without me. I just got in to my apartment, and I'm toast."

And the wine improves the sound

2005-03-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is the top of my rack in Cleveland. Since I don't get Internet in my room, I always bring my laptop to the theater. I check email during breaks in the show.

Tower of shopping

2005-03-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

The historic (train) Terminal Tower is the center of Tower City, which comprises shopping, cinemas, and the Post Office. This week, it also hosts the Cleveland International Film Festival.

Cost-cutting suggestion

2005-03-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

I went to see the Cleveland Orchestra today play Also Sprach Zarathustra. I noticed that the organist hardly played at all. In fact, they could have combined the organ book with the two harp books into one synth book and saved a ton of money.

But no giant ball

2005-03-18T06:56:00.000-08:00

This is the other side of the pseudo-Times Square in Cleveland. Right at the base of the building, under the word "possible", is the Starbucks where I have done a lot of my blogging in Cleveland. Off to the right, out of the picture, is the Hunan Renaissance.

The divine Teri

2005-03-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

I've gotten dinner a couple of times at the Hunan Renaissance across the street from the theater. There is a pillar inside that has celebrity photos attached. Two of them show touring stars of Phantom, including Teri Bibb, who I've worked with at Music Circus on Secret Garden (Lily) and Wizard of Oz (Glinda). She is the woman with long hair wearing a blue jacket.

Problem solved!

2005-03-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

This is the building's garbage chute. I love the sound of stuff going down nine stories. It's really convenient for disposing of difficult people, not that I would ever do that again. Be sure to use a high-quality butcher's knife, not a steak knife from the hotel kitchen. That took forever!

Low maintenance pet

2005-03-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

In the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, this is the stuffed body of Balto, perhaps the most famous dog in history. He spearheaded a delivery of diptheria medicine to Nome, Alaska, in 1925, and inspired the Iditerod dog race. There is a statue of him in Central Park.

But no Naked Cowboy

2005-03-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

Cleveland's Theater District tries to be like Times Square. It has tall buildings surrounding a square, animated signs, and even a ticket kiosk.

Star entrance

2005-03-15T15:03:00.000-08:00

There are four old theaters on the same block in the Playhouse Square Center, and they are all connected inside. To get to the stage door of the Palace, you first go through this opening and then down a long tunnel.

Wickedest plan I ever 'eard...

2005-03-15T05:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, everyone's day off, cast members went to Akron to do an AIDS benefit at a local theater. Here we see a rendition of "Popular," from Wicked, done in drag. They spent $175 on the pink dress, left the tags on, and were hoping to Febreze it and return it the next day.

Center of the universe

2005-03-14T10:36:00.000-08:00

This is the wireless router backstage at the Palace Theater, which enables me to get Internet access in the pit. For a few days it wasn't working, which almost drove me over the edge.

Professional sympathy

2005-03-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

Swan Lake is up at the theater next door to ours, and I often see the dancers in the Starbucks. Yesterday I talked to some of them about Tiger Lily's accident.

Pan-creative

2005-03-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

Terri Pontremoli (left) is the contractor and violin on Peter Pan. She was also the managing director of the Cleveland Jazz Fest for 25 years. Now she's director of the Cleveland Arts Prize.
She freely admits that she is 54 years old and that "after fifty, you go from being a babe to a broad."

Terri and Susan (right) were students together at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Unbelievable muscle tone

2005-03-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

Cathy Rigby after a show, talking to a group of Girl Scouts. She even let one of them fly.

What we have learned from Foucault's pendulum

2005-03-13T14:39:00.000-08:00

Life's a bitch, and then you get knocked over by a giant silver ball.

Tiger Lily down

2005-03-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

Lauren Masiello, the woman in the center, had just been doing Tiger Lily for a week when she had an accident. At 6:45 pm, they were practicing a move where she runs onstage from the wings and two Indians toss her to four guys who catch her. Unfortunately, no one caught her, and she landed on her face. She got off lucky --- only a broken collarbone and a dislocated shoulder. Her understudy went on and did a great job.

Happy detour

2005-03-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

On the bus back from the Art Museum, I fell asleep and went all the way to the end. This gave me a longer walk home, but I passed through this amazing arcade (now a Hyatt hotel).

Vaudeville not dead yet

2005-03-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

Rich's novelty item
Originally uploaded by mark47.

Last night Rich, one of the reed players, brought this novelty item with him into the pit. While conducting the Marooner's Rock vamp, Craig gestured wildly at Rich. Finally Rich understood that Craig wanted the baton-through-the-head, and passed it forward. Craig put it on and did his very best to make Howard and Patrick laugh on stage.

Fur is murder — and hilarious

2005-03-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

The fur
Originally uploaded by mark47.

Last night, a lady hung her fur over the edge of the pit and Craig was daring the reed players to reach up and grab it. Then he pantomimed casting a fishing line over to the fur and reeling it in.

Art critics

2005-03-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

In the 21st century room of the Cleveland Art Museum, there were two girls who came out with some great comments. One (slim, beautiful, carrying sketchpad) walked into the "Leipzig School" room and said, "Oh, snaps! This is awesome!" Then, in the big room, a heavyset girl looked at a big, threatening aluminum assemblage projecting off the wall, and said, "Are you kiddin' me? That is the gayest thing in the world!"

Now it's anthropology

2005-03-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

HPIM2120
Originally uploaded by Mark21.

I bought this chicken salad sandwich in the Natural History Museum. I took one bite and decided to discreetly throw it out. I finished the Diet Coke, though.

No one wanted to get involved

2005-03-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

They told me that the neighborhood around the Natural History museum was rough, and they weren't kidding.

Funny Times

2005-03-11T05:42:00.000-08:00

The Cleveland Heights-based paper Funny Times has published my cartoons for fifteen years, but I never met anyone from there until yesterday. After a great visit, they gave me enough copies of the current issue (plus "Homegrown Texas Dope" seed packets) for everyone in the pit. I also left a copy at Howard's dressing room, but not Cathy's --- I guessed, correctly, that she is a Republican and wouldn't appreciate jokes about Bush.

Lovely, dark, and deep

2005-03-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

This is the secret tunnel from backstage to the lobby. It goes along the full length of the house and comes out at the curved door on the right.

If you must offend, please get paid well for it

2005-03-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

Howard McGillin (Hook, right) once discovered that his teenage son had made an obscene rap CD to sell at his exclusive private school. Howard told him, "This is awful! You can't sell this!" Soon after, Howard received a call to record a song for the first South Park movie. He did so, and there was no more talk about his son's CD.

Free show!

2005-03-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

When the pit door is open, I get a nice view of backstage. In fact, we have to keep it closed, because people in the first couple of rows might see an actor in his/her underwear.

Snug fit

2005-03-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

The pit in the Palace is small. My chair is right next to the door and if I'm in it, no one can pass by. While I'm playing the show, I am securely wedged between the keyboard and the (padded) wall behind me. Very cozy.

We're playing the Palace, part 3

2005-03-09T15:42:00.000-08:00

We had our orchestra read in this magnificent lobby at the Palace Theatre, Cleveland.

Henry's First Law of Thermodynamics

2005-03-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

During setup, I told Henry that I had lots of extra power cords. He said, "Be careful. When you have extras, you run out faster than when you have just enough."

Not so evil after all

2005-03-08T05:52:00.000-08:00

This is the Starbucks across the street from the theater. I'm getting my Internet access here.

The horror

2005-03-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

In Cleveland, we are staying in apartments. Lots of space, full kitchen, but I'd trade it all for an Internet connection. Sometimes, just to torment me, a very weak wireless signal will appear, but I can't use it.

It follows us everywhere

2005-03-08T05:50:00.000-08:00

Leaving Stamford, we get the Peter Pan bus again.

A nice flat surface

2005-03-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

Michael's studio is so small that the only place he could find for his coffee was the top of my head.

Nice ride

2005-03-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

Loadout day: Laura and her special hand truck for the harp.

I got pinned

2005-03-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

Sylvia gave me this special limited edition pin from Bombay Dreams.

Holiday Inn, Stamford

2005-03-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

Nice hotel, but not a great location. Too far to just run back and forth between the theater, but not far enough for the company to rent us cars. But they do put out free cookies, coffee and fruit every day. One day I took a whole pineapple off the tray and ate it all in one day (hey, I don't have a refrigerator!)

Elaine and Diane's New York checklist

2005-03-06T03:20:00.000-08:00

Everything in New York is harder. You have to plan ahead, because once you leave your apartment, you don't want to turn back.

Now please put one in the Palace Theatre

2005-03-05T08:05:00.000-08:00

Near the theater is a Starbucks attached to a public library. There is a connecting door and you can take your coffee into the library.

...and now

2005-03-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

This is the accordion of her dreams... custom made in Italy with handmade reeds. But her Fiddler conductor thinks it sounds too nice, so she plays a $200 piece of junk on Broadway.

Elaine then...

2005-03-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

Note the go-go boots!

Another nice thing about snow

2005-03-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

It gives New Yorkers a new place to urinate.

I'm (not) fixing a hole

2005-03-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

Elaine explained that often construction projects never quite get finished in New York. Someone dug a hole in the sidewalk here long ago and never got around to covering it over again.

Take the 7 train

2005-03-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

Today I also visited Elaine Lord (accordion in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway) and Diane Ford (master's candidate at the Union Seminary). We are on a pier in Brooklyn; behind us is Manhattan.

Super session

2005-03-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

I played some music with Michael, which he recorded. He gave me a toy Casio keyboard to play. At the top you can see that he had to jam a paintbrush in the power switch to keep the keyboard turned on.

Are you looking for something?

2005-03-04T18:51:00.001-08:00

It's probably down and to the right.

Sylvia of Bollywood

2005-03-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Sylvia, the violin in Stamford, with the photogenic Anne Shuttlesworth. Sylvia played Peter Pan on Broadway with Craig before and so took a week off from her regular pit job to do Stamford. Among her many Broadway credits is Bombay Dreams.

We're playing the Palace, part 2

2005-03-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

The outside of the Palace Theatre, Stamford, CT.

It's a Darling little place

2005-03-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

The inside of of the Palace Theatre, with the nursery set on stage.

She has Wicked harp skills

2005-03-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

Laura Sherman, who is taking a week off from the pit of Wicked to play for Craig (she played Peter Pan with on Broadway the last time). She said that anytime Rachel is in New York, she can come see the Wicked costumes. (Now, even more, her friends worship Rachel as a god.)

Longest commute ever

2005-03-03T12:20:00.000-08:00

Two of our "local" trumpet players, both of whom live in Texas.

Far from dead yet

2005-03-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

Last stop: Monty Python's Spamalot. If you can't make it to the show, at least visit their website.

I liked the show, but I ended up sitting behind a gigantic (in both senses) Python fan. Not your usual theater patron. He spent the show explaining all the jokes to his girlfriend, and when the actors recreated a bit from the movie he liked, he would cry "Yes!", stick out his arms, and make devil horns with his fingers. I didn't want to say anything, because he was so huge that he could have crushed me with one hand.

Wacky bunch of misfits

2005-03-01T22:07:00.000-08:00

Michael Evert, a fine sculptor, has these fine examples of the plastic arts in his studio.

Soup's eye view

2005-03-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

After leaving Central Park (and discovering that the remodeled Museum of Modern Art is now closed on Tuesdays) I had lunch at the Cafe Edison.

Historic and awe-inspiring

2005-03-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

After leaving Brooklyn, I went to Central Park to see Christo's monumental "The Gates." It was officially over, but many gates were still up. The contrast with the white snow everywhere made it even more stunning.

Why cell phones were invented

2005-03-01T21:35:00.000-08:00

Billy's family watching American Idol. At the end, I voted five times for my favorite.

I commented that I thought Paula Abdul looked great, and Billy's daughter Anna said, "She's not your type. You go for the Starbucks type." It's like she can see into my soul.

Billy and friends

2005-03-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

I stayed overnight in Brooklyn with my high school friend Billy Aronson. He is currently the head writer for the kid's cartoon Wonder Pets. Every episode is a musical and they have enlisted such Broadway talents as Michael John LaChiusa, Jason Robert Brown, and Bobby Lopez. Billy also played me some rare CDs: the demo for J.R.Brown's new musical Thirteen, about a Jewish boy whose family moves from New York to Indiana, and the original demo of Rent, with Jonathan Larson singing all the songs. I told him, "You could sell that CD on eBay for a lot of money... before you went to jail."

Coloratura assoluta

2005-03-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

Immediately after getting to the Holiday Inn in Stamford, many of us fled to NYC. I rode the train with Gina, Patrick, and Monica. Among the many priceless stories told: how Monica got her Equity card at an audition where she only sang the last four bars of a song.

Eponymous ride

2005-03-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

They named a bus company after us --- and then sent it to pick us up at the White Plains airport!

A definite Kodak moment

2005-03-01T21:14:00.000-08:00

Two of our smallest company members riding together in the Green Bay airport.

The (subdued) roar of the crowd

2005-03-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

The Weidner Center in Green Bay. It snowed on the final Sunday and there were about 270 people in the audience on the evening performance.

I'll get you, my pretty...

2005-02-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

...and your little Mercedes, too.

Where the hippies meet

2005-02-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

More from our dinner at Z Harvest. Les (far right) told me a lot about his days as a music copyist in New York during the 60s, before notation software or even photocopiers.

The facilities

2005-02-26T20:19:00.000-08:00

I had dinner with the local musicians at Z Harvest, a gourmet hippie restaurant. Leslie told me that the decor in the women's room was interesting, so I asked her to take a picture. That's on the right. I discovered that the paint job in the men's room was much more pedestrian, but they did have a candle on the urinal and ice (from the icemaker) inside it.

No atheists in Fox holes?

2005-02-26T20:11:00.000-08:00

The televisions in the public areas of the hotel are always tuned to Fox News. If you try to change the channel they write your name on a list.

Barna bucks

2005-02-26T04:12:00.000-08:00

These bills were used in the temple scene in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Curiosity shop

2005-02-24T06:42:00.000-08:00

I found an antiques store in Green Bay that has player pianos, Victrolas, Edison cylinder players, old radios, even a Tesla coil. It has narrow aisles loaded floor to ceiling, and is very dark, to save electricity. The store is called Ralph's Old Tyme Piano Co., because the first thing he bought was a player piano.

A hero

2005-02-23T21:49:00.000-08:00

The oboist Leslie said of this woman, "Linda is a hero." Linda didn't want to tell her story, but finally told it: a couple of years ago she developed focal dystonia and lost the use of the middle finger of her left hand. Instead of giving up on the flute, she went to a flute maker and had her instrument modified and then re-learned the instrument.

Everyone calls me Urban Cheese

2005-02-22T22:32:00.000-08:00

These are the wireless microphones for various actors. The one that says "Mrs. D" is for Tracy Lore, who plays Mrs. Darling. Hardly anyone calls her Tracy; everyone calls her "Mrs. D."

Urban Dain Bramage

2005-02-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

The Weidner Center at U of Wisconsin at Green Bay. After setting up the pit today I went out to dinner at Subway with Henry, the drummer, and Julie, the stagehand. Henry was having problems pronouncing his order, and said he was "dain bramaged." He later said there was a band called Dain Bramage. Subway has a type of bread called Herb and Cheese, but when you say it, it sounds like Urban Cheese, which would also be a great band name.

Glass and glasses

2005-02-22T14:21:00.000-08:00

There is a Chihouly glass sculpture hanging over the lobby where we had our orchestra read. The sun was so bright some of us wore sunglasses inside.

Let's re-feng shui this S & M squaredance

2005-02-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

Setting up the pit at the Weidner Center, U of Wisconsin at Green Bay.

The Bob & Ray theme song

2005-02-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

On the way to Green Bay, we passed through Sheboygan. Patrick (see Smee, below) started singing "Mention My Name in Sheboygan" and dancing in the bus aisle.

He sails the ocean, blue

2005-02-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

At one point in "Hook's Waltz," Howard interrupts the song by firing a gun and saying, "That's enough!" and then one of the following:
1. "...you saucy schoolboys."
2. "... you saucy eunuchs."
3. "...you kings of codpieces."
4. "...you pirate queens."
5. "...you poncey schoolboys."
and everyone's favorite: "...after all, you are but pirates."

I own a Dell computer...

2005-02-20T05:18:00.000-08:00

...and I drive a Toyota, because I have no soul.

That fabulous face

2005-02-20T04:58:00.000-08:00

Bruce cannot let go of his deer-crossed Mercedes. I told him he should do like James Stewart in Vertigo: find another woman who looks just like Kim Novak.

What all musicians strive for

2005-02-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

From backstage at the Greater Des Moines Civic Center.

Another happy reunion

2005-02-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Keith came back from his other tour to fix Anne's computer, and it seems to have worked this time. Anne and Keith have a special bond; they are closer than most married couples.

The key to happiness

2005-02-18T21:10:00.000-08:00

Jennifer sent me my earplugs. They make playing the show so much more pleasant. I can listen to Henry's excellent drumming without my left ear bleeding.

For $25 less we could have stayed at the Un-Savery

2005-02-18T17:12:00.000-08:00

The Renaissance Savery Hotel, where most of us are staying, is a fine hotel that offers free treats like Hershey's Kisses, Dove chocolate, and doughnut holes.

They've got your back

2005-02-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

Davenport, IA, is the birthplace of chiropractic.

Reunion

2005-02-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Today I drove to Davenport to see Rosanne(my old friend from Peace Corps) and Van. First I went to their house and Van showed me around. Then we had lunch with Rosanne at Centro, a lovely Italian place. Then Van drove me around town and showed me the houses they almost bought.

Van is from a small town near Green Bay, and he told me some great stories about Packer fans. The stadium seats about 75,000, and they do not sell single tickets -- only season tickets. Every one is sold, and the waiting list is, by most estimations, approximately 50 years. People have been known to keep a dead relative's checking account open and sign his name to checks to hold on to a season ticket. Also, people put the names of not-yet-born descendants on the waiting list in the hopes that during their lifetime they will get to the top of the list.

A word of caution

2005-02-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

So please, rape and pillage responsibly.