SassyBlonde

What is there to say about 34 hours of travel time? Not much except holy CRAP I'm so ready to never see a plane again.

A five-hour flight from Orlando to San Francisco, crammed between a squicky colleague and an old lady going to visit her kid and grandkid, then a twelve-hour flight to Shanghai and another three-hour jaunt to Guangzhou. Holy crap, I'm about as tired as it gets.

I got really lucky for the long flight and scored a seat in the same row as Frankenberry-- that was actually a lot of fun, apart from being stuck in an over-sized meat-rocket for twelve hours. That was thanks to our intrepid percussionist, The Juggler, who figured out we could check in ahead of everyone else via the airport kiosk, so we decided on the best we could get-- a window and middle seat by the galley, which ended up being awesome because the guy on the outside moved up to another empty seat before we took off and we had the row all to ourselves.The Juggler is my hero, and I'm totally buying him beer in the near future, because his quick thinking allowed me to sit and laugh with Frankenberry all the way up and over the Pacific and Alaska and down into China-- a gift that's truly immeasurable by any standard.

I have to admit, one of the things I'm most excited about on this tour is getting to spend some quality time with all of my friends, but especially him-- we're usually so busy in regular life that hanging out usually consists of going to get beers or sitting in rehearsal or at a concert-- not exactly quality talking time necessarily. (Now if I could just figure out how to fit Boo Berry into my suitcase or something for a similar one-on-one stint I'd be perfectly happy. I'll have to ponder that one...) At any rate, that's why I do these tours-- it removes me from the ebb and flow of real life and lets me spend time with some of my most favorite friends (and some of my most unfavorite people as well, but there's the price for the benefit) in a situation so removed from everyday life that it always kind of feels like a dream when it's over. As far as the pay goes, it's a pittance compared to the fact that my bottom line is covered so I can go and have some quality time with these guys.

The people on the tour have shifted again as usual-- a new wind section, same brass players, some new violins and cellos and lots of folks who are new to the China circuit. Groovemaster D is back on cello, as is The Mullet. Rock Star Roomie is rockin' the assistant concertmaster chair and the Troll is back in the first violins, and The Source is back in the seconds. Of course, Bossman is heading up the brass section, Muppet's in the horn chair, and the PTB is back on the low end. Same tour, different line-up, same problems, same bitching, same daily effort to be zen about it all and try to enjoy the experience for what it's worth, including getting to play that music-- all of this while endeavoring to have some quality time with the people you've come to love and escape from the ones you hate, inasmuch as it's possible on a plane or bus.

At any rate, mischief managed, we made it through the flight after a lunch at Gordon Biersch (oh, the tasty, tasty beer) and moved on through customs to our Guangzhou flight, which was delayed, and delayed again, and which had to taxi out to the farthest spot on the tarmac on landing. The ride back in to the terminal on the shuttle took us about 10 km and probably longer than it took us to get to the hotel, and we exited into a really surreal darkened and mostly empty and closed terminal in Guangzhou. Our promoter was waiting for us and soon we were on the bus one the way to the hotel, past restaurants and bars and places still open and hopping at 2 am.

The digs for tonight are a really odd nouveau-Scandinavian business hotel, where I now sit in the cool and bright room (YAY for air conditioning) Now I'm for sleep, because the first concert's tomorrow and there's stuff to see tomorrow morning after breakfast.