From: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com (edheads-digest) To: edheads-digest@smoe.org Subject: edheads-digest V5 #126 Reply-To: edheads@efohio.com Sender: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com Errors-To: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com Precedence: bulk edheads-digest Monday, June 3 2002 Volume 05 : Number 126 Today's Subjects: ----------------- At long last{-and- length}-my FINAL cruise installment [Shellyus@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 22:25:26 EDT From: Shellyus@aol.com Subject: At long last{-and- length}-my FINAL cruise installment At long lastb&-finally- b&here is my final cruise wrap-up Sorry itbs taken so long, but with the Rams Head shows, and guests with me for Appel Farm Fest, I bve been a busy little Edhead! Seeeoooo. Sunday morning arrives and Andrea and I head to the now-infamous lido deck for the breakfast buffet. While there, we notice that the ship has started to sail. Ob&.Kb&we thought it strange that as with when we originally set sail, there was no announcement made. Ah well..whatcha gonna do? Anyhoob& breakfastb&.then we all head to the Q & A. Ok, in incredibly un-me-like fashion, I didnbt write -all- of the questions and answers down; I was just having fun listening and laughing . But I think I got most of them. Here goes! 1. Robbie-who was your physics professor? RS: No one 2. Who answers the emails? Fang, a creature that levitates and looms in the air answers the emails, though the entire band - does- see them. 3. How is Harvey doing? EH: Harveybs doing fine; he got new shocks recently, hebs on his second transmission, and is soon to get a DVD player. 4. When is Julie expected to grow a goatee? RS: She actually had the - -first- one, but she shaved it. 5. Do you have names for your Superheroes on the Superheroes shirts? MC: Well, -mine- is known as bPunctual Manb. 6. We have Robbiebs solo CD and Juliebs two solo CDs, when can we expect b The Mike Clem Experienceb? MC: I donbt know, but when you do..oh BABY!!b 7. Who writes Mikebs comedy? I think we all realized that the ob-vi-ous answer to this is bno one..not even MIKEb. 8. Who is the worst driver? RS: Well, everyone drives -equally well, but there's only one member of the band who's earned a nickname because of their driving~~'Wrong Way'..and that would be Mike. 9. If Ben & Jerrybs were going to name an ice cream flavor after the band, what would the name be and what would be -in- the ice cream? MC: well, it would probably be bEggie From Ohiob and be eggnog flavored. RS: well, itb d hafta have chocolate in it to defer to Julie. 10. Why arenbt you more famous?{which, ironically, was asked by Mike, their agent} RS: I donbt know-YOUbRE our agent!!!! Robbie then went on to explain that they had to make the decision when they started out which path they wanted to take-the quicker route to fame and fortune that would keep them away from families and busy -all- the time and also giving away control to someone else, so they opted for the grass roots approach so -they- could control their careers and everything because they all knew that they would want to have families and would like flexibility. 11. When did you start to look at this as a business? JMW: For me it was 1993. That was when we all left our full-time jobs and decided to do the music full-time. 12. How are the set lists decided? JMW: We have a journal-Chucky-and for years, we have been writing all of the set lists and travels in there, so what we do is when webre playing someplace webve played before, we consult with Chucky to see what we played the last time we played there. ~Mike then got Chucky out of his backpack and read us an excerpt from their first travel on a tour bus where the bus driver refused to drive any further and left them off at a mountain pass and the venue had to come and pick them up. The driver said hebd meet them back there at the pass after the gig. Only one person met him. And he didnbt get the warmest reception. 13. Though webre enjoying QUICK, when can we expect a new album? RS: I worked on material during the maternity leave, as did Mike, but right now web re just enjoying touring and playing and re-working some of the older stuff. Eventually, webll cut a CD with new material, but right now webre just enjoying doing this. 14. How did you meet? JMW: I met Robbie thru my friend, Lauren. RS: Mike and I met in the 5th grade. We were in a band together and therebs evidence and blackmail photos of that up on the website. MC: And our tailor for the band is here today; my Mom made us the famous red felt vests that you can see on the site. Theybre currently available on Ebay. RS: We met Eddie in college and we called him when another band we were in needed a drummer for a few nights. EH: I was a big hit coz I brought beer and could drive. 15. When do you practice? RS: Practice???? 16. What is the burden of your creative genius, Mike?{a question from a plant, his younger brother, Joe} MC: Well, as a matter of fact, Ibm glad that you asked thatb&b&b&.. 17. Do you have any pets? JMW: I have a Golden Retriever named Gem. EH: I have 2 dogs, Bert and Scrappy, and 2 cats, Gizwell and Bo. MC: I left a piece of Colby cheese in Harveybs fridge and it answers to the name of Gerald. RS: You think hebs -kidding-b&.. 18. What show stands out in your minds as a favorite show? RS: We played Wolf Trap in our home area of DC last year and sold it out and that was a a big thrill. EH: We did a show and Mark O'Connor, an amazing fiddle player was there and he joined us on stage for a few songs and that was one of the neatest experiences of my life. JMW: I'd have to say the Warner Theatre show in DC last year. MC: I'd hafta agree..the Warner show. RS: There's also another show that'll always be dear to our hearts; we performed a show in NYC on September 21st about 8 blocks away from Ground Zero. We didn't know whether we should do it or not but we got word from the club that they were back in bjusiness and wanted us to try to come because so many of the businesses down there were suffering because no one knew that they were open and we got several emails from people asking us to come.So we decided to and we had to park Harvey in Trenton and rent a special van service and driver, had to have the contract with us and ID and had to scale down our equipment--Eddie brought his djembe and the bongos and we had the guitars and that was about it. ANd we usually draw 400 people in NYC and there were about 120 or so people there...some of you were there, I know..and after we did 'Oh My Brother', there was just silence and it was one of the most memorable shows I thnk we've ever done. We'll never forget that show. 19. What jobs did you hold before doing this full time? JMW: I have a degree in hotel and restaurant management and was up for a big promotion and a re-location when I decided that I wanted to do music full-time. MC: I used to be in outside sales{which got a HUGE laugh from the crowd} JMW:Yeahb& Mike was a salesman~~shocker, isnbt it? MC: Yes, I was in outside sales for a postal equipment company. 20. What happens to the songs that are rejected and have there been a lot of those? RS: Well, we donbt reject a lot of songs..there are some that we set aside and just kinda shelve. MC: Yeahb&and when bElectric Footballb gets resurrected, look OUT!! I just give any songs I know arenbt gonna work to DaVincibs Notebook. {audience groans} RS: Come -on-; youbve HEARD their new album!!! Just kidding...we love them; we've all been wearing their shirts. 21. What was your most embarrassing moment on stage? MC: I bralphedb on stage once; I had been getting a case of the flu for a few days on the road and I was on stage and we were in the middle of bMaylee, I had a dreamb and I just turned around and did it. Everyone thought I was all Miles Davisb&.but I did it in the key of the song. JMW: but he returned to finish the song!!!! My most embarrassing moment wasnbt an actual embarrassing moment that happened to -me-, but at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival our first year, I was on stage singing bThe Three Fine Daughters of Farmer Brownb and this topless Ani DiFranco fan was walking up the aisle and I saw my Dad coming down the same direction to do his dance and I stood there singing and watching and - -hoping- that she would turn and -not- cross paths with my Dad. But then she was walking up, and he was walking down and he saw her, and I saw him turn around to my Mom and say bKITTY!!!b and then he came down and did his thing and I was -so- embarrassed and we were all cracking up on stage. 22. How did your parents react when you told them you were going to do this full-time? RS: My parents were very supportive of me and wanted me to do what would make me happy. EH: Well, my parents were both music teachers, so they were very supportive and thrilled. JMW:They'll -deny- this if you ask them...and my father is now our #1 fan, but this ie -exactly- what happened; when I told my parents I was gonna go into music full-time, I was there in the living room telling them and my Dad didnbt take the newspaper down from his face and I was crying and he didnbt say anything, then he said, without taking the paper down from his face bwhat are you gonna do; play at Bad Habits for the rest of your life??b and then in the next beat, my Mom said bI think you need to find an apartment.b MC: I just decided to tell - -my- parents with a double whammy to soften the blow; I said bIbm in love with a Haitian man named Pedro and webre gonna do folk music full-time.b 23. Do you see signs of music in your kids and if they wanted to go into the music business, how would you react? RS: I'd kick their -asses-. JMW: I think itbs a little early to tell with my kids. RS: All of my kids are pretty much convinced that Eddie is God. EH: -All- of the kids are mine actually. MC: My son, James definitely appreciates music, but I wanna answer the question for Julie, too. When Julie was in the hospital with complications, I took a turn on the Liam-sitting and he pointed to her guitar case and I played some music and it wasn't til I played some EFO that he came alive and got excited. Though it was only on Robbie's stuff.... 24. How many numbers of 'Harvey' have there been? EH: This is the original Harvey. Though he is on his 2nd transmission. JMW: For the first 4 years, we used our own individual cars, then we got Murray, the van and used him for 2 years, but ever since then we've had Harvey. oh..and major props to Bob coz at one point when they were talking about him, Mike was saying something and Bob turned his mic off. We all laughed and applauded Bob. tee hee. word!! ok...seeeooo....Q & A over! time for signing fun for the band. autographing commenced. next came the beeg group photo in the 'grand atrium', where our running joke was 'hey-you in the grey shirt--move over to the left a little' *grin* after that, as commanded by our fearless sun-and-soiree leader, Greg, we commenced to take over the back area of the Lido deck. we all did as instructed by sir greg and were having a blast hanging out until the weather had other plans. greg scouted out a place for us on the deck below that was covered. we stuck it out as long as we could, julie and a bunch of us vowing that we would not budge until the sky opened up on us. then it did. grr. arrgh. we went down to the covered deck area, bound and determined that the storm would pass and we'd return to overtake the deck once more, but to more epic proportions. well. the storm never passed. eventually even -we- gave up on this and retreated to the sofa laden lounge outside the exciting 'puttin on the ritz' lounge where we all sat and chittered and enjoyed beverages until time to go get ready for the unplugged show. EFO--Unplugged Woman of Faith 'Bob's gone 'old school' and he's doing hand gestures. Everyone feel free to chime in if you need to hear more of me and who -doesn't-??--Mike "Who -couldn't?'--Robbie Hey Little Men 'Steve came up to me and said 'i sat here thru three hours of pain last night...Steve just had surgery last week...so he said 'I sat thru 3 hours of pain and you didn't even play the song I requested.' So screw you, Steve. But here it is."--Robbie Twenty Thousand Hearts Quick Cross To Jordan "It's not about basketball, either!"--Mike "That song has never been so effective as in my 'Shalon Y'all' t-shirt!"--Robbie "My songs can best be described as forgettable. But here's one."--Mike Moons of Jupiter If I Had a Boat Stupid American Oh My Brother{which was to Stod from his friend, Lori, who'd sent a note to Julie} Don't Think Twice, It's Alright "We've decided to break up. Ok..we're back together."--Robbie "Except our new name is 'Music Motion'!!"--Mike Saturday Night on the Cruise with the Edheads{at special request coz Mike's Mom missed it the night before} Mike's Dad got up and mentioned that no one mentioned during the Q & A in the morning all of the money they raised with '9-11 Relief' and how proud all of their parents were of them, which garnered a HUGE sustained round of applause from the crowd. Down to The River to Pray{which they did in honor of the their parents and the acknowledgement} After this, andrea, nicole, kerry, jill, and I went to the photo gallery to check out the pics the cruise lines had taken. yay Carnival!! Little did they know they had taken a picture that would lead the next week to a -great- birthday surprise for one Mr. Robert Schaefer! *grin*{yup...more on that in a later post...}we all dispersed to the wonderful Imagination Dining Room once more. More photo ops. The waiters were doing a conga line and made the mistake of walking by Joe's table. He joined in -directly- afte them, followed by Robbie and then a lot of the rest of us, circling the dining room. lotsa fun, lemme tellya! after dinner, we all went to organize our clothes for the next day, put our suitcases out to be taken, then ended up, as usual, in the beverly hills bar area, drinking martinis, smoking cigars and cloves and drinking beer....playing pranks on each other. photo ops abounded...some *cough* band members...some mannequins......lotsa fun. i was with the more die-hard crew that went up to the all-night pizzeria and then turned in at like, 4:30am{shannon, liz, elizabeth---represent!!! *g*}, though we all had to be out of our cabins at 8:00am{so we could wait for-EV-er in our debarkation lounge. ahh..those lovely palace theatre memories....} 8:00am. Out of cabins. Went to breakfast in dining room for the first time ever. Full table-o' fun representation, too. Word!!! Service: slow as molasses. {I think Jess is STILL waiting on the bagel to go with her lox!!!}Food: not that egg-citing{oooh...baaaaaaad pun!} 9:00am. Well, AFTER 9:00am because of delayed breakfast service. We waited for our color levels to be called to de-bark. Said our good-byes. And waited. And waited. Lauren, estute woman that she is, cracked the color code that they were using, so we had a slight gauge at how long we were gonna be there. We all talked more...and more....who -knew- that we needent have said the good-byes so speedily. hee hee. Eventually, they called our levels and we sped our way to the atrium to customs and then to get our luggage. We, the M-91 grrls helped each other locate our luggage, gave final hugs and bid each other adieu, firming our pact that next year, SAME ROOMIES!!!! I boarded the shuttle bus that would take me to the airport, watched my friends boarding similar buses...watched some new friends getting taxis...watched the band and their families get situated in their sasy lil limo-bus...and I got very sad that the magical vacation was over. I hafta tell y'all-when I was on the bus on the way to the ship from the airport, I was very nervous. I was travelling to/on this cruise virtually alone. I had met one of my 3 cabinmates prior to sailing, but that was only once and it was in September. The only other people I would know on the cruise would be the band and their families and friends, and Ben, who I had been introduced to at, like 2 shows, so I was very nervous. I had never mingled and hung out with Edheads as a group before. I was worried about not fitting in and being an outcast and what would I -do- out at sea and such if this happened. Well, I am happy to say that I had NOTHING to worry about!! This was honestly one of the most fun, enriching experiences of my life. I had a wonderful time and got to meet lots of cool, warm, wonderful people, lots of whom I miss already. *sniffle* Thanks as always to Julie, Mike, Eddie, Robbie, and Bob for not only being so talented, but being such darn wonderful and fun people. Same goes for Greg, Helen, Margaret, and Cathy. Y'all rock! Thanks to the Davidoffs for putting together such a fun, well-managed cruise. My hat goes off to you and I can't wait til the next one! To the best and most fun table in the dining room-SALUT!!! SLAINTE!! CHEERS!!! To KiKi and Mike: Glad we got to hang and visit. Here's to more of that in the future!! To Lauren: Watch that husband of yours and his friend. :) To all of the fun people I met, I look forward to seeing you at future shows{who's going to Falcon Ridge???}and, if not sooner, the next cruise. And finally....the the M-91ers and Bubba: *HUGGSSS*, spooning, love, luck, and lollipops. mad props. shelly who thinks this one may go on record as -the- longest post she has done. ~breathes~ ------------------------------ End of edheads-digest V5 #126 *****************************