From: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com (edheads-digest) To: edheads-digest@smoe.org Subject: edheads-digest V6 #180 Reply-To: edheads@efohio.com Sender: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com Errors-To: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com Precedence: bulk edheads-digest Friday, November 21 2003 Volume 06 : Number 180 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Cruise report [Nicole TWN ] Cruise report: part 1 [Kerry Frey ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 08:28:35 -0800 From: Nicole TWN Subject: Cruise report Alas, there will not be many cruise pictures from me. I decided to take the SLR with me, and I'm paranoid about something happening to it. Next year I take the cheap camera. There should be a bunch of arty black/white shots of New Orleans, if they turn out well, plus a few of my snorkeling trip (on a disposable underwater camera), but not much else. Tuesday Nov. 11 Had an uneventful flight out from LA; got into New Orleans around 5. It's 6 by the time I get to the hotel, where my roommates/cabinmates Andrea, Jennifer, and Shelly are already assembled. We head to the Coffee Pot Restaurant for dinner, where we have some excellent crawfish etoufee. After such an authentic, tasty New Orleans meal, we are in the mood for some authentic, tasty New Orleans blues. Unfortunately, all we can find is Bourbon Street, a sort of seedy, down-rent Las Vegas. Still, we hole up in the New Orleans Blues Company for some (very loud) music and something called a Hurricane that tastes like cough syrup and costs $7. I plead jet lag and turn in early. Wednesday Nov. 12 I get an early start (jet lag again). First order of business: coffee and beignets at the Cafe du Monde. They are a revelation: so light! So crispy! So good! I have some tasty coffee to wash it all down, and we take an extra order back to the hotel. There's a sort of private terrace outside our room, lush with plants and gothic decorations, where we hang out under the blue sky and green branches and get powdered sugar over everything. Mmm. New Orleans, we love thee! It's just about time for our cemetary tour (mais oui!), so we find the appointed meeting spot. The water table is very high in New Orleans, so people have to be buried above ground, in structures ranging from humble crypts to full-on mausoleums complete with marble urns and things. It's impressive. The visit is capped with a visit to an actual voodoo temple, which, rather anticlimactically, houses a singularly uninspiring priestess. When *I* think "voodoo priestess", I am thinking of someone like the exotic, terrifying Voodoo Lady from the old Secret Of Monkey Island games; this one had serious trouble stringing together a coherent sentence. After a tasty but much-delayed dinner, we dash to House of Blues, which, we note with relief, is still mostly empty. House of Blues strikes me as a microcosm of New Orleans: it's deliciously atmospheric, all carved wood and flickering shadows. We grab drinks and settle down for the show. Aside from being awesome, it was, above all, a *comfortable* show. The audience knew the band. The band knew the audience. There was a very "home-coming" feel to the whole show, which helped make it a ton of fun. Also, the setlist totally ruled. But don't just take my word for it: This My Town Stupid American Quick Santa Margherita This Is Me Hey Little Man Irish Dream One Don't Think Twice Horse 1K Sarahs Alone Fruited Plain Loitering In The Lobby Jack Can't Cook Minnesota 1945 Simile Song Traffic Jam Cowboy Let's Get Mesolithic Balitmore drums->Eddie's Concubine Old Dominion - -- Candido & America * #6 Driver * * not played Not on the setlist was an unscripted vamp number involving Robbie, Helen, and a boa. Also, Schoolhouse Rock made its first appearance of the weekend, like a terrorist sleeper cell lurching into action.[1] For some reason, HOB decides to kick us out at eleven. I am puzzled by this. If I were HOB management, and I had over 100 people in my bar, I'd have a bartender or two up there serving them expensive drinks for as long as they wanted to stay. But no, we have to leave, and soon several of us find ourselves at Kerry's Irish Pub (cruisegoer Kerry Frey was pleased at his namesake, though he declined to buy the round), where Berkeley convinced at least one stranger that he was the bar's bouncer. I heard that some people made it to a wild spot called Utopia, but I'll leave them to relate those tales. Berkeley and I went for beignets at 1 AM (such is the hedonistic joy of New Orleans), and ran into some of them on the way back to the hotel. Thursday Nov. 13 Beignets and cafe au lait for breakfast again. I drink deeply, in case the cruise coffee is as wretched as I remember. [2] The buses swing by around noon and whisk us off to port. The four of us find our cabin, which has a window this time. However, we are irked to note that it has three beds, not four. They KNEW there were four of us. Four adults, four beds, right? But no, one of us has to sleep on a child-sized trundle despite having paid the adult fare. Shelly steps up to the plate and volunteers, bless her. We get to the cocktail hour and I grab a delicious melon-flavored drink. EFO had printed up some official request ballots, which are distributed along with, direct from the evil mind of Kerry, a ballot on recalling Michael Clem from the office of bassist. He even got Mike (who hadn't read the ballot) to help hand them out. They were untabulated as of Sunday, so everyone harrass Kerry about it. It is after dinner that the first rumors of a piano bar surface. It turns out that there IS one, one floor below the casino; it's a cozy spot named after the bar from _Casablanca_. Manning the piano is a young Canadian lady named Jane, who has no idea of the upheaval about to be wreacked upon her. I wonder when she began to suspect that something was amiss. Was it when the cluster of newcomers started with the requests? (The bar's previous patrons didn't request anything.) Was it when the singalongs started? Was it when Mike showed up? Yeah, I think that would have clued her in, at last. Poor Jane. :) Friday, Nov. 14 First full day aboard ship! Andrea and Jennifer head off to the spa for some pampering. I opt for breakfast and some major-league relaxation. Finally, the SHOW! Opening the show, once again, was a special cruise song. To the tune of "Country Roads, Take Me Home": Almost five stars, it's the Fun Ship Three years running, we're still afraid of water Life is good here, in the tropic breeze Pray we all stay healthy and don't catch a disease Chorus: EFO feels at home Any place in a thong With the Edheads, and Eddie's mama EFO feels at home All our memories--we don't have them All we know is Mike's Sail & Sign number Drinks are strong here--punch & Bacardi Have us all believe in the scam of Duty Free (chorus) All you 3-peats, help the virgins Ellen Schaefer, Kenna Q and Liz Rich Gymnast Bob, Tattooed Raimo and Chris O Kitty, Clems, and Jamie Barth; let's all do the Joe (chorus) All our income--lost in gambling Damn casino, roulette, slots, and blackjack Endless buffee--burst out of our pants Let's all burn those carbs off--Robbie says "Everybody dance!" (chorus) We hear the trip to the Mayan ruins is a ripoff SNUBA dives at Chaankanab [3], lagoon's too far away And one time Julie rented a lame moped And they charged her for an extra day... extra daaaaay.... (chorus 2x and out) And it went downhill from there. I don't remember exactly what was played; for that, I defer to my notebook-wielding cabinmate Shelly. I do know that I personally went 0/3 on my requests [4], so, to the band: Thanks for nothing! [5] There was a lot of crazy singing. There was a lot of crazy dancing. There was a cute moment when Liam wandered across the dance floor and up onto stage. Kerry charmed us all by getting his "special request" honored. (I'll let him tell the story.) Jennifer got summoned onstage to do a killer ASL interpretation of "Monotony". (Rooming with Jennifer was awesome; not only was she fun to be with and stuff, she also taught us to swear in sign language. Let's just say that I'll never look at the Eensy-Weensy Spider the same way again.) Julie forgot the second verse to Fifth Of July and had to read it off the liner notes, while Mike goes "Who are THESE guys? They're pretty good!" Ahh... it was great. Better than great. But we had to go hurry into our formal duds for dinner. After dinner, it was time to head down the little spiral staircase into Jane's piano bar and sing, for some reason, all the TV theme songs we knew. Saturday 15 May Awoke to find myself in Cozumel. I'd opted for the bike-and-snorkel tour. The biking was a bit disappointing. They'd advertised it as "an active tour!" and "a half-hour bike ride!", so I was nonplussed to discover that it was a measly 3km (~2 mi) ridden at approximately tricycle speed. Still, it was a lovely ride, weaving between jungle and beach. The snorkeling was extraordinary--perfectly limpid water, coral, and every kind of fish. I saw big flat fish that swam right up to me, little electric-blue fish, one fish with--I swear--polka dots, and a whole school of striped fish. The Q&A was held right as we set sail, and it proved to be as informative and entertaining as last time. Once again, I'll defer to Shelly and her notebook for more details, because the brain cells *I* devoted to them have by now been pickled in alcohol. More insanity at Jane's, this time featuring Joe Murphy singing "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" to an enthusiastic audience. Also Mike had a whole number worked up to the tune of "Bad Bad Leroy Brown", that went "The Three! Sunday 16 May After the group photo, which included a surprise appearance by Jane, my cabin ran the first-ever EFO Trivia Challenge: eight foolhardy souls vied for the dubious distinction of being the biggest EFO nut. Though not without its kinks, the show went pretty well. Congrats to font of EFO knowlege Elizabeth Phillips, who won handily. The unplugged show was, of course, great, though it suffered from Eddie's absense (he jumped ship in Cozumel). I'll once again defer to Shells, because *my* brain cells are all pickled. There was a version of Blue Jeans that featured Ethel Merman, as channelled through Julie. - --nicole twn [1] Don't get me wrong--I *like* Schoolhouse Rock. It was just interesting to watch it emerge from the song graveyard, as it were. [2] It is. [3] A national park. Stuart and I, among others, would snorkel there the next day. [4] Mistress Snow & Mary Jane Green, Bookends, This Is Me [5] Kidding! Kidding! Put the guns DOWN! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 22:02:16 +0000 From: Kerry Frey Subject: Cruise report: part 1 Our week started with the first Birchmere show on Friday. Julie said during the Q & A it's one of their favorite venues, and it showed. Setlist: Bleecker To Broadway Stupid American Quick 20000 Hearts This Is Me When I Cross Over Jordan Irish Dream 1000 Sarahs No Pain, No Problem Fly Woman Of Faith Alone intermission The Three Fine Daughters Of Farmer Brown This My Town Lady Freedom Independence, Indiana Traffic Jam Cowboy Let's Get Mesolithic One Baltimore Eddie's Drumpire Candido & America Rocky Mountain High -> Old Dominion encore Number Six Driver Walk Humbly, Son Mike had two new songs, "Lady Freedom" and "Cowboy". Both are great, but "Cowboy" is hilarious ("Sits to pee", anyone?). Don't know who wrote it but Julie's got a new blues song , "Alone", that's a great showcase for her voice. We flew into New Orleans on Saturday night, and endured several days of drinking and eating to build stamina for the cruise. Emeril's NOLA was the best food we had there, very fine - I had the tasting menu. We waddled home after that. Clover Grill was in two of my guidebooks as best burgers in town - we compared with Camellia Grill and I had to agree. We even returned twice more (partly because they're open 24-7). The best music (besides EFO) was Beth Patterson at O'Flaherty's Irish Channel Pub. We only caught a couple songs, but enough to know we liked her Celtic/folk blend enough to catch her when she hits Virginia in February. We toured the cemetary (St. Louis #1) and the Garden District, and still found time to catch the Matrix in IMAX at the Aquarium. The HOB show was fun, but a very different vibe between sets. The first set was mostly seated in front of the stage. The second had lots of dancing and a fairly drunk woman with spiky blond hair that apparently hadn't heard the band in several years and kept yelling for songs from the Bad Habits days (like Schoolhouse Rock, which I'm convinced they played partly to placate her and her friends, and partly because they had practiced it in preparation for the cruise). She also was pleading to grab Julie's tamborine and play along during "Walk In Jerusalem". Mike referred to her as the "mechanical bull rider" because at one point she was riding on the shoulders of a young guy she was with (rumored to be her son - everybody now: "ewwwww"). Nicole's setlist is the written one - this what they played: This My Town Stupid American Quick Santa Margherita This Is Me Hey Little Man Irish Dream One Don't Think Twice, It's All Right Horse 1000 Sarahs Alone intermission Fruited Plain Loitering In The Lobby Jack Can't Cook Simile Song Traffic Jam Cowboy Let's Get Mesolithic Have You Ever Loved A Woman Schoolhouse Rock Train Song -> This Train Is Bound For Glory -> City Of New Orleans -> House Of The Rising Sun -> When The Saints Go Marching In -> Train Song Eddie's Concubine Rocky Mountain High -> Old Dominion encore Walk In Jerusalem We lasted with the bar crawl a couple hours (I hope there are some good pictures of Eddie), then took off. We made it to the Court Of Two Sisters for their jazz brunch for the second time Thursday morning. Jill and I had gone Sunday morning, and liked it enough to bring more people the next time. Also joining us were my sister Sharon, my best friend Chris, his wife Jess, her best friend Debbie, and Stuart, who was solo on this cruise. Some of the best Eggs Benedict I've had. We got to the ship and relaxed for a while. We went to the Lido deck to get some food; Mike was sitting nearby. After he left, Stuart's keen eyes saw he had left a receipt on the table. He snagged it and noticed his Sail-and-sign number on it (the number tied to your credit card, which Mike gave out on stage last cruise), which we of course turned back to Mike. As if! No, we gave it to Shelly, then went to the cocktail hour. I saw Mike coming in with yellow 3x5 card on which to vote, and headed him off. I had produced a two sided ballot of my own. The first side (http://www.hemisphire.com/efo/efoballotpg1.htm) was the songs, in order of votes (that got one vote or more) from that poll I ran last month. The second side (http://www.hemisphire.com/efo/efoballotpg2.htm) was the recall. Unfortunately, the band has all the ballots, and I don't believe they counted the responses, so we may never know the outcome (maybe we can petition the Supreme Court?). Also memorable was Mike's toast, which if Shelly doesn't have, I can transcribe. After dinner, people were looking for someplace to hang, but nothing really clicked until a whole bunch of people showed up at Rick's American Cafe. There was a large request book that people were requesting songs from and Eddie was there, but it really got started when Mike led another group of 15 Edheads down from the Casino (a twisty red staircase led down). I pointed out Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the request book to Mike, and the next thing you know, 30 people are singing along at the top of their lungs. It went on for a while after that, but I called it a night not too long afterwards. Friday was an excellent day. We sunned for a while, then took in the show. I had some misdirection going on - I had a trophy for Bob McNichols celebrating 10 years with the band. What only Chris and Jess knew was I had something else to do, which the band kindly obliged me on. "Woman Of Faith" is Jill's favorite song, and I asked them if it made the setlist, and if so could I do a special dedication. So before the song (8 songs in), Robbie called me up. Jill couldn't figure out what I needed her to come with me for. I said "The song is 'Woman Of Faith', and I hope that Jill will be my woman of faith". Then I got down on one knee and popped the question. She said yes, and I put the ring on her finger, then we danced to the song. Pictures from my camera: http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b35adb7aa4d3 Kerry - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Only a lunatic would apply shoe-polish to a weasel. - Neil Gaiman http://www.hemisphire.com emmet swimming concert archives: http://emmet.hemisphire.com ------------------------------ End of edheads-digest V6 #180 *****************************