Oct 1,2 (1993) Lake Tahoe-- have no idea what happened. But I’m pretty sure I went to this.

At one of our gatherings, the Moody Bitches were busily smoking their weed (all but me of course, the Girl Scout). Barb casually sucked a doob, and said in her sultry German accent "Vhat is wit der cow horns?"

Sarah and I literally fell to the floor screaming and rolling. This show, some fans had shown up, wearing red horns. Ever see Dolly Parton shows and "Haloes and Horns"? There are folks in her fan base who wear red glow horns. Well they came to Moody shows for a while too. They were supposed to be cute little devils (they had tails too). Thus were the Red Horned Cows christened. We might not have been so cruel, except that a couple of them were the types who screamed in your ears (at age 45 we are still doing this????), and they were just a tad pushy (with the weight to be dangerous too). I think they had something going from Patch Adams if you remember that movie, one of their group had cancer, so it was perhaps well intentioned, but still pretty strange, some hospice thing. Anyway I never figured it out, and I was rather glad when they left the fan club for "greener pastures" to coin a phrase. They would wear these things during "The Other Side of Life" (a rather good song) and totally wrecked it for many of us. The blue glow wands are strange enough, but at least they fit the décor.

If I ever become terminal with cancer, please don’t send me to the Red Horned Cow hospice. The few of them I met seemed like very mean people.

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March 24, 1994?

Apparently the only shows I saw this year were at Vegas, and that would have been the weekend of March 24. I got there Friday (there had been a show Thursday), and Charlene Kellenburg picked me up (she had moved there from the Bay Area, and it was nice to see her again). Charelene is one of those Old Time fans, she joined back in the early 70’s and told some stories about Justin and his horse and all that, when the fan club was still small and rather gentle.

The flight in had been a seat gripper. I asked for a window seat and got it, and we were flying Alaska Airlines, which I had always thought was a good company, most of the pilots are former Navy. I learned different this time. The fuel Probes (cells) outside the window were NOT sealed, and once we got to 30,000 feet, and the wing cell pressurized, it started leaking. It wasn’t just a little dampness, it was enough to pour off the wing and down into the flaps. Jesus!!!!!!!!!! I tried pointing it out to one of the dingiest stewards I had ever met in my life, and after I finally raised my voice so that half the compartment could hear me (the people in front of me started looking nervous) the ditz said "oh I’m not worried about it, so long as the wing doesn’t fall off!" No worries, it was just a matter of time!

We came into Vegas under virga, and that too had me gripping the seat, but the pilot knew his stuff and set us down ok. The bad news was all the leaking fuel washed off the wing so you couldn’t tell it had been dripping like a hose. I drew a sketch of it and handed it to the pilot as I got off the plane. I never flew Alaska Airlines again. And it turned out I was right, as a few years later, one of their birds would take a dive straight into the waters off Santa Barbara with a badly adjusted jack screw. That is just bad, sloppy maintenance.

Vegas as Moody Mecca was always been talked about on the nets, and in letters, articles etc. I heard rumors like I’ve never heard before or since out of the crowd that used to do the shows here. I don’t think I had ever been to Vegas before this trip, just had heard about it. I wasn’t shocked, but it sure was an interesting place. Having said that, certainly NOT my cup of tea.

Stephan and I had a room at Caesar’s in some obscure tower…. The hotel was huge. Staying here so you could stalk the Moodies, or hope to bump into them was a joke. Caesar’s Palace is like a city unto itself. Inside there is a magic ceiling, just like it’s outside (rather like JK Rowling described in her Harry Potter books, of all things). I found the mall rather fascinating and we spent a good deal of time in there, mostly window shopping.

Stephan and I and Charlene made it to one of the fan get togethers, and I have blanked out most of what happened, because frankly I was pretty bored and under whelmed. I did get to meet pbaub for the first time, someone I had met on line.

I made eye contact with another "unusual" person too, unusual in that she looked like a rational business woman you might meet in a corporate board room rather than at a fanny gathering in Vegas. She was blonde, pretty, wearing a plain but elegant dress. She and I made eye contact, our eyes got bigger, and we read each other’s minds as in "what the hell IS all this?" Apparently as I found out later, this was Emily Lodge herself, she just started showing up at fan gatherings, trying to figure out what it all meant. Most of the fans were far too wrapped up in 1) themselves or 2) their clique or 3) their presentation (that is, their fanny earrings, their fanny jackets with Moody pins all over them). Something like that. Emily wasn’t doing any of that. She was just sitting there, being part of it. And watching and learning.

Stephan and I didn’t stick around long, and (leaving a perfectly good jacket behind him) we departed for our rooms. I’m still mad about that jacket, it was expensive and my kid was being a flake!

Stephan stayed in the room for the Friday night show, happily playing Nintendo or watching the telly (God I raised a TV veggie). It may have been that night, but the fire alarm went off about 2 am once, and Stephan came up out of bed cussing a blue streak. I was impressed, as he really isn’t a potty mouth, but he sure had a command of the vernacular. I wonder if some Moody fan wasn’t trying to flush the band out in their skivvies and pulled the alarm. Boy it was annoying, and I put on some clothes and padded out in the hall just to make sure there was no smoke. Nope. They took their time turning it off, and I don’t think we ever got any decent sleep. Man next time it’s Motel 8 for me!

I mis-remember which night it was when someone in the front rows pulled a Grover puppet out and waved it at Graeme as he recited his poem. Man………. Like I say the fan stuff got really weird a few times, and it all came to Vegas, baby. Another night, someone came around right before curtain call and gave us pink carnations to throw, which we did, all at once. It looked really cool. Then some drunk over a few chairs from me threw a glass with ice, and hit John. The poor guy ducked, and bless his heart kept on smiling and clapping. I was horrified.

Another night after the show, Rhonda and I got on the elevator, both of us wearing heels and skirts, and we looked pretty good if I do say so myself. Graeme got on at the next floor and the car went dead silent. Someone muttered "Happy Birthday" to Graeme, and he nodded vacantly, looking down. (Honestly I think he was looking at our ankles!) Rhonda gave him one of her wonderful sketches, and he muttered something about "uh the glow wands". By this time, blue glow wands were becoming quite the thing to wave during "The Other Side of Life". It was definitely a moment.

All the Moody fans were kicked out of their rooms Sunday, for some weird reason that "there was a convention coming in" but it might have been because of that damn fire alarm too. I wouldn’t put anything past a couple of them. I wonder where everyone went? Anyway Stephan and I had rooms over at the Mirage right next door, and it was about half the price for better rooms. Stephan LOVED it! I did too, we put on bathing suits and headed for the pools! Did you ever read Seuss’s Happy Birthday to You? One of my favorite books. Well the pools at the Mirage this year were like that, there were hot tubs, and water falls and all sorts of fantasy places to swim. I lost my dear son at some point, and when I finally found him, started to chew him out. But he had found a friend, another little boy about the same age, and I backed off the screaming mother routine a little. "Ok what gives, you guys?"

The other little boy clammed up, but Stephan told me quietly "We’re following a girl". Hmmmm. I followed them to see what was up. Yep, my son’s hormones were all in the right place. "Ok honey, but just remember, look don’t touch, it’s not polite, and you’re just a little young for that yet". He was ok with that (looks ARE free after all). So I sat back and watched the little boys as they checked out the big girls. They behaved and giggled, and kept on being little boys just fine. The young lady in question seemed quite well escorted for what it was worth, she had lots of big boys to keep her company.

I enjoyed myself too. There were a lot of very foxy Italian men roaming around the place (sigh with bare legs), apparently doing business, because they barely gave the girls a second glance during their conversations. I was very impressed.

Stephan went to the last show with me, and promptly fell asleep on the table, sitting between Ferret and possibly Emily Bartel (?). There was a neat moment, we were all sitting down where the Dinosaur walk goes, and Stephan happened to be wedged in between these two girls just a few years older than him. Three little cuties all lined up and gazing raptly up at the rock gods. Justin broke into the most gorgeous smile you have ever seen. Man he is a sucker for kids!

When the show was over, Graeme practically broke his leg getting over to Stephan (who like I say had fallen asleep, that kid literally could sleep through a freight train). Graeme tapped him on the head, work him up, handed the sticks to him and said "don’t tap them too hard, they’ll break!". My sweet little boy stood there in awe! Stephan is a fine guitarist himself now (picks much better than me), so perhaps some of it rubbed off on him after all.

We flew back home the next day, and who should get on the plane with us but Rhonda Connelly! Rhonda is a white knuckle flyer, and asked me to take the window seat, and immediately ordered wine, gulping it. Stephan and she played with the drumsticks all the way home. (We got off in Portland, Rhonda flew on through to SEA-TAC). It was a great vacation, one of my better Moody adventures.