There's a Bad Moon on the Rise (and it was indeed Full Moon too)

Friday the 13th of June!-No I don't worry about "unlucky" days but I did think of my black kitty Moe, who was at home, probably angry at me for running away again. I hoped Mum was putting him in at night so the Devil Worshippers didn't grab him for their rituals. Hard to tell which is more scary, the raccoons or the Wiccans, in Kitsap County

Reading the reviews on line, I'm rather sorry I missed the Eugene shows. Apparently it was a free for all, festival seating thing, which can be quite fun actually. The Butterfly Lady showed up here, someone who wore angel wings and antenna to the show. I think she was at Britt too, but I was so weirded out by it, I didn't pay much attention. I've moved away from the Hippy movement, honestly. Something about Grandmas in long skirts and Birkenstocks really turns me off, and while I still have long hair, I usually wear it up to avoid the "worn out old hippy look". You see one doper, you've seen them all. (Now you want to talk hippy? The coolest thing I saw was a gal my age at Redmond, and she had her kids' baby footprints tattooed on her shoulder! It had to have been the very coolest tattoo ever, in the whole world).

Checked out of the motel and left Duckland. I had one more quilt place I wanted to stop, in Albany. Years ago I saw Justin do the Brewpub in Portland, and I met the most lovely people there, and played cards with them all day, while we held our good seats in the Pub, waiting for Justin. Anyway they were from Albany, and I always hope to run into them again. Wish I could remember their names.

The store I was looking for in Albany was elusive, so I stopped in JoAnne's Fabrics to assuage my fabric frustration. Found some Harry Potter fabric…… I guess I am going to have to make another quilt out of this stuff now. I like it too much, all stars and twinkling magic stuff. It was cold and rainy…… the windshield wiper acted up and I had to fix that a few times. I forgot to mention like the first day on the road, a rock tossed from a semi gave my window a really good SMACK and I suddenly had a crack like a bee-bee gun blossoming in front of me. DAMN! It always happens on cross-country trips, too. I stopped somewhere and bought some bandaids and put over it. It sounds a little weird, but the soft sterile gauze is what it needs to keep the bacteria and fungi out, which keeps them from being able to be sealed….. and might even help it to keep from spreading. So this is one more thing to deal with when I get home.

I was just glad it hadn't rained for the Britt Festival. Saying a few words of prayer to whatever gods might be listening (Christian or pagan, I wasn't fussy) I asked for good weather for Redmond. Someone somewhere was listening, because it cleared up and was wonderful all the rest of the week.

Blew on into Portland, and did some shopping. Picked up a CD burner/combo with 5 stack player (Sony) for $300, no tax. Also got a movie (I'm behind 4 movies now I have bought on DVD and haven't found time to watch!). Fry's electronics in Wilsonville is the place if you are an electronic junkie. THEN I had to worry about not leaving the thing in the back of Strider, as I can't lock the shell. I tried to find my old electronics workplace, and it's totally gone, blown off the map by bad investments perhaps (no more electronic repair, I guess it's cheaper to throw away the old stuff and buy new now….. can't pay the techs enough to keep 'em busy). The problem is now I have to research on line and find someplace I can buy a needle and belt for my old Pioneer turntable, which I refuse to get rid of.

Did some grocery shopping (kept that cooler in the back well stocked, I hate fast food after a while) and wound up at Brother's house, of course no one home, and I had to wait a while to get in. Their dog Zeus kindly did not bite me (he's one of those Babe dogs, Irish sheepdog, and a very smart hound indeed….. bossy too). One of my nephews blew through rapidly, talking fast on his cell phone and muttering about the poison oak he had gotten into. I sipped some wine and ate my late lunch on the balcony, pulled my stuff together, and finally trekked off for the Arlene Schnitzer Opera House in downtown Portland, where the second Moody show of my journey was to be.

(For the history, the Schnitzers are a Portland family of metal scrappers and engineers, and they contributed a huge amount of money and structural expertise to the restoration of the old vaudeville/opera house, which was part of the Fox chain, probably over 100 years ago. The acoustics are very very very good…….. they don't build them like that anymore).

I had forgotten how truly lovely it is inside the Schnitz; I haven't been back since I saw the Moodies there in 1992. It was the main reason I was even going this night, not because I had to see the Moodies one more time……… anyway when I ordered the ticket, I just asked for the cheapest they had, and was directed to a spot in the HIGH nose bleed section of the upper balcony (oddly enough I actually got a nose bleed that night in the shower, but I'm getting ahead of myself). There was no search of bags, so I strolled in with a full blown camera in my bag, and proceeded to find discrete places to take snap shots of the rococo on the walls, in the corners, and so forth. As the show progressed, I got more shots… not only postcards of the lights on the show, but of the House itself.

Oddly, my nose chose this time to finally clear up and start smelling again! The close bodies, the full house, my Levis jacket that needed washing, my neighbor's booze fumes. They all came through loud and clear! That hike "up the Mountain" from the lobby did something to my sinuses. Maybe I need more zinc! And I hiked the stairs several times, as I ditched during "Gemini Dream" for programs and a hat. They only had one lonely gal selling Moody stuff at the Schnitz and for crying out loud, it was a sold out house! The lines were really horrible!

The sound was great, and the waves of applause coming from the house sounded like the ocean. During "Question" they either had very good wiring, or the acoustics allowed you to hear the entire theatre singing along. A grand old House indeed. The lights and butterflies and kaleidoscopes from the lighting crew were one of the best lightshows I've seen done for a Moodies show. It's a shame that Redmond lost out on the lights.

I forgot to mention, I took some shots with a throw-away camera at the Britt Festival, but probably could have taken in the nice camera anyway. Their policy is "nothing with a removable lens" and I suspect so long as it doesn't look like a gunboat on the end, cameras are ok. These are just my pitiful offerings, help yourselves... there are a lot of other photos out there others have taken; mine are just experiments, and not really good for trade or sharing.

I looked for people like Rhonda, and Tad….. none of the people I have had so much fun with in the past were around. It was also time for "paging Maggie Clarke!" again….. I had left her my seat number on her voicemail, and forgot what her seat was supposed to be. Apparently my seat was far too high to hike, as she didn't come up to look for *me*. But I did see Denise Dersheid, and she said she had been ill, having troubles. I met Maggie May, who is posting all the reviews. She struck me as being a little snooty (well maybe she is just reserved, that's cool), and she had front row seats at the Schnitz. For the price of that ticket, she probably could have single-handedly financed the Tommy Foundation. She was front row at Marymoore Park both nights too, which probably set her back a bit…… multiply that by all the shows she has seen this tour, starting with San Diego. No I don't understand it, nor her opulence. She did some note taking, but I confess I didn't watch her much for details. Nor do I understand Frusty Sue whom was also front row in Portland, and both Redmond shows. But I did say hi to Sue, and gave her a light hug, just because she seems to need it. Another gal, Mary I think, was also in the "scalper zone" the last I heard she was terribly miffed at Ivy for losing some expensive crystal she sent Justin. Well she wasn't too put off, as there she was in the Schnitz orchestra. Wonder where she sends her crystal these days?
Maggie May (BTW) has earrings of Justin picks, and when Nida asked about them, said she had John picks too. Obviously she is a lot more aggressive than I am. After over 10 years of tour following, and numerous times in the front rows, I STILL have never had the courage to ask Justin for a pick. I just can't do it. They are cool too, he has his signature on them. Wouldn't that be fun to play a guitar with Justin's pick? Sigh. Well maybe one day. If I whistle "Tuesday Afternoon" maybe one will jump into my pocket on its own. I got to use real opera glasses in a real opera house this time; my binocs did something other than spy on old friends, or watch birds….. they were wonderful for the high spots in the rafters! Wow again, what acoustics, what I have on my tape recorder so far sounds really good. Sadly I didn't get the second half with "Are You Sitting Comfortably". Fumble fingers does it again %}
Justin wore a blue shirt with tux ruffs (I think?), Graeme did the hula girl again, John is leaning toward a lot of white tux shirts (and they look good too). I forgot to mention John is also living in leather pants, which is good as they wear well and look nice. They were so tight on his legs, if you are close you could tell his cowboy boots have a "V" in the front top. John turned from me one night in Redmond and I caught a shot of a tightly packed butt-bun in those leather pants and for a moment……… I was total animal slavering, and honestly I'm not a John fan! He really does look good in those pants. Babble babble…….. keep up the good work, John!
Graeme was cute….. I think it was at Britt, you could tell he was "checking in" with EVERYONE, he looked at Justin once, like "are you ok?" and Justin just looked at his guitar, and kinda nodded and kept playing. Graeme really does pull people together. He and John got to glancing back and forth at each other a few times too, and John turned to GE once, gave a yanking motion ("Slidezone") and GE obligingly "cranked 'her up". I think that was Redmond the last night, which was a sorta dead show.
The Portland show was hard to connect to, as I was far far in the back (I had front row for all three of the other shows) but this time I had other delights to keep me busy. I sat next to a very handsome Japanese American guy (engineer type) exactly my age, and we chatted quite a bit. (He was pretty blasted, heheh) He said he had NEVER seen them in concert, had listened since the early 70's, didn't even know all the albums they had out, wondered where Mike and Ray had gone. I filled him in on a lot of it. He had bought his ticket at 6:15 pm that night at GI Joe's and it was sold out by showtime (radio promotion did the trick!). The lobby was crammed, people hung all over the balconies and such, before the show. It is a great place to come see and be seen, in the fine old tradition of a community opera house. If you get the chance, go to the Schnitz, you are missing a wonderful opportunity if you don't!
The show was incredible, as was the audience energy. Selling out the Schnitz is no light feat, and they really rocked out, audience and band alike. It was pretty wild. At times, the lights panned back into the crowd, and people all looked like rainbow sherbert, it was really pretty. They laid down an excellent layer of fog, so the spotlights really showed up well. People even held up lighters for "Nights in White Satin"

After the show, I went lurking about the Heathman, seeing if they were there in the bar (it was crammed, I don't think so), and also checking for Maggie Clarke (again). I had wandered through the front rows of the auditorium "paging Maggie Clarke" over and over….. no Maggie Clarke. (Everyone else knew I was looking for her tho'). Maggie was not staying at the Heathman…….. neither were the Moodies apparently. After this fun, I wandered out to the curbside where all the fans waited by the stage door, a dirty dingy street at any time, and particularly nasty at 10:30 pm. (Still asking people "Are you Maggie Clarke?") Someone was shrieking about "good job! You just keep on doing what you are doing John!!" it was a pretty horrible voice, a casual fan next to me started chuckling and I muttered "Call security!". The fanatics are different people from 11 years ago when I first stood in that same medieval Portland alley, and frankly they seemed nicer, and somewhat younger. All ages.

In fairly short order (for the Moodies, usually it's over an hour before they come out, this was only half hour if that) security backed us off, and out came the gals, and Gordon, Graeme and Justin. Justin looked modest and shy, smiled and vanished between two trucks. I was leaning on the wall watching people (who refused to disburse) and suddenly the doors opened behind me! I fell in amongst the gnarly roadies, and said in horror "oh so you want me to help strike eh?" and recovering my footing, ran from the scene…… realized there was a limo in the street, and went over to watch the antics some more. John finally appeared…… threw bags in the back of the limo. Fans whimpered "Please?? Just one??" for signatures. John relented, and came over to scribble a few. And he loaded and was off into the night… a bit grumpily I thought. Someone DID wave (a disembodied hand) out the window tho' not Justin as the wrist watch was on the left hand. And the black lean limo cruised away into the waterfront night.

Only complaint I had about the Schnitzer show was some slob roadie who was hanging out SL in front of the apron before the show. Man was he a pig! Unwashed tee shirt….. groady in general. Maybe the Moodies pay cheap, but you'd think they could afford to buy some soap for their crew whilst on the road. This guy had a bad attitude even, he should have stayed backstage if he was going to be that gnarly!

So that was it for the night of the 13th, nothing unlucky happened, I tootled home and crept into the house quietly. Tried to call Maggie, but she had a long distance cell number, and my brother has cut off long distance at his house! Luckily my sister in law let me use her cell phone to leave one last voicemail for Maggie, telling her the phone number at Brother's, and to call in the morning before 8 am, because I was booking out of that place! (we were supposed to share rides!) And to NOT call at night, as people were sleeping. And thence I crept off to a well deserved sleep…….. hiking up and down the "mountain" (not once but many many times) at the Schnitz had worn me out, I was still coughing too. Maybe if I coughed long enough, my socks would come up!!!!!!

Actually something unlucky did happen, a portent of things to come. Before I got to bed, my nose started bleeding, a LOT, in the shower. Ah, the nosebleed section. It's an ugly spot, but someone's gotta sit there.........