January 22, 2017 - 11:21pm I just wrote something with THE best hotel pen I've ever written something with. I felt my penmanship go up at least 5 pts with it. For the record, I believe it's wrong to take something that isn't yours... but my God... this pen... I think it was destined for more than a hotel business center. ... I'll see if it's still here in the morning... if it is... it might fall into my bag just before we checkout and drive off. *cough* So... it's SUPER early tonight... I'm not falling asleep looking across the room for the first time since we started the trip. I'm also wanting to get this done earlier because I have some video stuff to do... and I haven't use Final Cut Pro X in a while... and sometimes I'm kinda slow getting my chops back... So today... everyone slept in... which is good... I also noticed that you notice the size of a queen size bed and a double bed a lot more when you're goin' halfsies with your bandmate. I'm generally the last to go to bed so I grab the (side of the) bed closest to the door... which is also the best place for the first person to "turn in for the night". *cough* I don't move much when I sleep... I disrupt the sheets so little, I can almost make the bed as I get out of bed. Other people... not so much.... no so much at all. I'm not complaining... just a little insight... anybody in a band that's toured knows this is a funny (Spinal Tap) reality of band touring life... sleeping arrangements and accommodations. ... anyway... by the time I got into bed last night... I think I had enough space to get most of my body on the bed... I'm a side sleeper so I accepted there was a 47% chance of rolling off the bed... into a space beside the bed just wide enough for me to get stuck... or a 48% chance rolling the other way and... nobody talks about it because nothing ever happened. *cough* Seriously though... it's pretty common for people to get punched, kicked, headbutted, etc accidentally while asleep. We keep tabs... Anyway... I'm sure people love hearing about this... speaking of the hotel room... we've been here for 2 days and it's a disaster. lol. It'll be fine when we leave but it's pretty messed up with clothes, instruments and 2 recording rigs. ... yup... 2. So we finally got up and out the door for breakfast around 1pm... IHOP again... Reid ordered "all you can eat pancakes"... that was amazing. We stopped in at Guitar Center... they weren't joking... Guitar Center sure sounds like Guitar Center. It's everyone playing everything all the time... basically one of my versions of heaven/hell. It's laughably bad... and the kids in the drum section... amazing... just bangin' away... the guy working seemed to give zero f's. I'm all for people playing instruments but it's a mess. There was a little girl rippin' on a distorted electric guitar which made me smile though... the sooner kids are introduced to distortion, the better! Oh... remember how the van is super packed? Reid bought another guitar. :-| Couldn't tell him no though... I actually told him he should buy it. lol. Some people look to me as the voice of reason... but there are times I think I surprise them with my answers and logic. "Hey Mike, I think I might buy this..." "Yes... yes I think you should." "REALLY??" Sometimes you just have to do what brings you joy... that guitar brought Reid joy... I also believe you should do what makes you feel "less bad" and I think leaving that guitar behind would've made Reid feel bad. ... besides... we've cleared out a bit of space by selling merch... we can make room. :-) Back to the hotel around 4pm and I hung out working in the business center for a couple hours. I must say... considering a main part of this hotel is a conference center... its business lounge is sorta the worst so far... it's nice but not as much "stuff"... just a couple computers and a REALLY slow laser printer. Dane messaged me the guys were going to hit the pool so I packed up and headed there. (... forgot to pack my flipflops.) Hung out in the pool/hot tub for a bit, had a mini band meeting. We're all really excited about this year... yeah we're only 2 shows in and there'll be lots of opportunity to implode on the road over the next couple months... but the difference between the first and 2nd show... we've all played a ton of shows and I'm excited to see us (together as Never Say Die) at 10... and 20.... and 50 shows. It sorta sunk in today that we're sorta homeless/nomadic for a while... part of me wishes I brought even less stuff to worry about packing. ... I might dump a few things... or "donate". ... or maybe we need a tour bus. *cough* We left for dinner around 8pm... the parking attendant outside told me earlier if we had to leave with the van this aft to tell the guy working this evening that he said it was alright to put the cones out to hold the spot in front of the hotel. I called a couple days ago to double check the parking situation. You HAVE to watch where you put your van/gear. All it takes is one time to park in the wrong spot and everything is bad news. I pleaded our case and was polite... and when we finally arrived, the guy at the front desk remembered me, as did the parking attendant, and we got our spot on front... marked with cones. The parking attendant this evening wasn't interested in hearing about our arrangement... he insisted that's not how they do things around here. :-| We went back and forth a little on the problem and solutions... I was nice about it though and he eventually caved, partially to get my stupid smiling ass to shut up. We told him we were heading out to dinner and asked him if he wanted us to get him anything. "Can I get to go home??" He reply half jokingly... but it had a pretty sad undertone. I truly believe he wanted to go home... for whatever reason... That being said... he was pretty aggressive and we could've easily got into a shouting match about a stupid (but incredibly safe and useful) parking spot out front of the hotel... I'm not about that though. Sometimes people want to bait you into an argument simply because they're upset... but often it has nothing to do with the actual situation. He was primed to pull rank on someone asking/telling him what to do... meanwhile he could've been primed another day positively and been in a good mood to listen and help someone out if he could. "I hear ya... we're all away from home the next couple months." lol. "... really?" His body language changed and he walked over by the cones to put them out after we drove away. Again... if someone is upset, and you did nothing wrong... I don't think there's a reason to be upset with them too... it's usually always something else... you're just in that space at that time... so try to listen to them. Dinner was good... I needed a salad... too much pizza the last few days... sorta sick of bacon and eggs already too. On the way out I figured to grab the parking attendant something... he didn't seem interested in a coffee... but who can turn down hot chocolate! (... am I right??) Handed it to him when we got back and he seemed surprised but thankful. We chatted about music and bands briefly and I think he apologized in his own way for earlier. #winwin ... and now I'm back in the business center putting some more CD's together to mail out tomorrow and... still need to get on that video stuff. Off to Manhattan tomorrow then we'll start making our way towards Beckley, WV. If... if I can get up early enough tomorrow, I'll hit the gym before we go. ... diet starts tomorrow. - Mike P.S. Somehow it's 2:01am and I'm just finishing this now. ... gym Gods... stop laughing at me.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Mike Langford - Official BlogBeing on both sides of the glass, I get the chance to wear many hats in the music industry. This is a place to share my thoughts, views, predictions, rants, stories and news! Categories
All
Archives
October 2017
|