Sunday, June 3, 2007

Week #2 in Houston

Week #2 in Houston
Saturday, June 2nd

Thursday, I rode Houston’s light rail train down to the zoo. I had two goals for my visit to the zoo: (1) to see a real live armadillo. (2) to take a picture of the pygmy marmoset – Sheila Marie’s favorite animal. When I arrived at the zoo, around noon, literally all of the animals were sleeping. Of course, I would be sleeping too, if I were stuck outside all day. (Thursday it didn’t rain at all and it was sunny and hot.) Even finding some of the animals was a challenge: the tiger was asleep behind a big rock all the way at the back of his enclosure. The spectacled bear was hanging out in his pool with just his head above the water. Turns out, that armadillos are nocturnal; the one armadillo in the zoo was asleep inside a log. I only got to see his sleeping back. The pygmy marmosets had recently had babies, so they were off in the nursery. I had a nice afternoon, however. (I even looked at all the creepy snakes!) The zoo always leaves me feeling a little conflicted, though. While it is undeniably cool to see all the crazy animals, and while I’m sure that the folks at the zoo do everything they can to make sure the animals are entertained and comfortable, I do wonder if the animals are happy there. How much fun can it be to be an alligator resting on a heating pad and having kids bang on the glass to get a reaction from you?

Thursday night, Siobhan and Angelina hosted a Sopranos inspired evening at their apartment. They baked up an enormous amount of ziti, quiche and sausage and peppers as well as a couple of cheesecakes and invited us all over. Several company members showed up dressed in the height of North Jersey fashion. Lots of dark suits, wife-beater tank tops and slicked back hair for the men. The girls were in their tallest stilettos. Piper even armed herself with a “shotgun” (a water pistol filled with vodka). The food was tasty and the company was fun, but I didn’t stay too late.

Friday I ventured out to the visitors’ center in despair. I asked the nice lady behind the desk: “I’m here for another two weeks without a car. What is there to do downtown within walking distance?” “Well,” she said “there is a walking tour of downtown leaving in just a minute.” Perfect. I have dubbed the tour: Grandpa’s Walking Tour. My guide was a little, older man (he was at lest 70) who took us on a “Tunnel Tour”. Many of the buildings in downtown are connected by private underground passages. Some of these passages are lined with restaurants and little stores, but some are just wide hallways. As part of our tour, we (myself and a woman from North Dakota who was here with her husband for an insurance conference) stopped to pick up his tickets to the ballet and make a dinner reservation for our leader’s anniversary dinner (running errands with Grandpa and paying for the privilege!). Our guide did have some interesting history to impart and knew a little bit about the architecture of Houston’s skyscrapers. After two and a half hours (and a stop at the Smoothie King) the lady from North Dakota had about enough. When are guide actually said: “Hmmmm… What else can I show you?” she bolted.

A map of downtown's 7 miles of tunnels. It should be pointed out that they have these tunnels because it's too darn hot for human beings to be outside. Sadly, the tunnels are closed after business hours and on weekends.

Friday night, in celebration of Suzanne’s birthday, a group of us headed out to the Armadillo Palace to go “boot scootin’”. The Armadillo Palace was all that its name implies. A giant silver armadillo stands out front. Inside, the bar stools are shaped like saddles and the band holds court over a dance floor at the far end of the room. There were a couple of tequila shots involved, and we all had a really good time welcoming Suzanne’s birthday and soaking up the uniquely Texan atmosphere.




The giant armadillo outside.

This afternoon, while Brian and Francesca ran the show, I was able to sit in the back of the house and listen in on the spotlights. We travel three electricians. One (Mike) works on the deck during the show. A second (Mark) runs the light board – he’s the one pushing the “go” button. The third (Eric) is in charge of the spotlights. Two more local electricians work behind spotlights during the show. Eric not only runs his own spot, but calls and supervises the other two. While he’s doing his own cues, he’s calling out their cues (while simultaneously listening to the stage manager call the show). He’s giving them all the info they need (who they’re lighting, where to find them, what intensity, how fast to fade up or down and what color to use in their lamp). I can’t imagine what it must sound like on an opening night in a new city with guys who’ve never seen the show! It reminded me how much is involved in our little show.

Today, between shows, I went with Suzanne and our hair department local to a delicious, dive-y Mexican restaurant: The Last Concert Café. The restaurant is actually several small building grouped around an enclosed courtyard, and we sat in the middle. There was sort of a carport-type roof over us that let in plenty of light (there was a tree & some sort of flowering vine growing inside). We could watch the sudden downpour but still enjoy our enchiladas. It was a just the right amount of low rent authentic. It seems like it would be a great place to see a band and hang out for an evening.

The indoor patio at The Last Concert Cafe.


No big plans for the next couple of days. Casey has to work on Monday and Tuesday, so I don’t think I’m headed over to Austin. Ken will be back on Tuesday, so I’ll happily turn all the personal day requests, vacation schedules and general administrative work back over to him. Playing PSM for the week was fine – but I’ll be glad when our fearless leader is back in the hot seat! It's been great to have Brian here for the last week and a half. His energy has been welcome in the office and onstage. He and Francesca are a great match.

JV

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