The Blind Tenor
For anyone who is wondering why my blog entries have been slow to appear sometimes, it’s partially a case of always being on the move and in between internet signals and also because I spend a bit of time on each entry. I like to get them just right for your reading pleasure... Right now we’re on the bus driving to the venue in Salt Lake City. Here are some recollections from the past week or so.
Berkeley:
Sarah amped up our backstage amusement by buying a miniature pool table. I played a few games with her in San Diego before the show. She claimed to suck but beat me twice.
Los Angeles:
Last week we played the Staples Center where we did the 2004 Grammys. The backstage aftershow scene had been pretty mellow to that point but that night we had a pretty respectable backstage hangout. My friend Emily went up to Josh Grobin and said, “you look familiar...”, not realising at first that the reason she thought so is he’s famous. When she figured out who he was she quickly recovered and quipped, “Oh, you’re the blind tenor!” There were some audible gasps but Mr. Grobin took no offense. The joke survived and the party resumed.
Ellen Degeneres was also there. I had a very nice talk and pictures taken (up on my website shortly) with actors Nicholas Lea (best known as FBI agent Alex Krycek on “The X-Files”) and Raoul Bhaneja who plays Peter in the TV show “Train 48”. He recognised my name while watching the show and he knows my husband (who was still visiting me) from the Toronto acting world but didn’t know we are married to each other. We all had a nice small world moment.
We stayed at the same hotel we always stay at in L.A. and have enjoyed it in the past but now it seems like it’s really gone downhill. This became a running joke as we all traded own hotel room horror stories. After the Jay Leno taping Vince sang, “to the Dump, to the Dump, to the Dump, Dump, Dump”... on the ride back. (Deep male voiceover): “When in Los Angeles, the Sarah McLachlan band will NOT be staying at the - - - Hotel in the future.”
Los Vegas:
After the show some of us went to the Mandalay Bay Casino. At one point while having a drink in one of the bars, Ash went up to the male/female musical duo and requested “Angel by Sarah McLachlan.” He didn’t tell them who he was. When the woman singer got to the line: “it brings me to my knees” she totally fell to her knees and sang the rest of the song from there. We all went crazy and started snapping pictures of that.
Today outside the hotel a smallish man in a big linen shirt, gold chain and faint accent came up to me and said: “I saw you at the bar...”
I immediately knew this conversation was going in one direction only but we were standing in broad daylight with people around and I was vaguely curious how long it would take him to make his pitch. Incidentally I was never at the bar but I had been playing the slot machines while drinking a White Russian * earlier. (I won $150.00). Long after my White Russian I was asked to show my ID while playing the slots, by a security guard whom I imagine was instructed by hidden surveillance cameras to card the girl in the pink top. At 35 I love showing my ID. Back to the Vegas snake:
“...and I thought you had a beautiful face, very beautiful.” He made a grand gesture and sound to signify beauty.
I said, “thank you” and he took that as an invitation to step very close to me and to grasp my upper arm in a very cold hand (most incongruous with the 115 degree temperature) saying, “where are you going?”
He meant right now, but I decided to give him a more dead-ended answer: “Salt Lake City.”
“Oh, but it’s so hot there.”
He came in even closer. His ice cold hand moved up to my shoulder. I told him, “I’m taking a step back now.” I took a step back. His short little arm was now fully outstretched so that it could still rest on my shoulder. And still he persisted.
“I wondered if you would have some dinner, no sex. Dinner, no sex.”
“I’m going to politely decline. I’m happily married. I have my own dinner plans.”
He made one last pitch. “I’m going to my limo over there.”
That’s nice. “Bye bye then.”
“You and your happy husband have a happy future.”
He kissed me on the forehead and I made my escape. I know it sounds creepy and it was, but as with the Gene Simmons incident, there are times where male behavior at its most cliche absolutely fascinates me. This encounter struck me as very Los Vegas and on my way back into the hotel I said to myself, “that was awesome.”
Over and out for now,
-KR.
_______________
* See the film The Big Lebowski.
Berkeley:
Sarah amped up our backstage amusement by buying a miniature pool table. I played a few games with her in San Diego before the show. She claimed to suck but beat me twice.
Los Angeles:
Last week we played the Staples Center where we did the 2004 Grammys. The backstage aftershow scene had been pretty mellow to that point but that night we had a pretty respectable backstage hangout. My friend Emily went up to Josh Grobin and said, “you look familiar...”, not realising at first that the reason she thought so is he’s famous. When she figured out who he was she quickly recovered and quipped, “Oh, you’re the blind tenor!” There were some audible gasps but Mr. Grobin took no offense. The joke survived and the party resumed.
Ellen Degeneres was also there. I had a very nice talk and pictures taken (up on my website shortly) with actors Nicholas Lea (best known as FBI agent Alex Krycek on “The X-Files”) and Raoul Bhaneja who plays Peter in the TV show “Train 48”. He recognised my name while watching the show and he knows my husband (who was still visiting me) from the Toronto acting world but didn’t know we are married to each other. We all had a nice small world moment.
We stayed at the same hotel we always stay at in L.A. and have enjoyed it in the past but now it seems like it’s really gone downhill. This became a running joke as we all traded own hotel room horror stories. After the Jay Leno taping Vince sang, “to the Dump, to the Dump, to the Dump, Dump, Dump”... on the ride back. (Deep male voiceover): “When in Los Angeles, the Sarah McLachlan band will NOT be staying at the - - - Hotel in the future.”
Los Vegas:
After the show some of us went to the Mandalay Bay Casino. At one point while having a drink in one of the bars, Ash went up to the male/female musical duo and requested “Angel by Sarah McLachlan.” He didn’t tell them who he was. When the woman singer got to the line: “it brings me to my knees” she totally fell to her knees and sang the rest of the song from there. We all went crazy and started snapping pictures of that.
Today outside the hotel a smallish man in a big linen shirt, gold chain and faint accent came up to me and said: “I saw you at the bar...”
I immediately knew this conversation was going in one direction only but we were standing in broad daylight with people around and I was vaguely curious how long it would take him to make his pitch. Incidentally I was never at the bar but I had been playing the slot machines while drinking a White Russian * earlier. (I won $150.00). Long after my White Russian I was asked to show my ID while playing the slots, by a security guard whom I imagine was instructed by hidden surveillance cameras to card the girl in the pink top. At 35 I love showing my ID. Back to the Vegas snake:
“...and I thought you had a beautiful face, very beautiful.” He made a grand gesture and sound to signify beauty.
I said, “thank you” and he took that as an invitation to step very close to me and to grasp my upper arm in a very cold hand (most incongruous with the 115 degree temperature) saying, “where are you going?”
He meant right now, but I decided to give him a more dead-ended answer: “Salt Lake City.”
“Oh, but it’s so hot there.”
He came in even closer. His ice cold hand moved up to my shoulder. I told him, “I’m taking a step back now.” I took a step back. His short little arm was now fully outstretched so that it could still rest on my shoulder. And still he persisted.
“I wondered if you would have some dinner, no sex. Dinner, no sex.”
“I’m going to politely decline. I’m happily married. I have my own dinner plans.”
He made one last pitch. “I’m going to my limo over there.”
That’s nice. “Bye bye then.”
“You and your happy husband have a happy future.”
He kissed me on the forehead and I made my escape. I know it sounds creepy and it was, but as with the Gene Simmons incident, there are times where male behavior at its most cliche absolutely fascinates me. This encounter struck me as very Los Vegas and on my way back into the hotel I said to myself, “that was awesome.”
Over and out for now,
-KR.
_______________
* See the film The Big Lebowski.
posted by Kathryn Rose (aka KR) at 8:40 p.m.
2 comments
