The Gig & The Dugout

The day dawned cool and clear. The sky blue and even a few clouds dotting the horizon.
After a brilliant lunch at this little outside courtyard I went home to get ready. The nerves started a bit, but they were held at bay by excitement as the elevator rose to the 50th floor of the Capital Mansion, the tallest building in Beijing! The night was clear and a carpet of lights and moving neon swam below me like something out of BLADERUNNER. The Englishman was on guitar, the Frenchman on Bass. We toasted with champagne then I went to the mic.

so, i wish i had some more romantic imagery for you, but basically, we were background music and when i went up to the mic it shocked the heck out me because of all the dry air and static electricity! :) It was a great first event, so I was relaxed and had a great time with the singing, even though we had only had one rehearsal. One of the big sponsors and club members came up to me and said what a good job we did and he loved my voice (Whew!). he bought us a bottle of champagne at a club we ended up at. It was a great night.

Needless to say, I was a little bit groggy the next day when Lidia and I had to get up wicked early to get to the hotel where Gan (her husband) was staying. But after the queasiness died down, a sense of disbelief came over me which I just couldn't shake for the whole day!!!

I grew up on American League Baseball, but Major League Ball just the same, and here I was, on a bus with the coaching and medical staff for the San Diego Padres. oh my god. i couldn't believe it. We came in through the team clubhouse and basically we got to hang out in the dugout while the Dodgers then Padres warmed up. HOLY COW. I mean, Treavor Hoffman was two feet away from me, and Joe Torre was about 20 yards away. wow.

So, Lidia had her big camera, and when the game started, she slipped around the side, and I followed, to a little on field press box. Oh wow. I still can't believe I watched a good part of the game from the field- right at 1st base. I was positively giddy. and to make it a completely surreal day- you'll never guess who threw the first pitch!!!! **** JET LI **** !!!!!!!!!! I mean, I've had a crush on him for about 10 years! he was like, 10 feet away practicing his "first pitch" and I still can't believe it. What an incredible day.