Friday, March 31, 2006

LIGHTNING STRUCK TWICE!


So get THIS....I BROKE MY CAMERA! You read it right...somehow, the forces of nature are conspiring against me...and they caused me to break the LCD screen again on my camera! I mean - HONESTLY!? How does that happen? Didn't I JUST get it back? The answer is YES.
And the worst part about it is that there were NO Asians around and me, Chris, Jill and Andrew all have NO idea how it happened. I looked at some pictures we took in the van this afternoon, and 20 minutes later, when I took it out at the restaurant, the screen was back to post-burping-Asian-man status. So...here we go again, Canon Repair Factory. And you can BET that it isn't going to be one of the complimentary fixes. Luckily, my good friend and roommate, Andrew, volunteered the use of HIS camera, during this painful interim...since I take a lot of pics and he really doesn't. Sure do love that Andrew Frace!


In other news...we left Greenville and drove Southeast to Beaufort...and after a quick afternoon of walking around, it's beautiful! But tomorrow, I am going to do some more indepth exploring - so you will have to hang on for those. Until then...enjoy some pics from Greenville that I didn't post earlier - due to the need to report my stint as a law enforcement officer. No real pithy comments or captions...my broken camera-heart can't muster the energy.

Enjoy this, if you can! I'm going to bed to sleep this one off...and hopefully it will all be just a bad dream when I wake up in the morning!

Ciao!
G



A panoramic view of Falls Park.


Another shot of the falls.


The much-celebrated Liberty Bridge.


Different views of the park.


Some more stuff around the park.


The fountain in front of the Peace Center, where we performed. And a B&W of the Peace Center.


L: The fountain and Peace Center, again. R: A cool old buildling in Greenville.


Spring has sprung in Greenville.


L: So this is a little restaurant on Main Street. R: And this hangs on the wall outside the restaurant, just to the left of the front door, where the other sign hangs. Kind of entertaining....

Thursday, March 30, 2006

You Have The Right To Remain SILENT

So hi friends. Today was not your average 2-show day for this blogger...and even though I'm tired, you're going to get a bit of the story and some pictures now. As I have previously discussed, I have a friend (who was a roommate of mine when I first moved to the DC area) who lives in the Greenville-Spartanburg area named Nick. About 2 years ago, Nick became a Sheriff's Deputy for Spartanburg County...which basically means he is a COP! Cool, right? And for those of you who KNOW Nick, it doesn't surprise you that this is what he is doing.

Here we are...post-beat. Just happy to be bringing peace and justice to the people.

So tonight, our last night in Greenville, I got to go on a RIDE ALONG with Nick during half of his shift. And what a TRIP it was! For the most part, to me, here is what I took away from it all: Being a cop, for Nick, is like LIVING a big game. You drive around real fast, you get people on the radio telling you where your next 'game' is, and you drive THERE really fast. You get to talk to funny people, probably shoot a gun every so often, and even help people out, sometimes, too.

Here is our RIDE. Nick is in the back, pumping gas.

I wish I had something more exciting to report about our night. Nick responded to a few calls that initially seemed exciting: neighbor reports gun shots in the woods, man's neighbor is screaming for the cops, man with outstanding warrants for his arrest has been located...but they all turned up to be a bust. I did have a chance to see Nick in action though - as he translated (in Spanish) for one officer who pulled a guy over who had no drivers license, no vehicle registration and spoke no English....except enough to say, 'I work for BMW' over and over and over again.

Here is Nick in action with the 'Translation Stop'.

I don't know if you can see it, but it's ME! With the 'Translation Stop' going on in the background!

Our last stop of my portion of the night was the most entertaining. One of Nick's other cop buddies called him over their system and told him to meet him at a call that had 2 suspicious men smoking 'something' on the callers back patio. By the time we got there, the smokers had moved from the back porch to the local gas station. The only REAL way that I can describe these 2 guys is to refer you to the 80's TV show 'NEWHART'. It was like someone took Larry, Daryl and Daryl and rolled the 3 of them into these 2 guys. They were dirty....they were drunk or high or both....and they were driving a kickin' Moped. (Well, actually, they were sitting on it talking to the other cop when we arrived....but you know what I mean....) And the MOST entertaining part of the stop was when the cops let the guys go (since they swore they were just heading home) but told them that since they were intoxicated, they had to push the Moped instead of drive it. CLASSIC.

Here is the stop with Dumb and Dumber. I just WISH I got a shot of them pushing it off into the night.

It was a good night on the beat...even though there was none of the drama I was hoping for.
And come to think of it, there was NONE of the free donuts I thought cops got, too. I'm pretty sure I got jipped...but I just can't be sure.

There's a NEW Sheriff in town...put your hands UP for Sheriff Anderson!

Tomorrow we're heading further South. Next stop: Beaufort.

10-4.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Today In Greenville....

Today in Greenville, we all just did what we wanted to do. I'm pretty sure most of the cast slept in...because we could. I know that everyone took sometime to wander down Greenville's Main Street...and shop and eat and look around. Eric and I ate lunch at a place called Trio - A Brick Over Cafe. It was delicious. And we had SUCH a great waitress. But alas, they only had plain cheesecake - and how boring is that? So I avoided it all together. After lunch, I just kicked around Main Street for awhile, shopping and taking it all in. I really do love Greenville - and always feel so WELCOME when I am here. Everyone smiles and says HI and is just so dern nice. Later in the afternoon, my good friend, Nate Christensen, gave me a call and swung by the hotel to pick me up. Nate has lived down here for almost a year and works for Michelin Tires - or something like that. Anyway - Nate bought a house at the end of 2005 and is renovating the whole thing, so I headed over to his place to hang out with him and catch up and watch him do the renovation thing. I think there was one point in the afternoon where I was literally watching paint dry. But it's always good to catch up with Big Nate, and hear how he thinks I can be living my life better. Never a dull moment....
Tonight's show was fine. It was actually one of "THOSE" shows - where everything was just weird. For one reason or another, it just seemed like the whole show was OFF a bit here and there. It was good to have some friends in the audience: Nate brought some friends, Nick Hullinger and some of Julie's family came, and then my friend, Claiborne Heilman, who I used to work at WSB with, came up from Clemson to see the show! It's always great to see Claiborne - I like hearing her opinion on things and she is just so darn easy to talk to! Thanks to everyone for coming! Oh yeah - AND The Peace Center, where we are performing, is REALLY beautiful.

Here I am with Nate and his friends, Mike and Toby. To get it straight: L-R: Mike, Me, Big Nate, Toby.

Look! It's Claiborne and I. Wahoooooooo!

Laid back days like THIS are welcome on the crazy tour schedule!
OH - and tonight, Andrew and I saw a commercial for ROBOMAID...and it looks AMAZING! And they were selling them for just $1 (plus shipping and handling of $6) - to help spread the word of mouth. So I ordered one. For me. And I ordered another one for Andrew. And in 3-6 weeks, we will let you know what we think.
Tomorrow 2 shows and then KICKIN' IT, G'ville-style.
Our lives are pretty darn cool....
Gnite.
Gussy


I WISH I could say I took this picture. BUT I didn't. I got it from the website for Falls Park right here in Greenville. It's a cool place...and very beautiful at night.

A CASE OF THE UNFORTUNATES

So I was sitting in the car yesterday, while Nick was pumping gas, and I look over and this guy is pumping his gas. I tried my best to get a picture to show you how...WOW....the jacket was...but I'm not sure it really conveys through this picture. I mean - you can just BUY a coat like that? Or do you have to have it specially made? And does anyone have the number of the person I can order one from?

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

A Greenville Elevator Story



Well, we made it to Greenville, and to a hotel that we are going to stay in for more than 15-29 hours. So that's exciting!


This evening, after getting settled in for our 4 days at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Greenville, my good friend, Nick Hullinger came to pick me up. Nick and I were roommates in Northern Virginia right after I moved to the DC area and have a great friendship that has spanned a Mardi Gras in New Orleans, September 11, 2001 in Northern Virginia and the MADNESS of Duck Beach over Memorial Day. It's always great to come to Greenville to see him and his wife, Julie and to catch up with them. And it's VERY important to point out at this point that Nick is one of the nicest people I have ever met - and he can start a conversation with ANYONE at anytime. He loves talking to people. This trip finds Julie in the hospital in Spartanburg, because she is expecting twins (she is at 28 weeks) and they are wanting to come out. SO - she's in the hospital working with the doctors to keep them IN a little while longer.
After Nick picked me up, we headed back out around their house and grabbed some dinner at a local Greek-Italian Restaurant that, although I can't recall the name right now, did use the word OLIVE in it's name. (The Green Olive? The Fresh Olive? The Greek-Italian Olive? I'm drawing a blank!) The place was good, but the main reason for going there was that Nick was given SPECIFIC instructions on bringing something back to the hospital for Julie: pita, tsatziki sauce and pickles. LUCKILY - this OLIVE place filled all 3 needs.
Nick and I headed to the hospital, and got on the elevator to head up to Julie's room on the 5th floor. Just as the doors were closing, a man and woman stepped on, and Nick, being the friendly guy that he is, asked them, 'What floor do you need?' The woman became the voice for them both when she simply said in her southern drawl, '2nd floor, please.' Well, knowing the hospital, Nick registered the 2nd floor to be the maternity ward...where you go to see the new babies! So, being the affable guy we spoke of earlier, he said, 'SOMEBODY had a baby!' The woman quietly turned to Nick and, to set the record straight, said, 'Actually someone in our church had a baby...' Then there was silence for a few seconds, and the woman spoke again, morosely saying, '...and it probably isn't going to live.'




cricket




cricket




cricket


And then the doors opened and they stepped off the elevator. Trying to salvage some level of grace, Nick waved to them and said, 'Well...I hope things....turn out......ok......'

And then the doors closed.

So SURE, I feel bad for the lady from the church who had a baby who was probably not going to live....but don't you think that was a LITTLE much to share with 2 complete strangers on the ride up ONE floor on an elevator at a regional hospital? Couldn't she have just told us it was a church lady who had the baby and left it at that? And really, since it was just one floor, couldn't they have just taken the STAIRS?



Monday, March 27, 2006

Another Wild and Crazy Weekend

FIRST - the promised pictures....of the PINK MOTEL in Hampton, Virginia. And trust me when I say even THESE don't really do it justice.

Ahhhhhh...the Pink Motel. Magic, right? And it's even a sloppy paint job! Look at the WHITE hiding there at the bottom of all the walls! UN-believable.

Here is how most everyones weekend has gone: Friday, show in Newport News. Saturday, pack up and head South to Wilmington, NC. Sunday, 2 shows in Wilmington, NC - pack up and head West to Pembroke, NC. And then on Monday, we will be doing 1 show in Pembroke, and then head further West to Greenville, SC. It's enough to make your head spin, right!?


My weekend was even crazier than THAT, because I got the bright idea to go to an audition on Saturday. Where? In...................wait for it................GETTYSBURG, PENNYSLVANIA. Why? Why not, really. I had 12 free hours, so I did it. The logistics of my weekend were this: Friday, finish up in Newport News, visit with my friends who came to the show, and then head up to DC - arriving at about...oh....2am. Meet up with roommate and good friend, TYLER (who JUST started reading my blog....the NERVE!), and head to the T Street House - get there and spend some time catching up with him and then crash. Wake up at 6:30am, after 2 1/2 hours of sleep, get ready and head to Gettysburg with my friend, Katie. So we get to Gettysburg, wait in line and in the cold, meet my NEW FRIEND, ROE (who has been a faithful reader of this blog from the BEGINNING, Tyler. Take a note....), wait some more, finally do the audition, pretty much blow the audition (which was NOT part of the plan), head back to DC, meet up with Tyler and my other friends, Rachel and Stephanie, eat some Cheesecake Factory (Comfort food for an audition gone bad), head to the airport in Baltimore (cheapest ticket...don't ask....), catch my flight from Baltimore to Charlotte, connect in Charlotte on a flight to Wilmington, and get in to town just about 5 hours after the rest of the cast. And now we're all together again and it's magical!

Another couple of Matt's B&W Collection Photos...Left from the venue in Newport News. Right from Wilmington venue.

Here she is, everyone! NEW FRIEND, ROE!

I think, collectively, we're sad that we didn't get to spend more time in Wilmington. It's a BEAUTIFUL city and has a lot of great stuff to do. We got to: eat, sleep, perform, eat and leave. Pretty sure we can do that anywhere. But oh well - we're on to Pembroke for a hot second and then we'll REALLY be ready to roll in Greenville!

Here is the inside of Thalian Hall, where we performed. It really was a beautiful little space that was PERFECT size for our show.

L: This is City Hall AND Thalian Hall (Where we performed.) R: A cool building across the street from the venue. Cool buildings, right?


And finally, tonight, we settled in to the hotel at a decent hour, because NOW, as I write this, I'm sitting here watching TLC's series 'Little People, Big World' - which may be one of my most favorite shows on TV these days. And lucky me - it's a MARATHON! (Never you mind that I've already seen most of these episodes before...)

So that's where we're at and what we're doing, in a nutshell. Hopefully once we get to South Carolina, we can get back to experiencing the cities we're in and get away from these 'travelogue' entries. I think that works out best for everyone!
But for now...GOOD NIGHT!
G


L: Eric and Jen enjoy their Burger King food AND crowns. R: Jackie stole Eric's crown during our van trip to Newport News.


So how cool is THIS? This is my friend, Rhonda Holland (to my right...), and she and I used to work together at DirecTV in Boise, Idaho. And she still lives there - but came out to Virginia to see my show! And with her, she brought her siblings (some of which live IN the Virginia area we performed in...so that worked out well!) Anyway - it was AWESOME to have Rhonda see the show - and it's always great to see her. She is a NUT! Thanks for coming, Rhonda!


And this is my friends, Nate and Sina Jones (and that is baby Ruby in the baby carrier...she's asleep...) They drove down from Northern Virginia to see the show - and it's been awhile since we had a chance to hang out. So it was great to see them and catch up! Thanks, guys!


Here is our trip to Cheesecake Factory! L: Stephanie, Me, Rachel and Tyler! 3 of the greatest friends! R: German Chocolate Cheesecake. MAN - it was good. I would give it a low 9 on the MASE. I mean - give me more CHEESECAKE, people.


Here we are...having a good time as we warm up for the show!


Elisa kickin' it alone...and with Travis. The fun never STOPS with us!

L: Jill shows us how she likes to DEFY the rules. R: I saw Jen's roommate in Gettysburg, and he asked me to deliver a kiss to Ken for him. So I did! Bottom: Andrew and Chris chillin' in their dressing room before our Sunday shows.


There is the Hall. And the Poster.


I REALLY thought Lady Liberty was going to be a little LARGER...but oh well. Also, I didn't know there were palm trees on Ellis Island. Weird. Hoops and Yoyo didn't seem to care, though. They were just happy to be there.


Spring has SPRUNG in Wilmington, NC.




LOOK! It's our own little flower, Jill!



The end of the day in Wilmington. The sun sets behind some...battleship thingy.