Bee Hives Behave

Sunday, February 14th, 5:30 am
After the soothing buttered toast I drift off like a little bitty baby. Until... huh? what was that? Somebody stirs downstairs & I awake to a feeling of total disorientation. Where on the green and pleasant earth am I?? It takes moment or two but then I recall it all: the tour, Eugene, Luckey's last night, we are crashing at the home of our kind & gracious hosts, Marc & Barbara. Oh yeah. I nestle back into the blankies & covers. And then something in the insect kingdom stings the hell out of me, right on my chest...not far from my heart...

OUCH! IT BURNS! IT STINGS! Mostly it hurts. WHAT THE?? A spider? A scorpion? A tsetse fly? A nazgul? There will be no sleeping until I can find some local anaesthetical numbing agent. I bustle to the bathroom & rifle through the drawers. Sorry Marc & Barb--necessity! Here. Anti-itch ointment. Duly slathered I find relief & eventually make my way back to slumberland.

Alas, it is all too brief--we get up at 8:30 to prep for our appearance on the Reverend Marc Time's radio show, Sunday Morning Hangover. After my shower, I find a dead bee in the bed. Evidence. So. I'm not allergic--or I would surely be dead as hell with that super efficient delivery of bee toxin to my chestal areas. But I don't have any signs of reaction to it--not even hives. Perhaps that was the problem for this lone mysterious indoor bee--no hive.

After some much-needed caffiene Gary & I run out the door. Andrew is now too sick to join us on the radio, but stays behind and to man the tweetdeck with a blow-by-blow account to the fans. Yowza.

We get to the radio station in plenty of time-- well not really. Actually, we have 5 minutes to set up my keyboard, headphones, the wee amp, etc etc etc. There is a certain feeling overcoming me--mmm, I think I know, it's STRESS. Marc Time buzzes us into the building, but since Gary is still recuperating from knee surgery, I'm lugging my pared down radio-rig up the stairwell. Which is fine--I'm ever SO buff. Gary holds the door, organizes gear--he does all he can to help. I charge up the steps carrying the keyboard past the correct floor. I realize it, turn around and--oops I fall two steps. Ouch. Somehow I catch the keyboard before it goes sliding down the steps. Sheesh. That would have been bad.

In due course all the gear is situated, connected, dialed in, and we enjoy a fun hour with the fab Marc Time. We chat, Marc plays tracks from our three CDs, I play some brand-new tunes solo ("Superhero Drugs", "Everything", "The Charms of Hope","Blazing Wheel" and the experimental collage: "The Best Spam Ever"). Meanwhile, Andrew is tweeting from the comfort of Marc & Barb's house. Very efficient--not bad for some sleep-deprived, busted-knee, bee-stung, virally-challenged, touring musicians.

After the radio show we have a fancy farewell meal at ZENON with Marc, Barbara, Brad and the band. And then, though we hate to say goodbye, off we go--Andrew to the north and Gary & I to the south.

We will be back together soon enough--we are going to Austin, TX and playing shows on the way there & back--a trip that starts up on March 11th. See you then.