He would have never been elected now days. Does ask what you can do for your country sound like it would fly now days?
Sent from my iPhone > On Jul 5, 2020, at 1:54 PM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > My mother and rode an elevator with JFK one winter evening in '58 when he > was a US Senator visiting the Donnell public library in NYC to give a > talk. No security at all - just the two of us sharing a small space with > an incredibly distinguished looking man in a blue cashmere overcoat. My > mother told him he was one of her favorites, and he graciously acknowledged > the compliment. Even then as a mere 12 yo I knew he was special. > >> On Sat, Jul 4, 2020 at 11:16 PM Buggered Benzmail via Mercedes < >> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >> >> I got to hang out with the guys in Mountain one afternoon at the airport >> (FWA) where I worked summers. There were thunderstorms around that >> prevented their plane from coming to pick them up for 3-4 hours. Because of >> that everything was dead so I just hung out in the office with them. They >> were really tired and bored but also just really nice regular guys. We just >> chitchatted a bit, I mostly left them alone. I think I might have run to >> get them lunch or something from the airport diner They read and rested, >> were happy to leave, thanked me. >> >> When I told my friends later they thought I was a god. >> >> I saw James Brown one night too for a minute. THAT was an experience. >> >> --FT >> Sent from iPhone >> >>> On Jul 4, 2020, at 8:08 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes < >> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >>> >>> While it has been many years, in the summer in junior/senior years of >> high school and later before I was in tech school I used to drive a semi >> with a Landoll trailer carrying a 350kW generator set and cables to be used >> by the various tours as they went around the Midwest. A lot of the venues >> back in that time didn’t have adequate house power to run their whole show, >> so they would run the sound off house power and used our generator for >> lighting. >>> >>> I would often follow a given show for a week at a time, sometimes more, >> as they toured around the Midwest. We also had a standing gig with Market >> Square Area and the Clay Courts in Indianapolis for the same thing, so in >> some cases I would be doing it during the rest of the year locally, too. >>> >>> I was first in, last out. For a typical 8:00 pm show I had to be there >> no later than 8:00 am, sound check was usually around 2:00-3:00, then cool >> my heels until the show started. A lot of times we wouldn’t have everything >> struck at the prior venue until 2:00 - 3:00 am, which meant I might have to >> high tail it a couple hundred miles to the next venue, like maybe >> Louisville to Columbus or St. Louis, for example. Longer distances usually >> meant a travel day in between. Lots of sleeping in the truck. >>> >>> Some of the artists I toured with: >>> >>> Rush >>> Fleetwood Mac >>> Don Henley >>> Stevie Nicks >>> Kiss >>> Foreigner >>> Phil Collins >>> Def Leppard >>> Dire Straits >>> AC/DC >>> Journey >>> REO Speedwagon >>> Pat Benatar >>> ZZ Top >>> Heart >>> Toto >>> Kenny Loggins >>> Steve Winwood >>> >>> I’m sure there were others, but these are the ones I recall. All I can >> say is that while it was fun, sort of, it made me realize what a crappy way >> to make a living it was. I had to carry a firearm because I always got paid >> in cash by the road manager before the end of the show, so I always had >> large sums of cash on me until the morning when I could deposit it if I >> could find the right bank where we were. I was not union, so at the union >> (IATSE) halls I had to have a union member “assigned” to me that made all >> the final connections and I pretty much just flipped the switch and made >> sure all was well. Once that was done I was free to hit the buffet if there >> was one for the crew. >>> >>> My recollections about artists are as such: >>> >>> Rush was the absolute best band to work for. They had a dedicated crew >> that toured exclusively with them, some of them having been with the band >> for some time. Food was excellent and they (Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson) >> were always very nice and came by before the show to thank everyone. Molson >> and cold shrimp were some of the regular things on the after show buffet, >> and they always had a “to-go” kit of food and goodies for everyone on the >> crew after things were broken down/struck. A good breakfast was out on the >> morning of the show, too, with lots of fresh fruit and good things to eat. >>> >>> Don Henley’s entourage was the worst. That was one of those “avert your >> eyes when the “artist” is moving through the wings and backstage.” A real >> douche. No buffet or food, a pile of order-out pizza and cooler full of >> generic soda was all they would put out, and it was rarely enough to feed >> everyone. >>> >>> Keep in mind that food is always provided by the venue/promoter and >> costs the act a minimal amount of money, if any, as it’s factored into the >> cost of the show and spelled out in the rider in advance. That’s the >> contract that says “no brown M&M’s.” So if a tour does a crappy job on food >> for the crew, it’s on the tour, not the venue. >>> >>> Understand that as a crew member you rarely see the talent. If you do, >> they’re moving through backstage from point A to point B with their >> entourage around them, so you often can’t even see them if you tried. The >> only ones I recall circulating backstage were Rush, ZZ Top and I think >> Kenny Loggins. They would often hang around and chat a little bit after the >> sound check. As I mentioned before, Rush would come around and thank >> everyone before the show. >>> >>> I really don’t recall a lot of details, as it was 40 years ago, but >> those are the ones that stand out. The rest were pretty decent because they >> recognized the value of keeping the help happy. It was still a crappy gig, >> but I got paid pretty well for the time, I think $200/day in cash. >>> >>> -D “Yeah, I’m with the band, baby” >>> >>>> On Jul 4, 2020, at 6:07 PM, Kaleb Striplin via Mercedes < >> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> I just heard a Barry Manilow song and it reminded me of a story. A >> friend of mine's wife has this part time gig where when shows come to town >> they do the back stage stuff with costumes. Anyway she was working a Barry >> Manilow concert and apparently if they saw him coming none of them were >> allowed to look at him. They had to look down or a different direction. >> What a jerk. >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________ >>>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>>> >>>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>>> >>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >>>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________ >>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>> >>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>> >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >>> >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> >> > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
