AROWANA LIFE

DC OR BUST Part 4

Now that I’m back, I’m gonna crank out these last stories of my trip…hopefully. And since I’m fully rested again, I’ll be sure to make them exciting.
So where was I, oh yes, just went thru racist-ville scary town. We arrive to Chicago the next day at about noonish. Steve, our road manager, was able to redirect the blizzard in Chicago and the bus made it in safely. BUT no one told me it was going to be 10 below!!! HOLY COW! It’s boot camp days all over again marching in the snow. Except the list of things I didn’t bring came more to a realization besides my toothbrush. I didn’t really think to bring gloves or a beanie or even boots for that matter. So as we pulled into the Park Hyatt of Chicago, we had about an hour to settle in, shower, go NOT #1, and try to start shooting while there was still light out.

I found a Walgreens right at the corner of our hotel and I got me some gloves and a Chicago beanie. No boots but hopefully I can survive. As I was purchasing my stuff, the register people saw my camera and asked what I was doing. I told them I was running around Chicago today filming Rick Fox. They laughed at my California, so spoiled life. Luckily, they gave me the advice to buy some hand warmers. They said to put in inside my gloves and my socks. OH BOY, did that advice pay off later.

So our goal for Chicago was to hit up Obama’s house, Grant Park, and whatever else we can squeeze in. First stop, Grant Park, where Obama gave his acceptance speech…4 months late. We open the doors of the van and BOOM, the place is covered in 3 feet of snow. First thought, dude its freezing. Second thought, damn NO BOOTS! and of course to get the best angles and the great footage the crew trek into the middle of the park. Frostbite galore. Heat pack, please save me.

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DC OR BUST Part 3

Exhaustion is kicking in as I write this. Few hours of sleep a night, long hours of running around in the snow carrying a heavy camera, and just always being alert can make a mind shut down. But I shall make my best attempt to write part 3.

We left Denver with our heads high accomplishing pretty much everything we set out to do. Though our schedule is so jam packed, we luckily are making perfect time to each destination. Chicago is our next stop and with the blizzard warnings, we’ve asked our trusty road manager, Steve Masi, to make the blizzard go away. Steve is a cool cat whose been our the block when it comes to tour managing. He’s done greats like Ziggy Marley and currently The Offspring. So stories comes a plenty when it comes to him. And stories is what we need on long bus rides.

Another interesting way we’ve been passing the time is that Rick has started podcasting from the bus. The podcast actually hasn’t come out yet due to lack of strong internet signals but they have been fun and amusing because Rick interviews the crew (us) and it feels like talk show radio. Of course I share some Navy stories and whatever else sounds interesting but hearing the other crew’s point of view on topics such as politics, music, and women makes the trip go by a bit faster.

We detoured through Kansas I heard to get to Chicago to avoid any huge snow storms and we stopped at another Flying J. Our first Flying J experience was very pleasant where the workers greeted us very humbly and we learned that many musicians and athletes stop here like Linkin Park and Karl Malone. But this Flying J was quite the opposite. Perhaps it was the location, maybe the state, or even the time of day. They were very against our presence there with cameras and quickly shut us down. But no one said we could film outside the Flying J.

As we were about to leave, two buses full of kids pulled in coming back from a concert they had just performed. Rick thought to just play it cool and see if anyone would recognize him. After a handful just walked by, finally a true Laker fan took notice. After that, it was mob city. But Rick being the great samaritan signed shirts and took pictures with them making their bus ride home an unforgetable experience. I especially thought that was pretty awesome because I can always remember way back when I was a young lad myself and saw someone famous but decided to ignore their fans. It does make an impact to a kid when they are young whether you judge celebrities as humble people or just rich, stuck up jerks.

Lastly, on a not so brighter but eye opening note, I mentioned before that the NUMBER ONE RULE ON THE BUS IS NO NUMBER TWO.

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