I'm packed and prepped and waiting for the van to show up that will start me on the journey into Laos. Had a sensational night in the bar last night, I felt it was my going away party, and I got to that place which is always the favorite musical place, that it, I got to just make it up on the fly, talk/sing about what was happening live, with a bunch of friends playing along. We had a little quartet going with three friends of mine, and I was more or less the leader, pulling out oldies, folk songs, Beach Boys, whatever, but the real fun happens when I just get to vocally riff while the music is playing.
An example being this British bloke Kevin, who likes to always throw in a couple of little circus riffs in between songs... either that or 'the pink panther' theme, it's kind of his signature schtick. But he usually screws it up somehow, so it's funny. Anyhow, in the middle of this loose two chord jam, he throws in the circus lick in a completely different key so it sounds like something out of Fellini on crack. That launched me into an impromptu soliloquy on Kevin wanting to join the circus band, but he screwed up the audition, so they offered him the 'donkey shit, sweeping' detail, rather than a spot in the band. It was just that kind of absurdist, live effort that people really respond to and have fun with, no one more than me.
And we had an awesome 'floor show' last night too, as the lovely, and formerly male 'Jenny' (23 years old) got really buzzed and was dancing provocatively in front of the musicians, adding more absurdity to the procedings. (especially when Kevin started dancing with her). That inspired me to call, 'Aint She Sweet', however I sand it as 'Ain't He Sweet', which seemed like the right call. People love that old swing stuff, and there was much singing along and general hilarity. Of course the other side of the coin is that by the end of the night Jenny was really out of it, looked like a combination of alcohol and maybe something else, so it's not all hilarity... (but it sure seemed like it at the time)
I exchanged some really warm farewells with my fellow musicians and with Jeff and Taow who run the bar, and they all made me feel like they really wanted me to come back through, that I have a home here. How awesome is that! And the funny thing was that I found the place purely by accident, as I was wondering around on another errand, I asked this guy if he knew where 'Panda Travel' was, and then noticed that there were guitars on the wall, and signs saying come and jam here.
