7/15 - BW3, Strongsville

This was the Sex in the City gig. More like Sex in the Suburbs, but we'll get to that later. Gotta start from the start.

So, we're on the patio just starting to set up. These 2 guys decide that it would make way more sense to cut through the patio doing a serpentine thing all around the equipment bags to get inside. That kind of stuff annoys me to no end, so I had to bitch about it to someone...lucky Jake. He was bringing more equipment on to the patio and missed it. No sooner did I get done telling him about it when these same 2 guys come back out and repeat the process, but this time some of the equipment is set up. I asked them where they lived so I could come over to their house and walk through their shit. For some reason, I never got an address. Go figure.

During that whole set up process, I managed to pinch my finger (not to be confused with pull my finger) in the mic stand, which resulted in a lovely blood blister. But, don't worry about me...I'll be alright. It's just a flesh wound.

Thanks to Linda, Judy, and Chris for stopping out! It's always nice to see some familiar faces. They got there just in time to see the moon rise. And it's always fun to sing "Moon Dance" during a full moon.

Maybe that full moon had something to do with all the over active libidos...back to the Sex in the Suburbs.

As I was singing "Fire", these 2 guys (but not the same 2 guys from before) are walking to their car and one of them breaks into some really sexy dance moves while the other one sashays along with him. Pretty sure there was a little more than just dancing going on there.

Now, the tables on the patio are quite close together, so what happens at one table is not easy to block out of your sight from any other table. Keeping that in mind, a table with a family who were having a nice wholesome time is opposite a table with a couple who were also having a wholesome time (one of them had their whole tongue in some part of the other's mouth) during "One Way Out". Jake said that he never realized that was a make out song and I never realized just how long that song takes.

And then there was THE COUPLE ~ they leave on the guy's motorcycle during the first set, so big deal. But, during the second set they come back on the bike (well, duh), she gets off of it and starts doing these stretches that are way more provocative than cat like. Apparently, she needs to stretch before a good workout...I mean before sex.

They both get into the van that he parked the bike next to and thankfully the van was not facing us. Let me tell you that moon roof was doing double duty ~ it let the full moon in and it let the full moon out....wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more. Oh, but I have to say more.

Not only was the van rocking, but from where we were set up on the patio, we could pretty much see everything through the side windows and like a bad car wreck it was really difficult to look away. I was tempted to take the tip bucket over to them and tell them it was our donation for a room, but I was afraid that if I got that up close and personal I would have to wash my eyes out with acid. We were also tempted to turn our stage lights onto full strobe and spin them around to face the van, but we didn't.

And as if that whole thing wasn't bad enough, the guy gets out of the van and then zips up. I will never eat at Hot Dog Heaven again.

7/9 - Dragon Ranch

Dede and Lori came out for supper and to be our groupies. Thanks, girlies! They stayed for the bulk of the gig until the call of ice cream won out over the joy of being a groupie.

That was the highlight of this gig.

7/8 - Cebar's Euclid Tavern

This place has such a great stage with a shared wall to the kitchen, which has a handy dandy pass through opening complete with a food shelf. The side wall is home to a smaller shelf for drinks. Chuck's dream gig (or Danny's....no more drum case abuse).

And as Project Mojo luck would have it, the weather was finally decent and that meant that pretty much everyone was outside on the patio where we weren't.

The few agoraphobes in attendance were most appreciative in their individual ways. We even learned a few new "dance" moves.

Our new friend, Kevin was quite pleased that he stopped in for an adult beverage while out for a walk around the neighborhood. He really liked our selection of tunes and took our card with the promise of coming out to see us again.

7/4 - Meadows Fireworks

This was our 6th year at Vic and Amy's as the warm up act for the fireworks. As always, they were most gracious hosts, the food was wonderful and a good time was had by all!


We missed seeing Mary Lou (Vic's grandma) and singing her favorites to her. Hopefully, she'll be back for the party next year.

The ultralight (flying lawn mower, as I like to call it) made it's annual appearance, so that was fun to see.

And it's usually the kids who are the dancers, but this time one of the neighbor ladies let her inner child loose and danced a bit.

Of course, the fireworks were grand. Looking forward to doing it all again next year.

7/1 - Whole Foods, University Hts.

I'm still getting used to playing to the olive bar, but at least there are people to go with the fruit. Or are olives vegetables? Okay, now I have to know. One moment please, checking....
According to the world wide web, olives are the fruit of the olive tree. Now what was my point?

We were also right next to the sampler table for the 5x7 that had biscuits topped with vanilla ice cream and fruit (now, these I know were fruit ~ strawberries and blueberries).
Gotta love it when a food item can be patriotic. And thankfully, there were some leftovers that we got to sample before we packed up. And if you'd like to know how to make them for your own self, just ask Jake...he got the recipe.

Of course, a Whole Foods gig is not complete without kids; a cutie little boy who was a miniature Mudcat right down to the baseball cap and the tapping foot, the little girl who was in awe of Jake (pretty sure she thought he was a giant), and the tiniest of kids who clearly was experiencing live music for the first time, but she didn't seem to mind....after all, we're not as annoying as what you would think.

6/25 - John Palmer's Bistro 44

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...it was definitely the quietest of times.

SHHHHHH!!!

6/24 - BW3, Medina

Started out to be a patio gig, but with the weather being Seattle-ish, they moved us inside. Don't know what it is about BW3 and the rain (see BW3 Strongsville blog).

After bringing our equipment in through a 5 mile long maze, we were not rewarded with cheese at the end of the maze, just a table full of people where we needed to set up. And they were just being served their wings and another round of beer, so we knew it was going to be a wait.

Trying to stay out of the way, we piled our gear around and in front of this game that is similar to "the claw", but this one had the prizes hanging from strings and in place of the claw was some sort of scissors device to cut the string to free the prize. Sounds easy enough, right? Not according to the note on the front of the machine that informed the game player that the string doesn't always cut, so keep trying. Wow, if people are that desperate to give away their money, I am quite sure that I can come up with some sort of scam (I mean game) to take their money (I mean test their skill).

While we're waiting for these people to eat and drink, the manager comes over to us and asks us to move our things because some kids want to play the game. Move it where exactly? We moved it in front of the servers' station, which made for some fancy footwork on their part.

After a bit, we were finally able to set up, but in the same space that a table with 4 bar stools was occupying and let me tell you, that is not a lot of space. I had to sing sideways....kinda felt like one of the Supremes, but with out the fancy dress and bouffant.

We had a surprise guest ~ Big Rig Bernie and his fearless fliers. Thanks for coming out, it was great to see you!

6/18 - The Mustard Seed

A make-over occurred since the last time we played here and the place looks great. Not that it looked bad before....

And for crying out loud, be careful out there ~ it was injury central with broken arms, wrists, legs. One man had a cast on his elbow and an air boot on his foot. I don't know what's happening over there, but I'm glad we made it out in once piece.

There were lots of appreciative people and that always makes for a nice gig. Thanks everyone!

6/17 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

Always a fun time to play at the 5x7.

This time, we were scootched over so that Jake was the only one of us who had a room with a view. Mudcat and I could see down the ice cream aisle, which wasn't getting much traffic.

There were some familiar faces this time around. And how did I know this if I didn't have view, you ask? Jake told me.

And their carrot cake is yummy, that is if you like carrot cake. Was so happy to have a sample!

6/11 - The Pub

It was great to be back on the patio (well, we're always on the patio...I meant with the walls down and the heaters off). And we were along the inside wall rather than across the back this time.

There was a bridal shower going on that took up the back area. I don't know about you, but I've never seen men at a wedding shower, except for the groom, but about half of this party were men and they actually played the shower games along with the women. I'm thinkin' that all the trays of shots we saw Rita taking to their table might have had something to do with their participation.

Thanks to Dorothy and her Beau for stopping by and staying a bit. It's always great to see you!

Judi and her crew of Irv, John, Donna, and Sheril came out to eat, drink, and be merry as well.

And our neighborhood friend walked over and stayed for the duration. She and another couple actually chanted "encore" and I'm pretty sure they meant for us to sing more, not for their server to bring them a frozen dinner.

6/10 - BW3, Strongsville

Started out as a patio gig, but we ended up inside because of the threat-o-rain that turned into real droplets.

It was nice of them to reroute us to an inside spot, however it would have been even nicer had there not been a hockey game in the main dining room/bar area. Apparently, people were more interested in the hockey game than in us and it wasn't an option to have the game and our gig share the spotlight. Because of that, we ended up in the furthest, most remote corner of the building.....far, far away from the viewing public with the exception of 4 tables who wanted family time and were quite happy to be in the overflow section.

Phil, Jackie, and Ken stopped by for the second set, which was a good thing because by then the families were gone and that left just us.

Chris, Alisa, and Biz also stopped by for a bit to keep track of the placement of my feet.

6/4 - Panini's, Concord

What a great patio! And it was huge...well, the patio was, not so much our space. But that's okay, it was big enough. Don't worry about us....

The best thing was that we only had to carry the equipment about 3 feet. Got to park right outside of the gate that lead to our spot.

It was an interesting evening, what with the woman who just had to plow through our set up to get outside (hellooo...patio...you're already outside) so that she could talk to her little dog. And I double checked with Jake to make sure I heard her correctly. I did. She was talking to her dog.
But it's okay, because she told us that she wouldn't break anything. This was right before we were getting ready to start and then we closed the gate behind her before we got underway. She came back, but used the door just like everyone else.

Then there was the chick who interrupted Mudcat's introduction (guess she didn't care who we were or what we were about) to request that we sing happy birthday to her friend and when we started our version of the song, she turned around and gave us the look of death, but haha ~ joke's on her, we didn't die.

And then we had the "maraca incident". Birthday requester and her non-birthday friend came out of the incident unmaimed, but I'm pretty sure that Jake was secretly hoping for a cat fight.

Let's not forget about Mark, who came to the realization during his debut of "Down by the River" (using his phone to display the lyrics in lieu of the karaoke machine we did not have) that telling people you sing with celebrities is where he should have left it.

6/3 - Whole Foods, University Hts

Rarely do we have an actual stage to play on, but we did at this Whole Foods gig. A stage in a grocery store ~ what a concept.


Our new friend, Eileen saw us through from start to finish. Thanks!


We had some dancers; a brother/sister duo. Their mom sure has her hands full.


At one point, Jake thought that we were in Lakewood rather than University Hts, but I set him straight.

5/13 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

There are just way too many cute kids who's mom and dad frequent Whole Foods.

This time around we had twin boys, probably around 2-ish years old. Dressed alike in their khaki pants and oxford white shirts was where the similarities began and ended with these little guys.

One of the twins looked like a miniature version of dad and the other one looked exactly like his mom. The boys were having pasta...mini-me-dad had everything under the sun mixed in his, all bright and colorful, while mom's clone had plain noodles. His shoes were nowhere to be seen, his little shirt tail was hanging out and he wanted nothing to do with dad trying to get him to chair dance (or cart dance in this case), while the dad look-alike, who was still fully clothed and shoed insisted on getting out of the cart so that he could dance and jump.....and run.

And it seems that each time we play here, we see a celebrity. This time around it was Janice Joplin. Obviously, we count people who resemble celebrities as being true celebrities. It doesn't take much for us.

5/7 - Dragon Ranch

The Kentucky Derby was on every TV in a place named after the Northfield race horse, Dragon Again, so what do you think people were paying attention to? I'll give you a hint: it wasn't us.

Toward the end we had some favorable comments, so I guess we filtered through on some level.

4/23 - The Pub

PROJECT MOJO'S 600th GIG!!!! (and no, I did not add an extra zero)

And that's 600 gigs in the course of 6-ish years. Is that just crazy?

Thank you, Betty for spending time with us before hand and for treating us to our celebratory meal. You are the way best! And thank you for inviting your group(s) out to see us.

Looks like we have a new groupie (as long as her parents drive her to our gigs). She is quite fond of science fairs and is now an accomplished shaker of the egg.

And we still have some CD's left over that didn't make it into the hands of those congratulating us during our break (see Mudcat's FB post for that little contest), so join us for our 700th gig and you just might be a winner! Don't worry, we'll remind you.

4/22 - Whole Foods

I was doing the Sister Christian thing and singing at my church's Good Friday service, so missed this gig.

But, according to my sources there were a lot of babies there.

Once again, this is why the boys don't write these posts.

4/8 - Cabana's

Yet another familiar place to me where I vaguely recall pounding down some adult beverages....

We had a celebrity in our midst, but didn't find out until the last song. It was Beetlejuice. Well, if you didn't look at the guy and just listened to his voice. Dead on. He sang Folsom Prison Blues with Mudcat.

And Beetlejuice was amazed that anyone would take a baby on vacation. Not sure if he felt that the baby hadn't lived long enough to need a vacation or if it really wasn't a vacation for the parents...probably that one.

And the guy who paid us told us that we were much better than the other band they had in there....they were terrible. Thanks, I think.

4/2 - Sammy K's

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUDCAT T. BASS!

No ball room dancers this time, but we did have a back up singer.

Our new friends; Jocko (the back up singer), Sally, Barb, and Fernando stayed for the duration. They were a lot of fun, plus they talked to me after the gig enough that I barely had to do any of the tear down. I like those people.

3/26 - Red Hawk

At least it wasn't snowing a blizzard like every other time we've played at the Red Hawk. A nice change of pace. Thanks to the parents of the Lake Catholic Cougars, we had quite a crowd. They were celebrating having had a great season and thanks to their leader I got to have a big old lesbo moment when I sang "you're just too good to be true" to his wife. That's right....his request to his wife to have the girl sing. Ah, the logic of the drunken mind. I changed it up to "he can't take his eyes off of you" and then I pretty much told her that she knows the rest and I stopped singing. A couple were trying to teach their little girl how to shoot pool, but she did much better with out their instructions. At least when she was doing it on her own there were no stray cue balls making their through the air in a bee-line to us. Shortly after they left, the woman returned by her own self to meet up with their friend and left again with him...probably to shoot pool. Oh, and let's not forget about the woman who pulled up a chair at the table in front of us and then just sat there staring at us, clutching her purse (which was not a clutch purse). Jake and I were pretty sure that she put the mal occhio on us. For those of you who are too lazy to look that up or thought that I failed to use spell check before posting, it's an Italian curse. Okay, so what are the odds of us seeing this EVER, but twice, and both times coming home from a Red Hawk gig ~ a car going the wrong way (as in heading toward us) on the highway. This time there was no need to call the police to report it as we had just passed a catching speeders kinda guy. Pretty sure that driving-the-wrong-way guy made his night.

3/25 - Dragon Ranch

Okay, not a Chinese restaurant. I'll admit it ~ that's what I thought it was just based on the name. Oh come on, I'm not the only one who thought that. It's a golf course/sports bar/restaurant combo complete with a trophy room that doubles as the lobby. The Dragon is part of a race horse's name Dragon Again who apparently wasn't when he won all those trophies. And the food must be exceptional based on the amount of people willing to wait for a table and the wait didn't let up until well into the evening. Everyone was super duper nice to us and the diners really seemed to enjoy our music. One gentleman even bought a CD!

3/18 - Whole Foods

We were back to our normal spot as an end cap opposite the water where we have a great view of the bread/deli/dairy section as well as the main aisle and the check out. Jake was right ~ it's the perfect spot. I just can't get over all the cute little kids. This time we had a miniature Harry Potter and another little guy who looked exactly like a teeny tiny man, pushing his very own teeny tiny grocery cart. Too cute. Then there was the little guy in the Gap t-shirt who got confused about the venue and his gender....pretty sure he thought he was at Mardi Gras and that if he flashed his chest I would give him beads. And we had some dancersby (passersby who dance/walk). But the best thing has to be the cardboard-disguised-as-rice-cake-disguised-as-pita-bread machine. It was most entertaining. I want one. It makes the "bread" and then shoots it out into a plexiglas box. Although, if I had one it would have to make something else...anything else.

3/12 - BW3, Broadview Hts

Lots of peeps there for the basketball games who actually stuck around! Guess March Madness has its up side.

Tons of thanks to Jake's entourage and to Betty and HazMat Bernie for being part of the madness.

The most exciting news bite is that Jake seems to have rounded the bend and is on his way back to being human again from his lengthy battle with the bug. Welcome back!

3/11 - Claddagh Pub

Thanks to Mark & Gina for venturing out! Glad you're starting to feel better, Gina. And Mark, you are just way too funny with your song remakes. Thanks for making me laugh.

And speaking of song remakes ~ Mudcat was on a roll with them, especially turning "Layla" into "Laundry". Did you know that Eric Clapton did his own laundry at a real life laundromat while he was in LA? We didn't either until Jake told us about the video snippet, which clearly shows that Mr. Clapton has mastered the art of shirt folding. Wonder how he is at origami...

Our "stage" was certainly a new and different twist for us. Having closed the section in which we were to set up in direct line of the open kitchen, it was a true test for the Bose to see if it could broadcast around corners to the people who were seated at the bar.

3/5 - Riverside Wine

What a lovely treat to have Jake back with us! Not quite the picture of health, but at least he's upright.

Thanks to Betty and Bernie for making it out. It's always great to have your support.

People seemed to be enjoying themselves and us (which is always a plus). One guy who was sitting off to the side of us came up after I sang "White Rabbit". He asked who sang that song and in all my smart-ass-ish-ness said, "I just did, didn't you hear me?". Hahahahaha...I crack my own self up. It was Gracie Slick, by the way.

During the break, I headed off to the ladies' room, but it was occupied, so I stepped back to wait my turn. As I was waiting, I noticed the sign that's usually at the front of restaurants....Please Wait To Be Seated. I wonder if someone there had a sense of humor or if its placement was just a koinkidink. Either way, it made me chuckle warmly.

2/27 - Trading Post

Definitely a way better summer time gig, since those bikers are pretty strict about not introducing their bikes to road salt. And who can blame them? But there were a few truck driving bikers who ventured out for their Sunday afternoon libation.

And to entice them out during the winter, a new video game has been added. It's called "Turkey Hunter USA". To shoot the birds, simply use the safety orange rifle that is tethered to the game. Apparently, the biker boys would rather try to "win" a stuffed animal from the claw machine. That's a very popular game. And the amount of stuffed animals in that game did not diminish during our stay, but the amount of money in that machine sure did increase.

If the boys get tired of talking to each other or watching TV or listening to us, they can choose from a variety of reading material found in the magazine rack by the door (the main door, not the bathroom door).

One of the boys decided to actually pay attention to us and requested that we play some White Snake. When ever we get requests, we do our best to accommodate and this was no exception. If a White Snake song was what this guy wanted then a White Snake song we would do. So I sang Mama Cass' "Dream A Little Dream". That's pretty close, right?

2/26 - Cebar's Euclid Tavern

Nope, not the same Light of Day joint, two very different Euclid Taverns.

We didn't realize that there was a band playing before us (hey, we were the headliner with an opening act!) until we got there and started to unload equipment. It was a most disconcerting experience. Turns out we weren't bumped nor was the other band our opening act.

We thought that everyone would leave once those boys pulled up stakes and moved on, but people hung around and really seemed to enjoy themselves.

I would have enjoyed myself more had Jake been with us. Pretty sure he would have enjoyed himself more to be playing his guitar on a stage for a near full house rather than being home with a fever, coughing up a lung.

2/19 - The Pub

It's always a great time at The Pub! The food is dee-lish, the beer is cold and Matt and his crew are always super nice.

Thanks to Betty, Sue, Jeff, Rita, and Eric for coming out to show your support, but more importantly thanks for enduring the 40 minute wait for a table.

Ooh...did you see the full moon and/or did you howl? I sure did. While I was howling, Jake turned into a werewolf. I was a wee bit terrified. It's just not something you see every day (or every full moon). Hopefully he's back to normal by now.

And if you missed us this time around, don't you worry your pretty little head ~ just come back on April 23rd, which is the next time we'll be playing The Pub.

2/12 - Euclid Tavern

Yes, the same Euclid Tavern where "Light of Day" was filmed. So, I guess in a round-about way we shared a stage with Joan Jett ("girls have balls, they're just up a little higher that's all") and Michael J. Fox ("pain is temporary, film is permanent").

Thanks to Lightnin' for sitting in with us. What fun! And thanks to Gina for being our photographer and our support.

If you were thinking about voting for the green man, then Rafael is the name to look for, not Charlie. He was the green man on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". Two very different kinds of green.

We truly did meet East Side Chuck. Truly. And his name was actually Chuck. I had just finished singing "Dream Boat Annie" when Chuck asked me when we would be back again, so I told him that we won't be back for a while. I crack my own self up.

Oh yeah, Jake was a whore. I mean H-O-R. Oopsie.

2/11 - Scoreboards

Scoreboards or Union Sation? You make the call. We were at Scoreboards....Bernie was at Union Station. Thanks, Dave for keeping Bernie company and for your support as well.

At first glance, the dads bringing their daughters in for a Valentine's dinner was cute, but as I watched the girls try to make their way to the bathroom, that cuteness quickly diminished. The girls couldn't have been more than 9-ish and they were done up like prom queens. Clearly they had been taken to the salon to have their hair and make up done. They were wearing fancy dresses and both girls were trying to walk in high heels. What in the world are they going to have to look forward to when they're grown? Oh well, that's just my opinion.

And you know you're in the country when people ride their snowmobiles to the bar. A group in full snow mobile attire stopped in. Maybe the place is a biker bar in the summer and a snowmobiler bar in the winter. Seemed to work.

1/29 - BW3, Broadview Hts

WE MISSED YOU, BETTY! Oh yeah...we missed you too, Bernie. But, don't worry about us....we were alright. Barely.

Nothing much to write home about on this one. We had to wait for stupid, stupid, stupid basketball to finish before we could start. I so enjoy basketball. Or not.

Paul was gracious, as always. Thanks, Paul!

That's it.

1/28 - Whole Foods

We got to be on the other side of the store in the nuts and dried fruit aisle and that section made for much less people watching. Not that there weren't people stocking up on nuts and fruits, but that was the only aisle we could see. Our usual spot was being used as one of the tasting stops during the 5 x 7. There's just a lot more going on in the bakery/deli/dairy/salad bar section.

As always, there were some cutie kids. Our new little friend, Giana played the maracas for a bit, but only after she gave the tambourine a test drive.

And we owe a debt of gratitude to Chris (a.k.a. East Side Chuck). So ~ gosh thanks, Chris....we never could have got there on our own.

1/20 - Fat Little Buddies

Aside from the nuclear heat setting on their thermostat, it was a most pleasant place. And I have it from an"old" man that it's a fairly common bar trick to keep the heat set at scorch to get people hot, so they'll drink more to cool off. Yeah....I don't know, it seemed like I drank about a gallon of water and didn't get any cooler. Perhaps if I had replaced the water with beer then even if I didn't cool off, I wouldn't have cared so much about being warm.

And I discovered that Bernie is a man of many talents. One such talent being the ability to close his van door without leaving the comfort of his bar stool. I think it might have been magic.

1/15 - Riverside Wine

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This was our first gig of 2011 and what a nice (and oddly interesting) way to start ~ Riverside Wine is a wine store (don't despair, they also have beer), but with a twist. They have a bar at one end and tables at the other end. Imagine a Convenient store turned wine store; the bar takes the place of the check out area, the tables take the place of the produce section and wine bottles take the place of everything that's on the shelves.

And you can get food there too, provided you get the cheese plate as that's the only item on the menu.

I'm looking forward to playing back there in the spring/summer when we can be on the deck. I do believe the deck area is bigger than the entire store. The deck overlooks the Cuyahoga with a train track at the top of the bank on the other side of the crooked river.

And wouldn't you know it ~ I went outside to check out the view and 3 seconds after I came back inside, a train went by. I was bummed. Went back outside after we packed up and it was deja vu all over again (thank you, Yogi Berra)...as we were pulling out of the parking lot, a train went by. DAMMIT!

Six of the people who were enjoying their wine and cheese plates were the girls of Girls' Night Out, who were quite the chair dancers and back up singers from afar. They also did all the moves for "Stop In The Name Of Love" and they joined us for "Bobby McGee". Thanks, girls!

And thank you, Bernie for supporting us on our ground breaker gig of the new year (and for requesting/insisting/demanding the encore).

12/11 - Wing Warehouse

Our last gig of 2010 and it had to be here.

Warehouse describes this place, but an empty warehouse describes it better.

It was the best of gigs, it was the worst of gigs. Well, I'm half right.

11/20 - Sammy K's

What a neato-peato place this was....kinda like 3 joints all rolled into one. Ooops, wrong kinda joint. You know what I mean.

Anyway, there was an interesting mix of people. Most interesting were the ballroom dancers (after all, we are a ballroom band). Seriously, they really were ballroom dancers, complete with coordinating outfits and special dancing shoes that they changed into after their arrival. I was impressed with their moves, but was scared that the guy was going to loose his grip and drop the girl head first onto the floor. Thankfully, that didn't happen. And you haven't lived until you've seen the ballroom dance version of "Folsom Prison Blues". We have.

Their patio bar is open year round. It's like its own Private Idaho and I was not convinced that we were actually outside.

Oh, and how could I forget to mention our new friend, Al? According to Al, one of his closest friends is Joe Walsh, whom he opened for at the old Hullabaloo (hey, if I remember that place then so do you....we're not that old!). He also took his kids to see Joe play at the old Front Row (again....remember that place?) and they got together back stage to sing to Joe and share some "back in the day" stories. So, we did some James Gang and Eagles tunes for Al, which seemed to make him happy....although that could have been the beer.

11/6 - Mojo's Coffee House

As always, pretty low key.

The regulars were there, some even hung out for a song or two before taking their coffee on the road.

One woman came in, got her coffee and left, but returned in moments to sit for a bit, so that was nice.

12/4 - Mojo's Coffe House

Our new friend, Miranda was chief cook and bottle washer.

Crew Cut Colonel & Betty were there and we must apologize to Betty for not doing her favorite song...just yuckin'.

We had a memorable 2010 at Mojo's. Best of luck to all our Coffee Clan in 2011.

10/29 - Whole Foods

This was our first Halloween gig complete with costumes.

Thanks to Karen for stopping by and for pulling up a chair to make her self into and end cap. And because she was in the bakery section, I have to say it ~ nice buns, Karen!

We always have fun at Whole Foods, but this one especially with all the costumes that somehow make us take on a completely different personalities (well, in my case I can just reach in and pick one out....pretty sure I'm host to a multitude. Just call me Cybil).

10/9 - The Pub

The Pub gig is always a blast and even more so with lots and lots of peep support!



Thanks to Betty & her crew, Anne, Gail, Sugar and Tom Jones.

Of course, the most thanks goes to Matt for having us there in the first place! It's been a great run and we look forward to many more gigs at The Pub in 2011.

10/2 - Mojo's Coffe House

This was our first open mic with the mic being used in quite some time!

Both Amanda and Dave were great, especially Amanda with having a sore throat and all...I never would have known had she not told me, her voice was clear and beautiful.

Thanks to Betty & Bernie for coming out to have some fun with us and as always, your support is greatly appreciated.

9/26 - Trading Post

The bikers...I think we're starting to grow on them.

We must be doing something right when a big, burly guy donned in full leather, including the fingerless gloves that were not removed even for the eating of the hot dog, sings along to "girl" songs. And I don't mean that he just mouthed the words while watching TV, but he sang with so much gusto that we could hear him from about 20-ish feet away. Oh, and let's not forget the choreography. He was quite expressive.


Apparently, underneath all that machoness lies a marshmallow that's been toasted a few times.

He was fun to watch and he was pretty much our entertainment until The Family showed up.


Picture this ~ into this full blown biker bar (remember the padlocked, chain toilet paper holders) walks a mom, dad, teen age daughter, older daughter and her perfect husband....all dressed in OSU attire and as clean cut as a tomato sliced with a Ginsu knife. They make a bee line for the machine with the stuffed animals that you have to scoop up with the claw crane where dad says goodbye to a twenty.

According to Dad, this is their Sunday ritual and throwing modesty to the wind, he informed us that they are quite good at this game, having more stuffed animals at home than they know what to do with.

In the middle of the stuffed animals waiting to be clawed to the top and into The Family's home lies a plastic Harley Davidson with glinting rays of light that only Dad can see radiating off the plastic it's encased in, accompanied by a choir of angels singing the sweetest of songs that only Dad can hear. This is HIS prize. He must have THE BIKE.

The girls win a couple of stuffed animals thanks to Dad and his perfect son-in-law, but not before he surrenders another bill to the claw crane machine. They have a system where everyone gets a turn and they take those turns in a very specific order. Dad's turn has ended and he walks away to give his perfect son-in-law some elbow room for his turn.

Just as Dad takes a sip of his soda pop (the one that he brought into the bar so as not to waste his money on something as frivolous as a drink), the most glorious thing happens ~ Perfect Son-In-Law scoops up the Harley for Dad and at that point, I'm pretty sure I heard the angels singing too. Dad was as happy as a kid at Christmas getting that one thing he just had to have or he would die, which must have been their signal to leave, because as a group The Family paraded past us with their winnings and they were gone.

9/24 - Whole Foods

I made it to this gig and so did this woman who looked like a cross between the Swiss Miss girl, an Oktoberfest beer chick (not the young, sexy ones, but the older ones who who still see themselves as young and sexy), and just a wee bit of Flower Child thrown in. It was most interesting in a disturbing sort of way or disturbing in an interesting sort of way. Not sure if she dresses like that all the time, if that's what she wears when she goes grocery shopping, or if she was practicing for Halloween. Any of the choices was not a good choice.

We did have the cutest little princess there who clearly wanted to wear her Halloween costume ALL the time. I'm thinkin' that her parents had to wait for her to fall asleep so they could get that costume off her. She was dancing and twirling and having a ball. Get it ~ princess...having a ball...I crack my own self up.

Those were the highlights of this Whole Foods gig. Now, the next one will be a story to tell. It's on the 29th and we'll be dressed in full Halloween garb along with everyone else (unless they just told us that they all dress up to make us show up as the only ones in costume).

9/19 - Whole Foods

This was a Lolaless gig, which left the boys to report back, which means I got nothin'.

9/10 - Mutt & Jeff's

A wee bit cool-ish, but still a patio gig.

Other than the scent of a cherry/vanilla cigar drifting in and out, the evening was pretty uneventful...until the baseball team(s) arrived.

One couple on the team had their daughter, Clara with them. She was a cutie-patootie, but she also had that serious look about her. Anyway, Clara was probably 4-ish, give or take an ish. I offered her the shaky egg and she took it as in took it back to the table where her parents were, where she seemed to find more enjoyment in rolling it around like a miniature ball than shaking it to keep the beat to the songs.

After a while, she came back up to us and just stood there, egg in hand. I motioned for her to come up to stand by me and the second she got "in the spotlight", she was a rock star and I thought for a brief moment that my position as egg shaker might be terminated.

Her mom took pictures and then when it was time for them to leave, Clara looked up at me with those dark, doe eyes and asked me in her teensie, tinsie voice if she could keep the egg. If it
weren't for the fact that it was a gift to me, I probably would have caved and given it to her.
And of course Jake tried to make me feel all guilty for telling her no. He's nice like that.

9/4 - Thacker's Field Hog Roast 2010

We were the other "band", but we're counting it as a gig anyway. Gutter Monkey (the real band...notice, no quotes on my description of them) was kind enough to let us use their equipment to do a short set.


What a great experience this was! We're definitely planning on making it out to the next roast.


So, we get there and join the gathering among the planes and the tents that are taking over Bill & Janice's back yard, watching the newcomers arrive and just kibitzing in general. We decided to set up the tent while there was still light and soberness involved and thank you, Bill for suggesting the side of the yard where there were no planes (more on that later).


The neighbor's donkey (a.k.a. jackass, and again ~ more on that later) was quite vocal in making it clear to us that he did not appreciate the intrusion.


Once everyone arrived, the barnstorming began. We were regaled with the likes of Rick and his Texan, Colonel Gimlet, the bi-planes, and of course Kernel Smoker, who I need to thank for my thrilling ride that would have been even more thrilling had I agreed to the loops. After watching Mudcat's video of his ride with loops included, I'm very glad that I passed on those.


The rides and air shows went on until supper time when we were treated to Mississippi's BBQ. It was most dee-lish.


After everyone ate, the tables were quickly taken down and the chairs pushed to the edges of the hanger to open up the dance floor. Now, I have to tell you that Bill & Janice are multi-taskers to the max ~ the hanger is equipped with a disco light (and yes, he moved his plane out before the party began).


The absolute cutest girl ever was going wild with the dance moves and we were all envious of her energy. While it lasted. After a few dances, I looked over to see this little girl completely passed out on her mother's shoulder. Her mom said that she parties like a rock star. And she passes out just like one too.


Into the evening, Rick and his Texan put on a night time air show for us, seeming to be one with the stars. And speaking of stars (no, not you Jeff) ~ Mudcat, Jake and I all saw the same shooting star at the same time. That was pretty cool. And this was the first time I've ever seen the Milky Way other than in candy bar form. I honestly thought that it was just a picture in a book to illustrate a point. I'm still stunned that it's really real and that I actually got to see it. It truly was an incredible sight. I plan to take the tri-pod with me to the next roast to get some pictures. And yes, I'm well aware that the tri-pod does not take the pictures.


The band has packed it in, the crowd has thinned and those of us who stayed the night are in the process of winding down, but the donkey is cranked that we're keeping him awake and he's letting us know. He finally gave up after we settled in for the night. And oh, what a short night it was.


Apparently, donkeys and/or jackasses don't require a lot of sleep. It was not quite the butt crack of dawn when he started with the braying again. It took me a brief moment to figure out what the sound was, but then I remembered. I guess he's their equivalent of a rooster.


Not to be outdone, our resident jackass (a.k.a. Smoker) decided to fire up his RV and do a fly by or two, or three, or four as our very own wake up call and I'm thinkin' that those campers who were in his wake were most envious of our plane free campsite, although I'm pretty sure that wasn't their initial thought on the subject.


After about 45 pots of coffee and some recovery, the fun began again.


Bill took out in the paraplane, which I think is a flying lawn mower powered by flubber. His first landing turned into a go around when the unexpected sight of a full moon in broad daylight broke his concentration (and most likely his spirit as well). And that full moon risin' is captured on video. Soon to be released. Or not, if the price is right.


We can't thank Bill and Janice enough for their hospitality. You are truly the most gracious hosts and we look forward to seeing you again in 2012.

9/3 - Jackalope

Did you know that the Jackalope has opened another lope in Avon on Chester? They did.

Anyway, I didn't get to see any wild life this time around, but I did get to see the light house all aglow. That was pretty cool.

I was a wee bit cranky at this gig (okay a LOT cranky) and Jake wasn't there to talk me off the ledge. But I survived and more importantly, so did the people who were the root of my crankiness.

Things improved as the night progressed and people interacted with us by singing, chair dancing, and requesting songs....even got a request for "Big Bad John" and "Greensleeves". Honest. How could I possibly make that up?

8/29 - Trading Post

This must be Jeff Bridges' hang out, because he was there again! Nice guy.

And we had our number one fan plus his two friends at this gig. It was great.

Jake's cigar box guitar peep came out and requested Little Feet. We played it, and then he requested Little Feet. He's a happy cigar box guitar builder. His son was less happy and he actually recognized the songs that he requested.

A small, but appreciative group hung out on the deck. One of the chicks made me feel like a rock star during "Landslide" when she started clapping and cheering during the ending where the hold out is....or maybe she was just glad that I was finally about to stop singing.

8/27 - BW3, Medina

Once again, we're at a patio gig where everyone is inside. But after a bit, people started to figure it out as they headed in to begin their evening and requested to sit on the patio, so it worked out okay.


During one of the songs, I noticed a plane overhead and was thinking that it was Colonel Smoker, but neither Jake nor Mudcat payed it any mind (actually, it was because they didn't see him fly in), so I went back about my task of people watching while we sing. And it's a good thing that's what I do, otherwise I would have missed the show. People were looking up and pointing and when I looked up to see what they were pointing at, sure enough it was the Smoker giving us our own Private Idaho air show in the form of a smiley face. I really wanted to see "surrender Dorothy" in script across the sky, but nooooooooo.

Jim, Paula, and Deb came out to offer their support and Colonel Smoker joined them after he
hung up his plane at Medina Muni.

And once again, there was a class reunion there, but in the party room inside. One of the alumni came out for a smoke and somehow ended up right next to our support crew's table and engaged us in conversation. After he told us how his buddies from high school were putting their wives up to going up to him and asking if he remembered them and then being all offended when he didn't, Deb looked at him with a straight face and asked him if he remembered her. When he tried to give her the "haha, good one" response, she kept it up and almost had him convinced that she was one of his classmates.

Keeping that in mind, a couple hours later we're packed up and ready to leave (no, it doesn't take us that long to pack up, we were on a break....kinda like Ross & Rachel, but different and then did the second set), I decided to go mess with the guy one last time and walked up to him while he was chatting it up with a couple women. I said hi to the girls and then gave him a hug and acted all happy to see him and when he gave me the deer in the headlights look, I told him that I couldn't believe that he didn't remember me. Then the wheels started turning and he realized that he only had to remember me in hours, not years and gave me his "haha, good one" response.

People are fun to mess with, especially when they're drunk.

8/14 - The Pub

This was sort of a milestone gig, as it was the last gig before Jake goes off to be a pilot (congratulations on that!) and to air traffic control school. I tried to make him not go or at least lie to me and tell me that he wouldn't leave, but apparently that whiny shit only works on your dad when you're two. Of course, that doesn't mean that I won't ever try it again.

He says that he'll be back every weekend, so I'm holding him to that. I do not like being Jakeless.

This was also our first (and hopefully last) gig with Pepe Le Pew making a guest appearance. He was either too little to have pewing ability or he just didn't care to waste it on us, either one being a good thing. Pepe wasn't just in the neighborhood, he was actually on the patio with us wandering around the edge and then meandering under some oblivious woman's chair. Luckily, this was all on the opposite end of the patio from where we were, but I'm thinkin' it wouldn't have mattered had he let loose. The thing that I couldn't understand was that pretty much everyone was leaning in to watch him rather than making a mad dash for the door.

Although Pepe was some fierce competition, I think we held our own with entertaining the masses, especially for the guy who cared more about hearing the blues than watching the skunk.

Some girls asked Mudcat to take their picture as we were packing the van and they were leaving, so he strategically moved back just enough to get the marque with Project Mojo on it in the background of their picture.

8/8 - Reinhart Graduation Party

Bob and Linda, you are the most gracious hosts! Thanks for all your kindness and for a fun day. And if you ever want to go into the catering business, I'm thinkin' you would be quite successful with all that dee-lish food.

Oh yeah, and congratulations, Andre.

We were semi-Jakeless this time around. Apparently, it's way more fun to be IN the party than AT the party. But, he played a mean air guitar and did some kick ass lip-synch.

Okay, how is this possible ~ one of the girls who was playing volley ball was texting during the game. She was really playing, not just standing there watching the ball zip by her head. I could not take my eyes off her. She finished her text, put her phone in her pocket and as she received a new text message, she would take her phone out of her pocket, read the message, and reply never missing a beat in the game. Now that's multi-tasking. I have enough trouble doing one or the other separately...

8/7 - Firehouse Grille & Pub

Check out the booming metropolis of Malvern. And this was at 7-ish on a Saturday evening, although you wouldn't know that from looking at their town clock. Apparently, the entire town is on bar time and it's always closing time as the clock was fixed on 2:15.

We thought that it would be a patio gig, which would have made sense since that's where everyone was (except, of course for us), but being that we were booked as a "Dinner Music Show" we were inside for the dinner crowd, which turned out to be some sleepy guy at the end of the bar and the owner and his wife with their 2 friends. There were a couple of other tables, but they came, they ate, they left (hopefully, they listened as well).

Their food is yummy and very reasonably priced and they appear to be THE place to go, so I'm not sure why there weren't more peeps out to eat. Well dammit, now I want Peeps. Did you know that you can skewer them like regular marshmallows and roast them over a fire and they'll get all weirdly deformed? But I digress. You're shocked, I'm sure.

So, we're just finishing up the last song and a few more people start to roll in and then a few more as we started packing up. By the time we we're done packing up the equipment and loading the van (which we've got down to a record 12 min), the place was approaching full capacity. I guess they're night owls in Malvern and/or conditioned to having the band start at 10:00, rather than finish at 10:00.

I think my favorite part of the journey was seeing the sign outside the fire/police station that just had "call 911 for emergencies" on it, which begs the question were they really giving the townspeople instructions or was it their way of saying "stop calling us for your damn emergencies".

8/6 - Whole Foods

This has definitely become one of my favorite places to play. In a grocery store....who'd a thunked it?

Unfortunately I missed the first half, because I was trapped at home waiting for the
maintenance man (and I use that term loosely) to finish installing a new hot water tank. He got to the house at 8:00am and left at 4:50pm. I was beginning to think that I might have been better off to just install the damn thing my own self.

And because I got there in the middle of things, I didn't scope out what food items were being offered for their 5x7. Oh well, there's always next time. It really is a great deal ~ 5 wines and 5 appetizers for 5 bucks from 5-7 every Friday.

I asked the boys (who are a wealth of information) what happened during the first half of the gig and this was their report:

Iggy Pop was there and he got a hair cut.

Now you see why the boys don't write the gig blog.

The 3 women who were singing along while choosing cheese, stopped for a bit to listen to us and then one at a time came up to put money in our tip bucket. But the way that they formed their little line and reverently approached, I'm pretty sure they were practicing for communion.

A bit later, I noticed a woman standing on the opposite side of the display between us and I'm sure she was looking down and reading one of the packages, but from my viewpoint, it looked as if she had fallen asleep standing up.

We had lots-o-little-ones this time around. I get such a kick out of watching the kids watching us. They're all mesmerized with Mudcat's and Jake's guitar playing. I often wonder how many of those kids will end up learning the guitar because of the memory that Mud and Jake create for them.

7/31 - Old Whedon Grille

Ahh...the Stepford Wives gig. Aside from that glorious 2 minute break, it was a continuous 3-1/2 hour, Jakeless gig.

Our new friend Mike was a nice boy. He made us feel good about being there and good about ourselves in general and stayed for quite some time longer than he had originally planned (you're welcome, Don).

7/24 - The Pub

This has always been one of our favorite gigs and we were really looking forward to playing on the patio during patio season. In Pub gigs of yore, their patio was enclosed and equipped with heaters. Although it was open this time around, it still felt like the heaters were going. Super duper hot night. Really hot. I'm talkin' hot. We did remember to bring the fan (not our #1 fan, but a fan none the less) and that helped a bit. Just a bit.

Mudcat staked out his spot on the squishy mat for dart throwers. No dart throwers were present this evening. Well...they might have been present, but at least they refrained from the throwing of the darts in his general direction.

Thanks to Dorothy and the California Girls for coming out to show your support! The best we could do was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for Dorothy and "Hotel California" for the girls.

There was a table of six right up front (or in the back, depending on your perspective) and one of the boys sang/yelled along with "You're So Vain" to the boy across the table from him. Vain Boy and the 3rd guy kept leaving the table and going out to the sidewalk where I assumed they were smoking and they went there a lot and stayed for a while. Then the girls from the table went up to the edge of the patio to watch Vain Boy and his friend. Turns out the boys were playing cornhole, not smoking, which makes sense as cornhole seems to be much more of a spectator sport than smoking.

Jake and I tried our hands at cornhole after the van was packed (okay, during....we were playing while Mudcat was packing the van). And yes, I still suck at the game.

7/22 - Ziggy's Sports Bar

This joint was much bigger than I expected. Kinda reminded me of a smaller version of BW3.

Wow, did we get the rain that night. When Mudcat sang "Ridin' the Storm Out", he wasn't kidding. The bad thing is that it kept people from venturing out, but the good thing is that it kept people from venturing out. We didn't get any more people coming in, but we didn't loose anyone either. Thankfully, the rain stopped by the time we were to the loading of the van stage of the evening.

And we can add wriggly, crawly things to the list of insects of which Jake is most fond. I really think he should consider being an entomologist. It's not too late to switch career paths.

Another thing that Jake added was a new fan. Some guy came up to him just as we finished up and sang his praises. He actually didn't even look at Mud or me, so I guess we know who's the real rock star in the group.

Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful and low key gig.

7/18 - Trading Post

So, it's a bazillion degrees and we get to play outside. How nice for us. We learned one thing from Jake (just the one thing) and that's to bring along our fan. And we were smart enough to bring the canopy as well, so it could have been much worse.

Their back yard area is kick ass. It's completely secluded even though it's right next to the street. Empty picnic tables abound. Well, the tables became empty when our Trading Post crew realized that the picnic table on the deck is much closer to the beer and the grill, but God bless them, it took 3 rounds for them to figure it out.

Beyond the back yard is a little bridge that takes you to a mini Woodstock area. And speaking of bridges, we did have a special guest ~ Jeff Bridges. He's a real nice guy. Down to earth (when he's not flying his plane) and disguised as a biker, he fit right in with the regulars.

7/17 - Riders 1812 Inn

Once again, our summer gig at Riders is on the same night as Painsville's Party in the Park. Guess where everyone was? If you guessed the park, you would be correct.

We had a few die hard Riders Inn folks who hung out in the bar and they seemed to enjoy the music.

Oh yeah, and Riders is a Jakeless gig, because the place is so wee and I don't like the Jakeless gigs one bit. Not one bit, I tell you.

The bright spot of the evening was when Barb (my friend since 1st grade) showed up with her brother, her mom & dad, and her 2 kids. Her son was bored out of his mind, which made me feel sorry for him for having been dragged out there, but also made me feel so proud of him that he was doing what his mom asked of him...he's 19. One of the first things I did when we took our break was to thank him for coming out and then give him permission to leave. He didn't argue.

As Barb and Erica (her 22yrd old daughter) were leaving, Erica told me that she doesn't like it when her dad is out of town while she's home from college. I told her how sweet that was that she missed her dad and she informed me that that wasn't the case. When her dad's away during a weekend, she has to hang out with her mom. I asked her if she meant hang out with "old" people and she just grinned.

So, this gig turned out to be a family reunion of sorts for me. That part of it I enjoyed. Being Jakeless, not so much.

7/10 - Capps Tavern

Where is Capps Tavern, you ask? It's in BF Egypt....unless you happen to live in BFE (like my brother and sister-in-law), then it's just down the road a piece.

Apparently, their golf outing was quite a success. Lots of people turned out for the event and even the loosers won something. Actually, I wouldn't have minded some of the lovely parting gifts....guess I need to take up golf. Or not.

They have a pretty cool patio, complete with a fountain that some little girl decided needed a rock rearranging. And by rearranging, I mean throwing rocks onto it. Good thing they didn't bounce back.

There's also a canopy so we got a nice little break from the blazing sun. And the OFF gave us a nice little break from the bugs once the sun went away and we turned on our lights. What is it about lights that bugs like? Maybe in their little bug minds they think they're crossing over.

We actually had some dancers, but they danced to "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay". Odd song to dance to (I thought), but they made it work.

7/8 - The Boneyard

Okay, so it's a thousand twelve degrees outside and we're scheduled to do a patio gig. I was most unhappy about that. I like patio gigs, but not when it's so stinkin' hot that everyone is inside enjoying the AC while we're outside trying not to pass out from heat exhaustion.

But, oh happy day ~ we got to play inside!

The acoustics were funky in there, but we muddled through. Muddled, actually is the key word. That's kinda what our sound was. But, oh well. We got through it. I know Jake was loving it.

Thanks to Col. Smoker and company for stopping out to see us. You guys are alright.

We got the plug pulled on us an hour early, because of the "big announcement". Stupid, stupid, stupid Lebron. Oh well, what can you do?

7/4 - Meadows Neighborhood Fireworks

Once again, Vic and Amy pulled out all the stops for a great party with lots of fun and lots of food!

Jake brought along our number one fan (thank you, Betty!). What a difference it made being able to have a wee bit-o-breeze.

Vic was nice enough to set up the canopy for us again this year, so that we didn't have to be in direct sunlight. Kinda like a house plant, but different....at least we weren't leaning toward the light.

We did Marylou's songs for her; "I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover", "Bye, Bye Blackbird", and "Crazy". She's a hoot, that one.

And the fireworks were awesome, but not long enough. We did get to see some on the way home, so that was fun.

Looking foward to being a part of the party next year!

7/3 - Jackalope

Everyone was pretty subdued this time around, with the exception of the reincarnated Sam Kinison, who at first glance appeared to be a perfectly quiet and well behaved 2-ish year old girl. It was Sam.

For quite a while, we had the pleasure of watching a deer grazing in the grass beyond the parking lot, although Mudcat insisted that it was indeed a jackalope. She wasn't bothered by any people wandering around, car doors closing, and/or engines starting, but she drew the line with a little Toto impersonator and she was gone.

We also got to see a beautiful sunset that turned the view of the lighted boats gathered at the dock into a picture perfect evening.

And this is our job.

BW3 - Broadview Hts

This had to be one of the most uneventful gigs in PM history.

With the exception of B&B (thanks for coming out and enduring the comfy seats), it was pretty much a take out kinda night. The taker outers had a couple drinks while they waited for their food order, gave us the 2 thumbs up and promptly left.

However, I did learn a couple things ~

1) A take out order is "almost ready" at the end of the first drink and will arrive almost immediately after the second drink is served. Coincidence? I think not.

2) A vodka exists in a bottle that looks like a crystal skull (hence the name Crystal Skull Vodka).
The bottle represents the human skull carvings made from rock crystals purported to be pre-Columbian, but research has found them to be from the mid-19th century. I sound all smart, huh? Wikipedia is a wonderful thing. Reminds me of the Golden Encyclopedias....artifacts from my youth.

6/25 - BW3, Medina

This was a patio gig, so we got to watch the comings and goings of the crazy drivers who apparently thought that the parking lot was a slalom course. Seems they just had to get inside to have some wings and/or beer. Lots of motorcycles about, which made me a little nervous what with the slalom course crazies and all.

It was also a full moon. Hey, maybe that s'plains the meandering motorists.

This was the night that Jake was presented with his crown and scepter, which he was robbed of....robbed I tell you. Stupid, stupid, stupid spoon boy.

And it turns out that when a group of people gather together at the local watering hole to have a class reunion and they're standing in the only open area to accommodate their mass, it's a fire hazard. So, the real life Francis Soyer (a.k.a. Psycho from "Stripes") arrives on the scene to reclaim law and order. He was pretty intense. Oh, and neither law nor order were reclaimed.
However, he did try to intimidate the group from across the room by staring at them, which might have worked had anyone actually been paying attention to him other than his own self.

6/19 - Mustard Seed

This might have been our last hoorah at the Mustard Seed. No, we didn't do anything outrageous and we kept our pyrotechnics to a minimum....they're changing their entertainment format and trying new things to see how that works, so we won't know until next year if they will want us back or not.

But, in the meantime ~ here's what happened: Everything was going along pretty non-blog worthy until this gentleman who had been dining alone, but was now just sitting at the bar listening to our music, decided to play maitre d. He was dressed for the occasion with a suit jacket and a Quicksilver Sly Fedora hat. I do believe he is the real life version of Chuck Finley from "Burn Notice".

A couple came in and they were waiting to be seated, just like the sign instructed. Chuck decided that they had waited long enough and got up from the bar, went over to them, greeted them with a slight bow, took 2 menus from the hostess stand and told them to follow him. He then proceeded to slowly, and deliberately escort them to a table where he made a grand gesture of getting the woman settled in her spot and then exchanged pleasantries with the man and I'm assuming he then told them that their server would be right with them and to enjoy their dinner.

The manager chick in charge intercepted Chuck on his way out and had a nice long chat with him, which I'm guessing might have had something to do with his lack of employment at the restaurant.

After their conversation, he exited as slowly and deliberately as he had seated that couple at the other end of the restaurant, glanced at us, grinned, and tipped his hat on his way out.

Wonder if we were as memorable...guess we'll find out next year.

6/18 - Whole Foods

Thanks to Lightnin' for stopping out to see us!

We didn't see our regular dancer guy, but we did see a couple dancing in the ice cream aisle (or it could have been frozen yogurt).

Our new friend, Dave pulled up a chair to make his very own ring side seat and stayed for about an hour.

I think the joint is jinxed for Mudcat. The last time we were there he dropped his glass slide on their concrete floor...yeah, it broke. Oh, guess what he did with his back up glass slide this time. If you guessed that he dropped it on their concrete floor and that it broke then you would be correct, but win nothing.

6/10 - The Boneyard

Our first patio gig of the year! Well, our first outdoor patio gig. And to help us celebrate the occasion were some midges, which made Jake SO happy.

We had a tiny dancer at this one. She was a little cutie and she was quite mesmerized by Mudcat.

After a bit, one of the servers came out and with the bartender's help, rearranged the tables into a long line, because there was a party of 12 coming out to the patio. They get it all right and proper and moments later, 2 guys sit down with their beer at the far end of the tables.

They are obviously part of the party for which the rearranged tables were intended as they were watching for their friends. However, their friends decided to stand around a high top table that could fit four, if those 4 people were either really small or they were all jammed in together.

The boys at the long line-o-tables motion for them to come over and sit down. They don't. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that one of the boys was a big jock type guy and the other one was a scrawny geek type guy, which brings me to my next observation.

The bigger of the 2 boys is getting more anxious the longer he's segregated from his average size friends, so after a bit of what I'm sure he thought was an internal struggle....you know, the one that showed all over his face and was made even more outward with his body language, he left his small friend to fend for himself. But he was kind enough to leave the pitcher of beer with him.

So, now Scrawny Boy is getting to be even more of a Nervous Nelly, sitting at the head of the otherwise empty table with a pitcher of beer and his very own beer glass. When he realizes that all his "friends" are quite content to be standing all jammed together without him, he makes one of the most important decisions of his life. He holds his position as head of the empty table.

The look on his face told me that he probably spent a lot of his school years saving places for his friends in the cafeteria, while they ate at another table with the hope that they would at least join him for dessert and he was reliving those moments.

Finally Jock Boy comes back over to join Scrawny Boy, but only long enough to refill his glass from the pitcher that he left on the table with him. Scrawn Boy takes this as his cue to have an "in" and walks back to the group-o-guys with his large friend, leaving the pitcher of beer on the table to act as a beacon.

The good news is that the server chick and the bartender did not rearrange those tables in vain. That's where all the pitchers of beer ended up, so that the boys wouldn't have to take turns holding pitchers along with their glasses.

Curiously, the pitchers were always at the far end of the table from where all these boys were congregated....the very same spot where Scrawn Boy was lording over his invisible subjects.

One way or another, he was going to get his friends to that table.

6/5 - Mojo's Coffee House

This gig was just the boys. I was in Kent at the Wine & Arts Fest (as a vendor, not just a wine tasting wanderer), so here's the gig report I got from Mudcat ~

"It was good."

He's a man of many words, isn't he? Of course I had to nag more info out of him, but I didn't get much.

A couple guys were there for open mic night and came up to play and sing for a while and our friend, Don was there.

Okay, for Mudcat that's a huge amount of information.

So, that's it for this one.

6/4 - Paradise Resturaunt & Pub

I don't know about you, but when a place is called "Paradise", I usually picture a dump. This place was actually not a dump, but very nice.

This time, we were not on the patio due to rain. And this time, the place had AC....just not flowing into the stage area. There was one tiny air vent that Mudcat was kind enough to point in my direction. The vent really didn't help much, but the gesture did. Thanks, Mud!

It was an unusual crowd mix with some people dressed to the nines, and others in their dirty baseball uniforms. But everyone played nice together.

One couple at the bar caught my eye, because the woman was drinking white wine with a marciano cherry in the glass and I thought that was kind of fun. The guy was drinking beer. But wait, there's more. After a couple of drinks, they ordered shots. The shot was Sky Vodka direct from the bottle on the shelf, not chilled, with a lemon wedge. How in the world they drank that at all was beyond me (warm vodka just isn't appealing to me), but how could this chick drink that after white wine with a cherry and then go back to the wine with the sweet cherry after sucking on the lemon? And not once, not twice, but 3 times....and they both walked out of there like they had been drinking water. I'm still stunned.

The owner, "Stanley" (and I use quotes, because for reasons that I won't get into I am pretty darn sure was not his real name) bought us a round of drinks and then shut us down a little early. There seemed to be a private party brewing and we were not invited, which was fine by me.

6/3 - Milestone Bar & Grille

Did you ever wonder why "grill" is spelled with an "e" at the end when it follows "bar &"? Yeah, me neither.

So, this was one of the warmest and most humid nights EVER and we get to play in a bar with no AC....not that it was broken, but that it was nonexistent. And there was no cross breeze, there were no ceiling fans, just the open front door and that did absolutely nothing to help lower the temp inside.

And yes, yes they did have a patio....

Everyone, with the exception of Karen and Elmo got their drinks and fled to the patio where there was a nice breeze and a coolness to the air.

After encouraging words from Karen, Heather came back inside and stayed for a bit. She even joined us for a few songs as did Elmo. I tried to force Karen to be our backup singer/dancer for "stop in the name of love" and she complied for a wee bit.

And we were Jakeless, but with good reason. He was at the second round of the King of the Blues competition and oh guess what, he WON! If you didn't see the link in my congrats posting, here ya go ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_v9_p5PZY
Once again, CONGRATULATIONS, JAKE!

5/29 - Mustard Seed

Well, with it being the holiday weekend and all this gig seemed as slow as molasses in January.

Really nothing eventful, but we still had fun.

For some reason, every time the manager came out to the main dining/bar area where we were set up, I kept feeling like we were going to get into some sort of trouble...kinda like having the principal come into the classroom his own self and escort you to his office (not that that ever happened to me, of course). But, we never saw his office.

The end.