the biggest wedding reception i ever played!

Last night I performed with Barry Cohen and Big Daddy Orchestra at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego. We performed on the 3rd floor in the Elizabeth Ballroom, the hotel’s largest room.

This was a Middle-Eastern wedding that was a grandiose event… 750 guests (from what Barry told me), and the huge ballroom was grandly decorated with canopies over dessert tables, a special raised platform for the bride and groom where they sat in comfort underneath their own special canopy. In addition to our American band, there was a Middle-Eastern band, and we took turns performing our sets, although it felt like the Middle-Eastern band wanted more time… I guess it was no problem with us.

They had a nice “green room” for us with lots of food and beverages! We had long breaks because the Middle-Eastern band was playing, so we had plenty of time to relax and eat in the green room.

All in all, it was a very nice gig!

I was fascinated by the Middle-Eastern music, which was quite electronic (the drummer had nothing but a pair of electronic pad tables with a variety of digitally sampled drums and percussion. But they sounded more like a combination of House and Arabic music… which was still cool.

The Middle-Eastern dancing out there was quite fascinating to me… and I had fun watching.

. . . .

Harry Burns: I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

. . . .

Anyway, today was a quiet, restful Sunday for me. And I hadn’t left the house at all. I was feeling a bit tired from last night, so it was a much needed rest. Just watched DVDs, TV, napped under a cozy blanket…. sulked… lounged… did a nice 45 minute yoga routine!

I tried to do some gardening outside but although it was sunny, it was freezing out there.

I baked some chicken wings for the family, made pasta, steamed some veggies…. cleaned a little bit, and never left the house! And I did surf the web… a lot today!

I’ll have what she’s having.

And I watched “When Harry Met Sally”… again. I go through periods when I obsess over certain movies. Next up, “Sleepless in Seattle” or “Serendipity” (but I’ll have to go out and rent or buy that one). *smile*

. . . .

Harry Burns: You realize of course that we could never be friends.
Sally Albright: Why not?
Harry Burns: What I’m saying is - and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form - is that men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.