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Dallas, Texas, United States

Monday, August 13, 2007

Cleveland, Part One

And so it was that CruiserMel went to Cleveland, Ohio for a few days last week. And you, in return ask "why, CM?" Okay, I'll tell you.

Some time ago, I "met" a friend, we'll call her T, on a Todd Rundgren forum. We became email friends and somewhere along the line we became really good friends, online and on the telephone. We shared a mutual interest in all things Todd and/or Kasim-related. We would giggle and tell stories and trade photos. Online.

When Kasim was going to be in Cleveland doing a solo show, along with performing with Meat Loaf, and seeing as how CM hasn't done anything crazy in August yet, I decided this would be a perfect time to meet T in person and have a little sisterly bonding, whilst having a nice "view," as it were.

Funny sidenote: Boy Toy J actually blessed this union. And I'm not talking about meeting T. It was surreal. I'm sure it was spawned by alcohol and wanting to please his girlfriend, but when he said I should.......oh I can't tell it out loud.......let's just stick with surreal, shall we?

So, Wednesday morning I dropped The Romanian at the rental car place and got to the airport a full 2 hours before my flight. As you know, I'm prone to travel ghoulies and frankly, I'm perdy darn sick of it. So I decided to head the ghoulies off at the pass. Be proactive: that's my motto now.

I made the flight to Memphis just fine, even having time to grab a granola bar, some water and a tacky magazine at a newsstand. The flight was uneventful. That worried me a bit, I admit. As soon as the plane touched ground, I dashed to the front of the plane, wanting to be 1st to step off and move on to my connecting flight.

*pause* *longer pause* *even longer pause*

Would you believe the damn sky bridge (or whatever it's called) broke? I felt my scalp crawl. In my head I was praying "please get me off this plane." At least I hope it was in my head.

Then the pilot spoke: "We will lower the stairs from the rear of the plane for disembarkation for your convenience."

WHAT THE FUCK? I'm at the front of the plane!!!!!

Anyway - we deboarded like the Beatles arriving in NYC, except there weren't any adoring fans or flowers being thrown at us. Once I got around the slowest passengers on earth, I did an OJ through the airport and got to my gate with 2 minutes to spare. Two.

Once in Cleveland, I was "upgraded" to a "better" rental car than the roller skate on tires I'd signed-up for. Hey, I'm frugal; get over it. This "better" car was a huge monstrosity, a Dodge I think, and it looked like a hearse. A big, ugly hearse. Yeah, this was sexy all right. Quite.

I made my way to the hotel in a place called Willoughby (sounds pretty, doesn't it. ummmkay) where my room was as humid as a rainforest with water literally running down the mirrors, turned on the a/c and headed for the mall to get a mani and pedi. Happily, it was heavenly. I even fell asleep. Don't you love those chairs with the massage thingies in them?

Later on, I whored-up and T came to pick me up for dinner. She's adorable. She's sweet and kind of shy at first, but she's a hoot once you get her talking, especially about Kasim. We were like teenagers, giddy and excited to see Kas' solo show at a place called the Beachland Ballroom. Why it was called a ballroom, I'm not sure; it looked like a bar to me. And it had one of those, too. Bonus!

We got our seats on the first row and whispered about how cute he looked (he really did!) and how funny his stories are every time. In addition to getting to see Kasim, he was joined on stage by a surprise guest - Randy Flowers, one of the guitar players in Meat Loaf's band. Then in walked a good portion of the rest of Meat's band, including Paul Crook (the other guitarist) and the two girl singers (C.C. and Aspen Miller). It made it a very special night, for Kasim and for us. Natch, I bullied my way through the crowd to meet everyone. It was too cool for school, I tell ya.

Don't eeeeeeeven look at me in this next picture. Just look at that famous smile on Kas. But seriously, what's with my neck? And remind me to use more conditioner next time. Okay, you can look at me just this once because you have just got to see the dumbfounded deer-in-the-headlights look in my eyes. This is normal when I see him. I have no idea why he even bothers with me.


This next one is a little better. This is Paul Crook. He's got a great laugh.


That's Kasim, Randy, Aspen and Paul. Nice family portrait, no?

When the night was over, T took me back to the hotel, where lo and behold - darkness. Complete darkness. And not a hum or buzz of electricity in the air except for the buzzing in my head from a little too much bourbon. Luckily, T had a flashlight to give me, I opened the window, washed my face off and got on the cellphone with S (in California) to report about the night. Remember S? She's the one who got to meet Todd ON HIS BUS and is another Toddhead/Kasimhead. She ooohed and ahhhed over my night for an hour or so. After awhile, I decided to hit the bed.

At precisely 5:41 a.m., the lights and television turned on like a brutal high beam straight to my retinas! And it was raining. Into my room. Fantastico.

Later on that morning, I changed hotels to one closer into Cleveland to ready myself for another night of fun, T, Kasim and Meat Loaf.

I'll give you a day or two to absorb all of this. I know. You'll get over it. Eventually.

Thanks to T for letting me steal her photos as my camera decided to go on the fritz and was a totally worthless piece of shit all weekend.










13 comments:

Mademoiselle said...

Wow. Your life is like some sort of a VH-1 reality show!

On a quasi-related note, one time, I thought I saw Billy Corgan coming out of a laundromat across the street, and so I waved to him. And then he just kinda glared at me. (Turned out it wasn't really him, though ... just some ordinary bald guy.)

D-HOR said...

Heeee hheeee you really do look star-ee eyed in that first pic. :) You're so cute cruiser! You've met him HOW many times now? He's going to start remembering you (if he doesn't already) and next thing we know you'll be dumping boy toy and going on tour with mr. K. hottie and we'll all be even MORE jealous of you are your cool m-t.v. life than we already are.

Just don't forget to keep blogging K?

CruiserMel said...

mademoiselle - It's a Paris Hilton kind of life. Nothing but limos and champagne. Yeah right. This has got to be the weirdest sentence in history: Billy Corgan and laudromat mentioned in one sentence. LOL I'm sorry that wasn't your brush with fame - but maybe it's for the best.....I mean, he may have asked you to iron his shirts. Btw, drop by again sometime. You're always welcome here.

CruiserMel said...

Lindy - You flatter me. I look like I'm about to face a firing squad in that picture! You can almost hear "what do you want on your tombstone?" in the background. LOL

Circe said...

CM, you are SO CUTE!!! Adorable, totally adorable!
So sorry about your hotel situation. When I go home, I stay in Brook Park. Did you stay in that 'burb after the first fiasco? And did you get to check out the attractions I mentioned? *waits with baited breath for further news...* :)

Sassy Blondie said...

Cruiser-How cool are you? I love an intimate setting like that "ballroom" so that you do get the chance to really connect with the artist. (Ok..that sounded SO cheesy and groupie-ish, but I'm on meds...sue me)

Your travel stories are very similar to mine. I always tell people I have the "dark cloud" of travel hanging over me. It just follows me as I go! lol

Thatgirl7278 said...

I have never had a trip like this! I would go ape shit w/all the crappy dealings. But it still sounds like fun was had. :)

xxxx said...

WHAT A TRIP! Those pictures are totally adorable, though!

Just Sayin' said...

Well... Well... Well... You are quite the groupie chick aren't you???

The Fabulous Life Of... Cruiser Mel!

Sgt said...

I jealous you got to hang out with Aspen!

Sounds like a great trip.

MrRyanO said...

WOW! Another kick ass trip! You are slowing becoming my hero!

Nice pics! Hubba hubba!

Anonymous said...

meat loaf. heh.

tdawg said...

CruiserMel,

Whatta great time it was,we MUST find a way do that all over again!

Did we let the heat, blackouts, monsoons, muggings, & crappy-badly-behaving cameras ruin it for us...HELL no!

I would have to give BTJ extra credit points for that "surreal" deal" blessing. Hee!

You looked so lost in that huge white hearse you were driving, at least it was easy to spot though in those goofy parking decks. I loved how the exit signs pointed one way, but then were gated off so we all had to back up & go to the entrance to get OUT!

Wonder where you will end up for your next adventure!

Rock on!

"T"