Bette
Due to a totally unexpected string of circumstances, I wound up going to Bette Midler's show in Las Vegas this past week and reconnecting (in person) with a musician friend of mine I who I haven't seen since high school. It all started with a travel agent convention and Facebook...
In the 4th grade, I started taking percussion lessons in school. It was there that I first met Taku Hirano. Not long after that (a year or two), his family moved to Hong Kong. In high school, he came back and we went to school together again. When he graduated (he's a year older than me), he went to Berklee School of Music in Boston (as did many of my other musician friends). I have occasionally heard updates on his career, but hadn't communicated with him until a month or two ago.
Facebook has generated some pretty amazing connections for me, as it has for many people I think. I've bumped into old coworkers, long-lost family friends, and so on. I was quite surprised when Taku sent me a friend request on Facebook. We emailed a few times.
Fast forward to last week. A couple friends of mine from Anchorage, one of them a travel agent, were in Vegas last week for a travel convention. They asked me if I wanted to come out and hang out with them. I was on call at work and told them it probably wouldn't work out since we're really busy at work. Even so, I thought I'd work on the necessary permission slips just in case. Edi figured if I wasn't in Vegas, I'd be working, so I'd be gone either way. I called work several times and finally worked it out with them. Much to my surprise, it actually worked out, though it was pretty questionable all the way until I arrived in Vegas.
In all the rush to figure out if I could even go or not, it didn't occur to me to think if there was anyone else in Vegas I wanted to see. They had some plans for shows and what not, but there was no real schedule for me. At some point after I arrived, I realized there might be a chance that Taku would be in town.
Bette Midler rotates through the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace (Celine Dion's old venue) with Elton John and Cher. The previous night I noticed (how could you not) her giant picture up on the sign outside and thought maybe she'd be in town. So I figured I'd send Taku and email on Facebook and see if he was around (he's the percussionist in her show). He called me back later in the day and asked if I wanted to come see the show. Of course, I accepted...
We met for about a 1/2 hour before the show to catch up on, we figured, about 17 years. He's had quite an amazing career as a percussionist for many well-known artists.
The show was great. She did some of her standards mixed up with some comedy and, of course, the Caesar Salad Girls (hah!). The band was fantastic. Taku had commented on the phone that I'd like the drummer... it was Sonny Emory. But they were all outstanding musicians. The venue was amazing, too. The stage is huge!
A great time was had by all. And then, just as quickly as it all came together, I was off to work on another trip...
V-
In the 4th grade, I started taking percussion lessons in school. It was there that I first met Taku Hirano. Not long after that (a year or two), his family moved to Hong Kong. In high school, he came back and we went to school together again. When he graduated (he's a year older than me), he went to Berklee School of Music in Boston (as did many of my other musician friends). I have occasionally heard updates on his career, but hadn't communicated with him until a month or two ago.
Facebook has generated some pretty amazing connections for me, as it has for many people I think. I've bumped into old coworkers, long-lost family friends, and so on. I was quite surprised when Taku sent me a friend request on Facebook. We emailed a few times.
Fast forward to last week. A couple friends of mine from Anchorage, one of them a travel agent, were in Vegas last week for a travel convention. They asked me if I wanted to come out and hang out with them. I was on call at work and told them it probably wouldn't work out since we're really busy at work. Even so, I thought I'd work on the necessary permission slips just in case. Edi figured if I wasn't in Vegas, I'd be working, so I'd be gone either way. I called work several times and finally worked it out with them. Much to my surprise, it actually worked out, though it was pretty questionable all the way until I arrived in Vegas.
In all the rush to figure out if I could even go or not, it didn't occur to me to think if there was anyone else in Vegas I wanted to see. They had some plans for shows and what not, but there was no real schedule for me. At some point after I arrived, I realized there might be a chance that Taku would be in town.
Bette Midler rotates through the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace (Celine Dion's old venue) with Elton John and Cher. The previous night I noticed (how could you not) her giant picture up on the sign outside and thought maybe she'd be in town. So I figured I'd send Taku and email on Facebook and see if he was around (he's the percussionist in her show). He called me back later in the day and asked if I wanted to come see the show. Of course, I accepted...
We met for about a 1/2 hour before the show to catch up on, we figured, about 17 years. He's had quite an amazing career as a percussionist for many well-known artists.
The show was great. She did some of her standards mixed up with some comedy and, of course, the Caesar Salad Girls (hah!). The band was fantastic. Taku had commented on the phone that I'd like the drummer... it was Sonny Emory. But they were all outstanding musicians. The venue was amazing, too. The stage is huge!
A great time was had by all. And then, just as quickly as it all came together, I was off to work on another trip...
V-