From left: Dee (our Head of Security and hostess), ya boy, and Joe (aka Punkee)
About an hour and a half later, we rolled out to the local pop radio station Power 98 to do an on-air interview with the lovely Kai Young. After the formal introductions, the fellas ripped into a slammin' cover of "I Am Your Brother" by the Filipino American Idol-hopeful (the one that dressed like an angelic pimp and poured out his undying devotion to Simon Cowell). Ripped it.
Kai Young of Power 98
So, on to the next spot, which was another autograph signing in a board room at a local bank that sponsored the event. After an hour of that, plus a short intervie in the limo with a local publication, we rolled out to our next destination: DJ Q's radio station FM 10-4, for another on-air interview. Unlike our local old school station here in the Bay, which boasts a rotation of the same 5 Motown songs everyday, Q's on-air selections were a pleasant surprise to all of us. "Apache", "I Wonder If I Take You Home", "Let Me Love You Down" (my favorite slow jam EVER!), just to name a few.
DJ Q of FM 10-4
Next spot: Tech rehearsal at the Phoenix Center for an hour. Back to the hotel for a couple of hours to catch up on rest. As beat as I was (with a severe time difference of a day and 6 hours), I used my time to sew up some loose ends for the show on the audio tip.
10 pm. Showtime. Ripped it.
Two of Chris' nephews.
Time for the after party! We pulled up to a bar called The Venue. We headed straight for our "VIP corner" where people got a chance to meet the crew and shoot pictures (and various drinks). As I sat lonely in my own corner, where no one seemed to notice me, I got twisted off of some henny and coke (for my crew back home).
Enter: Aubrey and Shista. Two lovely "Chammoritas", as I've been asked to refer to them as, approach my drunk ass. Showing their apprecation for my performance, they asked to pose for a couple of pics.
From left: Shista, ol' drunk eyes, Aubrey
After a couple more drinks, the two lovelies invite me on a night out on the town, where they would drive me through their respective neighborhoods, teach me local slang, walk me though Aubrey's fam's supermarket, and make a stop for a much-needed late dinner (beef steak and onions at Linda's. Damn delicious!). Throughout the night, I observed the chemistry between these two BFFs, and it was a bit reminiscent of Laverne and Shirley. They would argue and debate amongst each other a lot. I thought it was zany and cute.
After our late-night excursion, they dropped me off at my hotel. My internal clock read 11:30 pm. My watch read 5:30 am. Time to rush my restless ass to bed to get up bright and early for a 9:00 am call time.
