I Wish It Would Rain

Here's a little "rain" music to cool off the summer heat...and hopefully end the drought we're in here in Missouri.

I Wish It Would Rain- The Temptations

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head- B.J. Thomas

 

I'm Singin' in the Rain- Gene Kelly

And then the Cat Laughed

The Music of Summer

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer Nat King Cole 

 

Long Hot Summer- Keith Urban

Summer In The City - Lovin' Spoonful 

 

In the Summertime- Mungo Jerry

 

Summertime- Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

 

Summer Nights- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

 

 

 

Long Hot Summer

Pictures that Made Me Smile

Saturday Night Music Featuring- Phil Harris

THE PREACHER AND THE BEAR ~ Phil Harris & his Orchestra ~ 1947 ~ RCA Victor Records. 

Smoke Smoke Smoke

 

That's What I Like About The South

 

Magic Smoking Monkeys Theater -Star Trek: The Review that Wasn't

 

The Magic Smoking Monkeys are a fun offshoot of the St. Louis Shakespeare Company.  They are a talented group of performers with a wacky sense of humor that has always appealed to me.  They are known for taking a “classic” film and adapting it in an irreverent way.  Their performances are marked by high energy, creativity and laughter.  I had planned on doing a review of their latest production of “Star Trek”. I had been looking forward to it since last December. I am unable to do so because they lost our reservations.

Our misadventure started because a member of our group had received two passes from a St. Louis Shakespeare Company board member at a Kiwanis Club meeting. The passes were for any show, and they had no expiration date on them. To redeem the passes, reservations were supposed to be made through the box office number on the passes.  I called to make reservation and got their voice mail. I explained about the passes, left my number and asked for a call back with instructions on how to redeem them.

Two days after leaving the message, a MSM member called back. She took my name, phone number and the number of people in our party. I explained about the passes and told her we would be purchasing two more tickets through their ticket vendor. She assured me that it would make more sense for her to reserve a block of six seats and we could pay at the door.

On the evening of the performance (May 19^th), we arrived in the Central West End at 6:00 pm.  We met our part for a leisurely dinner.  We arrived at the theater at approximately 7:25 pm for the 8:00 curtain. This is when things went from a good evening to bad for us.  Kathy, who ran the box office, looked at us like we were crazy. She told us we didn’t have reservations and the show was sold out.  She said we couldn’t be seated because the fire code wouldn’t allow additional seating. She denied ever receiving or knowing about our reservations. She said she hadn’t received an email from Kim. We were told that there were openings for the 10:30 performance. Our very disappointed and somewhat humiliated group left the theater.

None of us wanted to wander around for three more hours to show time. It didn’t make sense to go home and come back especially with traffic on the Delmar loop. When I arrived home I posted the following on their Facebook page:

To the Magic Smoking Monkeys:
We were very disappointed that you lost our reservations to Star Trek. We had been given 2 passes to admit 4 people to any show. We called your box office to ask for instructions on how to redeem them. A member of your troupe called to make the reservations (4 passes-2 tickets at door)...and yet tonight we were turned away. My advice...if you're not going to honor your guest passes, then do away with them.

Sunday afternoon, I received this response from Kim:

Ron,

On behalf on MSM, I apologize for the oversight and that you weren't able to see Star Trek last evening at 8pm. I am not sure how this happened since I was the person you spoke with and I did give you our box office your name. 4 comps and you were going to purchase 2 additional tickets as well. I remember speaking to you about this.

Would you mind sending me your phone number so we can speak about this personally? I did not keep your phone number once I gave your name and number of people to see the show.

I do apologize for not being able to get your group in to see the show.

Kindest Regards,

I responded with the following:

·         Hi,
Thank you for your apology. I was beginning to think I imagined the conversation making the reservation.

Kathy said she didn't get an email informing her of the reservations. She checked her print outs multiple times, but couldn't find us.

My phone number is 314-XXX-XXXX

·         ( since this is a blog posting -I deleted my phone number here)

 

Kim responded:

·         She didn't get an email because I personally told her last week and saw her write it down in the computer.

I am not sure how/what happened to your reservation.

I spoke to Donna N.

She is going to give you a call. Right now, she is at strike (breaking down the set).

I let her know that I spoke with you.

I am really sorry this happened - especially to a Trekkie!

Kimberly

A week went by without a phone call…so I posted:

It's been a week since we were turned away from "Star Trek" because the monkeys lost our reservations. Only one member has contacted us with an apology which was appreciated...She confirmed that the reservations had been given to the box office...but I guess the rest of the Monkeys were too busy smoking to worry about their poor customer service and damage to the group's reputation in this fiasco. Shame really...had been a fan and attendee since your Art Loft theater days...Have to think long and hard about trying to attend another production. If we do, it'll be with purchased tickets because the Monkeys don't honor their comp vouchers or reservations made through their box office number.

I received the following response from an unknown somebody:

Mr. Asher: I understand our house manager contacted you to apologize for the mix-up with your reservation. Since our 8pm performances generally sell out, we unfortunately were unable to accommodate your group without evicting audience members who were already seated. And, considering the size of our venue, there is unfortunately not enough space to add additional seating without violating fire codes. I'm so sorry your party wasn't able to stay and attend the 10:30 performance that night, as we had seating available for that show.

The St. Louis Shakespeare/MSMT comp certificates you had were provided in 2011 by one of our board members as a donation to the Kiwanis Club. Since we would still like to show our appreciation to Kiwanis, SLS has already sent a check directly to the Kiwanis Club, which exceeds the cash value of the tickets you were planning to use that evening. In this way, hopefully the inconvenience you suffered is benefiting the Kiwanis Club and the children they serve.

I posted the following reply which was evidently ignored:

My frustration stems from 3 points: First was the reaction, my group rec'd at the box office. My group as a whole felt that our lost reservations were no big deal. Sorry. No...we never received them. At this point, the house manager should have been notified. That never happened until after our group left. Secondly, your house manager told me that she saw the reservations entered into the computer. She was unsure what happened to them. To me, this indicates a broken system. Perhaps if you continue your comp vouchers, you might require an email address so your company and the reservation holder would have a record. Finally, your house manager told me that someone would be contacting me this week by phone to discuss the situation. That never happened. If we knew you were going to lose our 8:00 reservations, we would have planned for the 10:30 show...but I remind you that they are called reservations for a reason..... If the Kiwanis Club has received the check, it will go a long way to setting things right. On their behalf, thank you.

After careful consideration, it does and it doesn’t:

Here are the questions that remain:

·        If the reservations had been entered in the computer, what happened to them?

·        Why haven’t I received the promised phone call to discuss this matter?

·        Why was it mentioned in the official reply that these undated/no expiration date passes had been given in 2011?

·        We do appreciate the donation to the Kiwanis Club (if it was made)...however...the Kiwanis Club wasn't turned away that evening...a party of 6 was...shouldn't we have been offered something for the inconvenience...passes...mug...tee shirt...or is customer service truly dead?

Some members of my group think we were bumped by someone connected to either the Monkeys or St Louis Shakespeare.  All of us are still angry about the lost reservations…but I guess it could have been worse: Our Trekkie friends who live over a 100 miles away could have been with us that night…or we actually could have had two tickets purchased from their RELIABLE ticket vendor and the useless comp passes. 

You might ask us: “Will any of my group ever attend another Monkey production?” I honestly don’t know.  I do know they have lost any chance that the other four in the party will be back. My wife and I have been fans for years…so we might…but we’ll never fully trust them again...and you can bet your last dollar on the fact that we will have purchased the tickets from their ticket vendor and not rely on comp passes that probably wouldn't be honored anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers ( A Lesson for Stressful Times )

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the two beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

Now, said the professor as the laughter subsided, I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things -- your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions -- and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, he continued, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children.

Spend time with your parents.

Visit with grandparents.

Take your spouse out to dinner.

Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter.

Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, I'm glad you asked.

The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers with a friend.

---------------------------------------------------------
LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS...
IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN