There was a lot going on in the world of US politics that I could comment on; the health care debate, the ongoing Dick Cheney-CIA-torture saga, Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination, etc. However, two specific topics have seriously captured my attention in the last few weeks and have compelled me to comment on them; the so-called “birther” movement, and the notion that Barack Obama is a racist, two theories that are dominating the right-wing media machine and Republican politics, both started by the radical fringe of the Conservative movement. Has the GOP been taken over by the lunatics, and will this takeover kill this once great political institution?
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Thursday night at the King Kamehameha Club. We just finished our first set, and I was surfing the Net on my iPhone, reading my favorite news blog, the Huffington Post. The first headline in the Breaking News caption: Michael Jackson Suffers Cardiac Arrest. The news was shocking, but I was hopeful that he would eventually be OK. I went to the bar to get a drink, then I returned to my seat to continue reading. I hit the refresh button, and in an instant, my heart dropped into my stomach; Michael Jackson had died.
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“You are such a great singer!” said the slightly drunken woman to me after the band left the stage.
“Thank you very much,” I replied, politely.
“Please sing one more song. For me.” she pleaded.
“I’m sorry, but the show is over, and we’re not allowed to go back on stage.”
“Please?!? I’ll give you fifty bucks if you go back on stage right now and sing a song for me.” The stage was dark, the crew was already packing up the equipment.
“Uhh, no.” I replied, rather annoyed. “Besides, how did you get backstage in the first place?!?”

The above situation actually happens quite often; I’m often offered money to perform longer than is stated in my contract. The question for me: is such a request a compliment to my skill as an entertainer, or an insult to the hard work and discipline I put into my chosen line of work? Read the full story