David Chen & the Muddy Basin Ramblers

"...we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

And so the Ramblers took the lift to the top of the 101, or as high up as they let us. It was only the 84th floor, but that was plenty high. (Check out this shot from Paogao's photos!)

Giddy and surreal are the best two words I can use to describe the whole thing. As we arrived at the top, thanks to those super fast lifts, we all noticed that all the climbers who had made the climb had wonderfully smug looks on their faces, which to be honest were well deserved because their efforts raised a bunch of cash for some really good causes. However, when reports came in that the climb could be made in thirty minutes or less, I felt a little bad that I didn't try to do it myself. So that made me want to try to play a little better, put a little more effort into being tight on the beat, and so on.

Unfortunately, due to the surreality of the height, the early hours, and the plentiful wine and Taiwan Beer (Thanks, Matthew Lien!), finding the perfect groove in the music was daunting. Not only that, but the Muddy Basin Ramblers had to face their worst nemesis--the inability to hear one another.

Hearing the whole picture was difficult. Dave set himself up on the right side of the stage close to Thumper, and this definitely helped tighten up the whole beat-tone kind of thing. But it was rough for me on stage left. I could hear it, but it was a half-step too late.

All in all, the whole shenanigan was a success. We moved around the stage while playing to create the best sound, and in the end, it worked well, and we are getting better and better at using those tricky condenser microphones. (Thanks go out to Dave for his ever increasing knowlege of microphone technology and technique!)

But the real reason it was so much fun was that lots of money became the lubricant to help things get better instead of becoming the root of evil. Plus, fun was had by all.

Thanks to everyone who does things like organizing these things to help the world become a better place. It makes it easy for lazy and confused folks (like me) to help out. The world thanks you.

Though we are scattered, we can find common ground, and a common groove, even at the top of super-tall structures.