Day Six

Today I worked my first remote. It was bittersweet, because it was Father's Day and I felt guilty abandoning my father on his day. But I knew that he understood I had to work and do what was best for my future. Nonetheless, my first remote was the HOT107.9 Celebrity Basketball Game held at Morris Brown College. I don't think the timing was ideal, considering the time of the event and the fact that not only was it the day where most people wanted to spend time with their fathers but also the day where people were still recovering from a long night of concert and partying.

I myself was still recovering from the day before when I arrived at Centennial Tower. After wandering a bit, I eventually found Frost, the HOT107.9 technician, and we packed all the belongings necessary to make the event successful and headed on our way. We took the Thunder Hummer to Morris Brown College gymnasium, where Anshawnece and Brittany ( two other Radio One interns), and Beyonce (a HOT107.9 radio personality), were waiting to greet us. There we set up signs and our table full of Mike and Ike's HOT107.9 t-shirts, fans, pens, keychains, and of course the "Perfection" game to win the prizes. At that point there was nothing left to do but to wait for the security and Morris Brown people to do what they needed to do to secure the rest of the venue, and for the players and fans to arrive. The goal of the day was to entice as many people as possible to come over to our table and pick up something, as well as try and win a HOT107.9 t-shirt by successfully completing "Perfection". "Perfection" is a game where oddly shaped pieces have to put into their respective areas on a board in an 30-second time frame. It is a lot tougher than it actually looks and requires good nerves and poise. The entire time you hear the annoying clock tick faster and faster to your impending doom and you find yourself sweating bullets trying to put the shapes in their given spaces. Out the entire day there was maybe a 20 percent success rate sadly enough, on a Milton Bradley game designed for 6-12 year olds learning their shapes. Frost however, is the king of "Perfection". Without hesistation, Frost is a magician with the shapes, utilizing both hands to place the parts ever so lightly in their holding position. He even stops the clock before the thirty seconds is up just to show how talented he truly is. Yes it was impressive, but his brash way of going about it sparked an interest in young Anshawnece. She would continue to challenge Frost because she too was no slouch at the game of "Perfection". By the end of the day, a rivalry had presented itself regarding the game between both Anshawnece and Frost.

The game was very poorly put together. For one, many of the artists slated to play in the game were no-shows and replaced by no-names. Polow tha Don and Young Joc for instance were absentee, but Mims, and London (?) did show. The only reason I know the kid's name is London because he had a strikingly attractive woman handing out demo CD's for his track "One 2 Many" which I will make a shameless plug and say that it is a very good song. Back to the topic nonetheless, the venue itself was shoddy, because there was no A/C. And it could have possibly been one of the hottest days of June. So, needless to say the fans gave out quick. The game featured Sports vs. Music, and Team Music was clearly not out to win. They were in the stands, jumping on and off the court even when they weren't supposed to, and the game had zero structure. Players left early. It just did not seem uniform even though it was a charitable event and there was nothing to prove from it. The competitiveness itself would have been good to watch though, just to see if any of the entertainers did actually have any skill. But they were not interested in doing that. I will say that the scantily clad females that came in to get chose by an entertainer or athlete were good to look at nonetheless. If they came out in packs to a celebrity basketball game, I can only imagine how many girls were at the Birthday Bash after parties waiting for Rocco or T.I. to come sweep them off their feet. I mean, these ladies came dressed to impress. We had the paramedics on standby not from the game, but because guys were breaking their necks trying to eyeball girl after girl that came in!

Aside from the game, Anshawnece and Brittany made the event worthwhile. Brittany, a basketball player at Georgia Southwestern was super cool. She would end up riding me back to the station after Frost had to leave for another appointment and considering the price of gas these days I appreciate the gesture. The entire day we had a running joke about the songs that are the "best feeling in the world" once mixed with alcohol and a club environment. The list behooves me right now, but every song that came through the BOSE music system prompted a question of if the song had the potential to give you the "best feeling in the world". It's silly I know, but it did not cease to be entertaining. Anshawnece is so silly. She is a bubbly individual and very energetic. A native of Philly via Ohio, she has the cutest little voice and accent, though you can tell that her time she is spending at Clark Atlanta is slowly acclamating her to developing a southern vernacular. The entire time the duo of Brittany and Anshawnece were hilarious. Anshawnece created the dance the "Running Girl" which was in a nutshell the "Running Man" only Anshawnece struck a model pose like she was shocked everytime in the song where there was a point where she could get back on beat. Not all songs were compatible with the Running Girl but Anshawnece tried. She tried to "Whoop Rico" but he was not whooped at all, because Anshawnece version of the Atlanta dance craze consisted of two short chops and a kick that might have bruised Rico's ankle. It was hilarious! Her "Roosevelt" went the complete outside direction, making her look like she was having a seizure. Anshawnece basked in getting the attention and enjoyed being the entertainment. It was really how I made it through the day. Brittany on the other hand, could really dance and tried to instruct Anshawnece and how it was to be done. I was actually jealous of Brittany, because she could do all the dances so well it was suprising. Brittany is the Energizer bunny, and told of us of her fun night at Club Miami after WORKING Birthday Bash. I didn't think it was possible, but Brittany managed to muster up the energy to stay awake an entire 24 hours and be up the next day at 10a. To this minute, as I type this, it baffles me. Going out after working Birthday Bash was not even an option for me, but for Brittany, it seemed mandatory.

Other than that, I once again got to see some star power. "Hot Sauce" and "Spyda" from the And One Mix Tape Tour made an appearnace as well as Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs. He came with Julissa, a BET news anchor and it was a suprise they were even dating to me! It's a small world and apparently the entertainment business it very tight knitched..

Throughout the experience it never really occurred to me that I was working. It was just a good vibe and a good feeling. It reminded me of why I wanted to get into the music and entertainment biz. Because I would never have to "work". My work would be fun!