Friday, July 18, 2003

Honest to god, they call this place Castle Greyskull!

What once was a flour mill has been converted into a small but imposing military base, nestled into the Bosnian hillside. And though the base is small, the living arrangements are just what we all needed -- not the M*A*S*H*-style close quarters tents like we had at Zgon, but nice long ones, with private, curtained off rooms and a powerful fan in each. Another great thing about a smaller base? With less bodies to cook for, the food is that much better!

I plan on taking it easy tonight, and rest up for the fifth show of our tour tomorrow. While I'm doing that, here's a story one of my new-found military friends told me, about the only time he's ever been under the threat of fire over here. It was a few years back on another tour, when he was the commander of a LAV (Light Armoured Vehicle). While passing through a town it was brought to his attention that one of the locals there was pointing a machine gun directly at him. The vehicle came to an immediate stop, and the big cannon on top whirled around to targeted the threat. The commander slowly and deliberately got out of the vehicle, walked up to the local and took the machine gun from him, no questions asked.
Imagine being so hot that your clothes, even your jeans, are soaked through with sweat. You're having trouble seeing straight because perspiration is overflowing from your eyebrows and clouding your vision. And then, on top of all this, imagine having to don a rubber slicker and woolen hat and dance. That's what it's like to perform on tour with Second City.

Tha good news is that the battle group here at Zgon loved our show, and the cold stares we've been getting have been replaced by friendly smiles and cries of "Holy fuck, you guys are funny, eh?"

This morning one of troops has offered us a jeep ride to a local castle, a win-win deal as it gets both her and some of us off of the base for a spell. After that it's time to pack up and head for Drvar, our fourth stop of six...