Hoe Down

I'm exhausted and need a shower. I had two shows last night (and have yet to be paid...grrr) and I have two more today. Those shows were...well, it's like doing a hoe down actually. It's weird, I think our partners are trying to "learn us a lesson" again. I hate when they do that. They'll get on our ass and stop getting us jobs because they think our cola consumption is too high but keep holding off keeping up their end of getting us the equipment our contract entails or...well most of the contract they haven't held up.
Business in China is like sword fighting on a tight rope, and you're never sure if the swords are real or whether or not there's a net below you.
Last night's hoe down was really odd because they always put me in these sleazy flashy clubs their friends own or poorly put together events (where I get to sing with midgets and kung fu kids in training - it's like being a side show at the circus), so this was a little weird as I usually follow sexy dancers and play to rich audiences (though I think I had the most fun at the hoe down) .
I really do think they were trying to pull a power play, and I can't tell you how old that gets. They've not very subtle. They didn't like our spending, so one time they refused to pay us for three weeks so that we could "learn how to live Chinese". We're artists; we've got that starving artist bit covered. We've all lived off of ramen noodles at points in our life and scrounged for money between the cushions and found crazy ways to get through. We certainly didn't need our partners trying to enlighten us with a little more 'god this really sucks' experience. Let alone the fact that you can't learn anything about living "cheap" when you have NO MONEY. They left us high and dry and then turned around talking about how we're fucking family. I don't want to be a family with them; I want us to fulfill our side of the contract and them to fulfill theirs, then we can all make lots of money and we'll go get a house in New Zealand where we can finally build a lab and they can bugger off using their money for god knows what and I couldn't' care less.

It was clear they were doing this again. They came over, yelled and screamed about water usage, stormed out and told our friend Sue to inform us that we were moving to a farm house out in the boons because we used too much water and power. They did this without confronting us or asking us about anything or ever mentioning anything beforehand. I do NOT get off on being treated like a child, and I don't care what they do, they have absolutely no right to control our lives or make our choices for us, and I'm not their fucking subordinate whose just going to go along with unreasonable control freak issues. No,I'm not moving to the farm that has no internet or AC and that is so far away from town I have to ride a bike to get to town where I might find a cab. While there's cool shit to all of that, and part of it sounds nice to me, it's not doable with what we're trying to do. More than anything, I couldn't do it because it was done to show they can control us, and therefore I cannot abide by it. Had the farm hose been presented as an option and they had talked to us like reasonable people, who knows, maybe I'd have a garden and a nice big yard.
They already make work nearly impossible as it is, refusing to give us the equipment we need or time to complete work in, so we're stuck trying to run the gauntlet, doing ridiculous quality work in a fraction of the time it would take a large studio to produce, with substandard equipment! You really can't get any worse than that...unless of course you decided to move this innovative little group who lack the resources they need into a small farm house miles from town where they might be able to "commune" with the technology they need to produce the stuff they're being asked to produce!
I think I need a cigarette after that.

Anyway, the same night, they told me these were my last singing gigs (trying to say I've fucked up) and then I see that my last shows are the bottom of the barrel. They were trying to be insulting and it's really frustrating that I have to deal with such childish behavior with people I'm actually trying to do business with. I know these aren't' my last shows. I know that next week I'll have three more, and that they'll try to give them to me as little freaking gifts. They just wanted to do a power play and try to remind us that they have power over our lives.
ooooohhhh..it tempts me so much to act in ways that could......well it could end all that bullshit, but I won't...I'll be patient.

We're not moving to the farm. Like reasonable people, we found out what the real problem was and fixed it. We're now paying for the water bill (even though there are 7 people here using water and our contract states that they pay our living expenses. Of course that's just one more off the list of things they're supposed to do but don't). The answer to the fact that the water bill is too high is not freaking out and running to the farm; you simply tell the people who are using the water that too much is being used, and then they start using less and contribute to the bill. That's what a reasonable person does. Of course the wife makes all these knee jerk money decisions and frankly she's one of those women who runs things into the ground just to prove she can run anything at all.

So yes, it is MEGA frustrating to me, but we've made our decisions and we know who we're dealing with and so we deal with it. I'm just venting right now, as I'm still kinda ticked about the whole thing. Andy's plants are all dying with too much sun and not enough water now, and that I can't really fix that because people are being unreasonable about little things bothers me.
I've made my bed and I've made my decisions so really, I should stop complaining because I knew this is who we're dealing with and I knew we'd have to deal with this kind of behavior, I'm just always surprised to the extent it goes with them. I wonder sometimes if they're trying to test us, to see how much the gueiles will take before it's too much. The fact of the matter is we can work with anything. We can work ridiculous hours with substandard equipment and next to no money to do what we want to do. We're determined people and we don't often let things get in our way. No matter the problem, we will figure out a solution and we are genuinely invested in this group and we intend on reaching our goals. I'd hate it if they really did find a way to push us too far because I'd really like to see where this can go, and when we make decision we make them both with a good deal of forethought and planning, and once we decide it's done; it's done. I hope it doesn't go that way.
We've had a really bumpy start and I know we weren't what they expected so I'm sure they have their greivences too, but it's all worth it and all Meiwen fucking ti if we get somewhere with it and get to the next level.