(PICTURE: Mark and the chicken cleaning crew.)
One of my favorite Broadway Musicals ever was a show called "Five Guys Named Moe" based around the music of Louis Jordan. One of the hits that always brings a smile to my face is the song, "Ain't Nobody In Here But Us Chickens." Here's the chorus:
There ain't nobody here but us chickens
There ain't nobody here at all
So calm yourself,
And stop your fuss
There ain't nobody here but us
We chickens tryin' to sleep,
And you butt in
And hobble, hobble hobble hobble
With your chin
There ain't nobody here but us chickens
There ain't nobody here at all
You're stompin' around
And shakin' the ground,
You're kickin' up an awful dust
We chicken's tryin' to sleep
And you butt in
And hobble, hobble hobble hobble
It's a sin
So what does this have to do with my wedding? Well, during the an hoi celebration, there was a little commotion that got everyone's attention. Behind the karaoke/stage were a group of women who were preparing the chickens for the wedding the next morning. In true Vietnamese style, preparing included killing, bleeding out, boiling and plucking more than thirty chickens. Once it became known what was going on behind the curtain (Yes, I kept thinking of the Wizard of Oz's line, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.") every one of my guests found it necessary to take a look and snap off some pictures. At first the locals were into everyone taking pictures but after a while they just wanted to do their job without the paparazzi going crazy for chicken plucking photos.
At some point, Mark Morgan volunteered himself to help the crew with their job. He threw back his tie, grabbed a stool and started to pluck away. Mark took the saying "get your hands dirty" to a whole new level as he still had blood on his hands the next morning. Apparently it wouldn't come out with soap.
Every time I think about these scenes at the an hoi, "Ain't Nobody In Here But Us Chickens" keeps coming into my head. Fittingly the last lines of the song are these:
It's easy pickens,
Ain't nobody here but us chickens
(PICTURE: My favorite thing about this photo is Mark's tie.)
