too busy. that’s what the index page of my website was about 5 minutes ago. It began to remind me of my parents house, cluttered. Simple now, awaiting a proper design. One that can properly display my photography and video/film work and give you the information I want to divulge. Hell even the option to buy a print if you want.
The road has been bumpy for the last 3+ weeks. Mainly because the Bus I leased from Brodur Coach has the worst shocks I have ever experienced. With just a few days left in the tour I look forward to leaving this bus but not the road. As it stands now I have almost 6 weeks off because of budgetary problems. At least the last 6+ weeks have been a great experience. The tour has taken me to Germany, Portugal, Spain, back to Germany, Belguim, all over France, back to Germany, then to Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Arcata, CA, Seattle, Eugene, OR, Oakland, Las Vegas, Valley Center, CA, Santa Fe, NM, Philadelphia, New York City, Houston, Austin, Manchester, TN and then to Atlanta and Orlando before going back home to see my niece. The positives of this run allowed me to once again see the world and spend time with the Distant Relatives crew. I will miss seeing Nas and Damian Marley perform each night. Below are some pictures from shows on this tour.
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Well it’s been a minute. With the greatest of intentions last time I intended to post of every day of the European tour with Nneka. That went by the way side after a the second day with Jet lag, my inability to edit photos at any rapid pace and the lack of internet on our bus. Suffice to say many things happened during my time in Germany, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and France. There was rain, sunshine, monitors problems, lost in translation moments, delayed luggage and many oh my god – beautiful moments. However none were more rewarding than the trip home. If you knew the problems and/or just pure frustration I had trying to get back to the States you’d look at me in disbelief.
During the tour I had been awaiting the announcement of my Niece, but nothing the entire tour. Even the night/morning before leaving I was talking with my sisters fiance and they were planning on serving an eviction notice to the baby on Tuesday. Well I learned that changed not long after we communicated via facebook. After some delays, yelling and finally begging the rerouting of my flight to Detroit because of the ash cloud via Paris was complete. Upon landing I learned my sister had gone to the hospital to hopefully have the baby. After some texting with my Mom while going through customs I was able to call and learned the baby, Alba Elizabeth ,had been born basically as my plane touch down on the runway at Detroit Metro. Yeah!!! Upon arriving to the hospital I got to put my 2 hour old Ali-Bear in my arms.
After a day with her I am now back on tour. This one should prove even more interesting as I have already had some complications mainly because of all the events that have happened in the last month. However at the end of the day I will survive and the tour will happen. I will just be sans sleep for the next 5 weeks. However all I will have to think about is Alba to make it all better.
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Not much to report today. After writing my entry this morning I met Nneka’s manager for Breakfast in the lobby of my hotel. We spent some time hanging, chatting before we both had to depart to get some work done. After a few hours of e-mails I began to get a strong headache, I suppose from the lack of sleep. Last night I only got about maybe 3-4 hours of sleep before waking up this morning. Normally lack of sleep is not an issue but I am obviously not a spring chicken anymore and I am sure the time change has not helped. Anyways I laid down to watch a little tv mainly (CNN international because everything else is in German) with the intention of grabbing a short nap that turned into an afternoon siesta. Around 8:00 pm or 20h00 I awoke frustrated that I really didn’t get to see much of the town today. After a shower Martin (Nneka’s manager) called for our dinner plans. He took me out for a nice meal to Atlas Restaurantbetriebe just down the road from my hotel which is illustrated in the map below. My hotel is the green marker and the restaurant is marker A. I am told the place is in kind of the Advertising Agency row of Hamburg.
Atlas Restaurant - Kochsalon (Atlas Restaurantbetriebe GmbH)
Atlas Restaurantbetriebe
It was a nice dinner. I had a Lamb Raggout and martin a pasta made with Bears Garlic and Octopus. Fitting that there was octopus at dinner considering I am waiting in anticipation of Game 3 of the NHL Western Conference Semifinal between the Detroit Red Wing and San Jose Sharks. Actually as I write this the game is set to start in 15 minutes. Anyways I was expecting a pasta dish instead it was Lamb shanks with braised Red Bell Pepper in a brown sauce with some sort of potato round fluffy medallion. It was delicious so no complaints. Wish now that I had thought to take a picture of the plate. After dinner we chatted about Ornette Coleman, Mile davis, McCoy Tyner, Jazz in General and the state of the music industry as it pertains to Nneka. During our conversation Martin introduced me to Louis “Moondog” Hardin. I am now fascinated by his life story.
From the late 1940s until 1974, Moondog lived as a street musician and poet in New York City, busking mostly on 53rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. Commonly regarded as “The Viking of 6th Avenue” because of the dress he chose to wear while busking. From 1974 onward he took residency in Germany. He is an interesting Character and Artist that has a storied past. If you’re not familiar with him I hope that my musical lesson of the day will inspire you to learn more about his contribution to the music world. Anyways that’s all for now as I will be changing over to watch the game.
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She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I’m a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse out here alone …
What feels weird is that technically its been 2 days since leaving the United States but really feels like its only been a day. Is this what jet lag is supposed to feel like? The trip began yesterday, (or is it 2 days ago?) Departure at 9:50 pm May 2, from Detroit Metro Airport to the final destination Hamburg, Germany’s second largest city.
My flights across the pond were quite easy except for the drunk US Air Force pilot whom I sat next to from Detroit to Amsterdam. My first issue with him – he was a San Jose Shark Fan. Ok not really an issue however his drinking is what became the real issue because it lead to well timed Flatulence. Every 15-20 minutes for 6+ hours he was letting out some of the worst smelling farts a seat partner could emit. The smell of each was obviously a product of the Alcohol and a layover. I couldn’t have been happier to finally land in Amsterdam to catch my connecting flight. This meant I was free from the odor which kept me awake for 7 hours.
During the 7 hours I got to enjoy some movies I have wanted to watch. The first movie was Crazy Heart. I thought Jeff Bridges did a good job executing the role of Bad Blake. His performances of the songs in the movie were superb. If he ever eanted to give up acting he could make a living as a music artist. However felt the story lacked some story line development. Glad I didn’t pay the $8 to $10 in the theatre. The second movie was Pirate Radio aside from the ending this movie was fantastic. Again Philip Seymour Hoffman does a stellar job, as well as the rest of the cast wich includes Jack Davenport who can now be seen on ABC’s tv show Flash Forward. I could watch this movie over and over again.
Unfortunately I did not take out my camera to document my flights and arrival to my hotel in Hamburg. I have a few iphone photos but nothing worth posting at this moment. Sadly I am not as good as my friend Jeffery Johnston at documenting my escapades. This is my greatest sin as Photographer/videographer and might well be what leaves me in the amateur status. My excuse, which isn’t much of one, is the security one as to experience traveling while flying. For some reason I feel the need to keep the camera in my bag because of the process which adorns every airport worldwide.
Laura Jansen @ Grüner Jäger Musikclub © 149 Music
I must quickly learn how to get over this for two reasons, the first being the security doesn’t care if the camera is in or out of the bag and the being I miss capturing some great footage. Maybe this is the real reason for me to finally get the Canon G11, something smaller and easier to document these type of moments.
Anyways I digress… So far my lack of the German language has not been a problem. Luckily my cell phone works in this country allowing me to use Google maps for directions and some nice language apps to help find the right phrase in Deutsch that speaks for me. I know lazy American. It came in quite handy helping make the trip from my Hotel to meet up with the keyboard player from Nneka’s band and a couple girls that work for the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg who we met this year at SXSW. Following the lovely blue dot allowed me the calming luxury to get off the bus at the proper stop. Gratefully our meeting point unintentionally was close to the Grüner Jäger Musikclub where my friend Laura Jansen was performing. It was splendid that she was playing the night I arrived in Germany. Good for the soul to start a trip out with a friends music from your country. What was also good was my introduction to Langhorne Slim. Strange I did not know of him before since one of his songs was featured in Waitress a past friend’s movie. Anyways his mixture of Alt-country, bluegrass and rabble rousing was fantastic. Figures I have to go out of the country to find good American music.
Langhorne Slim @ Grüner Jäger Musikclub © 149 Music
After a handful of songs we left to find our last watering hole. Not because the music wasn’t great but because we really wanted to chat and catchup. This is when I find out that Hamburg has a Holiday (May Day) similar to our Labor Day however constituents here take to the streets to riot. Here is quote from a news article about the event 2 years ago. “May 1 is a traditional day of workers’ unity rallies in Europe, but in Germany the day often brings clashes, particularly between anti-fascist leftists and neo-Nazis. On Thursday there were some isolated incidents in Berlin but it was Hamburg that saw the worst rioting” Here are a few links to articles (cnn, Times) written about these demonstrations turned riots.
Quite a great and educational first day in Europe. Well now on to breakfast and my day which involves advancing the US leg of our (Nneka) tour.
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