Happy friggin' Easter, everybody! The day we all celebrate a guy named Jesus who was hung on a cross. Gruesome! And to think they did it just because he was black. Today's story takes place somewhere in (former) East Germany, where I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with one of my friends from the band The Inchtabokatables. These guys are my favourite band in Germany, to be sure, and maybe all of Europe. He picked me up at the S-Bahn station in Babelsberg. (where Marlene Dietrich and the rest filmed all those great movies in the 20's and 30's!) First a glass o' wine in the pub, where we officially got on a roll. We decided that when you're on stage, you feel like you're about 2 feet taller than you actually are ... then we decided that the normal, every-day grind of life makes you feel like you're about 2 feet SMALLER than you actually are. Hilarious!
C'est La Vie. Then we were whisked away to a house somewhere in Potsdam, where all sorts of interesting characters were assembled around a campfire. We ate, drank, and howled at the moon. Great stuff. Someone attempted to shoot off fireworks (almost successful), which, of course, drew the neighbours over as well. There was an old guy with a Confucious/Lenin-esque beard named Klaus, who kept taking my picture, and asking me all kinds of strange questions (in broken english) like, "What's your last name?" and "How long do you playing the trumpet?" Someone whispered in my ear, "Just another photo for the secret files ..." "Stasi or FBI?" I whispered back. "Stasi, definitely!" they answered. Oh, well - fuckit - I've got nothing to hide except my hide. We all just people. Livin' on the other side o' the fence. I just hope they got my good side!
Woke up, pumped, knackered, relieved, had a kingly breakfast. ("Wir haben es schon wieder überlebt!") Radio 1 was playing in the background, and they were doing songs with colors: Blue, red, pink. Quaint. "Red House" from Jimmy Hendrix, "Blue Monday," etc. They played "Little Pink Houses" by Johnny Cougar. Never heard that song played on the radio in Europe before! My friends from the East said they've NEVER ever heard that song before! (It was a hit in the 80's. Thank Gawd THAT's over!) I sang the 3rd verse for my friend, a verse I'd learned somewhere back in the Midwest, to sing with some cover-band. Oh, the shame. But the lyrics are good: "Cuz they told me - when I was younger - They said, boy you're gonna be president! But just like everything else - those little crazy dreams just kinda came and went - Aww, but ain't that America - for you and me ..."
I yearn to be some kind of bridge between America and Europe. I live in, around, and for the Music. Music hath no boundaries.
Peace. -Todd