Lupe vive en Washington DC. Tengo desde febrero que no la veo. Es una gata increible, traviesa, temperamental, graciosa.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Guitar
During a show in Ambar room in NYC. Pic by Leonardo Susana, my father. ( www.flickr.com/photos/marcial ) The black Les Paul belongs to Abel Garcia who was playing bass.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Leo e Ghera
Rockin out with Davide from Los Pirates, at Keller's in Bergamo, nov 19.
Pic by Cris, Giorgio's girlfriend.
PC140172.JPG
Last thursday I went Snowboarding. I went with Edu, and Miguel, his brother, to a Ski starion in France name Piau_Engely. Edu drove 3 hours from Zaragoza and we crossed the Spanish/French border through a tunnel under the Pyrenees.
I spent the day falling on my face, slipping on my ass, twisting and turning, I bruised my ribs, my wrists, my shoulders, my neck. Fell on my chest twice, hurt my knees. A lot of Pain. IT WAS Great!
We meet again
By chance Ana Laballo was at Huecco's concert at JOY in Madrid. First time I see her since july 2004 in Zaragoza.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Nostalgia
Hija de la gran puta!
me creas ilusiones de un pasado que nunca fue,
que superan la realidad que vivo.
me abrazas cuando tengo miedo de mirar al frente
me das esa mirada
curiosa
inteligente
me pides que regrese
se que no puedo
pero, como quisiera
me creas ilusiones de un pasado que nunca fue,
que superan la realidad que vivo.
me abrazas cuando tengo miedo de mirar al frente
me das esa mirada
curiosa
inteligente
me pides que regrese
se que no puedo
pero, como quisiera
Me & Paurat
The amazing "Pau Pow Power" rockin' the Borat "stache.
I got the moustache at a screening of the film in Amsterdam before it was released. So far I've seen it twice, That time in Holland where of course the subtitles were in Dutch, and once in ZGZ dubbed in spanish. Some of the jokes get lost in translation.
Paula is an artist from Zaragoza. This is her website. Check it out!
http://homepage.mac.com/paraes/
Borat website - http://www.boratmovie.com
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Daniel Ortega
(Wrote this in Amsterdam on wed, nov. 8 after the US congressional elections.)
Daniel Ortega wins the elections in Nicaragua. 38% of the popular vote.
The US says it will accept the results caustically.
Now, I am an avid news watcher, and occasional newspaper reader ( on the internet). I can sincerely say that I'm tired of the US opining arrogantly over all things Latin American. When is the US going to respect Latin America as an equal? Never, probably. They divided Latin America over the Seat on the UN Security Council which Venezuela was actively pursuing. In the end, it has gone to Panama.
It has become a little obvious that the US has a problem within it's own borders. Katrina proved that. So much attention to international affairs, and they have neglected vast areas of their own country.
The United States Federal Government has become a monster which devours everything. The writers of the constitution probably never envisioned to what extent the federation would grow in power and stature and how centralized all politics in the US would become.
Elections in the US are a sordid affair. A 2 party dictatorship. Still, the US is in essence the freest country in the world. There is due process, but politics has become a business. It's not and I don't think it ever has being, what is best for all of the people. Majority rule.
Conservative. Moderate. Liberal. Extremist.
Last night, the BBC lashed out at US elections. Basically, in a report, they said "The United States, the exporter of democracy throughout the world, still has problems with it's own elections" and then went on to cite irregularities from various states, including that beacon of clean elections, Ohio.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to pound the Gaza strip. When is that madness going to end? It's a bit of a hipocracy that if the Palestinians want to wipe out Israel or if any arab country says something like that, they are bad, but Israel is systematically wiping out the Palestinians. It's a little more complicated than that, of course. But Israel, it seems to me, wishes to wipe the Palestinians off the map, they just don't say it. But actions do speak louder than words.
Daniel Ortega wins the elections in Nicaragua. 38% of the popular vote.
The US says it will accept the results caustically.
Now, I am an avid news watcher, and occasional newspaper reader ( on the internet). I can sincerely say that I'm tired of the US opining arrogantly over all things Latin American. When is the US going to respect Latin America as an equal? Never, probably. They divided Latin America over the Seat on the UN Security Council which Venezuela was actively pursuing. In the end, it has gone to Panama.
It has become a little obvious that the US has a problem within it's own borders. Katrina proved that. So much attention to international affairs, and they have neglected vast areas of their own country.
The United States Federal Government has become a monster which devours everything. The writers of the constitution probably never envisioned to what extent the federation would grow in power and stature and how centralized all politics in the US would become.
Elections in the US are a sordid affair. A 2 party dictatorship. Still, the US is in essence the freest country in the world. There is due process, but politics has become a business. It's not and I don't think it ever has being, what is best for all of the people. Majority rule.
Conservative. Moderate. Liberal. Extremist.
Last night, the BBC lashed out at US elections. Basically, in a report, they said "The United States, the exporter of democracy throughout the world, still has problems with it's own elections" and then went on to cite irregularities from various states, including that beacon of clean elections, Ohio.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to pound the Gaza strip. When is that madness going to end? It's a bit of a hipocracy that if the Palestinians want to wipe out Israel or if any arab country says something like that, they are bad, but Israel is systematically wiping out the Palestinians. It's a little more complicated than that, of course. But Israel, it seems to me, wishes to wipe the Palestinians off the map, they just don't say it. But actions do speak louder than words.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Los Motivos del Odio
Esto es un boceto de algo que escribo sobre la produccion de JLS: Un
Año de Odio, Un Siglo de Miedo.
JLS - Un Año de Odio, Un Siglo de Miedo
Los Motivos detras del Odio
Antes de conceptualizar lo que iba a ser Un Año de Odio, tenia otra
idea para un disco.
Cuando a mi esposa la operaron a finales de agosto del 2001 me fui de
Santo Domingo con una guitarra acustica y varios libros. Habia tenido
desde hacia varios meses la idea de que queria hacer un disco que se
llamaria LatinoAmerica e iba a tratar sobre todos los paises latinos,
su historia y su posicion en el mundo en relacion a USA. Tenia muchos
libros para buscar mis ideas. Libros que tenia desde los finales de
los 90's sobre las revoluciones de Centroamerica y como USA habia
interferido colecciones de los escritos del Che, libros de Galeano,
Bosch, Howard Zinn. Iba a utilizar elementos de la musica de cada pais
en las canciones que trataren temas de sus paises etc.
Pero al final, la historia jugo sus cartas, y mis reflexiones las
guarde por un tiempo. De repente, y si, fue de repente, el tema no me
parecia interesante. Todo habia surgido de un suplemento de TIme
Magazine en Español que habia sido incluido con una edicion del Listin
Diario y hablaba sobre muchas cosas fascinantes. Jacobo Arbenz, El
Bogotazo etc.
Un martes de septiembre del 2001, decidi que ese disco tal vez nunca
lo escribiria, porque ese dia el mundo cambio de tal manera que me
afecto personalmente. Como ya he dicho, estaba con mi esposa, ya
recien operada y recuperandose, nos quedabamos en el apartamento de mi
hermano. Como me crie en NY y soy socio de la biblioteca, habia
sacado muchsimo materlal para mi disco. Pero cuando ella me desperto
ese dia y me dijo " una de las torres gemelas esta prendia", le dije,
porque fue lo que pense, "Debe de haber sido uno de esos helicopteros
de noticias que tuvo un accidente", aun medio dormido. Pero como todo
el mundo ese dia, que sintonizo la tele, vio el segundo avion. Todos
los dias fueron diferentes a partir de ahi. Cuando una semana despues
nos fuimos para Washington DC, el mundo no era igual.
Un Año de Odio - los motivos detras de una produccion
La idea central detras de mi disco, un año de odio, un siglo de miedo
surgio durante un viaje a españa que hize por motivos de promocion
para mi otro disco, serpiente en el huerto que habia sido editado por
Zero Records en el verano del 2002. la gran mayoria de las letras las
escribi en el piso de los padres de una amiga en madrid y durante el
vuelo de regreso a Santo domingo.
La noche antes de ese vuelo fui a ver el grupo Second Silence tocando
en la sala Ritmo y Compas de Madrid. En aquel entonces el grupo era
medio una imitacion de Slipknot en sus actuaciones, y me parecio de
repentem recordando cuando vi a Slipknot en directo en Washington DC
en 1999, y sumandole a eso toda la musica que estaba salliendo desde
entonces, de que lo que basicamente todos estos grupos estaban
vendiendo era: Odio.
Viendo el cantante de Second Silence esa noche, eso pense. Y ahi se me
ocurrio esa frase que paso a formar parte del titulo que iba a venir
"Un Año de Odio". Algo como estamos viviendo el año de odio.
Sin embargo, ya tenia algunas letras que formarian parte de lo que iba
a ser la produccion. "Ah, .. los dictadores" la escribi en la
habitacion donde dormia en el piso de madrid. Andaba con el libro Los
Motivos del Machete del Gral. Soto Jimenez entonces Jefe de las
Fuerzas armadas. Me lo lleve en el viaje pensando leerlom pero me lo
encontre dificil y aburrido, con un lenguaje que tal vez era muy
particular a las disciplinas catrenses y del tema que trataba, las
armas blancas. La verdad es que me parecia que el autor lo escribio
con un diccionario al lado y decidio usar todas las palabras obscuras
del castellan. En fin, no pase de muchas paginas, pero si me hice
mucha ilusion con las fotos y el titulo del libro me lo encontraba
fascinante. LoS Motivos del MACHETE. Me encantaba como sonaba eso. El
libro tiene fotos de Tolette, Lilis, Trujillo ( si mal no recuerdo) y
yo que siento fascinacion por la historias de esas figuras
autoritarias como Hitler, Stalin, Trujillo y estando en España, me
hablaban de Franco ( incluso recuerdo que pasando por Sol mi amiga se
enfurecio porque habian unos Falangistas, unos ultras o como fachas,
como le decia, tratando de revivir algo que se suponia que murio con
Franco) Todo esto contribuyo a que me surgieran imagenes de lo que es
una figura autoritaria. De ahi frases como " La espada a su lado tan
afilada como sus dientes, sus profundos ojos develan el veneno en su
mente". Creo, sinceramente, que eso me vino de mirar las fotos en ese
libro e imaginar lo que me contaban. Ese tema "Ah... Los Dictadores "
es la que mas me gusta de ese disco.
Cuando me planteaba la tematica para el disco tuve resistencia de mi
familia, de amistades, de los musicos que tocaban conmigo y de mi
productor. Entendian lo que les planteaba pero no el porque. Ahora
mismo, mirando atras, no me siento tan claro en mi razonamiento. Sin
embargo, en aquel momento, estaba tan claro como nunca habia estado
de nada de lo que habia hecho antes. Podia hablar facil sobre mi idea
y asi lo hacia en entrevistas.
Primero, queria hacer un disco sobre el poder del odio. Le comentaba a
todo el mundo " El amor es soñador, pero el odio es hacedor". El odio
motiva. Era, segun mi argumento, mas facil hacer algo, hasta algo
positivo, si el odio era el motivador. Por ejemplo, todos queremos una
ciudad limpia, pero que te motivas mas, soñar y decir "amaria una
ciudad limpia " y "quisiera vivir en uan ciudad segura" No! Nos
motivamos porque odiamos el sucio, odiamos el crimen, odiamos el abuso
de poder. Esto era parte de mi argumento. Pero tambien queria intentar
mostrar que se puede llevar el odio a un extremo tal que es tan cursi
como decir "Te amo" o "te quiero" 20 mil veces en una cancion.
"Carta de odio" es eso. Una carta de odio. El titulo fue en parte
influenciado por la cancion de JLG, Carta de Amor. Decidi, que tan
fuerte sonara decirle a alguien, en primera persona lo mucho que la
detesto
Te odio porque no te quiero... ver
Te odio por quien puedo ser
Te odio por tu mezquindad
Te odio, yo no se querer
Lo que muchos oyentesn que en algun momento me comentaron sobre este
tema no se llevan es que el personaje es un mentiroso. Se delata en la
segunda vuelta del verso que es el mismo pero con un adicional
reflejado en una segunda voz, la que seria la de la conciencia.
En esta vuelta dice;
Te odio porque no te quiero ver
te odio por quien puedo ser ... a tu alrededor
te odio por tu mezquindad ... me da igual
te odio, yo no se querer
En fin, el personaje admite que la razon por su odio no es porque no
la quiere, es mas porque no quiere aceptar los cambios que ella
provoca en el. Te odio por quien soy cuando estoy contigo, te odio
porque me cambias.
Sinceramente, no se si al final esto se entiende. Pero tecnicamente
por mas fuerte que suene escuchar "te odio" no esta tan lejos de
Calamaro enumerando sus " Te Quiero".
Claro, le agregue al final la frase " te doy la mayor expresion de mis
sentimientos, mi odio" que basicamente tira al aire todo lo que acabo
de decir.
En Odio utiilize juegos de palabras en muchas canciones. Me gusta
escribir asi. Un año de odio es el primer disco que hago que fue todo
letras primero.
Maco Jones surgio de varias cosas. El nombre, claro, es un juego en la
vieja cancion de los hermanos jones " eran seis hermanos jones, cuando
queco se murio, ahora quedan cinco jones porque queco se murio ; queco
jones murio del corazon ahora quedan cincojones porque queco se murio.
tambien, tengo un amigo que hace un newsletter con el pseudonimo Kiko
Jones, que no se si algo tiene que ver con eso, pero tenia el nombre
siempre ahi.
Un dia estoy viendo Antena Latina, canal 7 en Santo Domingo y
presentan una noticia sobre el Coronel Pepe Goico y la escolta del
entonces presidente hipolito mejia. Un camarografo se choco con uno de
los escoltas, y el Cnel Goico se le acerco a su subalterno y le dije
ud, es un hombre, hagase respetar o algo por el estilo, y los dos
haciendole cara a la camara, que en fin termino en el piso el
camarografo. Tome ese incindente y le agregue lo 41 balazos que le dio
la policia de NY a Amadou Diallo, un immigrante africano, que fue
acribillado cuando la policia penso que la cartera que sacaba para
mostrar su identificacion era una pistola. 41 balazos. A esa
combinacion le sume la pregunta "Como un jefe le dice a sus
subalternos, hagan lo que tengan que hacer que lo respaldamos" Me
preguntaba si Giuliania le decia a su jefe de policia, hagan lo que
sea, o en cualquier pais del mundo. En fin, la letra de esa cancion es
una conversacion imaginaria de el Coronel Maco Jones con su
subalternos.
Es una letra vil, violenta y hasta ofensiva. Y asi la visualize, cruda y dura.
"Rompele la cabeza al puto cabron, partele el culo al maldito maricon
abrele el pecho al cagado delincuente, llena de plomo al hijo 'e puta disidente
dispara contra el pueblo en las manifestaciones que la gente se acojonen
delen bien duro y por el pela'o
que no quede ni uno para'o
Nadie tiene mas cojones que yo
matalo y se averigua despues
cuando dudes dispara primero
cualquier cosa que suceda
lo resolvemos
nadie tiene mas cojones que yo
maten a quien no quiere callar, partele la boca"
La gran parte de las letras son frases muy dominicanas y muy comunes.
Te voy a partir la boca. Esa frase siempre me trae una imagen de la
primera vez que estuve detenido en una estacion de policia en NY.
Tenia 15 años y me habian metido preso por estar de bocon basicamente.
La policia me llevo al precinto 34 y no queria hablar, y recuerdo que
mientras estaba parado delante del escritorio alto grande donde se
sentaba el que recibia a todo el mundo, miré hacia mi derecha y una
policia latina le estaba haciendo seña al policia que me tenia
agarrado ( yo estaba esposado) de me que diera una bofetada, por mal
criao, que reconozco que lo estaba siendo, pero igual... se me quedo
esa imagen primero de traicion latina ( jajaja) y segundo de abuso
policial. Ya me habian dado bastante bofetadas en el carro. Fue un
incidente confuso. Era de tarde y mi amigos y yo estabamos sentados en
el parque payson, cuando notamos que de la ventana del edificio que
nos quedaba enfrente emanaba humo, Llamamos a los bomberos y subimos
al edificio y fuimos puerta por puerta tocando y diciendo hay fuego.
Cuando vinieron la policia y los bomberos, bloquearon parte de la
calle. Yo fui a acercarme a mis amigos y cruze una de las barreras que
la policia habia puesto. El policia me llamo, y yo le dije que iba a
donde mi amigos, el entendio ( segun me dijo mas adelante en la
estacion de policia) que yo le habia dicho Fuck you, y me agarro por
la franela y me la rompio. Yo me quede mirandole y en parte porque era
muy irreverente y tambien porque senti verguenza delante de mis amigos
me puse de bocon. El era irlandes y empeze a decirle todos los
insultos que se le dicen a los irlandeses. Me tiraron contra un carro,
ellos insultandomde tambien. Le tire un codo al estomago. En fin,
termine en el asiento de atras del coche, lejos de donde estaba la
gente, recuerdo que mi padre se asomo a la ventana y le dijeron que me
llevaban al precinto. En el camino yo iba tirandoles mas insultos y
asi mismo me tiraban una bofetada.
El juego de palabras continuo con el tema Mata Locura. Esta cancion
salio directo de las noticias de lo que estaba pasando con los curas
catolicos de Boston y su pedofilia.
Era de las letras que mas le irritaba a mi esposa.
Mata el cura que cura locura
locura injusta de su perdicion
curas maricas prenderlos en fuego
ya basta del juego de "en nombre de dios"
mata ese marica, mata ese curita matalo matalo
Este tema era fuerte pero lo tocamos en un tono medio jocoso a proposito.
La intencion original con Un Año de Odio, era hacer un disco rapido de
canciones cortas. No queria durar mucho tiempo grabando ni sobre
producir.
Queria vivir un año de odio, un año de oscuridad, mirando el mundo al
traves de esa posicion. En gran parte lo hize.
Ya cuando el disco llego a salir, estaba con la ley de talion, lo de
ojo por ojo, y diente por diente.
Lex Talionis. Ese era el movil detras de una cancion como Mata Locura.
Ok, cura, tu haces daño, ahora paga tus pecados.
La cancion que pense que seria el eje de este disco, nunca llego a ser
cancion. Cuando imprimi todas las letras para empezar a trabajar la
musica, esa se quedo fuera, sin yo darme cuenta. se titula "Odiar es
un placer".
Decia algo asi como "Odiar es un placer, bienvenidos al club, gracias
por su membresia". Quizas fue mejor que quedara fuera.
El odio caricaturizado. En el pequeño mundo del rock en republica
dominicana, un año de Odio no logro mucho. Creo que esto se debe a
varias cosas. El primero es que en realidad no es un disco muy bueno,
es medio disparatoso. Suena hecho a la ligera. Y su agresividad se
nota forzada.
Tambien es muy disparejo. Hay algunos temas que quizas debieron quedar
fuera o ser mejor trabajados.
Es dificil definir que hace que una obra dure.
Un Año de Odio en definitiva se acerco a lo que buscaba en cuanto a
concepto, pero no se definio lo suficiente como para considerarse un
"concept album", creo yo.
Para lograr esto lo mejor hubiese sido dedicarle mas tiempo a cada
tema y que los interpretes en todos los temas fueran los mismos
musico. Esto le hubiera dado una cierta continuidad sonora.
HAy elementos de produccion que tambien debilitan la obra un poco.
Voces debiles, guitarras no tan distorsionadas como hubiese querido, y
baterias no totalemente definidas.
EL tema Los Dictadores es mi favorito porque en definnitiva se le
siente la rabia a esa cancion.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wicked Elves
From Pablo's flickr page: Semos peligrosos: Arriba, Kristix, Victor, Blanche, Ferrer, Javiland, Edu, Paulisha, Tapu. Abajo -muertalarisa, sin barba- Esther y el demonio Al-Tony
Tony y Leo?
So while I was away from Zaragoza, my friends decided to celebrate Halloween in our honor. This is Alberto "Almont" Berenguer and Pablo "El Feo" Ferrer.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
When the river calls
When the river calls ( Nov. 29, 2006 )
Last night as I crossed the bridge of stone, I felt her call to me from the waters
A chilly wind blew across my face and my eyes swelled with tears
last night I felt the water's call and I stopped and looked at its race towards the sea
last night I almost dared as I (scared) stared into the roar
She was inviting me to lay with her, within her and flow with her
What do you do when it's 5:30am and you're in the middle of a bridge with waters rushing beneath you that beckon?
You rush home.
As I did.
and pour yourself a cup of reality.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Solitude
I've often wondered why I wanted to join the Marines. A few times in
my life, as late as when I was 28 I investigated the possibility of
signing up.
I've always felt this incredible lack of discipline in my life and the
need to belong to something, a team, a group, anything. That's what
has always sucked in my musical career. I've never really had my band,
my team. They were always someone else's too, and everything usually
focused on what I did anyway. Except for the brief time I was in TP
and in Broom Hellda,where I felt more like one of the band.
I've always been a loner. Since I was a child and I was torn away from
my parents at age 4 and sent to Santo Domingo to live with my maternal
grandmother, while my brother and sister lived with my paternal
grandfather. Since that age I've always felt outside of everything. I
returned to live in NY when I was 8. I always felt alienated from my
brother and sister. The missing bond of growing up together. We went
to school at different times, had different friends, etc. Don't get me
wrong, I love them. Dearly. But there has always been that thing that
allows you to go months without being in contact with someone. That's
the type of relationship we have. My sister is 37 and my brother is
34.
The first time I contemplated suicide I was 9 I think. I went to this
school named PS 152 in NY. After school or before I went to the roof
of one of the buildings on Ellwood street and I saw my mom walking
with my brother and sister. I thought to myself "I should jump and
fall right in front of them". As long as I remember, suicide has been
an everyday thought. I wouldn't do it, though. I get strength from
those thoughts to dare to do things I think I fear. Getting up on a
stage for example, is never an easy thing for me. I get really nervous
and anxious, and I've ruined more than one performance because I've
let those things get the best of me. I've been drained by fear.
I also have extremes that range from euphoria to deep depressions. I
went to a psychiatrist once in DR when I was 18 or so. They gave me
lithium. I took it for maybe two days. I did not like the sensation of
bliss it gave me.
I drink alcohol, sometimes too much. I do not take drugs.
I'd smoked pot a few times as a kid at the age of 15 or so.
I decided to go to a coffeshop on a recent trip to Amsterdam. I
understood why I don't smoke. I did not like the feeling of not being
in control of my body. It did relax me like I hadn't relaxed in years,
but I felt far away.
I don't know. I would love to feel good about life, but I think that
I'm ok with being depressed sometimes. I can handle it. I think I'm
the type of person who is happy being sad.
"being down" is kind of normal for me. I must admit that sometimes
there are things that set me off and I can't control my emotions. I
become blinded in a sense by things that haven't even happened or have
never happened. I lose control of the present. I walk around in a
daze. Today doesn't exist, only tomorrow and yesterday. That I hate.
I was like that a couple of times in Amsterdam, Paris and Bergamo. My
head was everywhere except wrapped around the present. That ruins
life, because you don't seize the moment. Paris helped me though. Long
walks by the Seine. Just another "Flaneur".
My life has changed radically, and I don't know what to hold on to. I
was laying a foundation to build something on, but the foundation
crumbled before I could start.
I feel like I'm starting at 38, and I hate it. I don't think I know
what I want, but I have to do something in the meantime. Life doesn't
wait. It gets wasted on indecisiveness.
I play guitar, I take pictures, I write, I care. Who am I?, though. I
don't know, and I don't think I want to know. I've caught myself lying
to myself many times. Do I want to go on like that?
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Paris / Bergamo
Paris / Bergamo
nov. 15, 2006
I left the australian pub at around 2am in Paris and went to the apartment. Tess stayed behind with the 2 Claires and their friend.
When I got to the apartment I picked up all my stuff and packed. Went to check my email and found a beautiful note Steffi and Kati had left in my laptop when I opened it. They wrote very kind words. That was really nice of them.
I got really drowsy checking my email, so I wrote a quick one to Michele and a couple of people. When I'm about to fly I like to talk or send messages to the people I really care about and let them know that.
I put my cel for 4:45 am which I calculated would give me enough time to get to Porte Maillot to catch the 5:30am bus to Beauvais airport which is 75 kms outside of Paris.
I fell asleep. At around 3:30am the doorbell rang. It was Tess coming back, and he was ringing cause I had taken the keys. He came back with the Claires, one who was very drunk, and their friend. ( They are meddical students who were allowing themselves a night of craziness and fun) So I didn't go back to sleep. I sat down on Tess laptop for a while and Claire almost knocked off the table when she tripped on the power cable and the speaker's power cable.
I decided to leave early that way I could walk. So I said goodbye to everyone and thanked Tess for his hospitality. He told me to come back to Paris any time I want for as long as I want. I thanked him. I put on my jacket, took my suitcase and laptop and the vynils I had gotten for Giorgio, said goodbye to the Claires and their friend and left.
I started to walk down the Rue de Rivoli towards Porte Maillot whichis way past the arc de triomphe. I figured it would take me about 30 mins to an hour maybe to get there. About 4 blocks down I decided to walk towards the Seine. I took the Quai de Louvre and walked beside the museum and then I crossed the street towards the river. Paris lights were out, the Eiffle tower was out, and the water was relatively still. I loved the glimmer on the water of the regular street lights and the shapes of the almost leaveless trees. The oscillated between gray and yellow. Clouds and sky but no moon.
I had to stop to take a leak a couple of times. Before I had crossed the street a man had come up from one of the many stairs that leads up to the Quai from the path on the shore of the Seine with a Siberian Husky puppy. He was walking in the opposite direction. A minute later I felt something nipping at my heels and suitcase. It was the puppy that had crossed the street and was shadowing me. I grabbed it and helped it cross back the street to its owner.
I continued my walk by the Seine and then and Place de la Concorde switched to Champ D'Elysees. Good thing I did, too, for there's an exhibition of transporation acrros the ages right on the boulevard and there were many types of vehicles there. My camera was in my suitcase and I didn't feel like taking it out to take pictures. I wanted to make it to Porte Maillot before 5:30am and the pace I had was kinda slow. There were examples of old trucks, boats, cars, motorhomes, a replica of a rocket, a train. It was very nice ( as Borat would say ).
It was 4:45 by the time I hit the main part of the Champs d'Elysees, the one of all the stores and offices before the arc de Triomphe. I even saw one of Tess' friends from friday night having something to eat in one of the cafe's, probably had been at the VIP room or one of the many popular Paris clubs that are around there.
Finally made it to the Arc d Triomphe. My feet were tired, it was 5am and my hand was trembling from holding the suitcase and the vibrations of the sometimes uneven surfaces. So I took a taxi which was "libre" and happened to be parked to one side of the Arc. Good thing I did. I still had a long way to go apparently, and I didn't really know where I was going. He asked me if I wanted to take the bus to beauvais airport. I said yes. Turns out Porte Maillot is a parking lot/ bus stop where buses wait or arrive and it's in fron of Paris Sport Palais or something like that.
The taxi was 5.50 because of the hour. There were many other people waiting for the bus and more arrived. When the bus finally arrived I got in, sat down near the back, watched the clock and the minutes tick away hoping the driver or assistant would come charge me the fare and the bus would take off so that I could fall asleep. I was listening to music. Curiosly, all the time in Paris since the day I arrived I hadn't taken out my ipod shuffle since I took it off after the train arrived in Paris from Amsterdam. I put it on precisely when I got to Porte Maillot.
I think for the first time in a while all my walks somewhere had been to the tune of my thoughts, fears and freak outs.
Finally the driver gets around to me, I pay my 13euros and promptly fall asleep. Woke up when we were arriving at Beauvais. I checked in my bag and got my ticket at around 7am, then went to the info dsesk to find out about the lost and found. My friend Arantza had lost her wallet on the flight from Bergamo to Zaragoza when we went there on sept 30th for Giorgio's birthday. It wound up at Paris Beauvais airport because the plane went there after Zaragoza/Bergamo/ Budapest. The lady at the counter told me that at 8am the lost and found would open, to come back to the desk then.
At 5 to 8 I went there and she called the guys at lost and found. At first there was some confusion because they thought they were looking for a wallet belonging to Juan Susana ( me) but after a few back and forths, I told them it was Aranzazu's wallet and since they had sent the emails and she had written back that I would be picking it up, thye found it. I was cutting it close, cause my flight was scheduled to leave at 8:30 am. The man from Lost and Found looked at my ticket and then started running looking. Told me to wait for him, that he would get me through security. He got the wallet, I signed some papers and then he took me in to the securiy checkpoint through the lines of people who were getting ready to go into the gate for another flight. I went through securiity, got to the tarmac.
I was just about the last person to get on the plane.
I don't really remember the plane taking off. I fell asleep almost until it landed, which by the way was a very hard and fast landing.
Once in the airport, I got my suitcase. Alessandro was waiting for me outside. I was surprised because Giorgio had sent a SMS to Tess' message saying he couldn't come get cause he was working.
Alessandro told me he was supposed to be in Milan, but had awakened late and there was a strike in the university anyway, so he came to get me. We went straight to Citta Alta to get some coffee. We visited La Marianna. Citta Alta was covered in mist. It was really foggy and chilly in a nice way.
We had coffee and a pastry. ( for the past few days I've been indulging myself with chocolate filled pastries.)
We walked around for a couple of ours and visited one of the churches in the Piazza Vecchia. Incredible, not one empty space. Amazing artwork in the form of paintings, statues, on fabric, on wood, frescoes.
After walking thought Citta Alta for a while we headed to Giorgio's house so I could leave my stuff. After that we went to their parents house where we had lunch.
Giorgio arrived first and then their parents, Dino and Jenny. We caught up a little and Jenny cooked us tender steaks. She prepared it with leaves, I don't remember what they are called. It's incredible how great Jenny cooks and she's a vegetarian. The other time I was here for Giorgio's birthday she cooked Brassato, red meat in wine, it was very very good.
Dino and Giorgio went back to work. Ale and I had coffee with Jenny and then we went to his room to play guitar and listen to music and check some things out really quick on the internet. Ale has a nice Jackson guitar like the one Randy Rhoads used. we listened to some Metallica and Flotsam and Jetsam. Went back downstairs for some more coffee. Then Criss, Giorgio's girlfriend arrived, so we said goodbye to Jenny and went to Citta Bassa. First stop was a comic book store. I hadn't seen this part of Bergamo in my other 2 visits. Citta Bassa is actually very nice. Historic buildings, wonderful little shops, pastel colors.
After walking around for a couple of hours we dropped Ale off at his house. Criss headed for Giorgio's house.
We hung out for a while.
I took a very long shower which I needed badly. I was all stinky from the long walks in Paris and the trip. It was great.
Then we went to Alessandro's store where Giorgio's friend had posters for my show at Keller. I took some pictures of the store for Alessandro to put up on his website. It's a mobile phone services business.
Afterwards, Aperitivo. Had a couple of Prosecs and a Campari with white wine. Giorgio told me that at first it's not very good but you get used to the flavor. I like it actually, although it's a biit dry. The snacks were great. I enjoyed vegetables with a thin layer of farine passed in Olive Oil, giving it a light breaded feel but keeping the veggies ( Zucchini, peppers, onions) crunchy and juicy.
After the apperitivo we headed for Sorisso for the best pizza. Jenny and Ale joined us. As well as a couple more of Giorgio's friends. It was a fun dinner. We stayed there for about 2 hours.
At 10:45 we headed for Keller's to catch the band of Ale's friend. They did some pretty good covers. I specially enjoyed the drummer and singer.
We hung out at Keller's until 2am. Giorgio and Cris put up the poster for my show.
We had a few beers. Ale wasn't drinking cause he had a blood test scheduled for the next day to see how the liver is doing. Giorgio is drinking less cause the doctor told him his liver is a bit abused. I had just 2 pints, a british red named Must and a Rosso by ( forgot brand).
In the car we had been listening to Cathedral, so when Giorgio, Criss and I left, I told him to put the song "Hopkins, Witchfinder" again.
At the house he put on the video. As we were watching the Cathedral DVD I told him about a video I remembered from the early 90's, so he started to go through all of them asking me "this one" and I'd say "no". Until he asked me and kept asking, hearing no reply. I had fallen asleep with a beer in my hand.
I was really tired. I woke up and went to the visitor's bedroom, got under the sheets and promptly fell asleep.
nov. 15, 2006
I left the australian pub at around 2am in Paris and went to the apartment. Tess stayed behind with the 2 Claires and their friend.
When I got to the apartment I picked up all my stuff and packed. Went to check my email and found a beautiful note Steffi and Kati had left in my laptop when I opened it. They wrote very kind words. That was really nice of them.
I got really drowsy checking my email, so I wrote a quick one to Michele and a couple of people. When I'm about to fly I like to talk or send messages to the people I really care about and let them know that.
I put my cel for 4:45 am which I calculated would give me enough time to get to Porte Maillot to catch the 5:30am bus to Beauvais airport which is 75 kms outside of Paris.
I fell asleep. At around 3:30am the doorbell rang. It was Tess coming back, and he was ringing cause I had taken the keys. He came back with the Claires, one who was very drunk, and their friend. ( They are meddical students who were allowing themselves a night of craziness and fun) So I didn't go back to sleep. I sat down on Tess laptop for a while and Claire almost knocked off the table when she tripped on the power cable and the speaker's power cable.
I decided to leave early that way I could walk. So I said goodbye to everyone and thanked Tess for his hospitality. He told me to come back to Paris any time I want for as long as I want. I thanked him. I put on my jacket, took my suitcase and laptop and the vynils I had gotten for Giorgio, said goodbye to the Claires and their friend and left.
I started to walk down the Rue de Rivoli towards Porte Maillot whichis way past the arc de triomphe. I figured it would take me about 30 mins to an hour maybe to get there. About 4 blocks down I decided to walk towards the Seine. I took the Quai de Louvre and walked beside the museum and then I crossed the street towards the river. Paris lights were out, the Eiffle tower was out, and the water was relatively still. I loved the glimmer on the water of the regular street lights and the shapes of the almost leaveless trees. The oscillated between gray and yellow. Clouds and sky but no moon.
I had to stop to take a leak a couple of times. Before I had crossed the street a man had come up from one of the many stairs that leads up to the Quai from the path on the shore of the Seine with a Siberian Husky puppy. He was walking in the opposite direction. A minute later I felt something nipping at my heels and suitcase. It was the puppy that had crossed the street and was shadowing me. I grabbed it and helped it cross back the street to its owner.
I continued my walk by the Seine and then and Place de la Concorde switched to Champ D'Elysees. Good thing I did, too, for there's an exhibition of transporation acrros the ages right on the boulevard and there were many types of vehicles there. My camera was in my suitcase and I didn't feel like taking it out to take pictures. I wanted to make it to Porte Maillot before 5:30am and the pace I had was kinda slow. There were examples of old trucks, boats, cars, motorhomes, a replica of a rocket, a train. It was very nice ( as Borat would say ).
It was 4:45 by the time I hit the main part of the Champs d'Elysees, the one of all the stores and offices before the arc de Triomphe. I even saw one of Tess' friends from friday night having something to eat in one of the cafe's, probably had been at the VIP room or one of the many popular Paris clubs that are around there.
Finally made it to the Arc d Triomphe. My feet were tired, it was 5am and my hand was trembling from holding the suitcase and the vibrations of the sometimes uneven surfaces. So I took a taxi which was "libre" and happened to be parked to one side of the Arc. Good thing I did. I still had a long way to go apparently, and I didn't really know where I was going. He asked me if I wanted to take the bus to beauvais airport. I said yes. Turns out Porte Maillot is a parking lot/ bus stop where buses wait or arrive and it's in fron of Paris Sport Palais or something like that.
The taxi was 5.50 because of the hour. There were many other people waiting for the bus and more arrived. When the bus finally arrived I got in, sat down near the back, watched the clock and the minutes tick away hoping the driver or assistant would come charge me the fare and the bus would take off so that I could fall asleep. I was listening to music. Curiosly, all the time in Paris since the day I arrived I hadn't taken out my ipod shuffle since I took it off after the train arrived in Paris from Amsterdam. I put it on precisely when I got to Porte Maillot.
I think for the first time in a while all my walks somewhere had been to the tune of my thoughts, fears and freak outs.
Finally the driver gets around to me, I pay my 13euros and promptly fall asleep. Woke up when we were arriving at Beauvais. I checked in my bag and got my ticket at around 7am, then went to the info dsesk to find out about the lost and found. My friend Arantza had lost her wallet on the flight from Bergamo to Zaragoza when we went there on sept 30th for Giorgio's birthday. It wound up at Paris Beauvais airport because the plane went there after Zaragoza/Bergamo/ Budapest. The lady at the counter told me that at 8am the lost and found would open, to come back to the desk then.
At 5 to 8 I went there and she called the guys at lost and found. At first there was some confusion because they thought they were looking for a wallet belonging to Juan Susana ( me) but after a few back and forths, I told them it was Aranzazu's wallet and since they had sent the emails and she had written back that I would be picking it up, thye found it. I was cutting it close, cause my flight was scheduled to leave at 8:30 am. The man from Lost and Found looked at my ticket and then started running looking. Told me to wait for him, that he would get me through security. He got the wallet, I signed some papers and then he took me in to the securiy checkpoint through the lines of people who were getting ready to go into the gate for another flight. I went through securiity, got to the tarmac.
I was just about the last person to get on the plane.
I don't really remember the plane taking off. I fell asleep almost until it landed, which by the way was a very hard and fast landing.
Once in the airport, I got my suitcase. Alessandro was waiting for me outside. I was surprised because Giorgio had sent a SMS to Tess' message saying he couldn't come get cause he was working.
Alessandro told me he was supposed to be in Milan, but had awakened late and there was a strike in the university anyway, so he came to get me. We went straight to Citta Alta to get some coffee. We visited La Marianna. Citta Alta was covered in mist. It was really foggy and chilly in a nice way.
We had coffee and a pastry. ( for the past few days I've been indulging myself with chocolate filled pastries.)
We walked around for a couple of ours and visited one of the churches in the Piazza Vecchia. Incredible, not one empty space. Amazing artwork in the form of paintings, statues, on fabric, on wood, frescoes.
After walking thought Citta Alta for a while we headed to Giorgio's house so I could leave my stuff. After that we went to their parents house where we had lunch.
Giorgio arrived first and then their parents, Dino and Jenny. We caught up a little and Jenny cooked us tender steaks. She prepared it with leaves, I don't remember what they are called. It's incredible how great Jenny cooks and she's a vegetarian. The other time I was here for Giorgio's birthday she cooked Brassato, red meat in wine, it was very very good.
Dino and Giorgio went back to work. Ale and I had coffee with Jenny and then we went to his room to play guitar and listen to music and check some things out really quick on the internet. Ale has a nice Jackson guitar like the one Randy Rhoads used. we listened to some Metallica and Flotsam and Jetsam. Went back downstairs for some more coffee. Then Criss, Giorgio's girlfriend arrived, so we said goodbye to Jenny and went to Citta Bassa. First stop was a comic book store. I hadn't seen this part of Bergamo in my other 2 visits. Citta Bassa is actually very nice. Historic buildings, wonderful little shops, pastel colors.
After walking around for a couple of hours we dropped Ale off at his house. Criss headed for Giorgio's house.
We hung out for a while.
I took a very long shower which I needed badly. I was all stinky from the long walks in Paris and the trip. It was great.
Then we went to Alessandro's store where Giorgio's friend had posters for my show at Keller. I took some pictures of the store for Alessandro to put up on his website. It's a mobile phone services business.
Afterwards, Aperitivo. Had a couple of Prosecs and a Campari with white wine. Giorgio told me that at first it's not very good but you get used to the flavor. I like it actually, although it's a biit dry. The snacks were great. I enjoyed vegetables with a thin layer of farine passed in Olive Oil, giving it a light breaded feel but keeping the veggies ( Zucchini, peppers, onions) crunchy and juicy.
After the apperitivo we headed for Sorisso for the best pizza. Jenny and Ale joined us. As well as a couple more of Giorgio's friends. It was a fun dinner. We stayed there for about 2 hours.
At 10:45 we headed for Keller's to catch the band of Ale's friend. They did some pretty good covers. I specially enjoyed the drummer and singer.
We hung out at Keller's until 2am. Giorgio and Cris put up the poster for my show.
We had a few beers. Ale wasn't drinking cause he had a blood test scheduled for the next day to see how the liver is doing. Giorgio is drinking less cause the doctor told him his liver is a bit abused. I had just 2 pints, a british red named Must and a Rosso by ( forgot brand).
In the car we had been listening to Cathedral, so when Giorgio, Criss and I left, I told him to put the song "Hopkins, Witchfinder" again.
At the house he put on the video. As we were watching the Cathedral DVD I told him about a video I remembered from the early 90's, so he started to go through all of them asking me "this one" and I'd say "no". Until he asked me and kept asking, hearing no reply. I had fallen asleep with a beer in my hand.
I was really tired. I woke up and went to the visitor's bedroom, got under the sheets and promptly fell asleep.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Paris Journal
Paris Journal
Wednesday nov 15.
So I stayed in Paris, and happy that I did. Slept in late, got up at around 10 something. Did some writing, went for a walk, bought some bread. At 12:15 helped Tess clean up the apartment for the photo shoot. The model was coming with the hairdress and make up artist. After tidying up a bit left for Alexandra's house in Bastille. Bought a bottle of wine in a Grocery store cause I couldn't find the wine store, and as I was walking to the front door of the building Alex was coming out, so I accompanied her to the supermarket to buy some food. Her roommate, PV (Pierre Victor, whom she also met in Madrid ) was going to cook for us.
We got to the apartment after buying bread, food and tabaco.
Very nice flat. PV is a really cool guy, very mature for his age, 20 ( Alex is 25).
He made a great salad and steak. We watched some videos on Youtube which he put on the TV from his laptop ( have to get that adaptor).
While he was cooking I started to strum an acoustic guitar he has. It felt nice to have a guitar in my hands. Unfortunately, I left my guitar in Zaragoza which has made my trip a little bit stressful. Down time in Amsterdam was specially hard because I was craving to sing and play with all the time I had on my hands.
After we ate and drank wine, PV left for a meeting and Alex and me walked to Tess apartment to catch the photo shoot.
The girl was really beautiful, 16 but looking 25. From the Ukraine. Tess got some great shots of her. In all, the shoot lasted about 5 1/2 hours.
While he was shooting a friend was capturing it all on video for a behind the scenes. The hairdresser would use the blow dryer to make the girl's hair flow for the pics. Tess' assistant would also take turns making pics for purposes of practice.
Alex left at around 6 to meet up with some friends.
I went out for a walk after the shoot, since Tess was going to be interviewed on camera. Wanted to get some air. Bought some wine and brought it back to the house and sat to down to talk with the girls.
After everyone left, a couple of girls came over ( don't remember their names), by chance they were downstairs when I had come up with the wine but I didn't know they were coming to the apartment.
We had about 4 bottles of wine and some cheese, ham and salad. Tess and his friend, Pierrick were talking with the girls, and I was at the dining table conversing with Steffi and Ekatirana about everything in general but specially women. Kati left for a date with her boyfriend so Steffi and I continued to talk, while she played music. She's a cool kid who's been to many interesting parts of the world.
Pierrick left and Steffi got on the phone. I joined Tess and chatted with one of the girls who spoke english and was also kind enough to translate what her friend said.
We left the house at around 12 and walked the girls to the metro station then Tess and I crossed the Seine and walked to St. Michel. We went to this bar called the Australia Pub. We had a couple of rounds of beer and then went home.
Kati had gotten back ( she had the keys).
Tess made some pasta for dinner. I was online for a while sending emails and just checking crap in general
Fell asleep around 3am.
Wednesday nov 15.
So I stayed in Paris, and happy that I did. Slept in late, got up at around 10 something. Did some writing, went for a walk, bought some bread. At 12:15 helped Tess clean up the apartment for the photo shoot. The model was coming with the hairdress and make up artist. After tidying up a bit left for Alexandra's house in Bastille. Bought a bottle of wine in a Grocery store cause I couldn't find the wine store, and as I was walking to the front door of the building Alex was coming out, so I accompanied her to the supermarket to buy some food. Her roommate, PV (Pierre Victor, whom she also met in Madrid ) was going to cook for us.
We got to the apartment after buying bread, food and tabaco.
Very nice flat. PV is a really cool guy, very mature for his age, 20 ( Alex is 25).
He made a great salad and steak. We watched some videos on Youtube which he put on the TV from his laptop ( have to get that adaptor).
While he was cooking I started to strum an acoustic guitar he has. It felt nice to have a guitar in my hands. Unfortunately, I left my guitar in Zaragoza which has made my trip a little bit stressful. Down time in Amsterdam was specially hard because I was craving to sing and play with all the time I had on my hands.
After we ate and drank wine, PV left for a meeting and Alex and me walked to Tess apartment to catch the photo shoot.
The girl was really beautiful, 16 but looking 25. From the Ukraine. Tess got some great shots of her. In all, the shoot lasted about 5 1/2 hours.
While he was shooting a friend was capturing it all on video for a behind the scenes. The hairdresser would use the blow dryer to make the girl's hair flow for the pics. Tess' assistant would also take turns making pics for purposes of practice.
Alex left at around 6 to meet up with some friends.
I went out for a walk after the shoot, since Tess was going to be interviewed on camera. Wanted to get some air. Bought some wine and brought it back to the house and sat to down to talk with the girls.
After everyone left, a couple of girls came over ( don't remember their names), by chance they were downstairs when I had come up with the wine but I didn't know they were coming to the apartment.
We had about 4 bottles of wine and some cheese, ham and salad. Tess and his friend, Pierrick were talking with the girls, and I was at the dining table conversing with Steffi and Ekatirana about everything in general but specially women. Kati left for a date with her boyfriend so Steffi and I continued to talk, while she played music. She's a cool kid who's been to many interesting parts of the world.
Pierrick left and Steffi got on the phone. I joined Tess and chatted with one of the girls who spoke english and was also kind enough to translate what her friend said.
We left the house at around 12 and walked the girls to the metro station then Tess and I crossed the Seine and walked to St. Michel. We went to this bar called the Australia Pub. We had a couple of rounds of beer and then went home.
Kati had gotten back ( she had the keys).
Tess made some pasta for dinner. I was online for a while sending emails and just checking crap in general
Fell asleep around 3am.
Inside Notre Dame
I think I had never been inside Notre Dame on my previous trips to Paris. This time around I got to hear mass in french with a soprano singing and the wonderful organ. Wicked but beautiful.
Paris Journal
Paris Journal 4
Monday 13 nov
Yesterday I got up early and talked with Steffi, one of Tess' roommate for a while. She works at the Ritz and was on her way to work. She lent me a book called The Power of Now which is very interesting later on when she got home.
Later in the morning, I was talking to Ekaterina, Tess other roommate, another wonderful young lady. Like Steffi, she is german, although Steffi grew up in Canada and Ekaterina was born in Bulgaria. We talked a bit about Varna. I was telling her about a couple of weeks I spent there in the summer of '96.
At around 11:30 or 12 we went for a long walk and wound up at the Sacre Cour in Montmartre overlooking Paris. We went up through the west side, beautiful houses and beautiful little streets.
After we got back to the apartment later on, I didn't go out again. Hung out in the house reading, talking to Tess. We called Antonio via Skype in Cabarete and I finally spoke with Onno after about a year. I was really tired from so much walking.
Tess opened up this great bottle of wine with chicken dinner. It was good!
Tuesday 14 Nov
I got up early, had coffee with Steffi. After she left for work I walked to Bastille to try to get in some phone calls. Apparently I went too early for the place was closed. Bastille is about a 20 min walk up the Rue de Rivoli from where I am by Hotel D' Ville. I bought a pain au chocolat which I've always loved. ( In Santo Domingo I would buy Napolitanas in one of the bakeries with a french name but they never got close to the ones in Spain and here ).
I was going to leave at 5am the next day for the Beauvais airport.
I went back to the house and hung out with Ekaterina and Tess.
Tess told me that I could make phone calls to landlines in the US and Europe from the house and it was the same as a local call.
Ekaterina had to go to some 3 castings in the afternoon so she left at around 2.
Tess had a meeting at around 6:30 at an agency so I accompanied him to the place. We got out at Champs Elysees and walked a couple of blocks past the President's house to the area of the meeting. Afterwards we went to see the shop windows at Galerie Lafayette and another store beside it. They compete every year for best window in the public's eye.
We got back on the Metro this time another line, that resembles more the Cercanias trains of Madrid. It was just one stop but I thought I was gonna die from the heat and all the people. Have never been comfortable around crowds and in crowded train cars. ( My favorite Metro that I've ridden is actually the one in DC, clean,smoothand comfortable.)
We got back to the house.
I'd communicated with Alexandra, Alex Ferreira's roommate from Madrid who had moved back to France. She was in Lyon but was returning to Paris that evening.
She said she would come around 9:30 since I was leaving in the morning.
I went out and walked around for a while at the Ile de St. Louis. Curiously, as I was crossing one the many bridges, this one between the Hotel D' Ville and Notre Dame, there was a guy playing electric guitar with a mic sitting right smack in the middle of the bridge. I looked at him and walked past. The tune he was singing seemed familiar and the chord progression, and for a moment I thought, "this guy sucks. Why is he playing 'In my Life' that way" when I suddenly realized that he was strumming and singing "All of Me", one of my favorite songs of all time which the day before I had been trying to remember on the piano. I walked back and dropped a few coins and the song was in my head for about 10 mins. I startedto kind of mutter it aloud as I often do nowadays. Sing to myself as I walk down the street, not in a loud voice, but it's a great way for me to concentrate on melody and lyrics since I don't have an instrument in my hand.
After walking around for a while I headed back for the apartment. I had remembered my first trip to Paris in july 1988 when I went to a concert of Pachelbel 's Canon either in La Cite or Ile de St. Louis. Don't remember. Don't even remember the girl that accompanied me, another dominican student from L'alliance Francaise. I saw her a couple of time afterwards in DR.
It's strange how now you keep in touch with everybody in one form or another, through the internet, pictures online, chats, emails. In those days you had to make a real effort and technically speaking the only person who I've been in touch with since that time and whom I consider a great friend is Emile.
Alex came over at 10pm. Tess opened up a great bottle of wine. We talked for a while and they talked a lot in french as I tried to follow ( very difficult for me when they speak so fast, I catch just words). The conversation centered on phography and Santo Domingo.
I bought another ticket for Bergamo, and will stay here til friday.
Today ( wed. 15) Tess has a photo shoot. My flight to Bergamo was at 8:30am, but they convinced me to change my flight, which I did, for friday.
At around 12, we walked Alex home, she lives in Bastille. As we got to her corner, Sandra, the new roommate and a couple of her friends from sunday night were coming out of a bar. After a couple of minutes on the corner we all decided to go to a bar. We hung out there for a while. Had this awful glass of red wine ( awful, because besides the bottle Tess had opened in the house, this tasted like vinegar) and then I had a draft Heineken which was pretty good. Hadn't had a beer since my second day in Amsterdam.
After about an hour we left. I walked Alex to her door so I could see where she lives since we are to have lunch on wednesday.
We said goodbye to the other girls, Tess and I walked home.
In the house I got online and promptly fell asleep with my laptop on my (DUH) lap.
It was about 2:30am. I had been up since very early, had walked a lot and was very very tired.
But it was a good day, and I'm staying in Paris 2 more days, will get to see a fashion shoot and hang out with friend. Yeah.
Monday 13 nov
Yesterday I got up early and talked with Steffi, one of Tess' roommate for a while. She works at the Ritz and was on her way to work. She lent me a book called The Power of Now which is very interesting later on when she got home.
Later in the morning, I was talking to Ekaterina, Tess other roommate, another wonderful young lady. Like Steffi, she is german, although Steffi grew up in Canada and Ekaterina was born in Bulgaria. We talked a bit about Varna. I was telling her about a couple of weeks I spent there in the summer of '96.
At around 11:30 or 12 we went for a long walk and wound up at the Sacre Cour in Montmartre overlooking Paris. We went up through the west side, beautiful houses and beautiful little streets.
After we got back to the apartment later on, I didn't go out again. Hung out in the house reading, talking to Tess. We called Antonio via Skype in Cabarete and I finally spoke with Onno after about a year. I was really tired from so much walking.
Tess opened up this great bottle of wine with chicken dinner. It was good!
Tuesday 14 Nov
I got up early, had coffee with Steffi. After she left for work I walked to Bastille to try to get in some phone calls. Apparently I went too early for the place was closed. Bastille is about a 20 min walk up the Rue de Rivoli from where I am by Hotel D' Ville. I bought a pain au chocolat which I've always loved. ( In Santo Domingo I would buy Napolitanas in one of the bakeries with a french name but they never got close to the ones in Spain and here ).
I was going to leave at 5am the next day for the Beauvais airport.
I went back to the house and hung out with Ekaterina and Tess.
Tess told me that I could make phone calls to landlines in the US and Europe from the house and it was the same as a local call.
Ekaterina had to go to some 3 castings in the afternoon so she left at around 2.
Tess had a meeting at around 6:30 at an agency so I accompanied him to the place. We got out at Champs Elysees and walked a couple of blocks past the President's house to the area of the meeting. Afterwards we went to see the shop windows at Galerie Lafayette and another store beside it. They compete every year for best window in the public's eye.
We got back on the Metro this time another line, that resembles more the Cercanias trains of Madrid. It was just one stop but I thought I was gonna die from the heat and all the people. Have never been comfortable around crowds and in crowded train cars. ( My favorite Metro that I've ridden is actually the one in DC, clean,smoothand comfortable.)
We got back to the house.
I'd communicated with Alexandra, Alex Ferreira's roommate from Madrid who had moved back to France. She was in Lyon but was returning to Paris that evening.
She said she would come around 9:30 since I was leaving in the morning.
I went out and walked around for a while at the Ile de St. Louis. Curiously, as I was crossing one the many bridges, this one between the Hotel D' Ville and Notre Dame, there was a guy playing electric guitar with a mic sitting right smack in the middle of the bridge. I looked at him and walked past. The tune he was singing seemed familiar and the chord progression, and for a moment I thought, "this guy sucks. Why is he playing 'In my Life' that way" when I suddenly realized that he was strumming and singing "All of Me", one of my favorite songs of all time which the day before I had been trying to remember on the piano. I walked back and dropped a few coins and the song was in my head for about 10 mins. I startedto kind of mutter it aloud as I often do nowadays. Sing to myself as I walk down the street, not in a loud voice, but it's a great way for me to concentrate on melody and lyrics since I don't have an instrument in my hand.
After walking around for a while I headed back for the apartment. I had remembered my first trip to Paris in july 1988 when I went to a concert of Pachelbel 's Canon either in La Cite or Ile de St. Louis. Don't remember. Don't even remember the girl that accompanied me, another dominican student from L'alliance Francaise. I saw her a couple of time afterwards in DR.
It's strange how now you keep in touch with everybody in one form or another, through the internet, pictures online, chats, emails. In those days you had to make a real effort and technically speaking the only person who I've been in touch with since that time and whom I consider a great friend is Emile.
Alex came over at 10pm. Tess opened up a great bottle of wine. We talked for a while and they talked a lot in french as I tried to follow ( very difficult for me when they speak so fast, I catch just words). The conversation centered on phography and Santo Domingo.
I bought another ticket for Bergamo, and will stay here til friday.
Today ( wed. 15) Tess has a photo shoot. My flight to Bergamo was at 8:30am, but they convinced me to change my flight, which I did, for friday.
At around 12, we walked Alex home, she lives in Bastille. As we got to her corner, Sandra, the new roommate and a couple of her friends from sunday night were coming out of a bar. After a couple of minutes on the corner we all decided to go to a bar. We hung out there for a while. Had this awful glass of red wine ( awful, because besides the bottle Tess had opened in the house, this tasted like vinegar) and then I had a draft Heineken which was pretty good. Hadn't had a beer since my second day in Amsterdam.
After about an hour we left. I walked Alex to her door so I could see where she lives since we are to have lunch on wednesday.
We said goodbye to the other girls, Tess and I walked home.
In the house I got online and promptly fell asleep with my laptop on my (DUH) lap.
It was about 2:30am. I had been up since very early, had walked a lot and was very very tired.
But it was a good day, and I'm staying in Paris 2 more days, will get to see a fashion shoot and hang out with friend. Yeah.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Paris Journal 3
Paris Journal 3
Yesterday I walked all over Paris. After visiting two cafes, at
around 11:30 Antonio and I visited Notre Dame Cathedral which is
actually very close to where I am staying in Chatelet.
We must have spent like an hour there. I walked all around inside
which I think I hadn't done on my previous visits to Paris. What made
it all interesting was that there was Sunday Mass with organ and a
soprano. Had never heard mass in french.
After that we went back to the apartment. I left right away and went
to the calling center across the street from Tribeca, the restaurant
we had visited the night before on Rue de Charonne. Walked the Rue de
Rivoli until it changed names and reached the Place de Bastille.
After calling NY and Amsterdam, I called Stefan to see where they
were. They told me they were on their way to St. Germain and would
wait for me near Odeon.
I walked over there, about 20 mins. When I was almost getting there
about 5,000 people on skates passed me by on the Boulevard St.
Germain. It was likea race or parade. I got to Odeon but couldn't find
a phone to call from that actually took coins. So I started walking
around, bought a Grec and Frites. After a while I decided to walk
toward D'Orsay since Giuliana had wanted to go there.
In the end I didn't meet up with anybody. I just walked all along the
Seine, crossing a bridge here, walking along the shore somewhere else
until I got to the area of the museum. Then I made my way to the
Eiffel Tower. It was almost dark. I was taking pictures all along the
way. After a while I walked back to the apartment where Antonio, and
Stefanwere getting ready for their trip. Giuliana arrived about 20
mins later with stephie and Julie. "Oh, Leo te perdiste"? Giuliana
asked me.
She finished packing up. At 9:30 a cab would come to take them to the
Gare du Nord for their train to Brussels where they would catch a 6am
flight to Puerto Plata and return to Cabarete for the winter.
Then we went out to a cafe around the corner. Giuliana and I waited
outside the building for a friend she wanted to see before they left,
so everyone went ahead. We waited for about 25 mins and talked a
little about everything. I was telling her how all of a sudden I felt
the need to do some of the things that I had always wanted to do, get
fit enough to run a marathon in about 2 years, parachute out of a
plane etc.
The friend hadn't arrived so we went to the cafe around the cornerto
meet up with the others for one last drink. We came back to the
apartment for the luggage Just then Giuliana's friend arrived. She
drove into the street the wrong way, and they said their hellos They
were glad to see each other Just then the taxi arrived I said goodbye
to Antonio and Stefan. Giuliana told me to say hello to her family
since I'll be going to Bergamo on wednesday. We had a great time this
weekend.
After they left, Tess and I said goodbye to Stephie and Julie. We came
back to the apartment where his roommates were, one with her
boyfriend. Michel, his uncle was ironing some shirts. I connected to
the internet and spoke with Michele through the Skype. She was really
excited that the program actually worked so well.
Afterwards, a new girl who will move in came to the apartment with
some friends to bring a mattress. Tess was helping her bring it
upstairs, I helped out. We later went with her, a friend and two other
girls to a cafe down the street. Chatted for a little while and then
we returned to the apartment.
Ekatirana's boyfriend told me about Marcel Dadi, a guitar player I
knew nothing about who died in the TWA 800. I found a myspace with his
music. http://www.myspace.com/marceldadi
Then Michel, Tess' uncle, and I started to talk about Michel Gondry
and about La Reunion, an island I didn't know existed that is off the
coast of Africa.
Tess cooked some chicken and potatoes, Good dinner.
Michel also showed the music of a friend of his named Jean-Louis
Bompoint who is also the Director of Photography of the most recent
Michel Gondry film, The Science of Dreams.
http://www.jlbompoint.com/frameset.html
It was a cool day.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Paris Journal 2
A rainy day in Paris. Walking around the area of the Pompidou.
It was a strange day for me at first. I'm in Paris but I don't know where the fuck my mind is. Well, it's all over the place. At first I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of people on the street.
I went with Antonio and Michel (Tess' uncle) to return the car Antonio had rented the day before because it turned out to be a pain in the ass to have it. He drove to Gare du Nord. The sights are wonderful along the way but it's as if I wasn't there.
Before that we had been in the apartment trying to figure where Stefan could have lost his wallet the day before. They were callind DR through the Yahoo messenger. Finally, it turns out he lost it at the Tapas place because Mastercard traced some unauthorized purchases on his credit card.
In the afternoon we walked all along the Rue de Rivoli and went to the Pyramid at the Louvre and then inside to the mall that's under the pyramids. Museum stores etc. Giliuana was looking for some specific things. After a couple of hours we returned to the apartment.
At around 9pm we went out to this small bar in the Bastille area named Tribeca at 65, rue de Charonne. Had a DJ spinning reggae in the basement, and we sat on a small mezzazine on the street floor which had a low ceiling, you couldn't stand up straight. I had a great grilled chicken breast with Roquefort sauce and a couple of glasses of wine.
Checked out the basement, which was jammed packed. This is a very small place and the basement had people dancind, smoking up and grooving. The toiletten was down there. I tried to make my way to it but couldn't stand the crowd. The basement is like a cava in shape.
I noticed a calling center across the street and made a couple of phones to the US and Ams, but couldn't get through to anybody, but I went to the bathroom there. The rates of this place was pretty cheap, 15 euro cents a minute to cell phones, not bad.
From Tribeca we went to a party at some friend's of Tess in Republique. It was a nice place, lots of people dancing. Julie and Stephanie,two friends of Stefan, Giuliana and Antonio, who used to work in Cabarete were with us.
Julie was really cool getting drinks for everyone. She even found the corkscrew which was thrown somewhere, so that I could open up a bottle of wine.
Stefan and I were talking to this spanish girl from Madrid name Inma ( short for Inmaculada) who had flown in just for this party.
After we got tired of being in this place, which was playing Michael Jackson music and people dancing and talking, top floor of an apartment in Paris with great windows and nice view of the neighborhood, we walked back to Chatelet, towards the apartment. I was falling asleep on my feet, because I had only slept 3 hours from the night before.
It was a nice walk.
We ended up at this mostly gay bar that was open around the corner from the apartment. We all sat at a nice table, where I began to nod off incessantly, until Giuliana woke me and said, Leo, it's ok if you go home. Tess will take you.
And so I did. We were just around the corner so it was like a 3 minute walk.
I got to the house, checked my email real quick and before I knew it, I nodded off on the couch until everyone came back around 2 hours later. I was really tired.
Now, here I am, sunday morning, 10am, writing, listening to music and thinking about what we are going to do today. Maybe I'll go for a walk by the Seine before everyone gets up.
It was a strange day for me at first. I'm in Paris but I don't know where the fuck my mind is. Well, it's all over the place. At first I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of people on the street.
I went with Antonio and Michel (Tess' uncle) to return the car Antonio had rented the day before because it turned out to be a pain in the ass to have it. He drove to Gare du Nord. The sights are wonderful along the way but it's as if I wasn't there.
Before that we had been in the apartment trying to figure where Stefan could have lost his wallet the day before. They were callind DR through the Yahoo messenger. Finally, it turns out he lost it at the Tapas place because Mastercard traced some unauthorized purchases on his credit card.
In the afternoon we walked all along the Rue de Rivoli and went to the Pyramid at the Louvre and then inside to the mall that's under the pyramids. Museum stores etc. Giliuana was looking for some specific things. After a couple of hours we returned to the apartment.
At around 9pm we went out to this small bar in the Bastille area named Tribeca at 65, rue de Charonne. Had a DJ spinning reggae in the basement, and we sat on a small mezzazine on the street floor which had a low ceiling, you couldn't stand up straight. I had a great grilled chicken breast with Roquefort sauce and a couple of glasses of wine.
Checked out the basement, which was jammed packed. This is a very small place and the basement had people dancind, smoking up and grooving. The toiletten was down there. I tried to make my way to it but couldn't stand the crowd. The basement is like a cava in shape.
I noticed a calling center across the street and made a couple of phones to the US and Ams, but couldn't get through to anybody, but I went to the bathroom there. The rates of this place was pretty cheap, 15 euro cents a minute to cell phones, not bad.
From Tribeca we went to a party at some friend's of Tess in Republique. It was a nice place, lots of people dancing. Julie and Stephanie,two friends of Stefan, Giuliana and Antonio, who used to work in Cabarete were with us.
Julie was really cool getting drinks for everyone. She even found the corkscrew which was thrown somewhere, so that I could open up a bottle of wine.
Stefan and I were talking to this spanish girl from Madrid name Inma ( short for Inmaculada) who had flown in just for this party.
After we got tired of being in this place, which was playing Michael Jackson music and people dancing and talking, top floor of an apartment in Paris with great windows and nice view of the neighborhood, we walked back to Chatelet, towards the apartment. I was falling asleep on my feet, because I had only slept 3 hours from the night before.
It was a nice walk.
We ended up at this mostly gay bar that was open around the corner from the apartment. We all sat at a nice table, where I began to nod off incessantly, until Giuliana woke me and said, Leo, it's ok if you go home. Tess will take you.
And so I did. We were just around the corner so it was like a 3 minute walk.
I got to the house, checked my email real quick and before I knew it, I nodded off on the couch until everyone came back around 2 hours later. I was really tired.
Now, here I am, sunday morning, 10am, writing, listening to music and thinking about what we are going to do today. Maybe I'll go for a walk by the Seine before everyone gets up.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Paris Journal 1
I arrived to Paris from Amsterdam at 2pm via Train. It was a good comfortable ride. Tess, Antonio and Giuliana were at the Gare du Nord waiting for me. We rented a car and went to Orly airport to pick up Stefan who was flying in from Nice. Afterwards we made our way back to the center of Paris, where Tess lives near the Pompidou.
It was a pretty cool night. Apperitif at a Tapas place; before that Antonio, Giuliana and me bought some crepes at a cart in the corner of the street where Tess lives.
Dinner was late, in a nice restaurant in the 7th arr. named Oudino ( and it's on rue Oudinot). I had a great steak. We took the car back near the house where Antonio and Giulia stayed cause he was a little under the weather. Tess left with some of his friends and we would meet up at a club on Champs Elysees. Stefan and I couldn't get a cab so we wound up walking all the way from where Hotel de Ville is to the Champs Elysees.
We ended up at a place called Chesterfield ( used to be called that ) where we had some drinks. I had a few Jack Daniel's and a couple of shots. After the bar closed we went to some dance club named Queen til 7am. Ah, but my favorite part was the walk. Paris at night is beautiful.
Met this interesting young lady named Morgane who is a make up artist, one of Tess friends who was at dinner and later came to Chesterfield. We talked for a good while about a little bit of everything. Nice person.
It was a pretty cool night. Apperitif at a Tapas place; before that Antonio, Giuliana and me bought some crepes at a cart in the corner of the street where Tess lives.
Dinner was late, in a nice restaurant in the 7th arr. named Oudino ( and it's on rue Oudinot). I had a great steak. We took the car back near the house where Antonio and Giulia stayed cause he was a little under the weather. Tess left with some of his friends and we would meet up at a club on Champs Elysees. Stefan and I couldn't get a cab so we wound up walking all the way from where Hotel de Ville is to the Champs Elysees.
We ended up at a place called Chesterfield ( used to be called that ) where we had some drinks. I had a few Jack Daniel's and a couple of shots. After the bar closed we went to some dance club named Queen til 7am. Ah, but my favorite part was the walk. Paris at night is beautiful.
Met this interesting young lady named Morgane who is a make up artist, one of Tess friends who was at dinner and later came to Chesterfield. We talked for a good while about a little bit of everything. Nice person.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
interesting phrase
- The Privilege and Freedom of arrogance.
Got this from an article in the NY times ( my rag of choice) speaking to the situation of salaries and fees in Hollywood. Could probably be applied to many situations or twisted in many ways. "The privilege and freedom of power" comes to mind.
Got this from an article in the NY times ( my rag of choice) speaking to the situation of salaries and fees in Hollywood. Could probably be applied to many situations or twisted in many ways. "The privilege and freedom of power" comes to mind.
At the movies...
During my stay in Amsterdam I've been to the movies a few times. Have also seen a couple of films in the apartment.
Finally caught the Davinci Code which I wanted to see more because of Paris than anything else, since I'll be there in a couple of days. I was really dissapointed by it, although it is beautifully shot. I felt it was too flat. Ian Mckellan rocked, though. We also rented Team America, World Police which was funny but I didn't really enjoy it. Maybe because after watching Davinci Code and it's beautiful photography, switching to a puppet film wasn't a good idea.
At the movies, saw Miami Vice. I liked the look of the film, the sometimes gritty photography and some of the action sequences. The sound mix was great also. The music I didn't enjoy so much.
Borat was funny although some scene made me uneasy. If you haven't seen the film, you'll know which ones once you do. It was still really funny. I really enjoy Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy.
We caught Babel a day after it's release. This was a mistake which I should have picked up from Borat. Obviously, here in Holland, films are subtitled in Dutch. Now, if the movie's in English, that's not a problem, but there were parts in Borat where he is supposedly speaking his language, and you miss that because of the subtitles. Same with Babel. Large parts of that film are in japanese, and arabic so I couldn't follow those parts too well, just some words that I picked up in the subtitles from their resemblance to English.
The film looks good, though. I'll try to catch again in Spain.
On sunday we went to see Little Miss Sunshine. What a relief. I really really liked this movie. I laughed a lot.
Alan Arkin was incredible, and the cast as a whole was great. Steve Carrell ( 40 yr. old virgin) was also great here.
Finally caught the Davinci Code which I wanted to see more because of Paris than anything else, since I'll be there in a couple of days. I was really dissapointed by it, although it is beautifully shot. I felt it was too flat. Ian Mckellan rocked, though. We also rented Team America, World Police which was funny but I didn't really enjoy it. Maybe because after watching Davinci Code and it's beautiful photography, switching to a puppet film wasn't a good idea.
At the movies, saw Miami Vice. I liked the look of the film, the sometimes gritty photography and some of the action sequences. The sound mix was great also. The music I didn't enjoy so much.
Borat was funny although some scene made me uneasy. If you haven't seen the film, you'll know which ones once you do. It was still really funny. I really enjoy Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy.
We caught Babel a day after it's release. This was a mistake which I should have picked up from Borat. Obviously, here in Holland, films are subtitled in Dutch. Now, if the movie's in English, that's not a problem, but there were parts in Borat where he is supposedly speaking his language, and you miss that because of the subtitles. Same with Babel. Large parts of that film are in japanese, and arabic so I couldn't follow those parts too well, just some words that I picked up in the subtitles from their resemblance to English.
The film looks good, though. I'll try to catch again in Spain.
On sunday we went to see Little Miss Sunshine. What a relief. I really really liked this movie. I laughed a lot.
Alan Arkin was incredible, and the cast as a whole was great. Steve Carrell ( 40 yr. old virgin) was also great here.
On my headphones...
For the past 3 o 4 weeks I've been going back and forth with music. After about 2 months of Killers mania, I've started listening to the entire American Idiot album by Green Day. I had dismissed it at first, but after a couple of listens, I'm really enjoying it.
Favorite tracks apart from the obvious "Wake me up When September Ends" are "Extraordinary Girl", "Give me Novocaine" and "Whatsername". I like the flow of listening straight through from beginning to end, love the drumming, the guitar sounds, and the vocals. Production wise, it sounds great. I've always liked Green Day, have always felt that they have good tunes, and it's obvious they wouldn't have survived this long if they didn't.
Also on my headphones is Heathen by David Bowie as well as Disc 1 from his Platinum Collection which is full of classic tunes. It's been interesting to ride or walk around this wonderful city with my chosen soundtrack. This has included Neil Diamond ( 12 Songs), Johnny Cash (American Vol. 3), Tom Waits and even some of my own recent tunes that I haven't released yet.
One that I have put up on myspace.com/leosusana, "Estoy Cansado" I've been conecptualizing a video for.
I've been very moody recently, and some of this music helps me think.
Favorite tracks apart from the obvious "Wake me up When September Ends" are "Extraordinary Girl", "Give me Novocaine" and "Whatsername". I like the flow of listening straight through from beginning to end, love the drumming, the guitar sounds, and the vocals. Production wise, it sounds great. I've always liked Green Day, have always felt that they have good tunes, and it's obvious they wouldn't have survived this long if they didn't.
Also on my headphones is Heathen by David Bowie as well as Disc 1 from his Platinum Collection which is full of classic tunes. It's been interesting to ride or walk around this wonderful city with my chosen soundtrack. This has included Neil Diamond ( 12 Songs), Johnny Cash (American Vol. 3), Tom Waits and even some of my own recent tunes that I haven't released yet.
One that I have put up on myspace.com/leosusana, "Estoy Cansado" I've been conecptualizing a video for.
I've been very moody recently, and some of this music helps me think.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Sabina by the Amstel
Listening to Joaquin Sabina with Juana by the Amstel, Watching the boats go by.
Juana - Amsterdam Journal 3
Oct. 20, 2006
Today's Lili's birthday. She's been on my mind all day, ... well she's always on my mind, but she's been spectacularly present this week.
I went to the ballet with Michele to pick up Juana. Spent a great part of the morning riding around Amsterdam on her. Visited Oosterpark.
Worked out for a little while there. Didn't have my camera with me, so I was just riding and making mental notes of the places I want to see again. There are some very nice sights to the east of the city. Finally made my way back to the area of the ballet, cause I was in a bit of pain between my legs, I hadn't ridden a bike since I left the DR, and the seat was in an unconfortable position and angle.
I went to the vendors who are at the front part of the entrance to the ballet, but they didn't have the specific tool for my seat. By chance, Laura and her mom were passing by and told me that they had bought the bikes (Michele's is named Juana and Laura's is named Chavela.) around the back of the theater.
I took Juana there and they fixed the seat up for me. I told the guy "I'm in pain, could you change the angle of the seat and raise it a little."
As he's doing it he tells me, "Now balls will not hurt." jajaja
Anyway they fixed it alright. I was riding really comfortable and came to the house to do some writing and eat a little something.
I went out again to meet Michele at 3pm but she told that she had to rehearse til 5:30. Went and did some more riding and took some more pictures.Passed by a spot where some chef guy was giving out Tomato soup. Guess he has a TV show or a book or something. The presentation was interesting. Plastic tomatoes with a star carved into them served as the bowls and there were many people there. Big letters on the ground, cameras, a couple of vans, all with the tomato and star motif.
Received a phone call from my mom in NY. She wanted to tell me to remember Lili's birthday. I was happy to hear from her and that her treatments had been going well. I happened to be in the Red light district at that moment taking some pictures for Pablo and an article he was going to have published in some magazine in the DR. Went to Soup En Zo and tried another of the soups.
On my way back to meet up with Miche at the ballet, I was rushing up a street, with some traffic when I heard something smash behind me. All of a sudden a car pulls up next to me with what appeared to be two young dutch arabs, and the driver says to me "you! Motherfucker. It cost me a mirror to not hit you!" He apparantly had scraped his right rearview mirror against a parked vehicle, while trying to avoid me, which seemed like bullshit to me. Anyway, I took off my headphones and said "Sorry". He said "motherfucker..." , I kinda laughed it off and kept riding to the ballet. Then walked the bike to theather cause all of a sudden it hit me that there are some nuts out there who don't give a shit that Amsterdam is a city full of bikes. The ones I've seen who disrepect this appear to be foreigners or of foreign descent. For a moment I thought they might be doing that because since tecnically I'm a tourist, they might get some money from me.
I decided I would try to be a little more careful out on the streets, just in case.
I picked Miche up, we went to the supermarket. Afterwards I walked her to her therapy session. She needed some acupunture cause her neck was a little messed and she would be dancing the next day.
Talked a little about Lili, and her birthday.
Strange day indeed.
(note: Some of this I'm writing memory. I jot down some things one day, and then another. Looking through the pictures I took on the 20th I realized that I did a lot and saw many things that day. I've never been good at keeping a journal. My journals are more hindsight than actual moment.)
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The Train's Coming
Dyckman st. station in NYC. Photo by my father.
This is my neighborhood train station in NYC where I take the A train downtown and come back home. I've always preferred this to the 1 train a couple of blocks to the east because it's quicker.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Amsterdam Journal 2
Oct. 19, 2006
Spent the day taking pictures. Amsterdam is a bounty of photo ops. I usually want to take a picture of everything. I look one way, point to the other; so many options.
Walked Michele to the ballet at around 9:45 am and took off from there. Visited Dam which I had done yesterday, but without my camera. This time around walked along Rokin. Had Miche's Ipod with me playing Sabina and then (gasp!), James Blunt. He's alright. It's a live show and it sounds just fine. Some of his songs are actually very good although he gets kind of repetitive and cliche.
Picked Michele up at the ballet at around 1pm and we went to eat something. Wound up going to the supermarket where a dominican girl from San Pedro was the cashier. We bought wine, steaks and a couple of other things.
Went to a pub right before, and I had a draft Heineken which was good.
Then in the house saw a couple of episodes of Grey's Anatomy ( Miche and Laura have 2 seasons on DVD) while Miche napped. Can't believe how little gravitas some of the actor's voices carry. I mention this because I've only seen the show recently in Spain, dubbed in spanish, and found the actress that plays Meredith Gray absolutely stunning, but I didn't know how much that had to do with the voice of the actress who dubs her. When I finally heard the "mimi" voice that she has... uffff. It was a bit of a letdown. I guess it would take getting used to. So definetely, voice and timbre have a lot to do with how we relate to characters on a screen.
Michele cooked a steak for me, and put chili on it. Jejeje, The entire house all of a sudden got a bit acrid, and we all started to cough or sneeze. Had to open all the windows. It was good. Ate it with a nice Bordeaux. ( There are only two types of wines, Red and bad. El tinto y el malo.)
Afterwards, walked Miche to the ballet where she was gonna catch the show,to see some of her friends performing. So I went to take night pictures.
There was a copter hovering over the city. Apparently there had been an incident near Dam involving a police officer. Don't know exactly what happened, but it made me think that Amsterdam is, after all, a city, like any other.
Had a good time taking night pics and made some mental notes for places I have to visit at night, cause my battery was running really low.
Met up with Miche again at 10:45 and we went home.
I fell asleep at around 12, I was so tired. Slept almost straight through until 8am. Construction noises in the back of the house awakened me.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Amsterdam Journal
On wednesday, oct 18 I took the 9:30 AVE (high speed train) from ZGZ to Madrid, where I took the 1:20 KLM flight to AMS. It was very cloudy throughout the flight and when I was awake, caught glimpses of some very beautiful cloud formations. As we descended into SCHIPHOL and broke through the clouds, flew over the IJ River where the plane made a U-turn to make the landing. The sights were amazing,and it's incredible how much water there is around AMS. The airport is actually around 8m below sea level, and lower at some points.
Made my way to the Muziktheater via Conexxion, a service that connects hotels to the airport. Met up with Michele at the entrance. It was great to see her after so many months. We went around the corner to do some catching up while we ate this great lentil soup ( with prunes, beef and some other stuff). Afterwards she went back inside to prepare for her debut as Carmen in the ballet of the same name. I walked around a little, revisiting some of the places I had been to in late february, early march. Outside the theater there is a great ecological Photo Exhibition. The photographs are taken from a helipcopter, all over the world ( there are 3 from the DR), and show things related to the environment and global warming. Some of the pictures are breathtaking, others are shocking.
Went in to the ballet. There I met Michele's flatmate and her mom.
There were 3 ballets performed that night. Two 20 mins pieces and then Carmen.
I knew I was in trouble when I began to doze off the minute the first ballet started. Well, I don't actually remember much of the first one. People in grey tights jumping around to this sequenced, syncopated, very percussive music. When it ended, during the intermission, I hurried to the men's room to wash my face, had some water and hoped I wouldn't doze off during the next dance.
This one was a little interisting. Titled Crossing Paths, the music was a blend of Bach and arabic music. I kinda of got the story, and enjoyed the dancing, though for a few moments I felt it was dragging. The contrast between west and middle east was stark musically, but the wailing in arabic put me in a kind of trance, and alas, I briefly dozed off a few times.
So in the next intermission I did what any brave soul who's going to see a relative perform would do: Had me a good old cup of java.
I hadn't seen Michele dance since she performed in Santo Domingo, Oct. 2005 with the Washington Ballet. So it had been a while since I had gone through the worrying, and the stress and the heart attacks I get any time she is going to perfom. It has been that way since she was little, and I would get nervous and anxious, rooting for her to land some difficult turn, or a particular lift, or fouetees, or whatever. It was difficult in DR when she was a teen, and I would videotape he shows, so I basically knew the choreography by heart.
The show went well. The crowd warmed up to her, and the production as a whole was very impressive. I liked this take on Carmen, and any time a full orchestra accompanies a ballet, it's something beautiful to witness.
There were a few moments that I got teary eyed because of the passion she and her partner put into some of the parts. I've always enjoyed how expressive Michele is on stage. She dances with feeling, she bears her emotions. Her mom would have been really proud.
After the show, we went to this place called Wok and Walk. Great, quick chinese food cooked right in front of you. Then we took the Tram home. She told me, "Get ready for the stairs". Jejeje. Steep as hell and very small steps, but worth it. A beautiful flat with wooden floors and ceiling, warm lightning, comfortable furniture, big rooms and huge windows ( standard AMS windows). I find it cozy.
There we all talked for a while about the show. Then I logged on to the web to let the people back in ZGZ know I'd made it ok.
It's incredible how much can get done in one day. After a coupl of glasses of Argentinean red wine, and some conversation, finally went to sleep with some music in my headphones. The pace I had been living in ZGZ had kept me up til almost 2am.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Hey Joe
Interesting website about all the versions of "Hey Joe", the most popular being by Jimi Hendrix.
heyjoe.org
heyjoe.org
Henry Hudson Bridge
This photo by my Pops reminds me of some of the crazy shit I used to do when I was young. This bridge in the north tip of my Manhattan was one of my favorite hangouts. The bases on both sides used to be fenceless, unlike now. So you could easily start to walk under the span, on the arch. We used to climb all the way to the middle and the crawl onto the lower span, and walk either back to Manhattan or to the Bronx. Sometimes I would go alone. I remember once I stood in the middle of the arch thinking about jumping into the water just out of curiosity, wondering if I would survive the fall.
From this perspective I can see the bit of water, around 6 to 8 ft deep in which I fell one winter in the early 80's cause I broke through the ice, in Inwood Park.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
On visiting La Misericordia
This morning, at 8am I entered La Misericordia, the Plaza de Toros of Zaragoza. They had vaquillas. What an atmosphere. During the Fiestas del Pilar, they have vaquillas every morning at 8am and then a "corrida" ( bull fights) at 6pm.
I saw the vaquillas from all angles. We even went down to the Ruedo ( the skirt around the ring) and as luck would have it, the vaquilla ( which is not small like the name suggests) jumped into it around 5 times. One time it came charging through where we were standing and I wound up jumping into the arena. Jajaja! I was scared shitless. Stampeding steer, drunken crowds... and me so heavy footed.
One thing I can say, the adrenaline rush I got made me forget I had only slept 3 hours, and that my back has been hurting like crazy for the past 2 days. What a rush. Pablo and me wanted out of there fast!
After Pablo left, I went up to the highest point in the Plaza for a different view. The vaquillas caught this one guy and smashed him into the ground where he lay motionless. He had to be carried out. I later asked at the infirmary, and they said he was concious when they took him away to the hospital.
I've seen bullfights on tv, the running of the bulls, vaquillas, and I've seen steers in DR behind pens. BUT! It was so different in here. First, the vaquilla, which is very young and crazy, is small compared to the bull, but it's still a very big animal. The ruedo is lower than I thought from watching on TV, and the ring is also smaller ( at least here in ZGZ. Don't know yet if there's a standard ring size).
The view from everywhere in the Plaza is basically great. The noise level in this event is incredible with all the Peñas music bands playing. Basically the crowd is a mix of people who have been up all night drinking, families, tourists and aficionados. There are some actual idiots in the arena, who are so drunk that they attempt foolish stunts, but there are also those who seem to be waiting all year for this, and who run each vaquilla at least 5 or 6 times. I saw at least 3 guys who were very adept at what they were doing, and these were usually the ones who got the most applause.
It was funny to see a kid taunt the vaquilla with his jacket and when the animal started to paw at the ground in preparation for a charge, the kid blinked and got out of the way before it started it's charge. When I went down to the ruedo, even before the vaquilla was released, I was asking myself "what the heck am I doing in here?" I told Pablo jokingly "Imagine I get killed today." Tourists or "guiris" as they are known here( I qualify) are usually the ones who get hurt in these types of things. When the Vaquila jumped into the ruedo, Pablo and I almost ran into the corral through where they leave. I actually told the porter that let us into the Ruedo, "Let me out, please" and he said "sorry, can't open until the vaquilla is out of the Plaza".
I was "acojonado", as they say here. My instincts to run work!
I can understand why most of these kids, the vast majority late- teens, early 20's and curiosly, no girls, jump in there. If my brief minute of running around and feeling the fear of having the vaquilla jump straight into the ruedo, gave me such an adrenaline rush that lasted almost 10 minutes, then they must get a crazy rush from jumping in there so much or just being around the boards of the ruedo.
Can't wait to actually see a bullfight. I know it will be a strange moment to witness the killing of the animals.
When the guy got smashed into the ground today, I put away my camara and felt akward for a few minutes. The craziness did not stop, though people reacted really fast. A lot of people get bruised, but it's part of it. The risk, the excitement. The crowd would applaud the most daring, the one's that got the vaquilla to actually charge and got away from them with the most grace.
Didn't see any of the abuse I had been told I would see. Yes, some kids smack the rear end of the vaquilla in an attempt to get it's attention, or try to grab it's horns, but this can hardly hurt an animal who jumps into el Ruedo full speed and then runs all around it, and comes out charging.
Amazing when the Ox (Buey) comes out, strolling with it's herder behind, and the young vaquilla stops the craziness and leaves with it.
A lot of thoughts ran through my head this morning about traditions, about animal rights, about all these things that people say, about drunkeness, about chaos.
I literally felt the release of tension in this hectic outpouring of semi-controlled rowdiness. The smiles on people's faces as they left the arena, the worry when someone apparentely got trampled too severely, the cheers... It's a spectacle, yes.
It's also, in my opinion, a necessary release. I understand why all over Spain, these festivies ( in general, not just animal related things ) are necessary for the religious, for the fans of bulls, for the youth that organizes the Peñas and strolls the streets with their music bands, singing and drinking.
I saw the vaquillas from all angles. We even went down to the Ruedo ( the skirt around the ring) and as luck would have it, the vaquilla ( which is not small like the name suggests) jumped into it around 5 times. One time it came charging through where we were standing and I wound up jumping into the arena. Jajaja! I was scared shitless. Stampeding steer, drunken crowds... and me so heavy footed.
One thing I can say, the adrenaline rush I got made me forget I had only slept 3 hours, and that my back has been hurting like crazy for the past 2 days. What a rush. Pablo and me wanted out of there fast!
After Pablo left, I went up to the highest point in the Plaza for a different view. The vaquillas caught this one guy and smashed him into the ground where he lay motionless. He had to be carried out. I later asked at the infirmary, and they said he was concious when they took him away to the hospital.
I've seen bullfights on tv, the running of the bulls, vaquillas, and I've seen steers in DR behind pens. BUT! It was so different in here. First, the vaquilla, which is very young and crazy, is small compared to the bull, but it's still a very big animal. The ruedo is lower than I thought from watching on TV, and the ring is also smaller ( at least here in ZGZ. Don't know yet if there's a standard ring size).
The view from everywhere in the Plaza is basically great. The noise level in this event is incredible with all the Peñas music bands playing. Basically the crowd is a mix of people who have been up all night drinking, families, tourists and aficionados. There are some actual idiots in the arena, who are so drunk that they attempt foolish stunts, but there are also those who seem to be waiting all year for this, and who run each vaquilla at least 5 or 6 times. I saw at least 3 guys who were very adept at what they were doing, and these were usually the ones who got the most applause.
It was funny to see a kid taunt the vaquilla with his jacket and when the animal started to paw at the ground in preparation for a charge, the kid blinked and got out of the way before it started it's charge. When I went down to the ruedo, even before the vaquilla was released, I was asking myself "what the heck am I doing in here?" I told Pablo jokingly "Imagine I get killed today." Tourists or "guiris" as they are known here( I qualify) are usually the ones who get hurt in these types of things. When the Vaquila jumped into the ruedo, Pablo and I almost ran into the corral through where they leave. I actually told the porter that let us into the Ruedo, "Let me out, please" and he said "sorry, can't open until the vaquilla is out of the Plaza".
I was "acojonado", as they say here. My instincts to run work!
I can understand why most of these kids, the vast majority late- teens, early 20's and curiosly, no girls, jump in there. If my brief minute of running around and feeling the fear of having the vaquilla jump straight into the ruedo, gave me such an adrenaline rush that lasted almost 10 minutes, then they must get a crazy rush from jumping in there so much or just being around the boards of the ruedo.
Can't wait to actually see a bullfight. I know it will be a strange moment to witness the killing of the animals.
When the guy got smashed into the ground today, I put away my camara and felt akward for a few minutes. The craziness did not stop, though people reacted really fast. A lot of people get bruised, but it's part of it. The risk, the excitement. The crowd would applaud the most daring, the one's that got the vaquilla to actually charge and got away from them with the most grace.
Didn't see any of the abuse I had been told I would see. Yes, some kids smack the rear end of the vaquilla in an attempt to get it's attention, or try to grab it's horns, but this can hardly hurt an animal who jumps into el Ruedo full speed and then runs all around it, and comes out charging.
Amazing when the Ox (Buey) comes out, strolling with it's herder behind, and the young vaquilla stops the craziness and leaves with it.
A lot of thoughts ran through my head this morning about traditions, about animal rights, about all these things that people say, about drunkeness, about chaos.
I literally felt the release of tension in this hectic outpouring of semi-controlled rowdiness. The smiles on people's faces as they left the arena, the worry when someone apparentely got trampled too severely, the cheers... It's a spectacle, yes.
It's also, in my opinion, a necessary release. I understand why all over Spain, these festivies ( in general, not just animal related things ) are necessary for the religious, for the fans of bulls, for the youth that organizes the Peñas and strolls the streets with their music bands, singing and drinking.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Non stop
It's been non stop since the week of sept. 8th. Lots of drinking, lots of late nights, lots of playing.
Sept. 8th had a show at the Daluxe here in Zaragoza, and on the 9th flew to Bergamo to meet up with Tony and spend a week hanging out there. We had a great time, played a few times including an excellent show organized by our friend Giorgio at Keller. Went to Lake Isio with Antonio, our longtime friend from Cabarete, who is originally from Bergamo. Hung out with Tess, the international frenchman. Got lots of pics of all this up on my flickr site flickr.com/photos/leoelfeo
Then Tony and I made our way back to Zaragoza on sept. 16, and the craziness began. Dominican party was insane at the Prior. Friends from Madrid and Barcelona made there way to ZGZ to hang out for a night.
Tony came to spend four days and wound up staying for two weeks. We did a few more gigs together, some interviews for TV and press. Hung out with our friends, the BAA ( Brigada Anti Alcohol - Javi, Toño, Pablo, Alberto, Edu, etc) and had a great last show at the Z on sept 29 before he left for DR on the 30th and I flew back to Bergamo with Dr. Sed and Tza for Giorgio's birthday. We had 3 great nights there. Saw Los Pirates play at Keller's and jammed with Giorgio and some friends afterwards.
Italy was great. We ate, we drank we had fun with ALe, Giorgio, Criss and their family and friends. Very genereous, very warm people.
We got back to ZGZ on tuesday. Enrique and I got together with Maria, a girl I met on the bus to Madrid when Tony, Pablo and I went there on monday the 25th for our show with Equilibrio Perfecto at Sala Juglar. Enrique is the guitar player from ZGZ who played with us at the Z on the 29th, and will be playing with me from now on. He's an excellent guitarist, and plays great spanish guitar in many styles. We met up with Maria at the Conservatory to talk about music and guitar in general. She comes from Madrid every monday and wednesday to take classes here in ZGZ cause she says it's better.
Thursday afternoon Enrique and I got together at Javilandia (Javi and Edu's house, where I'm currently staying) and jammed for about 9 hours, non stop. Friends came over, beers, music, it was a good night.
Pablo, Nina and I then went to El Zorro, where we basically closed it. ( as we did on wednesday night also. Zaragoza is a city of many bars, and now this week start the Fiestas del Pilar, which I'm told is some insane shit that last for 2 weeks.
Yesterday Paula came over in the afternoon to have a brewski with us. Enrique got here at around 4:30, we played some songs, and then went to a jam session with a friend of his named "Coyote", a local drummer who has this very nice studio built inside one of the rooms of his apartment in San Pablo.
Came back to the house at around 10:45pm. People started coming over. Pablo, Blanca, Julia, Javi, Alberto, Nacho... we watched some TV and drank warm AMBAR ( YUCK). Even saw some old JLS footage, jjejej.
Then it was on to El Coyote, the bar where Paula works. We stayed there til it closed and then made our way, drunk and kinda stupid, to Daluxe.
When we left that place, we were all walking Paula home, this was almost 7am. This procession was walking towards El Pilar, so I broke off from the group and went into the church and sat there for a while, around 20 mins, to hear the mass and see the people. It's an odd spectacle, specially in this church, which is huge and has impressive frescos, various altars and important works from spanish artists like Goya and Velazquez. Oddly, what I remember from those 20 mins, is the smell of the seniors who were there, that cream, or talc or whatever it is that these ladies use. The mean age was around 60 I'd say.
All along I thought about my mom, who is ultra catholic and has spent a lifetime either at Good Shepherd or Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in NY.
Kept thinking about what mass means to these people. Church is just another show, another distraction... maybe. We go out at night to drink, get wasted, act stupid, and these people get up early to come pray and listen to a bored priest tell them how to live the life he's never led. Still, I respect that. We all make choices. None of them are necessarily the "right" one.
I choose to abuse my cells... abuse the self. Some choose to save their souls!
Sept. 8th had a show at the Daluxe here in Zaragoza, and on the 9th flew to Bergamo to meet up with Tony and spend a week hanging out there. We had a great time, played a few times including an excellent show organized by our friend Giorgio at Keller. Went to Lake Isio with Antonio, our longtime friend from Cabarete, who is originally from Bergamo. Hung out with Tess, the international frenchman. Got lots of pics of all this up on my flickr site flickr.com/photos/leoelfeo
Then Tony and I made our way back to Zaragoza on sept. 16, and the craziness began. Dominican party was insane at the Prior. Friends from Madrid and Barcelona made there way to ZGZ to hang out for a night.
Tony came to spend four days and wound up staying for two weeks. We did a few more gigs together, some interviews for TV and press. Hung out with our friends, the BAA ( Brigada Anti Alcohol - Javi, Toño, Pablo, Alberto, Edu, etc) and had a great last show at the Z on sept 29 before he left for DR on the 30th and I flew back to Bergamo with Dr. Sed and Tza for Giorgio's birthday. We had 3 great nights there. Saw Los Pirates play at Keller's and jammed with Giorgio and some friends afterwards.
Italy was great. We ate, we drank we had fun with ALe, Giorgio, Criss and their family and friends. Very genereous, very warm people.
We got back to ZGZ on tuesday. Enrique and I got together with Maria, a girl I met on the bus to Madrid when Tony, Pablo and I went there on monday the 25th for our show with Equilibrio Perfecto at Sala Juglar. Enrique is the guitar player from ZGZ who played with us at the Z on the 29th, and will be playing with me from now on. He's an excellent guitarist, and plays great spanish guitar in many styles. We met up with Maria at the Conservatory to talk about music and guitar in general. She comes from Madrid every monday and wednesday to take classes here in ZGZ cause she says it's better.
Thursday afternoon Enrique and I got together at Javilandia (Javi and Edu's house, where I'm currently staying) and jammed for about 9 hours, non stop. Friends came over, beers, music, it was a good night.
Pablo, Nina and I then went to El Zorro, where we basically closed it. ( as we did on wednesday night also. Zaragoza is a city of many bars, and now this week start the Fiestas del Pilar, which I'm told is some insane shit that last for 2 weeks.
Yesterday Paula came over in the afternoon to have a brewski with us. Enrique got here at around 4:30, we played some songs, and then went to a jam session with a friend of his named "Coyote", a local drummer who has this very nice studio built inside one of the rooms of his apartment in San Pablo.
Came back to the house at around 10:45pm. People started coming over. Pablo, Blanca, Julia, Javi, Alberto, Nacho... we watched some TV and drank warm AMBAR ( YUCK). Even saw some old JLS footage, jjejej.
Then it was on to El Coyote, the bar where Paula works. We stayed there til it closed and then made our way, drunk and kinda stupid, to Daluxe.
When we left that place, we were all walking Paula home, this was almost 7am. This procession was walking towards El Pilar, so I broke off from the group and went into the church and sat there for a while, around 20 mins, to hear the mass and see the people. It's an odd spectacle, specially in this church, which is huge and has impressive frescos, various altars and important works from spanish artists like Goya and Velazquez. Oddly, what I remember from those 20 mins, is the smell of the seniors who were there, that cream, or talc or whatever it is that these ladies use. The mean age was around 60 I'd say.
All along I thought about my mom, who is ultra catholic and has spent a lifetime either at Good Shepherd or Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in NY.
Kept thinking about what mass means to these people. Church is just another show, another distraction... maybe. We go out at night to drink, get wasted, act stupid, and these people get up early to come pray and listen to a bored priest tell them how to live the life he's never led. Still, I respect that. We all make choices. None of them are necessarily the "right" one.
I choose to abuse my cells... abuse the self. Some choose to save their souls!
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