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January 31, 2006
kleine gummi
06.01.31
i am in dusseldorf.
tomte is a rad band.
really good pop songs sung in german.
and they are the sweetest folks too.
the backstage accomodations have been kick ass
and every show is sold out. they are huge here.
we will be sad to say goodbye tonite, but we are hoping to be back with them in a few months when they are touring on their new album.
good stuff.
it is sad because we'd love to bring them to the states, but we all know that the american kids would never embrace a band that didn't speak in their native tongue.
i love their songs so much, but i have to admit i wish i knew what they were singing about.
i am curious to see how the rest of the deutschland shows will be on our own.
definitely a different deal.
it is definitely not as hard to eat healthy when there are big spreads of food at every venue. it IS hard not to eat too much bread and cheese.
the fruit abounds, though we are definitely spoiled living in northern california.
but i ate that orange this morning anyway.
kleine gummi translates as small rubber.
which is almost as funny as gross schwanz, kleine unterhosen
which means big penis, small underwear.
we are doing our best to learn deutsch.
we had a crazy night in leipzig, the first night of the tour with tomte.
after driving 8 hours from antwerp,
the van died 8 kilometers away from the venue.
tomte's crew came and jumped us, but it wouldn't start after the show either.
we rocked the show and it got late.
we were calling the guy in amsterdam we rented the van from and didn't hear anything for a while.
finally, he gives us the number of mercedes benz 24 hour support.
we call, and we order a taxi to take some of us to the hotel.
the taxi never comes.
the mercedes guy does. at 3 am.
he jumps us and we follow him to the dealership. freezing becuz the alternator is dead. no lights, no signals, no heat for a 20 minute drive to the outskirts of leipzig.
he does the repair, but not before letting us know that we can only pay cash.
luckily we have a good bit from the shows we have been playing.
so, we sit around this dealership for an hour and a half while he replaces the alternator and battery.
there was this big security guard who didn't speak english, so we practiced more german trying to make conversation. luckily pat has a high school grasp of the language.
he saved us with the repair guy too, cuz he barely spoke any english either.
americans are so spoiled. it's ridiculous. i am constantly meeting people who speak at least two languages, and many that speak 4.
stupid americans.
we are pretty embarassed to say we are from the states.
oh well.
better to be embassadors, right?
maybe we can change some minds.
i cannot wait to get back to our spacious, warm van on the 8th.
imagine the luxury of having your own bench seat to sleep on.
love,
gram
Posted by goldengram at January 31, 2006 01:01 PM