Athens, Greece

maybe the greek language does not translate well in2 english… the fact is that everything a greek person says in english sounds like a command…

instead of would u please sit down it is u sit down now!

+ the women sound even harsher than the men – very strange…

@ 4:30pm the promoter stuffed 4 of us in2 a little taxi + we drove 2 the venue, a modern amphitheater near the acropolis, surrounded by hills that looked like a movie set… the promoter’s sound company had problems w their gear + soundcheck was @ 8pm instead of 6pm… i was assured that the horrible hum from the p.a. speakers would stop as soon as the generator was started + the lights had their seperate power source…

hm, but when that FULL MOON appeared over the hill + we started the show @ 9:30pm everything was fine @ last… the audience was gr8 + dug the music, the younger members standing around the stage + noding their heads as if @ a rock concert… everybody played well + we got in2 some new music, playing w the songs, improvising 2gether…

afterwards we went 2 a restaurant w the promoter + a man from sony + drank uzo, a traditional greek liquor… 1 person claimed it had opiates in it, another said it was like the french absinth, but it seemed like a regular alcoholic drink 2 me… i guess i should ask gary…he had 3 glasses of uzo…

Milan – Palermo

i go 2 bed saturday morning @ 2am + wake up @ 5:30am… we are on the bus by 6:30am… we are @ the milan airport a little after 7am… we fly 2 rome… we arrive late… 2 alitalia stewardesses are waiting 4 us + rush us 2 the next flight which is being held 4 us…

once we are in the air we celebrate making the connection, but bondo says: there is no way they transferred our luggage + equipment in that short time… unfortunately he is right… we arrive in palermo around 1:30pm… it’s very hot + dry – like las vegas, nevada… no luggage… some of us leave 4 the hotel, but i wait w jon, kevin + bondo until after 4pm…

still no luggage… on the way out of the airport jon + i are singled out by the carabinieri + taken 2 a room where we are told that nothing will happen (!) if we give them any hashish or weed we have on us, but if we don’t give it 2 them + they find it we will be in big trouble…

so they search my carry-on bag + guitar case + jon’s bag + let us go… we drive 2 the hotel… of the 12 pieces of luggage + equipment we checked in milan, 11 are found + delivered 2 the venue by 8:30pm… my suitcase is missing… i arrive w the band @ 9pm… 3,000 people have taken their seats already… we do a quick soundcheck… i ask the promoter 2 explain 2 the crowd that the delay wasn’t our fault, but he doesn’t think that’s necessary… i do think it is + ask my friend craig, who speaks italian quite well, 2 explain the situation… he does + we begin the concert a little after 9:30pm… the audience is wonderful… after the show, the others choose 2 have a really late dinner after midnight + i go 2 the hotel 2 sleep a full 7 hours 4 the 1st time this week….

Italian Tour

the hotel looks like an early 70’s movie… all of the rooms are blue… many shades of blue… blue rugs, blue sheets, blue lights, blue walls… 4 lunch i have a wonderful pizza @ a nearby restaurant w craig + jon… hm, arrugula is the queen of all leafy vegetables – especially the wild arrugula which we can’t get in the united states… in the afternoon a bus takes us 2 the venue, which is a huge villa that is several hundred years old…beautiful, beautiful…we get a tour of the main house…frescos on every wall, amazing glass chandeliers in every room…

TWA Flight #800

I am in Milan after 2days of flights: albuquerque – st.louis – nyc – milan… the TWA flight from kennedy airport in new york 2 milan is delayed by 1 1/2 hours…

the flight manager doesn’t want 2 let me bring my guitar onboard: no space in the overhead bins!! i say, i can put it in a closet, but she replies that that is illegal… i reply, that i do it all the time… she says, it’s always illegal… i say, i CANNOT let her have the guitar… i walk 2 the upper deck… she says she will check on me… ah, but the flight attendent on the upper deck likes flamenco + stores the guitar in the little closet… ‘don’t tell the flight manager’, he says… i won’t, i reply… i sit down + pray that the flight manager will 4get all about me…

there are only 2 other people on the upper deck, an american couple flying 2 a wedding in italy… an announcement: we won’t have a lot of cabin space 4 luggage, since TWA purchased this aircraft used from Air France + it hasn’t been changed 2 the specifications of TWA yet… more delay… maybe the pilots cannot read the french manuals 4 the 747 we joke… well, this plane doesn’t even have video, we are told… i point out the overhead video projector… oh, but that never worked… hm, aha, but the engines are supposed 2 work? more delay… a stewardes says, that we will leave soon… i ask, how she knows this + she answers, that the pilots are now pushing a lot of buttons… the steward shows us the safety instructions, but warns us that he hasn’t actually gone through them in a long time, ’cause all other planes show safety instruction videos… now i’m 29,000 feet above the ground in this old 747, formerly owned by Air France + i’m helping the stewardess translate the temperature readings of the stove, which are in centigrade… the next morning i arrive @ the hotel in milan, turn on CNN + find out that flight #800, which couldn’t have left JFK airport more than 5 or 10 minutes b4 or after our flight, had exploded in midair… what a feeling… i saw some of those people waiting in the terminal!!!

I call my friends in the USA. Some of them only knew that I was flying to Italy, and worried that I might have been on Flight 800…