"It's not just Tulips and Cheese….. To
Norway, Holland and Bulgaria"
Day 2
I guess I am
so used to getting up early at home that my body automatically wakes up early
wherever I am …. I need to work on that.
Breakfast at
The Grand is always superb and I pigged out as usual, knowing that I would be
working hard today and would be able to work it all off.
Not all is
well though at this, one of my favourite hotels in the universe. For some reason
I couldn´t print documents (set lists etc … ) in the business centre so I set
off to the nearest internet café only to find out their printer was broken or
¨kaput¨ as the (male) receptionist quaintly put it.
Never mind, it
was a nice morning and I enjoyed the walk which gave me a chance to ¨observe¨
things and people, as you know I love to do.
There is a
brightness about people´s movements as Spring gives way to Summer and I think
Norwegian people, though they can be ¨large¨, are generally some of the
healthiest people in the world …. but there is also a problem.
I saw more fat
people than I had in the past and I also saw more evidence of how far fat people
will go to hide the truth or, at least, conceal it … pretend it doesn´t exist.
I find it sad
and amusing that people (mainly female) who are fat from the waist down long ago
took to tying a sweater or a jacket around their waists in an effort to ¨reduce¨
the obvious fact that they have eaten too much fast food or drank too much
liquid sugar. I know, I know, there are some people who have genetic tendencies
toward being overweight but there´s no point in denying that, where fast food
goes, obesity follows. Even scientific research is now waking up to this or at
least plucking up the courage to mention it!
These
addictions are, in my opinion, at least as dangerous as smoking. It´s just that
the dangers are not quite as obvious and the causes are not vilified as
vigorously for social, cultural and (mainly) financial reasons.
More politics
equal more hypocrisy …
Anyway, this
¨fashion¨ has now been replaced by something they think is trendy but which is
just as obvious in its purpose.
Long,
shirt-type tops are now being worn over jeans or tights in an effort to achieve
the same deceptive objective but in the name of fashion! Whoever designed this
idea is going to be very, very rich.
So, that´s my
rant for this trip …. I will be looking to see how fast this trend spreads to
other countries.
It was good to
see the band again and it has simply been too long since we played our brand of
rock & roll.
Once we got
set up at our usual rehearsal place, we moved smoothly through the first half of
our show and it was almost as if we had played yesterday. Beginner´s luck I
guess, well, partially.
The idea was
to re-connect and decide the set for Holland.
We will
introduce new songs for Gresvik but we have never played in Holland so we are
going to stick to our basic show this time.
It goes like
this ….
INTRO
YOU´VE GOT IT
BROWN EYED BOY
JUST THE BEGINNING
CIRCLE OF HANDS
JULY MORNING
BLOOD ON THE HIGHWAY
THE WIZARD
SWEET FREEDOM
WE´RE ON OUR WAY
THE LAST DANCE
STEALIN’
EASY LIVING
LADY IN BLACK
****************
GYPSY
The first 5
songs are connected so the show gets off to a roaring start!
And of course
a few things were forgotten and mistakes were made but that´s what this
¨refresher¨ rehearsal was all about. Better to make mistakes now, obviously!
A few hours
later we were packing up and loading the trailer and I sense a real eagernesss
and anticipation within our little crew.
I have had
some great times in Holland in the past and I know they can rock and I know it´s
not all tulips and cheese!
