These past few days we’ve seen it all: From all out cement barriers and reflective arrows through ridiculous traffic jams, street-washing trucks, construction (oh the construction), to dead ends, Norway has been an adventure of detours, recalibration and recalculation. Thank the great creator for GPS; however I can’t say that’s been a peachy experience either.

One thing is for sure: Even when in doubt, trust the GPS… until, that is, it stops giving directions and starts showing you in gradually more random, off-the-path places, eventually resulting in a complete system crash leaving you in the Sandnes at 1am wondering which way is home. Not to worry, we’re a clever bunch… and English really is the universal language (other than music of course… and maybe mathemagics).

The same day the GPS stopped working my mp3 player suddenly breathed new life. I couldn’t be happier. As for the GPS… after a few hours of worrying, once the battery finally wore out it was reset and voilà, the tour guide has returned.

We are just coming into Oslo now. It’s been a relatively brief 9 hour drive compared to Monday’s 12 hour stint and further shortened by the excitement of driving the Norwegian backroads. A note to travelers: Avoiding toll roads means driving in some of the most beautiful, winding and narrow roads you may ever encounter. I don’t think I really got any pictures to show some of the finer moments as either I was driving or clenching the seatbelt whilst attempting not to soil Lewis’ fine upholstery. Most of the first 6 hours were spent on roads (and I should really be saying road- singular) no wider than 1.5 lanes back home. Passing oncoming traffic (luckily not that often) meant driving over the side line, no more than a couple feet from the incredibly reassuring foot-high curb, beyond which was either a ditch, field of rocks, ditch + trees, perilous fall into water, or any other combination of satisfying surprises. The fun occurs as both drivers guage what speed they can maintain while passing within a pube’s width of each other. Excitement, I say.

Last night’s gig was interesting. Probably the least amount of people yet, in the shadiest town, dirties venue with the least amount of provided dinner and no free drinks. Suffice it to say I don’t suggest anyone visit Sandnes any time soon. Stavanger, on the other hand, is a beautiful little town. Their waterfront is a wonderful stroll with plenty cool things to see by day and by night. It reminds me a lot of British Columbia in that it manages to be raining even when it’s sunny and the fog creates a mystic atmosphere in the evenings. The foggy drive through the mountains, Tuesday morning, from the ferry terminal in Kristiansand was really beautiful, compounded by the fog and the subtle feeling that any minute we were going to see a sign for The Shire and Frodo Baggins was going to invite us into his hill-house for some …well whatever it is hobbits drink.

Now that we’re into Oslo, I’m going to focus my attention on photos. Unfortunately car-pics make for blurry results… and now we’re in a parking garage… GPS knows the way.

A wise man once said: “Keep a journal so you can remember what the hell happened.”
And so, a journal I keep…

It’s 230 am, Belgian time. I just got back to the ‘hotel’ above Kid’s Rhythm & Blues Bar after a night of exploring the night scene. I spent a good deal of the evening tracking some ideas that have come to me recently, which I’ll be sure to upload at some point in the distant future.
We drove from Mechernich, Germany, back to Antwerp Belgium, our quasi-homebase today. The gig last night was a good time, as usual but did not compare to Wednesday’s first gig. The first gig (pics up soon) was at a community centre of sorts, with a sold out crowd and lots of dancing room. The audience reception was very warm and after getting over the ‘first gig overseas’ anxiety we played really well.
Last night, at the Satzvey Castle, a 1000 year old property, beautifully kept and simply inspiring in the night atmosphere, we played our second show to a much smaller though equally energetic crowd. It’s interesting meeting such a spectrum of different people, not only speaking different languages (and then English, sometimes) but also coming from vastly diverging cultures and mindsets, however all the while coming together under one goal: Blues Music Appreciation.

Cool.

So we got up this morning and walked around the HUGE property in the middle of farm-land Mechernich, Germany, surrounding the bed & breakfast where we stayed (pics soon :P), and then headed back to the Castle for a little self-guided tour, and then off we were driving back on the ‘autobon’ (autobon being German for any stretch of highway.. and yes it was speedful woo) to Antwerp, where we keep returning to live above Kid’s Rhythm & Blues Bar.

And so after tracking some stuff I made my way down to Kid’s bar and met up with the rest of the band. Josh and I decided to go for a walk so he could indulge in some Dr Pepper and we both got fries at a quaint little establishment where we met some interesting folk and discussed a plethra of things over fries and chicken pieces and a world of dipping sauces.
Best thing of the day: The fry store has a sign saying: NO POLITICING
It means exactly what you think it means*

And so, self, thank you for reading this again when you are 83 and I hope it is still as vivid in your memory as it was today after 5 delicious Belgian beers and a walk around the city. See you in the morning.

Peace

*Unless what you think it means is not what it actually means… what it actually means is dont’ talk shit ’bout politics in this store cause it’s a FRENCH FRY store not a political debating store, and furthermore, the Belgian’s invented fries and are self-proclaimed Best Fries in the World so don’t call them French when you’re here.

Finally rested. 36 hours awake, 12 hours asleep.
Our first show is tonight, sold out, Im excited.

The flights were great. No troubles.
My mp3 player stopped working…sadness. The cymbal stand busted…frustration. Headphones broken…silence.

Belgium is beauutiful. There is an interesting dichotomy of industrial life infiltrating natural, ancient landscapes. A field of sheep in front of a factory and smoke stacks.

The architecture is amazing. Very old and a few different styles. In some places 16th century buildings sandwich some form of minimalist post-modernism.. as I will call it.

Travelling with the guys is good fun, everyone is in high spirits. The culture here is very interesting. Everyone speaks 3 languages. I found myself standing in Grote Markt, Antwerp, in front of City Hall, surrounded by tourists all speaking different languages, English, French, Dutch and Eastern/Asian dialects.
Pictures are up.
Have a look here.

Back to wandering the streets, today: Menen.

Peace

Surrender…
Every word, every thought, every sound
Every touch, every smile, every frown
All the pain we’ve endured until now
All the hope that I lost you have found

I never had the nerve to ask
Has my moment come and passed?

I never had the nerve to ask

Following are the UN’s eight Millenium Development Goals, which they hope to achieve by 2015. Now I am not going to be an optimist and suggest that they will be achieved by this time because let’s face it… here we are.
But I am going to be a realist and come to terms with the fact that we live in a society of competition. Everybody seems to think it’s us versus them, we all have something to prove, it’s a world of challenges and it’s the achievers who come out on top.

Well consider this- Of all the accomplishments you might have on your mind for this summer, for this year, for this generation, some of the brightest minds in the world seem to think that these eight are theirs. And so, I challenge you to place a brick. This isn’t suggesting you come up with a solution (I said I was being a realist). This is suggesting you pick one goal, read into it, and maybe that will be enough. At least if you know the source of the problem, the history of the problem, you might have the slightest chance of an eppiphany or of acting in your daily life in a way to help make these goals a reality.

Don’t kid yourself: You won’t be around to reap the benefits of any achievement. At most, people will remember your name for generations to come as the one who started to think beyond…

The List:

• Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Comabt HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

For more information: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/goals.html