DAY 2-ANTWERPEN
We take on the city strug out like well, strug out musicians.
We take pictures, check out lovely gothic architecture, we rest a loooong time at this fantastic jazz bar.
Like a Rathskeller, lotsa wood beams, unique tables, old wood, great jazz and the exotique. I show Marshall, Dee-doo in full turket mode, trying to say peanut butter with a mouthfull o food-its funny, its why you have em. We are all nodding out and I am hallucinating mildly, the table service transforms into the most facinating still life I had ever seen, music blurs into another, light flickers, conjestion-I talk about bamboo and apple origins in Hermetic America.
Marshall tells me the funniest story he has ever told me...While on a Sun Ra Arkestra tour, years back, he was rooming with one crazy cat. Well you know how much Marshall digs his coffee, well he is low in the funds so he is going to brew up some in this very posh hotel they are staying at, he looks for the coffee pot and this cat has his d*ck in the coffee pot, going "you want the coffee pot (strange sex sounds)?". Marshall wants to kill this crazy nut, now he can't have any coffee after the pot has been sodomized and soiled forever-complains to Sunny to get him out of this room, no go, he was roomies for afew more times with this dude.
We get to check in to the hotel finally-Me and Marshall get to our room, It is not cleaned up at all, so initially when I call down they want us to come down and reassign us a different room-not with all this gear bro, me and marshall are in, we will leave and they send someone up to complete it-done.
We wait, he grabs a smoke and we wait and done.

DAY 1.5-MEETING UP WITH MARSHALL.
Marshall is about 20 min from Newark. I just grabbed me gear-things are brightning up.
Rejoin with Marshall and check-in. I was happy to see him.
The Philly Boys checkin and off we go to the new adventure all bleary eyed and exhaused to what is the magic of tomorrow.
We take off and try to sleep. Me and Marshall talk about music like two boys in the 1950's talked 'bout their fave baseball players stats.
Eat alittle, fake sleep alittle, watch Iron Man, read alittle, nod out again then POW! We are treated to some f*cking serious turbulance-like Marshall said, "It was the kind of turbulance where those sounds under the plane; you're uncertain if that is the ocean!"
No, not kidding, Japan turbualnce! Big frat boy is losing his mind, everyone is wide awake, silence only cut by a nervous laugh and the air of helplessness as this big steel thing is hurling through the sky, skipping along football field size airpockets, propelling you into a unique rollercoaster ride that lasted for about 10 minutes then...easing back to normalcy. No more visualizations of the Captain struggling with pitch control, white knuckled, wrestling to get the plane into submission.
More pretend sleep, this time I wake up a have no idea where I am for a moment, nod out again, then wake and now I am not sure if I am dreaming it, nod out...just weird what exhaustion and stress does, and all of us are going through it.
Then alittle breakfast and happy landing just as I actually, truly fall asleep. Welcome to Brussells. Welcome!
Get into Europe with friendly acknowledgement from Non EU Validation. "Musicians?" He asks. "Jazz?" Ed replies, "Well, yeah, you could say that, this is the rest of the members (introduces me n Marshall)."
"Where are you guys playing?" As I said-Welcome!
We are greeted by Danny from Cultuur Centrum Luchtbal and the driver-nice guys, treat us to coffee and croissants. While the gang are all up at the ordering, I watch the bags.
I am thinking about how the lights went out in the whole terminal in Frankfurt on me and Ed when without fail, the lights go out in the section I am sitting in! I love it.

DAY ONE: DEPART FOR BRUSSELS AIRPORT
Honestly after the past few days I got to thinking that a part of me, when I set up these "space tours", I just want my Pop to be proud of what I am doing. So Pop, thanks for all the support and rootin for me.
What can I say, got zero sleep. Me and Deb worked hard to get me packed, needed a new bag, the one I had wasn't cuttin it. After that was done I started to burn the DVDs for the show.
While they were burning, we worked on securing the tour budget. After all was done it was time for bed-3AM!
Slept for 3 hours, we got up, Deb got dressed and got munchkin up. After her teeth got brushed, I thought it would be smart to do a quick view of the burned discs and she could see em.
All waas correct and the files were in the proper order but for some reason the file I imported for one film on the disc was speeded up from 4 min to 30 sec! Mac weirdness and right down to the last moment. We have to leave to catch the flight.
Deb leaves to fuel up and drop off Sofie at daycare to save time while I manually re-import from the source mini-dv. After importing and moving the clip-boom-speeded up, whole file is there, just sped up. I view the tape-it is in real time, proper speed. Perplexed, I give up and opt to change the line up of the films and reburn-this process ate up so much time that we had to abandon this while buring because I now have one hour to catch my flight, but still have a 30 min. commute to the airport.
Zooom! Deb drives expertly, navagating through traffic opstacles with efficiency and lightning reflexes. She gets me to the airport with 30 min to spare. I kiss her and off I go into the terminal struggling to juggle my gear-huge koto in 4 ft box and heavy backpack and wheeled luggage.
I am greeted to the largest line to check in and get the boarding pass-I realize I will never make this flight. I get throught the line 2 min after they close the gate-no matter the homeland security checkpoint would have made catching the flight impossible.
No matter, we bump to another flight on standby recheck the luggage and prey for an assigned seat at the gate. My eyes burn, the coffee high has pumped lactic acid into my joints, chest aches from trying to support the backpack and not breathing much and the anxiety of this trip I am about to embark on is getting alittle touch to balance-add sleep deprivation and some tough news from the privious day, I am wondering how I am gonna get my sh*t together.
It works out-I get a seat assignment and board after 1 hour in homeland security.
I get on the plane and after we take off I am treated to the rock bottom of coping facilties-I am so strung out, my brain and body are duking it out-both really want to shut down but neither knows what to do so a crippling infusion of anxiety and dizziness begins.
After 6 of 7 unpleasant waves of this sensation, I look out to the clouds and a distant horizon, smile to myself and cool out jack!
I couldn't even eat with that nightmare going, so after the doom subsided it was A-OK.
I even slept alittle through the subtle turbulant trek to Newark.

DAY ONE: DEPART FOR BRUSSELS AIRPORT
Honestly after the past few days I got to thinking that a part of me, when I set up these "space tours", I just want my Pop to be proud of what I am doing. So Pop, thanks for all the support and rootin for me.
What can I say, got zero sleep. Me and Deb worked hard to get me packed, needed a new bag, the one I had wasn't cuttin it. After that was done I started to burn the DVDs for the show.
While they were burning, we worked on securing the tour budget. After all was done it was time for bed-3AM!
Slept for 3 hours, we got up, Deb got dressed and got munchkin up. After her teeth got brushed, I thought it would be smart to do a quick view of the burned discs and she could see em.
All waas correct and the files were in the proper order but for some reason the file I imported for one film on the disc was speeded up from 4 min to 30 sec! Mac weirdness and right down to the last moment. We have to leave to catch the flight.
Deb leaves to fuel up and drop off Sofie at daycare to save time while I manually re-import from the source mini-dv. After importing and moving the clip-boom-speeded up, whole file is there, just sped up. I view the tape-it is in real time, proper speed. Perplexed, I give up and opt to change the line up of the films and reburn-this process ate up so much time that we had to abandon this while buring because I now have one hour to catch my flight, but still have a 30 min. commute to the airport.
Zooom! Deb drives expertly, navagating through traffic opstacles with efficiency and lightning reflexes. She gets me to the airport with 30 min to spare. I kiss her and off I go into the terminal struggling to juggle my gear-huge koto in 4 ft box and heavy backpack and wheeled luggage.
I am greeted to the largest line to check in and get the boarding pass-I realize I will never make this flight. I get throught the line 2 min after they close the gate-no matter the homeland security checkpoint would have made catching the flight impossible.
No matter, we bump to another flight on standby recheck the luggage and prey for an assigned seat at the gate. My eyes burn, the coffee high has pumped lactic acid into my joints, chest aches from trying to support the backpack and not breathing much and the anxiety of this trip I am about to embark on is getting alittle touch to balance-add sleep deprivation and some tough news from the privious day, I am wondering how I am gonna get my sh*t together.
It works out-I get a seat assignment and board after 1 hour in homeland security.
I get on the plane and after we take off I am treated to the rock bottom of coping facilties-I am so strung out, my brain and body are duking it out-both really want to shut down but neither knows what to do so a crippling infusion of anxiety and dizziness begins.
After 6 of 7 unpleasant waves of this sensation, I look out to the clouds and a distant horizon, smile to myself and cool out jack!
I couldn't even eat with that nightmare going, so after the doom subsided it was A-OK.
I even slept alittle through the subtle turbulant trek to Newark.