Month: March 2005

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Pictures, some old, some new

First some pictures that have been in my camera for weeks. Last time I was at my favorite concert venue, the Starland Ballroom, I brought my very good friend (and karaoke companion) Brandon. I introduced him to my Starland quasi-family, the crew. The crew at Starland are so fun, so real, so COOL. They are all held together by Tony P. He is like the Lion King of the Starland and even though he is the boss, the whole crew, all of the employees, adore him. He runs a tight ship, but ever so friendly. Tony ROCKS!   < This isn't the best shot of him, but he doesn't really like to be photographed, so I had to kind of sneak it :)

 < Brandon, Rada, Nick and Paul

  

^  NICK                                      ^ Paul, Ilya (Rada’s brother) me and parts of Nick & who-knows-else

Fast forward a few weeks to Berlin and we have Jasmine and her pal Lana playing dress up with my old Madonna impersonator corset’s and other strange items from the boxes in the hallway, getting ready to be moved into new flat (hell hole!)   

^ They like to multi-task like I do. Playing dress up, eating ice cream, watching Sex and the City while bouncing on my bed. I did ask Jasmine for permission to post this, trying to avoid any more Bitch-fests 🙂

I bought Lucy a toy dead chicken. How odd are the dog toys here? A dead chicken? Ok. Not a ball, nor rope to tug on, just dead poultry.lol. It squeaks really loud when she chomps down on it. Hours of entertainment for all.

                                               

I am actually, despite the stress, enjoying being here this time (except for the fact that blogging takes HOURS longer on dial up. Went out for the first time the other night to Oscar Wilde Irish pub for some karaoke and then showed a few tourist to

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A note from a fellow Massage Guru/fellow Zappa/Steve Vai fan

Hey Dot!
Oh man, let me tell you about it. Steve was riding his bicycle around before the show, came in for sound check. As this was only the second show on the current tour there was a lot of challenges to deal with. I can see how Frank influenced him in his meticulous way of getting everything perfect. Sound check went over time limit and had to leave the stage to open the doors. He wanted to stay but I bet he could have stayed for hours.
The show itself was fabulous, Billy is with him on this tour again and he has some hot musicians by his side as always. One of the better shows I have ever seen. I have seen Steve with Frank a few times and with Joe on some of the G3 tours but when he is “The Man” he really shines. Kicked my Ass!

After the show we were bullshiting and I gave him the message from you, His eyes got big and I could tell the wheels were turning. I guess he has not seen you for awhile? One of the greatest moments in a guitar players life is when Steve Vai lets you play his guitar, Woooo Hooooo! I just had to send ya a pic of that.

So, do what ever it takes to see him in NJ this tour and let me know how it goes, Vinnie Voddi Voodie…………
Your New Mexico connection,
Bobby J.
www.bodybenefits.net                       

Click HERE to see Steve Vai’s tour dates! Don’t miss him!

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Moving on down?

I signed my new rent lease today (here in Berlin) so I will be moving soon from the gorgeous, rich, clean, snobby (cranky), quiet and safe part of Berlin called Wilmersdorf, to the wild, dirty, cheaper, predominantly Turkish (which makes a non-Turk feel out of place) loud and crime friendly part called Kreuzberg. Yay, can’t wait.

Why, you say, would I move there? Well, so that while I’m here, Jasmine won’t have such a long journey across town to see me, she will just have to walk around the corner. There are some benefits to this area (I have lived there before). There is a gorgeous park directly across the street from my new flat called Victoria Park, which has a huge water fall, hills, nice green grass (that Berliners sun bathe NUDE on as soon as the spring arrives) but I was told not to walk through there at night as there are many druggies that hang there and who knows what could happen. They may tie me town and force me to smoke a joint. Another good thing about this area is that anything goes. You can dress, talk, act anyway you want and no one looks down their nose at you (as opposed to the snobby sections of Berlin). It’s wild, which is a double-edged sword. It’s kind of like the East Village in NYC but like I said, predominantly Turkish. The Turks kind of resent the Germans and vice versa, long story. The Turks are usually friendly, but don’t blend into the German way of life (clean, organized, quite, orderly) so there is conflict. Also, there endless piles of dog shit to step in, in Kreuzberg.