SEPTEMBER 2000 NEWSLETTER
So, three recent experiences
gave me pause, and made me fearful of the future . . . or, mine,
at any rate. I will list them in no particular order.
1) THE SIGN AT THE DEMOCRAT NATIONAL CONVENTION
THAT READ "GORE ROCKS!" Now, some people like our Vice President
(by that I mean Al Gore, not his boss), and some people don't. Some
people think he'd make a fine president, and some don't. Some people
even go so far as to favor his various policy proposals, and some
don't. However, I'm quite certain we can all agree that the one
thing that is not true about Al Gore is that he "ROCKS!" He may
be a lot of things to a lot of people, but an individual who "ROCKS!"
isn't among them. Somewhere in America, however, there is a man
or woman who claims that "Al Gore ROCKS!" And that person is still
out there, on the loose . . . with voting rights, and possibly stock
options.
2) MY SIX YEAR OLD DAUGHTER, ELEANOR, HAS PUT A
BRITTANY SPEARS POSTER ON HER WALL. There's nothing more that needs
to be said about that, except that someday she'll have a collection
of cd's and possibly her own stereo. (Maybe she'll buy a Ronco collection
called "Al Gore ROCKS!")
3) THE MYSTERIOUS REAPPEARANCE OF THE SONG "USED
TO BE" ON OUR SPEEDWOOD 3 ALBUM. Due to an oversight at the fabricating
plant where our cd's get made, the pressing staff used the old master
of Speedwood 3, which means, the thorn in my side called "Used to
Be" is suddenly back on the album, and with a vengeance, because
we can no longer tell which copies contain the controversial cut
and which do not. Plus, the song order on the copies bearing the
extra song no longer has any perceivable relationship to the song
order listed on the back of the cd's, thus prompting additional
vanloads of e-mails describing broken cd's and understandable confusion.
For regular readers of this missive, my fear is probably palpable.
For those who are just joining the "Used to Be" fray that began
last Christmas, I simply direct you back to Michael's
explanation with the caveat that we did not intend for
this song ever to surface again. (So don't send me an e-mail complaining
until you've read the explanation, and considered the implications
of my daughter's poster and the "Gore ROCKS!" sign, okay?)
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My Feesh!
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Aside from the three scariest
events in some time, September was a pretty good month for us.
You'll recall we ended last letter with my heading off to vacation.
Well, it wasn't all vacation as I got a little tired hauling
a 35-pound source of food off the bottom of Lake Ontario. (Apologies
to the vegetarian crowd . . . of course, if that offends you,
you'll never make it through the photos from Germany!) |
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The first LOST-AND-FOUND event
happened on August 31st, when we played at Concordia University,
River Forest. We had the enviable opportunity to be the first
people to ride in the backseat of the brand-new car belonging
to our long-time friends Jonathan and Dawn Rundman. After
that satisfying time, we played a fine gig in the chapel,
and motored off to Indiana (which wants me, Lord I can't go
back there) and played a totally fun outdoor gig at Concordia
Valp . . . oh, wait, I mean at Valparaiso University. While
waiting to set up, we zipped over to the local music store
and played some fun guitars. Back at the university, the rain
held off and the darkness was dispelled by the lights the
friendly staff put up for us.
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A N-e-w Car!
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a Stein Auf cake!
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That night, we drove toward
Minnesota and stayed in Milwaukee. Next morning, we raced
off toward Minnesota and arrived in Minnesota that afternoon.
We set up to play two (count 'em, two!) concerts at Concordia
University, St. Paul, which is in Minnesota. Concerts were
great, and included a cake in honor of the birthday of a certain
member of the LOST AND FOUND band. The only thing that could've
made the Concordia gigs any better was if a member of the
LOST AND FOUND office team were to get married the next afternoon.
Well, guess what? The gigs got better!
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On September 3rd, our friend
and co-worker, the Wyoming native, Pete Obermueller was officially
wed to his fiancé (that's convenient), our friend and
fellow traveler of India, the Wisconsin native, Stacy Stern.
In honor of the day, we traveled with our favorite photo of
Pete in the van. Also, as we traveled, I was able to get a
nice photo of the young folks in the back of the van. We were
in the van because we were going to the Mall of America so
Eleanor could visit her favorite animals. When we got there,
we ran into a fellow who has been a LOST AND FOUND listener
for many years. He was kind enough to get us discounts and
everything.
Unfortunately, I left the camera
back in the hotel, so I have no photos of the wedding or the
reception, but if you just imagine the best wedding and reception
you've ever been to and then bump it up a few levels, you'll
be getting close to the Stern-Obermueller affair. A great
time had by all, and now you're bummed that you didn't know
Pete or Stacy better, so that you could have partaked . .
. partook? . . . or, partakened? . . . let's say "been there."
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Nice to meet Pete
"Are we there yet?"
Favorites!
"a policeman is a person in your shopping mall"
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"Hmmm"
Interesting!
H-e-r-e-'s Mikey!
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Two days later, Michael and
I were meeting up with our old kumpel, Christian Utpatel for
yet another string of Concert Auf Deutschland. I'll dispel
with the suspense by telling you flat out, no laptops were
stolen, and I did not try to disable half the cell phones
in Germany, so it was an unusual German concert tour, but
normality prevailed with lots of Interesting Trays of Particularly
German Snacks. So, that said, let's get started with our parade
of German food. First night, Soltau. (That's a town, not a
food.) Had a nice crowd of appreciative folks. Michael did
his Johnny Carson impersonation just for fun. The next night,
was a town called Uelzen. Not sure if they didn't have the
German trays, or if I just neglected to photo the interesting
snacks. Anyway, we played in the KultureHalle again, and had
an even better attendance than last year. The next day we
had a little time to do some sightseeing. We went to a monastery
and saw the most interesting map, though my description will
not do it justice and the stern German frau with the wooden
pointing stick did not allow photos.
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Anyway, when we left, I got
a nice photo of Michael looking all sunny and bright. From
the monastery, we traveled to Witten, where the young folks
had completely cleared out all the pews, and decorated with
lights and all sorts of groovy atmospheric accouterments.
Afterward, we were treated to a little essen by our host.
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Guten Tag, Sunshine!
a tray
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Particularly German
Fruhstuck rock on!
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The next day, we were honored
to play at the World Expo in Hanover. I believe that back in
the day, this event was called the World's Fair, and gave us
such inventions as the waffle cone, and that big ugly spherical
thing in Queens. Anyway, had a great time, and were treated
to the essen. Before we played, the band with the German name
"Fruhstuck" played a few tunes; they're from Poland. There was
supposed to be a group called "covenant players," but nobody
knew what happened to them. Hope they're okay. But their absence
left more essen for the rest of us. (hengh!)
As we toured the grounds, Michael had the opportunity to try
out one of the beds the young people slept in while visiting
the World Expo, which I believe saw the introduction of the
incandescent bulb and the assassination of a U.S. president
in 1903. (true, or false?) Following that curious performance,
we raced off into the night so that we might arrive in Hermansburg
before dawn, because that's when we had to be singing at worship.
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During the sermon, the pastor
used a box of chocolates as an illustration. When the announcement
time came, he explained to the congregation that the musical
Americans probably didn't understand any of his sermon, and
so, as a consolation, he would present us with the box of
chocolates. All the Germans laughed their hearty German laugh,
as we accepted the treats. However, I couldn't help but think,
"Man, if only I had a box of chocolates for every sermon that
I didn't understand!" After the service, the pastor led us
on a trek up into the bell tower. After Herr Utpatel smashed
his head into one of the bells, Michael and I both blurted
out "I don't know his name, but his face rings a bell!" Some
friends we are, huh? After the aerobic sightseeing, we had
to jump into the van to continue on down the road for the
evening gig.
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"Ready for my scans, doctor."
"The Wizard isn't home so go away!"
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Continue
reading page 2 of George's Newsletter
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