I managed to get a lot done the past few days. There is so much to do and pack for a trip like this. Today, I bought a new Mini-DV Camera. High-Def to "film" the tour. Verry cool. Tucker and I will continue our video portrait of the 'wild east'... From Lubbock to Bombay by way of Damascus and Casablanca - we have some amazing footage already.
We had some visa problems and had to get our passports back from the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington without a Vietnam visa stamp. They hadn't put the visa on 'em by last Monday and I flinched and told them to send it back...without visas! My new friends at the State Department in Ho Chi Minh City say they can get it done at the airport.
Lots of packing yet to do. It's like going to the dark side of the moon. I usually take way too much stuff and this trip will be no exception. The guitars and equipment have to be handled with care and we are praying to the gods that United Airlines will let us take our guitars on board. I've had three smashed guitars on previous trips!
I'll be bringing Original Spirit CDs with me to sell, if there are any takers. They said that it was better to sell 'em for $10 in Vietnam and Thailand. Ha! I sell 'em for $15 just down the block at Jovita's. Have to go all that way...
Friday, December 28, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Viet Nam & Thailand bound...
12/23/07
We're only a little more than a week away and I have too much to do. And I have to get it all done with Christmas and weekends in the way. These concerts we're going to play are held under the auspices the U.S. State Department and include music festivals at Hanoi's My Dinh Stadium on January 10th and at the Rhythm of the Earth Festival in Bangkok on the 18th. Our tour is a whirlwind of concerts, university workshops, official functions and hard traveling through a beautiful, yet rugged area of the world. Nice work, if you can get it.
I've got lots to work on: set lists, song lyrics, go to music store to get two guitars set up, buy travel cases/gig bags for 'em, buy strings, picks, capos, harmonicas, get a new hat, try make a living in between, get copies of Original Spirit CDs ready, be in constant contact with State Department in Viet Nam and Thailand about visas, schedules, make more and more calls to stay ahead of the learning curve, send and recieve mountains of emails, and write a recipe for tofu migas.
The one thing that might throw a wrench in the works of future posts when I'm on the road will be the poor quality of Viet Nam's internet connections. They say it's very slow. We'll see...
Past post on 12/17/07
I sent our passports and visa applications today Express Mail and hope to get everything back in a few days. I sent Hanoi a list of 34 songs with all the lyrics. They have asked me to pair down the list some. Have to think about the music, schedule rehearsals with Tucker, began to pack the equipment, hope we can take our guitars on board the plane... Incidentally, we fly United via Hong Kong.
We're only a little more than a week away and I have too much to do. And I have to get it all done with Christmas and weekends in the way. These concerts we're going to play are held under the auspices the U.S. State Department and include music festivals at Hanoi's My Dinh Stadium on January 10th and at the Rhythm of the Earth Festival in Bangkok on the 18th. Our tour is a whirlwind of concerts, university workshops, official functions and hard traveling through a beautiful, yet rugged area of the world. Nice work, if you can get it.
I've got lots to work on: set lists, song lyrics, go to music store to get two guitars set up, buy travel cases/gig bags for 'em, buy strings, picks, capos, harmonicas, get a new hat, try make a living in between, get copies of Original Spirit CDs ready, be in constant contact with State Department in Viet Nam and Thailand about visas, schedules, make more and more calls to stay ahead of the learning curve, send and recieve mountains of emails, and write a recipe for tofu migas.
The one thing that might throw a wrench in the works of future posts when I'm on the road will be the poor quality of Viet Nam's internet connections. They say it's very slow. We'll see...
Past post on 12/17/07
I sent our passports and visa applications today Express Mail and hope to get everything back in a few days. I sent Hanoi a list of 34 songs with all the lyrics. They have asked me to pair down the list some. Have to think about the music, schedule rehearsals with Tucker, began to pack the equipment, hope we can take our guitars on board the plane... Incidentally, we fly United via Hong Kong.
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