Tokyo Jim’s 生活

I actually made it up to Napa for the Napa Valley Music Festival on September 20 and 21. Highlights included attending all four hours of Steve Seskin’s songwriting workshops (though I’ll probably never write a song in my life), Steve’s main stage performance, the Joel Raphael Band from my current home town of San Diego, and several of the songs heard at the after hours song circle I attended, but especially Mark Bradlyn‘s “Outside The Family Way“, about how he’s just not cut out for a life of raising a family. I identified quite strongly with that one.

Wow! Amazing! Incredible! That sums up my feelings upon returning from the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Colorado. This has been the summer of folk music festivals for me. My first one was two years ago in Edmonton. I stayed in a hotel (the official hotel!) and hung out by myself for most of the time. See my Edmonton report for all the details of that trip.

This Summer’s experiences were a bit different. At the end of July, I flew to Albany, New York to attend the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival located in Hillsdale. I subscribe to the Dar Williams discussion list on the ‘net and a bunch of people decided to get together at Falcon Ridge, as Dar would be performing there. I had nothing better to do and I’m always looking for excuses to go traveling, so I jumped at the opportunity. All us Dar fans created Camp Dar, a place where we could all hang out and enjoy not just our common love of music, but each other’s company too. Jef Scoville was the elder statesman who showed us how it’s all done, while most of the other people were first-time festival goers in their teens or twenties. Dar even came by her namesake camp on Friday afternoon, friendly as always. Her manager, Charlie Hunter, stopped by several times and was always very gracious towards all of us.

At the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, I camped with the Folk Music Digest contingent, around the BOT (Big Orange Tarp). This was an older group, made up mostly of musicians. No matter what time I wandered into the camp, someone was sure to be playing an instrument, whether a guitar or a harp. I could never forget I was at a music festival.

Dar’s performance at Falcon Ridge was wonderful, of course. Other performers I had come to see included Greg Brown, Cheryl Wheeler, Dan Bern, and Moxy Früvous. But the biggest surprise was Janis Ian. Sure, I remember her sweet songs from the ’70s and I figured she’s another washed-up artist living on her former glory, but that was definitely not the case. She just blew everyone away! Her guitar-playing was amazing and had everyone in awe. At the end of the evening, it was Janis that everyone was talking about.

I had never seen Dan Bern before, but I was suitably impressed. I’ve been told that people either love him or hate him. I have to place myself in the former category, though there were plenty in the latter among the Camp Dar contingent. He’s very “in your face” and some people don’t like that. But you just have to be wowed by a guy with “balls the size of grapefruits”. He also happened to be performing a show in Montréal when I was there a few days after Falcon Ridge so I went to see him again.

Vance Gilbert was very funny. He is quick to point out that he, as an African-American, is a distinct minority at these (mostly White) folk festivals (“there aren’t many chips in the cookie”). I think I also saw three or four Asians (besides myself) at Falcon Ridge. Vance Gilbert also did a Performance Workshop on the Workshop Stage, where he critiqued and gave advice to up and coming performers. This was also quite entertaining. One of the people he helped out in this way was Diana Jones, doing her song “The One That Got Away”. I also heard her perform later in a song circle. I really liked her performance and I bought her CD at the “Record Tent”. However, I was disappointed by it when I got it home and spun it. It was the CD I was most looking forward to hearing, but the song she performed is not on the disc, and I didn’t feel that anything on her CD lived up to the live performances I had seen. Another song circle song that stuck in my mind was Hollywood Comes To Hoboken, by Greg Cagno, an autobiographical song about the singer’s car being towed when Ron Howard and company arrived to do a shoot on his street:

I got towed by Opie
Ritchie Cuttingham towed me
I don’t care who you are I was here before you
You’re a big shot director
And I’m just a renter
But I’d appreciate my wheels back when you’re through

Speaking of song circles, this is where the real discoveries are made. And at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, it was especially true that while it was the big names on the main stage that got me on the airplane, it was the never-heard-before artists in the after-hours song circles that made the biggest lasting impressions.

I usually gravitate towards female singers, but the ones that really blew me away at Rocky Mountain were males. Andrew McKnight, from Middleburg, Virginia, sang some really poignant tunes, such as his Last Call Waltz, about a first date going absolutely nowhere, while Steve Seskin was my absolute favorite. For the four days before the festival begins, a Song School is held on the grounds, thus attracting an even stronger group of singer-songwriters than is usually present at these festivals. Steve Seskin was one of the teachers (along with Vance Gilbert, David Wilcox, Tom Paxton, Catie Curtis, and others). He has been writing and performing for 25 years, but he says that early in his career he made the decision not to tour, which is why we haven’t heard of him, though many of his songs have been recorded by, and been hits for, other artists.

I heard Steve sing Friday and Saturday nights, and was suitably impressed, but his crowning achievement, and the performance that won over tons of new fans, was his Sunday appearance on the Workshop Stage. He opened with a new song, New Orleans, a gender-swapped, younger, Bridges of Madison County, where a 28-year-old woman pulls off the interstate to gas up and ends up staying, getting married, having children, and working at the gas station where she stopped, leaving behind her former life in New Orleans. The power of this song, though, is more in what’s not said. We’re never really told much about New Orleans, other than “That’s another story … that’s another time, that’s another town, that’s another life.”

When she dropped the kids off
At mothers’ day out
All the ladies had their questions
But they knew not to ask about
New Orleans

I thought maybe it was my own memories about New Orleans that were making my eyes water, but after Steve’s second song, someone in the first row grabbed a box of Kleenex off the stage and started passing it around, so I knew that I was not alone. What I thought was so special about his songs is most were not explicitly tear-jerkers; the emotional impact was stealthily injected into the songs. Like with New Orleans, the greater impact was often made by what was implied rather than by what was said. Steve Seskin has perfected the art of the story song.

I hear that all of Steve Seskin’s CDs sold out immediately after his workshop stage performance. Luckily, I had bought one of his albums the day before the stampede. Everyone I spoke with agreed that Steve’s performance was awesome. I’ll have to track down any live performances of his next time I’m in the Bay Area, and order his other CDs.

Megan McLaughlin, a school teacher from Oakland, California, was another of my song circle favorites. She had also been at Falcon Ridge, as had several other people performing around the real and virtual campfires.

Back to the Main Stage, I was happy to see Cheryl Wheeler again, along with only my second viewing of The Nields. Their vocal harmonies are wonderful, and their workshop stage performance with The Burns Sisters was an added treat. I also finally got to see Eddie From Ohio, and I was so impressed that I bought three of their albums, after promising myself not to get carried away and buy too many CDs this time. I also experienced my second time seeing Nancy Griffith and Catie Curtis, and good first impressions of Tom Paxton and Peter Himmelman.

Overall, the three festivals I attended this summer were an absolutely wonderful experience. For those who have never attended, just imagine several days filled with nothing but great music all around you, almost twenty-four hours a day.

After Falcon Ridge, I spent a few weeks traveling around Québec. I didn’t have that much time to spend again after Rocky Mountain, but I did spend Monday doing a little sightseeing, checking out Rocky Mountain National Park and the town of Boulder, Colorado.

Québec surprised me. I never realized how French (in terms of language) it really is. Yeah, I know they want their own country and all (sort of) but I expected it to be more bilingual. In fact, I found the anti-English feelings to be quite strong. I would even go so far as to say their French-only stance is laughably pompous and arrogant. They try to be more French than the French and even the French I met thought it was ridiculous. For example, their stop signs don’t say STOP, but rather ARRÊTEZ. But what do stop signs say in France? They say STOP. Another example is that popular fried chicken restaurant from Kentucky. Around the world it is known as KFC. It’s KFC in Japan; KFC in China; KFC in France! But noooo, those crazy Québecois couldn’t stand to have a TLA based on English polluting their fast food drive-thru lanes. So in Québec, the Colonel smiles down from his PFK sign.

I was also surprised by how few English-speaking visitors come to Québec. 99% of the people I met in the hostels were either French, Belgian, or Québecois. I expected to see many more Americans (Montreal is only an hour from the border; four hours from Albany, New York) and Anglophone Canadians. But who can really blame them. English speakers are most definitely made to feel unwelcome. For example, the city of Montreal has gone through the trouble of erecting tourist information kiosks around the city. But they are entirely in French, with not a word of English on them. Hey, this is Canada guys!

Once you leave Montreal, you’re really on your own (good thing I’ve studied French for five years). In the countryside, absolutely everything is in French. I must add here that I’m not the xenophobic type, nor do I look for trouble. When I visited France a few years ago, I did not encounter any of the rudeness that many Americans report. I spoke French as much as I could (that being not very well) and tried to follow local customs, such as always greeting the shopkeeper upon arrival. I was more than happy to try and fit in with the local culture, and this is probably why I had all good experiences.

I felt differently in Québec, though. Probably because it all seemed so farcical. After all, this isn’t France. I saw it as a bunch of people pretending to be French; pretending so hard in fact that English has been completely banned from their land. But they’re only fooling themselves.

I am also still working on an environmental journal put out by UCSD’s Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies.

I work as an editor, reading, reviewing, and editing journal articles for publication. It’s pretty interesting work, though the journal doesn’t have that many subscribers (mostly university libraries).

For the fourth time in my life, I attended a Dar Williams concert on 1997-06-12, and as always, it was a wonderful experience. Check out a great review of that appearance. Mary Dolan and Randi Driscoll opened. Mary has long been one of my favorite local artists.

Europe was sure a lot of fun! OK, maybe I shouldn’t use the term
‘Europe’ since I only visited two countries this time. Still, I guess I
have to admit that I have underestimated Europe all these years. I have done most of my traveling in Asia and always avoided Europe mainly because "everyone goes there" and, well, I like to be different.

This isn’t to discount Asia as a travel destination. It also has much
to offer. Each has its advantages. Anyway, on to my most recent adventure…

Having been born and bred in Sunny Southern California, I have low tolerance for temperatures below 15 C. So I planned my flight schedule accordingly. I booked a flight in to London on 1996-10-10 and a return flight from Rome on 1996-11-26. I figured that as the weather got colder I would just head south. All details were left to the spur of the moment.

This plan worked out rather well. I arrived in London and spent almost two weeks there, exploring the city and surrounding neighborhoods. I attended several concerts, including one by Sophie Zelmani and Brian Kennedy. I had not heard of either of these people, but I read a favorable review in Time Out magazine and decided to give them a try. And I wasn’t disappointed! Both were excellent, though it seems much of the (female) audience had come more to see Brian (“Let down your hair!” they shouted until he did) than to hear him.

My original plan was to head over to Wales and on to Ireland by ferry. However, while staying at Curzon House (a hostel-type accommodation, like almost all the places I stayed) in London, several people commented to me on what a beautiful city Edinburgh is. So when it was time to leave London, I just hopped a train for Scotland and didn’t look back (well, it’s hard to look back because the train doesn’t have a rear window). I arrived at night, took a wrong turn out of the train station, and one of my first views of the city was the beautiful Edinburgh Castle and surroundings, all lit up. I was happy to have made the trip.

I hung out in Edinburgh for several days, and checked my e-mail for the first time, by using computers at the library of the University of Edinburgh. Although I do like cities, I also wanted to visit the highlands of northern Scotland, so I signed up on Haggis Tours‘ Jump-On-Jump-Off service, a great hostel-to-hostel shuttle service with entertaining drivers and some stops along the way. This was a great way to go, especially for someone traveling alone. I met lots of people on the (24-passenger) buses (mostly Aussies) and we would hang out together at night in the pubs (there’s not much else to do in small Scottish towns at night). I took ten days to complete the circuit, with stops in Pitlochry, Loch Ness, Kylackin (isle of Skye), Fort William, Oban, and Glasgow. Then I spent a final few relaxing days in Edinburgh before heading back to the London area with a 2-night stop in York (great Cathedral) along the way.

I detoured to the city of Reading, an hour or so outside London, to
hear a concert by one of my favorite musicians, Dar Williams, who just happened to be in the UK at the same time as I. I didn’t want to have to worry about getting back to London after the show so I booked a room in a B&B, my first non-hostel of the trip. It wasn’t bad, though I couldn’t help but keep thinking of Fawlty Towers. There was also the taxi driver who refused any money for the long ride to the B&B because all I had was Scottish money. It’s worth the same as English, but "I don’t like going to banks." Hmm…

A few days later I left the UK and flew to Venezia, Italy. I was real
worried about surviving in a country in which I didn’t know the language, but I needn’t have worried. I was able to pick up enough Italian to get by, helped by the fact that it is very similar to Spanish. I almost never had to resort to using English. It has raised my confidence level, though I expect it to be punctured when I go to Eastern Europe.

Venezia (Venice) was awesome. I’m sure that’s not news to most people, but I really hadn’t paid much attention to it in the past. I probably pictured it as similar to the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, where there are some canals and a lot more roads. I didn’t realize there are no roads at all! And me being a car-hating, public-transportation-loving kind of guy, I thought this was wonderful. Imagine a city with no car noise. Ahhh…

My first night in the city and the country I, along with an Australian farm girl I met on the bus from the airport, headed over to San Marco and started looking for a place to eat. We saw lots of touristy places that were charging £20,000 to reheat some old food in a microwave, but we vowed to keep going until we found a real place to eat. Actually, I walked in to one of those tourist places and spotted two Japanese women eating there, so I asked them in Japanese how the food was. And they ignored me. Pretended like I wasn’t even there. I don’t know what they thought, but I was a bit peeved that they would do this. After wandering for close to an hour, we happened upon a little restaurant buried away somewhere in the maze of walkways and decided to give it a try. We shared a pizza and two pasta dishes. It was wonderful and cost about the same as those microwave places. What a wonderful way to start off my adventures in Italia.

I loved just wandering among the many small alleys that make up
Venezia. On one such tiny street I peered into an open door to discover a small Internet Service Provider with a computer or two and about ten modems on the shelf. I also did a tour of Venezia’s (little remaining) Jewish community.

After a few days in Venezia, I left the carless paradise, hopping a
train for Verona, home of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, and spent two nights at the youth hostel there. In my room were two obnoxious Italian football players, but it was fun trying to communicate with them. In fact, at one point I was acting as interpreter between the Italian guys and an American who was also in my room. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself at the absurdity of the situation of me, someone who doesn’t speak Italian, providing interpretation between Italian and English, based only on my knowledge of a few other romance languages.

Next, it was on to Vicenza for a few hours to check out the Teatro
Olimpico and other great buildings by Palladio, and then to Padova. I
dumped my backpack at the hostel and spent the rest of the day and
evening checking out the town. Around 18:00, I decided it was time to check my e-mail and wandered over to the University of Padova and walked up and down hallways until I spotted a computer lab in the chemistry department. I was reading my e-mail for about twenty minutes when a woman asked me what the hell I was doing there. I told her, “I’m reading my e-mail.” We started talking and she was very nice and let me stay a while. When I was done there, I was lucky enough to run into a mensa (student dining hall) across the street with a really good full-course meal for only £6000 (it would have been double or triple that if they had known I wasn’t a student there). I also spoke with a PhD student seated at my table.

The next morning I saw a bit more of the town, accompanied by an
Australian woman I had first met in Verona. She said she wanted to get drunk with me on fine wine that evening, but I was on a tight schedule and needed to move on. My plane back to the U.S. was leaving from Roma in just over a week and I still had many places to go. So we parted and I headed to Bologna for one night (staying at a youth hostel way out in the boonies and eating dinner at a nearby bar/card club), and then took the train the next day to Firenze (Florence). One of my highlights there was an exhibit on Rennaisance Science. I stayed in Firenze for a few days (another wonderful city), and then took a bus to Siena.

The only hostel in Siena is out of town and I wanted to stay in the old city, so I stayed at a small pensione type place that is run by nuns. The view from my room was great; looking up at the Duomo on the hill. Siena is a nice town, and I even checked out an Irish pub there, complete with a live musician playing Beatles and other pop tunes.

Then it was on to Montepulciano, a mountaintop town. Why? Oh, I just liked the sound of it. And I was reading Simone de Beauvoir’s All Men Are Mortal at the time and it takes place in an Italian mountaintop town. It was definitely out of season, being too late for the summer crowds and too early for the winter holidaymakers, and most of the lodgings were closed. I did get a cold, non-heated room (well, I only realized this fact later) at a place called Bellavista. OK, so the vista was bella, but I can’t really say that about anything else at this pensione. Still, I’m glad I stopped there for the night. For dinner, I did my usual of ordering a few small dishes and using the free bread to really fill up my stomach. On my way out, I ran into probably the only other tourists in town, two sisters from Kansas City and a couple, so we all headed to a caffe for a while, where I discovered that their idea of a “hot chocolate” is a melted chocolate bar. I certainly wasn’t going to pass the evening at the Bellavista.

I spent the next day in Asissi and was planning to spend the night
there, but I was getting a bit frustrated at all the time I was losing
by doing most of my traveling during the day. So I decided to hop the next express train to Roma (Rome). I arrived about 21:00 claiming the last bed at the Ostello Ottaviano, and had interesting conversations with the varied clientele. I spent the next several days exploring Roma, including a tour of some catacombs, and then with a French woman (married to an Italian) I met there and two nuns from India she was guiding around, to a local famous church.

If I could have, I would have extended the trip and headed into southern Italia, but I had agreed to meet my family in New York City
for Thanksgiving, and my attempts to weasel out of it had failed. But, I shall return.

Summer 1996 was pretty busy. Lots of events to keep me entertained.

Toronto was great! I really liked that city. Too bad it gets so cold in the winter or I would consider living there some time. I went for Greg Wong’s wedding, and a good time was had by all. I found it interesting that they felt it necessary to hire two armed guards for the banquet (this is super safe Canada) because there had been a spate of recent robberies of wedding banquets due to the large amounts of cash given as wedding gifts.

The Barenaked Ladies were wonderful, as usual. I dragged my business partner along to the concert and he liked them so much he flew off to Arizona to see them again the next night. Ahh, another rut he’s in…

I saw my sister twice, once in New York in July and then again in L.A. in August.

I missed out on the Edmonton Folk Music Festival this year. Tickets sold out very early. I snoozed; I losed. The plan was to hit both the Folk Festival and the Fringe Festival. Oh well. Maybe next time.

I spent a few days of my Spring Break in Seattle. I had never been there before and had heard it was a nice city so I decided to check it out, along with my friend Joyce. We stayed in Pioneer Square. And what luck! It didn’t rain while we were there. We also caught a Barenaked Ladies concert at the Moore Theater, wandered Bainbridge Island, and went to see the locks at Bremer.

During Winter Break, I spent three weeks in Tokyo and one week in Mexico City and Puebla. I really liked it. Quite a change from Tijuana!

Mexico City is a real city with interesting neighborhoods, restaurants, museums, etc. Lucie and I also wandered around UNAM, the largest college campus in the city. It was interesting to note that almost all the cafés in D.F. are owned and run by Chinese.

And it was a lot of fun being there just before Day of Kings, with all the elaborate displays with Santa Claus and the Three Kings for the kiddies. Here are all the gritty details…

—19951231—(Sunday)
I woke at 4. Checked e-mail & news. Woke Lucie. Yes she wants to go. Called Cloud 9 Shuttle. Shower. Packed. 06:30 shuttle (just us) to SAN. Checked in. Shared a bagel. AM489 to San Jose del Cabo, went thru immigration, back on plane to DF. ATM in airport. Picked up Metro map. Took metro to Allende and checked in to Hotel Canada (Av. Cinco de Mayo 47), room 102. Rested. Metro to Zona Rosa to look around and find dinner. Went to tourist office where employee gave us some eggnog. Walked to Sheraton. Walked along streets but most stores were closed because New Year’s Eve. Only open restaurnts were fancy places. Checked out Tower Records. Metro back to Allende. Walked around but almost nothing open. Ate across the street at Pollo place. Half chicken, sausages, tortillas, potatoes, onions and soft drinks for N$22.50 (about US$2.50) for two. Back to hotel. I watched TV while Lucie showered. To sleep about 23:00.

—19960101—(Monday)
Watched Rose Parade on TV. Out of room about 12. To Zócalo. Back to room to get sunglasses and sunscreen. To Zócalo. Catedral Metropolitana and El Sagrario. Looked around. Walked. N. to public markets (stalls). Ate lunch at an indoor stall place (Seafood Soup). Lots of walking. Rested on a bench just off a street. Eventually back to Zócalo. Saw murals in Palacio Nacional. To Supreme Court to see murals there but closed. Lucie not feeling well, so we rested on steps of the Court. Lucie back to room while I watched flag lowering ceremony. Saw some traditional dances. Bought water. Back to room. Out to dinner at Cafe across street: Enchiladas de Pollo en Mole and some special w/ thin beef in green sauce. Out for a walk after: Sanborn’s bookstore & more. Church service. Outdoor market nearby (lots of people). Walked back to hotel. I fell asleep while Lucie showered.

—19960102—(Tuesday)
Left room at 10:30. Bought some sweet breads across the street. To Supreme Court again, but they no longer allow public inside. Metro to Viveros and spent a few hours walking incl. streets w/ nice houses and supermarket (bought juices and drank). To University (UNAM). Not in session so buildings closed. Looked around a bit then headed North on Insurgentes Sur towards San Ángel w/ stop for lunch (sopa de pollo, tacos de chorizo, quesadilla). Thru market at San Ángel, then to church, thru neighborhood, back to market (looking at Telephone bookbag), across Insurgentes to park. Small streets. Used toilets at restaurant where we had eaten lunch. Gift shop (Lucie bought gifts). To Avenida Revolución. and headed North for long walk, stopping for drinks/bread at another Chinese Cafe. Walked back to a Metro stop. To Zócalo. Wandered back to hotel.

—19960103—(Wednesday)
Left at 09:00. Bought some bread & sweet bread (didn’t have “pan chino al vapor” as advertised in window), and took Metro to North Bus Station. “09:45” bus to the Pyramids. N$16 admission, Started exploring and listening in to tour guide. After a while, he invited us to join in. Climed Pira’mide del Sol. Drink stop. Underground. End of tour (he asked for N$60; we paid him N$70). Climbed Pira’mide de la Luna. Down. Walked to museo. Went through. Bus back to Metro, to Hidalgo. Walked for several hours incl. bakery near Wal-Mart affiliate. KFC toilet stop. Night market. Ate dinner at Pozole restaurant. Walked back thru markets all the way back to hotel.

—19960104—(Thursday)
To Café but still no Chinese bread. Ate there: Huevos a la Mexicana, y revueltos c/ queso chihuahua. Chocolate. Metro to Tren to floating gardens area. Walked around before taking boat ride from guy whose house we passed while walking. Took “2 hour” ride, but it was only 1:30, including a 30-minute stop. Walked back to train station. Tren to taxi (green VW) to Cayocan. Saw video crew shooting scene of woman at payphone. Walked around checking out the various “menu”, but by the time we decided to eat, they were all over. Sat down in one place, but left when we couldn’t order menu (it was a trick). Left another place because they weren’t serving much food. Dinner in Chinese restaurant (pretty bad). Walked around that area some more, then pesero to a Metro station and Metro to Zo’calo. Back to hotel. I looked through LP guide for a place to go to while Lucie showered.

—19960105—(Friday)
Bought bread and, finally, Pan Chino al Vapor! Metro to TAPO (Terminal de Autobuses de Pasajeros de Oriente). Bus to Puebla. Taxi to Hotel Colonial (N$190/night). Checked in (room 5, on first floor). Walked to Museo Amparo (lots of pre-Hispanic artifacts). Walked. Big fruit salad w/ cream and ice cream. Walked more, and stated scouting for fixed menus. Set dinner at 18:00 in a pretty popular place: Caldo Cameron, Caldo Gallego, Calamares Fritos a la Mexicana, Chile Relleno, Bread, Jello, Tea (N$18/ea). To tourist office: Got advice from worker and talked to American guy from Providence w/ Let’s Go book (“It’s garbage”). Walked around town: toy stores very very crowded because tomorrow is Day of Kings when kids get presents. Back to hotel about 22:30. Watched Picket Fences, then bad movie “Viaje Con La Muerta”.

—19960106—(Saturday)
Alarm set for 7, but we got up after 9. Bought corn/chocolate drink on street. Bought mushroom blue-corn quesadilla on the way to small bus station for bus to Cholula. To Cholula, then another bus to Tonantzintla to see Templo de Santa Maria (elaborate inside), then walked 2 km to Acatepec to see Templo de San Francisco (elaborate tile on outside) (used toilet there too). Walked a few blocks around church, then bus back to Puebla Centro. To train museum (Museo
del Ferrocarril). Lunch: Ate a sausage quesadilla, a quesadilla modote, a potato modote and a Gran ??? (we were very hungry). Bus to Guadalupe Hill: sat down by Scouts. Walked to fort. Sat. Walked. Other fort. Walked back to Centro. Looking for set meal and it’s getting late (18:30). Walked into one place just before they closed. Soup, arroz, tacos de pollo, breaded pork, and two half-flans. We didn’t realize it, but this place was right near our hotel. To hotel for a few minutes. Explored the hotel. Out walking, thru a few department stores, to Teorema (intellectual hangout/bookstore w/ live music). Stayed there a while before going back to hotel.

—19960107—(Sunday)
Lucie woke me at 05:45. I got up at 06:15 and showered (took 10-15 minutes for el agua caliente). Out about 07:30 and starting walking around Puebla on a quiet Sunday morning. But Lucie was cold and my stomach hurt, so we had breakfast at a restaurant (Ham Omelette and Huevos Rancheros). Then out to walk to Ex-Convento de Santa Rosa & Museo de Artesanías to see old pottery, clothing, and the kitchen where Mole Poblano was supposedly invented. After, walked through food market area and eventually back to hotel. Cleared out safe. Lucie checked out while I finished packing. Taxi (N$12) to bus station. 12:00 bus direct to airport (watched “All-American Murder” and ate cookie they gave out). To MEX about 13:30. Checked in for flight and ate in bad cafeteria (but the enchiladas were OK). AM488 to San Jose del Cabo (1 hour stopover) then to SAN. Shuttle home with other UCSD students. Home about 19:40. Checked class schedule and saw I didn’t have any classes until Tuesday.

I got to see Loreena McKennitt for only the third time in my life while I was in Tokyo and got a chance to speak with her. Here’s a copy of the write-up I did for the Old-Ways mailing list…

Loreena spent about a week touring Japan with The Chieftains, including three shows over two days in Tokyo. I attended the final show on the last day (1995-12-04), as did a few other old-ways list members, though I didn’t get the chance to meet any of them.

The Tokyo concerts were held at the Globe Theater, a modern version of the Old Globe, and a place that seated about 350 people. However, the crowd in attendance was definitely there to see The Chieftains, and probably saw Loreena only as a hinderance to seeing the main act.

Loreena came to Tokyo with only Brian Hughes in tow, and started off the show at 19:05 with four songs, including She Moved Through The Fair, The Bonny Swans, and Prospero’s Speech. Twenty minutes later, it was over. The crowd gave polite applause, but did not even come close to requesting an encore. After all, they were there to see The Chieftains.

The response to the main act was much more enthusiastic. The Chieftains played for close to two hours, including a second encore set after the house lights had been raised but the audience refused to leave and demanded more. Loreena and Brian sat in with the band on a few numbers including a rendition of her Bonny Portmore.

Unfortunately, the concert lacked that magical feel that Loreena concerts usually invoke. Perhaps because I was sitting on the second (of three) level, in a corner with little sound getting to me, and the fact that her set was so short. It also didn’t help that I was not enamored of The Chieftains, who perform mostly instrumental Irish music.

The after-concert happenings made up for any prior disappointment though. Old-Ways list members had been told that they would be able to “meet-and-greet” Loreena after the show and to enquire at the venue as to the specific place and time. Because this was the last show in Japan, an end-of-tour party was being held after the concert at a nearby pub, and Old-Ways members were invited to come along.

The party featured tons of food (pizza, mini-drumsticks, fish cakes, paella) and an open bar. Brian Hughes happened to wander over so I spoke with him for a while, covering various topics including Seeds of Love. Among other things, I mentioned that I was surprised to see in the liner notes that Loreena had composed that tune in 1981, and that those of us who saw her perform it in concert had wondered where it came from. He said that the first time he practiced with Loreena, back in 1987, she had played it, but it just never made it into print before now.

After grabbing a bit more food (I hadn’t eaten since my lunch of Burmese Moo Hin Nga and it was now after 22:00), my friend and I wandered over to Loreena, who was now standing by herself. We just chatted for a long while, until it was time for her to leave. It was really nice to talk to her in such a casual setting, as one might do with anyone with whom one had a casual acquaintance, talking about subjects as varied as her business philosophy and her upcoming vacation plans.

In the summer of 1995 I went to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Edmonton, Alberta. Here is my take on Festival events, as posted to The Old Ways mailing list (a list by and for fans of Loreena McKennitt). Or take a look at my complete travelogue.