Scandinavian Tour: Day 6

Since leaving California and moving to North Carolina I've settled rather nicely into a non-musician lifestyle. I went from playing gigs almost every night to not playing at all the last 6 months. I started going to bed around 10:30pm and getting up to take my wife to work at 6:30 am. On Sundays I go to church and afterward mow the lawn. As a musician I had been starting my work "day" anywhere between 8 and 9:30 pm and not getting home sometimes until 2 am. Now that I'm here in Scandinavia I've had to go back to the old hours. Unfortunately, even though I don't get sleep until late I still get up early.

Last night was no exception. After leaving Bryne, Norway in the morning we drove another 30 minutes to the city of Stavanger where we played an upstairs pub called Ovenpaa. The crowd wasn't as enthusiastic as the night before, but we still had a great time. And even though Nathan and I haven't played together in quite sometime our sound is coming back together as if we just picked up where we left off last November.

Ferry Ride to Stavanger

After sound check we went back to the small apartment the club owner had loaned us for the evening to take quick naps and get ready for the show. We walked back to Ovenpaa, had some dinner and walked around town and harbor. I guess Stavanger is a fairly wealthy town, getting most of it's money from the oil industry. We didn't see any of that money when we were checking out our CD sales. We only sold two CD's and those went to two other musicians--horn players who had just recently moved to Norway from the UK. Neil, the trombone player, sat in with us on a couple of tunes while I accompanied on jazz horn (kazoo) and jug.

Ovenpaa

The streets in Stavanger were filled with teenagers who are about to "graduate" from Norway's equivalent of high school. Hundreds of the students come out on the town wearing red overalls with the straps hanging down. Each kid adds their own patches and designs to the pants, sometimes rolling up one pant leg, or other times both. The legal drinking age in Norway is 18, so each disco is bursting with the graduates all wearing their red, school overalls.

Graduates

Arnt Ove (Andy) our host and "manager" informed us that we were going to have to catch the late ferry back over to Haugesund and that we needed to be ready to go by 11:30am the next day for an appearance on a weekend morning television show. That would mean we would be done with the gig at 1:30am, but only be able to catch the 3am ferry which would put in Haugesund and in bed around 5:30am. Fortunately, when we arrived at the ferry terminal we found that their was an earlier ferry that left at 2:30am. We crossed the channel in the dark with just a handful of other people and watched the sun slowly come up as we hit the sack around 4am I think.

11am came quickly this morning. I hung another blanket over the window before I fell asleep so the room would be relatively darker. The sun never really completely goes down here because we're so far north. It seems even in the middle of the night there is still a slight glow on the horizon.

Andy had only gotten about an hour and half of sleep. He still had to be at his regular job this morning. He took his lunch break and was waiting to take us to the TV station right on time. The station is small with the transmission only reaching the surrounding communities. We set up our instruments on their sound stage with the host, named Karen, while the production guy clipped microphones on our shirts for the interviews.

Norwegian local T.V. show

In Norwegian, Karen spoke into one of the cameras letting the audience know what kind of music we played and where we performing in town, I think. And then she turned to us and asked us a couple of questions about ourselves. Because it's a weekend show, the station found that no one wanted to get early and produce the show early on Saturday and so they record everything for the weekend during the week and run it on the weekend. So after our "interview" we stopped, made a couple of adjustments and then resumed recording. We played one song while the credits rolled, I guess.

Andy drove us back to his house, Nathan took a nap and I went for a run into town. I'm about to fix a sandwich soon and then catch up on some sleep myself. Tonight we're playing our first show of three at The Irish Viking here in Haugesund. This weekend is a Norwegian holiday--Constitution Day and so I hear that it will be pretty crazy downtown tonight and tomorrow.

More photographs available in the "photos" section at www.benhernandezmusic.com

Scandinavian Tour 2009: Day 5

Last night I played in a small country town called Bryne. The drive over here was beautiful, the road winding through the hills and countryside. Occasionally we drove through deep tunnels dug beneath water inlets from the North Sea that separate the different parts of Norway. We arrived at the venue, a place called Thime Station, and dinner was already waiting for us. The venue is a small, dark pub with heavy timber beams supporting the ceiling. People crowded in close to the little stage and around the bar. It was a great audience.

I was a bit nervous about playing because Nathan and I haven't played together in about 6 months, but once the first note was thrown out there it was like riding a bike. For me it was a bit like riding a rickety and rusty old bike, but a bicycle none the less. My voice wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be, but I haven't been singing the way I used to. I felt like an old prize fighter being pulled out of retirement for one more fight, trying to win back the championship belt.

I spent some time enjoying a local brewed, stout beer called Sorte Faar (Black Sheep) with some locals, one named Rolf. Afterward, we walked across the street to Erling Dagsland's apartment. He's a friend of Andy's and a blues fan and photographer who owns the top two floors of the building which used to be the living quarters for the proprietor of a grocery store that used to sit below. Nathan and I stayed up a little later with Erling and his friend "Oscar" watching film footage of Freddie King while Erling kept bringing out slices of bread topped with different types of cured meats and local cheeses.

This morning Andy was downstairs waiting to pick us up to take us over to his guitar player's house for a breakfast of eggs, thick bacon, sliced bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and juice and coffee. We'll be leaving soon for a short drive over to Stavanger where we'll be playing tonight.

See more photographs in the "Photos" section at www.benhernandezmusic.com

Travelogue: Scandinavian Tour, Day 4

This morning I woke up, put my running shoes on and headed out the door. The air was crisp and the sky was clear. I ran about 7 or 8 miles toward town. I love running in a new place or in this case a new country. You're able to see so much more than if you had driven a car. I found a walking/bike path that stretched for miles, through tiny neighborhoods, along the harbor, and past wide open pastures.

I poured some coffee when I got back and fixed some eggs and fried up some of the potatoes from last night.

I think I might have left my iPod on the plane from Chicago to Copenhagen so the other half of the morning was spent calling a couple of airline service numbers with the hopes of tracking it down. All lost and found items get sent to the Copenhagen police (politi) office in the airport (lufthavn). After the shows here in Norway, I'll be back in Copenhagen on Monday and so with fingers crossed, I hope to find my iPod.

Andy, our host will be getting home from work early this afternoon so that he can drive us to our first show at Thime Station in Bryne, Norway. We stay the night in Bryne then drive to a show in Stavanger. We get back to Andy's house on the 15th for 3 shows in a row at a place called The Irish Viking.

Time to get packed.

Travelogue: Scandinavian Tour 2009

Sunday, May 10
Sunday evening my wife dropped me off at the Charlotte airport for my flight to Chicago. From Chicago I would then be flying over the Atlantic Ocean and ending up in Copenhagen, Denmark. The O'Hare airport in Chicago is one of the most confusing if you're trying to fly international. There are no signs that tell you where the international terminal is. My ticket read Terminal M15, so when I stepped off the plane from Charlotte and looked up at the signs all I saw was ABCD. I ended asking about 5 different people where it was. It turned out that I had to go up an elevator to the sky bridge, then over the bridge to a tram that would take me 5 stops to the IT. Well, I found it and boarded the plane.

The flight to Copenhagen was only 7h and 45m long! Now some of you might say that that's a long flight, but not when you're accustomed to overseas flights sometimes taking 10 or 14. I sat next to this free-spirited, long haired, bearded bicycle mechanic from Capitola, CA (Santa Cruz). As we were lifting off the ground I asked him if he'd ever been to Copenhagen before. From that point on he talked almost the entire flight (sorry Victor, but you did). I found out Victor's entire life story it seemed. He was actually on his way to Latvia to meet his girlfriend. I found out the history of Latvia, stories about his past adventures in Latvia, his inherited house in Capitola with his crazy friends living their with all their dogs, his vegetable garden, old relationships with girlfriends, current relationships, his music, massage therapy. There was a moment that I actually started to fall asleep during one of his stories. The great thing was that I actually slept for about 3 hours. I never do that. Usually I fall asleep for about a half hour and am awake the rest of the flight.

I woke up and Victor started in again until we landed in Copenhagen. Victor was funny and hope to see him again someday. He made the flight go by pretty fast.

Monday, May 11
I took a train from the CPH airport and then walked about 5 blocks to my friend Peder Nande's house. He wasn't there and I didn't have a cell phone and I didn't want walk another few blocks to the nearest payphone. I stepped into a deli next door owned by a Polish woman and asked to use the phone. She was more than happy to oblige. So to return the favor I bought some food there. The deli serves this snack that looks like a big appetizer. On a small piece of rye bread, they layer on shrimp, sliced eggs or fish with small slices of cucumbers or tomatoes all topped with Hollandaise sauce. I chose one that looked like it had a nice fillet of fish on it, but turned out that it was actually a slice of compacted fish eggs.

I spent the evening catching up with Peder and his wife Lene. I rearranged my suitcase for the trip to Norway, checked some email and fell asleep.

Tuesday, May 12
I jumped into a cab left for the airport around 5:30 am. the next morning. We have shows in Norway so I would be first, flying to Oslo and then to a town called Haugesund where I would be meeting up with my partner Nathan James and our Norwegian host Andy (his real names is Arnst Ove, but he says "Andy" is easier to say). I waited in the Copenhagen airport for about and hour and a half before leaving for Oslo--a 50 minute flight. I waited in the Oslo for about two and a half hours for the flight to Haugesund--a 35 minute flight. I waited in the Haugesund airport for Nathan and Andy another two and a half hours.

The flight to Haugesund, Norway from Oslo

Andy's house is a fairly large house nestled in the countryside about a half mile off the main road. It's surrounded on one side by pastures full of grazing sheep and on the other side by an inlet from the North Sea. We unpacked our suitcases and took a little walk while Andy cooked us this amazing dinner of local trout covered in pesto, small gold potatoes, cauliflower, salad all topped with herbs cut from his own little herb garden. We had a small shot of a Norwegian liquor to warm our insides up a little.

Dinner at Andy's house




The view from Andy's living room window

Then Andy told us that if we were feeling up to it, he had a friend that worked at the local performing arts theater in town. She could get us in free to see Bobby McFerrin in concert. Bobby McFerrin?!!! Hell yes!

I really didn't know what to expect. Of course, I really only knew that he did "Don't Worry, Be Happy", but didn't know much else. Let me just say that Bobby McFerrin is an amazing singer and vocalist. I was completely blown away by his performance. When we saw the stage we noticed that there was only one chair in the center. No band. He sat on the stage and made enough music with just his voice and taps on his chest and with his feet that it sounded like a whole orchestra and kept me entertained the entire time. He eventually invited up a choir from Haugesund to accompany him on a couple of songs and he invited the audience to participate a few others, but the rest was all him. That was a concert that I won't soon forget.

Bobby McFerrin

We all got home, fixed a little coffee and talked about the show. Later, we a little bit of aged Scotch from Andy's cabinet and finished the night out by watching a DVD of an old concert of Dr. Hook live on a television show in Germany back in the 70's. It was insane!

Dick Cheney's True Identity Revealed!

Dick Cheney has come out on talk shows recently bashing some of President Obama's decisions when it comes to our foreign policies. Or he's upset that the US has foreign policies now. He's probably also upset that there's no president for him to push around anymore. He's frustrated that the United States has decided to extend an olive branch to the rest of the world, turning our enemies into friends or at least not creating any new enemies.

I started to wonder why Dick Cheney is getting so worked up over everything. He's retired, for goodness sake! Now is the time for him to enjoy golf or hunting...well, maybe not hunting. Could it be that he has a new book that he's releasing soon and is trying to drum up publicity? Maybe. Will he team up with Donald Rumsfeld to start their own right wing radio show and try to overthrow Rush? The known unknowns aren't known. Why is Dick Cheney so angry inside? Because he is actually Major Arnold Toht, the Nazi in Raiders of the Lost Ark! Your true identity is revealed Mr. Cheney...or should I say, Major Toht.

Don't believe me? Check out some of the photos I've found and you be the judge:

Here's Dick Cheney at Barack Obama's inauguration. See the sinister look on his face. It's the, "I'll-get-you-Obama-if-it's-the-last-thing-I-do" look.



Here he is as his alter ego, Major Arnold Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Same sinister look.

"Smile at Hugo Chavez, will you? Talk to Iran? Never."
His face gets melted off at the end, by the way.

Easter Weekend in California 2009

The flight home to California was a pretty smooth one as far as flights go. My wife and I left Charlotte the Thursday before Easter, landed in Dallas/Fortworth, took another flight to Fresno and met my parents. I haven't flown into the Fresno airport in about 14 years when I took a trip with my church youth group to a youth convention in Memphis. That was my first experience of the South. It was August and we stepped out the of cool confines of the Memphis airport and got smacked upside the head by the humidity. Granted, where I'm from, temperatures reach triple digits throughout the summer, but we never had the humidity that the Southerners have.

So we walked through the airport and spotted my parents just beyond the security gate. I was nervous to see them. I hadn't seen them since early December and wasn't sure what kind of emotions would be in the air when we arrived. There were a few tears, but they didn't last long.

Immediately after leaving the airport my Dad took us all to a little Mexican restaurant in a barrio in Fresno. Ahh, Mexican food, how I missed you...

In Exeter, my hometown, the rainy season was a short one, so the spring green hills surrounding the town were already beginning to turn brown. The slight smell of orange blossoms drifted in the air. In June the aroma is strong and hangs heavy in the warm evening air.

Friday morning I was able to take part in our family's Easter golf tournament. I used to play golf everyday as a kid, but stopped when I had to start paying for my own rounds. Golf is expensive, man. Now I play once a year only for our tournament. I missed last year's so my joints and muscles were even stiffer for this round.

Family Golf Tournament--Lemoore, CA (Jeremy, crouching. Stephanie, putting. Steve, background.)

Cousin Jeremy contemplates going pro.

l. to r. - Tia Mary Ann, Cousins Stephanie, Jeremy, Steve

Saturday morning came around and our family met at Burris Park. We've been getting together at Burris Park for the family picnic since before I was born, so at least 32 years. As a kid, the anticipation of the day at the park almost ranked up there with Christmas morning. My brother and I could not wait. Burris Park is a county park, nestled far back in the country, surrounded by farm land. It's a grove of ancient Valley Oak trees and green lawn. The family spends several hours out there playing volleyball, softball, frisbee, flying kites, hunting for Easter eggs--you name it.

Sunday, my wife and mom headed up Rocky Hill for the Easter sunrise service. There is nothing like watching the sun come up over the foothills spreading it's light into the valley below. We sang hymns and prayed and thanked God for so many gifts and blessings.

We headed home then over to the Exeter Veterans Memorial building for the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast. My dad's in Kiwanis, has been for years, and is usually working at the breakfast on Sunday morning. This year he was on bacon detail.

In the early afternoon, my mom and Jessica and I drove into the hills, far into the hills, to find a trail to one of the most amazing lower elevation hiking trails that I've ever been on in the Sequoia National Park. The Ladybug Falls Trail:

Jess and mom

wild flowers

Ladybug Falls

The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range

Monday came quickly indeed. It was the day we were leaving. The morning flew by as we finished packing. We decided to make a quick stop off at a local restaurant for breakfast in the nearby town of Visalia where we met my dad. Then we all hoped into the car and off to Fresno for our 11:30 flight. In the airport, we all hugged good-bye, shed a few more tears, and Jess and I boarded the plane.

California

Easter is almost here! I hope everyone has a good time this weekend. I'm actually going to be on a plane tomorrow morning bound for the homeland--California, to see my family. I haven't seen them since I moved out here in December and I'm looking forward to it. I'll try to slip in a post while I'm gone, but don't hold your collective breath. Hopefully I'll have some photos to post after the trip as well. Thanks for checking out The Californian.