Thanksgiving 2010 And Crow To Eat

This year Thanksgiving as always turned into something that was unlooked for but still welcome in ways that are still manifesting themselves. Doing Thanksgiving in Paris is an interesting proposition even on a good day and getting a large turkey was also quite an adventure but worth the chase. We had a multi-national crowd this Thanksgiving and they were all wonderful to be with and share food with. There was something for literally everyone and our final guests who are French neighbors from 2 floors up didn't arrive until everyone else had left as they're in a local choral ensemble and were at rehearsal. We still had plenty of food left and made them each a plate and then Cassie and I played a couple of songs for them which from the looks of it they enjoyed. We didn't get to bed until 1 AM Friday and Cassie had a meeting at 8 AM that she ended up being late for but overall the holiday was wonderful.

There were of course significant folks missing from either the table or Thanksgiving Day conversation this year which was a loss but still overall it was a great day.

There are occasions for all of us as humans when we either say or do things that shouldn't have ever been said or done and if anyone who's reading this knows anyone who's never done something like that I'd sure like to meet them and hear how they were able to find their through life without blowing it. I had the misfortune of doing something like that about a month ago in a moment of flash anger I should have been able to control but that got the best of me. The ensuing firestorm was necessary and I was rightfully chastened and "re-calibrated". I won't ever do that again.

As it is usually in things like this one will almost always find out what others truly think about them which is always a revelation but sometimes can be far more painful than the event that caused the revelations might have been or at least that come back at either the same intensity or higher. Those revelations have tempered me further but also brought me to a realization of who my real friends are and of and for all of them, I'm am triply blessed and humbled. I am the same imperfect person I always have been and continue to work towards a better me for all concerned.

None of us have an unlimited time on the planet and I'm most thankful for my family and friends who I most certainly would fail miserably without.

I wish everyone I know love and mercy and a joyous holiday season.

Thanksgiving is most appropriate indeed.......*

Sid

Catching Up Again

Busy times here as always with schedule changes, working on 2 different mastering projects, hiring a new cleaning lady, getting my teeth fixed, and preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas here. The twins continue on with Strayer University and are both doing real well. My brother in law Bob Tucker finished his chemo and radiation therapies (I think using therapy here is a bit of a stretch personally.......) and is now working to regain his life again after months of grueling treatments. If anyone was ever a true hero it's Bob who's always been so upbeat. It tested all of us who love him so to see him go through this.

I'm working on 2 mastering projects both of which are very close to me. Hopefully before the end of the year or early in the new year the very first Too Smooth release will happen which has been 35 years and counting www.myspace.com/toosmoothaustin for one of the greatest rock bands ever that never got to be famous. This project has been a labor of love for the last 4 years and it's very close to coming true. I'm so humbled and proud to be a part of it to help this music reach everyone like it should have so long ago.

The other project is for another influence of mine who I met briefly in the late 80s who at the time was in a band called Mose Jones who's other members I'd met and hung out with in the late 60s and early 70s in Atlanta when they were called Stonehenge. His name is Marvin Taylor and he's doing a project with a singer from the Atlanta area named Judy Browne. Sometime after this project is finished, Marvin has consented to do a project with me which will take me back into rock and roll again which is something I haven't revisited since 1981 when I sang with the Roger Wilson Band.

We now have a new cleaning lady after all that was written about our travails in that arena this past summer. She's from the Philippines and her name is Cathy and she kicks ass plus she speaks English! She came to us through an agency here called DIP which is run by an amazing African lady from Ghana named Gifty who's as beautiful as she is cool.

Cassie continues to be slammed at work but is enjoying it immensely and is really settling in to her new job. We're all so proud of her and happy that she's fulfilled in her career.

Over the last couple of months I accidentally bit the inside of my mouth perhaps as far back as August. Usually when that happens there's a knot for a while and then it goes away. This time the knot didn't go away and recently grew into something that shouldn't be there which I can honestly say scared me a lot. Last Monday I called the American Hospital here to inquire about getting an appointment with an oral surgeon and they saw me the same day. Again, so much for the screaming TEA Party folks who think that everyone here has to wait for care. I was seen by a Dr Davarpanah who immediately told me that my growth wasn't cancer (whew..........*) but that I had problems in my mouth and I naturally had to eat cold crow as I hadn't been to the Dentist in many years. There's a story to that but it doesn't bear telling in here. Suffice to say, Dr Davarpanah is going to fix everything in my mouth and no visit there can ever go higher than 300 euros which of course we're going to have to submit to our insurance back home who will remain un-named as I have a very low opinion of them. Cassie assured me as did the doctor that all of my fears of dentists will be taken away chemically while they have their way with me. There will be more on this as things happen.
Any way you slice it, it should be a party.......*

What can I say about the twins and Strayer University? That they're both thriving in this online environment and the decision to enroll them there was one of the best I ever made. By the time we get back to the US they'll be far more prepared to go back to a brick and mortar school as their confidence levels are so much higher now and their grade averages reflect that.

So all is well with us. Over the next week, we start on Christmas and Thanksgiving. There will be a Thanksgiving entry that will feature photos of food and friends. Unfortunately, I won't get to go kill extra possums for this one. I guess that will have to wait till we get back.

Have a great Thanksgiving.........

Love to all everywhere.........

A bientot,

Sid

Algerian Folk/Rock But Not Rockin The Casbah

Last night was another musical first for me in Europe. I am familiar with some Algerian music particularly some of the "Rai" Singers like Cheb Mami. The show we saw here in a small music hall in Pigalle was female Algerian singer/songwriter named Souad Massi with her band at "La Cigale" which is about the size of the National in Richmond but perhaps a little smaller. I never did catch who the opening act was but they obviously had just thrown their band together or they had a fill in drummer. They weren't tight although there were obviously a lot of Algerians in the audience who were very forgiving and clapped their asses off none the less.

It should also be noted here that almost no place we've been like movie theaters and now concert venues have seating for anyone over 5'5" which means that someone who's 6'2" is left feeling like I'm sitting in the back seat of a Mazda Miata which get's pretty crampy later on in the evening. One other thing that was notable was the almost total lack of stage planning as far as Souad's set progressed that manifested itself in some pretty blatant incidents telegraphing confusion on stage that included one of her guitars brought to her totally out of tune that she had to walk off stage with to try that song later. The stage crew kept hooking mics up for one song and then unhooking them immediately only to have to do it again 3 songs later. Through it all Souad Massi and her understated but powerful band started slowly but built up into a full out rock and roll jammin show. Personally, I would have mixed it differently but she may have been stuck with the house mixer.

As the music got more intense the Algerian women in the audience started "ululating" which is the high pitched keening that Arabic Women do when they're excited or mourning or for who knows what. It made for quite the sound-scape at times during the show and of course Souad sang primarily in Algerian which is for the most part Arabic which neither Cassie or I speak. I had to reprogram my DNA to get used to hearing Arab sounding guitar riffs which was not too hard to do but still took some real getting used to and honestly this music isn't something I would have ever purchased on my own.

We ate dinner in an "Indiana Grill" which is part of an American tinged franchise in Paris that served of all things Tex/Mex food of which I was never aware that Indiana was famous for. The food was fair and delivered quickly which worked great. I guess the next time I'm in Indiana I'll need to look for Tex/Mex.

All in all it was a great night.

Paradoxes And The Return Of The All And Powerful OZ

The trip to the Prefecture de Police this last week was a success but not due to anything I or the twins did but because of the lawyer assigned to us was with us last Tuesday when we arrived there to collect Kian and Niall's "temporary Recippises" (I'm sure I just spelled that wrong). Those are essentially an extension of their current passport extended visas to enable them to obtain their student "Carte de Sejours" which again is the French version of the American
"Green Card". The lady that greeted us (and I use this term very lightly) was the soul sister of the original all and powerful OZ Cassie and I met at the French Consulate in Georgetown last February except this one wasn't behind a window and we were viewed with a disdain I'd almost forgotten about until last Tuesday. Our attorney Christelle took one look at her and basically took over speaking rapidly and forcefully in French to an apparently not so all and powerful oz and really earned her money that morning (I hear her firm charges a very premium fee for her services) and all forms were duly signed, stamped, and handed over to us and low and behold, the all powerful oz smiled as we all told her "merci" and bon journee which I think surprised her. Go figure, the Americans actually spoke a little French.

The next step for the twins will be a physical at OFII near Bastille where aferward they'll get their Student Carte de Sejours after approximately 700 euros changes hands which Christelle explained to us was a "tax". Then, like me, the twins will have to renew these every year by presenting ourselves at the Prefecture de Police yearly and paying more money until we leave.

Naturally while all of this was happening the elections back home were also happening and although I've followed them with online news sources this year all of us completely missed the screaming and yelling and lying advertisements that cater to the absolute lowest common denominators in our society which also included the so called robo calls which I guess someone of questionable intelligence thinks will somehow sway people to change their votes at the last second.

The paradox for me and others in this election is that a large group of voters decided to vote a bunch of people into office who's stated goal is almost exclusively to run interference on Barak Obama. Absolutely none of them have any new ideas to help the country out of the mess it's in that was almost exclusively the fault of the previous administration's fostering fewer safeguards regarding the financial health of the country through less oversight and basically letting the market take care of itself which resulted in the near meltdown of our entire financial infrastructure. Much has been made by these folks as a need to "take the country back" but they're never specific about who or what they're taking it back from but I'm reasonably sure that it has everything to do with the president being black and almost nothing to do with either the deficit, health care, or Nancy Pelosi. As a rule I will never use this blog as a platform for any kind of political statement but I can only call it as I see it. The thinking amongst the French and others in the EU is that the USA still yearns for the time when anyone there could own slaves and the fact that Barak Obama is president makes all of those people completely insane to the point they'd do just about anything to make sure he's not elected again in fact the incoming house majority leader has already emphatically stated just that.

Pretty sad stuff in a time when everyone needs to pull together to get the country back on track again. Although we weren't even remotely fans of George W. Bush, we never regarded him in the way the current crop of crazies are reacting to the current president.

Let's just say that the perspective from here is clearer and not too favorable as far as the rest of the civilized world regards the American political process these days.

Have a great day wherever you are and make sure that whoever you voted for actually DOES something in congress.

Love to all even if you voted to take us back to the 1700s.

Sid

Busy Times

Hello folks. Been pretty bus around here but have been productive. We've also entered into the final phases of getting the twins their Carte de Sejours (residency cards) which begins next Tuesday. The last month seemed such a whirlwind with guests galore and a lot of partying, dining out, running all over the place and being with old friends which was marvelous. Of course after all of that slowed down everyone was tired and at times hung over (me..........). I don't think the next wave of visitors comes until after the new year.

While out last night we noticed Xmas lights on an apartment balcony and came to the realization that the holiday season is upon us. This will definitely be a new experience for us and in that past few weeks the heat had to be turned on with temps going below freezing in the early morning hours.

Cassie spent an inordinate amount of money (not for publication in here......*) on her new glasses here but was wowed by how much better they fit and how light they are. We received many many emails from friends back home and in other places wanting to know if we were safe in all of the strikes, demonstrations, and riots here but none of us ever really saw anything and thankfully never got a whiff of tear gas either. It's pretty amazing how the 24 hour news cycle views those things although one of the gas stations we walked past about a week ago was shut down due to no gas from the refineries and was being guarded by police.

Speaking of guarded by the police, Cassie and I had to go the American Embassy here again yesterday to get bank documents notarized and the security there had changed completely from what it was this past summer when we were there with Kian and Niall to get their criminal background check paperwork notarized. This time the credit card machine worked but I had a pocketful of Euros just in case. Let's just say that the entire embassy grounds on all sides were surrounded by a cordon of French Gendarmes and inside it was a maze of checkpoints where our cell phones and anything else the guards wanted were left for us to pick up on our way out. Everyone there was very courteous but also very business like. Of course Osama Bin Laden has specifically threatened the French now in lieu of the Bourka Ban and so the security threat level here has been very high. There are troops in the streets and I guess someone threatened to destroy the Eiffel Tower a while back too.

I finally got a cell phone the day the twins accidentally locked us out of the apartment as we only have 2 keys and getting extra's here is sort of like get an extra car key (most are now computerized) that would cost a fortune and that we'd have to go through the apartment management company here which is essentially the same thing as talking with people who either can't or won't respond.

Cassie and our pal Susan Hess are hosting a Halloween Party for their respective teams here with costumes and 4 dozen cupcakes that were baked here last night. It seems the French don't do Halloween at least not like Susan does so today they're in for a real treat.

That's the news for today. I promise to be back sooner next time. Make sure you have plenty of treats for the kids. I won't be able to meet them this year like I usually do with our hose.
Shucks!

A bientot!

Sid

Important Performance Today

Our friend Sabine has a good friend here who is dying of breast cancer that spread throughout the rest of her body. She's a doctor and for those of you who know doctors, they are absolutely the worst patients and also take being seriously ill far worse than the average person simply because they know too much....... I promised Sabine a couple of weeks ago that I'd play for her friend and today is the day..... I worked in health care for well over 20 years both in and out of the military and in those years I worked with and watched many people die from things like cancer, aids, spinal cord injuries and other things and even today I'm certain later on that I'll cry after meeting this person.

I will endeavor to project my humanity onto her as much as I can today. And....it is an honor to do this for her....*

Make sure to tell everyone that you love that you love them today.....* I will most certainly with mine.....

Love to all everywhere.

sid

Catching Up

Our dear friends Jan and Gary Turbes arrived last Friday morning in the middle of the biggest strikes Paris and France in general have seen in decades over the government's efforts to raise the retirement age here from 60 to 62. If you follow this blog you'll remember Jan had been in fight with breast cancer earlier this summer and we decided to bring her here for short vacation in Paris to boost her spirits and of course to show our love for her and her family who have been so very important to us in the past 15 years.

To say it's been a blast with them here is an understatement and Jan has been joyous in her exploration of Paris, the food and wine, and overall feeling of the place. She'd been here before with her daughter Emily on a short tour years ago but to come and just hang out with people who actually live here with no real schedule was relaxing for her and her husband Gary and they got to do things that they wanted to do. It made all of us very very happy to do this for her and to see her so happy. They're currently in Rome exploring there and are back this Friday evening for another 2 evenings and then back to Sioux City.

I'll expound on the whole adventure after this coming weekend and will include pictures too.

Tuesday this week Teresa Weinmeister came from Lynchburg to stay for 3 days while attending a conference with Cassie this week so it really feels like "The Inn" has been open......but a large time has been had by all.

Will write again soon.

Love to all everywhere.....

Sid