My Icoon Book - I wish I had it in my dreams.

I'm back, and I just woke up around 5 AM again,
as I am still adjusting to the time change.
I woke up in the middle of a dream where I
was in a train station in a remote part of Germany
and everyone spoke a bizarre language and no
German. The floor was like a Tetris puzzle
and I couldn't communicate with anyone where
I needed to go.

If only I had my Icoon book!

I got a copy of this at Jenna's product show
and it is quite the amazing book.
The same size as a passport, but thicker,
it fits in your pocket and is a global picture dictionary.
So, when you find yourself in a foreign nation
and you need to tell the doctor that you
have been vomiting, just point to the picture.
Or if you want broccoli, salmon, or need the police...
just show someone the Icoon book and point.

Brilliant! Browse their website check it out.

prague to berlin to munich then home

what up everyone... i'm back in berlin after spending some time in prague. here are a couple observations on praha:

1. downside: they don't stamp your passport anymore! they are more lax now, so no armed czech border guards with m16 machine guns when entering the country. bummer!
2. upside: they are still on their own currency, the koruna. so, it's not generic like the euro... long live the local currency!
3. downside: touristy! this is no prague that i visited 6 years ago... at least not anywhere near the center. it is now on par with the most tourist city centers. the days of dive bars and cheap awesome food and underground hip bars near the old town are long over. however, i you get off the beaten path, there are some cool locations to check out. maybe i experienced it on the tail end of the golden age? kracow was like prague years ago... more locals and not yet over commercialized. which kind of brings up the thought that every city or district probably has a golden age... a time before gentrificaton... or, maybe the very first stage of gentrification when the artists move in, things are really cheap, and free spirits bound. when places are in the stage, like east nashville, that is the area that is the most exciting for me. there's such an energy. ANYWAY, i digress.
4. upside: prague is still absolutely beautiful.

so now i'm back in berlin where i just had the most providential meeting with some friends. so, my friend caroline tells me of her friends living in berlin... jady and liza. so, they graciously offer to let me sleep at their place and we hit it off and hang out and find out some crazy things. get this... they are friends with caroline... liza is a cousin of my friend susy (scott and susy in encinitas), and jady knows my friend peter b in nashville. WHAT? this is unreal. i've know so many similar people... and the connections are so numerous. it's like all my worlds know jady and liza... so bizarre! it incredible, and they are the most gracious and cool people. we're having an fantastic time.

anyway, i'm going to munich tonight and i have a an overnight layover so i'm going to attempt to go to the hofbrau haus (sp?). wish me luck. be back on sunday.

seeya!

(pictured above are jady and i toasting some becherovka after a night of dinner and wine at a cool marxist type vibed berlin establishment... it was pay what you want to contribute, which was cool)

dziekuje, danke, and however you say it in czech !

dziekuje (jen-koo-ya), dziekuje... thank you poland.

i haven't been to the computer much, but here's a little update on my trip. no photos, but they will follow when i get back.

The trip has been divided into 3 destinations: berlin, krakow, and prague... here are some notes on each...

BERLIN:
The are cities you can wander and cities where you can and Berlin is definitely the former. Here's how it went... Jenna and I would start exploring the town at night and looking to have a beer.
1. start wandering
2. end up in the abyss... aka... not a pub in sight... just big grey buildings
3. end up in some kind of platz... or modern outdoor mall in the middle of the city. new commerial area that was lame.

We were actually starting to get down on Berlin for the lack of nightlife... but then a particular part of town saved the day...

Kreutzberg!

Mix tons of graffiti with a bunch of artistic dive bars, and add some young people and really really cheap beer, and you have the revolution of Kreutzberg. It was awesome! Abd Jenna and I also have some tales of the currywurst to tell you later!

KRAKOW:

After finding Kreutzberg and exploring some other things in Berlin (like the Wall, etc), Jenna and I caught a night train to Krakow, Poland. We had heard bad stories of night trains... either people not getting any sleep or getting something stolen, but for us it was perfect... but we did have one adventure getting on the train.

For some reason, no one spoke english at the Berlin train station, and the ticket kiosk would not let us purchase a ticket to krakow. so, we got on the train and had no idea what was going on... so, the attendant asks us to pay after the train has left and we have no cash! they also don't take credit. so, when the train stops i have to run out and get money and spring back! and when i tried to use the atm, it denied me the first time! so, we almost had a mishap... but it worked out.

Krakow was fantastic. It was cheap, beautiful, full of some really cool bars and restaurants, and really friendly. It is not yet a tourist driven town, but is getting there... so, it was very legit. jenna and i love poland. kasmierez is the former jewish district that was really fascinating... loved it!

ok, gotta run. more later!

Space Capone Update

Space Capone just got a glowing review from the Nashville Scene that you can find HERE.

If you're in Nashville, keep an eye out for my photos in the Nashville Rage and Nashville Scene publications.

Peace, talk to you from the streets of Poland!

europe

did i mention i am going to germany and poland on thursday?

yep!

Another shot from the Space Capone Photo Shoot...

(click to enlarge)

THINGS TO CHECK OUT / THINGS I THINK ABOUT

U2
3D

FIND A THEATER HERE

JFK’s DAUGHTER ENDORSES OBAMA

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. Instead of bombarding people with advertisements, fill them with messages of affirmation.

MERCURY IN SUSHI – Worth it?

space capone will change your life

here is a photo i recently took of SPACE CAPONE.
if you don't know about SPACE CAPONE,
get ready to be catapulted into the next stratosphere.
check it out... his album hits itunes on 2/1.
here's a sample....

-rusty

xavier rudd - live at the boulder theater

"didge times didge"

if anyone gets the chance to
check out xavier rudd, do it.
white moth is an excellent album as well.
this is a photo i took, manipulated to show the
power of the didge, as he calls it.

natural and urban

by rusty.

New Hampshire: McCain Wins, Hillary Wins (Boo)

Looks like Senator Clinton won in New Hampshire, which frankly, sucks. Maybe it was because she cried yesterday on television... which is pure BS because she has cried now 2x since being behind in the polls. Funny what you'll change after 6 months when the polls show you losing. She makes me want to throw up.

Obama gave a great concession speech... he's still in the race and and hopefully South Carolina will hold a decisive victory. He's a uniter, a man who could bring the country in a new positive direction.

On the other side of the aisle, another unifying spirit came through.... John McCain. I will gladly go the way of McCain if Clinton gets the nomination. McCain is a straight talker and even though I do not like his position with the war, he speaks what he believes and has conviction and character... unlike Hillary. And, he has a sharp sense of humor and can do a live interview and answer tough questions without a script, unlike the current president. Remember the days when presidents would have press conferences and actually answer questions? Yeah, not anymore. McCain can, and does it with honesty and humor.

Anyway, South Carolina is next. Go Obama!

Obama Wins in Iowa!

How about that? Obama takes first, Edwards second, and Hillary third!

And did you hear his speech? He's full of hope, extremely patriotic, and speaks of bringing America together... I love it. You could hear the spirit of Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr in his words.

"Years from now, you'll look back and you'll say that this was the moment, this was the place where America remembered what it means to hope. For many months we've been teased, even derided, for talking about hope. But we always knew hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it."

Here is the speech in it's entirety.

There's something about hearing him speak that opens my eyes and blows me away.... it's akin to a U2 show, when Bono rules the catwalk and inspires you with a sense that the world is bigger than you... a moment where hope and the greater things come to the forefront of your mind.

Let's hope the momentum carries through New Hampshire and that he picks up the big independent vote there, then the black vote in South Carolina sways toward his side. This guy might be the brightest most competent presidential candidate we see in years... support Obama!