11.34
Hotel Acceptable, Milan.
Morning View I…
II…
The Happy Gigster Prepares to Leave I…
Our national promoter visited my room to say goodbye, and hoped that I had enjoyed the tour. This began a conversation which could not be brief, and so was not undertaken. But, enjoy is not the best word to describe my subjective response to the past 10 days; and this impression was conveyed, even if briefly.
Then, a call from the front desk at 10.45: Sr. Someone to speak to me. As this was not a name I knew, the call was not accepted. As a younger Gigster, I would have answered the call, even not knowing the caller’s name. Nowadays, with more developed Gigster’s Instinct, I decline. This morning’s caller was a journalist who had come, unbidden & uninvited, to the hotel.
Our final meeting of the Tour was held in the Basement, at 11.00. Martin had already left for the airport, and an empty chair was placed for him. Only a few comments were offered. This included an observation by our Production Manager, that Soundscapes & The LCG began apart, and grew together. My own declared aim at the beginning of this tour: to see to what extent live performance is part of my life as a professional musician. If this aim were addressed specifically to Italy, on the basis of this tour, the answer is not a lot.
Comments were made on the next two possibilities for our work together: February & April 2007. Our tour was declared completed, and the tour of Italy finished, at 11.27.
A recurrent feature of the past 10 days has been to see that what, to an Englishman, would be called a lie, dishonesty or deception, in Italy is a misunderstanding. These misunderstandings accompany the “ordinary” misunderstandings that, to an Englishman, are simply mistakes & cock-ups; to an American working pro, these would be referred to as fuck-ups. Italy is a wonderful country to visit, and a terrrible place to work.
12.28 John & I are in the lobby, waiting for our taxi. It has arrived. It has arrived, sure enough, but not at our hotel: it is at last night’s venue, 14 km away. How this happens is astonishing, but not surprising. A misunderstanding has taken place.
Crafties are milling in the lobby. Most have to spend all day in Milan before catching evening flights. Sr. Nunez is being interviewed by the Sr. Someone, the journalist who turned up at the hotel.
21.09 Bredonborough.
Home with the Minx! Yippee!
A final report on Italy: as John & I were leaving our hotel in Milan, Hernan split off from his interview with Sr. Someone to say goodbye. As we were making farewells within the LCG Team, the journalist came forward, pushed himself into our family affair, and began the one question I would like to ask…
This is a simple example of rudeness & arrogance; that behaviour such as this is commonplace is no excuse, no amelioration. This man was in a family context, in which he had inserted himself uninvited where, nevertheless, he was being given attention & politeness. To intrude upon the farewells of family members was improper. But, as a journalist, perhaps he felt he had the right to be discourteous & intrusive. And perhaps this was merely a misunderstanding.
The recent No Smoking legislation in Italian enclosed public spaces seems to be widely honoured. In the airport, however, it has turned the male toilet into a de facto smoking chamber.
Straightforward travelling, albeit crowded. Landing around 17.00, driving to Bredonborough arriving around 20.05.
Yippee!
"The presence of absence is an entry into loss."
