Q. How do you know, with your eyes closed, that you have arrived at an airport in continental Europe?
A. The smoke.
Our BA flight arrived a little late, but a Virgin representative was waiting patiently to bring me to this hotel overlooking the lake. Alex of Shooter Promotions was kindly waiting in the hotel lobby for my late arrival last night, and is present today.
A variation on the above question
Q. How do you know with your eyes closed, when you have arrived at an airport in Italy, that you are standing in a no smoking zone?
A. You don't, and you can't.
The first 2 hours of my interview day, with VH1, now completed I have until 14.00 to refresh my wilting psyche. The 13.00 fell through. I didn't sleep much last night - this body is still not committed to any particular time zone - so I got up at 06.30.
Meanwhile, I am heroically attempting to get online. Anyone trumpeting the arrival of the internet to Europe should travel a little. Even in the US internet penetration is only 23.6% (cf Argentina 1.6%). Statements by the UK Prime Minister & Deputy PM last week, to make local access cheaper, caused a fall in British Telecom's share price. My sense is that high speed net access will probably develop via tv satellites. Mr. Murdoch has begun to group his satellite television companies into one overall body in anticipation of this.
21.38
Eventually I got online. Let us please not pretend that the net is easily available in Europe. The `phone socket connector is a different standard to both the US & the UK. It's not possible in this hotel to dial an outside line from a computer - you dial the line on the telephone, which doesn't have a dataport - and then hit the "start" button to access Compuserve. The national number for Germany provided by Dan the Good didn't work, so then it was a question of local access through Hamburg. But Compuserve UK didn't provide the "0" at the beginning of the number (obtained by Laura at DGM World Central). I tried via Bremen, the UK, all manner of permutations, and after around 90 minutes managed to get on. Then the connection fell apart in mid-retrieval of 25 e-messages. Let's toast the future, dude.
"Starless" from KC's last gig in NY Central Park is werning away in my head as I QWERTYise. This is Collectors' Club No.10. Alex has instructed me to listen and give it a seal of approval, or otherwise. "Talking Drum" is now hotsying along. Approval.
The 17.00 interview was cancelled, and also tomorrow's 10.00. Only 5 hours of interviews! Just like a holiday. A tasty dinner in the hotel. Alex the Hero Promoter arrived back at the hotel after an afternoon's work in the local Shooter Promotions office and I had a very enjoyable listen to a caring promoter's interests and concerns. In Germany this centers mainly on two issues: withholding tax & a lack of suitable venues.
"A completion is a new beginning."
