Turino

sun was shining today
and that is a good thing

yesterday it rained cats and dogs
and while i like rain sometimes
i like sun all the time.

we traveled from germany
but we traveled to the part of
italy possibly the most like germany
rather reserved, composed
don’t get me wrong-
i AM in italy!
but a rather calm italy
it’s a mild transition
a kind transition

we are staying in a hotel that
looks out into a courtyard
and i hear kids- talking loudly-
screaming bloody murder sometimes
“aiuto! aiuto!!” when i am certain
they are not really in need of auto.

the show was at a shopping mall!
the closest i have come
to playing a shopping mall
was playing vegas with rufus.
we played inside the
hard rock cafe
inside the casino.
it was surreal to say the least.

but this was actually gorgeous
outside with the sun and the sky

i did a radio interview with sara
from inside the mall and then
wandered around afterwards.
inside was the most gigantic carrefour
-a city-sized carrefour-
there was an entire aisle
just for yogurt.
i got out as quickly as humanly possible.

speaking of things to buy,
i do have a taste for italian liquirizia
there is nothing like it
the netherlands make a good one too
the dutch like salty and smoky
but the italian kind is my favorite
not too sweet
with such a beautiful flavor
i stock up with as much as i can carry
so i have enough until i am in italy again.

i like the saila brand, extra forte, of course.
i can find it everywhere.
i found another brand called tabu
that has stunning packaging
and in the mall i found some
natural brand in the bio store.
i might have enough now.

one of the best things about liquirizia
is that it turns your tongue black.
black edibles are just good fun.

show was so good.
crowd was FANTASTIC!

the first time i ever played torino
was on the REAL LIFE tour
we were opening for the strokes
italy had just won the 2006 world cup
the crowd was so big i couldn’t see the end of it
and they were chanting that white stripes song
that had become the football anthem that year
and yelling “STROKES! STROKES! STROKES!”
it was such a scary sound!

this was one of the times in my life
that i felt real fear about how the show would go.
i was thinking- these people don’t know who i am
and they don’t want to hear anything but the strokes
and i am going to get booed off the stage.

my heart was racing
but when i got on
people quieted down
and listened.
i couldn’t believe it.
i was so relieved and a little shocked
when i got off i collapsed on the ground
looked up at the sky and said thank you.
i figured i’d be covered in rotten fruit
or something worse

so i guess this is a good time to say
THANK YOU TURINO
FOR NOT PUMMELING ME
WITH ROTTEN TOMATOES