I wanted to share this tidbit from Jon “the music man” Krivitzky:

Watch the news. Look for any of the following headlines:

• Sea shanty group misses Germany, lands in Australia, performs anyway.
• Military flight simulator mysteriously crashes; American civilians walk away whistling
• Soldiers enjoy sultry songs by Bounding Main ladies; Valuable U.S. military hardware inexplicably missing.
• Amsterdam report – six entertainers go in, five come out.

Here we are Dear Mainiacs, at the airport. We promised frequent updates. So we just had lunch. I had a brat to get in the mood.

Hi Everzone!

(Should warn ahead – Canät find an apostrophe or colon on this computer, and the Y and Z are switched!!)

We got into Frankfurt just fine. Then Darrin Keeter met us, a verz nice lieutenant in the Navz. He met us at the airport, gave us some words of advice and walked us to our car. Then we drove four to six hours to get to Vegesack. So manz stops, I reallz donät know how long.

The Autobahn is prettz insane to be honest. There are three lanes carefullz delineated bz scared (approx 50 MPH), comfortable (approx 80 MPH) and insane (110 to 130MPH). And I am not kidding, and zes it is miles per hour and not kilometers. Dean did an awesome job navigating here, and fingers crossed he still wants to drive.

Everzone (other than David) stazed up all daz yesterday on my orders. David was feeling a little off, but I think heäs better todaz. I made everzone sing the whole time in the car.

We found our hotel with little incident. Bert Hobo (the man who planted the seed of this trip 2.5 zears ago) was right there with one of the fest organiyers, a VERZ nice woman named Brigite. Thez sat outside drinking wine while we got readz.

I am in a room bz mzself, verz nice, mz own bathroom and everzthing. Everzone else is sharing – we got three doubles and one single. Super nice hotel.

Then we all walked over to a dinner with a bunch of the other musicians. Thez asked us to sing, so we did Capital Ship and Mingulaz. Several of the musicians knew Mingulaz, so thez sang along. How lovelz to have such camaraderie and comfort so far from home! Then we just sat and chatted. But we were soooo tired, it was hard to keep our ezes awake.

We got to bed around 1030, then I woke up around 7 this morning, and I feel prettz good. Hopefullz everzone else does also.

I am going in to breakfast now, it looks to be a reallz nice spread. Mmmmmmm breakfast.

Talk soon!^

°Maggie°

This is Maggie.

We are sitting down to eat breakkie on Saturday. So what is breakfast? There is an excellent variety of pork products. Smoked pork, fried pork, sandwich pork, spiced pork, even pork with olives! There is also excellent fruit and fresh bread, several juices, coffee and tea. My favorite thing is several types of cheeses.

Mmmmm cheeeeeese.

We had a very nice show just now, sort of in the corner next to a market. The audiences here do not usually sing or clap along, but are VERY appreciative. Everywhere we stop to sing, we gather a crowd. You should have heard the applause after NW Passage. Wow. These folks are here to listen to music, and no mistake.

We were on the radio this morning, a live broadcast that actually had excellent sound – we hope to get a link or recording or something. It was outside, such a beautiful day here, and there were people standing EVERYWHERE all over this square. We were the last group to go, and after the show ended they asked us to sing one more. Everyone in the crowd applauded that and cheered!!

I donät know how possible this will be, but we got a very flattering offer to sing at a festival in Poland – and shanties are huge there. The show would be in February, which is a slow time for Bounding Main … well the crew shall have to have many discussions of this, but we will see. Wow anyway!!

We are starting to learn phrases in German. Mine is : I am hungry and I want cake. Well, it turns out those words are quite challenging, at least for me personallz. Wohlers got some … interesting … footage of me trying to learn from some very patient German women.

°Maggie°

PS John Wohlers ROCKS!

This is Maggie.

The miracle that is technology…here I sit listening to the amazing chords of Four n Aft (google them) and writing a blog post at the same time.

After all the revelry last night, we were sitting in David and Wohlers hotel chatting about the zany antics of Banana Boat (google). When suddenly we heard “DAAAYY-OOOO” across the courtyard. Well we recognized it as Na of the Banana Boat group.

So. We all seven rushed to the window and shouted “DAAAYY-OOOO”!

A few moments passed, then Na appeared at his window across the court, and we had an impromptu and rousing round of the “Banana Boat Song”.

Heaven on earth, this.

PS Na was in his skivvies. Which if you knew him, not shocking.

This is Maggie.

Between shows, we were casting about, looking around for something to do.

Luckily, Pavel (At) from Banana Boat found us and dragged us into a local pub. It was quiet, just a few people scattered about, though the windows looked directly onto the bustling crowd of the festival. This also gave us a good perspective of the setting sun and the calm water. The pub itself had an older look to it, reminiscent of something patronized by fishermen when Vegesack was a busy fishing Mecca.

Pavel was regaling us with tales of his times at sea. He is Polish but speaks English with incredible eloquence. I commented on the beautiful serenity of the view. Pavel told of his theory that when life gets too hectic, one must go to sea so that there are fewer sensory inputs and the mind can relax. He calls this “liquid reality”, a perfect descriptive. He wrote a book on the subject, in fact.

We were ruminating on this (and wishing we were that smart) when some fellows at the next table – Hooks and Crooks – began a round of “Health to the Company”. We joined in, of course, and gladly walked around the pub clinking glasses with all assembled, wrapping our arms around strangers made friends by the uniting force of the Shanty.

Another slice of Fiddler’s Green, right here on earth.

This is Maggie.

Not knowing where we were rowing, which way we were blowing OR where we were going, we blindly followed Bert Hobo out of Ridderkirk. We realized we were passing thatched roof houses, sheep, cows, canals, former wetlands, and windmills, … Windmills? Yes, we were deep in Holland and were astounded by the verdent beauty.

Passing through many picturesque windy roads, we found ourselves in Oudewater. It is a lovely town notorious for 17th century witch hunts. And also lots of cheese.

Two members of De Kaapstander, and also residents of Oudewater, Steph and Janet served as tour guides. As soon as we pulled up, Janet presented us with a witch doll on a broomstick, which made a lot more sense when we learned of the city’s dramatic history. The doll was a gift from her group to ours, exemplifying the welcome we received from all the other groups.

They took us to city hall, through some incredibly old churches, into an incredibly old pub … and then around the corner loomed a historic tall ship! Pictures, naturally, ensued. Don’t worry, Janet knows the owner and ensured us it was fine to clamber around on the galleon.

Oudewater is just stunning, with more and more beautiful sites around every corner. Thanks, Steph and Janet, for a wonderful diversion!!!

Oh, and also thanks to Bert who stuck with us and waited with a smile through our shennanigans. Though he got us back by making Dean drive our big box the wrong way down a one way street. Or at least it seemed that way!

This is Maggie. Are you surprised that I am writing the McDonalds post?

Everyone indulged my whim and agreed to go to McDonalds for dinner tonight.

Dean had the McKrokat, which was a large version of one of the snacks we had at Radio Ridderkerk. It tasted (yes of course I tried it though I ordered a trusty Big Mac) meaty and creamy, sort of like deep fried mayonnaise and sausage. Actually quite good!

The rest of us ordered more familiar fare and compared / contrasted with America. Conclusion? Pretty much just the same, the exception being that the fries were slightly different possibly due to differences in the oil used.

The bathrooms were tiny. We toasted Bert Hobo for the last time. As I read that over, it appears that I am saying we toasted Bert Hobo in the bathroom. But actually they were two separate events.

Farewell Bert and watch for him as this month’s Star Mainiac!

Hallo, it’s Maggie. We’re driving between McDonalds and Darin’s house.

A typical drive for us consists of taking turns leading everyone in song. Often the song is not well known and must be muddled through, with one person knowing half a verse, another knowing a bit more, and usually a chunk of humming. A harmony is usually attached at some point, and before you know it, a song has been sung.

Here is a partial list of tonight’s selection.

My Baby Takes the Morning Train
Sentimental Journey
Piano Man
Amble Town
Memory
Fat (Weird Al)
What the World Needs Now
Long Time Ago
Over the Rainbow
All Night Long
Red Rose
Iko Iko
Annie’s Song
Hand Over Hand
Essequibo River
Roll the Woodpile Down
We are the Champions
Gilligan’s Island
Paradise City
September Song

Eclectic, non?