A Life of Surprises

February has been a very interesting month. Stimmt.

A month ago, I lamely attempted to clean the apartment prior to the expected arrival of McKee, but lost interest after a quick whisk about with the hoover, and spent the evening in the pub, as I do most Friday nights.

Though I stayed out way too late, I roused myself early Saturday and took the S-Bahn over to the airport. Although I wasn't feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed, I did feel pretty fired up: my first visit from someone other than my parents.

I noticed Chris' trademark red jacket as he exited customs, but thought it odd and coincidental that the woman immediately behind him looked a whole lot like his wife Lori.

As realization set in, I started to smile and panic at the same moment. Lori had made a surprise visit, which was ultra cool. The fact that I'd not been so thorough in cleaning my flat was not.

Never mind, there would be plenty of time to scrub a dub later.

After the enthusiastic greetings, we headed back to the S-Bahn to return to Frankfurt. I was still in complete disbelief that a 2nd McKee had made the trip. What a welcome surprise!

Earlier in the week, I'd sent a quick note to Chris indicating that we'd have to do some domestic shopping on Saturday; I'd simply had no time before due to work related activity. Thus, after unloading luggage in the flat, we whisked off to Schlecker, where I stocked up on all the toilet paper, cleaning supplies, deo, and shower gel; I was long overdue for this trip. (note - paper towels are NOT suitable for toilet paper, even in the bleakest of circumstances).

The three of us found ourselves with a couple of hours to kill before the Arsenal match, which would be on television at the pub that afternoon. So, Chris and Lori elected to unload the goods, and handed me several football jerseys and scarves that I'd left behind when I vacated little Goliad. A smiling hungover Bryan cannot be the prettiest of sights, but I didn't care: I simply couldn't stop beaming.

Chris handed me a small package from Pablo (Frankfurt Airlift Zwei) which included a valentine, a newspaper article about German smoking bans, a Pablo cd mix, a Dallas DART map (specifically to be hung in the kitchen, where I spend most of my time), and a copy of the Big Lebowski. That was pretty bloody cool, I thought.

brief side note - Germany did ban smoking in restaurants and pubs last October. The stipulations for permitting smoking are similar to those of the rest of the world. Pubs of a certain size can build a "smoking" room, but obviously have to invest in the ventilation equipment, etc. Thus, smaller pubs (including my own Kneipe) are now non-smoking.

Though several businesses have complained that business has suffered, I've seen very little impact, personally. Sure, we now all go outside to puff, but it's not nearly as pathetic as non smoking magazines and newspapers try to make it out to be. In fact, there now exists "smirting," which is basically the act of chatting up someone outside of the pub. I've actually met a lot more people this way.

Anyway, on with the show.

I was already pretty excited with all the cool stuff happening (care packages rock), when Chris hands me a USB stick and said, "pop that in to your laptop."

I've always joked when answering the question, "what's the best present you ever received?" with a response along the lines of, "a bottle of Jameson and a carton of JPS," which, albeit makes a pretty good gift, doesn't begin to approach the real sentiment.

Tears came to my eyes as I discovered that I now had 8 gig of music downloading onto iTunes; Chris had managed to go through half my stateside CD collection. "I'll send the other half along when I can," he said as I checked to see what was on the stick. Unbelievable. Absolutely unexpected, and simply too cool for words. Thanks McKee. That meant a lot.

We left the download going, and headed down Bergerstrasse to check out the market and grab a coffee. Lori and Chris were quickly getting familiar with the neighborhood surroundings, and I was glad that they were getting the chance to see the weekly bustle of fellow Bornheimers doing their Saturday shopping.

After a little walk around, we headed to the pub for lunch and match time. Chris jumped right in on the John Smith's, while I opted for coffee and juice for the time being. It was going to be a pretty long day.

We got a wonderful Arsenal result, and enjoyed a very nice pub afternoon just hanging out. Chris and Lori met several of my friends that came in to watch the Frankfurt football match. Before you knew it, it was approaching 7pm, but beer was flowing, as were the conversations, and no signs of jet lag wiping out Chris or Lori.

Dinner was certainly needed, however, but first, we headed back home (30 second trip) to rest a little and check progress on the iTunes. Out came some wine and cheese which served as a nice aperitif before we headed to a local tapas bar.

I'm fortunate to live around the corner from one of the best Spanish restaurants in the city, and was pleased that we were able to get a seat in what tends to be a pretty busy spot on Saturday nights. It was quite the tasty meal, and it was rather cozy in the restaurant. (gemütlich)

After obligatory carajillos de baileys, we strolled back to the pub, where a local band was playing. The drummer for this band is a regular at the pub, and that was certainly justification for going to show support. True, the band wasn't the best, but there were plenty of regulars around, and family McKee got the real taste of what Irish Pub Bornheim is all about.

The girlfriend of the drummer and I have had a few chats before, and recently I discovered that she works for an Italian coffee company. Remembering my sister's ability at forever remaining "enchufado," I'd mentioned that I'd love to have a few little espresso cups and saucers. However, I was delighted when she came up to me Saturday night with 3 little sets. I didn't exactly try to push my luck, but while I was expressing my thanks, I mentioned how nice it would be to have a super cool espresso machine, too.

Chris showed some signs of fatigue, but we managed to rally, and the three of us closed the pub down, managing to involve ourselves in various conversations with my friends. Certainly the pints continued to flow, and we got ourselves into bed between 3 and 4.

I woke up feeling fairly rested on Sunday morning, but realized around 11am that Chris and Lori probably don't get much chance to sleep late. I quietly read emails and soccer reports and checked out all the new tunes until they surfaced at noon.

We had brunch at a popular bar down the street, then spent the afternoon enjoying a walk around the city. The weather wasn't particularly cold, more mild I'd say, but it was nice to have a scarf on (for those of us that remembered to wear one) as we explored. Frankfurt is a pretty cool city to amble around in, and we were certainly not alone on the Sunday afternoon, particularly as several areas of the city were celebrating Carnival.

Our walking tour included a nice little jaunt across the river into Sachsenhausen, where we found a nice place to have a coffee, a little rest, and see a few folks walking around in their costumes, including a rather big guy in a pink rabbit costume.

After a bit of dinner at another favorite restaurant, we called it a night.

My guests slept in again on Monday morning, which was totally fine by me. We met a friend of mine for coffee at a place called Wacker's, which is a local family owned place that has been roasting their own beans for several generations. More on that a bit later.

We certainly enjoyed a leisurely morning, then took a local train off to Bad Homburg, an affluent town close to Frankfurt. It was a nice opportunity to give a flavor of somewhere outside of metropolitan Frankfurt. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Monday evening we returned to my local to celebrate our last evening together. Lori would return to the states on Tuesday, I'd return to work, and Chris would head off to India for a couple of weeks.

We sorted out the logistics of getting each other to the right destinations early Tuesday morning, and regardless of the chaos and stress I found in the office, the McKee visit kept me on a high. Thanks kids, for coming across. I'm glad to have had the time to hang out, and look forward to your next visit.

Let it be said that my commutes to and from work have improved over the past couple of weeks now that my iPod has gotten more full. Several times I've stumbled across tracks that I haven't listened to (or thought about) in years.

When you've just recently added 400 CDs on to your rotation list, one might think that there's no real rush to add another, but you can't go to a CD release party without getting a new CD.

My Serbian friend Goran finally got his CD complete, and invited us all out to a local club a couple of Friday's ago for the release show. I've been pretty fired up about this for the past year; Goran tended to keep me updated on progress as he went through the studio process of mixing tracks, and I was looking forward to hearing the finished product.

Goran worked at my local at the first part of 2007, and now works a few shifts at another pub in town. There is some cross over between the two pubs, and it's interesting how those of us from the Bornheim local stick our heads in the Zeil from time to time, and likewise the regulars from that pub pop down to the other end of Bergerstrasse.

Both pubs had strong showings of support for the Simonout show. It was great to see the pub crowd, and helped me not to feel so much older than the rest of the crowd. Simonout has a bit of a following amongst the younger females of Frankfurt, which both amuses and surprises me. The band itself is pretty young, but they play with an energy and tightness that suggests that they've been around for longer.

I've seen the band play several times before. In fact, I think I only missed one show in Frankfurt last year, and obviously did not make it to the two festivals that they headlined at during summer. I'll look forward to going to France and Serbia some other summer.

As with most local bands I saw in Dallas, I tend to prefer to see a band play live. Studio releases have never quite been able to hold up, in my opinion. Shallow Reign and Funland releases couldn't capture the energy those shows always had. Course of Empire is a notable exception; their studio releases have a particular quality that keeps you listening (which is impressive as their shows were even nuttier than the Funland shows).

I'll go out on a limb here and make a comparison to Ten Hands. Quite the live act they were, and my favorite records are those that were recorded live.

Perhaps Simonout could do the same.

For a studio release, I'm fairly impressed with this effort. You can clearly hear how tight the band is, and Goran has a very impressive ear for melody. He did a bit of experimentation on this record, and as a result, some tracks don't quite have the same feel as they do when performed live.

However, my initial reaction after the first two listens was that they left me wanting to hear more. Willows Lane has a handful of tracks that are certainly strong, but surprising to me is that they're not the same songs that I enjoy so much during the live show.

Simonout is a super high energy band that mixes a lot of punk, funk, and rock and roll. It's difficult to compare them to any other group, and that's a really good thing. Goran has impressive stage presence, and equally has an impressive vocal range. You'd easily recognize his influences, which come from Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Morrissey, and the guy from Marion.

The show was great, and it was nice to congratulate Goran on a good performance. I've now got a copy of the CD signed by the band, and am proud to have it in rotation on the iPod.

Hands down, February has been a very good months, driven heavily by these two key events. The rest of the month has been equally enjoyable, though, as I've spent time staying out too late in the pub, playing chess, and getting back into shape. (er, I realize that I just mentioned too much pub time and getting fit in the same sentence)

A couple of birthday parties are set for early March, which will be nice practice for St Pat's. Bornheim is just a pretty cool place to live.

Throw in some awesome coffee from Wacker's and a freshly cleaned toilet, and, yep, you've got it, life is pretty OK.

keep the faith
bryan

soundtrack:
Simonout - Willows Lane (entire CD)
Wire - In vivo
and much more...

parting words - Pablo, thanks for the chat, and I'll explain more in detail about how all the girls I seem to know here have names that begin either with N or S. It's made for a few embarrassing text messages already.