I know it’s over

# 1 — Breakfast in Bow with Rebecca and Victoria

#2 — Pool party at the apartment complex

#3 — Craig gives a dance lesson to the tune of “Holland, 1945″

#4 – Marina says farewell to Glasgow

Add a comment January 13, 2009

As promised

#1 — Craig und Scott (Matthew), on Munich’s public transport.

#2 — From the window of “Very Important Clothes”, Stockholm.

#3 — Tired mit latte, Hamburg.

Love,

Greg

Add a comment January 8, 2009

I’m so excited

Dear Julie, David, and Ted,

We leave for London tonight after several wonderful days in Munich. It’s been really nice to have a bit of time off, which we’ve spent learning Bavarian legends about angels in beer halls and basking in the queer glow of the amazing party Monday night. I think you would have been impressed with how long I kept Marina and Greg on the dance floor after our set. I think my antics may have been too much to pass up; apparently, I have a special place in my heart for “Firestarter.”

I took two little videos that night. The first is a 16 year old from London who’s parents had to accompany her at the show, and who got sort of freaked out by the Tarot reading we more or less forced on her. The second is a short clip from the end of Stereo Total’s set, after the audience stormed the stage. I hope you enjoy this little slice of gay heaven.

Love,
Craig

Add a comment January 8, 2009

In medias res

Dear Julie, David, and Ted,

It’s 11 am here in Munich, and the ballerinas are all still asleep. Yesterday was officially a day of rest and recovery, though we did quite a bit of walking around Munich, led by our host Thomas. Munich is very historical, and I could tell you all about it but I haven’t had my coffee yet.

Last night we did what we do best — cooking dinner at Thomas’s and shooting the shit. We’re not often alone, but when we are we giggle like girls at a slumber party, and we even got in trouble last night for waking Thomas’s roommate. It can be, I have to say, a little embarrassing.  I blame Marina, who squeals when pinched.

Today we’re off to London, where we’re staying with my friends Rebecca and Victoria. Although we’ve been taken care of every step of the way, I feel a strange pride that we’ve made it this far, that we’re still taking care of each other, that we still smell pretty good — even Craig! I will confess to you that in my state of affection deprivation, I have tried at various moments to cuddle with both Craig and Marina, but my advances have been met with cries of “personal space!” and “my boundaries are beautiful!” (Julie and David, you’d be proud; Ted, could you blame me?) Even Thomas’s two cats have grown tired of my attentive petting.

I’m off to make coffee, but I promise photos in the near future.

Love,

Greg.

Add a comment January 8, 2009

Six of bones

Dear Julie, David, and Ted,

Marina says hi!!!

We’re leaving Stockholm this morning to go to Munich. We’re a little sad to be leaving, since the city is picturesque and we’ve been well taken care of here. Our hosts, Mikael and Sofia, are characteristically gracious. If they’ve noticed how loud and brash we are, they haven’t let on. It’s like a thing here.

Last night we had dinner with Emily Roysdon and Lawen, and their friends Nicholas and Devram (sp?). Craig brought his Tarot deck and everyone got a reading. Needless to say, the experience was revelatory. I’m attaching a photo of Lawen’s reading, as well as a graphic image we spied in their elevator.

We played the night before last, and the show went quite well, though the Swedes are reserved. In our brief stay here, we’ve learned that it’s quite popular to communicate indirectly through passing notes or through having your friend say something on your behalf, and we received positive feedback through both these means. I’m attaching a photo of Craig and I trying our best to return some of Stockholm’s most shy glances.

Finally, it’s very cold here. We walked around anyway, very bundled up and with Emily as our tour guide. While much of our tour required us to imagine what this place must be like in the Summer, we nonetheless feel like we experienced some of the still beauty of Stockholm in Winter. The last photo I hope illustrates this.

We miss you all very much.

Love,

Greg

Add a comment January 5, 2009

Ham, and Onion Salad

Dear Julie, David, and Ted,

We have a day off in Stockholm, and are taking advantage of our gracious hosts’ sunny living room and wifi to catch up a little on internet tasks.

In Hamburg, we learned seven different ways to say “ham,” and played a really fun show to an enthusiastic and dancey crowd. At the merch table, I found myself unable to stop talking once I got started, but everyone was friendly, even the guy who complained that we don’t have any “happy songs.”

The trip to Stockholm involved a one hour flight and several hours of bus rides through the German and Swedish countrysides, along with a few belligerent drunks yelling at me in a sort of French-Czech-German mashup from the seat behind. In Stockholm, after a delicious meal of vegetarian lasagna and a reunion with our new york friend Emily Roysdon, we regaled the attentive crowd with wrong chords, mixed-up lyrics, and a slow, slow slow jam. Somehow, on day two, I already have developed a quite distinctive b.o. — Greg likens it to “onion salad.” We talked to lots of people, all of whom were named Helena or Mattias. We got lost on the cab ride back, and wound up abandoned with our suitcases in the middle of a scene straight out of Let The Right One In. Luckily, we finally made our way to the apartment without incident, and I’m hoping the onion odor is close enough to garlic to keep us safe.

Love,
Craig

1 comment January 4, 2009

Ta Da!

Dear Julie, David, and Ted,

We arrived safe and sound in Hamburg this morning. Our flight was mercifully uneventful. We were met at the airport by Johannes, one of the promoters for tonight’s show. Despite having to get up at 6:30 in the morning to pick us up from the airport, Johannes was utterly polite, navigating us through the Hamburg subway system and answering all of our inane tourist questions. What is Hamburg known for? Why, it’s the biggest port city in Europe.

After a little nap at the place we’re staying (more on that later), we took to the streets. Like magnets we were drawn to the cutest cafe in the neighborhood. Everything in Germany is clean and efficient, including our hipster intuition. The cafe was overflowing with smartly dressed student types, and we fit right in, despite yelling at each other in English (in our bitchy gay voices) “I think soyamilch means soymilk!”

We’re back at the hotel now, which is not a hotel at all, but an apartment turned into an office, one of the rooms of which has three beds in it: one for each of us, conveniently. The apartment/office is cold, dingy, smells like an ashtray, and of course we are in love with it. A few moments ago we even entertained a visitor: Marco (the second promoter of tonight’s show) who stopped by to discuss the details of tonight’s schedule. Interestingly, we will be interrupting a queer dance party with our set. As Marco describes it, we will be set-up on a stage behind a theatrical curtain, and at an appropriate moment the DJ will lower the music and draw open the curtain and there we’ll be ready to play: ta da!

I’m attaching two photos. The first is of Marina, asleep in our room. The second is of Marina and Craig, sharing an intimate moment.

Love,

Greg

1 comment January 2, 2009