Monday, September 01, 2003
Third Time's a Charm
Today I saw a complete rainbow. That may not sound so amazing, but I've only seen three COMPLETE ones in my life and all of them have been here in Europe. I don't know WHY I never saw a complete one in America, but I never did. The first one that I saw was in France and the Europeans that I was driving with thought I was very strange to stop the car to marvel at the rainbow. They didn't believe me that I'd never seen a complete one. The second was in Ostrava, Czech Republic and the third was today in Mainz.
Not only did I see a complete rainbow, but for the first time I saw the complete SECONDARY rainbow. Now that really must be rare. I've seen a little bit of the secondary rainbow (it's much fainter and larger than the main rainbow) before, but always a portion was missing. The one today shifted into and out of focus with sections appearing and disappearing until - for just a few seconds - the entire double arc was complete.
Imagine what prehistoric men must have thought when they saw rainbows. They are indisputably beautiful so they probably thought of them as good omens, especially since they accompany rain, and rain means bounty. Imagine also their wonder and confusion that they could never walk fast or far enough to get to the base of the rainbow. I'm surprised that in the cave paintings in France that those men didn't paint a rainbow or two.
While I'm not superstitious, I choose to believe that the one today was a good omen.
Today I saw a complete rainbow. That may not sound so amazing, but I've only seen three COMPLETE ones in my life and all of them have been here in Europe. I don't know WHY I never saw a complete one in America, but I never did. The first one that I saw was in France and the Europeans that I was driving with thought I was very strange to stop the car to marvel at the rainbow. They didn't believe me that I'd never seen a complete one. The second was in Ostrava, Czech Republic and the third was today in Mainz.
Not only did I see a complete rainbow, but for the first time I saw the complete SECONDARY rainbow. Now that really must be rare. I've seen a little bit of the secondary rainbow (it's much fainter and larger than the main rainbow) before, but always a portion was missing. The one today shifted into and out of focus with sections appearing and disappearing until - for just a few seconds - the entire double arc was complete.
Imagine what prehistoric men must have thought when they saw rainbows. They are indisputably beautiful so they probably thought of them as good omens, especially since they accompany rain, and rain means bounty. Imagine also their wonder and confusion that they could never walk fast or far enough to get to the base of the rainbow. I'm surprised that in the cave paintings in France that those men didn't paint a rainbow or two.
While I'm not superstitious, I choose to believe that the one today was a good omen.
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Chris Paulson Comes to Mainz
Chris has visited Mainz a number of times since I've lived here and each prior visit was associated with his staunch anti-war stance. While I disagree with him, we exchanged lengthy emails and he made several good points to defend his position. In his last email he invited me to come up to speak to him during his next visit to Mainz. This time I did. Chris is originally a Californian from the Bay area and he has lived in Germany for the past 16 years raising his sons and playing his acoustic brand of music around Germany. While he claims that his guitar playing is technically deficient, it doesn't sound like it to ME. He has an excellent voice well suited to a single acoustic guitar. Dylan, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen are staples. His rendition of Cohen's "Hallelujah" was excellent.
Unlike most street musician Chris uses a set of Bose speakers that makes a world of difference from every other street musician you're likely to hear. I saw him as it was growing dark and he asked me to hang around to chat while he put his equipment away. He told me that most towns in Germany don't allow amplifiers and yet that makes all the difference to his livelihood. He has grown very frustrated over the years at being hassled by policemen that had nothing better to do than to treat street musicians like criminals. Mainz in particular though has been friendly to him and he usually sets up right in front of the Opera House and they even usually let him use their outlets to power his amps! Quite a difference from Frankfurt where the police can border on being hostile. Kudos to Mainz.
We sat at the Opera House cafe for a cup of hot chocolate to talk after we packed up his equipment in his van. Important Note: the Opera House in Mainz makes the biggest, best and most elaborate hot chocolate I've ever had the fortune to have tasted. The waitress - who had been eyeing Chris while he performed with something MORE than just musical curiosity - even gave us our drinks for free! We talked about his indecision about staying in Germany and the war in Iraq and what the prospects may be for the European Union with their current economic woes.
Chris has five CDs to his credit (so far), which he sells when he performs. You can read more about Chris and listen to some cuts off his CDs here: http://www.dreamtownmusic.com/ My personal favorite is the live version of "Thinkin' 'bout my baby" with Cole Tate off his "Wandering Minstrel" CD. Here are a few photos I took at his performance:
One funny interjection here. These guys, who have an obviously disfunctional relationship with the bottle, were completely absorbed by Chris's performance which culminated with one of them dumping a fist full of change that he'd begged for into Chris's tip jar. Now THAT is appreciation!
Chris has visited Mainz a number of times since I've lived here and each prior visit was associated with his staunch anti-war stance. While I disagree with him, we exchanged lengthy emails and he made several good points to defend his position. In his last email he invited me to come up to speak to him during his next visit to Mainz. This time I did. Chris is originally a Californian from the Bay area and he has lived in Germany for the past 16 years raising his sons and playing his acoustic brand of music around Germany. While he claims that his guitar playing is technically deficient, it doesn't sound like it to ME. He has an excellent voice well suited to a single acoustic guitar. Dylan, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen are staples. His rendition of Cohen's "Hallelujah" was excellent.
Unlike most street musician Chris uses a set of Bose speakers that makes a world of difference from every other street musician you're likely to hear. I saw him as it was growing dark and he asked me to hang around to chat while he put his equipment away. He told me that most towns in Germany don't allow amplifiers and yet that makes all the difference to his livelihood. He has grown very frustrated over the years at being hassled by policemen that had nothing better to do than to treat street musicians like criminals. Mainz in particular though has been friendly to him and he usually sets up right in front of the Opera House and they even usually let him use their outlets to power his amps! Quite a difference from Frankfurt where the police can border on being hostile. Kudos to Mainz.
We sat at the Opera House cafe for a cup of hot chocolate to talk after we packed up his equipment in his van. Important Note: the Opera House in Mainz makes the biggest, best and most elaborate hot chocolate I've ever had the fortune to have tasted. The waitress - who had been eyeing Chris while he performed with something MORE than just musical curiosity - even gave us our drinks for free! We talked about his indecision about staying in Germany and the war in Iraq and what the prospects may be for the European Union with their current economic woes.
Chris has five CDs to his credit (so far), which he sells when he performs. You can read more about Chris and listen to some cuts off his CDs here: http://www.dreamtownmusic.com/ My personal favorite is the live version of "Thinkin' 'bout my baby" with Cole Tate off his "Wandering Minstrel" CD. Here are a few photos I took at his performance:
One funny interjection here. These guys, who have an obviously disfunctional relationship with the bottle, were completely absorbed by Chris's performance which culminated with one of them dumping a fist full of change that he'd begged for into Chris's tip jar. Now THAT is appreciation!
