i have begun to cancel my next dates. there are 2 swiss shows that have come into question by the missus. if i stick to my schedule, i will only be in denmark 3 days with the family this summer, after not making it here at all last summer. the shows in switzerland were based on the films of brent green where he invites musicians to play live during his presentation of said films. this time it was to be me and jim white from ‘the dirty 3’ and more recently, ‘cat power’. he has been someone i have been wanting to play some music with for a long time with. and brent is great. his films are fantastic stop motion animation, a pennsylvania comrade, and a fine ranter during his filmed episodes.

but its too much. i have overbooked myself for the summer.

maybe the dutch layover bulged in and stole an extra 2 days.

if i cancel now, it would be trading the 1,500,000 viewers for the 100 that would have come because my name was attached to brent’s film in basel. how do you explain that ?

so i send the emails and warn them all a few days in advance of my decision to remain with family, as difficult as it is for me to cancel.

the folks at the zurich date understand, and so does bret, but he is not often over here in europe and it seems way more important to him that i be a part of it. i try to reassure him that his film is the star, not me, and once viewed, no one will care about me and my soundtrack.

so that’s that.

we now gather the clan and head to the birthday party for my wife’s father. it starts at 1:00 at a little restaurant by the sea.

when its over at 4:30, we are supposed to drive up north 3 hours to be part of a gathering of band members and their wives and children. i did not know about this. but we pack up and head north. to imagine us, an dmy giant scando family in a car this size is to imagine us all bound together on skates and back packs traveling on the highway.

when we get about 40 minutes before the place we’re headed, the wife suggest we stop at the last chance gas station to pick up some stuff.

as we pull in she sees anders car and thøger’s car and all the families and friends betwixt them. that moment is another of happenstance yippity that could only happen because we were as late as we were.

its so important to be late.

then we get to nikolaj’s spread. he has finally finished working on his house and now is selling it soon. it has a giant barn converted int a studio too. it’s a fantastic rustic place filled with his wife and 3 sons.

and now with a small city of people invading from our 3 cars.

as dinner is being set, some responses back from the swiss. but i am remaining steady in my canceling. its never black and white any more. but precedence must lie with the family. the wife is a steadfast lobbyist in that regard. she is not wrong, but it doesn’t feel right.

we clamor and yammer, feast it up and soak it up. then the evening crumbles the likes of us and i head to the barn to sleep nestled on the floor with the kids and their dreams. more chilled air up here. so nice.