U.S. vs. John Lennon in Middelburg
Trip Start
Feb 23, 2007
1
29
34
Trip End
Jun 15, 2007
Middelburg,
Netherlands
Saturday, May 19, 2007
(Middelburg, Saturday, May 19, 2007)-Middelburg is a little town in the south of the Netherlands, near the Zuider Zee, where Mark Ritsema's sister Maaike directs the local film society, and she's engaged us to enhance their screening of the U.S. vs. John Lennon film with an introductory talk by me and a duet performance by Mark & myself in the nearby 't Hof bar after the show. We'll enjoy a night in a splendid old hotel on the town square and collect a nice honorarium for our troubles.
It's always kicks for me to hook up with Mark Ritsema under any circumstances, but playing together is a really special treat that I don't get to experience as often as I'd like. Mark meets up with Michael Carden and me at the Centraal Station in Rotterdam and the rest of our ride is more complicated than we'd anticipated since we have to disembark from the train, catch a local bus to the next stop, and get back on the train to ride into Middelburg.
Once we're there the talking-to-the-audience part of the evening goes off without a hitch, and the film is as entertaining and inspirational as I'd remembered it from making an introduction at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam last November and at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor the next month. I'm always a little embarrassed to watch Lennon get in so much trouble because he had the big heart to help me get out of prison in 1971-only good things should've resulted from such a powerful humanitarian gesture, but then again it ain't our fault that the authorities are such goddamned pigs.
But the high point of the trip was our performance in 't Hof, a very cozy spot in the old centraal section of town. Mark's brother-in-law Tonnie is our escort because Maaike is fully nine months pregnant and sticking very close to home. She'll deliver their second daughter within the next few days, but she can't be with us tonight due to her delicate condition.
The little joint is packed with a warm and responsive audience of grown people who sit and smile and applaud as we deliver our best efforts to make the first set, but after that the youthful Saturday night crowd takes over the house and our second set is largely superseded by the mindless din. Our generous compensation more than makes up for this disappointing response, however, and we retire to the hotel for a deep night's sleep. In the morning we retrace our train-bus-train journey on the way back home, dropping Mark off in Rotterdam and Michael at Schipol Airport, where he'll catch his plane back to New York City USA.
In just a few days Dr. Dorothy will be returning from NYC herself, and I've got a nice peaceful week ahead of me until she gets home. My pals Larry Weissman and Ryan Sawyer will be stopping through on Thursday with a band from Brooklyn called the Tall Firs for a gig at the Paradiso, and that's something to look forward to. And then my sweetheart will be here Friday morning, and that's really something to look forward to.
-Forte Prenestino
Roma
June 25, 2007
