Crossing into Croatia with a Russian and a Big Fat Joint

We just started our drive to Bulgaria on a scary note. Ineke turned right onto train tracks, because a car had driven down there. She assumed it was a proper street. Next thing we know, we were sandwiched between a train and a silver car. Both the train and the car were honking at us. Finally, she turned right onto the street.

That's the fourth very scary moment during the tour. Once, she turned into three lanes of oncoming traffic in Haarlem, The Netherlands (she claimed it was because she was tired) and there were two other incidents involving driving into oncoming traffic.

Nevertheless, we're still here. Still alive. Despite some terrifying moments, her driving is getting better and more confident. Hell, I couldn't drive my way out of a paper bag.

We had an amaaazing show in Ljubljana. Even more people came this time. The guy with the toilet seat was there again, but without the toilet seat ("I tried to pull it off" he said. "It wouldn't come off!"). There was a guy there with a moustache who everyone called Daisy. He kept giving me the middle finger and calling me "American". "Go back to South Park!" he would yell. He was drunk. He spiced up the evening. At one point I poured beer on his head and he threw beer at me, splashing the keyboards. I quickly dried them off. He kept asking me to fight, but I said no. Firstoff, my back hurts like hell and secondly, I'm a pacifist.

We did almost 3 hours that night, and I had my busted back, too. It was a blast. Sold one of our new CD/slippers. Sanja filmed us, jumping onstage to get some up close and personal shots... The crowd was wacky and fun. We did a cover of Opus' "Live is Life" (which Leibach also covered, with their lead singer's über-baritone voice), which I remember from grade 7.

The next day we learned more about Leibach thanks to Tine and Sanja, who also took us into town so Xboxx could get her thyroid pills and I could pick up more CDs. Leibach is the Slovenian art movement that uses all sorts of nazi-type imagery and motifs. They push buttons and have been banned in various countries, but it's all very tongue-in-cheek, and in fact, it's a left-wing ideology. They showed us the keyboard player's partially burned books about Leibach: photos of his art pieces, collages, photos of Leibach album covers, their flag; pieces they did with armies of various countries... fascinating stuff. The keyboard player stayed at Rog and burned down half the building a couple of years ago. He also started dabbling in drugs and started to fall apart. Apparently now, he's back on track; whatever "back on track" means.

Then, off to Croatia. We had Dimitri and Sasha with us. We met them at the show. Sasha is from Thunder Bay but has a thick Russian accent he picked up living with Russians. However, he's only been here for 9 months, so we were suspicious. He's an anarchist obsessed with linguistics. He believes in the abolishment of the State and borders. He also believes in sardines.

We arrived at the Slovenian border without a toll-sticker we were supposed to have on the windshield and had to pay 150 euros. This sucks because we were told about it by Sanja earlier, but neglected to purchase one.

To make matters worse, we got to the Croatian border and they gave us the runaround. Dimitri was Russian and not allowed in Croatia, so we were also suspects. We were there for two hours. Ineke's car was searched head to toe, as were we. Xania had a fat joint in her camera bag which neither Ineke or I knew about, so she was sweating bullets as the two of us thought everything was peachy keen. She got the joint from a fan the night before. They put it in our donation jar. LUCKILY, even though it was a VERY thorough search, they didn't find it. Phew! She tossed it out of the window onto the rainy highway as we drove into Serbia

We drove to Belgrade, a good three hours late for our gig. We arrived at 10:30 but got extremely lost and started fighting. After asking about 15 people how to get there, a kind little sporty dude with a little flag got in the car and directed us there.

The show wasn't great. People at first seemed to like us and then lost focus. I don't know why. I feel we played well. I think the DJ didn't know how to set the levels properly. It sounded really high-EQ'ed and sharp. The nuances were all lost. I could barely hear my voice. It was one of our three worst gigs on this tour.

Whatever. A shitty show. So it goes. A couple of dudes approached me afterwards and said they liked us and invited us to an afterparty which lasted for two days. We hung out in Michael's place (also a musician), listening to music, doing lots of drugs and drinking, and occasional sleeping. It was fun. My back started to heal. We took the little dog for a walk. I had intense conversations about Serbia and Croatia, the US and NATO's unfair involvement in the turmoil (bombing Serbia for ten years, treating them like rats in a cage).

We return in about a week to play Belgrade and then Novi Sad. I am VERY intrigued by the politics of this region and want to learn more.

Now we go to Sofia, Bulgaria. Yippee! Apparently very cheap city/ country. Hope so. We've been losing money, especially after the border fiasco. Our CD is for sale through www.capsulerecords.com, but let's face it: people don't buy shit. At least they don't buy Trike shit. Not unless it's in person; at a show (or busking. We make money selling CDs while busking) ... or so it seems. Fuck 'em. Maybe they'll buy T shirts once we really get them going. Being an artist is an uphill battle.