Snippet

The players: Myself, M. (i know a ridiculous amount of M's, so it doesn't really make any difference)
The place: online.

Her: on the other hand, did you make your blog's layout unreadable on purpose?
Me: Funny story actually, 'cause you can see everything perfectly from my laptop. But then one day, months after changing template, many months after, i opened the page from my home computer and realized you can't understand a word.
Her: hahahaa
Me: What happened next is that i laughed for about ten minutes, then said "perfect" and turned everything off.

(end of anecdote)

(pause)

(announcement)

On Monday, July 14th this blog will be five years old. It was created on Monday, July 14th 2003. I don't know how it's still on a monday and even if you explained i wouldn't understand it. Coincidentally, on that same day (of 2008, not of 2003) i shall be departing for yet another Adventure. Updates from said Adventure shall be quite frequent, 'cause i'm even sort of getting paid to do it. To do the Adventure.
Hopefully i will manage to post again before that, perhaps rehashing one of those 22 (!) post drafts i just found in the blogger basement.

Oh, and i've had a new template for this blog sort of ready approximately since november. I'll actually install it one of these days. Hopefully before 2009.

And then, suddenly

Crowd inside Teatro Miela before Trabant concert/launch party




The webmaster comes on stage for the encore playing surprise guest air guitar impossible parts. Special thanks to Elena for sending me the pictures and for being the only person this decade who's managed to make me look good in a photo. And to Trabant of course for the graceful surprise invitation.


And this one is from Fallenlady.com.
There's also a video of the event online somewhere but there's no way i'm linking to that.


Crowd outside Teatro Miela after Trabant concert/launch party

And hardly a week after holding a sold-out concert before 450 people and publishing their debut LP, what does Trabant go on to do? They go and win Italia Wave of course. And i can't help mentioning how adorably surprised they are about all this attention, wondering why people want to have them come and play concerts outside their region and giving good reviews a suspicious look because you never know, it might just be an elaborate joke from their friends.

We're coming!

Pelo fixing something for the neighbouring office, yesterday.


Sala Parto, yesterday.


Global Stage, yesterday.


Chill-out zone, yesterday.


Main stage, 5 minutes ago.
(Michele, preparati.)

Um.

Ok, i'm back home. For fifteen minutes. Then i leave for Florence where the whole Italia Wave adventure begins. Still packing. Yesterday this blog turned four years old. Welcome to its fifth year of existence. I've got something special to celebrate, which will be online as soon as i find the files which mysteriously disappeared during my absence.
As for the sunsplash, i will try to keep this blog updated while i'm away. Which will be easier because i should be online quite a lot, but harder because i'm also supposed to be working. One thing's for sure - it's going to be fun.

realizations

I just realized something. I was translating a press release for Vinicio Capossela's upcoming US tour, and had just produced this phrase:

"(...)generating great interest and enthusiasm among audiences and record industry insiders"

when it dawned on me. Two things dawned on me, actually.
The first, and most immediate, is that a very, very very tiny part of Capossela's chances of success in the United States depends on the quality of my translation. Of course ninetynine point periodical nine percent depends on the Artist, the success of his concerts, the audience, the organization and management and touring conditions etcetera. But there's still that oh point periodical one percent which lies completely on my shoulders in this moment, which is made even more relevant if i think of how important his music was for me in certain moments of my life (before the existence of this blog), of the crazy, drunk version of Besame Mucho he performed at Teatro Miela in Trieste back in '97 or '98 with the Kocani Orkestar, of how the Live In Volvo cd was present in every italian musical aficionado's household at the end of the nineties, of how we used to whisper his songs in each other's ears with a person who would probably prefer to remain unmentioned in this context. (Oh, and i hardly listen to his stuff nowadays, two or three songs from his latest studio album were quite pleasant and i enjoy him playing with Marc Ribot but that's about it.)
In short, a part of Capossela's future was/is depending on me for a short period. No matter how small that part. A strange sensation, definitely.

Even stranger was the sensation i got immediately afterwards, when i realized i'm no longer part of the musical audience, but have slowly and perhaps even unintentionally become a record industry insider.

This i really can't describe. I can't but i will, at this conference i'll be giving at WaveCamp in July.
Oh, but we'll get to that in due time. Now i'll just dwell on these strange feelings for another while.
And hopefully finish the bloody translation, too.

(The webmaster believes he is a rather good translator from english to italian, but occasionally mediocre in the opposite direction. He hopes this not to be one of such cases.)