Tuesday, July 2, 2013

An Almost Debut



Today was a day full of getting packed. We walked downtown and went to the first, and best Chinese restaurant we have been to. We both got sweet and sour chicken con ensalada. YUM!

After lunch we stopped by the Snack Shack and got an Oreo mint milkshake, which we both decided was the best in town. However, there aren’t many places to get milkshakes in Punta Gorda.

Yesterday, Ray from the Drum School had called and suggested that we come this afternoon to his place to work on Montana’s song. He and his brother, Ivan, were getting ideas on how to combine the song with Garifuna drumming and liked the challenge of combining two different types of music. Ray said, “Once I get started on something, I don’t want to stop.”

We went to Ray’s place at 4 o’clock, as planned, but as we were driving up, he pulled up in his motorcycle and started doing something with a sunflower, almost as if to say,  “I’ve been here all along, you did not just see me pull up on that motorcycle.” They tried to get a hold of the third guy, the guy who plays keyboard, but he was just getting home from work and wasn’t quite ready. We suggested that maybe we should just forget the whole thing, but Ray refused to give up just yet. After we talked it over more, Ray suggested that we should meet at 7 at the Sea Splash restaurant, after their performance at another hotel. The Sea Splash restaurant had a music room with drums, piano, etc., which they were allowed to use.

However, the restaurant turned out to be closed on Tuesday nights, and the man with the key never showed up as promised. We waited for over an hour, but then our hope started disintegrating. Montana introduced Garage Band to everyone else at the table, INCLUDING LuRue. They all seemed very interested in it, but LuRue was too old for that kind of stuff, so she just sat back and asked questions about the Garifuna culture, which is much more interesting than Garage Band!!!  We finally said good night and took a taxi home.




 Some good pictures from yesterday, but too late tonight, so there will have to be a special edition of July 1st photos!








3 comments:

  1. Too bad you didn't get to make music with those guys.
    That would have been cool. Which song were you working on? Can't believe you guys will be starting home soon. The month went very fast here in Fairbanks. How about for you guys. See you in a few days. Unfortunately I have to go to a dinner interview for a doctor on Friday night so won't even get to see you until about 9 PM. Don't tell Riley and Eric all your stories until I get home.

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  2. I'm with LuRue on this one--I know I, too, have had a Garage Band app on my Mac, but I'm still trying to figure out iTunes, and that is enough music for me.

    Had fun reading a bit about he Garifuna culture on Wikipedia--their traditional music, punta, modernized into punta rock, and described how important drums are in Garifuna music. So were you all creating punta rock with your song, Montana? Love the photo--just sharing can be so much fun.

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  3. Yep, too bad the jam session didn't work out. That's how it goes with those crazy musicians. Glad you found good places to eat.

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