lou, lou, lou @ carolina theatre, durham: transcendent...in moments

* leather angel opera rock *

my setlist notes

(i don't usually keep track, but red wanted me to bring home a full report of everything that happened....) longtime fans will see that i didn't know the names of many of the recent songs, some of which i liked/seemed to work better than others, and most of which featured lou's typical goofy/sincere lyric combinations. one stood out: "the power of the heart," which hasn't been released yet. (nice love song incl. the lyrics "i would marry you again".) also didn't realize that he and laurie did finally make it official.

to try to describe the black leather t-shirt that 66-yr. old lou wore wouldn't really do it justice, though i'm sure you can imagine...or you can just check out this shot of it two days later in Knoxville (w/ the "silver shovel" guitar):

(by TennesseeJed)

"sweet jane" was fun, but never quite took off. however, by the third song i was hooked: thrilled to hear "i'm set free" w/ a great lou solo (though the accordion caused a conflicting fascination/repulsion, as though elvis costello were performing the song with full band on "Austin City Limits".) "i'm sticking w/ you" was a complete surprise, b/c of course i haven't seen that juno movie to know that it must now be "current". the poe stuff was alright, interesting & i'm sure a fun & challenging exercise to set to music. "guardian angel" was probably my other favorite recent one, the lyric from poe sung in lou's voice seemed "absolutely lou". biggest complaint was that the whole thing was waaaaaay short, and of course they only played one encore ("perfect day"): fun to hear but not particularly...transcendent.

the backside of my notes sums up the evening pretty well:

"fancy pants (to my left) didn't like the show.
bob & shirley (to my right) loved it.
i just grokked. "

Day 2: Hacienda Porvenir

high up in the altitudes, stayed @ this working farm (llamas, cows, sheep: oh my) & woke up every night @ 3am w/ a throbbing headache. but the scenery was fab, cotopaxi & raminahua were snowy, and we got to volcano hike & ride horses....everybody enjoyed the 'comfy rustic' vibe of the hacienda, but they didn't complain later when we moved on to the tropical swelter of Tena...

Day 1: llegada en Quito

give thanks to y'all:

finally posting some ecuadorian mashcards for everybody who was expecting to get something old-fashioned & papery in their metal mailbox, but din't. these are the backs of the cards i bought (but didn't send) after doctoring on a hike (read: lazy foto walk) a day or two after we got home. tops are real w/ this after-scribble (but not necessarily city-specific) addenda, bottoms are my pix from then there.

gettin' on wit it: can't remember if this one had anything to do w/ the after-scrawl, but did plan on using it for my 'walking thru el centro' lead-in, the chance this time around too good to desert...

here's what i remember now re: them times --

• uneventful, easy flights (+ miami diversion)
• Stace left her cell phone in the mag. pocket of our 1st plane & had to almost chase it back down the run.way in panic
  
• meeting Cary @ aeropuerto/Quito, 1st glimpses of the city @ night thru bus eyes
  
• nighttime walk to Casa Sol: pedestrian, colors, digs
• meeting Stefi next day & asking where i could find a copy of Los detectives salvajes (LibriMundi blocks away hooked me up 2x)
• walk downtown, exploring the Basilica: impressive round the corner, but no expects for attic-crawl & ladder-hoist up to the tippy towers
• E. jockeying for space on the pivot-circle of the ecobus, holding straps as the bellows skeleton turned
  
• rainy streets a week later as we enjoyed our farewell dinner & packed up to leave hotel @ 4am

<< reminds me of houdie, but better decorated... >>

retorno a Misahualli

resting up (here) after 10 days in Ecuador w/ students last week (there).
the guide in canoe front wore a faded Auburn U. baseball hat.
trip recap soon come....