Day of the Fight

They asked us to get to the museum an hour early because the main German television station was going to be there and they wanted to film Bruce working and talk to him a bit. The day before, I told him to leave a little bit of work to be done so he has something to do when the cameras were there. At first they asked if he could "pretend" to do something the next day, but I told them he doesn't know how to do that.

It became a strange and tense scene because the museum handlers were there to put the glass case on his work, and the producer from the tv station kept wanting more time with Bruce. Poor Andre was sweating because guests were gonna be arriving any minute and all these things were happening while Bruce had turned a corner of the gallery into his personal workspace. 

I'm sure if you asked him he would tell you he has been wearing these since the early 80's

Finally, they finished shooting, the pieces were placed, the glass went on and that was that. At that point I finally got to see what I had worked on for most of the last year. It was deeply satisfying and Bruce and I agreed later that we had no idea if we could even pull this off. I can't believe we pulled this off.

This is a rare piece from the movie Baby Snakes. I'm sure any hardcore Zappa fan would recognize it.

The show opened and it was a great success. Bruce, German animators Walter Spater and Bettina Mathaei, Polish animator Izabela Plucinska, and myself were all honored for our contribution to the exhibit entitled: Wandellust - the art of clay animation. 

Polish animator Izabela Plucinska (who was a real sweetheart) and Bruce

Pics and concept drawings from Allison Schulnick

plasticine + monster = plonsters

German animator Bettina Mathaei

German animation legend Walter Spater

I never get used to the fact that Bruce is like a god to some people. At one point I was going back to the food table to grab another piece of schnitzel when I was told that there were a few people that really wanted to take photos with Bruce but were afraid to approach him. I grabbed my schnitzel and went back to the table where Bruce was sitting and said, "people want to take pictures with you".

"Oh, well, tell them to go ahead." He said

"They are too scared to ask and want you to go over there," I took him over to his fans and thought I was going to be able to get to my schnitzel, but then I got bombarded by more people who wanted Bruce photos. I literally ended up ducking and dodging the camera while trying to eat. It was some damn good schnitzel.

We had one more show to do at the Thalia: Coffee and Cigarettes theater. What a cool place. It was a pretty small screen, but the front is a cafe, bar and there are europeans smoking profusely all over the place. Although I quit a few years ago, I am absolutely pro smoking.

In a conversation on this trip I recalled my first time ever going to Manhattan. A bunch of my cousins and my Aunt Linda were there and she is really close friends with legendary jazz vibes player Bobby Hutcherson and his wife/manager Rosemary. Because of this, we were able to see Bobby perform at the legendary Village Vangaurd the night before we left town. This is a club where all the greats have played, Billy Holiday, Miles Davis, you name it. It was a small club and was filled with cigarette smoke. 

This is something I am truly glad I got to experience. You have to leave the country now to go anywhere with that kind of ambiance now. God bless the smokers. You can tell me otherwise all you want but I will go to the grave believing that second hand smoke is an even bigger myth than mothman, the jersey devil, baba yaga, nessy, tacorda's boy sasquatch, and democracy all combined.

After the show, I took Bruce back to hotel and after searching around a bit for something else, I got some more Kebap. I think that both times I have been to Germany 98% of my meals were Kebap.

 It is everywhere, cheap and delicious.

The next day Bruce and I went to the huge flea market across the river and then to the castle to see what is considered the greatest collection of riches in all of europe. The rooms of weapons from over the centuries was amazing and at one point I commented on how amazing it is that such beautiful metal has been done since ancient times. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed.

I had to take Bruce back to rest up for his final show of the festival. I ended up going back and museum hopping until I had to go back to meet Andre for a late lunch. He is a really sweet and great guy and I could tell that our conversations were pretty foreign and maybe a bit shocking to him.  I realize that this is the only meal I had on this trip where somebody else at the table ate as well. 

Quick note: Yesterday, Bruce was featured in one of the biggest tabloids in the region. It even had all kinds of nudity spread throughout it (gotta love how relaxed those Europeans are). 

He, of course, complained about the picture they chose