In and out of JFK in 30 minutes

I was a bit nervous this morning when my flight from Berlin from New York was delayed an hour because they had to change a tire (I was about to offer my excellent tire-changing skills to speed up the process, but then remembered I have none.) My original layover was one hour and 45 minutes, so I knew it would be a challenge to make the connection. I tried not to think of it…the trip was going well so far…the check-in woman was kind (I may have flirted a little), and let me check my 26kilo bag (there is a 23kilo limit) free of charge. Plus, I had an aisle seat with no one next to me, which made slumber much more enjoyable.

So, in between naps, I strategized my way through JFK. I wasn’t as familiar with the airport as Chicago or Stockholm, but was thankful that all the signs would be in English, at least! When we landed, I rudely, but with a smile, snuck past as many people as possible through the hallways leading up to Customs. Luckily there weren’t many Americans coming back home, and the line was relatively short. I grabbed my bag after a chat with the customs officer (who yelled at me for using a pencil on my form, but I was tired, couldn’t find a pen, and it doesn’t say anything about it on the form, so she said it was ok) But then, the officer who took my customs declaration at the Exit noticed that the first officer hadn’t stamped it, so I had to backtrack to get the stamp! If I didn’t have to do that, I would have made it in 25 minutes….for sure.

I re-checked my bag, and the woman directed me to gate 31A: Take the elevator to the third floor and go through security. I was fast-tracked in the line, because I asked to be, but still had to wait a bit…TSA is very thorough in NY! Then, I high-tailed it to my gate, which was of course, at the opposite end of the terminal! The sign said, “Gates 31-42 with an arrow”…and 42 was first.  Ugh! When I finally reached the gate they were calling the last boarding announcement, and when crew scanned my ticket, they admitted that they didn’t think I was going to make it. They obviously don’t know me J 

So, why did I even go to Germany for less than 36 hours? Because I love the people in the Baltic Youth Philharmonic (BYP), love playing with them, and love the crazy gigs that we get. Twelve of use formed a chamber group that was to be the opening entertainment for the Nord Stream event that celebrated the opening of the gas pipeline that connects Russia with Europe via the Baltic Sea. Nord Stream is our main sponsor, so it was appropriate that they show us off, as the parallels between the pipeline and the orchestra itself are so poetic (both unite the counties around the Baltic Sea, one culturally, and one through scientific feats.)

When I arrived in Berlin on Monday evening, I was greeted by a BYP driver. We had a 3-hour drive ahead of us to reach the venue, Lubmin, Germany (on the Baltic Sea, of course) Everyone else was already there (my trip from Alaska was a little longer than everyone coming from within Europe,) so the driver was doing his best to get me there for the rehearsal. Luckily, Germany has the Autobahn, and no speed limits. However, when we got to the “middle of nowhere” he got lost! The person directing us over the phone was confused, and eventually had to meet us to guide us. I don’t blame my driver though; we had to take dirt roads in the dark to this dark, stage factory park. In between the sketchy looking buildings was a little town of lit up, man-made white domes. Inside they were decorated and manned to the nines, complete with security scanners, computers, flat-screens, and caterers. One of the domes housed a stage and about 200 chairs, where the main event would take place. I made it just as the rehearsal ended…

But, it was great to see everyone!!! BYPers share a special bond, as it’s a very special orchestra. We were fed some soup in the “staff dome”, and then headed to another little town to our hotels. We went to a little bar to catch up, and just chatted away to see what was happening since our last gig in Peenemunde in September. I faded fast though, so headed to the hotel just after midnight, like an old lady.

We had to leave at 6am to make it to our dress rehearsal at 7am. 7 AM. I don’t think I’ve ever had a rehearsal that early. I didn’t sleep much, as it just felt like another nap on an airplane, but I was alert enough. Kristjan arrived just before the rehearsal, we ran through the 10 minutes of music, and then had about 3.5 hours to hang out before the performance.

We were able to hang around the VIP dome (the one which was next to the helicopter drop-off area. Not kidding.) We anticipated the important politicians that were to arrive: Angela Merkel (German Chancellor, and a big supporter of BYP), president of Russia (originally, Vladimir Putin was supposed to show up, but I guess he cancelled), many other presidents from European countries (I had no idea who any of them were…I should read more…), and all of the important people in the gas company. This was a HUGE event, and nothing like I’ve ever seen or been apart of…

The event dome was filed about 11:30am, and we entered the stage (no one noticed.) Then, Angela and the Russia dude came in, and all of the photographers and videographers went crazy for like 15 minutes. We just stood there, smiling, and laughing as the super important businessmen whipped out their smart phones to steal a photo.

We performed, smiled, grooved, and rocked it…and then left! Easy as that! We changed into our street clothes, and left as all of the important speeches continued and they opened the pipeline.

some photos:

The SUPER VIP Dome: 

the stage

soon to be filled with Europe's politicians and dudes with money 

they wouldn't let us go into the super SUPER VIP area, so we settled for this photo:

Percs!! 

We wanted to turn the big wheel that opened the pipeline..

Martin is VERY important

Great group of BYPers!

domes from the outside

rock and roll

in front of the helicopter parking

lots of nice cars and security in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

Nice to see everyone for 24 hours :) 

The event (with some footage of us !)on German TV: http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek#/beitrag/video/1487300/Ostsee-Pipeline-liefert-Gas-aus-Russland

We were hauled back to Berlin. Everyone else was to leave that night, but I requested a night in Berlin to try and get a good night’s sleep before another transatlantic flight. I rested, and did a little shopping…Berlin is a great city, and things are open late…imagine that!! I also had time to catch up on emails and some work, which felt good. I actually didn’t sleep much  (I slept for the entire car ride from Lubmin to Berlin, and couldn’t turn off my brain!) and woke up at 6am to catch breakfast with a friend and head to the airport.

…Now I’m waiting in the Indianapolis airport! Jake, Anna, and Charles are going to pick me up…eventually. They drove down from Chicago today, and evidently forgot that they jump a time zone in the process. No biggie, there is always something to do…plus I have a pumpkin spice latte in hand from Starbucks. I love America!

Will spend the next 4 days at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention! There will definitely be more stories after this week with all these crazy percs running around!!

Alaska, part II

Thank you Seattle airport for free Wi-Fi! It is making my 5 hour layover much more enjoyable and productive!

It was a bit sad to say goodbye to Eric and his parents this morning heading out of Fairbanks, Alaska! The rest of the group is staying until this evening, but since I have this random BYP gig in Germany I had to book a totally different itinerary...which meant leaving at 7am :(  Eric's parents (who hosted all four of us in their lovely Alaskan home) were really genuine and generous people. When we came home from the gig late last night, Betsy had made us loads of treats...including homemade Buckeyes (an Ohio candy made of peanut butter and chocolate! my fav!) and traditional Norwegian pastries. We spent each night of this trip visiting with them, and we really feel like we have family in Alaska! I hope we can repay the favor in the future :)

The last 2 days in Fairbanks were a lot of fun. On Friday, after the rehearsals, Anders/Daniel's masterclass and a group dinner, we drove about an hour north to a natural hot spring! It was snowing all day, but Eric and Fi said that they would brave the white roads, and hualed us all up to Chena Hot Springs. Thank goodness for winter tires and determined personalities, because they got us there and back safely! And...it was amazing!!! I've never been to anything like it! Plus, it was beautiful with the huge white snowflakes landing on our heads. This is the best photo that I could capture:

We were totally relaxed after the dip in the warm water. Thanks Fi and Eric for the trip!

The next morning, we were not able to get into the hall until about 3pm...which meant a lazy morning. We were thankful for the break in the schedule, and even more thankful for the food provided by Eric's parents. Homemade French Toast, and all the fixin's...YUMMMM!!!

Dress rehearsal:

The crew during the run-through of Ionization. Very serious.

Chaz rockin' that snare drum part. diga diga da da, da 

Maracas! WOOOOHOOO! 

After the dress rehearsal, we went to a cafe and had some soup and hot tea, trying to overcome the drop in temperature. Now...as I'm sitting in the airport looking at the greenery outside, it's hard to imagine that there is so much snow and ice in Alaska! I promise, there is!!

The concert:

We opened our half with my new marimba quartet! 

Charles wrote a marimba/vibe duo that was beautiful!

The Swedish Folk Tunes were a HUGE hit! Anna was a star, and we were all so happy with the result! It was exciting to bring the cultural aspect into our music. 

We ended the concert playing Anders' new piece "Gigue" It was definitely a great night for 

The Arctic Connection.

Hugs all around! Great performance by everyone involved! 

Enjoying a drink at the campus pub with the Fairbanks dudes. 

It was an enjoyable 4 days in Fairbanks! The 30 hour trip was worth it, and I am so proud of the way Jake, Charles, Anna and I presented ourselves and our music. Collaborating with 64.8 and Morris was rewarding and I'm sure we'll all work together in the future!

Alright, time to go find my gate and mentally prepare for the flight to London. More soon! :)

other side of the Arctic

We made it...4 flights and a lot of random naps later, we are in Fairbanks, Alaska! We were up at 4am, and in the taxi by 5:25am. It was early, but I knew that traveling with Anna, Jake, and Charles would be a lot of fun. We have spent so much time with each other the past year and a half, we can predict each others moods (good and bad!) At the same time there is never a dull moment because one of us is always cracking a joke, dancing around, or making up a song...and that's without any alcoholic influence. 

There was an issue with our baggage at the Luleå airport...Jake and I both packed for 2 months of traveling, and were a bit overweight for our luggage. However, we are silver members on SAS airlines, so I travel with overweight baggage all the time! But, I guess the 6am crew was not feeling so generous, and the we had to repack our stuff. As silver members we are allowed 2 bags at 23 kilos, but not 1 bag at 28 kilos. Strange! So....we were totally those people unpacking at the airport (luckily Jake brought an extra duffel bag, so we stuffed all of our toiletries in it and checked it!) Then, we were running a bit behind, and they angrily called our names over the intercom...which is quite hysterical seeing that there were only about 15 people in the entire airport. Great start to the morning!

Once we were en route, everything went smoothly. Lovin' our in flight meals....

The Stockholm - Chicago flight was a bit crazy. There were about 15 kids in the cabin...and evidently it is ok to let children climb over seats and scream at the top of there lungs repeatedly. I will one day write a book about in-flight etiquette.

Anna's first steps in the US were at the Chicago airport! Woohoo! We are only half way through the day....

I guess I put my camera away until we arrived at Fairbanks. It was another 4 hours to Seattle, then 4 more to Alaska. Whoa! Intense, but nothing was delayed and we were smiling...most of the time :)

We were greeted in Fairbanks by snow, freezing temperatures, and our awesome friends Fiona and Eric!!

We decided we need a beer to relax after the long journey, and needed to catch up with Fi and Eric!

We are staying at Eric's family's house, and it is absolutely lovely! We woke up bright and early head into the campus for some rehearsals. It is definitely colder in Fairbanks than in Piteå right now! crazy!

We stopped at a fantastic coffee shop, that we will frequent throughout this visit. Mmm...bagels. :) 

 After rehearsing, the four of us headed to the little Alaskan museum that they have on campus. Beautiful views of the landscape on the way...

Stuffed bear...better than running into a real one :)

Someone made this outhouse into a piece of art. We still thought it was an outhouse.

Day 2 in Alaska...morning at Eric's. Anna shows Chaz some yoga moves. We performed and gave our masterclass, so it was important to be loose and relaxed!

The house is so cozy! The morning view is fantastic! 

Yes. Eric cookin' breakfast and Jake ironing. Gender rules broken!

Ensemble Evolution doing some last minute preparations for our performance/masterclass. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures while we were presenting. It went really well, though! A lot of non-percussion students were there and they were very responsive to what we had to say and complimentary of our playing.

 

 We had a lovely Arctic family dinner at a Thai restaurant to end the day.

 

Now, I'm sitting in Morris' office, and will leave soon to attempt to drive on the snow and pick up Anders and Daniel at their hotel! Wish me luck :) We'll then rehearse Ionisation (the first percussion ensemble piece) and enjoy Anders' and Daniels' masterclass. This evening we plan on heading out to a natural hot spring to bathe a bit! So excited! Our concert is Saturday, and I need to start taking pictures of the actual "work" we are doing :) 

jet settin' fool 2011

In about 8 hours I'll be en route for a fantastic 2 months of music making, traveling, job searching, and relaxing with family.

The tour will begin with a 30 hour transit to Fairbanks, Alaska. Last March, Ensemble 64.8 (the ensemble in residence at the University of Fairbanks Alaska, directed by Morris Palter) attended and participated in our percussion festival here in Piteå. Now, it's time for Ensemble Evolution to make the journey to the other side of the Arctic world. Charles, Jake, Anna, and I will be picked up by our taxi at 5:25am tomorrow and be on our way! We'll give a masterclass, Anders will give a masterclass, and we will perform together as "The Arctic Connection" on Saturday. It will be great to see Fiona, Eric, and Morris again...and see the Alaskan landscape for the first time!

Next, I'll leave Fairbanks on Sunday morning to make another long transit back this way...to Germany. I'm playing with a select chamber group from the Baltic Youth Philharmonic for a sponsor event on Tuesday! It may sound a little crazy to fly across the world for one small gig, but I love playing with the BYPers, and this event will be very unique. I'll write more about that after the fact :) BYP's website

On Wednesday, November 9, I'll hop back on to a flight (or 3 to be exact) and head over to Indianapolis, Indiana for the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC.) I'll meet back up with Anna, Jake, and Charles and will be networking like crazy during the convention. There are so many friends and colleagues that I can't wait to see! And...so many stories from Sweden and abroad that I have to share :) PASIC website

After the four non-stop days at PASIC, the crew and I will head to Cincy to have a much needed "rest day" at mom and dad's. I can't wait to see them!! Mom has already planned what we're having for dinner and where everyone will sleep. They are really excited to meet the guys and Anna...my family over here.

We'll need our rest, because the next 9 days will be filled with driving and gigs! My duo with Jake has some great momentum happening, and I was able to put together a great University using our repertoire from "Compose. Perform. Inspire. New Voices in Percussion Music"

On Monday, we all drive up to Columbus and visit my alma mater. We'll have to say goodbye to Charles,  as he's working with some other schools in the area, and needs to come back to Piteå for an opera project with our friend Gisli.

Jake, Anna, and I will perform at Ohio State that night (Anna is singing Swedish Folk Songs with us along with our normal repertoire.) It'll be so great to play at my alma mater and hang with Susan and Joe!

After the evening performance, we'll get back on the road for the 2 hour drive to Cleveland. We'll be staying with our great friend Kristen who hooked us up with a gig at The Happy Dog; a bar that only serves gormet hot dogs and beer! yes! We'll be apart of a program call the "Classical Revolution." Can't wait to perform in that atmosphere!

Wednesday will be a travel day; 7 hours to Kutztown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Frank Kumor and his percussion studio were our largest donor in our Kickstarter campaign, and their reward is a live performance of the repertoire. Should be fun!!

We'll perform at Kutztown at 11am on Thursday, and drive to upper-state New York just after. Our good friend, Amy (yes, the same Amy that introduced Jake and I in Paris!) is the teaching fellow at Bard College and is hosting us for a performance/clinic for the composition and percussion students on Friday. It will be great to hang with her and check out what she's doing!  

After all of these gigs, and time in the car...we'll have to let our hair down a little. We're spending the weekend in NYC to visit friends and see the sights! This tour will be Anna's first time in the States, and she's getting to see it all!

We won't party too hard tough...on Monday we will play at New York University for their percussion studio. It will be fun to connect with new colleagues and end tour travels in the big city.

Tuesday, November 22 is the official last day of tour. We'll drive the 12 hours back to Cincy...Jake and Anna will drop me off at my parent's, take a nap, and drive up to Chicago to return the rental car, and board their flights (Jake to Texas, and Anna to Sweden) Hope we are still friends after all of this time together!!

I'll then take the rest of that week to catch up with family and say many, many thank-yous for the opportunities to see so much of the world and meet so many amazing people! It will be a very special Thanksgiving!!

Jake is trying to organize a Texas tour for the first week of December, and it looks promising! Hope it will be warm down there! Then...I'll spend the second week of December with my high school band. I'll be soloing with them (along side a brass quintet of alumni) at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. It will be fantastic! We played at the convention my sophomore year in high-school, and it was one of the big moments that made me want to pursue music professionally. Can't wait to take the stage with Mr. Snyder again!

The rest of the month will be filled with high-quality family time and future-figuring-out! I plan to leave Piteå in June of next year, and need to decide where to make my next move :) Sky's the limit!

I hope to blog during the next few weeks, so stay tuned! Now...let's try to fit everything into this ONE suitcase! AHHH! :)

The concert!!!

Jake and I couldn't be happier with the premiere of our new duo repertoire. It was definitely a race to the finish, but we are really proud of the final product. Can't wait to see what is next for us as a duo!




Maria Finkelmeier and Jacob Remington (Evolution Percussion Duo) premiere seven new works in Piteå, Sweden.

Program:
Skylight by Dave Hall (@ 0:50)
Getting to Know Maria and Jake (@ 11:00)
Lemuria by Csaba Zoltan Marján (@ 13:30)
Plato's Cave by Casey Cangelosi (@23:35)
Tango Passacaglia by Jacob Remington (@34:32)
Bunker by Baljinder Sekhon (@44:45)
Echo, Part II by Maria Finkelmeier (@57:10)
Thankyou Speech (@1:08:45)
Break by David Skidmore (@1:10:50)
Outtakes/Interviews/Credits (@1:17:10)

October 13, 2011; Studio Acusticum; Piteå, Sweden

About this Concert:
Compose. Perform. Inspire. New Voices in Percussion Music

In the spring of 2011 Maria and Jake initiated this commissioning project using a crowd-funding platform called Kickstarter. They contacted four young composers who each have a unique compositional style and forward thinking approach to new percussion music. Supporters from around the world donated between $5 and $1000 to the project and received awards correlated with Maria and Jake's career. The duo reached their funding goal in May after advertising relentlessly through Facebook and numerous other media outlets. The money raised went directly to the four composers, and the creative process was put into motion. Casey, Dave, Baljinder, and David spent the summer writing their pieces while the duo eagerly anticipated the opportunity to discover what each composer would create. Then, Maria and Jake spent four weeks working to bring this music, along with Csaba's and their own, to life.

Special thanks to the fantastic production team (all names are listed at the end of the video!)

Promo video!

We've gotten the music and put together an amazing production team for the concert! Check out the great promo video that August and Kendy shot and made for us!



Watch the concert LIVE on Piteplay.se!!
October 13, 2011
7pm (Swedish time)
Tweet your thoughts! #evolutionduopremiere

Our kickin' "Kickstarter" project

The last few weeks since the festival have been filled with a lot of little projects. I wrote a quartet piece for a composition contest in which Jake, Charles, Daniel and I recorded. (We'll see what happens with the competition in June! I'll post it once I know the results...good or bad, I'm proud of the piece!) I've also been working a lot with the international department, we have accepted 20 new exchange students, and I will be their "mom" next year. I've been sending a lot of emails and corresponding with tons of coordinators to get this to work. Definitely earning that pay check! Teaching has been going super as well, and my students are doing such a great job. The student from Italy is probably the hardest working, non-major student that there has ever been. It's really exciting to see him progress, and it's a challenge for me to make sure that I present quality information and tasks! Performance wise, Ensmeble Evolution will be going on the road with Anders and our good friend and vocalist Anna Larson. This weekend we'll adventure into southern Sweden to work with some beginning percussion students and drumset players, give some concerts, and work with the Swedish Army Band percussionists (and hang out with Rolf!) We are excited to see more of Sweden, meet new musicians, and share what we've been doing up here in Piteå. It will also be exciting to test Jake and my manual car driving skills... :)

The most time consuming project that I've been working for is the Kickstarter project that Jake and I have initiated. It's called "Compose. Perform. Inspire. New Voices in Percussion Music" and we are raising money to commission four great composers to write for us. Jake and I click musically and personally, so in March we decided to really go for it as a duo. We decided that the best way to be a unique duo would be to write music for ourselves, as well as get some brand new repertoire under our belts. We have some super talented friends which we wanted to involve, and I've been following the Kickstarter funding website for some time. It was only natural to use this platform to make our idea come to life. Plus, Charles, Anders and all our friends and family are totally supportive and enthused about our success so far. We've created a rich creative environment up here, so it's been fun to see how the ensemble changes for each idea.

Check out the Kickstarter website and our video for more information! We have one week left to meet our goal....it's ALL or NOTHING! I think we can do it! We've already booked studio time to record the CD and can't wait to start planning the tours and most importantly....learning the music!

Festival Reflections Part 5

By Saturday, the 40 festival guests had become a little family. Everyone was walking around like they had known each other for years! Since there was no one else at the school, there was a special and secretive atmosphere to the festival. It was nice, and great to start the day with everyone making some music (even if we were all a bit sleepy! 

The schedule: 

9.00 – 10.30 Improvisation Session 3

11.00 – 12.30: Percussion and Media with Charles Martin and Chi-Hsia Lai (Lisa)

12.30 – 13.30: Lunch

14.00 – 14.45: Trevor Saint – Solo Glockenspiel session

14.45 – 15.30: Solo piece Session with Shaun Gallant and Evan Dabbs

16.00 – 17.00: Morris Palter - How to Memorize multi set-ups

19.00: CONCERT: Smörgasbord of International Percussionist featuring all festival participants

After the improvisation rehearsals, the whole group went to the student union where we provided coffee and some snacks to make sure everyone was alert for the interactive media session. We were the only people in the student house, so we put our feet up and enjoyed our "fika" (Swedish word for coffee break!) 

Charles' and Lisa's media session was really cool! I knew that Charles had a big interest in computer music, but it was so great to see him present his past projects and ideas! He worked with Lisa back in Australia, and now she lives in Helsinki, Finland, so it was a perfect opportunity for them to get together again! 

check out Strike on Stage!!

Lunch was not really a break for the whole group...those who could go out, did...but many of us stayed to rehearse for the closing concert. Daniel and I needed to run through a duo, and other groups spread out to touch up their pieces. We had some sandwiches and snacks left over from the night before, so it was actually a cozy environment of rehearsing and munching! 

The afternoon was much more self-propelled than the rest of the festival. I put these individual sessions at the end because they involved the least amount of people and assistance. Since everyone would be involved in the evening concert, we thought it would be best to have an afternoon that was low stress....it was great! 

First, Trevor presented more solo glock pieces! this one for glock and amplified snow! very cool! 

Then, Shaun Gallant played Garage Drummer by Jim Campbell and talked about his Mourning Dove Sonet (Christopher Deane) performance on the soloist concert. Evan Dabbs also presented a piece for quartet that he wrote just for this festival. It was a great platform for him present a composition and get feedback. 

Morris Palter gave a great clinic on memorizing multi set-ups! Here he is working with Evan Dabbs from Fort Worth, Texas. 

Morris working with Sami, from Tampere, Finland

The sessions had concluded, and now it was time for the real fun! The whole festival would be summed up by the closing concert. First, I made sure that the performers were fed and happy. With the money the Kommun donated, I had pizza delivered (well, actually Arvid picked it up and delivered it!) Free pizza makes everyone happy! :)

After the quick dinner we rearranged the Black Box Theatre. We wanted to create a cool "Pub Night" feel. We hired the restaurant to bring their portable bar in the theatre to sell drinks, and set up couches instead of the regular stadium seating. My favorite lighting girl, Linda, put up some colored LEDs and the stage looked great! We had 4 improv groups, and 5 other pieces to perform. Instead of setting an order, I asked the audience what they wanted to hear after each piece! The night was a BLAST!!!!!! I can't express how much fun everyone had! We had a ton of non-percussionists there too‚ which added another exciting element! 

Casey started the show with a bang! 

I had a great time chatting with the audience! 

The Improv Groups were awesome!!! 

Jake, Shaun and Fiona tearing it up on a cajon trio! 

Had a great time playing with Daniel on his piece The Legacy

Found Instruments improv 

Ended with a mass improv! It was amazing to see everyone involved! 

"great job, everyone! Now...let's clean up!!!"

We couldn't have asked for a more successful festival! Jake, Charles and I were so happy that night! After cleaning everything, the Finnish groups hopped back in their vans and drove home (so crazy!), and the rest of us headed to the bar!! Wouldn't be a percussion event without a few drinks! 

I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback from everyone in attendance. The students admitted they never knew that percussion music could be so exciting and diverse, and the teachers said they hadn't been to a more unique or well-organized event. I was overjoyed, and still am! We're collecting quotes from the attendees and will post them on our website once we have all of the evaluation forms. 

The next morning, many of us headed to Stockholm at 6:30 in the morning to give another concert. There wasn't much time to bask in the festival success, but if you're going to do something...do it big! More about the Stockholm trip later. I've just written 5 blog entries after weeks and weeks of blog hiatus...time to take a break!